₦airaland Forum

coogar: you are a compound fool!
jose's chelsea was shyte when mourinho got the sack. they had drawn rosenborg, lost to aston villa and some other shady results. avram grant got there and steadied the ship and chelsea became brutal again - they stood neck and neck with the best united side that had the holy trinity in its prime! in all the title race i have witnessed, 2007/8 was the most scary. grant managed all these feats while badgeless and he was able to multitask coping with the pressure in the domestic league and taking chelsea to their first champions league final!

So in other words, if RDM is another Avram Grant, Chelsea would do alright then. Ill take that!

nateevs: I wonder why I bother. Dudes like you in 2008 were telling us Mark Hughes was best for Chelsea.

We can bet he woulda done better than AVB and Scolari. He woulda stuck to the JM formula, hence he woulda fit right in.

nateevs: See him post all over the place. Throwing disclaimers in, just in case he spewed bollocks in the past.

Guy just post the quote. I dont know what reason I would have to discuss David Moyes with you. I asked you to post the quote so that we can see whether it is one of your diversionary tactics to score cheap points by claiming I said something.

nateevs: Stoopid analysis. You are comparing a situation of a succession of arguably Chelsea's most successful manager to a succession of perhaps Chelsea's least successful? How do you sleep at night? How could Avram Grant change what JM laid down? Do you think RDM would change the Chelsea left behind by JM? If anything, after AVB left, RDM returned Chelsea to the default, JM's Chelsea.

You mean like playing Ramires on the left wing against both Napoli and Barca, playing him right-back against Barca, pulling Kalou from nowhere, downplaying Mata against Barca etc.

Of course, anyone who defend to you is playing "JM tactics".

Or maybe you expected him to play tippy tappy with Essien, Kalou, Meireles, Ramires and co just to prove he is different? I'm sure thats what mumu like you recommend.

What was Nateevs stoopid pronunciations about Barca in the past? Yeah, "lets outplay them". Shebi with diamond formation or 3-4-3? Olodo!

Thak God you have just told us that AVB was "Chelsea's least successful" - further evidence of your past idiocy as you were his biggest backer, still making tactical excuses for him until the very last minute that the axe fell.

Mumu who justified all AVB's idiotic tactical decisions wants to preach to us that RDM who got it right may not have what it takes tactically. Like I said, who the gods want to kill, they first make mad.

Some boys too dey misyarn. I no get their time. Everybody know their hatred for rdm, even yarMing shyte immediately after UCL final, constantly sniping at him every week even in friendlies. Wetin dem want, me to pull post saying "I hate rdm"?. I don't need to pull out quote of them saying "I love avb" either for us to know how they feel about that loser. We spot chi chi man from way off,

By the way what's this about David moyes? Hmmmm I challenge you to pull that quote although I'm not denying it. I may be suffering from dementia. Anyway since these nincompoops missed the analogy, it wasn't about David moyes. Chelsea were the Everton of the champions league and rdm miraculously brought the ol big ears home.

As for inane comparisons with Avram grant, first of all we don't care what a manager did elsewhere. Benitez may be ridiculed at inter or even unliked in Liverpool but he would always be welcomed back in Valencia. Avb may be the best thing since sliced bread at Porto but he is less than a cockroach at chelsea. The greatest tactical revolutions I have ever seen was by a guy called Klaus topmoller at leverkusen. I couldn't tell you what he's doing now. Meanwhile a guy like pep who everyone hailed for tactical formations was recently described as groundbreaking by Villanova but said that such tactical shenanigans would not work anywhere else. I done tell these guys to forget nonsense yarns about tactics. The waec or gcse mathematics wey boys do hard pass tactics whilst the greatest manager of recent time fergie knows little about tactics.

