₦airaland Forum

debosky: Shut your fat face - who is talking about Malouda and Ferreira here?

Your article talks about mutinous scenes, if you don't know the meaning of mutiny, I suggest you look it up.

If it was simply Torres out of line, his teammates would've told him to STFU and sit down. Instead, everyone was having a go at each other over the poor results. Complete breakdown = loss of the dressing room!

You my friend are an eediot. And how do you know Torres' teammates did not tell him to STFU? Busy quoting grammar and missing the obvious quote:

In the team meeting at lunchtime on Tuesday, when Di Matteo announced that Hazard would play up front instead of Torres, this was met with the tacit approval of many of the players.

Yeah, he lost the dressing room, abi he lost Torres?

debosky: No he isn't - he is a high quality player that Di Matteo has mismanaged. Just watch and see what happens when RB takes over.

Hodgson mismanaged
Ancelotti mismanaged
AVB mismanaged
RDM mismanaged

First it was the weather, then it was the slow midfield, then it was the lack of Spanish voices in dressing room, then it was Lampard, Drogba and Malouda, then Ancelooti, then AVB, then RDM, then MaZaCar, now shekpe eediots have been handed their final card - Rafa Benitez. Already Coogar is signing disclaimer "that Benitez may not get the best out of him". I hope we wont have to sign Kuyt, Gerrard and Maxi Rodriguez as well as recall Benayoun from loan to boot before excuses run out.

debosky: So a coach who just bought (or given) over £60m of midfield talent can't get them to 'spring opposition defences'? That enough is cause for him to be fired.

Another ranting of a confused eediot. I remember when this "spring opposition defences" or "switchback" was first tabled. Even Nateevs would confess how I asked how MaZaCar are supposed to sit in their own half waiting to "spring defences".

Eediot like Debosky is asking silly question like this. Tactical lilliput.

By the way, how is Andre Santos baring up vis-a-vis Jose Enrique as you were arguing last summer. Mumu!



An eediot came here to ask me today, "why did RDM abandon his balance", yet the same eediot was asking me after Stoke game "Ibime, whats that nonsense you were talking about maintaining balance". Duplicitous tongue, with no opinion, just trying to chat rubbish!

So once again, like Dayo asked: How many managers has Torres sacked?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2236606/Roberto-Di-Matteo-sacked-Chelsea-Roman-Abramovich-Inside-story-Neil-Ashton.html#ixzz2CxbffopQ


[size=14pt]He won Abramovich the Champions League but was repeatedly told to play Torres: The real story behind Di Matteo's brutal sacking[/size]


When Roberto Di Matteo named his team at Turin’s luxurious Golden Palace Hotel on Tuesday lunchtime, it was a final act of defiance.

Fernando Torres paid for his pitiful performance at West Bromwich on Saturday and Di Matteo knew the evening would end in yet another change in personnel. On this occasion, in the office of the Chelsea manager.

But Di Matteo sensed the end was coming long before his 42nd and last game in charge. As early as last summer, when he dared question the strength of Torres’ ambition at Chelsea, the European Cup-winning coach was left in no doubt about who is actually in charge at Stamford Bridge.

When he was finally appointed ‘manager and first-team coach’, 25 days after landing club football’s greatest prize in Munich’s Allianz Arena, Di Matteo presented Roman Abramovich with a list of summer transfer targets.

Radamel Falcao, the free-scoring striker with 36 goals in 50 appearances for Atletico Madrid in his first season in Spain, was at the top of it.

But before Chelsea’s manager could even make a case for the Colombian striker he was cut short. Abramovich told him he already had a world-class finisher and the message was clear: Torres was to play. It was a message that was repeated on an almost daily basis.

That was life at Chelsea for Di Matteo, operating under almost intolerable conditions long before he axed Torres ahead of the shocking 3-0 defeat against Juventus. He knew he had to select Torres. It was the owner’s wish. But he also knew there were problems using Torres when the players Abramovich had brought in did not suit the Spaniard’s style of play.

Di Matteo had run the analysis on Torres, asking the club’s technical team for a breakdown of the 81 goals he scored for Liverpool before his move south to London.

When Di Matteo went through the detail, a worrying pattern emerged that convinced him Chelsea did not have the personnel to accommodate his game.

At Anfield, 56 of his goals (69 per cent) were engineered by defence-splitting passes, usually from Steven Gerrard or Xabi Alonso. At Chelsea, players like Juan Mata, Frank Lampard, Ramires and John Mikel Obi — together with new arrivals Oscar and Eden Hazard – preferred to pass their way through the opposition. They did not spring opposition defences and Di Matteo was already beginning to doubt whether Torres was committed to the Chelsea project.

Di Matteo’s relationship with technical director Michael Emenalo was already strained, but it was stretched to the limit by the pressure to get Torres among the goalscorers.

Some sympathised, but others were openly questioning the motivation of a striker who was once regarded as the best finisher in world football.

