₦airaland Forum

nateevs:
No one will believe this is coming from a Chelsea fan if they saw this for the first time.
I have always maintained that you are a closet Arsenal fan and you would rather Arsenal won the league than Chelsea. .

Go ahead and make Arsenal your favourites. 10 games to go and you already know Chelsea will finish 3rd because it's simple maths.
And even though you quite rightly mentioned Chelsea "could" drop points. . . You think Arsenal are favourites. .

I know what you've always been, you only Chelsea becos of the manager.

hehehe. . . so now am an Arsenal fan?

Listen mate, my statements are pure logic.

I dare you to pull up a league table from December till now, look at it and tell me Chelsea will win the league. . . like Ive said, we're only in this title race because of our Aug - Nov form.


In case you havent noticed, in our last 14 games, we have dropped 17 points from 1st Dec till date.

In our first 14 games, from Aug to Nov, we only dropped 6 points. . . go figure!



Pull up our away record in the last 3 months, and we've only won 2 away games out of 7. . . against Wolves and Burnley!. . . i.e, we are only winning away at certain relegation candidates.

I think we have enough volume of data now to conclude that Chelsea's form is building a trend.

One month of bad results is a blip. 3 months is a trend!

If we do forecast analysis of Chelsea's points tally after 38 games using any Moving Average method, Chelsea will finish third!



If I believed our problem was personnell, I might believe we still have a chance if the players come into form.

However, as Ive been saying, our problems are structural, and we will continue to leak points with this style of play.

Arsenal on the other hand have a clear run to the finish line. . . the ruthless ease with which they dispatch the small teams tells me that they have a better chance than us.

I believe at the end of the season, we will look back at 2 crucial turning points in our season:

(1.) The return of Drogba from the ANC which disrupted our attacking play. As today & Wednesday showed, any defender (as long as he is strong and good in the air) nullifies Drogbas threat. Meanwhile we have lost the fluidity of having a technically gifted forward who can make the team play well.

(2.) John Terry brouhaha.


I am not just chatting. . . Im backing it up with cold cash. . . so save further arguments until you give me my £200! 

bamsonkumu:
Hello,
Dis will be my first post in romance section, i want to really understand if truely bankers are stingy as some babes says or is it that babes thinks they have, am a banker myself and i dont think we are stingy but are just being over hyped, so let me here your view NL.

No wonder the banking industry is struggling. . . with your level of literacy, Im not surprised. . .

chamotex:
Who is this average dude and why is his team not accessible?

Average is just the Average score of all the teams in FPL. . . Beware, he defeated MEND FC!

Looks like Im gonna beat SOOTING STARS after all. . . them Chelsea tarados let me down, but ma Arsenal contingent seem to have saved my hide. . . Im laughing that DK sold Tevez just before this Gameweek!

Ma condolences to Ramsey.

I believe Arsenal are gonna win the league this season. . . I was just waiting to see the Stoke result to make up my mind finally.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=404948.msg5597065#msg5597065 date=1267291565]They still have to play Citeh, West Ham and Tottenham(away).
I can bet they will drop more points in the run-in than Chelsea and Man Utd.
Never ever count on Arsenal in the months of March/April cos trust Bendtner and Vermaelen to cop massive injuries when they are needed the most.[/quote]Chelsea could drop points against Manure (away), Liverpool (away) and Tottenham (away). . . and considering the Citeh result, even Villa (home) could be a problem. . . . and we can also drop points in any other away match. . . even a mid-table club will give Chelsea problems away from SB as our form since December shows.

Arsenal only need to worry about Stoke (away) and Tottenham (away). . . they will beat Citeh at Home.


This is simple Mathematics. . .if Arsenal beat Stoke today, all bets are off on Chelsea finishing in the top 2.


IMHO, Arsenal have just as much chance of winning the league as the top 2. . . .if they beat Stoke today, Im gonna make em my favourites!

nateevs:
I am game. . . £100. . . Carllotti wins the league. 
£100 he finishes in top 2.

Sauron, you be the judge of this. . . Nateevs owes me £200.

If Arsenal beat Stoke today, Chelsea will finish third.

