I have forgotten the shape of Chelsea team, this was down to Carlo. He played too many shapes, leaving the players not knowing what to expect; they have ranged from the diamond to 4-2-4 and 4-3-3. Was he confused? Was he trying to be tactical? Was he trying to play with the available players? I found myself losing interest.
Incredibly we went from a double winning season to nothing – Wow some transformation!!! What went wrong??? From my evaluation and assessment these are the things that went wrong and if this man, Villas-Boas makes the same mistakes his career will be short lived like Carlo.
They are:
1. We forgot too soon that we narrowly won the double and needed to strengthen.
2. Instead of strengthening we released several players and never got their replacements.
3. We introduced too many very young and inexperienced players at one time – that’s not our style.
4. We took the position of assistant coach for granted and sacked Wilkins who was Carlo’s backbone. He knew the English game unlike Carlo, and should have replaced him with a veteran.
5. We allowed ourselves to have too many crises in one season.
6. Lampard is getting old and we are doing nothing about it, he is at the heart of Chelsea’s play. In my opinion our best player ever, but now we need to get someone new who is as reliable to the centre of the park.
7. Terry needs good support, his peers have either been injured or not as commanding or daring.
8. Torres started too soon, he couldn’t understand the way the team played. Luiz should have been tested as a holding midfielder or even a right full back, we never got to see his versatility. Why did Josh stop playing? Stopping him from playing was too demoralizing, the same goes for Daniel Sturridge, why did he have to go on loan when he should have stayed and been given the chance to play.
9. What happened to home advantage? We did not make the most of it, Stamford Bridge has is not the fortress that it once was.
VB is an excellent but young coach, he could be the next Guardiola and even surpass his glory. Personally I don’t think Pep would achieve the same success in the EPL as he has done in La Liga. But if VB can do half of that, then he will be named the best, even greater than the master Mourinho himself.
To achieve this, he must work with his coaching crew and never let them have success, especially Di Matteo who could easily have got a job as a Head Coach, even in the Premier League.
There should be no rush to off load anyone because we are already short of players. A key disadvantage last season. If we must off load, let’s wait until January, not even Sturridge should go on loan. There are already talks of Zhirkov, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba, Kalou, Bosingwa, and even Luiz going. Maybe we will soon hear that Cech is going …
The squad has not got any surplus, we are short and that was our problem last season – When the injury hits us, unlike the two clubs from Manchester there were no replacements.
We should be talking about adding three key players and two young ones who are willing to develop from the bench. There should be no need to overspend to get a player. If someone wants to come, he should put in a transfer request. He should be brave enough to say: ‘I want Chelsea.’ We need committed players to fulfill the Chelsea dream.
An ideal option is Lukaku, he should be snapped up at once, well if he wants to come. We should buy good players who want to join Chelsea and who we can get for a fair price.
We should buy a right winged player, as it stands we are almost a one winged team. Maybe Malouda or Zhirkov’s game would be enhanced with a good attacking winger in the mould of United’s Valencia or Young.
We should get a good central goal scoring midfielder, a young Lampard – Someone who will help to bring out the best in our midfield and strike force.
We need a solid defender, if possible an Englishman who understands the English game. One edge that we do have is that in the past we have had a lot of good English players. They are currently available and we should be able to get them at affordable rates, our defence is shaky because Terry, Alex and Bosingwa are all prone to injury. I don’t think we should get rid of Bosingwa, but after such a lengthy injury he needs time, you never know he could become a new revelation like Malouda became last season.
There is need for a solid reserve keeper, now is the time to move for Stoke’s Asmir Begovic who we have supposedly pursued for some time now. He will be a good cover for Cech, and may even challenge him for a place in the starting 11.
We must get at least two Porto players for VB. I think Ancelloti would have done better had he brought in some of his old players like Pato, Kaka or Pirlo. These players already understood his game, but unfortunately for him, he had to do it without them. If VB wants Mountino, Falcao, Rolando, or Hulk the let us make a good deal for at least two of them.
If VB must win things, he has to demonstrate confidence and ruthlessness in his approach. Playing freely will lead to winning and we must make the bridge a fortress again. Chelsea wins by invoking fear, this will restore the team to glory. Small teams should come to our home, hoping to secure at best a draw whilst big teams should forget about the idea of winning at the Bridge.
I kind of like VB though, he is the “American dream”. He rose from an opposition scout to the team manager, all of which was done within the space of seven years – Seen as many as a lucky number. Football is a game of luck. I want to believe that the next three seasons will be a fairytale with VB in charge – Maybe we could beat Mourinho in the Champions League final.
But what if he doesn’t perform; will I want him to go? Let’s see.
Stan Blue