Chelsea Quick Fix #4

So. New close season, new manager for Chelsea Football Club. Or so thats the way things seem to occur at Stamford Bridge these days. Chelsea's fifth manager in five years will have much pressure on his shoulders. The man who will follow in the foosteps of Jose Mourinho, Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti.

  



At first glance he seems to be the perfect fit for Chelsea. Young, budding manager, Portuguese and having just led Porto to a domestic treble in his homeland. As Mourinho did...

But lets take a look at the evidence....

Historically, but certainly more recently, Chelsea have had a precursor to attacking managers, but one way or another they have all ended up becoming increasingly negative. Take Mourinho for example. In his first season Chelsea seemed to be scoring goals for fun. seemingly without care. However in the second and particuarly third years of his tenure in southwest London, he seemed to opt for a more defensive style, with Lampard and Makelele holding back. By the time Mourinhos time was called by Roman Abramovich, his side was struggling for goals and points.

Scolari was similar. Although he had far less time to make a real impact, after the initial honeymoon period was over, the goals dried up. and he went. Ancelotti in a similar vein. Despite many already handing the title to Chelsea last November, a mere 3 months into the season..

Andre Vilas Boas, as mentioned, comes to the blues on the back of a hugely successful season with Porto FC; Portuguese league champions, domestic champions and finally Uefa Europa League champions, beating fellow countrymen Braga. During the season, Porto scored 136 goals in all competitions, conceded only        

25 and had 7 men sent off.

That I feel doesnt tell the story. In the last part of the campaign, when they and their strike force came to my attention more, whenever i watched them, they seemed pretty suspect at the back. They also did score more goals than they did though; the old Real Madrid philosophy. The combination of a front three combining the Columbian Radamel Falcao, Brazilian Hulk and the Portuguese Varela was more than sufficient to compensate for the lack of a defensive nouse.

This is my problem with the appointment. I really like Boas. He is a very talented guy. He speaks fluent english, thanks to his english grandmther and his time working under Jose Mourinho but also Sir Bobby Robson, for a time at Ipswich in the early 2000's. He is a great coach. BUT he is a very attacking style of manager, which has put Chelsea in trouble in the past. My concern is that he may score more than concede in the early stages but with a goal shy Fernando Torres of late and a Frank Lampard out of sorts, is there anyone who can really lead the team in the way Villas Boas wants?

There is talk of him bringing Falcao and Moutinho (a player who i very much rate) to the London club and there will undoubtedly be a real Portuguese and therefore Brazilian flavour to the side, with Luiz, Alex, Ferreira and Ramires already in situe.

I just cant help but feel this another move by the ever flaky Peter Kenyon to get the success that he and Chelsea crave, most pertinently the Champions League


something even Jose Mourinho failed to do.....Jurys out........  

Transfer Ramblings...

evening. its been over a week since my last post. well things have been a bit hectic, and then all of a sudden not so; i digress.....

Lets begin the Jordan Henderson (above). without question a talented player. But 20m? from Sunderland. hes has a breakthrough season for the Black Cats, and is now a mainstream of the England Under 21 set up. I cant help thinking though that Henderson is a above average sized fish in a medium sized pond....

Now Phil Jones; he impressed me very much for Blackburn in his first full season until injury sidelined him for the last 6 months. 17m is the fee this time. similar money, similar quality player, perhaps slightly better. but this guy is just 19 years old. thats almost one million pounds for every years hes been alive. im sorry thats not right.

Other transfers across europe that have caught my beady eye include,

Andrea Pirlo: AC Milan to Juventus (free)
Philippe Mexes: AS Roma to AC Milan (free)
Yohann Cabaye: Lille to Newcastle
Miroslav Klose: Bayern Munich to Lazio

more to come....

Beautiful Barca...

afternoon. before I get on to what i thought of last saturday nights exploits at Wembley, check out the highlights for yourself: Queen to boot...



I have to be honest here. prior to the final, I was a bit torn...