The form table from Dec - Feb puts us in mid-table. . . everyone has sussed Ancelotti out. . . we are still surviving on our August to Nov results.

Nateevs aint got a clue. . . The Premiership is NOT blue! 

@ Nateevs,

My friend, we are watching. . . lets wait and see. . . when was the last time Chelsea put a run together. . . win today, lose tomorrow. . .

Hull (D)
Everton (L)
Wolves (W)
Inter (L)
Citeh (L)

^^^ You must really like this kind of form. . .

Anyway, put ya money where your mouth is. . . I am willing to bet £100 that Ancelotti will not win the league this season. . . and another £100 that Ancelotti will not finish in the top 2.

Are you game?

Krayola:
Young teenager tryna to drive, feelin cool
Bribe driver-take the wheel, when we’ve nearly reached school
Can’t see over the dashboard, but chiks can’t tell
I’m sittin on Modern Biology, I tall well well

hehehe. . . I can relate!

nateevs:
I will prefer to allow Zhirkov go gung ho against Barca and perhaps force them back and hope we get 3 away goals against a poor defensive Barca than sit 11 men behind the ball for 90mins . . . kill football and create a bad image like we did last season. .

And they will promptly give us the same treatment they gave to Bayern Munich last season.  


I hope you remember that Maicon is also an attacking fullback/ pseudo-winger. . . yet when you see Inter playing in Champions League, Mourinho does not allow Maicon to go forward any and anyhow. . . even Patrice Evra goes purely defensive when Manure is playing Barca, or even Chelsea. . . Great managers adapt to the opposition, silly managers insist on playing the same way all the time.



Anyway, you agree that Ancelotti plays the same style/formation as Scolari. . . thats enough for me. . . one was a failure. . . the other will be.

nateevs:
And that's why I told you 3 of the goals we conceded were not from the advancing full backs.
Yes if Ivanovic was there he may not have scored. . which is the downside of the formation.

Dont be silly. . . is that not the goal that put Citeh in front? Is that not the goal that LOST the game for us and forced Ancelotti to make a raft of silly substitutions that totally unbalanced our team?

nateevs:
And so far only about 10% of conceded have been as a result of advancing full backs.

This is pure rubbish. . . 65% of our goals have come from set-pieces. . . at least 20-25% of the others have come from counterattacks.

Ask youself this question. . . if Chelsea are playing Barca tomorrow, dont you expect a silly manager like Ancelotti to give Zhirkov the licence to attack despite the presence of Messi?

This just buttresses my point that great managers adapt to any situation, whilst brittle managers play the same style regardless of the opposition.

nateevs:
With Grant and Hiddink, they enjoyed the renewed spirit players always have with a new manager . .
A new atmosphere and everyone trying to impress. . . They haven't started a season with the players and gone season long. . So it is irrelevant to compare.

This is rubbish. . . Grant played almost a whole season (except 5 or 6 games). . . and we all know that both players and fans alike disliked and opposed Grant. . . Grant DID NOT ENJOY ANY RENEWED SPIRIT. . .  the opposite was the case.

Yet Grant only lost one game.

Avram Grant is better for Chelsea than Ancelotti!!!

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=404948.msg5596549#msg5596549 date=1267286187]his absolutely ludicrous subs methinks he hit the panic switch after the 2nd goal went in and totally phocked up the balance of the team which was why City looked like scoring from then on each time they went forward[/quote]Thank you. . . Nateevs would not acknowledge this.

nateevs:
@Ibime,

You are going round in circles. . . I have not told you that Carllotti's formation does not cause teams to counter us. . Of course it does.
But was that the cause of losing today? That, is the bone of contention.

Ask yourself the bolded question again. . .

Where was Ivanovic on Bellamy's first goal?

If he's playing his rightful position, do Citeh score?

If either one of Ivanovic or Malouda was in the full-back position, does Tevez score the first goal?


Go and review Diego Milito's goal again, and you see similarities. . . in that one, Ivanovic was in his position, but the supposed right-winger (Anelka) was not in his position and allowed Zanetti to create the overload that caused the goal.

I will put it in simple terms. . . Scolari's obdurate insistence on using fullbacks as wingers (regardless of the strength of opposition) was his undoing. . . and it will also be Ancelotti's undoing.

