I never like to finish on a negative so I'll start off with them Negatives: - Lack of fluidity without Mata in the side - Defending - - Lack of Rotation in the squad - Mikel made a horrendous mistake as did Ramires but it's a case of tired body tired mind. I've no doubt if fresh we would have beaten Liverpool yesterday, it was clear later on in the game they benefited from the extra rest and looked the fitter side late on - David Luiz - I'm not one to scapegoat and I really like Luiz but the guy cannot defend. He is excellent at intercepting but his positioning is as bad as anything you'll see at times. - Branislav Ivanovic - The goals early on papered over the cracks but he has been a shadow of the player he was at RB but at CB looks better. I just wonder as he is getting on a bit now if the switch back to CB would help him and us. - Inability to hold on to leads: We look as if we don't know what to do when we go in front. Juve, Shaktar, Swansea and Liverpool all showed this and Arsenal/Spurs nearly did as well. Marin - What the hell is going on there RDM? Fernando Torres - Nothing I need to say that hasn't been said already. All I will say though is he is not the sole underperformer in our side and is still miles ahead of Sturridge in every aspect (which says more about Sturridge tbf) - Hazard out wide left - I still think we would and will get the best of him down the middle. I'd love to see him and Oscar rotate. Hazard's pace scares the living daylights out of all CM and CB's as the Reading and United games proved. He is not effective out wide left, if he's to play out wide it must be on the right IMO. Positives Oscar - An absolute revelation. Mark my words he will be the best of the 4 (inc Marin). I've said it all along. The most complete footballer I think I've seen in years. Hazard - An absolute revelation as a player. The most direct player we've had since Robben and gives us an entirely new dimension. Mata - Nothing more needs to be said. Ramires - Finally found him a position. He's been our most underrated player this season. I actually think his performances have been more consistent than Mata, Oscar and Hazard but defending in a technically talented midfield is a thankless task. Never say die attitude - Great spirit shown v Shaktar, Arsenal, Spurs and United. Difficult to beat - If you take out that farce of a game we're unbeaten, legitimately anyway. No English side this season has been able to outplay us in a game of football, that in itself pleases me. We may go onto lose all our games this month but at least it will be difficult. Too many times over the last 2 seasons we've been easily swept aside with no kind of retort. Style - In 3 months we're now recognised for a brand of football unrivalled in this division, even the media are praising us. So much for Boring Boring Chelsea eh? Azpiliceuta - Not seen much of him but been very impressed, covers his man quick, great crossing and positionally aware. He may be the natural RB we've long looked for since Petrescu. Fixture list - November and December very difficult months for us and being honest we won't win too many games esp with our record but if you look beyond that: January 2013 QPR (H) Stoke (A) Arsenal (H) Reading (A) February 2013 Newcastle (A) Wigan (H) City (A) March 2013 WBA (H) Fulham (A) West Ham (H) Southampton (A) _____________________ Factor in Southampton (H) which is TBC. Now things change and I suspect Southampton, Newcastle and Stoke will be much better when we play them but what we do know is that all of those games bar City away are easily winnable for us. Especially as we will almost definitely have better striking options. We are better than any team from January onwards and I'm confident we can claw back any lost ground. Anybody with half a brain cell can see if we had any one of City or United's main strikers, we'd be the best team in the league.
You got some time on your hands there DL? Broadly in agreement with you. Negatives to add for me: I would add that someone needs to have the ability to marshal the defence in the absence of Terry. Someone else needs to captain the side instead of Cech in the absence of Terry. Bertrand - out of his depth and a way off of being top class. I like the option of a good old fashioned lump of a centre forward eg Drogs - maybe I am a Luddite! Not got one. I sometimes wish the movement of the ball from defence to midfield was quicker. RDM - does not appear to respond much 'in game'. Thin squad. Romeu - have I missed something with all the hype? Positives to add: Cahill looking and acting the part. Luiz, I accept your points but I do love his drive and energy which can be infectious. Moses, he looks good, has a great head and brings some power to the side. Good buy. Lukaku whenever he comes back looks to have great potential.
We will get better boys, agree on the thin squad though we could do with 2/3 more signings in January. 2 mids and a striker
Negatives - Romeu was over hyped, De Bruyne is out on loan, and Bertrand is not ready to fill Coles boots yet. Positives are pretty obvious.
Get Luiz out of CB to ****. Can't understand why anyone has ever thought he was a good centre back, he is awful there. from what I have seen he has all the attributes to play as a DM. He is quick, can intercept, decent in possession and can even be an attacking threat. Maybe the Chelsea coaches have a reason not to play him there but he is NOT a CB, CB's must be reliable and he is not. With the system we play we need another DM other than Mikel, if he gets injured we are ****ed. But there are mostly positives from what I've seen so far this season. The football at times is great to watch, the attacking players we have now are comparible to any other team and there is a lot of young talent there, i'm confident that we will be seeing great football for years to come which is fantastic.
Incredibly good season so far. Apart from the hideous display from Clattenberg, we would still be in front. Not on the anti Luiz bandwagon, I think he is better than Cahill, but a bit too quick off the mark.For all his so called mistakes, Terry, Brana, Cole and Cahill have made just as many, but never get bollocked. Bertrand just needs a couple more games at the back, he's fine. All our front players except Torres are doing very, very well. We need. A big lump of a striker who doesn't get knocked off the ball. Call me crazy but I think Carroll could do the job. A controlling midfielder to direct play. Ramires is doing fine, but is better off the leash and would help the rotation so Hazard, Mata etc don't burn out. If Ivan is moving to CB, another right back. Time to bring back at least 2 on Loan players to boost the squad. Hutchinson would be one for me.
Carroll aint the worst shout but not convinced he is good enough on the ball to link with the wizards. We won't get him because he's just signed a new deal but Cavani would be ideal. Cheaper and maybe more realistic targets would include Huntlaar and Levandowski. Overall I think we are doing better than I expected but disappointed we've done our usual and start to throw it away come November. Crucial couple of weeks coming up. In theory we could be out the C.L and the title race within the next month or we could have it all to play for. We badly need some more match winning performances from Torres, he's the one that could make the biggest difference...c'mon Nando!!
Any body with half a brain cell will recognise that if United had one of the better midfielders (of Chelsea or City) United would be the best team in the league.
Cahill is a better defender than Luiz. No question. I do agree though. Get Hutch and Kalas back from loan.
You might be right, but Luiz gets way more stick than he deserves, and is not the only defender making mistakes. He just sticks out more because of his flamboyance. Wouldn't mind seeing him get a run in midfield, he's got the attacking skills.