Despite loathing Man Utd as I do, essentially due in no small part, to their moronic, idiotic, neanderthal fans, I was of the view nonetheless, after watching Barcelona's three recent outings versus their great spanish adversaries, Real Madrid - in which much of their personnel cheated and dived all over the field and generally behaved disgracefully - together with my bitterness of our (only short) shortcomings versus Barca, not to mention a certain scandalous Van Persie red, I felt a slight, slight persuasion towards United.


Thankfully, after just 5 minutes those feeling went out the window. I think it was the sight of Wayne Rooney's aesthetic features, (i cant be sure)...From the off, the beautiful encapsulating side of the Spanish champions came to the fore. Slick, graceful, elegant; everything good about them. It was clear, right from the outset, that United would be chasing shadows from large portions of the game.

Even so, after 25 minutes it reamined goalless and my thoughts began to come to pass; Utd could soak up the pressure and break on the counter. Then though, with 27 minutes elapsed, David Villa released Pedro Rodriguez into yards of space on the right of the penalty area. The (other) diminuitive forward kept his composure and gave Barcelona the lea with a placement low into Van Der Sar's  corner of the net.

For which I celebrated...

In the conflab, Nemanja Vididc appeared to be asking questions of who was marking Pedro. But Evra was well off the pace. For the next 10 minutes or so Barca dominated possession, with the Red Devils seemingly clueless as to what to do about the claret and gold tide.

Until, out of nothing, a glimpse; a throw in from Ryan Giggs, to whom Wayne Rooney made a nice interchange to set Rooney out wide, passing infield to Giggs, in turn allowing Rooney to switch over and the welshman to supply a beautiful weighted pass a Rooney to send an effortless curling shot into Victor Valdes' top left hand corner.

The red half of Wembley went berserk. This highlighted my fear of what could happen. Before the game my chief concern was Javier Hernandez and how Gerard Pique, but particularly his namesake, Mascherano would handle him. In my opinion 'Chicharito' is the most unique striker in European football currently. In this game however he was largely anonymous throughtout proceedings. Indeed, Rooney's goal was the high point for Manchester United.

As the second half began, Barca seemed to double their work rate, certainly upping the tempo, at least offensively speaking. Predictably then - but perhaps earlier than postulated - Barcelona regained the lead on 50 minutes....Who Else....

LIONEL MESSI. Magic Messi. There are simply not enough superlatives to describe this man. Now was the time for his moment of inspiration to come. Slightly outside the penalty area, the little magician collected the ball and then proceeded to feint Michael Carrick and then, with little or no backlift, lash an effort, but which - and I have to say - was not unstoppable. For me Van Der Sar was at fault.

Regardless, Barcelona's players celebrated with extravagant jubilation, indeed it was the Messi's first goal on English soil, which is quite extraordinary. That would appear to be his only taboo subject. Or at least was...

No. Messi aint no pony....(thanks Ol ;))

From then on the game was not far short of a procession. United's defence was constantly overrun,erhaps lacking another man in midfield, characterised bu David Villa's third and clinching goal, delightfully curling into Edwin Van Der Sar's top right hand corner.

The game was done.....Xavi was his usual sublime self. Andres Iniesta was almost invisible the way he in and out of the game. Pique was nothing short of a tyrant in the Spaniards engine room. Abidal, who I am not the greatest fan of, was exemplary. Yes for an average player; let alone someone fresh off the operating table for a brain tumour. Extraordinary. It was a nice touch for Guardiola to give him the captains armband.

Well Done Barca.....now get your mitts of our players....except Denilson..

Fulham v Arsenal

before i get onto my report and thoughts, here is Samir's free kick that Schwarzer only just managed to tip round the post...





Sunday I attended my last Fulham game as a season ticket holder. It was the day, as a gooner I had waited literally the entire season for. The home game versus my beloved Arsenal. For me it was important for me to see Arsenal up close and personal, not during their peak, but during their very worst form for years. In my opinion.

And it was fairly evident.....

I wasnt quick to judge as many teams attempt and fail to get any sort of result at Craven Cottage, as Manchester Utd and Chelsea will atestify. And certainly in the past we have laboured at times here...

But even so....

