₦airaland Forum

Kimbeast:
This world cup has done irredeemable damage to Argentina football image. The hate is actually now worldwide.

more like expose hidden cobwebs and Argentine players were well arrogant players so they have themselves to blame.

Even if Argentina won the world cup, the noise may have been louder against them

Welcom LaCroix may your paternship with colwill be a lasting wall to clean sheet and trophies

Ibime:
Giardiola should wait for Spain or Portugal job if he is tired of club management

Make Italy no stain him white

why? you believe Italy don't have players that can compete with a good coach

how many people rated Spain to win the world cup, on paper portugal had the better players. It would be a stain if pep is once again afraid of a challenge like how he turned down chelsea for city

nateevs:
Has he? Interesting. Who played in the back 4?

emenalo colwill fofana palestra

Alonso has been using 4231, hope he doesn't do a pitch on us and change when season starts

cc natev

Hateevs na you make be go watch kerim Alajbegovic, read he is joining for 30 35m

Capaldi:
He still failed with the Spanish national team.

were you one of those that advised Chelsea not to hire him that season?

Capaldi:
I don't care what formation Xabi uses. All I want to see is free flowing attacking football. None of that back passing recycling like Spain under the inept Luis Enrique and a resounding demolition against Arsenal. If he dare lose to Arsenal then he should be sacked.

💯 butt hat inept Enrique has won UCL back to back

Ibime:
Is there any other club winning consistently with 3 ATB?

They are all one season wonders who are easily figured out, whether Leverkusen, previous Chelsea iterations, Amorim etc

Consistent winners Madrid, Barca, City, PSG, Bayern are all 4-3-3 teams. That's how you build identity and consistency

Juve won with 3atb back to back to back they almost made serie a Bundesliga

nateevs:
If you study Alonso's tactical solutions, you will notice that he likes to deploy 2 x 10s and a striker in a 3421, instead of 2 wingers and a striker in a 343. His 2 x 10s have tactical flexibility to drift to the flanks and provide width when required.... otherwise width is provided predominantly by the WBs.

The RHS 10 was already settled - Palmer and Estevao.

Though one might be tempted to think he'd adapt to the players ealready have, if you look at profiles of the players we've been genuinely linked with - Kroupi, Ibrahim Maza, Godts, Alajbergovic- you'd have known we were looking for LHS 10s and not particularly wingers. We went for Rogers in the end. And so by forward thinking, it makes sense to think that Garnacho, Neto and Gittens are now surplus to requirements. Only Gittens can't leave because he's injured... so loan, maybe.


Enzo will leave... seeing as we've now submitted an official bid for Alex Scott. Also because we went for Xhaka and have gone for similar profile midfielders like Wharton since then. To add to this, we sold Santos, who was our next best midfielder for a 4-3-3 behind Caicedo.

If you ask me, I say Barco will be an understudy, Lavia can't leave because he's injured (I don't want him to leave anyway).... and Essugo deputises Caicedo.


I put Quenda as wing back because he's already played there (albeit RWB) for a full season. He did so under Amorim who also deployed 3ATB at Sporting CP. So don't be surprised to see this if the LWB targets (Araujo, Chavaria, Hall) don't materialise. Barco is also an option.

In reality Chelsea can't buy all the players they want and won't sell all those players. They should first finalize lacroix or some top cb. Hall is going to manu

We don't need too many changes in the team, getting a new cm even if Enzo stays as per some reports is a good move. If Bournemouth don't sell us Scott then maybe Kone or Garner if Xabi insists on EPL proven. So a CB(or 2) and a CM.

We don't have Europe, so I dont see the need for a LHS back up when we have neto and haven't sold off half of those attackers. I dont agree with selling all the wingers becuz Alonso uses 2 10s.

