₦airaland Forum

Afolabi6046:
We can't sack him because of one loss naa, but he should adapt, Chelsea noh dey chill for person especially for a coach with unimpressive CV

i pray he adapts, but can he?



Well, i will not be surprised to see him parking the bus one day. Chelsea football club can make a coach do that.

Afolabi6046:
A good coach shouldn't stick to one plan, that's what killed us against Everton and Spurs. He brought in Fab against Everton to still play him deep in the hole when we needed Fab making those defence-splitting passes. A good coach has ideas for when things don't go well

i am not arguing that with you. the fact is that, we are stuck with sarri for now

Afolabi6046:
orrh! They should better start learning plan B now, we're meeting City soon.

can't you see that there is no plan b, but the option is to make plan a better. atleast, money will be involved in making it better. the question now is, can the coach get the enough financial backing and player choice freedom to make it better?

After years of Wembley being a happy hunting ground for Chelsea, the last two visits have been anything but. Plenty of people have drawn a direct line between the Community Shield performance against Man City and the Spurs game at the weekend. It is perfectly reasonable to ask the questions, I asked some of them myself back at the start of the season. Against the top-quality teams, is the current system going to deliver the results?

The other more specific questions being raised are if Jorginho is so vital to our style of play, what happens if he isn’t available. Or if he isn’t having a great day, as we can’t all be brilliant all the time. And what happens if the opposition targets him and manages to squeeze his positive influence out of the game?

Well in simple terms, these scenarios can happen but so far this season they have not happened often, so a bit of perspective is needed. Remember when Liverpool recently visited Stamford Bridge, they detailed Roberto Firmino to drop back to try to kill the space Jorginho was operating in. It worked for a short while, but then he and indeed we as a team adapted.


JORGINHO AND LIVERPOOL'S FIRMINO DURING OUR MEETING EARLIER IN THE SEASON
This is the point; the Premier League, especially at the upper echelons, is filled with not only good players but with fine coaches who are excellent tacticians with plenty of good advisors around them. Clearly they will adapt and try to find a way of negating Chelsea’s style, football has always done that.

In years gone by, when Glenn Hoddle was controlling things for Spurs he was mercilessly closed down. If Eden Hazard is flying, Jose Mourinho when we play Man United will sometimes see fit to ask Ander Herrera to shadow him everywhere. From Maradona to Messi, the list is endless of individual players who make their sides click and who have been targeted, sometimes with success, sometimes without. It is a tactical arms race that develops and the coaches and the players have to develop with it.

At the weekend Spurs managed to do it, but is that a good enough reason to rip up the entire script, after just one defeat away from home against a top-four side? I think that would be quite knee-jerky, but Maurizio Sarri will know that adaptations will be needed now and again from him and his players. If one player is being ‘rushed’ by a few opponents then there is space developing elsewhere, which we somehow have to find and utilise. I spent large parts of my career drawing two, three and four players towards me, hoping to then offload the ball, understanding that those opposition players were to all intents and purposes now out of the game.


PAT NEVIN DRAWING ARSENAL PLAYERS TOWARDS HIM AT STAMFORD BRIDGE
I have heard it said that Chelsea have no plan B. Well we will see about that as plan A has worked fairly well to date and there was little or no need to make huge changes thus far. It may well be that Maurizio holds by the fairly recently developed football proverb, ‘If plan A fails then just make sure you do plan A better next time.’

We will have to wait and see how it goes from here, but one bad day at the office is no reason to throw all the furniture and technology out of the window right away, even if it throws up some difficult questions. Maurizio said himself after the game that he wasn’t particularly pleased with anyone or anything in the game regarding performance levels, so he will be thinking that if everyone played better then there is still no existential problem for the Sarri-ball style.

The question has also been asked about N’Golo Kante’s position wider and further forward than where he has played for us so brilliantly before. And indeed where he has been so successful with France and Leicester before that. I have written about this already on this page and gauging by him signing a new-long term contract, he knows there may well be a prolonged period when he has to adapt to this new role. I would be very surprised however if there weren’t times in the future when he finds himself back in the centre of the engine room.

It goes back to the sobering but realistic point that this is still fairly early days under a new coach and a new system. If Jorginho made such a huge difference to the entire ethos and style, it may well be that there is another player or two that Sarri would like to join the squad in good time that would add just as massively to the project.


90 IN 90 - TOTTENHAM V CHELSEA
That said, it still hurts players and fans to lose to Spurs and for so many players to play so far from the top of their games. The real narrative above and beyond single performances is whether or not Chelsea will be in the top four at the end of the season. This is what concerns us more than anything and with five teams at the moment scrapping it out, it is far from a certainty.

This is why Thursday night is important. Players who haven’t played much will get another outing and they will be pushing harder than ever to muscle their way into the first 11 for the next Premier League match. They will believe there might just be a chance for them after the loss on Saturday evening at Wembley. That is certainly the attitude Sarri wants and is maybe the only silver lining on that cloudy weekend.