Upstairs in his office at the club’s Cobham training centre and puffing on cigarettes out on the balcony, Di Matteo frequently discussed Torres’ form with assistants Eddie Newton and Steve Holland.

It hardly helped that the £50million striker had confided in team-mates that he was unhappy at the club, even saying as much to a Spanish journalist on the night Chelsea lifted the European Cup.

But a new season amounted to a new start for Di Matteo and Abramovich was quick to apply the same approval index rating he uses to judge every manager — Champions League progress.

The day after Chelsea drew 2-2 with Juventus in the opening fixture in Group E, when goals from Arturo Vidal and Fabio Quagliarella secured a point for the Italians, Abramovich arrived unannounced at the training ground.

He asked Di Matteo, his coaching staff and some of the players if they still had the desire for another crack at the competition after last season’s incredible triumph.

By 3am on Wednesday, Di Matteo was clearing the decks of his spacious office after being sacked at the training ground by chairman Bruce Buck and chief executive Ron Gourlay, just over an hour after they arrived back from defeat in Turin.

He knew it was coming, saying farewell and shaking hands with the players in the dressing room at the Juventus Stadium.
The incredible stats

These were private moments and a significant number of the team apologised to Di Matteo for failing to recreate the spirit that led to FA Cup and European glory last season. Three days earlier, in the dressing room at The Hawthorns, the fingers had been pointed by the players in a post-match inquest following the 2-1 defeat. It sounded explosive.

Abramovich had to be talked out of firing Di Matteo on Saturday by his close circle of advisors, but the Champions League clash with Juve was the tipping point.

On Sunday the players came in for a warm-down at Cobham and flew on a delayed flight to Turin on Monday after Di Matteo held a short meeting with coaching staff.

In Turin, Chelsea’s players picked up on Di Matteo’s distress and it transmitted to the squad in a subdued and sometimes directionless training session at Juve’s stadium on Monday evening.

They knew he was about to make a tactical switch, but the message was muddled and there was uncertainty among the players as they chatted in hushed tones over dinner in the team hotel.

In the team meeting at lunchtime on Tuesday, when Di Matteo announced that Hazard would play up front instead of Torres, this was met with the tacit approval of many of the players.

On the field they failed spectacularly, however, and Di Matteo, who spent 45 minutes talking to his Italian advisor in the tunnel after the defeat, knew the game was up.

As they all got on the airport bus which delivered them to their Titan Airways flight — which finally took off at 1.45am from northern Italy — the atmosphere was tense.

By that point Di Matteo and Newton, both in sharp, grey suits, were hanging on for grim life as the bus, with Buck and Gourlay in attendance, made the short trip to the aircraft steps.

Di Matteo knew that his number was up, unable to motivate a striker who has scored just four goals in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Even Torres’ solitary Champions League strike was a fluke, a ricochet that somehow rebounded into the net of Andriy Pyatov in the 3-2 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on November 7.

Undoubtedly Di Matteo under-estimated the owner’s obsession with winning silverware. Abramovich has not forgotten Jose Mourinho gesturing to him at Wembley, counting the trophies with his fingers when Chelsea won the FA Cup in 2007.

Chelsea started this season with a chance to win seven trophies, but the champions of Europe had already surrendered the Community Shield against Manchester City and were soundly beaten by Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup in Monaco.

Abramovich, who rarely travels to away games because he does not like to conform to stuffy boardroom etiquette by wearing a suit, became increasingly agitated as Di Matteo’s summer target finished them off with a hat-trick. Falcao was fantastic that night.

Di Matteo’s team were also adjusting to a refined playing system as they encouraged Cech to throw the ball out to his back four instead of launching it forward from his penalty area.

Off the field Di Matteo skilfully and diplomatically handled delicate situations, especially after John Terry was banned by the FA for four games and fined £220,000 for racially insulting Anton Ferdinand.

The incident did not even happen on Di Matteo’s watch — Andre Villas-Boas was manager at the time — but the Italian attempted to protect the reputation of the club.

Even last Sunday, his preparations for the trip to Turin were disrupted when Ashley Cole was unexpectedly called to an interview with the FA over the allegations against referee Mark Clattenburg.

Suddenly the FA’s compliance team were swarming all over the training ground again, taking Mikel, Ramires and Juan Mata into neutralised zones for hours of taped interviews.

Di Matteo has deep reservations about Chelsea’s complaint, and, naturally, believes that it has affected their recent results.

They made the allegation two hours after they were beaten 3-2 at Stamford Bridge by Manchester United, finishing the game with nine men after the dismissals of Torres and Branislav Ivanovic.

Since then they have picked up two points from the last 12 in the Premier League and require something of a miracle to avoid the humiliation of exiting the group stage of the Champions League.

That brutal reality dawned on Di Matteo when Chelsea arrived back at the training ground in the dead of night after the Turin trip.