What makes a good manager is whether your players respect you and how well you handle the media plus do you have common sense. In all these rdm has done well. Wetin these guys know about the video that RDM made of every players family telling them how far they've come and how they're so proud of them that made the players so emotional to win the Cup. That's what we call managagement, not these boys nonsense yarns about high blocks, low blocks, solidificate and double pivot. The great thing about football is that tactics is not beyond anyones IQ, thats why we all argue about it, even primary school student or agbero boys in Aguda will be arguing tactics with a Mensa or professor. Yet these guys want us to believe that RDM may not be intelligent enough to have tactical nous.

Finally to kill this Avram grant nonsense, let's compare. rdm took mk dons to third place in their first season in league one after promotion from league two. Commendable. Took west brom to promotion in his first season. Commendable. Contrary to reports were mot in relegation zone when he was sacked. came to Chelsea and defeated spurs and Liverpool convincingly to win fa cup.

Avram grant - lost league cup final to a juande Ramos spurs team. Avram grant did not change anything from mourinho tactically or personnel wise. In other words avram grant coulda been a robot inputting a formula whilst Rdm changed everything avb was doing both tactically and personell showing his own knowledge. Avram grant did not beat anyone to reach UCL final, dispatching olympiakos, fernebahce and Liverpool on the way there. Rdm performed miracles against napoli and barca to get to the final. So penalty kick or not, such comparison is ridiculous.

Make una leave matter abeg. I know nateevs hatred even if he borrow leaf from the man who invented grammar to convince us that is not the case. Haterism would always show itself before ninjas issue disclaimers. If David moyes win epl some people will still tell us it's luck

Rdm has done brilliantly. He doesn't need to win with style to convince me. I am realistic enough to look at the squad he was handed and say yeah they can play brilliant footie most times but they lack the cutting edge and defensive midfield. If I compare that to city for example who have better attacking edge and stronger defensive midfield then I know my expectations. That's the reason the bookies and every pundit make Chelsea 3rd favourites. So niggas don't need to throw fits everytime what we expected and predicted happens and use it to whip rdm. Only the naive ones who were boasting that Chelsea have the midfield and shekpe keeper to compete will be throwing fit and start counting games toward rdm sacking. That's when their haterism shines through, not all this disclaimer they are signing.

Keep you hair on lads. The Italian has proved his intelligence. If the problem is porous midfield he will find a way around it. He warned them boys sternly after athletico game that he will do what he needs to to protect himself and next game he replaced them with Ramirez and Bertrand. Some boys might claim he was being too defensive but he achieved the immediate aim to solidify the backline whilst delivering the skillers a message that non -defending will not be tolerated. So make una leave matter. If the problem is porous midfield, you will see solution as time goes on. If the problem is poor shekpe keeping by strikers you will see solution soon enough. All it would take is give players a chance and when they prove themselves they will keep their position by popular mandate. Chelsea is not a club where you axe player's willynilly. You let their replacements prove a point in league cup or when injury/rest presents opportunity and you take it from there.

debosky: RDM can't drop shekpe keeper even if he wants to. . . . .Sturridge is out with a hamstring injury.

He should grow some balls and try David Luiz in that position. I suggest he start in the game against arsenal

Leave haters abeg. Out of pure hatred a loser start criticising rdm immediately after UCL final, criticise him in the first preseason friendly and every week since. Then ask rdm to grow some balls and drop his most hated player of all time.

I'm sure any sane person would incontrovertibly think he wanted rdm to drop the greatest loser in the team aka Torres only to find out it is his weekly attack on one of the most successful contributors in Chelsea history who he has been attacking on regular basis since 5 years ago when I met the guy. Nobody told rdm to grow some balls and drop that useless shekpe keeper cos we love our manager and we understand the constraints he works under. The fact that dude hate his manager who gave us everything and hate his most influential midfielder of recent era yet constantly love the biggest flop in the history of Chelsea plus the worst manager since the mid 90s is proof that whom the gods want to kill, they first make mad.

debosky: Of course it's clear RDM isn't in full control of transfers, but it is apparent that RDM doesn't rate Romeu as he's been sidelined, and if he really wanted a DM, Chelski willing to splash out for Oscar and Hazard would have got him one.

