Agreed. Started well and just lost his way. Injuries? Drogba attacked Jose's tactics to the press and complained that he sacrificed himself for the team and made the other players look good (Incidentally he failed to realise that Lampard et al looked good when Drogba wasn't on the pitch, whereas Drogba on his own admission had some very poor performances). Overall Drogba’s first touch let him down on a regular basis and he never looked like the goal machine <st1:city w:st="on"><st1 =""></st1></st1:city>Chelsea FC needed. Despite the excellent service he received it seemed that the big lad Drogba went to ground far too easily.
Here is Zani's wish list: --------------Cech------------- Ferreira---Gallas---Terry---Horno ------------Makelele----------- Duff-------------------------Robben -----------Lampard------------- --Air Drogba----------Crespo--- Subs: SWP, Cole, Cavarllo, Gud, Cudicini. However, I expect Mourinho to continue with his winning side of ----------Cech--------- Ferreira--Cavarllo---Terry--Gallas ----------Makelele----------- Duff---Tiago------Lampard--Robben ---------Drogba/Gud------------- With the new guys being immediate subs. If a sub proves to be a significant improvement, someone is losing his position, even if he is John Terry.
Even when Bridge was available, there were games that Gallas played LB. We don't know much about Del. I see him starting on the bench, especially when we play Arsenal next month.
Well, first of all, Bridge is almost at a 100% and by the time we play Arse, he will be fully healthy. Second, Del Horno is not a rookie, even though he hasn't played in the EPL, he is still experienced. He plays for Spain for crying out loud. Finally, Gallas specifically stated that he wasn'thappy to be playing out of position this past year, so why would Jose intentionally piss him off.
Because he wants Cavallo to play. Gallas will be more pissed off on the bench. There is more competition here than on the wing positions. Back 4 has to be stable.
I saw the Manure Horse of course averaged near a goal per game in the 10-15 before he was injured and only got 4 in 13 after so maybe we do need to see what Drogs can do healthy. Did seem to pout and fall easy a bit at the end of the year but Crespo will probably keep his effort up this year.
You probably have a point here Zani. I'm sure Mourinho will be looking at certain players - to himself- as more important to keep happy than others.Playing them in more games than some of the others will be obvious for certain players. It'll be interesting to see what he does with Gallas and Bridge, not that that means one will play at the expense of the other, and then of course there is the Del boy question.If Gallas does play at left full (which he won't btw), he'll have two unhappy campers to deal with. Still, that is an interesting point Zani, who will Mourinho see as acceptable to be p1ssed off?
Not only LB, I also see him playing RB in some games. His versatility will help Mourinho to keep his defenders happy. Remember how Zani reads his letters Clan.
Of course he will play Crespo -- he will play all of them. The question is : what will be the best side. My guess is Bridge is not considered as the best LB. I was also less than impressed with Carvalho in some matches --Gallas may push him out. I seriously doubt that Tiago can compete for anything more than a bit part. My starting team would be: Cech Fererra Gallas Terry Horno Mak Duff Lamp Robb Gud Cresp bench Cole SWF Cudicini Carv Drog
To some extent i agree with you but Crespos statements were long ago and most fans are actually eager to have him back because he is a top player and usually gives out a 120% effort in most games. Despite chelsea having a solid team for the cl they still lost i think crespo could capatalise on that weakness. i also think that throughout the previous season crespo really proved his potential as a player and would be wasted talent if he was to remain on the bench or off the pitch.
All this talk of Crespo vs. Drogba, but what about Gudjonsen? We were scoring goals galore when he was up front. He may not have the best finishing, but is that even relevant when the team pops in four?
I don't really want to get into this dscussion again, but that's a load of crap. Just b/c he missed that last minute sitter doesn't mean he is a bad finisher. He is actually a decent finisher, even a good finisher i would say. You can't blame our loss in the CL on him. I didn't see Drogba scoring much either.
I think the lack of clear cut scoring chances cost us more than finishing Zani. Lamps didnt score on his free kick attempt, so is he to blame for the loss? Trying to pin anything on Guddy is insane, he had a great year (arguably his best) for the club this season.
I didn't say Gud was a bad player. I didn't mention Drogba. The Rage was dismissing poor finishing problem. That is why I asked him that question. Mind you, I didn't ask him how many goals Gud scored against Pool in that tie. I asked him how many did the team scored.
Our problem against pool was that we didn't have any wingers. We were scoring four goals often when had Gud between Duff and Robben. One missed chance in the CL doesn't discount that.