Chelsea FC thread (Champions!)

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You're right, it isn't Chelsea. These (rather pathetic imo) allegations came from the media and the media only. Let's not forget they need to publish stories every day. A fabricated concept/debate that "the Premiership is dull" will roll for a good few weeks and write itself, as others join the debate.
I don't think you'll currently find many Wigan, West Ham, Bolton, Charlton, and City Fans (need i go on) saying it's boring (i'll put money on the fact that the journalists writing this stuff aren't fans of the aforementioned clubs, if you know what i mean). Certainly not. It's utter crap. The Premiership has always entertained.
Now if you want to move on to the SEPARATE argument that crowd attendances in England are down (not everywhere they're not), that i believe is due to ticket price hikes and saturated broadcast coverage/technology. For the price of some tickets, you can feed yourself for a month. No wonder some people are choosing to stay away and/or watch it on Sky at home or down the pub.
 
Well said Rune, never thought id say that!

And to Prof, i know what you mean, i am enjoying it while it lasts, but surely a part of you misses the ups and downs of the vialli/gullit era??
 
So true Prof.

If ticket prices were 10% lower, the stadiums would fill everyweekend.
The media (the sports media) are becoming more and more sensationalist these days.

The EPL coaches are simply trying to imitate continental tactics (like Rune said)that they know nothing about (most of them). They put the players in the correct positions but don't know or don't have the knowledge (experience) to give the correct instructions to the players.
 
Milanista said:
Sorry but Man utd, Arsenal and Liverpool are more boring than Chelsea. I dont know how people can call Chelsea boring, theyre outplaying their opponents.
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Agreed here. Well, I wouldn't call any team boring, cause teams can play open one game and play super defensive the next. But Chelsea are NOT boring IMO.
 
I think you lot havent understood me. I feel the Premiership IS boring but not because of Chelsea. And here's why.

In the last few years, the Premiership had a huge influx of flamboyant and skillful players. Attacking and stylish football was a common trend and this is partly because of Arsenal and Wenger's style of play. It worked for them so people started to copy. Which is why players like the Okochas and the Zolas were the way to play. Almost every team had their own foreign hero who would normally be a skillful player with a bag of tricks.
Now fast forwarding to the present, Mourinho and Portugal introduce this 4-3-3 which heavily relied on the counter attack and proved to be good for attack as well as having a solid defence (the 4 defenders plus 3 central midfielders) making it very hard to break down. Now that its being used so effectively, everyone is thinking "Hey, all we have to do is pack the middle of the park, and then hit teams on the counter" cuz this strategy doesnt really require the best of players meaning you dont have to spend much money. Whereas if you tried a more attacking formation, you'd need some good attacking players. All you need for 4-3-3 is bodies getting in the way of the opposition and it works. This style also lets you scrape results against the big teams which you cant normally do if the game was open. Also, 4-3-3 only requires a half decent forward and you can expect goals. Everton with Darren Bent were the best example of this and look now far they got. Which also explains why they're so bad this season cuz now everyone is using their style. This formation is perfect for teams who normally have no hope of winning and rewards them with a result.
The problem here is that Mourinho knows how to play that style and has the right players to make it work. Plus all the money he has allows him to have more or less exactly what he wants. If you take a formation that doesnt require good players to work and then actually add the right players to it, it obviously becomes unstoppable.
This IMO is what lead to the Premiership becoming boring. Its not Chelsea's fault. Its cuz everyone is being lead to believe that Chelseas way of playing is the most effective style. But they're failing to realise that its pointless if EVERY team uses it, like how Everton found out. And its also useless if you dont have good players.

The reason why Chelsea win is because they made it famous and they're using it right. They're unstoppable now and its all down to Mourinho.
Chelsea targetted a number of strikers in the transfer windows but the one they wanted the most was Adriano. Why? Because he is the one man that could fit into Chelsea like a jigsaw. He's big, strong, can out muscle defenders (which is important if you're playing up front alone), can finish, etc. Notice how Drogba and Adriano have similar characteristics but with Adriano being the better player all round. This is why Mourinho doesnt go for players like Torres or Rooney, etc.
And why was he so desperate for Essien? He has a million other players that people thought he should have fought for like the Robinhos and the Joaquins but he only wanted Essien because he fits into Chelsea. Look at Chelsea's midfield. They have an anchor man in Makalele who can also play great passes, Lampard who not only scores but also tracks back, and now Essien whose defending skills are equal to his attacking skills. Meaning Chelsea can attack and also get everyone back to defend when needed to. And in case some of you didnt know, the way 4-3-3 is supposed to work is that when one winger is on the ball, the other winger supports the striker in the box. Notice how all of Chelsea's wingers are also a kind of second striker?
Chelsea have everything worked out. Theres nothing anyone can do about it except come up with a new style of play thats even better than Chelsea's.