And so from the Hammersmith End, amongst ravenous, cold-blooded fulham fans (who two weeks prior I had seen pretty violently eject a rogue scouser from slighty behind me) I watched with slight nervousness. I had previously discussed the 'what if' scenarios.What if we had to win to ensure the Premier League title. What if it was level and in the 89th minute Robin van Persie had a penalty?? WHAT IF. As it turned out, as a result of the massive balls up since events at Wembley, we did have something on the line. Not what we had hoped, but something just as key; Automatic qualification for the CL. I have to be honest, during the whole game, I had my eye on my phone nearly the whole time, keeping abreast of events at the Reebok.

The return of Thomas Vermaelen for the second successive game was great to see. Indeed half way through the second half, already one down to Steve Sidwell's opener, he made a superb defensive tackle, followed quickly by a goal line clearance from the boot of Andrew Johnson. but as the game progressed the defence looked ragged and it is already patently clear to me that Tommy V and JD do not work together. At least, not in the current shape.





For the first time Arsene played Van Persie and Chamakh together, from the start, two upfront,  which i have to say surprised me. I expected to see Theo off Robin, with Samir and Jacky supporting through a central role. From the off, Chamakh seemed of the pace; a player bereft of confidence. Robin conversely looked his lively self taking the equaliser with aplomb, scoring in his ninth away game in succession

Which, in the clubs' current form is nothing short of remarkable....

It seemed to me, the midfield, particularly Nasri and Ramsey looked a tad lost. Wilshere was his usual pocket rocket self, running his socks off; the provider for Robin and Samirs sojourns forward. Ramsey, however seemed to be floating around with little or no identity. All three at times though seemed obsessed with passing sideways. A symptom of clear Wengeritis.

As I have stated I surprised to see Walcott omitted from the starting line up, especially in the presence of the younger, inexperienced Matthew Briggs at left back; Walcott tearing him up with his electric pace, for the late equaliser.

MOTM:  Bobby Zamora: For his headed goal, his pass that set up Sidwell and his overall contribution to a largely average 90 minutes.

That got me thinking. Me and my friend were discussing the potential impact Zamora and Van Persie would have against Premier League defences, playing on the same team, switching roles during a game. Well it would certainly be more effective than Marouane Chamakh's contributions of late. But I would be tempted to stick with him, like Best? and Beckford?, in certain ways he will improve and learn how to adapt to a pacier game than that of Ligue One.

  

Jose's Power Hold..

So with Jorge Valdano' sacking now made officia  (it was no secret)l, it seems that Jose Mourinho has his wish of total control over the spanish outfit. Mourinho and the outgoing president have reportedly had many - at times heated - altercations. It seems finally, Valdano's popularity has waned enough the board of directors hae seen fit to dispose of him.

The Madrid board arent stupid. He may be one of the most outspoken managers in football today, nee history, but he is also proven at the highest level; Porto, Chelsea, Inter, and he has already won the Copa Del Rey with Real, in his first season. 

The board of directors at The Bernabeu know that if Jose becomes increasingly frustrated with his lack of control, he could leave with Ancelotti relieved of his duties at Stamford Bridge, just last week. For Real Madrid to avoid an almighty embarassment, this cannot happen and thus events have transpired so. 

Altintop To...Real?..

 

                                                   The season hasn't even ended yet, but already Real Madrid have underlined their intentions for next season. Borussia Dortmund's Turkish sensation Nuri Sahin wasnt a huge surprise when he signed on a five year deal earlier this month, but the signing of Hamit Altintop certainly has my eyebrow firmly raised.

Altintop has been on Bayerns books since a move from Hertha Berlin back in 2004. However for much of that time he has been a utility player, rarely starting games, but often coming on as a substitute late on in games. Unless Jose has other intentions for him, I can only see being an equivalent on a more expensive bench, therefore finding it harder to get game time

Hmmm...time will tell on this one....



Excuses and Lies...

Just a mere few weeks ago, Arsene Wenger said this:


                     “We are second in the league. Is that a disaster? There are teams who invest 10 times more than us, and they are behind us… Why do you say it’s a disaster when we are second in the league? Do the 18 clubs behind us have a fantastic disaster?… We have been in the Champions League for 15 years, and there are only two clubs who have done that in this country – it is us and Manchester United.”


