Where the hell are they gonna play and whos gonna sit for them? Ive been hearing of the "Main 3" Essien, Obi, and SWP, then I heard about them wanting Shevchenko as well!! I thought Chelsea had buttloads of talent as is. But if they do get them whos gonna sit?? Essien, Obi, and SWP all play in the midfield and and Sheva up top, so unless Chelsea can devise some 4-8-3 formation to get everyone in there someones feelings are gonna get hurt. Now im not sure, but doesnt Jose usually play the people he paid an ample sum for?
You obviously seek 3-4 players to have options, but in the end you end up signing one or two and call it a day.
Well spotted. Cech, Terry, Gallas, Lampard, Gudjohnson, Robben, Makelele, Duff, Johnson and Bridge are all well pleased that Jose paid big for them and thus played because of it
this ain't little league soccer. we play four tournaments, not to mention all the internationals everyone will be playing with Germany06 on the horizon. trust me, 21+goalies will seem like a small squad when the season is done. it was last year. when players come to chelsea, they know they're gonna face stiff competition for every spot. mourinho has been pretty open about this. if they can't handle it, they're not gonna sign. anyways, if you do the math, we'll be about the same sized squad as last year. it's still very unclear what jose is shooting for. i imagine he wants to be a bit bigger than last year considering the problems we had with players getting injured. shevchenko is not a real rumor. essien & swp are both proving difficult to buy. and who knows where obi will actually end up. OUT kezman parker smertin babayaro IN del horno c cole crespo diarra (headed for reserves?) MAYBE swp essien obi (face work permit issues)
obi & the other nigerian players (if they do come), would likely go out on loan to other eupean clubs, U-19 players we bring in would go to the youth & reserve teams, the likes of del horno & Crespo go into the first team, and we won't be getting the likes of Sheva. sinple.
26 million euros for SWP - can u say joke. Figo is going cheap ...how's that for cover on the wing? I know JM said he wasn't gonna sign any more Portuguese ...but Man City are being nonsensical. If anything, Chelsea should be going after Essien. They have enough players and enough depth. strikers: Drogba, Crespo, Gudjohnson, (whoever) wingers: Robben, Duff, Joe Cole, Figo? midfielders: Lampard, Tiago, Diarra, Essien? defenders: Bridge, Del Horno, Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, P. Ferreira, Johnson Gk: Cech
[. If anything, Chelsea should be going after Essien. They have enough players and enough depth. strikers: Drogba, Crespo, Gudjohnson, (whoever) wingers: Robben, Duff, Joe Cole, Figo? midfielders: Lampard, Tiago, Diarra, Essien? defenders: Bridge, Del Horno, Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, P. Ferreira, Johnson Gk: Cech[/QUOTE] Arseanl has an equally big squad.But no one talks about how they intend to play all their players. strikers:Henry,Bergkamp,Van Persie,Julio Baptista(if they get him) wingers .Pires,Reyes, Midfielders.HLeb,Fabregas,Gilberto,Flamini Defenders:Campbell,Toure,Sandeross,Cliche,Cole,Lauren,Eboue,cygan
Ljunberg. Now they're going for Song. it is too much money for SWP. But he's younger than Figo. I think Jose is more concerned with yoof than nationality (rightly so). A winger should be the priority for us. What other good young wingers are there?
More than half of Arsenal players are bench material, they can sit. If we get SWP and Essien. Someone in the squad is gonna complain about sitting on the bench. Hell, there may not even be enough room for all of them on the bench.
If we get Essien and SWP I think there will be a couple of unhappy players, but as long as the unhappy ones who decide to leave are not the better players, so be it, it is a business. And yes with both players someone(probably 2) very talented will not make the bench.
wenger is the mike martz of the premiership. all out attack ,no defence and no tactics. be interesting to see how they lineup now they have sold viera.