My advice to the Premiership is Innovate, not imitate.
 
That's nothing new for me. The 4-3-3 has been used long b4 I was born around here in Portugal. Like british 4-4-2 style, it's our trademark almost! :lol: Portuguese wingers are usually good. Figo, Ronaldo, Quaresma, Simão just to name the ones that are known right now. And that habit we have of transforming a winger into a left-rigth-back, like Miguel, Paulo Ferreira, Cesar Peixoto.

But I disagree when you say you don't need great players to make the formation work.
The wingers must be good, having technical ability and speed.
Of course this only aplies if you wanna win. If the purpose is to defend you can just put an telephone post like beckham and you'r done. :lol:

And don't get yourself fooled, the 4-3-3 correctly used can be a very attacking formation. Porto this year is using that strategy and they never stop attacking. Our midfield is composed of 2 CMF's and an OMF. Lucho Gonzales, Ibson and Diego.
I love the Porto of this year with Co Adriaanse. I love this coach, he always provides a good show. Proof of that is the stadium is always 80-95% full, in a country that the economical situation is extremely bad. This counts around here.
Point is that the 4-3-3 is not defensive, the it's just that people think that removing a striker, from the 4-2-2, automaticaly means defensive.
It's the attitude the coach gives to the team that makes it defensive or not.

It's hard to innovate against chelsea, but, acctually the only way to get to chelsea is to innovate or have many ronaldinho's.
 
I partly agree with you Runedge.
Coaches should not imitate succesfull clubs.
I agree with you Prof this week's matches proved that the Premiership still is entertaining.
The fact that attendances are lower is due to the very high prizes of tickets. I guess it's virtually impossible for young people to go to football if they don't have relatively well-off parents. That is not good for the future of football.

But if the the premiership still is entertaining, it is very predictable as to who will win it...Chelsea has no real contenders...
 
Revan said:
don't get yourself fooled, the 4-3-3 correctly used can be a very attacking formation. Porto this year is using that strategy and they never stop attacking. Our midfield is composed of 2 CMF's and an OMF. Lucho Gonzales, Ibson and Diego.
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I'm actually talking about the defensive 4-3-3 which is also known as 4-5-1.
 
2 VERY CLEAR pens not giving against Chels today......Seriously I remember last season when chels played liver and the Ref screwed liverpool in that game too.... Man the refs really can decide games..... Gallas shoulda been red carded and liv shoulda had a f'kin pen....... Not only is luck on chelsea's side this season but it looks as if the refs are as well.....
 
hey too many calls went liverpools side too!
Man of the Match for Chelsea, P.Ferreira!! He was a monster on the right! He was awesome!

pretty much chelsea needs del horno back to provide extra width.
it was an okay game for Chelsea.

I think on Sunday, the game will open up, cuz liverpool need a win, Chelsea will hit them hard on the counter!
 
Nah Gallas will be staying, i can see Huth leaving us, and maybe even GJ.

As for our incomers, i cean see Kompany arriving at the bridge. Along with a striker.

Just 2 for next season i think.
 
Yeah, Gallas has been on the cards for a while now. Supposedly talks are good between Anderlecht and Chelsea, so Kompany may well arrive one day. As for a striker. If one was to arrive, i'd say it would be Eto'o. He's expressed a desire to play in the Premiership and i think JM would take him. He's the sort of player that could thrive off balls from Duff and Robben.
 
Teams Are Scared Of Chelsea - Zola
9/30/2005 10:41:00 AM

Former Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola believes some teams in the Premiership are frightened of facing the Blues.
Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea dominated the 2004/05 season and have won their first seven games of the new campaign.

"I think Chelsea players play lovely football but sometimes you do not get much joy from watching their game because the other team is not playing how they normally play," said Zola.

"To get a really good game you have to have two (teams) playing, sometimes teams are very compact and scared to play against Chelsea - so they sit back. Obviously in those conditions the game doesn’t express the best."
 
I agree with the point that teams play differently against Chelsea than they do against other teams.
But Liverpool have proven many times that maybe a defensive approach can work against Chelsea.

The only way anyone is gonna beat Chelsea is if they, like I said eariler, use an attacking formation and not even think about sitting back. Arsenal always open up the game against Chelsea, whether they win or lose is another issue but they IMO have been closer to getting the better of Chelsea than anyone else. Another team was Barcelona. To be fair, they kinda ripped you apart at times.

Just shows that its not impossible but no one is going about it in the right way.
 
On paper it doesent even appear close.

Liverpool Chelsea
Matches Played 5 7
Table Position 13 1
Points 7 21
Goal Difference 1 13
Goals for* 0.5 1.7
Goals against* 0.0 0.0
Last 5 D-D-D-W-D W-W-W-W-W
Last 5 home D-W W-W-W-W
Last 5 away D-D-D W-W-W
 
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