₦airaland Forum

IvanoviCccccccccccccccc!

Legend for sure.

Begovic doing what he knows how to do best!

Is Ivanovic trolling us or what? This ninja is supposed to be on a plane heading to Russia.

These Brentford boys are going physical, make we just forget bringing Hazard and Costa on.

CONTEDDICTED:
Funny
Apart from Crossing, I think he is better offensively

Alonso is better offensively. You have to work yourself into the position to make those crosses and that's what Alonso knows how to do best.

This Ake boy is damn solid. I love those ghetto tackles. If only his attacking side of the game was as good as Alonso's, I'll kindly send the Spaniard packing.

Willieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Hehe. 2nil Wolvehampton. The Kops are seriously looking for that lost form.

nateevs:
Ibime must still be smiling now. No doubt.

Hehe.

lordfalcao:
recommending players is the least thing emenalo does as a TD in Chelsea... He is the link which coaches, staff and all speak to Roman. Over the years he has been TD, we have had good and bad transfers am yet to know who was signing the good ones and who was signing the bad ones..

You don't wanna do this debate, believe me.

lordfalcao:
Emenalo do not go out to look for players for you. He sanctions deals what is given to him..

He recommends some of the players we sign, its part of his job description.

raumdeuter:
You no thank me for exposing Torres and John Terry as frauds

The JT debate only exposed you as a fraud and you know it.

That said, I must hail your view on the Torres arguement. I'm sure that was one debate that divided the entire sports section.

The likes of Nateevs, Ritchboy, Coogar, Etc were all on the Torres team. While you, Ibime and some other folks stood on the opposite side. Na that year, JackBaeurballs join NL and begin sama us with queen's English over the matter.

Good old days!

lordfalcao:
I swear.. Seems other manager were clueless on who to sign..

We can't entirely blame those managers for all that. They were only dancing to the tune of our owner and the clueless Emenalo.

I guess he who pays the piper dictates the tone.

Ibime:
Thanks man. The bribe is in the post

Ogbonge reality

diggz:
Lol.....at least ibime don rest small on transfer matters and everyone is extremely happy with Conte.

IB is a seasoned pundit, there's no debating it. I've been following his views on wide range of Chelsea related issues on this board since 2010 and I can authoritatively tell you that hardly a time has the man come short.

Talk about going against Torres' signing, Emenalo's ideology, AVB, Oscar, Mikel, Mata etc. After the storm and the protracted debates, Ibime still wins.

He was the first to claim that Emenalo was given a mandate to transform Chelsea into a tiki-taka playing side. The first to opine that in his bid to actualise the tiki-taka ideology, Emenalo has decided to stock-pile our team with wingers, a decision that clearly exposes his zero knowledge of the game. Ibime was the first to assert that we must first acquire steel in our midfield, if we must work towards a tiki-taka model. Stressing that Mikel isn't a DM and can't be trusted to provide our bunch of AMs with the needed freedom to buzz the tiki-taka way. The first to reject the Oscar replacing KDB idea. Stressing that the former is a runner and can never become a good CM.

Look at our team now and look back at Ibime's assertions. Its pretty obvious this man has been seeing the future all these years.

Conti, Morata, Kessie, Vidal, Ricardo Rodriguez?

In a normal window, we would be linked with gazillion number of wingers.

Conte na manager!

According to reports, Ivanovic said his goodbyes to his teammates in training today and will quit the club before the end of January transfer window.

Sky Sports has got this breaking news that he's closing on a move to Zenit.

He is a legend and we can only say thank you.

dyabman:
I'm with you brah !

You sef eh.

CONTEDDICTED:
So the only midfielders allowed in 3-4-3 are DMs?

You are telling me you are gonna Bench Xavi for Matic if you wanna play 3-4-3 Cause of some theory

Like Fabregas didn't play the CM role against City

Make we bone the issue, I don't have the time

You need to understand how every setup works and the personnel needed for it to thrive.

That Cesc played against Citeh and we won doesn't necessarily qualify him to be the ideal ninja for a 3-4-3. Do your research on this formation, check what is required of its CMs and weigh them with Cesc's attributes.

You can't know better than Conte who prefers a certain useless bean-pole Serbian.

Nihilist:
3 flickons and one pass to Pedro for a golazo. Matic is not completing his partner anything. Kante is making not just more tackles and interceptions, he is making more at least 20 more passes than Matic per game, and is making more KEY PASSES per game.

Is that complementing? Cos that looks more like piggybacking to me.

Flickons you never saw in 2014/15. A well tailored pass to Kante against Manure and a pass to Pedro. These are headlines you never saw the season he was charging mates down in a 4-2-3-1.

Admit it that this dude is doing something different. He can't be Cesc 'cos he doesn't have that innate ability to create chances. He can't be a deep-playmaker.

I don't expect him to post more assists or even goals over Cesc 'cos he can't just compare with the latter who at some point in his career has played as a striker.

Matic is a DM and I would rather have him in a 3-4-3 over Cesc.

Nothing personal.

.......

Nihilist:
So why is Kante posting those numbers that Matic used to post while the Serbian continues to ghost around the pitch doing the square root of fück all?

Is Kante Conte's trusted Colonel abi na field Marshall?

Kante is posting those numbers because he has a superior skillset. The super energy to cover more grounds and the stamina to bully mates off the ball.