Chelsea will be overcharged no matter who they go after. Figo is not an option for Chelsea because of his age and his ego. Mourinho would never want a guy like Figo on his team not matter how good they are. Essien and SWP play two different positions. Essien is a central mid, SWP a winger. Essien will be Makelele's back up. Chelsea only have two wingers, Duff and Robben. Joe Cole is not really a winger. And Diarra will most likely be on the reserves. This is who they have for each position: Forwards: Gudjohnson, Crespo, C.Cole, Drogba Wingers: Duff, Robben (SWP-maybe) Attacking Mids: Tiago, J.Cole Mids: Lampard, Makelele,Geremi,Jarosik (Essien-maybe) LB's: Del Horno, Bridge RB's :Ferreira, Johnson CB's: Terry, Carvalho, Gallas, Huth GK: Cech, Cudicini With their main lineup most likely looking like this: Cech Ferreira Carvalho Terry Bridge/Del Horno Lampard Makelele Essein/Tiago Gudjohnson/SWP Duff/Robben Drogba/Crespo
Gudjohnsen might have to classified as an Attacking mid now, and Essien as Maka's backup? Dont know about that one. I agree Joey is not a winger, but if Mourinho will only use him there, thats all that matters. Also, Tiago is not an attacking mid, under Jm, hes a regular central mid, if not more closely related to a holding mid.
he doesn't contemplate a season without a trophy WIN NOTHING? MOUR WON'T CONSIDER IT A LOOK of horror fills Jose Mourinho's face and he appears visibly hurt. He has just been asked how he would cope if he failed to win a single trophy next season. "I couldn't contemplate the thought," admits Chelsea's Portuguese coach. "If I don't win the Championship, if I was to win nothing, Jesus, I don't know what I would do. "I haven't experienced that in my career before. I know one day it may happen and I will have to cope with it, but it will be extremely difficult for me." Mourinho has no intention of dealing with that disappointment in the forthcoming campaign. Indeed, he has warned Chelsea's rivals he wants to surpass the achievements of his glittering first season at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho guided Chelsea to their first Premiership title in 50 years and victory in the Carling Cup Final against Liverpool. And only a narrow 1-0 defeat by Liverpool in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final clash ended Mourinho's chance of a remarkable treble. When asked what he expected from his players in the new campaign Mourinho replied: "We want all of it! I want to win everything and that is the target I have set my players. "We know you can't normally expect to achieve that because it's very difficult, if not almost impossible, in the modern game. "But if you were to ask me how many trophies I realistically expect Chelsea to win this season I believe we will achieve at least two out of the four from the two domestic cup competitions, the Champions League and the Premiership." When Mourinho faces suggestions that Chelsea are widely disliked, he goads his critics by boasting about the massive bonuses he and his players received from the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. He added: "I don't believe we are universally disliked. We have more than doubled the fans we had in the last season. "And to suggest we bought the title? My opinion? I don't care about it. "I'm very happy with what we did and I'm very happy with the bonus we all received at the end of the season. How much did I get? Enough!" Chelsea are close to another big-money signing as they prepare to spend more than £20million to land Manchester City's England midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips. But Mourinho claims the return of striker Hernan Crespo is like landing a superstar on a free transfer. He is also tipping the Argentine marksman to be a big success this season. He said: "It's like landing a big-name player for nothing. "His past problems have been well documented. We couldn't stop him going last season because the pull to go back to Italy was too strong. But he's solving his problems and his motivation is extremely high at the moment. "His relationship with the other players is good, and with me and my staff he is very open. "Just remember he's been a successful player at every place he's been. "The only place where there is a question mark hanging over him is in England. He's a proud player and he wants to come here and score goals and I think he will do that."
That is true, but at Benfica he was more of a #10 attacking mid. And with Jarosik being used as a holding mid this season. And with Essien most likely coming in, Tiago can be used as an attacking mid if need be. That is his preferred position and the one he plays better as imo. One thing's for sure, Mourinho will have a lot more options this year. Should be interesting.
Essien is a young box to box center midfielder with very good defensive skills as well as attacking skills. Similar to Gerrard in a positional sense, not to say he is as good now or will or won't be better down the road I would see him taking over the Tiago spot, being a bit defensive minded to free supah Frankie to do his thing. Obi is an 18 year old Nigerian cmf/playmaker with exceptional vision and poise, who dominated and was a class above all (except for the Barcelona Argentinian Messi) at the World Youth Championship. If he develops as projected and can bring his form to the League Level, he can be a world class phenom me thinks. Don't think he can get a work permit yet though. See the Obi thread for more on Obi and the signing/ManUre kidnapping issue.