We have hato for lb/lcb Barco lb/cm quenda for lwb, even neto can play lwb 😂 serie top defender can play lwb and rwb

You can look at it as 4231 or 3421 or whatever sha, apart from lacroix and another top cb to replace tosin, fofana them, John stones for instance

StarchAndBanga:
Last Champions league win by ur darling club, formation used was 3-4-3

Last league win by ur darling club, 3-5-2

If three at the back would make Chelsea start competing for league titles and champions leagues again then that's good news.

4-4-2 fanatics like urself should go and support other Clubs that play ur preferred formation

not like formation are static during games, it's tactics and player movements that win games. Xabi could do something like this from his bayer and madrid days. I excluded enzo

nateevs:
Enzo was just a placeholder for that image. May heaven never allow it.

My understanding is that Xabi will not play with Enzo and Caicedo in a 3-4-2-1 and that is evidenced by the immediate chase for Xhaka upon his arrival, and subsequent follow-ups for similar players in Wharton, Alex Scott, Manu Kone et al.... one the Xhaka deal fell through.

My preference is Alex Scott.

doesn't Xabi use a controller in his midfield set up? so reports sayin Xabi wants to keep Enzo are lies because in your formation Enzo is in midfield he can't replace Rogers in attack either

Carot:
Who stands for rodri? A40, ibime, pdpguy, andrewbaba44, kilishihunter, drisham, popiziano, moratafc

please who is that Brazil number 8 looking around confused

Bluelines69:
Is Alex Scott not a runner as well or maybe I’ve not seen him too much, Xhaka was a miss he would have fit right in while letting Caicedo roam, we need that Matic profile for this formation to work

Matic profile? Was Matic a runner?

nateevs:
That just means you are detached from the events at club level. If you have been following, then you understand that Hall, Wharton, Xhaka, Stones and Alajbergovic have been linked strongly to the club for a reason - tactical solutions for a 3-4-2-1.

Hall is linked because Rayo want too much money for Pep Chavaria. Wharton/Alex Scott/Manu Kone because Xhaka fell through. Stones, because, well.... free agent defender and Senior man. Alajbergovic as second 10 to Rogers.

I excluded Enzo, Neto, Garnacho, Gittens, Guiu, Fofana, Tosin, Gusto, Sarr and Delap for same reason - players linked with moves away from the club. A few of them would fit in as well if we don't move them on.

Even if we used only Lacroix as the imaginary player, we still have more than enough tactical solutions for a 3-4-2-1 without playing any more than 4 defenders.

In any case, there's no version of this where we get to play Rogers, Joao, Palmer, Estevao and Quenda in the same starting 11, whether 3-4-2-1 or 4-3-3.

even if you remove Enzo, who may not leave, dont we have Barco, essugo/lavia and I know Chelsea is after alex Scott but that's if Enzo leaves

Then there is you putting quenda as left wing back, maybe palestra plays there, we still have gusto and James. Only garnacho and guiu seem highest to leave, I doubt half of those names actually leave, especially neto who like you said may fit in. We can use him at back up instead of spending on Alajbergovic, because no way they are able to sell neto gitten and garnacho this summer

Nice line up but that left side looks defensively

nateevs:
We do have players for the 3-4-2-1. That's not even a debate.

Alonso's success will not come to whether or not he plays Estevao (even though I agree Estevao must see good playing time)..... it will come from how effectively he deploys Rogers, Palmer, Joao, and the wing backs.

you have too many imaginary players in your line up

my point isn't focused on estevao but on him wasting the attacking options he has just to play more defenders

airmark:

I don't always go with ignorant crowd, that's my sin. But most times I would come back to rub it on their faces and thats why they are angry and hungry to fight back at every little chance.



Who did they not rate over Cucurella on this board, but I defended the boy and we both shamed them.

They defended nonsense players like Garnacho and Jakujaku Jackson and when they flopped I used my two fingers to pierce their eyes.

Joao Pedro displaced their Jakujaku Jackson and we became the World champions with the same maligned defence and I spanked their dumb heads.

airmark, Chelsea have like 5 strikers now, including jackson they report wants to stay or villa wants to buy, so who should xabi keep as his three options for striker

nateevs:
It is a 3-4-3.... seeing as we are pursuing wingbacks.