The Europa League competition itself is of course vital in that it offers another opportunity to get into the Champions League, as well as the glory of winning it again. So it certainly isn’t the time to panic but to knuckle down for a long, hard important job over the winter. That was meant to sound a little cheerier, but maybe it might be a bit more of a slog for a while after the delight of the season so far. We all know that is what can happen in the Premier League and you just have to deal with it as a fan and a player.

"There's one [player] that I'm going to put a bit more in front because most of my goals came from him, it's Frank Lampard," Drogba said.
"And also because every day after training we were staying on the pitch trying to practice, trying to create some exercises because the ones we did a few days ago were becoming too easy.
"So, we were trying to bring in new exercises and that's how we progressed and challenged each other to score goals, to create assists and for me I learned a lot from him."






Are there chelsea players who can still do this?

"For the people who don't love us too much, who use money as an argument, then we have failed if we don't win the Champions League," he said.
Bernardo Silva (pictured), Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan will miss the game against Lyon
"For the other people, especially our fans, the people who say, 'OK, we enjoy watching our games, we are happy with what the guys are doing', I am pretty sure they don't have regrets about what these guys are doing for the last 12, 14, 15 months every three days.
"That is the best compliment, the best success a team can have.
Guardiola says Phil Foden is ready to step up against Lyon
"But we want to qualify [for the last 16], continue that level in the Premier League, being solid away and at home, and arrive in the best condition possible [at that stage] with everyone fit and [ready to] compete.
"Then - OK, try it again, why not? And if we go to the quarter-finals and maybe you are lucky to go forward. After that, the competition it speaks for itself. A lot of desires, a lot of wishes we can have at the end.
"The competition is so tough, so clinical, to say if you are better you are going to win, if you don't, you are going home."






Is this preparation for a soft landing.

popizaino:
You were 100% spot on until ya conclusion where you had to be biased. Tell me who sarri requested for and wasn't granted since he isn't allowed to point and kill ?


That aside you are one of the very few posters along with pkasso and Eruditor I could pay to read their comments.

okay na. You no know your club. No worry, na here we dey.

Ibime:
Hmm. We got taught a lesson.

Jorginho better hold on to 90% possession so as not to become another Fab-escort service.

I better not hear of any new contract negotiation for David Luiz.

Sarri looking like Pep without money. This is what Pep teams would look like if he could not buy his way out of every problem. No defensive structure, conceding big chances from every attack. Remind me of Bayern in UCL under Pep.

Thank you my brother. The funny thing is, he is not sure of the money.

The Tottenham defeat was not a surprise to me. Pochetino is tactically sound and he took a leave from marco silva.

It is very easy to beat this new chelsea.
I blame sarri. Now i know why he has not been able to win anything in his career. He is not flexible and reactive(at least, that is what he has shown). I don't blame any of our attackers for the Tottenham defeat.

First, sarri has made chelsea to only play through the middle. Some teams have found out and have started to choke the midfield.
Everton did that, but they didn't have enough quality in attack to hurt us.

Secondly, we don't have good fullbacks that can put in decent crosses. (even though we only had one tall person in attack in the person of morata).

Sarri's insistence of using some players and playing some out of position is a problem also.

One, alonso should not be in the first eleven. Our fullbacks should be good crossers with sure defensive qualities. Emerson is a good option. Luiz is a calamity and should not be starting for any reason. Kante should be returned to his normal position, so that he can do what he is best at. Jorginho can find somewhere on the bench if he cannot play the same role on the right as Kovacic does on the left.


The worst of all was that sarri displayed cluelessness in his changes. I mean, how can you remove your striker when you should be put another one in to help the one that is already in.

Mehn, i am afraid for this sarri o, and the worst is that he is not allowed to point and kill like pep, Mourinho and klopp. The thing go hot for am o.

raumdeuter:
Aguero himself told everyone who cared to listen that he had to work very hard on his game to still be relevant

when you make this statement in defence of your "aguero is finished" goof, i start wondering where the intelligence you claim to have is.

is there a single player that does not work hard to adapt to a new style from a new coach? you must think you are talking to fools.

you have been camping on our thread for years just because we have refused to become the fools and you student that you want us to become. majority of the chelsea fans can never become your asslickers. you can try the up barka thread.

Afolabi6046:
this is what you resort to when they box you in a corner? Hazard is arguably one of the best attackers in England but you would tell us only the UCL matter. I've never seen a better double-mouthed fella

dont mind him. he thinks we are all fools

raumdeuter:
Messi and Higuain were the starters on the game.

