For a while now I have thought that the Premiership title is out of reach for Chelsea this season and the Stoke game really proved the point. If we had been United we would have got an extra time winner off of someones backside and walked away unashamedly with all of the three points! But Stoke did very much deserved their point and arguably more from the game.
The best Chelsea can realistically hope for this term is to chase Arsenal down for second place which will be a feat in itself. In my opinion Ancelotti made a huge mistake taking Ramires and Nicolas Anelka off which totally changed the teams performance during the second half. I understand the logic of wanting to rest players ahead of Wednesday night but with a bit more imagination from Carlo we could have made a couple of substitutions that would not have taken the game away from us when we were in the ascendancy. There is nothing like a win to generate fresh legs for our European night next week.
If Rudolph [Sir Alex Ferguson] in the stands at West Ham can bring Javier Hernandez on and then move Ryan Giggs to left back at half time why can’t Carlo be as imaginative?
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David Luiz made a couple of errors which cost us Stoke’s goal in the first half. If Jose Bosingwa had gone off and Michael Essien drafted into the right-back slot we could have moved Luiz into midfield (who won’t be playing Weds anyway) and bought Branislav Ivanovic on to partner John Terry in the middle. Fernando Torres could have come on for the ineffectual Florent Malouda.
I’m sure with Ramires, Luiz and Frank Lampard bombing forward to support Torres, Didier Drogba and Anelka we would have kept the pressure up and ‘could’ have scored that elusive second goal. As it is Chelsea are in real danger of falling between two stools with Carlo’s insistence that we must use the ‘whole’ squad during the month of April. Players like Salomon Kalou, Jon Obi Mikel and Malouda are bringing very little to the table at the moment and so we MUST continue to play the likes of Ramires and Anelka during this busy and very important part of the season.
I don’t go along with this ‘players get tired’ nonsense. Ramires will run all day and every day with a fantastic engine as will Lamps and Essien. These players would rather play competitive games than train, so give them an extra day off from training whilst they are playing all of the games. In fact, both Essien and Lamps will have only completed roughly 50% of the season come May due to their injuries this term.
If Carlo really must rotate certain players what the hell is wrong in using young Josh McEachran in midfield? I don’t believe he will rotate the bulk of this team as I cannot see him leaving Petr Cech, JT, Ashley Cole, Lamps or Essien out of any of the games.
I do not believe we have good enough back up in the form of Kalou, Mikel or Malouda let us hope that Roman Abramovich sells them in the summer and brings some more REAL talent and depth into the squad. Players like Alexis Sanchez and Sergio Aguero would do nicely and would help see off what I’d argue is very average United team and also make sure that we don’t experience another November and December tragedy as we suffered during the winter months of the current.
As for our European adventure, I hope it doesn’t come down to the luckiest or most imaginative manager otherwise we may as well concentrate on that second place Premiership finish now. We need the players to up their game for United but more than that we need Carlo to up HIS game for the rest of the season!
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Alan I hear you… Do remember Ramires was heavily critiscised not too long ago, he had the good fortune of playing his way into form due to absentees… Mikel was a mainstay of our double glory last season; he’s a very good player be in no doubt – our very own Jose would have him in Madrid given the opportunity – however some players gain consistency through regular games, while others can turn it on like a tap – the key is not to resort to he’s good he’s cr@p mindset, but to find the key to getting the best from all our players, coz they’re all superb players on their day… Lamps for instance is being played regardless of form. Why is he not dropped?
This must affect the mindset of some of our lads warming the bench; Josh, Yuri amongst them – if you don’t feel appreciated, you are less likely to perform at the optimum.
I just think as fans we should try to be less emotive and look deeper than we often do! Difficult though it is I grant you. When we get good results our players are great; a poor result and they should be shot – they’re the same players fgs!
Good article btw.
I’m not sure if he meant they are bad players, but perhaps not the type of player we need and perhaps the mooted changes in the squad are badly needed.
For example, I’m a fan of players like Kalou and Mikel, but it might be better for us as well as them if we part ways in an attempt to freshen up a team which is in transition.
Alan Frank? And you made your name as a great tactician with which team? Listen up Alan, your opinion only matters to you. Attending a bullfight does not make you a matador. Enjoy the game and leave the meaningful discussion to the experts. Be a fan Alan, and then go to sleep. Please!!!!
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Of course you don’t have to agree with it, but castigating someone for their’s is a little harsh, mate.
Richard, I played football for many years (in my youth) to a very good standard (I wont bore you with the details). I have supported Chelsea through good and bad times since 1967 just after I had a youth trial with them. I have written sports columns for provincial newspapers for many years and YES I do have an ‘educated’ opinion which obviously upsets you. I can only assume your grievance is misplaced due to your ignorance of the subject matter!
Remember our 3 nil loss to sunderland at stamford bridge, who was d culprit? Ofcourse it is d now overhyped ramires. So tink twice b4 makin a coment
Or Carlo. For playing Paulo Ferreira at centre-back, which has been tried before and didn’t work then either.
