I got a link for the bleachers report on my facebook page.And it seems that John Henry has taken a pop at Fernando Torres,even if he doesn't mention him by name. John Henry said ''The club is a happier place since ''He'' left. I don't think he is refering to Roy Hodgson,as Roy left the club in a dignified manner,even though his reign as boss was nothing short of disasterous. Then again Roy for his failings is a decent bloke. That cannot be said about Torres whose departure has left a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths.He said he left Liverpool for a ''bigger club''.No he didn't he joined Chelsea. Even Gary Neville a diehard Liverpool hater said that Liverpool unlike Chelsea are a ''proper club''. There is other comments that Torres made that are disgraceful. For someone that is happier at his new club....He doesn't seem like it,as he continues to sulk. It also seems that there is a bit of conflict between him and Ancellotti as Ancellotti's style of playing doesn't suit Torres.Torres doesn't fit into what he wants.Some people have suggested that,Ancellotti didn't sign him,Abramovich did. There is only two names that spring to mind and its bad news for the players(or managers) involved and these are Shevchenko and Robbie Keane. In Shevchenkos case,He cost Jose Mourinho his job,and in Robbie Keanes case,he was sent packing,because Rafa didn't want him. I reckon one of Torres or Ancellotti will be sent packing out of Stamford Bridge. Were we right to get rid when we did.?Possibly as ã50 million was a lot to not turn down.
As much as I am enjoying his lack of form since leaving he is a very talented player imo Chelsea should change the formation to suit Torres.
I completely agree. But will Ancellotti risk upsetting Drogba.?Drogba has seniority,and upsetting him will destroy dressing room harmony. Torres should be used as a sole striker with two flankers either side of him. Its hard to teach an old dog new tricks.Okay he plays in a double act for Spain,but then again he's playing alongside David Villa who is a poacher.So obviously that works. I reckon the only way out of it is for Chelsea to sell Drogba in the summer.
Chelsea have made a rod for their own back. they have Drogba & Anelka who are two of the most sulkiest players to ever grace the premeir league but also these players due to their experiance at Chelsea have the dressing room on their side. Torres needs the game to revolve around him which can't happen at Chelsea! Liverpool it could, even if he played for Man Utd or Man City they could mess with their tactics to suit a formation that would include Torres & Rooney but Chelsea can't - Chelsea have too many players who have a "I made this club so you can't replace me" mentality
Thats exaclty what I was thinking. Maybe its more than just Drogba that needs to go in the summer to accomodate Torres,maybe Anelka needs to go too. Playing the three at the same time certainly doesn't work.As they get in each others way.Neither Drogba or Anelka are selfless enough to drop off to allow Torres to lead the line.Torres had that at Liverpool with Kuyt and Gerrard. Torres main strength at Liverpool was running the line,However he needed players with drive and energy following him and creating the space for him to get into,and that is Kuyt and Gerrard to a tee.He didn't thrive on pull-backs or ricochets off the keeper,that again was Dirk Kuyt. As for Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll becoming a formidable partnership,I saw glimpses of it happening on sunday.Glimpses.The understanding isn't there yet,and who would expect it to be after just one game.?However the bonus is that Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez seem to have hit it off.They seem to be on the same wavelength.Dirk Kuyt says the reason is they talk to each other in Dutch.I don't believe that,I believe that its more to do with both having bundles of energy and Dirk Kuyts selflessness and Suarez' skill.Mark my words,the lad is a magician. Will the signing of wingers in the summer benefit Andy Carroll.You bet your life it will.
Drogba and Anelka, no both wont go, maybe one but both is two big a change for Chelsea with the summer nowhere near enough time to prepare a totally new attacking lineup. Citeh? City who will be better next season and may do more business in the summer, really loking bleak for United, Fergie is the only thing holding that team together many a united fan says to me, if he went, they'd be nowhere next season and it is the thing they fear most about hte immediate future, all the hubris of it is Jose, Citeh are looking more like a Jose prospect as Citeh would be exactly Jose's style of club to go to, new squad of very good players and cash, not cash strapped ageing United, please bookmark this page as I laugh in your faces if you think Jose will manage United after Alex Fernando is going to have to work very very hard and learn to make close relationships in training with team mates to get that understanding, he has shown what he can do when he is happy and fits in to a system, though that was the best club season of his career by a long long way. Chelsea were impressive under Jose and not since, spells of great results but far more points dropped than if Jose had remained at the helm. How many home games has Jose lost to date Nandorino to play for Chelsea for two seasons maxz and off to spain again, probably athletico for 10m
Fun Fact - Torres, Anelka and Drogba are all Pisceans, born within several days of each other (albeit different years) Being sullen and moody is part of the way they are! Pisceans together can either be brilliant or completely self-destructive... My guess is that Drogba & Anelka are used to each other by now, but to throw in a 3rd quiet & moody person is a massive risk.
