₦airaland Forum

Time to get Hazard on. Arsenal getting loose at the back.

Emaprince:
Fabregas is brimming with the kind of confidence i've never seen in him before. He's calm and making the right decisions. He's not scared of taking any opponent on the run. I hope to see more of this from him.

I don't think we would to be honest. It's not that he cannot play this, it's actually the fact that all PL teams are aware of how he plays and never let him that space.

All PL teams except this rubbish red and white team it seems.

You know these actors are a bunch of weaklings when Fabregas is walking through unchallenged for 30m and looking like Paul Pogba.

6 in 6 for Costa. Normal service resumed.

nitlad:
Bros this is football, an emotion-laden game.

Sieve what you take seriously from heat-of-the-moment comments.

I suppose I should man.

I just miss 5 goals. Which kain thing be dis. Fuse dey trip twice inside this game.

You knew a day like this will come when everyone uses the prevailing circumstance to claim they were right on a previously stated point. There are two points to note.

1. Any points made without consideration of empirical evidence of a long term period is evidently just "knee-jerk reaction".
2. Anybody claiming "I was right" over a Chelsea V Everton has probably never watched Chelsea V Everton many times.

My fuse tripped and I missed 3 goals. Jeez!

bigkesh:
I have been justified..... Hope you guys can now see you can't play attacking football with this squad....
Half of last season and this season,Jose did the right thing....

You can't attack with Iva,Matic, Mikel and off colour Fabregas

What are you seeing that we are not?

I backed Pedro to make it here but I beginning to think I may have been wrong.
I have now seen enough minutes of him to know that he has questionable football intelligence.

I backed Pedro to make it here but I am starting to think I may have been wrong.
I have now seen enough minutes of him to see that he has questionable football intelligence.

bigkesh:
Hiddink finally discovered Oscar is a fraud....
I guess Guus' tactics is also to blame for his fall

Who blamed someone's tactics for Oscar's fall previously?

airmark:

He was actually right. Nothing to complain about for me though. Those of us screaming for youth integration understand and accept that a sacrifice in quality has to be tolerated when a young player is introduced. But hopefully, it's a small short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain.

Cheeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk

timbros:
Carlos Bacca, anyone?

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/486440/Manchester-United-Carlos-Bacca-Chelsea-Transfer-News-Signing-Rumour-Gossip-Latest

I don't like fellas with loose ball control - always touching the ball with the wrong side of the foot.

Griffon:
Boys I think I've spotted a big talent. His name is Bazoer.

Standing at 185cm and 81kg, the 19-year-old CM is a monster. Now don't get it twisted, It's not just about his frame, Bazoer is the ideal combo of intelligence and athleticism.

I've been looking at replays of games played by Ajax this season and I make bold to say this kid is the pillar of that midfield. You can hardly point out a weakness.

For a young central midfielder, his intelligence and composure are unrivalled. You can easily liken his style of play to Patrick Viera's.

If I were a scout, I'll advice Chelsea to snap him up, with a promise that I'd cease to be a scout if the boy fails to impress at the bridge.

That's a handy ninja. Looks very effective. I have not been able to assess his capability in tight spaces though. Very crucial for the EPL. Meanwhile, anybody heard any update about Jonathan Calleri dude we were linked with some weeks back?


On the topic of scouting, me sef see one young dude for the first time yesterday. Ante Coric. 18.

Whatever happened to boldness these days?

Griffon:
Had it been Jose had a fat squad to choose from, do you think a revolt led by certain players would be a problem? NO.
Had it been Jose had competent CM players to choose from, do you think he'd be bothered about Cesc's lackadaisical attitude? NO.

I like how you ask the question and answer affirmatively as though it's never happened before.


"Things often come in three-year cycles - we'd arrived at the end of such a cycle," Drogba wrote in his autobiography Commitment. "By the start of the fourth season that Jose had been in charge, I think we had started to reach a point where it was harder for his message to get through."We wanted to hear it, we tried but somehow we had lost a little bit of what made us special."



Now tell me that squad was not fat enough.

@Nihilist.