@ bolded,

Just leave it there!

Romeu is pretty much the same speed as Mikel although more aggressive. His time will come. Its a long season. Having cleared the decks in midfield, he is obviously part of the plan.

RDM does not even make requests on which players he wants. If he did, we would see at least one player that he requested. There is no such player in Chelsea squad that RDM requested so yes, RDM has 0% input. Even the Fellaini they are talking of for January is long-time Emenalo target.

We all see it, we all acknowledge it, that Lamps and Mikel are too slow to cover the rest. I believe RDM is smart enough to know what we laymen know. The evidence that he knows it can be seen in him compensating by balancing the part of the pitch where he has room for manouvre - the wingers.

Meanwhile, you failed to tell us who the real Wenger is - the Wenger of Manu Petit, Gilberto Silva and Vieira playing counterattacking turnovers, or the Wenger of Denilson as DM.

coogar: how many of these goals are from cheap penalty kicks/freekicks? lampard has scored 5 goals for club/country this season - only one of them is from open play! let's scratch that.....frank lampard has scored more from the penalty spot than any player in the entire chelsea history.....let's scratch that again.....frank lampard has scored from the penalty spot more than any player in the england national team! ibime, lampard's stats don't fool footie acolytes. if ramirez/mikel were also given the task of burying it from 12 yards, they would score aplenty!

Why dont you tell us?

188 goals for Chelsea. 188 42 penalties!!!



Lemme help you with another stat:

Frank Lampard has created 222 chances in the Premier League since 2009/10 season.

http://www.thechels.co.uk/2012-09-15-saturday-sixes/

How many has shekpe keeper converted?

nateevs: You are going to burst your heart over your keyboard dude. By showing balls, RDM has to drop a 34 year old. I am sorry you don't like it. No top team in the PL plays with a 34 year old for 90mins in every single game.

Should he replace with Luiz, I don't know. It's an option. Would it work? I have no phucking idea. None of us knew Mikel could ever play as a DM.

Let quantify your argument.

The other day you said:

. Luiz Mikel

Mata Oscar Hazard

In other words, drop Lampard for Luiz in order to allow 3 attacking midfielders.

That is your idea of "showing balls". A gamble in essence.

Luiz playing in midfield is something you break in softly like against Nordsjaelland or League Cup.

But we know you as an eediot from day one. Last season, you urged AVB to "show balls" and congratulated him for "showing balls", and he got the sack!!!

nateevs: I hope you know that in Brazil's last game, Menezes played Ramires in CM. You obviously know more and that's why you are a manager with a 6 figure salary. How does Menezes manage it and RDM can't?

Hmmm. . . so says the hypocrite who agrees that Ramires is not good enough to play central midfield. All of a sudden, "showing balls" means RDM should go and do what you have advised us not to do in the past - play Ramires in central midfield.

Now, kindly tell us why Menezes dropped Ramires for the last two years if not the same reason.




My stance on this has been clear from day one. Mikel is not quick enough to cover these guys. I said it in June, July and still say it in September. Mikel just deleted his twitter account because half of Chelsea fans think likewise. The other half think Lampard should be the one dropped.

I could easily be the one saying RDM should "grow some balls" and drop Mikel for Luiz, but I have common sense unlike some nincompoop who thought everything was hunky dory at start of season and arguing with Ritchboy when Ritchboy said such midfield will get demolished. But instead of bursting vessels over Mikel or blaming RDM, I rather understand the way he sets about rectifying the situation - by balancing the wingers. My blame lies solely with club management and their buying policy which is why I said in summer time that Chelsea cannot win the league with such lack of pace in DM and Centre-back to cover the attacking players. Meanwhile you were yarning that we dont need any more physical players and telling Ritchboy how we would turn up at Etihad, Camp Nou and Emirates and dominate them.



I am of the belief that all these attacking players can be accommodated by replacing Mikel with a fast aggressive DM, but no need to burst an artery over it.

