₦airaland Forum

No2Atheism:


An opportunity for Arsenal to take advantage and close up the gap between us and Chelsea before the end of the Nations Cup . . . . . . and even after the nations cup cus drogba and co would be tired by the time they get back from the nations cup.

Yeah right!
An opportunity for Arsenal. .


Arsenal v Aston Villa, 13:30

Portsmouth v Arsenal, 19:45

Arsenal v Bolton, 19:45

Arsenal v Everton, 15:00

Bolton v Arsenal, 16:00

Aston Villa v Arsenal, 19:45

Arsenal v Man Utd, 16:00

Chelsea v Arsenal, 16:00

Arsenal v Liverpool, 19:45


Your next round of matches. . . With the draw against Burnley in mind, no sane one could really think there's an opportunity.

debosky:
What happened to Anelka?

I actually had it in mind to include "most experienced behind Anelka" in the post. . I omitted it. He is currently injured. I was just thinking about what could possibly happen if Anelka is injured and we have no one else.

BlueDiva:
[size=13pt]Mourinho Psychology[/size]?

Ex-Blues boss Mourinho and his Inter Milan side will return to Stamford Bridge in the last 16 of the competition and the Portuguese has already tried to rile his former club.

He said: I won't need to study them. With the addition of Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka, they are my old team.'


He's saying we're a walkover?
Insult !!!

This guy never stops yarning. . .

I also heard Allarcdyce will relish the chance of extending DiSanto's loan period. With Drogba and Kalou off to Africa, DiSanto will be the most experienced striker we have. I am not entirely convinced the Club will gladly hand the fate of the club into infant feet of Borini and Sturridge. That's why I believe we may be looking at bringing in a Striker.

I did mean to use the YET. . because no one can deny there's a bit of truth in what you saying.
However, YET also means your theory could be expunged in a matter of months.

Well we can say the league is not lost yet. . It's only a matter of time before we know if the diamond lost the league again.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=362607.msg5168397#msg5168397 date=1261516403]I disagree. . . . . .
What about the age factor? What about the maturity of SAF's fledglings that coincided with the period of Chelsea's diamond formation?
Surely, the likes of Terry, Carvalho, Cech, Lampard and Drogba have aged considerably and nowhere near the pristine condition they were between 2004 and 2006.[/quote]Which is a very valid argument.
All other arguments like having enough capital to blow around . .
Having a bigger squad in 04/05.
Selling more players than buying over the years. .

Losing players like Gallas, Makalele, Eidur, Crespo, Robben, Duff, SWP - highly gifted and technically astute players (except SWP of course)  and replacing them with Malouda, Mikel, Kalou, Belletti, Shevchenko and Ballack.

Several others things that come into the picture. . . It's not enough to suggest we stopped succeeding when we started playing the diamond.

Ibime:
Aw did we concede the penalty against West-Ham? Was it not from a counterattack that left us overexposed?

Rewind tape to the set-pieces conceded against Portsmouth and Man City. Were they not won from counterattacks?

Prior to this we had been playing well, but rival managers av wised up.

Aw do you square-up the fact that we were camped on the edge of the West-Ham and Portsmouth box for 90 minutes with no pen.etration. We simply had no space to score. Did it not remind you of Scolari?

Dont worry. . . . more to come. . . . Fergie exposed all the deficiencies of the diamond, and other managers know exactly aw to play against it. . . . you will see korokoro with your own eyes, Chelsea camped in the opponents box wiv no space to score, then the opponents picking Chelsea off on the counterattack. . . .

I watched the highlights of the match before I posted. The ball was launched in by the Green from a goal-kick. It wasn't a counter attack.
Also arguing that a counter attack led to conceding free-kicks is like arguing that there can't be counter attacks in a 4-3-3 or free-kicks can't be conceded on the edge of our box in the 4-3-3. . and that, my friend, will be utterly ridiculous.

The problem remains, we were always one step away from the score scored. . . that one step we failed to deal with. That's not a result of using the diamond.


Managers have not learnt to exploit the diamond. . the have learnt to stifle Chelsea. . We can't make the triangle passes. . we can't pass in tight spaces, we can't dribble and we can't run with the ball. They know this and that's what the exploit. . not the formation.

We are not the first team to play teams that park the bus. Every small team parks the bus against ManU. ManU have width but they hardly ever score goals from crosses. . but watch how Rooney, Carrick, Fletcher, Berbatov make those lovely triangles in front of the 18 and score goals. . It's a beauty to watch. . that's because they have the skill in the midfielders to execute such. . . We just can't.

Arsenal always play teams that park the bus and they score truck load of goals. . How do they do it. . It's not because they play 4-3-3. . It's because of a football philosophy that breaks you down no matter what.

