BlueChampions The Chelsea FC Blog – views, opinions, discussions, debates, polls, videos . . .
For me and I think for a lot of people, yesterday was the final straw – the point of no return. The single instance where all of the trust, hope and belief that had been harboured and accumulated over almost two years, simply dissolved and left us facing the harsh truth – Fernando Torres is not physically or mentally competent enough to be a key player in this Chelsea team, and he most likely never will be. It wasn’t that his performance against West Brom on Saturday was bad; in order to be bad you have to actually do something. He was lethargic, constantly out of position, half of the time he just looked ‘in the way’. Whatever his job was to do on Saturday he didn’t do it. In 15 minutes a rusty Daniel Sturridge did ten times as much to threaten the opposition goal as Torres did in 75!
I thought he gave a good interview at the start of this season to be fair, when he said he felt indebted to Chelsea supporters for the love and faith they showed during his struggles the previous season. I think he even said that everything he did from that point onwards would be for Chelsea fans. I still believe he means that. I certainly don’t dislike him personally at all, but the sad truth is now I don’t think fans actually want anything from Fernando Torres. Jason Cundy even said last night on Twitter he’d rather have Norwich City’s Grant Holt up front for Chelsea than Torres at the minute. I don’t agree but for any leading Chelsea pundit to say this puts us in a very sorry state – with no intended disrespect to Holt.
At the start of the year, with seemingly a re-invigorated Torres along with Sturridge and Moses and Lukaku and De Bruyne (before they were loaned) another new striker would’ve appeared a luxury. Now however, there are no two ways about it, a new world class striker is a necessity if we even want to compete for trophies this year, let alone win some. The obvious choice is Atletico’s Radamel Falcao, whom we’ve been linked with for some time now. He’d be expensive of course but he’s one of, if not the best #9 in the world and is as close to a guarantee of 30 goals a season I think we could possibly buy. Atletico are of course the only club Torres truly loves as well, a swap deal in January currently looks the ideal solution.
If however, a January move is out of the question, a good short term alternative could well be Schalke’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who is out of contract in the summer and might be available on the cheap. The Dutchman has been prolific for two years in Germany and I think would a smart bit of business on our part to tie down for 18 months. We’ll have to wait and see…
One other issue Saturday’s game raised was the difficulty it seems di Matteo is going to have rotating this squad, particularly in midfield. An over dependence on Ramires I feel is becoming worryingly apparent. A double pivot of Mikel and Romeu has two problems. The first is neither are good at getting forward and the second is they both seem intent on trying to do so. On paper they look a solid screen in front of the back four but in reality their ambition to transcend their primary roles leaves us unbalanced and pregnable at the back. Frank Lampard is not a good holding midfielder. For me the only real alternative to Ramires in that role is Oscar, who I think is too special a talent however to convert into something less than he is – we need to leave Oscar alone in that free #10 role to become one the best players in the world – which I’ve no doubt he will do.
We need an alternative to Ramires in that position. Whilst he’s probably fit enough to play 60 games a season, an injury to him leaves us screwed. The versatile Kevin De Bruyne could well return and prove to be a revelation in that deeper role, Josh McEachran Is another fantastic long term option. Thinking short term however, Marouane Fellaini is looking to make a step up in his career and what a perfect addition he would be. David Moyes has made him more of a forward recently but he is an outstanding box-to-box midfielder and could be exactly what we need. I’m sure Everton wouldn’t ask for more than £20million which I think he is easily worth – Just a thought.
Considering our upcoming fixture now in Turin, it’s been a long time since I would be so surprised to see Chelsea pick up a win. The state of our defence and current form could mean a serious kicking is in store for us Tuesday night. Juventus are a fantastic, well drilled team full of quality; and the ending of their incredible unbeaten run by Inter not long ago it seems has done nothing to suppress their confidence. There is no real weakness in their team and I think our system plays right into their hands, giving their wing backs (probably Isla and Asamoah) all the space they need to torture our full backs, just as they did a few weeks ago.