Torres was one of the first off the bus, jumping straight into his car and slipping on his tracksuit top to beat the near-freezing temperatures.

By then, Di Matteo knew it was time to get his coat.

debosky: Hehehe. . . so Torres sacked Di Matteo eh?

Ibime will do anything under the sun to excuse RDM's failings.

You talked about him maintaining 'balance' earlier in the season - who forced him to change from this 'balance'? Wasn't it his own decision? He 'changed' his side and he failed to maintain performances.

Now it appears he also lost control of the dressing room. Who are we to blame for a coach losing control of the dressing room? Emenalo?

Huh?

Lost the dressing room?

You chatting nonsense to make points.

There is no coach who does not fall out with players.

He only "lost the dressing room" cos Abramovic said so. This is Chelsea runs.

Did he "lose the dressing room" when he ex-communicated Malouda and Ferreira?

Has SAF "lost the dressing room" by ex-communicating Nani?

Did JM "lose the dressing room" by ex-communicating Sheva?


You eediots would talk nonsense to make points but every club has rubbish players that the manager shove aside.

The peroxide blonde Spanish twart is one of those rubbish players.

Chelsea players are busy hailing RDM claiming they are in shock. . . meanwhile eediots like Debosky and Nateevs are asking "Is it Emenalos fault he lost the dressing room".

He only told Torres the truth. If Torres feels he's been lost, then all Chelsea fans would happily join me in bidding him to GET LOST!!!

[b]At the heart of the inquest were Di Matteo and Torres, who had been substituted after 63 minutes following yet another atrocious performance.

It was a heated exchange. Voices were raised and fingers were pointed as the pair traded strong words, with each blaming the other for the Spaniard’s failure to deliver the goods once again in a Chelsea shirt.

Other players also waded into the row as they had their say on why the team had failed to win their fourth consecutive league match

The mutinous scenes were overheard by others in the bowels of the Hawthorns, where the dressing rooms are within close proximity of where select members of the television, radio and written press are shepherded after matches.

Di Matteo’s mask of nonchalance had been ripped off and many club figures, only too aware of Abramovich’s impatience and his delay in appointing the former midfielder as full-time manager in the summer, felt it was now only a matter of time before he was served his P45.

The word around Cobham was that the team had to win in Turin three days later.

Di Matteo, who was deprived of Torres’ understudy Daniel Sturridge through injury, played his final hand, axing the £50 million striker, replacing him up front with an attacking midfielder, and shifting right-back Cesar Azpilicueta further up field.

The gamble failed. Chelsea lost and Di Matteo was the collateral damage, a victim of results that unimpressed the oligarch owner but also of the notorious Stamford Bridge player power.[/b]

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sleakid: mike spare me the tales... Ur wack,
Ibime is wack.
Airwack is wack
Fact

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oNe

kashmo: This Vets vs Newbies saga will never end Claiming to be a vet on NL amongst yourself we understand but on Premierleague.com, never that! Some folks played fantasy football before they joined NL ClassicLeague, so they vets too!

Romans got the bragging right since week 1, allow him dance galala for the time being. C'est fini

lekkie073: small time, u go say next season...

Una get una own team, or do you need another man to hold your testikuls for you?

I have never celebrated another managers success cos I'm trying to take his spot, meanwhile no hopers like una dey wiggle tailfeather for Azpekuliar.

Where una dey for table? Make every man answer him own team name for hia

I wish I was at the Bridge this weekend. I would take "Torres out " sign with me.

So because of a leech like Torres who never loved our club only takes from it, we lose a club legend like RDM?

I was hoping that RA had a grand plan and would surprise us all by unveiling Guardiola, only to find out its the desperate Spanish waiter who keeps begging for job and no one would give him one.

How many Liverpool losers will we absorb in our team?


Meanwhile I'm watching real - city game. Ronaldo is a Arrow. See clear pass to Benzema. He can't even apologise. Benzema has to hold his hand to show Mourinho that his boy won't pass ball for easy tap in, instead of trying to dribble 3 players to score. Greedy Arrow. That's why he can't take WPOTY off Messi.

coogar: if chelsea hire benitez, he would take them from their current position to 7th.

You mean he wont get Torres firing?

coogar: be prepared to have loads of substandard sheep from spain too.....

Thats why hes only good for short-term. Besides, Chelsea managers dont sign players so I wouldnt worry about his poor transfer record.


I tend to think Benitez would tighten up defensively but one of our big signings may have to be sacrificed uptop.

Benitez coming to Chelsea would end the Torres debate for good.

Dat mumu spent £50m on Torres, and he keeps chasing after Torres and throwing good money after bad to rescue a foolish decision he made on a drunken January 31st night.

