₦airaland Forum

slap1:
U need ENG 101, Mr. Poster! What a horrible grammar!

If you're gonna criticise the brother's grammar, at least make sure your grammar is correct.

The correct expression is:  What horrible grammar!

This week is a wash-out. . . thankfully Bandely aint doing too good either.

@ All. . . . this is my last word on the matter. . . . someone who failed to read how the tactics played out in the first leg and how the tactics would play out in the second leg is now coming here to blame the players. . . . perhaps Nateevs should have managed his expectations instead of looking for scapegoat.


Before Inter match:

nateevs:
We should explore the possibilities of going 3 goals up in the first half

nateevs:
From the first leg, it was evident they can tamed and dominated.

nateevs:
Your gut don't tell you nada. . . Your only hoping and speculating.
Why can't we score two early. .? Malouda was playing left back in Milan.

And if we don't stop them from scoring, what's to say we can't 3 ? or even four.

Ibime:
if Inter score first, they are capable of going 90 minutes without conceding twice

Ibime:
Anyone thinking Chelsea dominated is deluded. Did it occur to y'all that Inter attacked when they wanted to, and allowed us to attack when THEY wanted to

Ibime:
Knowing Jose, I am willing to bet that he will play a 4-3-3 to exploit the space behind our fullbacks. Dont be surprised to see this formation:


                                 Cambiasso        Motta

                                              Sneijder

                   Eto/Balotelli                             Pandev

                                                Milito

End result: Sneijder drops 3 or 4 mint passes behind our fullbacks, including the goal Eto scored which was dropped from the halfway line behind Ivanovic.




After Inter match:

nateevs:
IT WAS THE PLAYERS FAULT!!!. . . . .  reh reh reh

COMEDY: PRICELESS!!!



A poor workman always blames his tools.

Everyone dispatches smaller teams. . . have Arsenal dispatched a decent team that parks the bus?


The point is Chelsea did not try any "Flintstone football" against Inter.

Under Guus Hiddink, Avram Grant and Jose Mourinho, we play "flintstone football". . . . and we get to the semi-final of UCL at least and we win the league.

Under Scolari and Ancelotti, we try his nonsense "edge of the box" football, and we are out of the Champions League. . . . AND IMMINENTLY FLOUNDERING IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE.

Now they blame the players for the structural deficiencies of a FLAWED STYLE which has failed to win trophies even with Arsenal who have skillers like Fabregas and Nasri.

Keep making excuses for Ancelotti's incompetence. At the end of the season, he will be labelled a failure just like Scolari, and that will be the end of the matter.

ritchboy:
Ibime
is there a better style of football for breaking down a packed D than Arsenal's? Do the disgruntled fans suggest Arsene should play on the counter to score against a packed D? Jesus wept!

Where are your trophies to show for it?

Leave story abeg. . . . next time Arsenal fail to penetrate a packed D, we will start hearing. . . "this style of play is taking us nowhere". . . "we need to vary our game". . ."we need more physical presence". . . ."our style of play is so predictable". . . ."its so easy to counterattack us" etc etc etc.

mikeansy:
There is a pattern developing of people claiming every policy by CBN announced by National dailies are not new.

I don't know why you guys want us to take you more seriously than National Dailies who consider these policies new enough to make headline news.

The reason to call out old news is to expose paid hacks who dredge up old news and put spin on it in order to try to discredit SLS.

Reading even the journalists slight of hand, if you were not biased, you would realise that this is a paid destruction job:

newmaster:
The decision, which, according to sources close to the Bankers‘ Committee, is in line with the code of corporate governance of 2006, is causing ripples among the directors, who think their stakes in the banks are at risk.


A top official of the CBN, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent on Friday, confirmed that directors, who fell in this category, might have to go by December, adding that the CBN was only enforcing the code of corporate governance issued in 2006 by the apex bank under Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

Am sure that those who opposed SLS for setting term limits on CEO's and directors would not care to comment that Soludo also set term-limits on directors.

presido1:
Let him hand himself over if he has no file to hand over.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE. . . . you no well!

