How long Rafa?
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:48 pm
Silence from the fans, Torres can't hit a barn door with a banjo and no nearer scoring a goal.....if he goes out of the Champions League he could beat Cloughie's reign at Leeds..
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Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:59 am
Is Dalglish working at the moment?
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:17 am
Pep say yes, Rafa bye bye !
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:33 am
The silence from the fans was meant as a "dignified" protest against Rafa (rather than booing him, which doesn't help the team), then on the 16th minute applause and di Matteo songs (as a player he wore the number 16 shirt).
In one of his first interviews as Chelsea manager Rafa didn't exactly endear himself to those willing to give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his past history when he said that to get Torres scoring again, Mata, Oscar and Hazard would need to try harder! They've created countless opportunities for Torres and he still can't score, so you can't blame those three if they now look for an outlet other than Torres! When he's back to full fitness I'd love to see Sturridge given a run of games leading the line to show what he can do, and if we can recall Lukaku from loan that would be good too.
January 2011 was our worst ever transfer window when we flushed ?75m down the drain on Torres and Luiz. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner we get rid of those two (and Rafa, of course!) the better. With Torres in the side, we're effectively playing 10 v 11 given he not only does nothing, but other players are now reticent to give him the ball (he either mis-controls it and loses it, falls over, or just runs into brick walls or blind alleys!). With Luiz in the side we've got a defender who can't defend, is prone to crazy runs up-field where he then loses the ball leaving the rest of the defence exposed, or who is a tackle away from giving away a penalty! In some games Luiz is the opposition's best player! So in reality, with both Luiz and Torres on the pitch, we're playing 9 v 12. That in spite of this we're still clinging to a top four place is no mean achievement.
Not sure Pep is the answer, either (though Abramovich obviously thinks so). At Barcelona he inherited a superb team of players mostly brought up the Barca way, with younger players coming through the academy also with the Barca way ingrained in them. With players like Iniesta, Messi, Busquets etc it makes failure the harder option! Good though they are, Mata, Oscar and Hazard are not Barca type players... indeed none of the Chelsea squad are, so Pep would need to play a different way, and when Plan A was failing against Chelsea last season, he had no Plan B to fall to. I'm not that sure Pep knows any other way of playing, and given Arsenal are the closest team to Barca in style in the Premiership, it's not a tactic that will meet with great success anyway!
Di Matteo was left with a very thin squad (we've only used 19 different players this year, far lower than any other side) which didn't leave much room either for rotation, or cover for injuries/suspensions. It was also quite lop-sided. With only two defensively minded midfielders (Mikel, who was transformed into the role by Mourinho, without great success, and Romeu who has the speed and turning circle of a super tanker) and four attackers, only one of whom regularly tracks back, the defence was always going to be left exposed. Maybe he was a little naive at times tactically, but he was only trying to do what the owner wanted... play attractive, attacking football. And for a few months at least, it worked.
In one of his first interviews as Chelsea manager Rafa didn't exactly endear himself to those willing to give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his past history when he said that to get Torres scoring again, Mata, Oscar and Hazard would need to try harder! They've created countless opportunities for Torres and he still can't score, so you can't blame those three if they now look for an outlet other than Torres! When he's back to full fitness I'd love to see Sturridge given a run of games leading the line to show what he can do, and if we can recall Lukaku from loan that would be good too.
January 2011 was our worst ever transfer window when we flushed ?75m down the drain on Torres and Luiz. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner we get rid of those two (and Rafa, of course!) the better. With Torres in the side, we're effectively playing 10 v 11 given he not only does nothing, but other players are now reticent to give him the ball (he either mis-controls it and loses it, falls over, or just runs into brick walls or blind alleys!). With Luiz in the side we've got a defender who can't defend, is prone to crazy runs up-field where he then loses the ball leaving the rest of the defence exposed, or who is a tackle away from giving away a penalty! In some games Luiz is the opposition's best player! So in reality, with both Luiz and Torres on the pitch, we're playing 9 v 12. That in spite of this we're still clinging to a top four place is no mean achievement.
Not sure Pep is the answer, either (though Abramovich obviously thinks so). At Barcelona he inherited a superb team of players mostly brought up the Barca way, with younger players coming through the academy also with the Barca way ingrained in them. With players like Iniesta, Messi, Busquets etc it makes failure the harder option! Good though they are, Mata, Oscar and Hazard are not Barca type players... indeed none of the Chelsea squad are, so Pep would need to play a different way, and when Plan A was failing against Chelsea last season, he had no Plan B to fall to. I'm not that sure Pep knows any other way of playing, and given Arsenal are the closest team to Barca in style in the Premiership, it's not a tactic that will meet with great success anyway!
Di Matteo was left with a very thin squad (we've only used 19 different players this year, far lower than any other side) which didn't leave much room either for rotation, or cover for injuries/suspensions. It was also quite lop-sided. With only two defensively minded midfielders (Mikel, who was transformed into the role by Mourinho, without great success, and Romeu who has the speed and turning circle of a super tanker) and four attackers, only one of whom regularly tracks back, the defence was always going to be left exposed. Maybe he was a little naive at times tactically, but he was only trying to do what the owner wanted... play attractive, attacking football. And for a few months at least, it worked.