This is all part of the diamond-formation mentality which puts the onus on fullbacks to attack.

It is OK to do this when you have a fast DM (auxilliary centre-back) like Essien or Gilberto Silva. . . but when you have a slow coach like Mikel, it is suicidal.

nateevs:
On the contrary, we have been very adventurous in attack and have loosened on the tight and boring play we used to have. . . as a result, we have scored more goals.

What is the problem you are trying to make us see. . ?

What I am trying to make you see is that the Scolari/Carlotti formation and style of play is brittle. . . you are liable to win 5-0, and you are also liable to lose 1-0 or 2-0 on several occassions. . . this is not a league-winning formation/style of play.

Therefore its no surprise that Ancelotti has only won one league in his career. . . and that wont change this season. . . you can quote me on that!

Blaming the players for Ancelotti's foibles is simply silly. . . is there any other team in the league with better players than us?

Manure are better than us, and they dont have better players than us. . . . if Ronaldo was here, we would be 7 or 8 points behind.

I hope you know that both Grant and Hiddink only lost once in their Premier League careers with Chelsea.

If we had either them or Jose now, I can guarantee we would be 7 points clear.

nateevs:
You are talking rubbish . . .
A few matches ago you were praising him saying he went "4-3-3 ala Barcelona" . .

Any idiot is allowed to play 4-3-3 ala Barcelona against Sunderland. . . . going 4-3-3 ala Barca against Inter and Citeh is a different thing altogether.

By 4-3-3 ala Barcelona, we are basically talking about a 3-4-3:

                                     
                                  Anelka

                        Malouda        Cole

Cole            Lampard               Belletti             Ivanovic

                                Mikel

                     Terry             Lampard


Try to play this same formation against Citeh, and you are a certified idiot!

Why should you be surprised when you get killed on the counterattack.

Again I ask, did you see Malouda or Ivanovic on any of Citeh counterattacks?

How come you only see Mikel, Terry and Carvalho?



Theres no difference between what Ancelotti is playing now and what Scolari played.

They play fullbacks in midfield and say they are playing 4 defenders. . . thats just pure rubbish.



Read this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1228706/MARTIN-SAMUEL-Its-crazy-punish-Diego-Maradona-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-loony-tunes.html

Nobody plays 3-5-2 these days: except Brazil, of course. We Luddites had a little laugh about that in Doha on Saturday, as some folk wondered why it always looked as if Brazil had an extra man in the key areas of the field. It was because they did.

As soon as the game started, the two full backs, Michel Bastos and Maicon, moved high and stayed wide to make seven going forward while Gilberto Silva dropped from defensive midfield into a position in front of the central defenders.

Then, if England got the ball and attacked, the full backs withdrew and Gilberto was joined by Melo, so three at the back quickly became a block of six. Fabio Capello, the England manager, praised Brazil’s strength but it was numerical as well as physical.

The 3-5-2 formation is now so fabulously unfashionable that even the teams playing it are in denial. Dunga, manager of Brazil, would no doubt claim to have fielded four at the back against England, just as Luiz Felipe Scolari was documented as using a back four at Chelsea.

When he wrote the team on the tactics board, however, it appeared as 3-5-2 because he placed John Mikel Obi in defence and Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole in midfield.


Again I maintain that Ancelotti is playing nothing different from Scolari.

This is Scolari's formation:


                    Anelka

                                J. Cole

                   Deco

A Cole         Lampard   Ballack   Bosingwa

                    Mikel

              Terry       Carvalho



How does this differ from the formation (ala Barcelona) that Ancelotti uses?

nateevs:
Of course I will support Carllotti . . at least I am consistent at something. .
You blame CArllotti, blame the diamond. . If Carllotti switched to the 4-3-3 we will be flying. .
Now what is your excuse. . ?

Sharrap. . . it doesnt matter what formation you play if the players dont play their position. . . you say we're playing 4-3-3. . . . ask yourself, are Malouda and Ivanovic really playing fullback?

How come everytime the opponents have the ball, the only people we see back are Mikel, Terry and Carvalho. . . this is EXACTLY Scolari style of playing. . . whatever the formation. . .