Fantastic Arsene. But oh, wait.

WE ARE NOW 4TH!

Suddenly, no longer are we second, or even third. No we are FOURTH. Not only that we are staring down the barrel of no longer automatically qualifying for the champions league. If this happens, our 'rebuilding' of the squad will be thrown into doubt as many players will want guaranteed top flight european nights, before any lucrative and yet risky move is concluded.

But it should never have even got close to this state of affairs.

For all you idiotic fans. labelling me as 'plastic' let me set my stall out.

Let's get this straight; Arsenal SHOULD have won the league this season. However our damn goalkeeper cost us 11 point this season. I say goalkeeper, being one (almunia) lest we not forget good ol' lukas. It's unnacceptable.

To our (Arsenal's) current 'crisis' (yes, a 'crisis') there are many elements.

For now I want to focus on our beloved manager....

Le Boss. Le Prof. Or God even...


Really?

Let me clarify this. I LOVE Arsene Wenger. I love everything about him (even his dubious choice in women). For me, the thought of not having him in charge of the club I have supported for 20 plus years, fills me with great sadness...

I take you back to two summers ago, when Nike and various Arsenal players took part in the Cesc Fabregas show. Personally, the thing that made the entire series of hows was the boss's appearance in one of those episodes. If there were any doubt about my feelings for the manager, they were allayed by watching this and the subsequent pride i felt as he from the audience to rapturous applause:

That was two years ago. now we are in a whole new situation. The way i have felt towards Wenger has very much soured lately.

This is not just as a result of his current managerial failings

Let me put forward these points.

Wenger's Lies

I am not the only one who feels wholly let down by Arsene? Promises about strengthening the side - not wholesale changes, but just tweaks here and there - that have been essential. and time and time again, overlooked.

"I will strengthen."

"We are short"

For 3 years now we have been begging for a new goalkeeper. Names have been touted: Given, Lloris, Hart. Names have been and gone. Always ending in the same outcome. ALMUNIA. uh

Also, but perhaps more crucially, the centre back situation needed to be addressed. Without doubt Wengers' purchase of Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax was a master stroke. Many doubted his ability on the big stage. Well he smashed those theories with a goal on the his premier league debut in a 6 1 drubbing of everton at goodison. A ground where few leave with a point let alone score six. For many, including me, Tommy was the signing of the season.

Expectations were that he would carry that form through into this season. Then, hardly a month into the campaign in an innocuous loking challenge with Dean Whitehead of Stoke, Tommy picked up an achilles injury. he played the 90 minutes, but the damage was done. There was talk of only a week out, but weeks turned to months and he remained on the sidelines.

Suddenly Wengers' wish of partnering him with his 10m signing Laurent Koscielny had hit a snag. The idea was to blood Kos by Vermaelen being his mentor and gradually forming a solid partnership.

Ah...Oh...erm....

Dont get me wrong. I think Koscielny will be a good player. give it a few years..he has proved that with match winning performances against Barcelona and Chelsea. BUT he like certain others in the team are just not ready...he needs to perform week in, week out. He is not there yet and because of Vermaelens' lengthy spell on the sidelines, and Sebastian Squillaci's, well, cavallier attitude, his weaknesses have been - at times - brutally exposed.





I think another aspect that is overlooked is the situation up front. Lets not bring into question Robin van Persies' committment. This guy has had setback after setback injury wise. He bleeds for the shirt. you can see that. But when he is not there, there is a real lack of a killer instinct in the box. Chamakh i like. When he arrived he was hungry and scored 8 goals in an impressive spell. But when RVP returned, Wenger straight away reinstalled him as his first choice striker, leaving Marouane to warm the bench, despite him being the most in-form player we had. In hindsight this was a mistake.

The message in his mind was that the boss had lost faith in him as the top marksman. This was evident when he was given a run at the tail end of this season. Everything he wuld normally snap up as a header he was increasingly lacking confidence and passing the buck as it were.