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:57 pm
Rafa is on a hiding to nothing. However I would laugh my head off if Pep said no thanks I'm off to City, Man U, Munich or PSG and left them with a empty chair. The job is now a poisoned chalice.
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:32 am
The Chelsea job was always a poisoned chalice, even before Roman Abramovich arrived... so nothing has changed, and there'll always be managers who'll want the job now, because however precarious the position, they'll be in charge of a talented and mostly young squad that can challenge for trophies and with money to spend. If you win trophies, great. If you get sacked, you get a good pay day as your contract is paid off.
As for Pep, Man City seem to have done as much groundwork as possible to tempt him; Ferran Soriano (former Barca General Manager) is the CEO at City and the Director of Football is Txiki Begiristain who held a similar position at Barca. They have a great stadium, a strong local fan base (unlike their neighbours), stability off the pitch and a great training ground and youth development set up. What's not to like (other than the weather)? I hear Manchester may even get a Michelin starred restaurant in the near future now that Michael Caines has taken over Abode.
As for Pep at Chelsea, the fan forums are evenly split on that... some see him as the best alternative to Mourinho returning, others don't want him at all. I'm in the second group, as I don't think he and we are suited. If he turns up at Chelsea, given how the owner wants us to play "shexy football", everyone will expect us to play the Barca way, which we simply cannot do as we don't have the players to play that way, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not sure Pep knows any other way of playing.
As for Pep, Man City seem to have done as much groundwork as possible to tempt him; Ferran Soriano (former Barca General Manager) is the CEO at City and the Director of Football is Txiki Begiristain who held a similar position at Barca. They have a great stadium, a strong local fan base (unlike their neighbours), stability off the pitch and a great training ground and youth development set up. What's not to like (other than the weather)? I hear Manchester may even get a Michelin starred restaurant in the near future now that Michael Caines has taken over Abode.
As for Pep at Chelsea, the fan forums are evenly split on that... some see him as the best alternative to Mourinho returning, others don't want him at all. I'm in the second group, as I don't think he and we are suited. If he turns up at Chelsea, given how the owner wants us to play "shexy football", everyone will expect us to play the Barca way, which we simply cannot do as we don't have the players to play that way, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not sure Pep knows any other way of playing.
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 5:13 pm
And after today's debacle at I have to say a truly deserving West Ham Rafa must be looking for a new role in May at the latest. P3. D2.L1. F1.A3 is not going to please our Russian comrade...
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 10:20 pm
We're missing leaders on the pitch, simple as that. No Terry or Lampard for a while, and Drogba, Ballack and Essien gone 
We're also paying for the follies of an owner and his board who thought it acceptable to start the season with just Torres and a forever injured Sturridge as our only options up front, and a squad so thin that many of the players have already played 25+ games already this season because there's no one to rotate them with. One thing that could be said of Chelsea sides in the past was that they never gave up... they came at the opposition looking for the equaliser or the winner up until the dying seconds, and often succeeded. The last 10 or so games, they all look knackered after about 60/70 minutes. It's little surprise that our best performers today were Azpilicuetta, Moses and Marin, none of whom have played much so far this season.
Although I have no time for Rafa, I don't think anyone could get the current squad of 17 fit players playing any better. I think the Man U result knocked the stuffing out of some, as the downward spiral started then (although the way Atletico Madrid demolished us in the European Super Cup should have been a warning that 4-2-3-1 was probably not the best formation to use, leaving us very vulnerable in defence)
We're also paying for the follies of an owner and his board who thought it acceptable to start the season with just Torres and a forever injured Sturridge as our only options up front, and a squad so thin that many of the players have already played 25+ games already this season because there's no one to rotate them with. One thing that could be said of Chelsea sides in the past was that they never gave up... they came at the opposition looking for the equaliser or the winner up until the dying seconds, and often succeeded. The last 10 or so games, they all look knackered after about 60/70 minutes. It's little surprise that our best performers today were Azpilicuetta, Moses and Marin, none of whom have played much so far this season.
Although I have no time for Rafa, I don't think anyone could get the current squad of 17 fit players playing any better. I think the Man U result knocked the stuffing out of some, as the downward spiral started then (although the way Atletico Madrid demolished us in the European Super Cup should have been a warning that 4-2-3-1 was probably not the best formation to use, leaving us very vulnerable in defence)
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:33 am
I feel sorry for the fans. As you say Bob a one man billionaire board, and billionaire's do tend to get their way all the time, is going to ruin your chances. You need some fresh blood, sell Torres as soon as possible and target 4th place. No Champions league next season and he could take his toys home to Siberia.
Re: How long Rafa?
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:52 am
Arginald Valleywater wrote:
> sell
> Torres as soon as possible
You mean there are clubs willing to pay money for him??? Clubs that he would agree to go to??? Clubs that would match his Chelsea salary???
> sell
> Torres as soon as possible
You mean there are clubs willing to pay money for him??? Clubs that he would agree to go to??? Clubs that would match his Chelsea salary???