What you have done so far is rebuff our opinions about the whole saga. Let's start from the very point we disagree and ask you to take on the mantle. We both agree Jose was the problem. Now instead of telling me why my point is wrong, kindly let us know why you think the players, who won the league only last year, revolted and turned on Jose overnight.

@Nihilist,
+``
For the fear of the spambot, I will just reply straight to you. Football is an art and under no terms should it be compared with the daily work that you and I do. If they were remotely the same, you and I would be earning in excess of £20k every week. Now I am not privy to details of your earnings but I can almost conclude you don't earn this much.

Footballing is an art just like writing music. And yes, you can lose motivation for writing music despite earning millions for doing it. The art of being a top class manager is also the motivating factor. It is true for teams at the top of the table and it is true for teams at the bottom of the table.

It has little to with player power. It has all to do with the nous of the manager of the resources. To harness the available resources to its fullest potential to achieve the desired results, this comes with the requirements of the job. The job spec also requires continually redressing the methods employed to achieve success. There is no need to attempt re-writing the rules of the game because "our" favourite manager is involved. It's been this way since the advent of modern football.

What else could have happened overnight to Jose's players who just won the league to turn their backs on him?

This is Carlo Ancellotti's view on the subject of Chelsea and motivation.

'I look from a distance at Chelsea and I think they won the title easily last year and I don't think they are so motivated this year.



If Managers don't motivate their players, they don't perform. That's how it is.



And I don't think there is a need to go overboard with player's professionalism because this is the core of the issue that you miss. Believe it or not, the player's "reluctance to listen" in this instance is directly related to the type of football they played. This is why you wouldn't have heard this from players at United with Fergie and players at Barca under Cryuff (the master-mind after Rinus Michels of Total Football). . . because the players who played under the system of the both managers won trophies with delightful football, they were repeatedly longing to start another season.

On the other hand, it is the same reason why players have refused to listen to Rafa at RM. Negative tactics. I don't remember the same players revolting against Ancellotti.

Nihilist:
Our positions on this issue have always been very similar to a certain point.

We both believe that Jose was central to the downturn in our clubs fortune. And we both believe that Midfield is 'A' problem but not 'THE' problem.

Where we differ is the reason 'WHY' Jose is central to our poor showing.

You say it's tactical, and that Jose shackled the team in his role as the Anti-football Deity that Tony Pulis can only aspire to be.

This is where I, and the facts, disagree with you. Like I keep reminding you, only 1 team in the league scored more than us last season, and we averaged 57% possession over the course of the season.

We dismantled teams in highscoring games, and our main striker was around the top of the goal scorers chart, our midfielder topped the assist chart, and our winger was voted player of the season. These facts are NOT consistent with an argument that Chelsea played a rigid shackled kind of footy.

Your next argument is that Jose's tantrums and abrasive behaviour rubbed the players and staff up the wrong way - (I agree with this) - which in turn created a negative atmosphere in the dressing room - (I also agree with this)- and so Jose had to go(This is where I disagree)

My principle is that the vast majority of working people have worked or still work under managers they don't necessarily like. That doesn't have to stop them from being professional though.

These boys literally stopped playing well because the don't like their manager, and the unique combination of being both staff and saleable assets, meant that it was easier to sack the manager than sack the players.

Coaches like Jose with the almost cast iron guarantee of delivering trophies are in short supply.

Look at Gary Neville and his struggles at Valencia(last nights game excluded). He is beginning to see the difference between a Touchscreen and the Touchline.

I feel we should have kept Jose for his pedigree, to send a message to the dissenting players, and to set an example for the future.

But e don happen. Wetin man go do? I can only get behind my team and continue to support them. But I will do so in the knowledge that once these boys don't like Hiddink's replacement, we will be back to square 1...

This is how I see things. To accept that Tactics were a major issue, you have to stop summarising our performance last season and instead dissect what actually on a monthly basis where necessary.

We started out the season flying, after acquiring the signings of Costa and Fab. We were playing some delightful football and we scored a lot of goals. We both agree up to this point. After this point in history, this is how it turned out.

That level of performance did not carry on over the season.