Messi is arguably the greatest attacker in the world of all time,
As at 2014, Higuain was probably the best attacker in Italy

Aguero came in as a sub
As at 2014 Aguero was one of the best attackers in the EPL

oga, you said the best attackers in the game. don't push it to any league.
you are still the same person that told us that aguero is a local champion, can't start for his country and is one the reason man city have never won the ucl. now, you are the same person telling us about best attackers in the game.


the higuian you said was chased out of madrid by benzema

raumdeuter:
When you have a defensive partner as horrid as Hummels on the world cup night who was getting outrun all night, Boateng had to do 2 players job vs the best attackers in the game and still kept a clean sheet in the bigest game of the sport

pls name

Heywhizzy:
Lol.. during Sane's World Cup snub, many were justifying his omission stating he's overrated.. many of them still insist Sterling and G. Jesus are overhyped, they tagged Bernardo as overrated seeing his performances for Portugal during the World Cup and before.. They don't still rate Stones at all, Mendy is unintelligent, Walker is all pace and power.. after all these, they conclude by saying Guardiola only plays with big names.. They only rate Silva, Aguero and De bruyne (safe for some few hazard addicts).. Yet he only coaches World class players

are you not still part of the people that tell us that hazard is a mediocre and that chelsea has no world class player. but, you will still tell us, when it is convenient for you that chelsea is a big club

eph12:
Sergio Ramos tackle per match is far higher than VVD and LaPorte. What a terrible defender! I just checked up some defenders that people praise and either they have high tackle or clearance rate. There are no more great defenders. Wait LaPorte is the last man standing

now, this is one of those cases you should drop your eyes, sense and stats and listen to what one of the greatest has to say.


Raumdeuter is a joke. He likes ridiculing himself.

raumdeuter:
The crux of the matter is to use your eyes and brains in judging events. CAF, FIFA UEFA have been known to make errors

yeah we know that they only make errors when it concerns your preferred players.

raumdeuter:
They wear the coat of ignorance with such pride that its amazing. When you gather the most ignorant football fans, 80% of them are usually Chelsea fans

i Can bet my left balls that barca fans will win it. Very ignorant people.

raumdeuter:
No one will talk about how diabolical Hidden Shakushaku has been

have you ever talked about how horrible Neymar played in any match?

olujastro:
Couldn't agree more.

I have said it over and over again that Innoson isn't ready for commercial business yet. No marketing and TV adverts at all!
I wanted to buy IVM 3yrs ago because of my passion to grow Nigerian brands. (I usually first check products in grocery stores and pick Nigerian-made brands ahead of imported ones.)
I couldn't find any information online or on TV about how to buy IVM cars.
I even went as far as pointing it out on IVM's Facebook page last year, hoping to see a change. For where!

I still vividly remember the Izuzu, Bedford and Toyota adverts on TV in the 90s.

The annoying part of everything is how some of our Igbo brothers and friends include this among several unwarranted claims of marginalisation by the federal govt. (Even though this govt has patronised IVM the most - if not the only one)

This political type of reasoning has weakened my threshold several times, but somehow I still manage to accommodate such sentiments and keep it cool.

only if you knew. innoson himself has come out to say that his company does not yet have the resources and capacity for batch production of cars. therefore, he produces only on demand. that is why it is marginalisation if the fg will want to provide land for herdsmen to rear their cows and fail to made grants and lands available for manufacturing companies that pay tax and have the potential to be global brands.

raumdeuter:
Exactly. You are right. Best African to play in EPL

chai sorry

raumdeuter:
Has achieved more than hidden Hazard, CL finalist world cup winner when he was in form

yeah, he is greater than Hazard

raumdeuter:
Salah is the highest goal scorer in a season in the EPL all time

yeah. We are saying the same thing. Salah is the greatest African to play in EPL. Shebi?

raumdeuter:
Congrats Drogba. The ultimate big game player

African legend. I have forgiven you for Munich

yeah, but don't forget that mo salah is greater than him

raumdeuter:
Congrats Drogba. The ultimate big game player

African legend. I have forgiven you for Munich

yeah, but don't forget that mo salah is greater than him

EvilMetahuman:
yeah. It's because he is refusing to sign new contract though.

I'm sure he will collect close to 500 if he decides to sign contract today.

thanks too manyoo and mancity for that too.

what I have been reading in the news is that they are offering him 300.

Not only united and city, Ozil is earning more than Hazard. Sanchez was also earning more in Arsenal

EvilMetahuman:
Hazard and his instant impact. Chelsea should put him on 400 a week abeg.

sterling of yesterday is already collecting 300

Kepa = basket

raumdeuter:
Whether its Mary go round or Janet go round

The fact is Kdb is Citys best player and missing, In his absence they have dropped some points. In a league any dropped point can make you miss the title

my friend, you are not talking to kids here. I rest my case.

raumdeuter:
KdB wont be back till middle of December. By that time half of the season will be gone

Pogba missed 7 matches with injury last season

the main thing is that injury is part of the season and it affects every team.

Man city have people who can comfortably step in for KDB and the team will still maintain balance. How do i know that? There position and point tells me so.