If we can somehow scrape a draw that means a win against Norsdjaellend puts us through, and if Juve can win in Ukraine it puts us through as winners! If we lose however then we are relying on Shakhtar to win at home in order for us to finish 2nd ahead of the Italians. The good news at this stage is that qualification is still in our hands. If it still is after Tuesday then that’s 95% of the job done in my eyes.
After the West Brom game, di Matteo talked about needing to make changes – about needing to make Chelsea more like the side who won the Champions League last season i.e. with a greater emphasis on defence. It’s a tricky situation to analyse. The problem we have is that the talents of Oscar, Mata and Hazard are such that as individuals, they’re completely undropable, easily our 3 best players. However, by fielding all three every game we can never be structurally solid/capable of defending as a team. People have talked about since the start of the season a need to find a ‘balance’ with this new system but I honestly don’t think that’s possible.
What di Matteo needs to do in my opinion is find a different system – a totally new formation we can use that prioritises defence and can make us solid for the big games and for when we need to defend a lead. He then needs to make Chelsea equally adept at employing it as this attacking 4-2-3-1, and then make the team capable of switching systems in a heartbeat.
Even with some major new signings, this problem we have with our ‘Mazacar’ system won’t go away. When it works, it is phenomenal to behold, but its flaws are fixed. I think Michels, Herrera, Cruyff and Happel in committee would struggle to find a balance with this system, let alone di Matteo. For this group of players to succeed they need to show some tactical versatility and it’s up to di Matteo to devise some alternative methods and to learn when and how to deploy each one. If he can succeed then that may well keep in the job until next season and I hope that’s what every Chelsea fan wants to see.
One argument for torres is that the team dont play how he wants it to.then if thats the case we dont need him ,a washed up one-trick pony.
And in my line of work if someone didnt perform for he’d be politely sent on his way………. So roman wise up buddy…….its water long long gone under the bridge……..these things happen but the organization must move on………
I’m agree with you Matt, but, also I would prefer to use 3 Center Back for our trip to Turin. Luiz as sweeper, and also as DMF, he can use as CB and also deep lying role. I follow the article in chelseadaft recently, and I realize that we have our strength in Luiz and Bertrand use together, but in different style but use same players like liverpool against us, which is 3-5-1-1 style. But , still Sturridge should start first and use Torres as sub like Spain did.
The sweeper system for Chelsea is interesting, though I’m personally not sure it would make us any more solid than we are now.
As for Juventus the custom way to play against 3-5-2 is with 4-3-3 with two wide players. That way our wingers keep their full backs occupied, so they are effectively using 5 defenders to defend three forwards. It would be 3 vs 3 in the middle and we’d have our entire back four to deal with their two forwards. That leaves our full backs free to come forwards and give us more numbers in midfield. Which gives us more possession theoretically and more width.
On paper it works, really if we can just keep their wing backs in check then that’s a good chunk of the tactical battle won already.
@Matt Clark:
Matt, I agree that Torres is looking really poor, but do you think that any other striker up front with the way we are playing would look much better thank him?
@Sherzod: I think Daniel Sturridge looked much better than him when Torres was subbed off. In 15 minutes Juan Mata played 3 balls through to Danny that a sharper/more match fit player may well have tucked away. I think it’s wrong to suggest the way we’re playing isnt conducive for a lone striker to be scoring lots of goals.,
It’s a very/perhaps overly attacking system we use, and it’s based around three of the cleverest, least selfish midfielders in the world, there are no excuses as far as I can see.
@Matt Clark:
Yes, but you are forgetting that Mata was the person who came in and replaced Torres for Saturday’s game. Before Mata came in, we were terrible at creating chances. Furthermore, I think, that game was one of our poorest performances of late. The whole team was horrible, especially our defense. I am not ignoring that Torres was poor, but Romeu, Bertrand and Luiz were even worse from my perspective….