You like to make reference to number of goals as a measure of the overall success. The actual fact is that as at 19 games (half way in), we had already scored 41 goals of the total 73 we scored. We had won 14, drawn only 4, lost 1 and conceded only 14 goals.

By the end of the season we had scored 73 goals but these are the interesting facts. 5 of the last 32 goals were scored in one game against a poor and toothless Swansea side. As at the end, we lost 2 more games than we lost in first 19, drawn 5 games in the last 19 and conceded 18 goals in the last 19. 4 more than in the first. And there were no major injuries to key players.

So no, the facts don't support your position.

The turning point was at Spurs when we lost 5-3. Jose, one who was only attempting expansive football at the request of Roman, found a way out of it by expressing that the 'lack of control' - i.e. keeping things tight - was what led to the massive defeat. I think he further expressed how a 6-3 win was more of bad win for him than a 1-0 win. Those who know him well (folks like me) knew from then on, it was bye-bye expansive football.

And revert he did. The slimy, boring football came back in. Slims win were the order of the day. 3pts were very laboured and players were told to defend first before attack. At the end of many of those games, I commented on how predictable we were and how we lacked a method of attack besides giving it to Hazard. These comments did not come out of empty air. It became so bad, we were parking the bus against a 10 man PSG side.


That horrible play continued into the Pre-Season again and I made my point on July 25th 2015

"Conclusions drawn from pre-season games are mostly useless. One conclusion is true though. We are going to struggle in Europe this season again. The same problems exist. We have no midfield and this is actually all our first choice midfielders playing.
The transition of play through the middle is non-existent. Our forward play comes only through the wings and only through Hazard on the wing. Once Hazard is marked out, our attack is dead".


The key thing to note is "The same problems exist". . . I was already pointing to our tactics and set-up as being a major problem as at July and referencing that they still "exist", meaning we have carried on the rubbish into the new year. Even Jose alluded to this in PS stating that this season we were going to try something different as we were becoming stale and predictable.

Fast forward to this season, reports have it that some senior players went to meet Jose and requested that we tried a more open and attacking approach to games rather than the ultra defensive and conservative approach. But you know how it turned out.

This for me, is where he lost the players. That moment when the players started to question the methods. It means they no longer shared the belief in his football. This is a team that just won the league. That's because even the players knew and they support my view that as opposed to the summary normally given about last season, we actually stumbled to the finish line. If this was not the case, they won't be requesting to try something different. We were boring, predictable and stale and we lacked any tactical imposition on inferior opponents. Not even 15 Messis will be motivated under such circumstance. This is why I insist, that tactics were the root cause of the problems.


I share with you what Legend Didier Drogba himself said in his book about about Jose . . .


"Things often come in three-year cycles - we'd arrived at the end of such a cycle," Drogba wrote in his autobiography Commitment. "By the start of the fourth season that Jose had been in charge, I think we had started to reach a point where it was harder for his message to get through."We wanted to hear it, we tried but somehow we had lost a little bit of what made us special."



This is coming from one of the many players whose careers benefited hugely from Jose's style. They became bored of it. They wanted something new. They wanted a revision, a change of TACTICS!. Fast forward to 2015. New players are asking again.

However, Jose is allergic to expansive football. He hates losing control. But he was about to lose more than control of the game, he was about to lose the players. He needed to either concede to them and/or motivate them to understanding why they needed to play his way. But as Drogba said, you jut stop listening. You try but you cannot. Unfortunately, he is only a motivator of players when they are on top. When they dip, he either doesn't know how to motivate them or doesn't care, as stated by Demba Ba.


"He's not someone who is there to give confidence to his players. He is there to get what he can out of his players. He expects you to motivate yourself. If you lack confidence, all he does is put you on the bench."



This is the point of view of his own players. I am not making anything up. Fellas need to open their eyes. This is why he doesn't stay beyond 2/3 years anywhere.

And to those asking no be the same tactics wey win last year, Dayo has answered the question. What happened to the same tactics Klopp intended to apply for the third year running? LvG?

Tactics get stale, old, found out and evolution is the only thing that keep you on top. So yes, this my own explanation on why tactics were the real problem that led to Jose's downfall.