Alonso likes to deploy double 10s in the forward 3, slightly behind the striker, instead wing forwards... but these 10s operate with tactical flexibility about the forward line and can drift to the wings when required.

Rogers and Palmer will be the left and right 10s respectively. Estevao will deputise on the the RHS 10.

not sure Chelsea have players for a 343 though, I know we got palestra boy that can play left and right wing back, but with the number of attacking players we have it would be silly to limit them to starting just 3 just to have one more cb we don't even have.

if he sticks with his preseason formation then it's 4231, Alonso will fail as a manager if he benches estevao, Pedro and quenda, we even have excess garbage upfront. We have too many backups that estevao should become one

popizaino:
Can we talk about the double standards? 🧱📉

Last night, the pundits spent 90 minutes killing Rosenior for being "too safe." But if we’d lost 4-0 playing "Heavy Metal" football, they’d be calling for his head today. 🚫🧤

Liam said it best: He’s been in that studio. He knows the game. 🧊🪄

You can't win with the "experts" unless you win on the pitch. They want "bravery" when it fails and "discipline" when it works. 🏗️🔨

The Truth: We went to the Emirates and held the best team in the country to zero big chances until the 97th minute. The plan worked defensively, the "wingers" just didn't deliver the offensive end. 🦁🧱

Stop listening to the noise. Trust the process


Copied#

bro there is no "process" to trust, just another transition in works. It might fail it might work, nothing to trust after many failed attempts

So you prefer gittens to garnacho

airmark:
We should get Mathys Detourbet by summer and send Garnacho on loan.

BlueRayDick:
Omo! But how can your coach start the match with just 3/4 attack minded players in the line up when he intends to overturn the first leg loss?

I thought he would take hato off, bring in garnacho and push cucurella back, there a chance cucu had and instead of shooting he tried to pass and got blocked. Ntl the coach made good subs it just didn't click for Chelsea. I didn't understand the point of a front two when delap was almost playing rw, almost no crosses or passes into the box before he got taken off

Carot:
Enzo5, airmark, ibime, did you see how havertz disgraced Sanchez

it's not like he won them the ucl

MorataFC:
Is this one commentator or a musician?

This is so funny!!! pic.twitter.com/DXfOxU5abU

— Frank Khalid OBE (@FrankKhalidUK) February 2, 2026

🤣

[img]

UncleHaba22:
🚨 Chelsea may be forced to play their Champions League Round of 16 “home” match at a neutral venue outside London.

UEFA rules prevent multiple UCL games in the same city on the same night, giving Arsenal and Tottenham priority over Chelsea for March 18–19 fixtures. Without special dispensation, Stamford Bridge won’t host the tie. [MailSport]

Wow we really need a new stadium, this insult hit the spot

airmark:
That's how you know those from gutter backgrounds and they are still dwelling in there. They leave the crux of the argument and start going personal, exposing their filthy characters in public.

Anyways I will continue pressing their necks until they accept they goofed.

think of it on a lighter note, he CAN'T possibly be insulting his younger sister right

timbros:
Legit news?

I no even understand Mudryk case. Was he banned? For how long?

ya he was banned, but new evidences showed he was innocent, sad story though

Apparently Ukraine FA are to blame for the substance found in his system, and mudryk passed a lie detector test. I think Chelsea or shaktar his former club were threatening to sue their FA. So sad about how the whole thing dragged, first he was accused for many months then finally officially banned for something he was innocent of, but well on some less bright side it's just a year and not four years

airmark:
Chelsea squad? I thought they reported earlier that he would join Strasbourg or Sevilla.

a loan would do him good, or he can battle it out it's a new manager who may see him fit somewhere if chelsea haven't given up on him sha

Mykhailo Mudryk is set to return to the Chelsea squad on January 17th, 2026.

Another lwb or rwb option for liam