Therefore if we have a manager who is trying to bring that philosophy to the club along with strength . . I can't fight it. . More-so it's worked so far. . a few defensive glitches and we seem all over the place.

I trust Carllotti to understand that he needs better players to execute this. He's managed to make it wok this far with player that can hardly adapt. . While you are slagging him off. . I say kudos to him because I think of what he may be able to achieve should he have the right players to do so.

@Ibime. .

We have played 18 games this season already and I am yet to see us concede defeat or drop points from the "deficiencies" of the diamond.

The games we lost
Villa - Set-piece 2 goals. .
ManCity - set-piece 2 goals.

The games we drew,
Everton - set-piece. 3 goals.
Westham 1 goal penalty.

Where's the deficiency? . . . In fact, one can argue that playing the 4-3-3, we would have lost and drawn the same number of matches if we fail to defend set-pieces well.

Your argument holds no water. . .Even the best teams have not been able to exploit the so called deficiencies of the diamond. .  There's nothing structural about it. . We have even scored more goals than we even did at this stage in the Prem. .

At this stage, I do not see anything wrong with the diamond . . I just don't.

Please tell us what we don't know.

Ibime:
This is a rant at the Gods. . . . who is the subject of your ire?. . . Mourinho for not buying the right players. . . or Carlotti for not doing the best with the players he inherited?

The subject of our conversation is Carlotti. . . . does he maximise player utility or not?

Naah! . . until the last four matches. . we were flying. And not with the 4-3-3. . What do you call that? Not getting the best out of our players. . . playing the 4-3-3 is playing safe at best.

We beat Arsenal 3-0, Liverpool 2-0 and ManU 1-0. . I didn't see you coming here to say the best was not being gotten off the players. . suddenly there's a dip in form and all this fickle news abound. .

Jose's last days were filled with a serious dip in form . . drawing and losing matches here and there and playing awfully as well. . and what's funny these players were playing a 4-3-3 then. . So what happened then?


Teams go through a patch - a dip in form somtimes. . Carllotti has made it work so far. . I believe he can make it work further. If we go on a run and perhaps increase the gap you won't be here saying he's not getting the best out of the players.

As far as I am concerned. . . 4 four matches are too few to conclude Carllotti is not getting the best. . when we've been flying in the previous 14 . .

@Ibime

You still do not get my argument. It is not an argument of which formation is better but that we have a problem. How are other teams able to switch between formations and we can't?

I won't back down on my claim that we don't need to move away from the diamond to be successful. We just have to do the right thing to make it work. . . even if it means we don't win anything this year. We continue to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to at best average midfielders who happen to be one dimensional as well. . .

I agree Drogba was smoking hot in a 4-3-3 . . He is even hotter in a diamond scoring 17 goals already in mid December How about if we pass well. . ? How about creating more opportunities for him . . ? In four more games he could surpass his all-time goal scoring record in the prem.

I don't say we should always play the diamond. . I am asking us to buy right and that should start from this January.

You have talked about Gourcuff before and you are a staunch supporter of the fella. . Can he not play on the top of the diamond? He can dribble, run with the ball,  pass and shoot from distance and our creativity in front of goal would increase by a massive percentage.

I just want better players. . That's all.

@Ibime.

This I think is very much open to interpretation. Permit me to see it in this light.

Ignoring the underlying technical problems (personnel) I believe is the counter-productive thing.

I understand that we've always played the 4-3-3. .Well, you then could criticize JM for always playing the 4-3-3 in-spite of the opposition. . Something we doing to Carllotti now.

The most convenient thing to do is to play 4-3-3. . it's safe, tried and trusted. . but every manager can't be the same. . everyone has their own ideology of football. . .

One thing we can't do however is to say these players have always performed, therefore they will perform now. . . A handful of them are over 30. . . There has to be a time where all just grinds to a halt. .

Our transfer policy over the years I have always said is a joke. I am never a fan of concealing the inadequacies of the squad. . I am an advocate of buying right or trying to buy right first time. .

Take ManU for instance. . The crop of players Fergie has got will play a 4-3-3 when desired. . a 4-4-2 if they want to. . and guess what they will play the diamond without having to do a lot of "getting used to". . They will find a player in the squad for every position in every formation.

So we ask our players to switch to the diamond and things fall apart? . .Meaning we have a squad of 25 maybe 27 players and they all can only play one way? That is a fundamental problem. . . and destruction is imminent with such mentality.

Even Wenger sis a little tweaking with his squad and switched to a 4-3-3 in one season without having to buy an extra player. . that is buying right from the start. .

That means we can only employ managers who can provide a YES to a basic question during their recruitment process. . "Do you play 4-3-3 - Yes or No" ?