Scolari told the players we were playing diamond, but he claims it was a psuedo-3-5-2 with Mikel making an extra centre-back and  the fullbacks always pushing up into midfield. . . Lampard confirmed as much by saying that was how Scolari used to draw the formation on the tactics board.

As far as I can see, its exactly the same thing with Carlotti with fullbacks often up in midfield and Mikel making an auxilliary centre back.

I can understand telling your fullbacks to go gung ho against small teams like Wolves etc. . . but against InterMilan and Man Citeh is just the height of naivety.

Again, Im done talking. . . just waiting for Carlotti's sack.

Who was the last manager to lose while conceding 3 goals at the Bridge?

Answers on a postcard.

Im 85% sure we would have to go back to Vialli era to find an answer.



@ Nateevs,

Goodluck with supporting Ancelotti. You blamed the players under Scolari, and now you blame the players under Carlotti. Why did you not blame the players under Hiddink?

We still have 30 minutes to go in a game, and he takes off our midfielders and puts on load of wingers/forwards. Who is going to supply them? No wonder Barry just sliced our defence like hot knife through butter.


I hope you guys realise that statistically, Ancelotti is the 2nd worst manager of the Abramovic era.

I hope he wont break Scolaris record before the season is out.

nateevs:
You have started again . . .
We must never go behind or drop points . . . Carllotti this . . Carllotti that. . .
Do the players have no responsibility. . ?

The cross into the city box met no Chelsea player. . Lampard, Drogba and Anelka just dropped their shoulders and never bothered to chase back. .
Always the manager. . .

How long will you keep blaming the players. . . where are the fullbacks on these counterattacks?. . . is it not Ancelotti that gives them licence to go gung-ho?. . . .all these goals would have been stopped by fullbacks in the appropriate position.

I have seen enough of Ancelotti to know he's a wasteman. . . this is the same nugga that took a 3-0 lead to the Riazor in the quarter-final of the Champions League and still contrived to lose 4-0 to Deportivo.

Same nugga threw away a 3-0 lead in the CL final.

Ancelotti gives new meaning to the word brittle.

Like I said, Im done with this chap. . . I aint expecting nothing from him, so I wont be disappointed. . . expect Inter to do the same to us in a couple of weeks time.

jalether:
Gone are the days when only one goal is enough to win a match, now we need to score atleast 2/3 goals to have a decent chance of taking 3 pts

Ancelotti is an idiot. . . his teams are more open to counterattack than a $2 wh0re.

I've been saying all along that I have no confidence in this chap. 1 Serie A title in 9 years with Juve and Milan. . . what else do you expect?

I give up finally. . . am not investing any more emotions in the bumbling Italian idiot.

Am 85% certain that Mikel does not head that ball back unless John Terry called for it.

I also blame Carvalho for not maintaining enough distance behind Terry to deal with the knockdown first time. . . thats a basic rule of defending which Carvalho has broken.

As for Hilario, he is not on his toes and is too static when Tevez scuffs the shot.

All those chatting shite about Anelka, he is the only one making anything happen in the final third. . . . usually out of nothing. . . for example, his shot that was blocked by Lampard was created out of nothing from the left wing.

Turai needs to take proper care of her husband instead of using his lifeless body as a political tool. As we speak, Yara is sleeping in an ambulance. God forbid that my wife should ever treat me that way. She is a wicked woman, and deserves none of my sympathy.

mikeansy:
Ibime

You ecological argument I must say is very ill thought out and most very unfortunate. It is more than anything driven by selfishness

Afam:
My sentiments exactly. It seems that no matter how we try to appear objective that tribal stuff will always have a way of coming out and manifesting in our comments.

What is ill thought out about recommendations that Independent experts have made in their EIA?

Are the Independent experts also speaking from tribal sentiment?

Infact, you lot are the only ones speaking from tribal sentiment here.


I dont think anyone here on Nairaland knows the possible repercussions of any work done on the Niger. . . . in the meantime, please lets stick the opinions of the experts.


If that means the project is delayed for one year, then so be it. . . . nobody should try and be reckless here. . . I would remind y'all that certain Igbo communities such as Omoku are potentially affected as well.