Once again, Nateevs realises he has been an eediot all summer, and reaches for his favourite whipping boy Lampard.


2008 - Lampard should be dropped. He cannot play Scolari diamond formation. Scolari says Lampard was his best player. 20 goals and 19 assists follow.

2009 - Lampard should be dropped. He cannot play Ancelotti diamond formation. 27 goals and 20 assists follow

2010 - Lampard injured for four months. Came back and took Chelsea into title contention. 13 goals in half a season. Cant remember Nateevs excuse then, but Im sure he said Lampard should be dropped

2011 - Lampard should be dropped because he cant press high enough. Lampard rob Messi twice to set up Ramires. Lamps rob Jay Spearing to set up FA Cup final winning goal. The rest is history.

2012 - New invention. Lamps should be dropped. "Double pivot" and bla bla bla. Mikel needs a quicker partner.


Hahahaha. Did Lampard fork your missus?


Yeah, I have favourites - favourites who are trusted through their history of achievement eg Lamps, Ivanovic, Cole, RDM etc. A wise man taught me never to question records.

Who are your favourites? Scolari, AVB, Torres, Deco, Mikel.


Now he is telling us RDM got lucky. Was AVB unlucky?


Nateevs, you are a disgrace!!!

nateevs: The revisionists are in the building. "RDM being a manager who doesn't give anything away" on the back of half a season's success - the nature of which still polarizes the views of many fans and pundits. Dudes are already tagging it "undisputed tactical achievement"


Like a fellow Chelsea fan says, RDM is holding back on showing some balls because now he has a job to lose as opposed to when he had one to win.

And for you, "showing balls" means dropping Lampard for Luiz (who has never played CM), in order to drop Ramires for Marin/Moses/Oscar.


Eeeeediot!!!


I would understand all these "showing balls" rhetoric if Chelsea actually had a defensive midfielder with the pace (and passing ability) to cover being kept on the bench for Lamps, Mikel.

As it is, your "show some balls" rhetoric is just a shot in the dark that Luiz would succeed in midfield.

And how does one sell that to the players in training? "Hey Lamps and Mikel, this monday morning, we are going to be working on Luiz in central midfield cos you guys are too slow. And sorry Romeu, I know you've been waiting for your turn but you are too slow as well. Oh and Ramires, you cant pass the ball, so this morning, I am going to rip up the script and work on playing Luiz in midfield."

Fantastic man management.

Guy, suck it up. I know it pains you. RDM is the most successful manager in the history of your club, not AVB.

Look at the bitter guy counting games as if he is looking forward to some sacking. When these eediots were showing their formations in July, they showed us formation with Lamps, Mikel as DM and CM and called it "a defensive formation". Now its not defensive enough for them. Some showed us formation with Mikel, Oscar, Marin, Hazard and Mata in the same midfield like they are playing fantasy manager. I told this nincompoop that this team is unbalanced and he even started arguing with Ritchboy that all these players fit into the team. Because Nateevs has been found to be an eediot (once again), it is convenient to lay blame at his pet hate RDM.

debosky: It appears you've either forgotten or were typing bollocks up there - RDM's instincts/natural tactical leaning is to be attacking, not 'preventing any opportunity of giving anything away'. To claim otherwise is unadulterated nonsense.



Wenger applied the same tactical astuteness over 6 years ago in 2005 to win the FA cup and in 2006 till we narrowly lost out to Barca due to a red card. As always, luck plays a big part in winning cups and that's what RDM had.

I was gonna post you the picture that shows rdm trophies in 3 months juxtaposed against wengers trophies in 7 years but I ain't got the time.