This one is called RAPTURE. . . .



I tarry not, I appear in a CHARIOT BLAZE/
My trumpet FRACTURE THE GRAVE/ and RAPTURE THE SAVED/
CAMERAS GAZE/as all LAZARUS RAISE/ to the VANTAGE OF SPACE/
till they disappear beyond any SATELLITE TRACE/
Sinners don’t know how to ACT OR BEHAVE/
Unbelievers ASK FOR MY GRACE/ but I ANSWER, “IT’S LATE!”/
Some Pharisees try to STAND AND DEBATE/
But most ANGUISH AND GRATE/ weeping and gnashing, UNDERSTANDING THEIR FATE!/
Some VANISH WITH HASTE/ and DASH TO A CAVE/
Trying to COWER THEIR FACE/ from my RAVENOUS RAGE/
Rich men offer their CAPITAL GAINS/ for a CHANCE TO ESCAPE/
But I scorn their riches as I LAUGH IN THEIR FACE/
Others try to cheat judgement by SLASHING THEIR VEINS/
They pray for death, but death doesn’t ANSWER THEIR CASE/
They all get CAPTURED AS SLAVES/ and SHACKLED IN CHAINS/
And thrown into the fire to be RAVAGED BY FLAMES/

ritchboy:
Kids, the lesson of the story is, when the defending team park the bus, the attacking players are meant to ask for their autographs. . . Psff!

The question here is. . . when Arsenal fail to penetrate packed defences (which they often fail to do), who do Arsenal fans usually direct their ire at?. . . Fabregas and Nasri?. . . in my experience, they usually call the radio station to rain curses on Arsene Wenger for playing a style of footie which packed defences find easy to defend against. . . so why are you lot hollering Lampards name instead of the real culprit Ancelotti.

ritchboy:
Comparing the offensive contribution of CMs(offensive responsibility: create, perhaps score) to DMs(primary objective: stifle said CMs, little or no offensive responsibility)? Ludicrous!

If the role of the CM is to create, then Ancelotti must stop making the CM's do the wingers defensive work for them.

ritchboy:
Maybe you are trying to tell us Lampard earns £150k p/w so whenever the opposition put men behind the ball, he is expected to admire their organization instead of contributing to breaking them down.

Lampard is paid £150k per week for his ability as the most productive counterattacking central midfielder in the world. . .not for his ability to dribble through 7 defenders between him and goal. . . it's Ancelottis prerogative to use him as such.

Vieira was the one of the highest paid central midfielders of his day. . . it was not for his ability to chill on the edge of the opponents area doing fancy flicks, but for his ability to run the game and counterattack at devastating speed and power. . .

Even Wenger knew not to start playing this his "edge of the box" football until Vieira left. . . after Vieira left, Wenger was free to start building this new style of play. . .and he built it slowly. . . . in came Rosicky, Hleb and Denilson. . .then later Nasri and then Arshavin. . . .slowly Arsenal have now built up their style of play to a style where they play in the opponents area mostly. . . . . even Abou Diaby (a Vieira style player) needed three years to atune himself to the quickness of thought needed for the new style of play. . .

Wenger did not just start forcing Vieira and such to play footie where you have to pick holes through 10 condensed men defending the penalty box. . . . unlike Ancelotti who believes in REVOLUTION rather than EVOLUTION.

Story, story, story.

You reap what you sow.

She could have been a respected ex-first lady by now if she had acted honourably.

She is out of power. . . and should deal with it.

She must be an illiterate if she thinks she should still be part of the reckoning.

Black man, you are on your own - Steve Biko.

USA is not interested in de-balkanising any other country except they are white Eastern European. Una must suffer and die together.

ritchboy:
Ibime
if you dont realize the preposterous nature of comparing the offensive contribution of defensive midfielders who barely got out of their own half to central midfielders who were camping in opposition territory for the most part, you should be analysing lesbian p0rnography and not football!