All that to me is rubbish. . We will never be able to play Barca, ManU or Arsenal without defending for 80mins and hoping we get a break to score one. . our midfielders just can't carry the ball, can't dribble, can't run, can't pass and can't cross. . We can't take the game to them . .

I don't subscribe to such footballing policy. We have to let Carllotti buy the right type of players for the diamond who will also naturally be able to play a 4-3-3 if they have to.

WE have to buy in the January transfer . . and we have to buy well well sef.

@Jalether.

I am the last to have knee jerk reactions on here. I do not absolve Carllotti of any blame on the tactical side of things. His insistence on the diamond in every game, I cannot understand. However, we have a fundamental personnel problem that if not tackled now will lead to destruction . . age and pace of the team.

Be it a 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 we have a pathetic personnel in midfield. And playing a 4-3-3 will not help Kalou put the ball in the net and not over the bar from 5 yards. You have to go back about 6 matches to find a Ballack shot on goal . . a 4-5-1 cannot change that. . neither can it help him running after a player and helping the RB also. .

A 4-3-3 cannot help Lampard stop kicking the freekick into the wall . . always! Neither can it stop him putting a corner kick straight into the palms of the oppo goalie. The last time we scored from a corner kick was against Wolves and Malouda took that corner. Before then we scored from a Lampard free kick against ManU 40 yards from their goal. Anyone could do that. When was the last time we scored from a free kick that Drogba did not take?

We've not scored from a through-pass to the attackers in a long time. .Why? Because we don't have good passers of the ball in midfield. If we don't have a big striker like Drogba that can force his way and create things for himself, our midfield can't just create.

Bosingwa is prehaps the best crosser of the ball in wide areas. . . perhaps Zhirkov.



These are fundamental problems that are fast showing their faces. And it don't matter what formation you are playing they will come back to hunt you. . and the only way to solve those problems is to go out now and buy while we can. . If we don't, we won't be able to buy for 2 years. Simple.


Players always show best form when there's a new manager, or when the season begins. The true character and quality of a team starts to show mid-season. . and that's exactly where we are now. So all the flashy performances in the beginning will fade away . .

Bros believe or not. . . We have to buy.

I am telling you Joe Cole is 28 and has been injured for the best part of 2 years. This is the best he can be. . nothing better. Joe in his prime could not touch Deco in his prime. . what is the chance he will get better. .? Joe is only marginally better than Deco now and it's just his pace. We need to move on. ManU dominated the world with Ronaldo, which player do we have that's half Ronaldo? None! We have to move beyond this abeg! We are a big team in many competitions, we shouldn't condone mediocrity.

Sturridge cameo today and Borini's on Wednesday confirms that only a mad man will play Kalou as our third striker. Like I said on Wednesday, if Borini is given the time Kalou has had, he'd miles ahead. Positional play, Zilch. . Decision making Zilch! . . Ship out!

Ballack . . We can't be serious offering him a new contract. In that same 82nd minute incident Ibime mentioned that Parker broke out, Ballack was closest to him when the attack started. He left Ballack like a Motorbike accelerates past a bicycle. He just kept jogging. If a player plays in the midfield and can't beat a player. . . then there's no midfield. Sharpness, decision-making, passing and shots-on-goal have just disappeared. Who can replace him at the moment. . ? no one!

In the summer, I talked about Xabi. . . Ibime laughed at me. . Mikel plays like a typical Nigerian. . No urgency. . "take am easy we go score" kinda attitude. That's no the demeanour of a modern day player. .  He can't even shoot on goal even if his life depended on it. It's why I always prefer Essien in DM . . . Is it conicidental that we started becoming lethargic midfield ever since Essien stopped playing in DM. . . ?


If anyone thinks we should not buy in January . . I will be laughing my head away. We need a overhaul of the midfield. One player to play top of the diamond, one to play the right . . fast moving, quick-thinking midfielders with massive technical abilities, can dribble, shoot from distance and have an added skill like a dead ball speciality. . I am fkucing tired of seeing Lampard kick every free-kick into the wall and every corner into the hands of the goalie.

And then we need one more midfielder to act as a sub, with Matic and Kakuta as understudies.


Can we have players in the mould of Hazard, Giovinco, Dzagoev. . . These players are abound and are available at the right price. WE are Chelsea and should have the best midfielders in the world, individually and as a team. Carllotti is flipping Italian and knows damn well what a trequartista is. . that's what we need.



Move Essien to DM, sit Lamps down when we can. Play Zhirkov on the left of the diamond. We saw what he can do today.

And we would be bloody fine . . even with the diamond. However if we fail to buy in January. . . kiss the CL and PL goodbye. .