Matt, I hope you prove me wrong. But with our new style of play and our MAZACAR midfield who like to control possession, someone like Messi would be perfect for our striker position. Someone that is not based inside the box, someone who is very good at passing the ball and playing one-two’s, someone with that magical technique and that magical left foot to interchange passes with our midfield maestros. But, the problem is that there is only one Messi. Do you agree that the attributes that I have mentioned are not of a traditional striker like Torres? I believe that Torres is useless when we control the ball by surrounding the box, whereas he is the only one inside that box out muscled by the EPL defenders. He is at his best when that box is not that jammed, when there is space for him to run. When our build-up play and counter-attacks are fast, when the opposition do not have the time to jam that box. I think that the same goes for Falcao, and I fear that if Falcao comes we will have the same problems…
It’s all about RDM Rotation Strategy wasn’t work,even he denied his own words that no one is untouchable even Terry, but he’s to stubborn with our main XI men, than rotate with the fresh feet, except for Moses, so everyone in bench looked so rusty and we have very tight and frustrating schedules. One case about Torres, It’s not about I hate Torres. In fact, I’m Torres fans, But why he can’t positioning himself as striker and he always passing than shooting, but still Torres become the only one RDM choice in this season makes me really desperate. Yes ,he always work hard, and very unselfish. And perhaps Roman has order RDM always to use Torres, and that’s why,he sign Hazard, Oscar and Marin to feed him,and sadly the only one in attack position that can shoot well is just Mata, for our trio is busy to deliver accurate pass and Torres can’t convert it. In my opinion,our style that use 1 Striker made Torres even looked worst. The other case is that we face that our board only give a year contract for our winning team older players over 30 policy,in fact we’re still use Cole, Terry and Ivanovic as our key men and Luiz- Cahill and Cahill- Iva duet still weren’t composed Bert still can’t replace Cole, no duet can replace Terry. Sturridge only played twice in starting. makes another headache for RDM because his rotation policy not working yet. Marin nose never touch EPL even once. Luiz frustrate us because of his clumsy cause us conceded many goals.
That’s why, when we played Liverpool, I think this style that we should adapt, so there is no one to harm, use Luiz as sweeper, Bertrand in wing side like Enrique did,so they can give us more attack and defend option, and perhaps duet Torres and Sturridge as well.
Sherzod. That perfect player would be Neymar because of his work rate,flair,pace and great technique infront of goal. He is always all over the pitch linking up with Oscar and co for the Selecao. Falcao wasn’t even that much of a threat to Brazil’s defence while Neymar had excellent movement clearing him from Colombian markers in last week’s friendly.
@Zane: I like Neymar, for he’s eligible for UCL. But we would loose massive players if we have too much South American players.If want to sign, especially about Striker, I would prefer very carefully, because we’ve already waste so much money in the past. Even Drogba wasn’t at very high spent, and still need time for adapt. And I’m still prefer Towering,Powerful and pacey Striker. I like Bony, Dzeko. perhaps call back Lukaku would be wise. But i would like to move Fellaini, for he’s good in dead ball, strike and heading forward and help our defender because he can mark and very good tackle. And we have sort of deep lying midfield option.
victor wanyama = solution to CM problem (replace Mikel) + recall Kevin (hope he is ready)
Striker= swap deal for Falcao +Huntalaar/Bony/Ba (if Danny leaves)
use Apzi as RB and let Ivano cover CB till terry is back… Luiz needs to be benched.. the guy just cant defend… im sorry we didnt go for Diego Godin…
Adi. I wouldn’t go for Fellaini. We need a proper partner for Mikel. A player who can act fast and pass the ball from deep. We already have Cahill,Terry,Ivanovic and Luiz for dead ball situations. The other thing I’ve mentioned quite a few times on this site is that Chelsea wants to play a faster expansive type of football. The reason why I think Neymar would be perfect is mainly for his overall work rate and flair. Our team brings many threats to the opposition from the final third. If you noticed this season,opposition fall back quickly because they know Hazard,Oscar,Ramires and Mata will kill them on the counter attack. You see because we don’t have a proper deep laying playmaker,those counter attacks rarely happen. Big strong strikers will be too slow and they’ll probably rely on long balls and many crosses. We bought players to attack the opposition and play through the middle. Besides,we already have a big strong type striker who’s on loan at WBA. I say we wait for De Bruyne to partner Mikel in the pivot or just recall him this January,if not immediately.