I don't need a lecture about rdms philosophy at west brom. His performance last season and the fact that he plays Bertrand and Ramirez over Moses Marin and Oscar is proof enough that he likes giving nothing away. If you like type epistle on his west brom days you bloody pedant. You are only schooling yourself cos I cannot take footie lectures from lilliput like yourself. The fact remains that it is not rdm squad and not rdm intention to play with porous defensive midfielders. If it was his doing he would play all the attacking wingers with mikel and lampard. But since emenalo created a lopsided squad he finds balance by playing Ramirez and Bertrand at expense of multimillion dollar wingers that emenalo signed. This is incontrovertible.

As far as determining rdms nature by looking at his past and giving it priority over his present actions, what is wengers trye nature - the Wenger of two defensive midfielders and counterattacking turnovers or the Wenger of DenOlson as dm?

debosky: It appears you've either forgotten or were typing bollocks up there - RDM's instincts/natural tactical leaning is to be attacking, not 'preventing any opportunity of giving anything away'. To claim otherwise is unadulterated nonsense.



Wenger applied the same tactical astuteness over 6 years ago in 2005 to win the FA cup and in 2006 till we narrowly lost out to Barca due to a red card. As always, luck plays a big part in winning cups and that's what RDM had.

I was gonna post you the picture that shows rdm trophies in 3 months juxtaposed against wengers trophies in 7 years but I ain't got the time.

I don't need a lecture about rdms philosophy at west brom. His performance last season and the fact that he plays Bertrand and Ramirez over Moses Marin and Oscar is proof enough that he likes giving nothing away. If you like type epistle on his west brom days you bloody pedant. You are only schooling yourself cos I cannot take footie lectures from lilliput like yourself. The fact remains that it is not rdm squad and not rdm intention to play with porous defensive midfielders. If it was his doing he would play all the attacking wingers with mikel and lampard. But since emenalo created a lopsided squad he finds balance by playing Ramirez and Bertrand at expense of multimillion dollar wingers that emenalo signed. This is incontrovertible.

As far as determining rdms nature by looking at his past and giving it priority over his present actions, what is wengers trye nature - the Wenger of two defensive midfielders and counterattacking turnovers or the Wenger of DenOlson as dm?

debosky: Is it Emenalo that persists with playing Ramires in each game or the coach that can do no wrong? Answers on a postcard please.

Eerm. . . the reason why RDM has NEVER played Ramires in central midfield. . . Emenalo bought him as a central midfielder, sees him as a central midfielder, and like I said, signed all these wingers with the thought that Ramires is a central midfielder. . . RDM sees him as a winger, another proof of his insight and another proof that Emenalo is behind signing policy.

debosky: Di Matteo’s trademark 4-2-3-1 system resulted in the Dons receiving regular praised on their expansive style and attacking footballing swagger.

This is what the West Brom chairman after he was unceremoniously sacked:

Di Matteo was praised for his commitment to attacking football, yet Peace said in a statement that the board had lost confidence in his ability to pull the club out of its tailspin.

More evidence - this is what is on RDM's profile on soccernet: While the Blues received criticism for their negative approach in the Champions League, it was not representative of Di Matteo's philosophy.

This phat phool now wants to convince us that he 'knows' RDM's tactical nature and 'instinct' is not to give anything away. RDM that went gung-ho at OT and was trying to outscore United while at West Brom. The same tactical nature that ensured that Athletico Madrid wiped the floor with his side in the Super Cup. Nigga please.

Tell that to the magans who keep claiming RDM is too defensive, not me. I dont need "schooling" on RDM history.

The RDM who brings on Bertrand and Ramires for attacking wingers is obviously the RDM we are talking about, not the RDM who plays gung-ho footie. I wish Wenger could learn quickly and become as astute as RDM

Not only was beating Barca a gargantuan achievement with the squad we had, but some peeps are forgetting the tactical masterstroke against Napoli, shifting Ramires to the left wing against Zuniga, coming back from 3-1 to win 4-1, the tactical masterstroke against Tottenham who were demolished 5-1 and even last night the quietening of Pirlo.


Eediots like to hang unto a lacklustre performance against Bayern as evidence of "luck over tactics". They forget that we had half our first team out, no wingers except Kalou, two centre-backs who had not even trained for 6 weeks and could not break into a sprint who needed tight protection. RDM is a genius for what he achieved last season.