Nihilist:
Nobody ever claimed that our midfield is the best. After all, I posted last summer how the Matic-Fabregas pivot was the most dribbled past pairing in the league...and we still won the flipping thing.

What I, in particular, will never accept that our midfield was the main cause of our terrible slump pre-Hiddink. I had to refuse and reject that assertion and the accompanying implication that we had the 16th best midfield in the EPL because that was a big fat lie...

Corelation does not equal Causation.

Or how do you explain the small fact that Matic, the mascot of the 'Midfield Enthusiasts' here was\is actually terrible in the first half of the season?

Do you honestly believe that the turnaround in our team's fortunes is due to Hiddink?

Jose got sacked on Friday and Gus started on Monday- Yet a team that couldn't buy a win previously beat Sunderland by 2 goals on Saturday.

Abi you think 4-5 weeks is enough to change almost 3 years of Jose's tactics?

See Costa that didn't know where the post was before now playing like a striker again.

Omo lets move on with the team and not deceive ourselves.

Even that serial German false prophet has slightly shifted his stance from 'Midfield is the problem' to 'Tactics was the problem'

Let's have a little friendly debate.

You are right when you say that Chelsea's weak midfield was not the "single" cause of us slumping to 16th on the table. The midfield is a fundamental problem but not the root cause. You may or may not believe this (midfield being a problem) but that's beside the point.

What you consider the problem is what is always of concern to me. You believe the players stopped playing for Jose and that this is the root cause of the issue.

Would I be right by that conclusion?

Una see? See as everybody, fans and rivals inclusive dey praise Chelsea and commend players on a very beautiful display.

When I criticized ultra-defensive football, some fellas be on my case, accusing me of calling for tiki-taka. As if there cannot be a thousand iterations between tiki-taka and football by 'defenders of the galaxy'. . .


How do you assemble a multi million pound team and game after game, these players are defending by the goal-post, taught to worry about the minor opposition, prevented from expressing themselves and hoping for counter attacks to create chances?

I tell you right now, the players are enjoying themselves and automatically feel inspired and motivated, by allowing them to express themselves within a tactical attacking plan - taking the game to Palace at an away ground.

I am all for pragmatism but only when there is a genuine superior opposition.

I still say the lapses in the defence are still there, the midfield is still fragile and against superior opposition, we will see just how fragile we are. We need fixing that.

However when we show up against the likes of Norwich, Bournemouth, et al, we should be setting fear in them with our sheer class and blowing them away.

Gbagbe rubbish. 3-0

Awesome 5hit! My boys playing opponents off the park like it should rightfully be.

Zouma is taking giant strides. Like a boss! I love him.

Meanwhile, the boys are working with the ball, using their evidently superior collective talent to get the ball into dangerous places and causing Palace serious problems.

What we've seen in the past instead, is a multi million pound team defending on the tiny box against a mere Palace.

I cannot remember seeing Azpilicueta bombing forward so many times.

Another noticeable thing is that because the whole team is pushing up against the opposition, it becomes tactically infeasible for Costa to keep drifting left. He isn't playing as a lone striker and as such, is able to receive play in the middle and interchange passes swiftly with other forward players, which generally improves attacking play. Even Mikel is looking like a midfield mentor.

Happy Birthday Nihilist and Odunharry.

Happy New Year to all Chelsea fans. May this new year bring us new achievements.

Ignaz:
are you not mourinholic?

Just what I was going to ask.

Ibime:
We have debated this extensively and you were one of the naysayers when Emenalo did the same to RDM, even going as far as telling us that Mike Powell is Emenalos boss. Hahahaha. Remember that?

You are chatting rubbish about Mikel joining Fernebahce. Emenalo deliberately jacked the price of Mikel to $15m so as not to sell Mikel.

It was a game they were playing with Jose after Jose requested Mikel be sold.

Mikel that is about to have twins with this Russian billionaire girlfriend and his brother sell him away to Turkey or Dubai?

The difference between us is that we both read the same thing but you don't see what is going on, or refuse to cede the truth. There was never any offer for Mikel because of the price Emenalo deliberately put on his head to keep him.