@Sherzod: Sherzod i dont understand you, you said Torres is still a world class player and impressed you against Liverpool, now you have switched your position since our game against West Brom, come on man. I have been saying that Torres is nowhere near the class of Suarez and Van Persie right now, He needs to go. Ever since his arrival, Chelsea Football Club have Literally bent over backwards, to make him feel comfortable and wanted. I remember when he (Torres) first arrived, Drogba was regulated to the bench and Torres was the preferred starting option in our Crucial Champions League encounter against Manchester United in both Quarter Final legs in 2011. He was invisible on the pitch to say the least. And for the most part all he has done was to complain. Now he has no complaints,Take into consideration that while every person associated at the Club was celebrating Our First Historical Champions League Triumph, Torres was Bitching about how he needs to have a discussion with the Club’s Hierarchy because he does not understand he role in the team.
Personally I think Di Matteo set up Torres not to fail but put him in the Limelight. When he was complaining about not getting enough games, Di Matteo consciously took the decision to say okay Torres you are the Man, If you want to lead the Line here is your chance, No Drogba, no Anelka, no Kalou, no Lukaku. Plus i have signed Oscar and Hazard two brilliant creative players to supply you with passes. And look at his return Thus far 4 goals in league and he has played everygame that is poor.
My opinion if we want to win any trophy this season we have to sign a striker in January Huntelaar is a good pick but wont be eligible for Champions league if we make to the round of 16. My pick Cavani or Falcao with a swap for Torres let him go back to Atletico because if he stays and we sign a striker to replace him, he (Torres) will only create divisions like he did when Drogba was around. Or we can keep Torres and bring back Lukaku. Also Sturridge needs to get his chance as a starter, there is no way Torres should be keeping him out of the starting 11, the last 20 mins in the game against West Brom Sturridge and Mata created at least 3 or 4 goalscoring opportunities, Daniel did not score however the chances created to score was much better than what Torres did on the field.
The midfield issue concerning Ramires, i dont think is critical, I believe Romeu is not yet up to par with Premier league standard, and i also have called for a use of different formations.
@Zane: Once again you are underestimating the role physical strength and conditioning plays in the BPL. Neymar in my opinion does not have the physical strength to lead a Chelsea Attack, Look at Kun Aguero, he looks small but don’t be fooled he has a defined muscle structure and can cope with the physicality of the league, Neymar is certainly not a good fit for Chelsea. However look at Falcao or Cavani these players can cope with the physical nature of the Game in England
Neymar is good in South America yes, but imagine if you can, those wet and tricky trips to Stoke, West Ham, Old Trafford, Anfield, Etihad, You honestly believe Neymar can lead this team to premier league glory. Don’t get me wrong he is a class player has has potential, but we need a striker with PRESENCE someone Like a Drogba, or Van Nistlerooy someone Defenders cannot Bullying around.
We made two huge mistakes in the Jan transfer window. We are left with two strikers and only one real holding midfielder. (Romeu is utter crap, at least for now….he should of been loaned). Meireles’ presence is what we are missing at times. Even if Torres leaves and we bring one striker in, that is not enough unless we also recall Lukaku back.
Look here:
United have –> RVP, Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez
City have–> Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko, Balotelli
Arsenal have–> Giroud, Gervinho (can play as a striker like Kalou), Podolski, Chamakh
Even a mid table team lets chose Fulham: Petric, Berbatov, Rodallega, Ruiz (again can play as a stiker)
We have a youngster who is equal if not lesser of a player than Welbeck. And an off form washed up player in his late 20s.
Richard. You’re right,Neymar isn’t physically strong to compete with the EPL’s defenders but that’s what the media want you to believe. Every other defender no matter what the league,are tough or built to be physically strong. Neymar isn’t a player that wants to physically compete with an opponent and that’s why he has a good pass and most importantly flair. It’s all about pass and run into open space quickly to recieve the ball again. With this defenders will easilly give away lots of free kicks or penalties because of late tackles. Look at Oscar,that boy is so skinny it looks like a wind can blow him away but he has excellent dribbling ability,ball control,FLAIR and is doing well in the EPL.
