Jump to content

Chelsea 2011/12 Thread


Philip Rolfe

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 9.7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
He played bloody well too. Touch of class in everything he did, big part in two goals too.

Delighted he's back and playing well.

If we could sign just one more player this summer, providing they're reasonably accessible for us, who would you pick?

For me it would still be Modric.

Agreed, Modric should be top target now, and probably has been the entire way through. Wouldn't surprise me at all if we never made a bid for Pastore and it was just a tactic to squeeze more cash out of PSG

Link to post
Share on other sites

Last I heard he's staying with Santos unfortunately :(

The last I heard his agent said he was going to go to Barca or Madrid and nobody else. His goal a few days ago was insanely good.

Modric has to be top target now. He's proven in the PL is a brilliant player and will do a great job for us. He's also not that old either. Not as young as Pastore but still.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Has Alex played for AVB? Thought he was away with Brazil as well?

Alex wasn't with Brazil but he was injured, he played the second half of the Villa game, can't remember him getting any other action yet though.

Wouldn't surprise me if Ivanovic started at CB as he's played every pre-season game there so far, and he considered using Luiz at RB

Link to post
Share on other sites

How likely is Luiz going to be a starter?

Pure speculation of course, but I'd back Alex to be the first choice and Luiz to get the 'second' games. As terrific a player as he is - and amazing as he will be - his inexperience was shown up a few times at the end of last season, especially against the likes of Man Utd, when his approach tended to be a bit too gung-ho for his own good. Alex is slow but more composed, so I expect he'd be used against top class opponents, and rotated with Luiz for everyone else. But then again, who can say for sure?

Link to post
Share on other sites

I may be wrong but really get the impression we were never really in for Pastore and just kept repeatedly being mentioned by his agent and Palermo's chairman in an attempt to bump up the price.

Would be great to see Hutch back, the little I saw of him was really good and it's never good to see someone retire through injury so young. What's so different now that he can be playing full games again when only a few months ago he had given up all hope?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello Chelsea fans, blatant fantasy football question coming up:

Is Torres going to play? Is he going to play through the middle?

I want to pick him, but not if he's going to sit on the bench, or play on the right.

Could be wrong but seems reasonably obvious now to me that AVB probably sees Sturridge as our Hulk... a left footer on the right who will cut in... if that is going to be the case I don't see Torres starting there regularly. The central guy is a real conundrum. There's still Anelka/Drogba, and without a true #10 what's the point of playing Torres over Drogba? Benayoun is the only one we've got who can play that role, but we need another (hence Pastore/Modric). What is encouraging to see is McEachran for certain has got the base level of vision and composure needed for him to be developed to play that role, and if he becomes a great #10, given the rarity of those these days he could become a SUPERSTAR! :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

It would be disappointing to see Zhirkov go, if the rumours of his £13.2m transfer to some Russian club (Anzhi?) today are true. He never really got the chance to play consistently in his natural position out wide on the wing for us, and Malouda is both getting older and flattered to deceive a few too many times last season. I can see why he'd want to go though.

Link to post
Share on other sites

It would be disappointing to see Zhirkov go, if the rumours of his £13.2m transfer to some Russian club (Anzhi?) today are true. He never really got the chance to play consistently in his natural position out wide on the wing for us, and Malouda is both getting older and flattered to deceive a few too many times last season. I can see why he'd want to go though.

If he's leaving, who will be our backup left winger? Kakuta?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, Flo on his day is unstoppable, but he did have a few really ropey patches last season. Hope he's back to his best this year. I don't know that we need to replace him just yet, but we certainly need a good young backup for him.

If it's not Kakuta, I'm not sure why would sell Yuri, unless we know we've got someone coming in. Maybe some truth to the Johnson rumours? Hope so

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
Yeah, Flo on his day is unstoppable, but he did have a few really ropey patches last season. Hope he's back to his best this year. I don't know that we need to replace him just yet, but we certainly need a good young backup for him.