So why don't we hear it from Fernebahce President himself:

http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2015/7/12/8936415/chelsea-want-35m-for-mikel-says-fenerbahce-chairman

“Chelsea want €15 million and Mikel asked for €5 million a season over four years. We are talking €35 million. That is not possible” Yildirim told reporters at their Topuk Yayla training ground.


You've been on the wrong side of the debate from RDM times. Mikel is out of here for free transfer left to Jose.


As for Jose wanting Pogba you may have a point. That is the point of starting your transfer window in June but no, Emenalo blocked all transfer negotiations until Roman released him to go negotiate for Pogba after the Man City defeat. If bids had been made for Pogba in a timely fashion and rejected, then you identify replacements and have time to buy. Thats why Witsel was no2 on the list but by the final week when Roman gave the green light, Zenith said its too late for them to find replacement. That is how transfer market works.

Who was Emenalo's alternative to Pogba? Emenalo has no interest in replacing Mikel. Full stop.


We could talk about Baba Rahman - Mourinho wanted Danny Rose, they argued and Emenalo signed Rahman.

Mourinho identified (1.) Stones and (2.) Aldeweireld in that order - by the time Emenalo shuffled his feet to move on Stones, Aldeweireld was gone.

This is how transfer market works, so save the nonsense for the kids.

I would never claim JM has a wide array of transfer targets. He is not a scout. His job does not allow him watch evey game in every league. But you can go back in history and check the calibre of player JM bought - Drogba, Essien, Ballack, Carvalho, Cole etc. They were expensive but extremely solid niggas we got 10 years out of. At some point we stopped spending money because these niggas did the job year after year.

When a coach identifies a need, sometimes it is only that player that can do what he wants tactically. Just like Bayern must have Javi Martinez in 2012 or Thiago in 2013 or just like SAF must have RVP in 2012, or even Guardiola must have Ibrahimovic in 2009 whatever the cost - they identify that nigga and that nigga only for the needs of the team. The same goes for Essien when Jose bought him.

You can compare with the Zhirkovs, Salahs and Cuadrados bought with no thought of what specific role the coach has in mind - they come, they flop, and they need replacing almost immediately.

There is a reason Guardiola said Chelsea needs 10 new signings. . . . he knows the players he would sign specifically. . . and he knows the nonsense Emenalo has put together in the name of squad.





This nonsense piss me off. I no want curse you today.

Can you tell me how Ancelotti, RDM and Benitez went against Emenalos vision that put Emenalo at war with them?

Why did Emenalo flat out refuse RDM's request to buy Wanyama for just £10m, yet spent £200m that summer including the same amount on Victor Moses - a clear pet project, while ignoring a basic request for a vital need in midfield?

Was RDM asking for too much (as you accuse Jose). . . . or was dictator Emenalo trying to force his own way as usual?

Keep chatting shyte while a girls scout coach keep selecting your first team targets year in year out. Thats how you go from a Championship team to a team that fights to finish 4th every year.

GTFOH with this bollocks!

Damn! I knew I never should have mentioned Emenalo.
Saw it and walked right into it.

bigkesh:
How can a human being wake up the morning of the transfer deadline and decide to sign Hector and djilobodji.....

He signed those players just to frustrate Mourinho,that's the only sane explanation

As much as Ibime is right to an extent, we have to be careful about which information we accept and which we don't. My own knowledge of the saga is very different.

As far as I know, no one frustrated Jose. Jose identified his own targets in the summer - Paul Pogba and John Stones. The club did not say no to this, neither did Emenalo. In fact, the board supported him and I guess with the blessing of Emenalo to shell out money on the two players. The support was not limited to boardroom discussion either, they went out there and bid for both players - up to £40m for Stones and up to £65m for Pogba depending on the stories you read.

The problem, as I understand, was Jose was too hopeful of both signings that he put all his eggs in these "two" baskets so to speak. When it was clear that Everton was not going to sell Stones, Jose asked the club to bid for Marquinhos. PSG rejected two bids from Chelsea. Again, this is the board backing Jose again and if you ask me, signed and approved by Emenalo the TD.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/9975281/chelsea-fail-with-two-bids-for-paris-saint-german-star-marquinhos



Mikel was on the verge on joining Turkish side Fernabache. It was reported by many outlets that they had sealed a £12m bid. Jose blocked the move after realising the Pogba deal fell through.


