Football The 2010/2011 Season Thread

[Lethul]

Best memory of the season

 

[Fast]

The cost of relegation from the Premier League - Telegraph

 

[Vladamir]

That is the point really, you need other players like him to cover and there just aren't many, certainly not at the level Chelsea need. Neymar is a good player but he doesn't play in the same way as Torres, therefore he would not only have to adapt to a different style of football coming to England but also a different way of playing as a striker? It doesn't make sense to me, build a side around Neymar because he is young, highly talented and doesn't have a history of long layoffs. Torres is over 27 now, has a long history of injury and recovery plus what at least one if not two very poor seasons by anyones standards? The risk is massive, yes if it pays off Chelsea will win silverware but if it doesn't they could be scuppered for a couple of seasons and all of that just as the finanical fair play rules come in.

He wasn't good business for them imo, it was an impulse buy from a man desperate to win a European Cup before the rules change. That £50 million should have been spent on a couple of good wingers to give the side a plan B and a talented young striker to compliment what they already have. Had they done it in January it could have been them in the final now.

Don't really disagree with anything there, unfortunately the Torres purchase stinks of desperation that clearly has blown the team dynamic out of the water.

The better option would be to build the team around the likes of Sturridge, Luiz, Ramires and Neymar should he come in, the oldest of those is 23, no major disruption to our system, just time to bed them in.

But obviously that makes too much sense, so it won't happen, what manager is going to have the bottle to show Kalou, Anelka, Malouda, Zhirkov, Bosingwa and co the door for contributing so underwhelmingly?

 

[Lethul]

130k/week for Young rumour. Anyone think he is worth that?

 

[Vasconcelos]

How much for Malouda & Essien?

 

[Vladamir]

Offers of 10-15 and 30 respectively I think the board should consider.

 

[eksdee]

Cech
Cole / Terry / Luiz / Brantheman
Essien or Mikel
Ramires / Mcheachran
new winger1 / Torres / new winger2?

Sell Malouda, Drogba, Zhirkov, interchange Mceachran and Lampard to lessen pressure on Mceachran and give Mikel and Essien one more reason to prove themselves. Mikel has looked brilliant in some games and utterly anonymous in others while Essien I fervently hope will recapture his past form, but he was awful this season mostly (sadly).

Can Kakuta be good enough to hold down one of those wing positions and who else could we possibly bring in or bring through? Gokhan Tore looks a good prospect, but it may well be too early for him yet - same for Kakuta.

More than anything I really hope whoever our new manager is they ship out the dead wood and bring through some young blood - especially Mceachran, who looks a fantastic prospect.

 

[Vladamir]

Problem is, why would a manager risk playing youth when he has to win a trophy every season with us? It's a vicious cycle that won't end until the board buck their warped ideas up.

I'd go with the above formation, not sure how well Sturridge is with wing-play but I sincerely hope he leads our front line for years to come assuming Roman doesn't have a complete brainfart and sanction his sale.

Ideal scenario I'd like Hulk and Neymar flanking our frontman, but Hulks buyout clause alone is 100m euros

 

[bainteor]

Keep Essien, he is the best midfielder in the world when fit.

 

[Lethul]

Problem is, why would a manager risk playing youth when he has to win a trophy every season with us? It's a vicious cycle that won't end until the board buck their warped ideas up.

I'd go with the above formation, not sure how well Sturridge is with wing-play but I sincerely hope he leads our front line for years to come assuming Roman doesn't have a complete brainfart and sanction his sale.

Ideal scenario I'd like Hulk and Neymar flanking our frontman, but Hulks buyout clause alone is 100m euros

Porto seem to want to keep their best players for a couple of seasons more I want Hulk at Liverpool too

 

[Vladamir]

I'd be happy with that, I've been tearing it up with them on Fifa recently

 

[cHodAX]

130k/week for Young rumour. Anyone think he is worth that?

He is good but that is twice the money Nani and Valencia are on, so no he isn't worth it.

 

[cHodAX]

Problem is, why would a manager risk playing youth when he has to win a trophy every season with us? It's a vicious cycle that won't end until the board buck their warped ideas up.

I'd go with the above formation, not sure how well Sturridge is with wing-play but I sincerely hope he leads our front line for years to come assuming Roman doesn't have a complete brainfart and sanction his sale.

Ideal scenario I'd like Hulk and Neymar flanking our frontman, but Hulks buyout clause alone is 100m euros

There is no board, just a sulking robber baron who can throw his toys out of the pram at the drop of a hat. The only role the board plays there is as advisors.