Just Imagine a false 9 system with Neymar. Hazard wide left and Mata wide right. Oscar in the midfield with Mikel and De Bruyne or Ramires. Oscar basically runs around like Iniesta linking up possession play with De Bruyne who sits deep (like Xavi) ,the false 9 (Neymar) and those on the wings. EPL teams can’t handle flair,especially the false 9 system and the movement of the players. Man United got slaughtered by Barcelona in the Champions League final few seasons back. I simply cannot see our rivals parking the bus because of pride. We have the players for the system except for Neymar who would be perfect for it. Lukaku is already there for the strength factor when we play teams like stoke. I’m saying it again. Football is evolving and the EPL should too otherwise they’ll always get outplayed by teams from La Liga.
@Zane: Do you agree that Torres or other similar striker is useless when they are left all alone inside a jammed opposition box with our current style of play, especially when facing physical EPL teams? Maybe you are right, Neymar would be great if he could emulate Messi as a false No.9, just like Barcelona do.
@richard: I am not defending Torres. But, I want people to look at other aspects and shortcomings of our game as well. It is a very lazy analysis just to put all the blame on Torres. Have you aver asked yourself, what if the same repeats if we bring Falcao? Then whom would we blame???
@xerxes: Do not forget that all the teams you have mentioned play at least two of their forwards in their starting eleven and we have got only one place for a forward in our starting eleven.
Daily Mail’s Neil Ashton has a mole in our dressing room. Surely!!
Mikel improve a lot in this season. but when we played against quicker attacker, he look not being useful. De Bruyne wasn’t use as midfield area, except in FM 2011, because he is a winger, even in Belgium Team, but,he can’t do defend well. And we need holding midfield to cover Mikel and Ramires. I think we have too much winger this season. Marin, Davilla, De Bruyne and Kakuta. I like Fellaini,because he can be like Drogba in physically, with attacking style,heading, shooting outside penalty box, can defend well also. He was use as Holding Midfield and Central Midfield in Genk.Right now, we haven’t any players can shoot well outside penalty box ,even Hazard, Oscar and Mata,except Lampard did. That’s why, I think he can produce unpredicted shooting.Perhaps he can be our striker in false 9, also. or we can recall our bison Essien back and sent Romeu on loan. If we don’t sign Fellaini, I think RDM must start to use Luiz become our DMF.
@ Zane. I agree for your opinion about Neymar when we face physically oppose team like Stoke. But, It’s very difficult to find striker that can instantly compose like RVP did in MU,or Falcao in Atletico, than Neymar, because he has same style like we play now. We should start to give Lukaku time like Torres again.
Yes I agree Sherzod. Remember,he had to bulk up to fit Chelsea’s previous style. That made him slower and it was the wrong thing to do in general to change his own style. He can still dribble and place the ball beyond a defender but because of his excess weight now,his excelleration has decreased making it difficult for him to round his opponent. The one thing he’s still good at is beating offside traps. The only problem is Chelsea isn’t playing to that strength of his. In the preseason against Seattle Sounders,Josh opened up Lukaku from deep in the pivot. It’s all about having a key player in the pivot to play to Torres’ strengths like Gerrad and Alonso did.
@Zane: Zane this constant utterance from you about FLAIR is just getting under my skin, because FLAIR is not what Wins TITLES and Makes your Team Champions and Fearsome, nobody fears a Team with players that have Flair. Yes Flair is an component of a good Team and Player but in the True Essence of a Winning Team flair is minor aspect. Now you might say Barcelona certainly over the Last 6 -7 years From Rijkaard to Guardiola and now Villanova is a Team with Flair, but in Reality the Have been dominant because of their philosophy of possession. Chelsea FC has competed excellently with Barcelona over this period because of Our Philosophy of Strength and Power and Solid defensive shapes.
There has been a Change in our philosophy to be more creative and play a more beautiful game, but in my opinion while we adopt this change in playing style we must never sacrifice our use of strength and Power especially in the BPL. Because to be honest as much as Cristiano Ronaldo had FLAIR when he was inb the Premier League he had upper body strength and was good in aerial challenges.