So abeg, no soul is frustrating Jose. The problem is the long standing inability to mould a team, work with young players that are just about to break through and then build a formidable on the hunger they show. Instead, time and again, he wants to work with the established stars. Not that anything is wrong with that. But when he seems to "ONLY" want to work with top of the range talent that costs tens of millions, then I have a problem. People should open their eyes to what he really was.


"He's not someone who is there to give confidence to his players. He is there to get what he can out of his players. He expects you to motivate yourself. If you lack confidence, all he does is put you on the bench."

Demba Ba (2015)



It is extreme stupidity to know that the board backs you to the tune of £100m and the only options he came up with were Pogba and Stones. Again, he displayed his shocking naivety of the transfer market and was on the verge of overloading us with average stars on big money and then leave us with a hug wage bill when everything has gone sour.

Jose could have been anything. He had nothing to prove. He didn't need to win the league this season to save his job. Heck, he would have been our manager still, if he went this season Trophyless. So all he had to do was believe in someone like Tomas Kalas (who was a star against Liverpool the season before and never to be seen again), give time to someone like RLC, Van Ginkel in midfield. Sell Ramires and Mikel off for a combined value £24m, ask the board for a few bucks and buy Alex Witsel and McArthy/Cabaye. Better and more solid options that don't cost a bomb, solidify the midfield, cost less wages and most importantly, don't block playing time for young players. And so, when the season started, he would be venting no frustration at anyone and would have gone about his business with ease. So it is still his phucking fault. All of it!

He has no future plans. Doesn't now and never did. He is only concerned with winning right now. Even if the club has to spend billions to foot the bill. He has to buy Pogba. Like Pogba is going to make us Barcelona overnight. 65 phucking million pounds. For real? What happened to his long term plan for the club?



‘My conscience tells me that if, for example, Baker, Brown, and Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself,’

‘They are part of a process the club started without me. In this moment, we have players who will be Chelsea players. And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure.

""For Solanke to go out on loan to a Championship team, or to another team in England or Europe, would be a big mistake. Staying at Chelsea, training with the first team, having pre-season with the first team, a period as cover to the main strikers, playing every week at U21s and U18's and just go step by step. In a couple of years, a first-team player.

"I think we're doing the right thing.

"For players like [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek or Solanke, where we know for sure they have the potential to play for Chelsea one day, it's better for them to stay here and develop."




What has happened since then? Did Emenalo prevent him from actuating what he saw and confessed with his own mouth? He phucking sent them all on loan.



Emenalo will be Emenalo. He will scout players and sign them on the cheap for the loan system; fulfilling his own part of the overall goal of the club - to make money and increase profitability. The Manager himself also needs to buy into the campaign. And his job is to attempt to build formidable and competitive teams from the occasional £100m the board is willing to back him with and the injection of youths on the cheap that Emenalo secures.

When you have a manager who seems not to tow this line and wants to spend billions on average players, screwing up the hard-work of everyone who have laboured for years to get the club making more money, then there will be disagreements. And thereon, the ones who are dispensable will be dispensed with. End Of Story.

I am a bloody engineer and I can see this from a mile away. Jose has been around the block yet couldn't prevent it. But how can he? He's gotten too entangled in his own ego, he is now getting in the way of his own greatness.


No one is frustrating him. It's all his own Phucking fault! All of it!

coded01:
Its popular with Chelsea club...


Forgotten André Villas-Boas so soon!


Even Scolari...not left out...

I am actually surprised the AVB and Scolari issue has suddenly become a popular one. I remember being the lone wolf on the other side screaming 'player power'. .

The general consensus then was that Nateevs should shut the phuck up, AVB didn't manage his players well. Some agbayas still use that scenario as a diss line till date.

Fast forward to 2015, people suddenly discover the concepts player power? And now conveniently paying tribute to AVB because JM is fired under the same circumstance?