Some peeps were so happy about the acquisition of Torres but I remember the wise ones who warned that everything Chelsea do for the next 3 years will be tied to this Torres deal and it will predictably go wrong cos Torres has lost form. Surprisingly, Nateevs was one of those who joined me in condemning the deal whilst some others were popping champagne. In short, we predicted that thanks to the money tied in this Torres deal, and the change of style needed to accomodate him, a lot of shyte will go wrong. . . and it did. . . but in the midst of that spiral, Roberto rescued the club. . . now Benitez is Torres last chance of slavation.

Benitez is not a good long term solution but he can provide discipline in the short term. Lets roll!

Hey Mik. Sorry for not replying your email in time. Audio is out the question for me. Im too old to be running to studio.

nateevs: Okay. I do apologize for all insults thrown at you at times you have been right. Although this is not an admittance that you "always have been" right. Far from it.


As I stated, RDM did all I asked for and if he wasn't wrong according to you, then I was never wrong as well. I deserve apologies for the insults hurled at times I was right. .

Deal?

I have never been wrong mate.

RDM did all you ask for doesn't mean jack. Is RDM wrong cos he played Torres and Ibime doesn't rate Torres? No. Ibime understands the politics involved.

I never said he must play such and such. I only explained why he played likes of Bertrand when he did.

Neither did I say he should never play MaZaCar together or Bertrand on wings. I don't believe in philosophy, I believe in tailoring team to opposition game by game. Ibime never said don't play them all together, only explained why he used Bertrand/Ramires to balance the wings in certain game. . . but Nateevs said only when Lampard is dropped can they play together.

Is Ibime wrong because Lampard was dropped for Ramires? No, that's RDM decision. Was RDM wrong? Well, Ibime would always play Lampard every game cos Ibime believes in difference makers. But that is not the reason RDM lost his job. Lamps/Mikel or Lamps/Ramires partnership woulda still lost in Turin cos the club does not have a valid DM for the system we play. That's why I never suggested who Lamps should play with in midfield cos both Mikel and Ramires dont have what it takes to anchor! Ramires has the pace but not the technique. Mikel has the technique but not the pace. Both are poor fits with Lampard. . . and as we can see, even with each other! I said that we should buy a DM in January and have been criticising Emenalo for not buying one (or two) since July. That's why I criticised both Ramires and Mikel deficiencies on weekly basis to let peeps know our solution to that position lies outside the club (which is Emenalos jurisdiction). It's not a complaint that started in September, I have been laying the blame at the right door since July! Whatever RDM does to remedy Mikels lack of pace in DM was only ever a stop gap solution to Emenalos blindness.

So when I criticise Emenalo it is for two things:

(1.) Clearing the decks for Torres
(2.) Clearing the decks for Ramires (his first signing and recommendation) and Mikel (his countryman) to run the midfield.

These are the two positions in which I believe we faltered in UCL.

nateevs: Let's look at this critically. This is all Nateevs on NL (with no connections to Chelsea by the way) asked for in the course of the season.

Discarding Malouda
Dropping Lamps way before Injury
Not playing Bertrand on the left of midfield.
Not playing Ramires on the right.
Playing Ramires in the double pivot.
Giving Torres more playing time.
Sticking with MaZaCar in midfield
Justifying why Sturridge should not play.
Then asking for Sturridge to play.
Not dropping Mikel.
Not parking the bus.


RDM did every single one of these. In fact, it's in total opposite of how he won the CL. In your last post, you say RDM did not nothing wrong and did not fail yet in the same vein you think I am an 1d10t for suggesting all the things that RDM did in his short spell?

Dude. . . .

You dont get it. . .so lemme spell it out. . . RDM has done nothing wrong. . . he was sacked by a madman!

So claiming that you were wrong. . . but RDM shoulda been right. . . means nothing!!!

Theres a time and place for everything. Theres a time for MaZaCars and theres a time for Nigel De Jongs, Makeleles, Jonas Gutierrez's and Gilberto Silvas. RDM did not have the latter to call upon when he needed them and that is Emenalo's fault. All it takes is two away games in two fierce competitors grounds for the squad to be brutally overpowered and the man to lose his job. Ferreira, Malouda and such cannot have saved him.

Meanwhile do I get apologies for insults thrown my way when you made points which you now admit were wrong? Me, I never change. Im still RIGHT. Always have been, since pre-season!!!

nateevs: I don't understand. Let's say everything you are saying is right? Are you suggesting that RDM took all those decisions because he read my posts on NL.

Nateevs supported Ramires in midfield.
Nateevs would have complained if any of MaZaCar was dropped for Moses.
Nateevs didn't agree with Sturrdige against Liverpool
Nateevs wanted more playing time for Torres
Nateevs didn't agree with Ramires or Bertrand out-wide.

RDM did all Nateevs desired. Nateevs is Emenalo or what?

I am struggling to understand the focus of your argument. Either RDM was a brilliant manager and like me, thought the decisions about the playing squad were right (including the dropping of Lamps before he was injured) at the time they were made.

OR.