As for the punk claiming RDM has all the input into the squad, everyone except Oscar, Azilicueta and Moses were signed before RDM came on board and all three were in negotiation before RDM signed. RDM has no input into the squad, he is just a coach, and this is made clear by the 2 months of dithering before they gave him a contract, letting us know who is really in charge of the squad.

Emenalo thinks Ramires is some kind of God-footballer and touted him as the best thing since sliced bread and signed him to replace Ballack. In 2012, Emenalo still thinks Ramires is a central midfielder and signs a million wingers thinking that Ramires, Mikel, Romeu and Lampard is enough central cover.

Knowing RDM's tactical nature and his instinct for never giving away any opportunity (as evidenced by patching Ramires and Bertrand to provide defensive balance), RDM can never go into a season thinking that the current defensive midfielders will provide adequate cover for defence-deserters like Marin, Hazard, Torres and Mata.

So anyone chatting rubbish should pump brakes. Senior mismanagement is not a new thing in Chelsea.

My problem is with the sudden know-it-alls who populate cyberspace these days, talking all kind of stuff about RDM's tactical decisions to provide balance.

[quote author=dipo+]No one even remembers a certian Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong. If we had been losing games I know some people who would be like "I told you... Song is the most important player is Arsenal".[/quote]Steve Bould has covered the absence of Song defensively whilst Cazorla has covered his attacking input. Doesn't take away from Song as a player though.

scottN: RDM shld start acting as a dynamic coach and read games as they progress.
I think he shld hv choked up d midfield a little bit more with abt 15 mins 2 go.
(He shld hv replaced torres with a DM). He shld stop waiting
till d very last minute b4 acting.

In all fairness the team performed well above standard considering the opponent they faced and our
present crop of players with respect to Champs League Football.
RDM needs 2 start acting like a coach of Champions.

Na who give all these Chelsea fans mouth to dey yarn these days.

Some say RDM shoulda brought on another DM, another one say RDM went too defensive.

One say he shoulda brought on Moses, another say he shoulda brought on DM and take off Torres.

Can you imagine Chelsea fan who RDM gifted UCL from nowhere making statement like "RDM needs 2 start acting like a coach of Champions".

I dey laugh. Una ancestors need to start acting like coach of Champions. RDM is THE coach of Champions.

RDM pulled out more tactical irons out the fire last season than your favourite coaches. The tactics he used is what brought us the money to buy all these overload of players that everyone believes should get a chance.

The team lacks balance as I said before season start "if you like, buy Pele and Garrincha, you do not have the defensive midfield to carry them".

Meanwhile players are being bedded in, RDM is choosing the right time to unleash guys whilst balancing delicate political situations such as players tiredness, players coming back from injury, players fresh to the squad and senior mismanagement from our directors of football who think 10 wingers and no defensive midfielders or strikers is the way to win a championship. . .whilst rewarding performing players from last year like Bertrand, Mikel, Lampard and Ramires and still top of the league. . . whilst maybe Emenalo who bought these new players thinks all these over-attacking players/non-defensive entities should be on the pitch at the same time.

All these yarns na Emenalo creation

Marin for example has no business in the first team from what I'm seeing. He is not better attacking than Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Moses, and does not offer the balance of Ramires and Bertrand or even Moses.

RDM is right as rain, doing his thing cool-headedly and managing an extremely unbalanced squad that Emenalo created.

Abi why did Emenalo buy all these attacking players and failed to put a capable defensive midfielder in place to cover them? Abi na Green-White-Green issue?