Cech was lucky to be standing on the right. . ! . . Absolutely shocking utterances from Arsenal fans.
Chelsea were lucky to have selected a goalkeeper for the game. . How about that?

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=368247.msg5153274#msg5153274 date=1261336588]EPL teams have not learnt their lessons about Man Utd and it's a shame.
If Man Utd are within a touching distance to the league leaders by New Year then they will win the EPL.
Traditionally, the rack up more points in the 2nd half of the season and that is where i feel Chelsea will finish 2nd/3rd.

Can't wait for Drogba and his cohorts to get to Angola. [/quote]I understand why everyone thinks we will be terrible when Drogba leaves . .
And that's just because we are not even flying when he's around.

Having said that, nothing is certain. I think everyone should wait to see if we do something in the transfer window before y'all start counting your chicks

@Ibime. .

You may be correct but there were several time last season he played with Malouda and Joe. . It was clearly a 4-3-3.
Having said that, I am going to stick by an argument I made last year. Our players!

We have a bunch of average players at best. . I will gladly want to see the backs of Kalou, Ballack, Malouda Belletti and call it harsh, Joe Cole.

We can play the diamond if we want to and play well and win games. Carllotti does not have a plan B agreed but why do they always fall apart at this time of the year? Lethargic is the best word you can find for some of the performances we put in this season.

We have to buy in January. I will call Carllotti a complete idiot if he does not buy in January. ManU will still drop points in the next half and if we don't capitalize, we don't deserve the PL.

ManU drop 6 points in 8 days and we drop 4 . . It's crazy.

@Ibime

I agree with you about the plan B thing. . . I cannot understand the reluctance to switch when necessary. Teams already know how to play us before we even name our eleven.

However I see the difference btw Carllotti and LFS. . LFS used wide men and he didn't use a diamond and he did not use two upfront. The similarity between them is that they both used fullbacks to attack and they don't have a plan B. .

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=368247.msg5153062#msg5153062 date=1261333952]Dream on!!

So you think Van Der Sar couldn't have given a better performance than our 2nd goalkeeper.
U think Evans and Vidic wouldn't have tightened up on Agbonlahor?

If Jose Mourinho could use the absence of Petr Cech alone as an excuse in 2006/7 season then United losing VDS and 8 top defenders should be in the 14th position.
We lost to Fulham because the playmaker/destroyer in the team were played as centre-backs.[/quote]What do you mean by "dream on!!". . ?
You said ordinarily you should be 8pts ahead now. . . and I said we should be 11pts. .

I bloody do not care about what could have been. . . I talk about what is.


And all these your injuries thingy is rubbish to me. . . It still does not explain why you wouldn't have a shot on goal.

BlueDiva:
Of course it is.

Evra is their top striker this season.
Rio has the highest assist.
Vidic is the best supporting striker.

How can you get a shot on target without these men? !!!

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=368247.msg5152988#msg5152988 date=1261333068]Chelsea are not convincing.
They just huff and puff. . . . .I blame United's injuries for this mess.
Ordinarily, we should be 8 points clear by now.[/quote]Rubbish!
Ordinarily we should be 11pts ahead now.

United's injuries are not the cause for losing against Villa. You didn't score a goal. If all your defenders were present what's to say you will score. .
You injuries are the not the reason for having no shots on goal at Fulham are they?

OMO IBO:
Ancelotti needs to put Lampard in the middle of that midfield.

Joe cole and whoever can move to the sides.

That's not the point bro. . . We need to do away with two players immediately - Joe and Ballack.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=368247.msg5152897#msg5152897 date=1261331919]I hope you can now shut up about Chelski running away with the title.
The same team United pasted 4-0 without a centre back is the one Chelsea needed a dodgy penalty to beat.

4 points adrift of the league leaders in December? I will take that in April.[/quote]How many times do i have to tell you tht you can never see a quote from me saying Chelsea are running away with it. ?

And you don't deserve any words on here. . at least we didn't lose 3-0

edoyad:
Arsenal losing to Chelsea is as immaterial as Man U losing to Fulham. Just another loss to a small london team

Arsenal lose 3-0 to a small London club. . . absolutely pathetic. .

Absolutely Shambolic. .

Zhirkov has done in 5mins all Joe has failed to do. . and Yuri is supposedly not fit.

absolutely wasteful.

FBS:
JC? He needs more matches under his belt. I don't think he is fully FIT! I mean the sharpness is not just there.

He doesn't honestly. . . He just needed to walk into the box and take a shot. . at least hit the target. He doesn't need to be fully fit to do that.
Now that's another one.

Joe Cole! . .
That is very very laughable.

Ballack can barely jog. .

WTF is this?

What was that?