Unlike Ibime, RDM is just as stoopid as Nateevs and undid all the good decisions he took earlier for the sake of balance and those decisions did not work out.
--------------------------------

Either way, it's an indictment on RDM but that's a side point. What's more important is that you can only have one of these points of view. You cannot argue on point sides.

No actually you started clutching at straws and suggesting different decisions which RDM should have made which would have brought "success".

On every single point you made, I refenced back to earlier contradictory positions where you wanted RDM to do the opposite just to show that you are clutching at straws and looking for excuses. None of your suggestions are coherent with your previous comments all season long so you must be looking for evidence of crime after already executing the suspect!

How can someone who screamed when Bertrand and Ramires were deployed on the wing to balance Hazard and Mata be talking about Malouda? RDM is not Nateevs, but Nateevs is clutching at straws! None of these suggestions are failings of RDM (except the dropping of Luiz which most would agree with)

RDM did not do much wrong, nor has he failed except you want to tell me that Malouda, Ferreira, Moses, Marin and your "suggestions" can go to Juventus and Shakhtar and come home with a point. Strong midfield options were not available to him at all at all. This is where Emenalo comes in.

nateevs: I never disagreed with the deficiencies in the squad. My problem with it though was about the depth and not about balance. I do not understand what this balance means. RDM could have played in the league (not CL) with Malouda. He sent him to the U21s. I hope you remember Malouda is still a Chelsea player.

Whats the difference between Malouda and Bertrand.

Nateevs, dont make me go HAM on you. I will quote the nonsense tantrums you were throwing as to why RDM is playing Bertrand instead of all three musketeers.

nateevs: RDM played with 2 defensive midfielders, making 6 players who can defend at any point in time. Yet we still conceded goals at an unprecedented level. Granted Ramires was not the best passer of the ball, he could defend. If RDM instructed Mikel to sit and defend, he would.

It was Lampards fault before. . . I see. . . shifting sands. . .

I even remember Mikel complaining that "we cannot defend with only six players" so you may want to reassess how many players are needed to defend when the opposition fullbacks come calling.

Mikel CANNOT defend a highline and is NEVER to be classed as a defensive midfielder in any system that is not a half-pressing system. If Mikel is not camped in his half, he is not defending.

Take Juventus second goal yesterday. He does not even have the instinct of a defensive midfielder. He stepped up into nowhere in particular when Juve were taking the throw. I kept thinking of Gilberto Silva when I saw what he did cos Gilberto Silva would drop onto the 18 yard box first and ask questions later.

Ramires can never be an effective defensive midfielder cos he cannot keep the ball or make himself available for it. This would not show up against Stoke but against Juventus you would see it. The turnover of possession is too much for him to play that role consistently in the big games. Just puts more pressure on Chelsea when we cant keep the ball.

nateevs: RDM failed to play Moses for long periods of time, never liked Danny Sturridge who could have come in for the out-of-form Torres. Yesterday, strangely, Danny had a hamstring injury and could not be on the bench.

Last week, you were denigrating Sturridge when he came on against Liverpool. You wanted to extend Torres run in the team Im sure until his show of shame at West Brom. RDM had left Torres on pitch long enough for the "politicians" to be satisfied that their investment is wasted. This was the time to bring Sturridge in, but RDM never got the chance.

Moses got enough game time. And Im sure you would scream if one of your precious MaZaCar had to sacrifice any more minutes for him than they already did.

nateevs: RDM could have instructed David Luiz never to cross the centre line or drop him all together, move Ivanovic to CB pairing with Cahill and play Cesar Azpilicueta or Paulo Ferriera at RB. Do you remember Paulo Ferriera is still a Chelsea player?

Yes, I agree with this except the part about Paulo Ferreira since Cesar can do the job. David Luiz is RDM's only failing I can point to so far.

Meanwhile Emenalo advised Roman to reject £30m bid for Luiz from Barcelona in summer.

nateevs: RDM could have used Marin many times but never tried. Even though Marin returned from injury as far back as middle October.

No need to use Marin. He offers nothing superior to MazaCar except more defensive instability. More evidence of poor squad planning by Emenalo. Infact I wont blame Emenalo for this. Marin's face doesnt fit. He was bought for Europa League, then we suddenly found ourselves in Champions League and upgraded him to Hazard and Oscar.

nateevs: All these decisions had absolutely nothing to do with squad balance.

But when he made decisions on team balance like playing Ramires and Bertrand out wide, you were the first to scream.

nateevs: This Emenalo thing is just cover for a manager some of us like. Since Jose, there has not been a single Chelsea manager who signed who he wanted. When in the past I stood against sacking of managers, citing lack of managerial autonomy, many hailed Roman. Now Roman is wielding the same stick and we are complaining? I don't get the double standards.

So this is an admission that Emenalo has produced an unbalanced squad. No problem with me calling for his head then, manager's aside.

