All things considered (injuries, spirited play) who has disappointed you the most? I had intended on starting this thread last night but I am glad I waited until Northside Rovers posted his teamtalk thread, because I would have forgotten about Veron. Obviously, his injuries have made his contribution poor. But, I never really thought he would last a whole season anyway, and I had low expectations for him. So, even if I were to include Seba - I think I would still vote for Crespo. True Hernan has been injured some, but I thought that his game would elevate over here. I can't say that he came in looking fit ( a bit heavy?) and his much touted aerial game has left much to be desired. He doesn't have JFH's "grind it out" attitude. He passes better than JFH and Eidur but not as well as Mutu. I think he has really not made our striker pool much better as I thought he would. Crespo seems to complain to the refs and to teammates alot and spends alot of time with boht hands on his hips or in the air. He has had a really pretty strike or two this season but I wouldn't mind seeing him sold personally. That said, I will buy a Crespo shirt if he scores a hat-trick at Highbury to put us through. I just feel that Eidur and JFH are more fearless and Mutu more skillful.
i still believe Crespo can make a huge difference for Chelsea, but since the question is "this season", i guess Crespo is not a bad choice. Give the guy a chance next season and see what he can do. I really can't vote for anybody, because there is a reason why Chelsea are 2nd place in the standings...
I expected Crespo to come close to winning the EPL Golden Boot, or at least have a ratio close to 1 goal:game. I was thinking he would have a field day from crosses sent in from Duff as well as linking up with Veron.
Well I don't think you can ignore injuries so Veron is the most disappointing for me. I think Crespo in some ways is suffering from the Sutton phenomena. I don't think the team's style is suited to him. Now I am lucky enough to see all the home games and some away games live, in person not on TV, and I do like Crespo. He works really hard off the ball which is difficult to appreciate on TV. You can see him start endless runs which are just not picked up by the ball carrier. He makes space for others and he is good at setting up his fellow strikers too. If I can't pick Veron my vote would go to Cole. I think he promises much but delivers little.
Those are some good points but I feel that running off the ball and making space is a quality that Mutu excels at. Do you in your "live" viewing rate Mutu as I do?
I think Mutu has been terribly unlucky - I can't count the number of times he's either been denied by brilliant keeping or by the woodwork. Crespo's goal/game average is pretty good. And, he's been excellent at trying to hold the ball up for others. Remember the Stuttgart game where he got a simple pass from Geremi and teed up Eidur for by far the best chance of the game? Eidur, being our most inconsistent player (Jesper gives him a run for his money there), promptly blew it. I wouldn't rate Cole as disappointing, because he hasn't really had the chance to play in the center. I'd really like to see him given a shot along with Duff in the hole in a 4-2-1-2-1 set up. Once Arsenal clinch the league, I really think we're going to have experiment like that. Cole needs to play in the middle; he's been stuck on the wing. For me the most disappointing player by far has been Geremi. His supposed skill on set pieces is non-existent, his touch is disappointing, and when playing right wing he's provided no width. He's just not the player he was at Boro. He might be better suited to taking over for Melchiot at RB than playing on the wing. When he and Makelele play, our midfield completely lacks cohesive passing. Claude was excellent early in the year, but he's tired now. I do have to say that Parker has not been terribly impressive. We shouldn't have bought him - we don't need him, and he exacerbates the central midfield glut we already have.