El Guapo: [color=#0066ff]IB u're really tryin' to make a sensible point and ya Stats are Genuinely Correct but HEY! All that were Last Season, Ramy is Prolly a shadow of his true self tis season so far.
Our Right side of attack seem to be Dead Jxt cos the dude aint devourin' those Lbs - He's got pace that i know but keeps running outta ideas when faced by a def, key Reason he had to be Subed in the Reading, QpR [moved to CM] and Yet Juve games.
Tellin' displays ve seen frm him so far, aint Jxt encouraging, Moses Only had few mins to show him how itz been done against a vulnerable Bosingwa at the weekend.

One Big Reason Nateevs and I would sought for that 'flickster' kinda players - Truth Is, they never Run Outta Ideas! [/color]

Ramires would never blend with the tricksters cos he's only good at counterattacking from deep, not when Chelsea have possession. His job in a Brazil midfield 3 (before he was discarded) was to stay on the right side and cover Dani Alves as a shuttling midfielder/auxiliary right-wing-back..

Ramires as stands has little role in the team. We have a DM who can pass brilliantly (Mikel) but is too slow to cover the counterattacks. On the other hand, we have a midfielder (Ramires) who can cover with pace and aggression but lacks basic passing ability. If Mikel loses the ball (as seen yesterday), it is highlighted by the fact that it would lead to a dangerous situation. Imagine Ramires losing the ball 9, 10 times in that position of the pitch?

Ramires shoulda been sold last summer, otherwise do not buy Azpilicueta and use Ramires as right-back. Dude is actually sick in that position as he showed against Barca.

The boy Oscar really locked down pirlo. Outhustled him and rendered him less of a factor. Apart from the goals his work ethic was encouraging. Always like attacking midfielders that hustle. Hazard is hustling small small as well but Mata needs to stop acting scared

debosky: You're a good sport Ibime - at least you've watched replays and realised what truly happened.

I hope you are watching ruud gullit on sky sports though and I quote 'Torres getting injured would not be a bad thing. At the moment they are playing with ten men. He doesn't score, doesn't hold the ball up, doesn't make runs. Nothing '

Ruud gullit, you are a Chelsea legend!

Entirely mikels fault. The ball was played back to marchisio and mikel was just watching him as he threaded the pass to quagliarella

I don't know whose responsibility it was to close the man down. Will have to see the replay to confirm. The man was on the halfway line so it is one of three players responsibility. Definitely not Mike's responsibility to leave his position and go closing a man on the halfway line when there are players in front of him. I'm not concerned with mikel losing the ball. We had 10 men behind the ball when he lost it. I'm concerned with marchisio running behind mikel untracked more than 10 times in a match. Torres played a lot better today. At least he kept shape even if he did not pose much goal threat. He worked harder, kept the ball better and contested for more balls

Mikel lost the ball but who was supposed to be pressing the guy who he gave it to? Either Mata Torres or hazard were watching the guy and gave him five seconds to make his pass. The highlights should tell us more. More worrying was the amount of times marchisio ran behind mikel

How can you witchhunt a player who's been crap for two years.

If he's a witch, it's not a witchhunt!!!

This is the reason I didnt respond to you guys yesterday cos next thing I know you pedants would be arguing the nature of Llorente's fatigue. Spanish authority Guillem Ballegue told me on TV that Del Bosque believes Llorente is exhausted and I take it as that.

I ignored eediots who flagged up "Llorente was tired" comments yesterday because it was well reported. Guillem Ballegue even said it on TV as the reason he wasnt played even whilst Negredo was played. I even said it during the Euros and eediots did not laugh then. Llorente was tired, if not Llorente is TWICE the player shekpe keeper is and woulda played above both Shekpe keeper and Negredo.

Google is your friend. . .