Those managers underperformed even the lowest of expectations. The reason why many hailed Roman is because their sackings were justified. No one is hailing Roman now. You are in the minority. I will leave it with quote from Independent: "Whatever it is that lies behind Di Matteo’s dismissal, though, it isn’t footballing sense, it isn’t managerial sense, and it is making me sad. All that remains to be said is “Ciao bello” – Roberto, you deserved better."




Meanwhile,

Can someone please explain to me how Ramires cannot make a simple pass on the floor to Hazard on the third goal. It's a semi-professional skill Rambo!!!

El Guapo: [color=#0066ff]
He didn't even Enjoy what i call 'Security of tenure' at the Club -- Transfers were read Out to him and u still Sack him? Dude did nothing wrong. The philosophy was to change the look of the team which he's tried to do and that doesn't happen overnight not even with Wasteful niggys In it.
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Gbam!!!

I know some minority would tried to paint it differently.

Like Skysports was saying, Emenalo must take the blame for the squad. Blind man can see we dont have any strength.

No cover for the defence, no striker upfront. Just a bunch of tippy tappy midfielders.

nateevs: Regarding Roman's decision, I wish I could say he wasn't justified.

So this is what you wanted to say all along.

There was no argument with Diva and Debosky. RDM deserved the job. He was never liked by Abramovic. This much was clear. Suddenly Abramovic's madness is cover for your points that "he didnt deserve the job".

You are using cover of Abramovic to make your flawed points, the same way you came here to criticise RDM's "tactical ingenuity employed in winning".

There is no failing of RDM except you want to tell us which combination of players at his disposal woulda been able to resist the power of Shakhtar and Juve. Infact, lemme guess, it was exactly the combination YOU suggested that he employed most of the time.

Just last week, everything was "working fine" according to you. Thats the cover you gave for your anti-Lampard debate.

So, like I've expected all along, this Chelsea team would fail with the softness of midfield at its disposal. RDM or no RDM.

I dont mean to harp on, but any manager who wants to be successful must first adress the central midfield and get rid of Torres. And also Hazard, Mata and Oscar need an extra option on the bench (industrious wingers like Grosskeutz or Valencia) to be used as an option to balance the tippy-tappy non-defenders in games like this. Ramires maybe that player.

Marin and Moses on the bench (more of the same) is poor squad management. Mikel and Ramires in central midfield is disastrous squad management if they are to be the ones providing base for MaZaCar. So when I talk of Emenalo, I am not talking rubbish.

nateevs: Well. I think we all see now why RDM was giving a year's contract with a year's option. Roman is ruthless. There were a lot of heated debates on here with Debosky, Diva and Ibime that RDM's feat in the CL earned him an appointment, I argued conversely that the delay in giving him the position is evidence that the club is not convinced on the tactical ingenuity employed in winning. If anything, RDM was given the job because a contrary decision would have been bad PR for the club.

If what you all thought was right, then RDM reserves the right to a year of fooling around in-spite any bad results. RDM's response to back-to-back interviews told you all you need to know. I don't think this is a shock decision. The writing was always on the wall. He was never a Roman choice. RDM just needed to not get a few things right and that will be it.

huh?

Shock horror - Nateevs reveals that Roman doesnt like RDM.

We all figured this out with his reluctance to give RDM contract for two months.

So are you saying RA is justified in his actions now and in the summer, or what is your point here exactly?

Hodgson
Ancelotti
AVB
RDM

How many more coaches will Torres sack?


On a serious note, RA is a fool. It took him two months to offer RDM the job, he gave him no say on the squad, then sacks him when the failings of the squad manifest. When will Gourlay and Emenalo cop the sack also?

Now they are talking of Benitez. Like seriously?

I aint following Chelsea from now till January. Im taking a break from Roman's madness. Maybe when (if) Pep Guardiola joins in January, I would end ma sabbatical.

hehehe. . . . I no fit laugh!!!

nateevs: I still cannot believe how you continually refer to RDM's ability to manage a team, formulate a system of attack and defense on the back of two games from last season - Napoli and Spurs. You cannot defend a manager on the back of 2 games. It's wrong. We are talking about a full season where numerous decisions have to be made. We have seen this before. Avram Grant took Chelsea to the final of the CL after JM was fired. Imagine someone tells you AG knows how to balance attack and defense because of a short spell at Chelsea.


Also, it's time to quit this Emenalo thing. RDM will live and die by the decisions he makes. Emenalo has got nothing to do with this.

You are talking nonsense my friend.

Infact the very "balance" he has deployed during our recent run is the very one you suggested and you were eager to take credit for after one or two victories telling us "this team is the very one I suggested"

You are talking of Sturridge but he had hamstring,

What's he supposed to do to add steel to the midfield, bring on Marko Marin, another waifer?

When he deploys the likes of Bertrand and Azpilicueta instead of Mazacar you would be the first to scream and blame your imaginary villain Lampard as the reason why he has to balance the team with likes of Ramires and Bertrand on the wing.