If it's not Kakuta, I'm not sure why would sell Yuri, unless we know we've got someone coming in. Maybe some truth to the Johnson rumours? Hope so

Cech aside, who didn't?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cech aside, who didn't?

That's why last season was such a disaster, IMO. Not because the team didn't win anything. There are only so many trophies, it's bound to happen. I'm used to watching American sports where there's only one thing to win anyway, so I can understand that. It was the way the entire team was playing that had me worried.

Plus, Cole did pretty well.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Cech aside, who didn't?

True, but I remember a few games where I thought he was the worst player on the pitch by a way. I just think it's important we have a young backup for him if we're letting Yuri go, and I don't know if Kakuta is up for it yet. I hope he is, but I haven't really seen that much of him to tell to be honest, my Fulham mate says he impressed in spells for them but was way too inconsistent.

Link to post
Share on other sites

True, but I remember a few games where I thought he was the worst player on the pitch by a way. I just think it's important we have a young backup for him if we're letting Yuri go, and I don't know if Kakuta is up for it yet. I hope he is, but I haven't really seen that much of him to tell to be honest, my Fulham mate says he impressed in spells for them but was way too inconsistent.

Two inconsistent left wingers. That's just what Chelsea need. :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe Yuri himself wanted to go back to Russia? That could be possible.......

I'm sure that's true, and wants more playing time, still surprised we'd let him go though unless we've got a replacement or Kakuta stepping up

Tbh I wish we still had Robben, was a bit shocked when we sold him in the first place.

I miss Robben, he was superb, such a shame we sold him.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm sure that's true, and wants more playing time, still surprised we'd let him go though unless we've got a replacement or Kakuta stepping up

I miss Robben, he was superb, such a shame we sold him.

The days of Damian Duff and Robben.. those were good days!
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
True, but I remember a few games where I thought he was the worst player on the pitch by a way

He's such an easy target because he's more Anelka than he is Terry, for want of a better comparison. He won't bust his balls chasing things about but why should he? We're not privy to the tactical instructions he's under (Mourinho would never have his wingers do that for example, as he'd them fresh for the transition when his team wins the ball back. Positional discipline is different) and whilst Drogba might go haring after people he's a rareity (and has the stamina to manage it I imagine).

There were plenty of poorer performers than Flo last season but only Anelka and probably Mikel got as much stick. Yet statistically - and yes I'll use stats because they matter here - he scored and created more than he has for us before. Who's at fault if the chances aren't being finished? Is anyone?

Can't expect 100% from every player every game. What we get from Malouda we'd be lucky to get from anyone else in the game really. Grass is always, always greener.

Link to post
Share on other sites

He's such an easy target because he's more Anelka than he is Terry, for want of a better comparison. He won't bust his balls chasing things about but why should he? We're not privy to the tactical instructions he's under (Mourinho would never have his wingers do that for example, as he'd them fresh for the transition when his team wins the ball back. Positional discipline is different) and whilst Drogba might go haring after people he's a rareity (and has the stamina to manage it I imagine).

There were plenty of poorer performers than Flo last season but only Anelka and probably Mikel got as much stick. Yet statistically - and yes I'll use stats because they matter here - he scored and created more than he has for us before. Who's at fault if the chances aren't being finished? Is anyone?

Can't expect 100% from every player every game. What we get from Malouda we'd be lucky to get from anyone else in the game really. Grass is always, always greener.

I'm not saying I want to replace him, because at the top of his game he is fantastic, and I get that he's an easy target because of the way he plays, but he had a few real shockers last season, not because he didn't try hard enough (which I'll never criticise him for, he's not that sort of player) just because he had games where things didn't go his way and his quality seemed to desert him.

I'm not a Flo hater, he's superb, I just want to know that when he's having a poor game we've got someone on the bench we can bring on who's of a similar quality, such as Zhirkov, so if we're letting him go, we need someone else who can step up.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...