Lemme draw a[i] loose[/i] analogy for you. . .

Does Alex Song not play most of his football in the opposition half? Is he not a DM? Is there any onus on him to score or assist?

Where Alex Song is positioned on the pitch is irrelevant. He is never expected to assist or score because of the number of opposition players between himself and the opposition goal.

Im sure if an alien just arrived from Mars and saw Alex Songs touch graphic for Arsenal matches, he would assume Alex Song is an attacking midfielder just cos of the sheer amount of time he spends in the opposition half.

In contrast, Sneijder didnt have to cross much past the halfway line to deliver the killer passes that hurt Chelsea, because there are only 5 (often 4) players between him and the Chelsea goal, and plenty of space behind them to dink the passes into.

Am sure if an alien appears from Mars and looks at Sneijders touch graphic, he may never even guess that Sneijder is an attacking midfielder cos Sneijder takes most touches in his own half.


The question is. . . do you have more footie intelligence than an alien?



The lesson is. . . . the amount of freedom you have to affect a game is not determined by which part of the pitch you spend most of your time in. . . it is determined by how many players form resistance between yourself and the opposition goal.

chosen04:
How does not knowing about the modus operandi of the freedom fighters amount to dissociating?.


You need to go for an evening english class.

You dey mind am?

Someone who associated himself after the Lagos blast will now dissociate himself after the comparatively mundane Warri blast?

Aaron team should press full on ahead with their negotiations independently. Aaron Team is to MEND what Sinn Fein is to IRA. Nobody has to question Aaron team because they are not involved in operations. Their only brief is to discuss politics.

safeact:
My heart is filled with grief and sorrow as i have allowed myself to be dubed by some unscrupulous people.

You are unscrupulous yourself, having tried to aid and abet the guy to inflate the price of the packets.

maga come, maga go, yahoo remain.

debosky:
I assume you missed Arshavin's howitzer against Utd at OT last year or Nasri's decimation of Man Utd at the Emirates last season. Roman would give his left testicle for that type of individual skill in this Chelski side.

How many games have Arsenal won against a packed Chelsea and Manure defence?

History has proven time and time again that Arsene Wenger's full-pressing system is inferior to Alex Fergusons half-pressing counterattack system.

Arsenal have not been successful since the days when Wenger himself used to play counterattacking football - THATS A FACT!

Nasri, Fabregas and all the skill in the world have been unable to change that. . . what is more funny is that Nateevs who specialises in laughing at Arsenal, now thinks that Arsenal footie is what is needed to make Chelsea more successful.

How about we go back to what makes Chelsea successful, not the nonsense that Ancelotti and Scolari are trying to force on us, then blaming the players for their failure.

Last year, Nateevs said it was because we couldnt get Robinho that Scolari flopped. . . remember that?. . . . where is Robinho now? Much good he did to Man City innit?

This year, its because Lampard does not play like Diego. According to the likes of Nateevs, Diego would have turned Chelsea into Barcelona. . . but I dont see him doing it for Juventus.

All these are just excuses for Scolari's and Ancelotti's INCOMPETENCY!

Before we ask if the players are good enough for the system, we need to ask IS THE SYSTEM good enough to succeed?

debosky:
Age becomes relevant when players have to fulfill multiple duties and not just one - Gilberto couldn't play the high energy game required by Arsenal's change, something more suited to Flamini or now Song, so age definitely comes into the analysis,

It is a tribute to Lampards fitness that he performs his defensive duties whilst still being able to have the legs to keep up with the attack.

I dare anyone to pull OPTA stats this season, lets see if Lampard does not cover more km's per game than any central midfielder in the Prem. I deal in FACTS!. . . until you can do this, then there is no merit to your suggestion.