Now you told us "just play Mikel and Ramires and the balance would be alright" . You even lied to tell us that "Ramires has improved technically". Don't worry, I would be back later this week with moments that show Ramires plays nothing like a central midfielder. I have never seen a central midfielder who never shows to receive the ball from his teammates, cannot control the ball within his body, cannot play simple passes and whose first instinct and only move is to run with the ball at his feet like a winger. And as for Mikel, I am tired of him stepping up into imaginary space because he knows he doesn't have the legs to track runners. Check the second goal. I don't know who he was stepping up to mark on the Juventus throw.


This is the heartbeat of your team. Meanwhile look at the "balance" likes of Juventus can call upon in midfield. There us a reason they left out the little waif Giovinco from the start. When you talk of Marchisio, Vidal, Asamoah, Isla and Pogba, you are talking of balance. We were simply overpowered against Juventus and Donetsk and what option do we have on the bench? Marko Marin.

Quite simply there is no combination of midfield available to RDM that would have stopped Chelsea being overrun and overpowered by Shakhtar and Juventus. That buck stops at Emenalos desk.

You must be mad to ask me to stop blaming Emenalo. Did he not put the squad together? Did I not rant back in July about the squad he was putting together? Shebi na una dey rib me when I said that if they like they should buy Pele and Garrincha, they don't have enough steel in the team. Chelsea keep lurching dangerously from one extreme (all mechanical players) to another (all brittle boned fantasists) . They should let a manager mould the squad for once otherwise they would get stick if I find the squad unbalanced with a manager I know who makes the best of his resources, or has at least proved his diligence before. Emenalo has nothing to do with this, yet he's in control of transfers.

I can never diss RDM. He achieved what managers have been struggling to do in 10 years with less resources.

He balances attack and defence perfectly as seen against Napoli and Spurs. I would rather look at Emenalo who puts the squad together. You can read all ma posts in July what I thought about the squad, not this reactionary dem say dem say wey boys dey yarn. Earlier in the season RDM did his best to balance the team but some guys nearly tore his head off.

I can't believe such statement coming from fantasists who excoriated RDM for not playing Mazacar all together and who told us at season start that we have too many physical players whilst wise heads told us we don't have enough.

There's a reason why ballack essien and lampard used to go to Valencia and take a shyte on Silva and Matas head. It's called physical strength, good shape and mentality which is what Juventus did to us today.

Anyway, I'm waiting to hear ElGuapos views on the indefatigable partnership of Ramires and Mikel, a non-midfield as far as I'm concerned.

I would never forget those famous words "I've been telling you guys for years that Lampard is not influential"

Where do we start? . . . hehehe. . . this is a job for tomorrow.

Let's just sum it up by saying "you don't send boys to war with men"

Mazacar? Oscar is the only man amongst them, and he still needs to improve his clinicism. 83 minutes he had clear pass to Hazard but he has a blind spot on his left hand side. Same thing in the first half when the ball dropped on his left foot. But at least he's a man unlike the other two fantasists who only show when the going is good.

Ramires and Mikel? One can't run, the other can't pass. Some peeps wanted us to believe that Ramires improved technically but my eyes don't deceive me. 3rd goal sums up Ramires and Hazard perfectly. Ramires has an easy semi - professional pass to Hazard. He plays a woeful ball in the air. Spoilt child Hazard turns his back and starts throwing tantrum as Juventus break to score. Sums both players up.

Mikel - is he a defensive midfielder?

Luiz - is he a defender?

Emenalo building fantasy football team. I say again what I said in July. "If you like buy Pele and Garrincha, this squad isn't built to win "

21 goals conceded in 10 games. Forget Falcao, these niggas need Gilberto Silva!!!

Oscar is the only man on this pitch. The rest are kids.

Story has it Hazard to start upfront tonight. Others are saying Hazard or Studge. I say go with Hazard for now just to shore up the left wimg cos I can see Vidal and/or Lichsteiner having a field day on that wing if Hazard plays there.

azpeculiar: No mind am, he called me out for Mid-October and I put him firmly in his place when the time came.

Small time e shift the goal post again to December...

December never even reach, e don dey use style mention March next year in case

It doesn't matter what date I overtake you.

Ninja all that matters is who is in that no1 position come May 15. No one ever received title in November or even April.

I've been in that position on that particular date before. Have you? No!

debosky: These newbies can make noise sha!

AvantGarde not complaining. . . .up to 9th in the table despite some barren weeks so far. Let's see where cats are after the Christmas fixtures and then we'll get a better sense of where things are going. Even a 100 point lead at this stage is nothing.

I don't know why these guys are jizzing

Roman Abramovic that was clear couple weeks ago is already under pressure.

From my experience the game is still open till the end of March even with 100 point deficit

I look below me and see Horsemen in 50th position (3rd last year)

Kokomaster in 28th position (2nd last year)

Tboogie in 30th position (former winner and always in the top 7)

I'm doing just fine like Boyz 2 Men!!!!