Guus Hiddink had a great run as Chelsea manager after Jose, it wouldn't suprise me if he were a fixture at stamford bridge next season - esp. if Carlo continues to sub Nando in front of Roman
Ancellotti will make a rod for his own back,and Roman will beat him with it if he continues to sub Torres.Do you remember what happened to Jose when he refused to pick Shevchenko. I thought Chelsea learnt their lesson after the Winston Bogarde fiasco.Second thoughts maybe they didn't.If you keep putting your hand in the fire,you are eventually going to get burned,and some people still continue to put their hand in the fire.No matter how many times they get burned.
Hiddink was really good for them I thought and I remember chelsea supporters baying for him to stay. i think they thought that roman had a hand in Russian national team and Chelsea it would be for sure. Which by the way, how bad did he fail with Russia??? I was really looking forward to seeing them in the world cup ( as an American, glad they didn't make it as it would have been England, Russia, US, Algeria!!!)
Not really Hiddink's fault - Russia has no really good centre backs, so they leaked poor goals in both play off matches, and in the second leg against Slovenia they had two players sent off. The players just didn't perform...much like England when we actually got to the World Cup.
Still after Euro 08, I thought Russia were going to be a real darkhorse team in the world cup..... oh well!
Me too - I figured having Arshavin, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko, Bilyaletdinov and Pogrebnyak playing in top European divisions would give them an edge compared to Euro 2008. But that's the nature of dark horses - you never know what they're going to do!
Keep an eye out for Dzagoez, young attacking midfielder I believe its CSKA he plays for. 20-21 so still lots of room to grow.
Yep, CSKA. He could be awesome - scored the first goal against us in the 3-3 at OT in the CL last season and assisted the second. Although he's a Chavski fan so if he gets really good Roman will probably be getting his chequebook out for him...
Certainly not Hiddink's fault. Great coach, did have a good run at Chelsea but it was kind of a honeymoon thing that was never gonna last. He's a great coach and any club could use him, Top coaches have to be Jose Hiddink over the past few years. I just dont rate Fergie in this as he's stayed with the club for so long it removes the element of taking over new teams and making them successful right away, this Fergie hasn't dont at all so he is out of hte running for top spot. Jose Hiddink would be my top two managers for a very long time. They can move around and be successful regardless of the circumstances of the teams they've managed that cant be an easy thing to do.
Apart from when he took control of St Mirren when they were down the bottom of the Scottish Second Division in 1974, and took them to the Premier Division within three years using a team with an average age of 19. Which makes him one of the few managers to bring instant success to a club, and also to stay with the same club long enough to build and rebuild a successful team over and over again without losing the confidence of the board or the fans P.S. You do realise Hiddink only ever won a league title as manager of PSV? He failed to win anything with Fenerbahce, Valencia, Real Madrid (who'd just won the CL when he joined) and Real Betis. And in both his spells at PSV, he joined within two years of them being Erededivise champions. So he hardly transformed their fortunes...
Fergie is (unfortunatley) the best manager to ever grace the premier league, to claim his success is down to the fact he has been there forever isn't a fair judgement. Dario Gradi has been the manager (bar two small periods when he stepped down but has since become manager again) of Crewe Alexandra for longer then Fergie has been manager of Man Utd and they haven't won anything. As a manager (not as a person) I'd place Fergie in the same management bracket as Shankly, Paisley, Busby, Clough & Happel
I don't get the Hiddink thing. Sure, he's good but a great? I'd struggle to choose between him and Martin O'Neill. People keep talking about Redknapp doing the England job part time with Spurs but Hiddink's failure to get Russia to the World Cup when they should've been nailed-on was a damning indictment of trying to straddle two jobs. I also think Chelsea's CL failure against Barca was down to his tactics. His rep seemed to be significantly boosted by talking South Korea to a World Cup semi-final, which was an achievement but he did it with unprecedented access to the squad so they were more like a club.
To my mind Hiddink was a great international manager - with the exception of Russia in 2010 he exceeded expectations with almost every international side he managed (Netherlands, Australia and Russia in Euro 2008) - but only a fairly good club manager. Not all that different from Scolari in terms of his ability to succeed at international level but fall short at a club. Would have be interesting to see what happened with Chelsea had he stayed on after the end of the 2009 season - I doubt he'd have done as well as Ancelotti did the following season.