Our LCM position is still vibrant and all our attacks come down that side, unlike our RCM position where Ballack can no longer perform his defensive duties and still keep up with the attack - and that said, Ballack himself still covers reasonable mileage in games.

debosky:
Just how many goals have come from wide areas for Chelski compared to the centre? Your argument is hogwash,

Productivity does not refer to assists. . . it is outcome-based.

The fact remains that our traditional counter-attacking 4-3-3 system, whilst yielding less goals, yields more wins and better results.

As Akolawole once pointed out about Scolari, it is better to win 10 games by 1-0, than to win 7 games by 5-0 and lose 3 games by 1-0. Same applies to Ancelotti.

debosky:
Not really, sometimes yes, but not always.

Arsenal have dropped more points against teams that park the edge of their area than for any other reason.

For the last 3 or 4 years, you will never find a single game that Arsenal has lost going toe to toe with the opposition.

Arsenal is always killed on the counterattack.

^^^Whats all this talk about AGE: Inter team was on average 1 year older than Chelsea team.

Yes Nasri did whatever against a brittle Porto, but when faced with a packed defence against Chelsea and Manure, none of Arsenal skillers were anywhere to be found. Just like Chelsea could not break down a packed InterMilan.

I insist that traditionally Chelseas strength comes from counterattacking, and having a free player in central midfield. Now all central midfielders are tied up, whilst the wingers and fullbacks have been given more freedom by Ancelotti. Thats like taking the most productive players in our team, and forcing them to cover the most unproductive ones. . . Anyone looking to the central midfield for the attacking onus is seriously misguided. If (and thats a big IF) any players are to blame, the finger of blame is to be pointed at the[i] wingers[/i] who have more tactical freedom than anyone. (I use the term winger loosely). The onus was on them to go one-on-one against Maicon and Zanetti, beat them and swing crosses in for Drogba (The only way Drogba could have bested Samuel and Lucio).

Just as when Arsenal play against teams that pack the edge of the box, the onus is on getting the ball wide and breaching the defence through crosses - a usual sore point in Arsenals play.

Thats the simple fact of the matter. . . .

Ill be back to collect my £200 from Nateevs at the end of the season. . . Nateevs backed the team to perform wonders. . . I knew the manager cannot do it and I gave my reasons. . . now he no longer backs the team and is blaming the players. . . . who was right in the first place?

One of Wengers main dilenmas in this match is whether to play Nasri on the right and try to outpossess Barca. . . or play Walcott and try to counter-attack the gaping spaces Barca leave on their left hand side.

Depending on whether he picks Walcott or Nasri, that will inform us of his approach to this game.

ritchboy:
The problem with Ibime is he thinks he's a tactical genius, but in truth he knows nada.
Imagine the ponce comparing Cambiasso & Motta's(DMs) offensive contribution to Lampard & Ballack(CMs). . . Shocking.
FYI, In the first leg, when Cambiasso played a less defensive role, he scored a goal from open play.
Lampard & Ballack were hawking pure water at SB because they werent good enough to do otherwise, not because of their defensive duties or global warming, simple!

Word for the wise. . . it doesnt matter where you are on the pitch, what matters is how many opponents lie between you and the opposition goal. . . . Sneijder for example didnt need to cross the halfway line to release the passes that hurt Chelsea. . . he had less players to beat, and greater space to do so. . .

That was my dream draw for the Champions league.

Xavi vs Fab4

Arshavin vs Messi


This will be a game to die for.

^^^ Mugu, what did Motta and Cambiasso contribute offensively in the game. Shebi they were also tracking both midfield and fullbacks.

What did Joe Cole contribute? Infact, soon as he came on, Zanetti was released from left-back cos Joe Cole couldnt check him physically like Ballack could.

As all the analysts have said, JM was smart enough to play a system where every Chelsea player was occupied, and the only free player was Sneijder being tracked by an immobile Mikel.

Football is a game about space. Inter denied the space, whilst picking off Chelseas highline of defence.