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/11/18/3659378/fernando-torres-is-done


Fernando Torres is toast

I've never been shy in criticising the Fernando Torres deal, which saw Chelsea tie up £100 million in much-needed funds on a rapidly declining striker with injury problems. However, I've always held out some hope that he was, in fact, better than the player he looked when he arrived at Stamford Bridge. He was never going to be a world-class player again, but Fernando Torres, competent striker seemed entirely within the realm of possibility.

That hope has more or less evaporated. The number of performances in which Torres has looked like a capable centre forward while wearing a Blue shirt can be counted on one hand. And although he had a nice run of scoring earlier in the year (including two great, key goals against Newcastle and then Arsenal), his recent form has been so bad it's not even clear that he's actually playing football.

He's not making runs. He's losing the ball. He's not testing the goalkeeper. He's not even trying to test the goalkeeper. In one game against West Bromwich Albion, most of which was spent as a winger, Daniel Sturridge matched Torres' shot output from the last four Premier League matches combined. If Torres made any real gains in the first month or so of the season, they've evaporated so thoroughly that Chelsea have effectively been contesting matches with ten men in the starting lineup.

It's time for the nonsense to stop. We don't need to pretend that Torres is still a good player just because he plays for our club. Fandom need not be blind, and it's entirely possible to support the club without deluding yourself as to how good the players actually are. Here's the simple truth: Fernando Torres is toast.

Every single excuse has been an exercise in denialism. Torres came with an injury? Fine. Summer rest produced a clean bill of health, and no real change in Torres' form. He doesn't work well with Chelsea's muscular style? Two managers and one sea-change in style later, and Torres remains astonishingly poor. Not enough service*? Say hello to Juan Mata. That didn't help? How about Eden Hazard and Oscar? Too much competition? Turns out getting rid of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou didn't help, nor did pointedly not bringing in reinforcements over summer.

*As an aside, intelligent, incisive passing requires good vision and execution from both passer and receiver. It's impossible to play a through ball to a striker not running at the offside line. (this is where Nateevs and coogar were telling us last week when we posted gifs that we are stupid cos Torres would be offside if he makes the run. Guess what, Sturridge made 3 of the exact same runs to put himself through on Saturday.)

Those excuses were never reasonable. But Torres was indulged -- Chelsea don't want to have made a £100 million mistake any more than the fans want him to fail -- and every single possible angle was tested. Here's the last thing to check: Maybe it's Torres, not the service, or the competition or the style. Maybe Fernando Torres is no longer a good enough football player to get regular minutes for this team.

It almost beggars belief that the defending Champions League winners have given so much time to a player so obviously problematic. That criticism might seem hypocritical given my continued support of the David Luiz experiment, but while David Luiz has a fatal flaw (and an incredibly annoying one at that) holding him back from being a world class player, Torres' faults are preventing him from being even a mediocre one.

We can't go on like this. Every single team in the Premier League has a striker on their books better than Fernando Torres. This isn't a matter of buying a Radamel Falcao or an Edinson Cavani in January and suddenly having a brilliant player lead the line -- Torres needs to be replaced because he's not actually leading the line at all.

Take the loss against West Bromwich Albion, and in particular the final half hour, where Chelsea were on the attack and the Baggies were holding out. Sturridge had been moved to centre forward, and suddenly there was a focal point to the attack, and the team could actually generate chances. Granted, Sturridge contrived to waste them all, but at least he had opportunities to score.

This can't go on. We're clearly very limited in terms of our options, but if we're going to play an out of form centre forward we should probably go with the one that actually gets the basics of centre forward play right. Torres does not deserve to be starting matches for this team. He probably never has deserved it. Give Sturridge a chance, buy an upgrade in January -- almost anyone will do, to be honest -- and let's move on from this stupid, sordid affair.

Could the last ninja in the Torres camp (coogar) switch off the lights. It took some ninjas two years to come to the realisation that Torres has been finished since 2010 but only the most foolhardy would still be arguing the case now. As I said at the start of the season, Lukaku and Sturridge are better than Torres. Let's give them half the chances afforded shopkeeper then take it from there if they fail to fire. Changes are afoot for Juventus match from all the reports. Let's hope our forwards fire and our defence holds firm in Turin. Whether boys like it or not, this Chelsea team is one defensive midfielder and one striker away from posing real title threat. Sturridge may or may not solve the striker issue but the defensive midfield solution does not lie within the club at present. I would like sos to be sent to the likes of Nigel De Jong. God be with us in Turin and protect us from all Marchisios. Amen.

pleep: Just by reading this post i can tell that you wont be sucessfull. Just don't bother dude

lol

mikuz: Ibime give me your mobile number.

Holla me by PM lemme screen what you got to say before deciding whether to hand out ma digits.