It was ALL Ramires’ fault that we lost to Sunderland? Get real mate…. there are 11 players on the pitch and the WHOLE team let themselves down that day. Ramires is a Brazil International player and Chelsea are damn lucky to have him! He has certainly been one of the main ‘positives’ to come out of this season.
nice point..but hey fellow blues, when ancelti won the double, everyone was full of praises on his tactics, i do understand our season in epl is pretty much pale, but the subs carlo made waz coz of wed. champs lg game. and b4 the stoke game carlo said maybe the tactics he had 4 that game may not make us win that game, which was true..his focus, the only realistic silverware we may grab. the champs lg. so fellow blue fans, lets stand behind our manager, i kno fans usually talk nasty of their managers after a bad result..seen that a couple times wit my arsenal pals, but there is a reason he is incharge of the dressn rm and u r readin of him from the papers, no matter how bright or futbal tactician u may think u are. i say we stand by our own, ktbffh
i ve said time and time again dat ancelotti does know how do changes 2 win a game.just tell me malouda was doing on d pitch.he ve been removed since first half.Ramiras and Anelka were doing very well and carlo substituted dem and after they left,d game died and lost control of d game.
Lampard is becoming more selfish & his passes are not sharp. He was falling all over the pitch unnecessarily and Anceloti doesn’t have the guts to substitute him when he wasn’t effective but went ahead and removed Remirez who was keeping the midfield effective. Why is he benching Josh? Why didn’t he remove the ineffective Malouda for Yuri? If we want the best out of Torres, Benayoun should be in the midfield for he is more creative and not selfish like the likes of Lampard. I prefer a no nonsense couch like Jose Mourinho to come back and manage our beloved Chelsea.
I’m sorry but I cant refrain myself. You are all idiots and 1. Are blatantly not Chelsea fans and the tyPe of fan we are mocked for 2. Know nothing about football 3. Massively impatient and have huge standards
If you were real fans you would stop criticising ancelotti, our team isn’t as strong as last year and players aren’t performing swell, believe we still have an opportunity to win the league, and realise that Stoke aren’t a bad team
Essien would be a woeful rb. He’s defending of recent has been dismall. ConstNtly caught on his heals. Luiz Should be playing rb with bane / alex cb and kalou should be playing as an impact sub every game because he has been one of our most effective strikers. Mikel is class and him not playing is why we concede so many goals. McEachran is 18 and far to young to be starting and has no place in our starting line up ATM. He’s talented but he’s no jack wilshere
You made good points in the final paragraph, most of which I would agree with. I wouldn’t play Luiz in midfield or play Essien at fullback unless there was an emergency.
However, you can’t question someone’s support because their opinion doesn’t adhere to your own.
Fans have as much of a right to criticise their club as they have to praise it, as long as their support remains faithful. If we all agreed and towed the party line it would leave football discussion/debate boring and pointless.
i have 1 question 4 u guys. If essein got injure tody who will replace him?…mikel. and if u get rid of mikel and essein got injured tody who will replace him?..may be our new buys…Aguero or sanchez.u will not know the important of what u get till u lose it.
with regards to the tactics employed during the match. i very much think the article got it spot on. with a little more imagination ancelloti could av won the match. the substitution of ramires definitely open up our defensive frailities un thecmatch. with kalou definitely not adding any extra attacking threat to the one provided by ramires. bin that said personally i do not think aguero is premiership material. although that could be argued. neymar would av bin a better given that he is young and maybe adaptable in the long run and will offer some missing creative spark we have lost since the days of robben.
its interestin to hear evry1 critizisin Kalou n Mikel..But let me start by remindin u how gud a sub Kalou as bn n how consistent Mikel as being(in doing his defensive midfield job).Maybe bcoz most of u are English, u find it hard to admit Lampard has bn our worst midfield player ds season.He gives d away, off target shots, robbed in possesion,…he’s leavin on his reputation nt performance n its d same in d national team.Lets face it, Josh has performed beta even wit d fewer minutes he’s playd.Its time 2 change n refresh n i dont tink an italian manager can do dt for chelsea..Wen Ramires came, Carlo made it obvious he was alwaz goin to play him even wit so many mistakes, costin us points most notably against Liverpool n Man City..At dt time, evrybody was praising a “much improved” Mikel until Carlo dented his confidence by clearly showin preference 2 a woeful Ramires at dt time..Wen a player knows he’ll play no mata wat, he will surely improve wit time! At d emirates, Mikel was removed at halftime n chelsea conceded twice in 2mins wit mistakes by Essien wu made terible bak passes! How many goals did makalele score for chelsea? How many did Mascherano score for Liverpool? U nid a balance in any team n its not all bout going forward especially wit d likes of Ashley alredy bombing forward leavin gaps in defence.Luiz lost his positioning yesteda n Essien was woeful coverin him.Mikel wuld hv dealt wit dt vry well..wat is it in Mikel dt Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, Hiddink,Ferguson all saw n liked? Wen he plays, he brings a certain balance to our midfield dt no other chelsea player can.U wana compare Ramires n Mikel? Play Ramires in defensive midfield n see wat hapens coz d two times he did, Newcastle scored four n Sunderland scored three at Stamford bridge.Talk bout rotation, wat rotation? Apart 4rm Cech, Terry, Ashley, Essien,Malouda, Lampard, Ramires get preferential treatments n wat does dt say? Italians dnt rotate anyway! Zhirkov n Josh deserve to play more considerin d performanc of som players.Its time to let Drogba go too..kalou can take on defenders n Luiz is d only oda player cn do dt at chelsea! How den do u unlock defences? Dts wia i agree wit blueblood on players nided.Malouda,Drogba,Ferreira,Hilario shld go..Bosingwa is nt a bad player just dt his type of game requires a creative player on d right side of midfield just like Dani Alves..
@kayode i agree with you.