Matic can't beat himself up, all he can do is to try and complement the Frenchman. And he's doing pretty fine in my opinion.

Six assists for a player who isn't entirely known for going forward isn't bad. That's complementing your partner.

Nihilist:
The reason why we are questioning Matic now is because he is posting nowhere near thenough numbers he posted in 14/15

He has been steadily declining, slowly but surely. That's why when Conte has to make a change in midfield Matic is the disposable one.

Matic is not in the team because Conte trusts him. He's in the team because Conte trusts Fabregas less. Conte won't be chasing Naingollan upandan like a spurned lover if Matic was his first choice.

Nateevs used to say something- what we need is a blend of both Fab and Matic. That's the most balanced explanation I've heard in this issue.

Matic isn't declining, their is only a change of role for him.

He was Jose's trusted lieutenant in front of his back four in that 4-2-3-1 years ago. It brought out the best in him. That is something you cant expect of him in a 3-4-3 where the two Cms are expected to both apply pressure on the ball and cut out supplies.

Their is a reason Mou needs this ninja at manure.

raumdeuter:
A lot of those Fabregas passes were due to his own vision and ability to throw a pass from midfield and locate Costa 30yards away. Or because of his solid dead ball delivery. Matic had nothing to do with it

Let Matic stand on his own and show us his performance. The way Kante is in the same position now and no one has any doubt about his contribution

Some minutes ago you were hailing Makalele for his defensive prowess whilst dissing Lamps for his inability to help out defensively. Just right now, you're hailing Cesc for his attacking prowess only to be dissing our defensive aegis of 2015, Matic.

How funny?

Ibime asserted that, Matic was carrying Cesc in our title winning season. And I informed you that is true 'cos just like Maka, someone needed to do the dirty job.

I don't see why you still don't get it. Did Cesc at any point post a higher number of tackles, clearances and interceptions over Matic in 2015? If your answer to that is a yes, then I promise you, I'm aint arguing any further.

raumdeuter:
Gudjonsen played most of his career as a support striker and very few games in midfield. It was actually in Barcelona that he was pushed more to midfield

You mean fabregas carried Matic. The Fabregas that was throwing record high assists from CM. 19 league assists.

Chelsea scored 73 goals Fabregas scored or assisted 22 of them from Central midfield. Na that person you dey talk say dem carry?

Oga understand your own arguement.

By carrying Cesc, Matic provided him the luxury to go forward and rack up those damn 19 assists.

Fabregas couldn't have traveled upfield to rack up those assists and still ran back home to break-up play and bully opposition players off the ball. Could he?

Was he that out-of-this-world?

CONTEDDICTED:
Like Kante can't play DM??

I don't get, we are clearly a better team with Fabregas

Kante can play as a DM cos he is one and so is Matic. Cesc is no DM and you must not be confused into thinking he is one 'cos he once worn the number 4 jersey at Arsenal.

The central midfielders in a 3-4-3 system have similar defensive roles to that of a 4-4-2. They are responsible for pressuring the ball and cutting out easy direct passes up to the forwards.

Also, it is crucial the midfielders win loose balls and tackle well when defending in a 3-4-3 system. CMs would constantly be aware of what is happening behind them, as they may be required to fill a central defensive cover spot at times in this system.

Matic has been doing this job since his days at Benfica. He came back to Chelsea, did perfectly fine on this same role. Next season, he's winning us the league and getting rated as the best DM in the country.

Fast-forward to 2016/17, Cesc Fabregas who knows nothing about DM business now knows a lot about the position than Matic? Please explain.

CONTEDDICTED:
How is a player that misplace passes under my slight pressure making us better defensively than the one who keeps it
Losing balls makes us vulnerable defensively especially when we already have Kante in the team

Cesc is better at ball retention but then I don't see how that makes him a better defensive midfielder than Nemanja.

Last I checked, tackles, interceptions and clearances are the key atrributes of a DM. So if Cesc doesn't score good figures in those areas over Matic, e better say you and the spaniard find a bed to rest in.

raumdeuter:
Kante is really covering some peoples A$s

If only Kante had gone to play for Mali we for dey see the Serbian Olofinjana dey run or ruin things

Like he did and help win us the title in 2015? Those light-skinned a$ses must have been covered by Fabregas innit?

Niggas and fleeting memory!

Nihilist:
Matic isn't really bringing much to the table offensively or defensively.

Maybe he isn't bringing much but compared to Cesc what does the stats say?

CONTEDDICTED:
I don't know why most people think Matic makes us better defensively than Fabregas does


Matic is zero for me, he is good for nothing ....He doesn't win tackles and he misplace passes with ease

No one can convince me Matic is a better option Vs Whoever

Pfft. I'll rather run to Libya for safety than to spend a night in Sudan.

How Is Cesc better than Matic defensively? Reel out the stats; number of interceptions, clearances and tackles.

Maybe then I can pay attention to you.

.....

Ibime:
Senegal are playing Cameroon in AFCON QF on Saturday.

Lets all pray for Sadio Manes success so he doesn't return for next Tuesdays match.

In other news Burkinabes and Bertrand Traore have topped their group and are through to the QF. Aubameyangs Gabon don comot with 3 straight draws.

Even if they're to lose to Cameroon, jet-lag should be a concern coming into the Chelsea game. He would probably need to sit-out our game.