Only a mugu would attribute the decision to halt River Niger dredging to Obasanjo and some fabled anti-Northern or anti-Eastern agenda.

If anyone had cared to ask, this dredging issue is a hot button topic amongst all Niger-Deltan peoples. MEND had warned Yar'Adua against the project due to ecological reasons, and now this pressure will also be brought to bear on Jonathan.

Only an ethnic bigot would even bring this up as an issue because Jonathan has only done what is recommended in the Environmental Impact report. He has not halted the project, but suspended it pending the shoring up of lower Niger shorelines as recommended in the Environmental report. . . this has always been the contention from the riverine-dwelling folk of the lower Niger Delta.

Whilst we want development for all upland areas, it should not be done to our detriment and possible loss of villages and livelihood.

Therefore if you like, you can call it a Niger-Delta agenda. . .  .but there is no need to infer political sabotage by OBJ to explain away its cancellation.

This is just another ploy by the Northern cabal to pit Southerners against each other. Beware!

eldee:
See this Pakororo, it's not my fault that you were rolling tyres maynne.
So tell me, you used to collect rubber bands too right??

Of course na. . . we play "nearest to the wall" with rubber bands

^^^ See this bush man. . . na omo London you want impress with story of Sega Mega drive. . . I laugh in Ajebutter! 

Nigga, dont blame me cos ya mumsie locked you up in the house all day! 

jalether:
Anelka holds on to the ball far too long sometimes but he rarely loses possession and brings fluidity, Intelligence and ball retention to the team

Drogba on the other hand cannot retain possession to save his own life even at gun point, ball control is -23%, poor vision and too one- dimensional

but scores goals and has the physical presence.

The fact that Anelka emerged EPL highest goal scorer last season as a centre forward confirms his goal scoring ability and instinct and if played in the right

position will score lots of goals plus provide excellent link up and ball retention. with the attribute both players bring to the team, who will you rather drop to

the bench if given the chance

I know damn well Anelka will be the main anchor man in my attack however opinion differs and that is the beauty of footie

This is a brilliant analysis. . . I have been calling for Anelka to anchor the attack meself, but FBS nearly took me head off!

eldee:
This is sumn Ajebutas like you and I can relate to . . . people like Ibime grew up running about in panties rolling car tyres

See this bush man. . . you no know say to be Ajekpako na choice, no be condition. . . .staying home all day and playing computer game like you did must have been a miserable childhood.

Anybody threatening secession without the connivance of the Southern Soldiers within the army is just fooling himself.

Afam:
Saw this yesterday but it seems there are at least 3 different versions of the time it happened ranging from last year to this year.

However, one version stated that contrary to the story about the robbers asking them to lie down and then asking the driver to run over them that what happened was that the robbers indeed asked the victims to lie down as they normally do on the road and a speeding lorry or truck that didn't want to stop as the robbers were trying to stop him ran over them as he didn't know human beings were on the roads.

I would want to believe this version as I do not see how people would gladly lie down and wait for the bus they were traveling with run them over to a certain death when they could have fought back and probably shot in the process but at least with chances of survival.

People should also learn to defend themselves or fight for their lives when faced with some situations that could lead to certain death.

This sounds like logic to me. . . . I dont think anyone would lie down and wait for a bus to crush them. . . .if you look at the bodies on the ground sef, they've obviously been crushed by a vehicle travelling at full speed, not a bus going slowly over them.

Who is Sagamite to refer to himself in the 3rd person?

I wonder whats got Dyabmans goat this evening. Ranting and raving like a madman.

IMO, Ancelotti needs to sort out this Drogba/Anelka thingy.

Either force Anelka to play wide on the right, or drop Drogba and play Anelka as the point man. . . or drop Anelka completely and play Joe Cole/Kalou on the right.

Our right wing is vacated at the moment.

Anelka is playing around Drogba, but he is definitely not playing out wide.

The system is a hybrid between the diamond and the 4-3-3. On the left hand side, we have a 4-3-3, but on the right hand side, we have a diamond formation.

Rubbish. . . . we need a link!

Nobody gonna lie on the road and wait for the driver to drive over them. They would rather take the gunshot.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUKHaCsR1b0&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type=[/flash]