My point is Flair is a small component of Championship Team
I watched the Juventus Game and I am totally devastated, What a fall from grace. 6 Months ago we where Kings of Europe, and Tonight we are a Shadow of that Team. In my analysis of the game, Di Matteo rolled the dice and played a force number 9, and try to enforce a counter attacking strategy. Defensively Cahill and Luiz especially, were loose in the First half we had to thank Cech just to be going in at the Break just one goal down. the second half was not any better, in all the performance was nowhere close to the status of European Champions. On this Blog I have repeatedly called for Di Matteo to alter his shape because we have become too predictable, however i did not expect him to change things going into a Crucial group Clash against the Italian Champions, Who Domestically went unbeaten in 49 games and included World cup winners like Gigi Buffon and Pirlo. What I am saying this was not the game to try new things. Nevertheless Roberto altered his style and played a formation many of Bloggers have called for a Spanish style. At the end of the game it backfired and we suffered our Heaviest defeat in the Champions since losing 3-1 to Roma.
My perspective is that it is sad to think that Chelsea could go into a game as important as this one without a recognized Striker. Over the Years I have supported this club, I have seen great Strikers in Tore Andre Flo, Jimmy Floyd, Gudjohnsen, Drogba, we were always a team that had great Strikers, and its really unbelievable that we paid $50 million dollars for a Striker and The manager does not have the faith that he can deliver, it is an indictment on Torres. But I don’t feel sympathetic to Di Matteo because he knew that Chelsea was competing for 7 Trophies this year, UCL, Supercup, Club world Cup, BPL, FA Cup, League Cup. and Shield, and he made the decision that he does not need any Strikers, Torres will be the man. Even if Torres was scoring what if he gets injured were would the goals come from. Di Matteo made his Bed now he has to lay in it.
One other thing, This Flair and Fancy football philosophy the club is promoting will not bear fruit. Look at Arsenal, they have played neat fancy football and not won a trophy in 7 years, I sure hope we wake up and get back to Basics.
Actually after the game i just sighed and went to bed. Its over and done. No use getting overly upset abt it all. It just shows that chels needs a balance between attack and defence and two players one striker and one cd. Thaz all.
The team needs experience playing with each other and need to build confidence and teamwork and the never give up spirit. If we qiualify for the CL this year and manage to mold a backbone of a team ,settle the youngsters and add the finishing bits to the puzzle i would be happy…. Dont know abt Roman tho….. Our at-times jerk -of an owner may be wishing the impossible…..
And Richard, u sound like an old spinster complaining that the couple in the next room having sex cant achieve orgasm and are just making hoofing noises !
Robbie has left the Club. Incredible. What the heck is going on out there?
This is only the second time i’ve felt Roman has made an error in sacking a manager. the first was Mourinho. Not good….not good at all..
Matt Clark if you are out there, do you think David Luiz and particularly Torres have cost Di Matteo his job. I am all for performance index, but football is an ebb and flow sport you cant just sack a manager just for a months wobble. It just means that Roman never actually fancied RDm as the man to take the team forward. Either he’s got Pep or we are really screwed.
Well looking at the bright side ,the insect torres gets squashed next….
And minutes after i consign last nights matych to the litter bin old dog roman goes on his famed rampage……..bet he has got avg ( our old buddy uncle avram ) waiting to keep the ship afloat at least…… And thus is the poisonous touch of torres…….well i will launch a rotten omatoe ur way one day , u piece of shit………
With Benitez as the odds favourite to take over the reigns,Fernando might do his thing now.
NOT BENITEZ NO!!!!
Guardiola won’t make an early return to football Matblue. The only top class manager available now is Benitez who’s probably willing and he is Spanish.
WHAT ABOUT RIJKAARD!!?? I think he would be good ! to start the process..
Benitez has been confirmed on Chelsea website. I can’t understand this……
What’s even worse than the Benitez news, is that we most likely will not sign Falcao and will be stuck with Torres.
Oh well,the fat Spanish waiter is on board.
Oh well,the fat Spanish waiter has been appointed.