The adverse circumstances he faced included the absence of his main goal scorer David Villa and hardworking defender Carles Puyol, a seemingly out of form Fernando Torres, and signs that some of the players he'd picked for his squad, like Fernando Llorente, might be exhausted after a demanding season of domestic and club international fixtures. Psychologically, there was the fear that Spain's general political and economic crisis, with the country increasingly divided regionally, might dampen the general enthusiasm La Roja had generated in brighter times.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/07/vicente-del-bosque-spain



The other issue is at the opposite end of the pitch. The loss of David Villa is huge – his international goalscoring record is incredible, and so often he provided key goals for Spain in international tournaments. Assuming Del Bosque doesn’t start with Silva or Fabregas as a false nine (which remains unlikely), he has a straight three-way choice between Torres, Llorente and Alvaro Negredo. Each has a clear weakness – Torres lacks form, Llorente lacks fitness, Negredo lacks experience. This is very difficult to call, and it would be a surprise if all three were not used at some point in the competition.

Llorente would be favourite if fully fit, and Negredo’s clever runs in behind the defence give Spain offer most penetration, but Del Bosque’s loyalty to Torres shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s not the right decision on paper – but Del Bosque isn’t an ‘on paper’ man. He’s a ‘dressing room’ man, and as always, squad unity and harmony appears to come before tactical efficiency.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/06/06/euro-2012-preview-spain/

Possession stats was 52 to 48. Yet someone is telling us Zamora touched the ball twice as much cos his team had more possession.

How did Zamora collect 50 passes with 50% possession?

STRENGTH, MOVEMENT AND WORKRATE!


Fernando Torres had a poor game, and your eyes should tell you that. But just in case you are convinced, here's what the numbers have to say. If you were crious enough to click on that link to Zamora's chart, you would have found out that the QPR striker received a total of 50 passes -- that's twice as many as Torres did in this game. So right off the bat, we know that Torres was not as involved in the game as his opposite number did. Part of the reason for this was that Torres failed to win aerial battles in the QPR's half. He only won 2 out of the 7 aerial battles he contested. Some might say he's not a target man, but then he did win 7 out of the 10 aerial battles against Newcastle.

Even if we forgive him for not being involved in the game as much, what he did when he got the ball doesn't tell a positive story either. Of the 25 passes received, 12 turned into complete passes. So what happened to the other 13 passes he received? Two of those turned into successful dribbles, with one of those dribbles leading to a shot on target (that was a brilliant move and the only shot he had in this game). Five were misplaced passes. Four more led to failed dribbles. The rest of the unaccounted received passes probably turned into loss of possession. That is a forward misusing half of the passes he received. That is simply not good enough.

^^^ 51 times he received the ball! Should tell you he has the strength to receive the ball unlike weakling. 28 times he passed to teammates (60%), 3 of the other times he scored, and probably another 10 times he took shots or played through ball.

Same match Bobby Zamora received 50 passes despite Chelsea and QPR sharing possession evenly. Weakling receives 25 passes and wastes half of them. Zamora receives double his passes cos he is not a weakling. You play a pass in his direction and he will use his strength to shield the ball and receive it. Play a pass to shekpe keeper, half the time it doesnt reach him. Play an aerial ball to Zamora, he wins it, giving back to midfield in order that they recycle and give back to him. Play aerial ball to shekpe keeper, nobody is seeing that ball again.

Eediots been talking so long about how midfielders dont play for shekpe keeper, but anyone with footie intelligence knows from day one that Shekpe keeper is harming the midfielders by losing everything. Stronger striker would have provided good platform for his midfielders to build on. He is the biggest CANCER in Chelsea.

12 completed passes. 7 unsuccessful dribbles. 25 times he received the ball, 12 times he found a teammate

Torres played his way out of the team with a horrible performance against Croatia.

Wonderful shape keeping by Torres. Only won 1 out of his 7 aerial battles at qpr and only found a teammate 12 of the 25 times he received the ball. That's not counting the other umpteen times weakling was barged out the way before he could even get to the ball. Shekpe keeper - nateevs greatest contribution to nairaland lexicon

Llorente was very tired. It was well reported. That's the reason why nonentity like negredo started the quarter final whilst llorente didn't see one minute. If llorente was 100%, negredo cannot see one minute on pitch. Anyway I'm not concerned with minor details about a confirmed flop. Let's see whether del Bosque ccontinues same way when villa is up to speed.