Whats so disappointing, really, is that there is actually more than one choice that i could make.Thinking back a second to last summer when we got all those new players i found myself thinking that only Veron was one that i didn't see the value of spending big money on - given his troubles with Man U. Now, nearing the end of he season, i find myself considering a few that didn't live up to what i thought they might produce for us.Not that they are/were necessarily "disappointing", more like underperformed if you will. As was pointed out earlier we are second in the league and in the QF's of the Champions League.This was due to a collective effort of all the players, each having a purple patch at some stage in the season. Initially i had though that Crespo would get my vote, but, little things like that game winning header against Fulham at Loftus Road, or even the wonderful goal at Highbury, his good passing and willingness to hustle off the ball would make it seem rather churlish.Then i thought Veron - but did he have a fair crack at the whip this season?Would it have mattered if he did given his previous seasons in the Prem? But, no, won't pick him as he didn't have the chance to prove anybody wrong. Looking back again at all the players who came and given the need for a position to be filled, then having the player that was supposed to fill a "problem" position, take over from somebody that was in the squad last season and was world class at a certain task, said player supposed to be of similar - albeit not as good as - skill to a certain degree, i find that Geremi has pretty much failed miserably to fulfill the promise he came with.
So many players to talk about here (do we remember last season? Who was the most disappointing for you Jody Morris or De Lucas?). And I agree with a lot of what has been said already. Duff has not been a disappointment, despite his injuries problems. I thought he was the real deal and he is. Bridge I thought would be good too. He speaks like Mick Channon (which is endearing) and also he was a sprint champion as a kid or something. He can run up and down that left side all day. He can also get crosses in, but primarily he is defender, which is a good thing. Glen Johnson & Joe Cole, neither have disappointed, as they were both bought for the long-term and both have oodles of ability. Joe Cole is great at working in tight spots on the edge of the box and for that reason alone he may be a midfielder who turns into a half decent striker, like that diminutive Zola? Parker or the “English Roy Keane” is also one for the future. I’m not really one for the stats, but if you look at the stats on how many tackles he puts in it’s pretty impressive, even if he does look like a thunderbird puppet. Makalele – when he’s good you don’t notice him. When he’s bad, when he’s caught in possession and our defence is left open, he makes me cringe. But that is not really his fault, he covers a lot of ground, and there should be defenders behind him. He’s only the first line of defence after all. I think the area he needs to work on his distribution of the ball, some sloppy passing has been noted and his long range passing is abysmal. But overall he’s been good and I think his performances will settle down and become less erratic once he understands, is able to read, his team mates more. Mutu puts the effort in my view and has been unlucky on occasion. He has to watch some of his play at times, he’s quite a dirty player, tugging shirts, etc But those defenders dish it out, so what is he supposed to do? He needs that definitive strike partner. In my opinion it is either Eidur or Mutu alongside a definitive goal scorer whoever that might be Crespo/Jimmy/Ronaldo/Totti, etc I don’t think I could choose between Eidur or Mutu. Crespo & Seba Veron. Veron who’s he? Did we really sign Veron? Awesome talent that lad Veron. What is it his third disappointing season of premiership football? Crespo also came with a huge reputation and also it must be said a “telepathic” link with Veron. If this “telepathic” link was working on the pitch who knows eh? Seems like that they are “telepathically” linked on the treatment table. I really haven’t seen enough of these two to comment, we know they are awesome players, but are they players capable of playing in the EPL or would they both be more at home playing in Italia? Germei. Middleborough fans loved this guy. What a bargain they said. Geremi has easily been the most disappointing in my opinion and I think someone should tell him that unless he can learn to play that right back spot he might not have a future at the club.
Given what I expected out of the players, Crespo has to be the most disappointing. He might do things off the ball, but he still needs to score goals. But, that said, I think you need to hold judgement on Crespo-Veron, until they've played a season together. I think that could be the key to the trophy cabinet next season. But we need to remember: one ship can't turn an ocean.
I suppose logically you'd have to be prepared to give the imports, like Mutu and Crespo, more time because they are also having to adapt to the league as well as the team but, to be honest, I wouldn't like to have to pick out anyone, particularly, as a disapointment. As someone else said, I wasn't particularly sure why we bought Parker when we bought him but I think it also shows how the best teams in Europe work with established stars like Makalele going straight into the team and guys like Parker being brought in to see how they develop. One thing that does occur to me is how much better young Lampard is now than when he came. If the rest of the young English lads improve in the same way it bodes well for the future.