Thats why all the analysts have said that JM outsmarted Ancelotti. . . . and thats the bottomline, not all this rehrehreh about players.

We have heard all these nonsense arguments from Nateevs before during Scolari era. . . only for him to STFU when Guus Hiddink took charge of the team.

Like I say, come the end of the season, everybody will agree with what I've been saying about Ancelottis style since July last year. . . . lets leave it at that!

debosky:
Stop blowing hot air - if Malouda and Anelka did the same as Pandev and Eto'o, then LLamps and Ballack only needed to track the fullbacks when they entered Chelski's half, after which they would pass them on to Zhirkov and Ivanovic.

They didn't do box to box tracking either!!

In essence, the tactical assignment to track fullbacks (in your own half) till they reached the Chelski defence WAS NOT the reason why Lamps and Ballack failed to attack. It's as simple as that. Go and watch again and see Eto's header in the first half -  Zhirkov is marking marking Maicon once he leaves the middle third.

They were neutralised by Motta and Cambiasso and NOT because of any tactical decision for them to track fullbacks. Having defensive duties cannot stop you from attacking. If Eto'o and Pandev did some tracking and still caused damage, why wouldn't Lamps and Ballack? If Schneider had room to cause damage, then why not any of the Chelski midfielders?

You are an absolute buffoon with no tactical nous. . . . if you didnt know in the first place that Lamps and Ballack were tracking fullbacks, then stop arguing!!!

Its like someone just learned times-table yesterday, and he is now trying to argue algebra with the same person who taught him times-table.

According to you, "If Eto'o and Pandev did some tracking and still caused damage, why wouldn't Lamps and Ballack?" . . . . mugu, Eto and Pandev's role mirrors Malouda and Anelka, not Lamps and Ballack. . . . only an idiot would make such a comparison.


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I am done arguing nonsense with guys. Let time itself be the judge of Carlo Ancelotti.

From day one, I was the only nucca on here who opposed CA. I opposed far back as 2008 when he was being touted.

None of these accusations are new. You can go back as far as July last year to see me making some of these tactical points I'm making now.

The same things I said about our weaknesses are being exposed, now some fools are coming here to blame the players. Looking at Inters performances in Serie A (and even in the 1st leg), can we say they have better players, or do they have a better manager?

It is no secret that Nateevs has had pink-eye for Lampard since 2007 when I joined NL. Now he is using AGE as an excuse. Was Lampard old in 2007?

Like Ive said, unless you need specsavers, Lampard remains one of the fittest player in the Premiership.

I have no problem with Chelsea playing possession footie, but like Ive said, all we need to do that is to get someone who can hold onto the ball in central midfield, dribble a little bit and you will see possession footie. You dont have to change the whole midfield to do that. But like I've told Nateevs, that possession hogger must be geniune central midfielder (Xavi, Fabregas, Sneijder, Denilson), not the passengers hes been recommending (Deco, Diego, VDV).

Every year, Nateevs want Lampard replaced. He wanted Deco and Deco flopped. He wanted Diego. . . .thats why I keep asking him "How is Diego doing at Juventus?". . . and Im still waiting for an answer.

Juventus had a solid 4-4-2 last season, they switched to a diamond to accomodate Diego, and now they are falling faster than a stone.


In 2008 Champions League final, we had Malouda and Joe Cole on the wing whilst Man Utd had Ronaldo and Hargreaves. We had to double up on Ronaldo everytime he had the ball, costing us an extra attacking option. Man Utd were so dominant on the wings, the only thing that kept us in that game was our dominance in central midfield. If you ask any of our opponents in the Champions League over the last few years, they will tell you Chelsea's dominance come from their central midfield.

For years, we have had Malouda and Joe Cole/Kalou playing rubbish on the wings. The only thing that kept us going is our central midfield.