 

[Vladamir]

Udinese reject Sanchez offer | Sky Sports | Football | Serie A | News

Guess he won't be coming to the Bridge this year then, not worth it at that price.

 

[Everz]

BBC - Jonathan Stevenson: Last-day mayhem at Molineux

Ave a read, sums it up.

 

[eksdee]

Problem is, why would a manager risk playing youth when he has to win a trophy every season with us? It's a vicious cycle that won't end until the board buck their warped ideas up.

I'd go with the above formation, not sure how well Sturridge is with wing-play but I sincerely hope he leads our front line for years to come assuming Roman doesn't have a complete brainfart and sanction his sale.

Ideal scenario I'd like Hulk and Neymar flanking our frontman, but Hulks buyout clause alone is 100m euros

Agree about risking youth, but I genuinely believe Mceachran has shown enough to warrant at least a regular place in a rotation with Lampard, if not preference given Lampard's poor season.

Sturridge is a big powerful lad so you'd hope he was at least competent in the air, still it would be interesting to see how he fares with wing play indeed. If you had Hulk and Neymar for example though I think you would see a lot less traditional wing play and a lot more swapping wings, cutting inside etc. Hulk plays on the right for Porto and is left footed, while Neymar has the skill and trickery to play on the left as an inverted winger too I think. With Torres' penchant for running the channels you could certainly envisage a fluid system where there is some interchange between the three and I think it could develop into an exciting system. Mceachran the main playmaker between the lines, with Ramires and Essien dovetailing in the centre of midfield. Another advantage to this would be Kalou and Anelka would still fit well into the system, I think Anelka has another good season or two in him, while Kalou has been excellent off the bench for years and makes a great squad player to rotate in for less important games/when other players need a rest. Mikel could also be deployed in place of Ramires or Essien when we play games where a little more tactical rigidity/solidity is required and let's not forget Alex; while Luiz has been a breath of fresh air, I think Alex is still the better defender by quite a way.

Another question to consider is how much longer can Ashley Cole go on playing how he does, for me he has been easily the best signing of the Abramovic era but he has a dodgy ankle and plays an incredible number of games for us while playing a very intense role in the side. Ryan Bertrand looks a good prospect, but is he ready? Is Van Anholt really going to be able to take Cole's mantle in 2-3 seasons when the state of his ankle and general age inevitably catch up with him?

Depending on how the managerial appointment goes and who gets brought in, I think this could either be a very exciting time to be a Chelsea fan or when things eventually brutally come crumbling down and we end up battling it out with second-rate teams like Liverpool for a European spot.

 

[Vladamir]

I'd love us to have a fluid front three in the future, realistically I think it's the only way we would get on without Drogba and having to revamp our system too drastically.

 

[Calaen]

I'd love us to have a fluid front three in the future, realistically I think it's the only way we would get on without Drogba and having to revamp our system too drastically.

Get Ollie to manage you!!!

 

[cHodAX]

YouTube - ‪Alexis Sanchez - Amazing - Goals & Skills - HD‬‏

The lad is making me a believer.

 

[Vladamir]

Would you pay what looks to be 40m euros to bring him in though?

 

[Calaen]

Would you pay what looks to be 40m euros to bring him in though?

No chance! He's not a touch on Suarez.

 

[Everz]

Potential is what Sanchez screams tbh, remember hes only 22.

And he is better then Suarez. fact.

EDIT : Misworded, I mean I rate him at being better then Suarez in the prem.

 

[cHodAX]

Would you pay what looks to be 40m euros to bring him in though?

Nope. Too unproven. 5ft 6in as well, that could be really difficult in our league.

 

[Everz]

But he has the good experience of Serie A behind him, do think he would be a success here. Don't think he would leave now Udinese are in the CL though.

 

[Keitanz]

He is good but that is twice the money Nani and Valencia are on, so no he isn't worth it.

Thing is, he's English, if you want a quality English player now you will have to pay huge fee and wages ;/

 

[cHodAX]

Thing is, he's English, if you want a quality English player now you will have to pay huge fee and wages ;/

What?

 

[Keitanz]

Potential is what Sanchez screams tbh, remember hes only 22.

And he is better then Suarez. fact.

EDIT : Misworded, I mean I rate him at being better then Suarez in the prem.

Suarez - Carrol - Sanchez

 

[Keitanz]

What?

What's there to what about ? we have not seen a realistic fee/wage for a decent English player in quite a while now..

 

[Vladamir]

Ah yes I forgot Liverpool had bags of cash to spend

 

[cHodAX]

What's there to what about ? we have not seen a realistic fee/wage for a decent English player in quite a while now..

Sanchez isn't English.