Im leaning toward HJ. . .DBR had a lot of wordplay, but the structure of his lines didnt allow him to land them with effizy. . . . his verse is a case of overdoing the wordplay, and missing the punch delivery. . . . I have a feeling DBR didnt spend much time developing each punchline, cos there is enough potential to land the same ideas a lot harder than he did.

HJ was witty, flowed better etc. . . . but ama be back to vote on this later.

ElRazur:
I think it is more to do with the Non-proliferation treaty or something along those lines. But yes, it is a good thing they did.

Yawa!!!

By non-proliferation, they mean they dont want nuclear weapons proliferating into black hands.

As they say, OPEN YOUR EYE. No country in the world will voluntarily give up nuclear weapons, cos its the biggest bargaining tool in International trade.

Them white South Africans know they are not Africans otherwise they would never deny their own country the right to own nuclear weapons. They know they might get chased out the country anytime soon, and they dont want to leave such weapons behind.

South Africa had nuclear weapons but voluntarily dismantled all its weapons shortly before the end of apartheid. . . they obviously didnt want those weapons falling into the hands of black folk cos dem black South Africans would have sold the secrets to other black nations.

Wole should concentrate on turning the Save Nigeria Group into a mass movement first. . . . I dont see how this is different from Pat Utomi contesting elections.

All ministers have been sacked. . . I assume that includes the Minister of Special Duties.

Surely this thread belongs on the Nairaland section rather than the Politics section. . .

My own tuppence:

Minister of Health: Naijaking
Minister of Niger Delta: WilyWily
Minister of Petroleum: Debosky

chic2pimp:
Nah he is overrated. The only reason he was any good in the Under 21's was cuz he was playing against low quality defenders.
He has since been found out.
BTW, he is back with Genoa. His Loan spell was cut short. I guess Atlanta realised he ain't good enough.

Rubbish. . . his loan spell wasnt cut short. . . he was involved in the Amoruso transfer that took him back to Genoa. . .

Since back in Genoa, hes copped 2 goals in 4 appearances.

We are talking about a player who Roma wanted, and you are talking about overrated. . . did he not the recieve the silver shoe at the Euro U-21's?

No youngster is the finished article. . . were Glen Johnson and Lass Diarra the finished article at Chelsea?

Bonucci is now a full International, and part of the second strongest defence in Serie A. Meanwhile Mourinho is looking for replacements for Materrazi and Ivan Cordoba. Im sure next season he will ask Moratti for £20m to go and buy a 27 year old defender.

Mourinho is sacrificing Inters future for Inters present.

Bordeaux's defence will let them down when it really matters.

chic2pimp:
Acquafresca is shyte anyways.
I'm yet to see him have a good game for Genoa.

Acquafresca is not shyte. . . he is Italy's no1 U-21 striker. . . the reason you havent seen him play for Genoa is cos he has only played 4 games for Genoa (and scored 2 goals). . . he is on loan at Atalanta.

chic2pimp:
Also Inter did not pay £25m for millito.
They paid 25m Euros for both Motta and Millito,

Inter paid 25m for Millito and Motta + Acquafresca, Bonucci, Bolzoni, Fatic and Megorioni.

They have sacrificed 3 U-21 Internationals for players coming to the end of their careers.

Once again, typical Mourinho style, short term gain, long term pain.

dayokanu:
Bayern are already on the tail of Bonucci.

Ditto!

omar22:
He choose Malouda because at the time Malouda was the better player in better from Lyon, and Drogba was desperate to have him at Chelsea, and after the in fighting between Jose and Roman, it was late until Roman released the funds for Jose to spend,

Malouda was in no sort of form, as shown in the 2006 WC. . . . By 2006, Ribery was already BY FAR the better player than Malouda, and JM only chose Malouda cos Malouda is a winger with the defensive mentality of a left-back.

JM is always cautious rather than adventurous, and choosing Malouda over Ribery was just one example. . . . and its this kind of mentality that got him the sack.

debosky:
Cambiasso and Motta were NOT tracking Zhirkov and Ivanovic, they were neutralising any forward movement by Ballack and Lamps and they did so to devastating effect. If anything, Pandev and Eto'o were the ones tracking the full backs of Chelski.

You lot shouldnt confuse yourself with the prevailing dogma. . . as we say in PH, OPEN YOUR EYE. . . this goes for Ritchboy as well. . . .Eto was there to push Zhirkov back, not to track him from box to box. . . . rarely did he do so. . . when Zhirkov runs beyond his midfield, Eto tucks into the inside-right/midfield position in preparation to counterattack into the space Zhirkov leaves behind. . . .it was this threat from Eto attacking his space that made Zhirkov curtail his forward runs. . . . .

The first thing I noticed in the match when Zhirkov first came forward was Cambiasso coming across to the right-hand side to double up with Maicon. . . .Eto would often track Zhirkov to the halfway line, sometimes into his own half (but rarely). . . when Zhirkov enters Chelsea half, often Cambiasso pulls wide, then Motta comes to the centre to occupy Lampard/Ballack. . . . and vice-versa when the ball was on Ivanovic side, Motta pulls wide to double with Zanetti whilst Cambiasso comes to the centre to occupy Lampard/Ballack. . . claiming Eto tracked Zhirkov up and down from box to box is a fallacy. . . it only happened when Cambiasso was otherwise engaged. . . .

I saw Eto engaging the central midfielders in the match whenever Zhirkov runs beyond the midfield. . . this allows Eto to stay high up the pitch so he is in a good position to counterattack.



But remember, it was an offense-minded line-up; wingers, whether they be reconverted strikers or natural outside forwards, are still forwards. When Inter had the ball Etoo and Pandev would press right up against the full-backs and almost level with the centre-forward Milito. And yes, the Inter outside-forwards were expected closer to the midfield (forming a 4-2-3-1)whenever Chelsea were in posession. But this is standard practice for all teams who play an adventurous 4-3-3: Pedro, Messi and Henry are expected to do this as well. Besides, this line of 3 is a relatively higher line of pressure than the one typically formed by the wide-men in a 4-4-2, who are obliged to double all the way back to their own full-backs.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/16/chelsea-0-1-inter-the-classic-smash-and-grab-0-1-from-mourinho/


Telling me Eto tracks Zhirkov box to box is like telling me that Messi and Pedro track box to box. . .


And @ Ritchboy,

Claiming Inter will play a 4-3-3 is a nominal expression. Of course they played 4-3-3. . . . 4-3-3 does not indicate that the two wingers must play in straight lines with their opposing fullbacks.

This is the nonsense that Nateevs is claiming . . . cos I said we must play 4-3-3 in December, Nateevs fully well understands that I am talking about a 4-3-3 like Chelsea have always played it. He is just being pedantic. The main issue is the players tactical roles on the pitch. . . . . I never spoke of what Eto and Pandevs roles would be, so I never claimed they would play a "real" 4-3-3. . . they played it just like I expected it.


Now @ this blind man Debosky:

debosky:
So what do Malouda and Anelka do when you are being attacked? Are they selling akara?   Or don't they have any defensive duties?

Note this has nothing to do with diamond, or cubic zirconia or any other imagination of yours - to keep harping on Lamps and Ballack tracking the fullbacks is a  bit odd - it implies the attacking 'wide' players have no defensive duties.

Even Nateevs (who Im arguing with) agrees that Lamps and Ballack are the ones with the tactical responsibility to track the fullbacks so what are you harping on about?

I cant be arguing with lightweights mehn.

Malouda and Anelkas role is exactly the same as Eto and Pandev, which is to tuck in when the opponents have the ball, ready to attack the space left behind by the fullback. Only if Lampard is out of position will Malouda track the right-back.

Please open your eye during the game next time, and dont wait for tactical lessons on Nairaland afterward.