30 shots, 7 on target. looks decent from stats but not good enough for our eyes.

i did not see any combination between players to break the defense at all. well, there were a few cases but there were no goals either. where are those plays that root defenders to the ground? the one where i see ashley flomo and lampsy breaking in through the left as easy as one two three?

everyone one usually trying to break the defense alone, its not a bad thing but when defenses are so compact, its very hard to break the defense. i hope we will have some pace during the counters next time. if birmingham is on form, we're gonna have a really tough time against fulham too.

i hope for the best, UP THE BLUES!

u're writing off aston villa...

yes, i am. LOL.
for the title only, not top 4 finish.

keep on like this we will end up with ZERO trophy by end of this season. mark my word.
linesman on our side also we cant win.

This post has been edited by esca_flo: Dec 27 2009, 02:20 PM

suitable or not, u can't deny lampard has been having a poor run in the side for some time now, by his standards. i know he's one of our golden boys but i cannot overlook the fact that any kind of formation change should not have an impact on his shooting (which have all been ending up in row Z if u hadn't noticed) and finishing from open play (yesterday's tame shot straight at joe hart after being put through by ivanovic a good case in point).

decent is an apt way of describing it. 30 shots, 7 on target with ZERO goals. give me 3 shots on target with 1 winning goal any friggin' day. the team have fallen into this false sense of security, believing 'decent' is enough to win u titles.

true. christian benitez's goal should have stood. we could've ended up with 0 points and i don't think anybody can complain, apart from the fact that birmingham's forwards were diving all over the place at the slightest contact. a bit surprised they had to resort to such antics when they were capable of taking us on fairly.

i'm not so sure didier's extended run in the side can be considered good news. its pretty obvious his mind is elsewhere now. he hasn't been his usual self for a good 2 weeks. i'm just looking forward to yuri getting a full 90 mins against fulham.
would love to see yuri on the left and kakuta at the tip.

CA's substitutions isn't as effective as JM's.

Anyone noticed John Dyke's reaction when the live match accidently switched to him near the halftime?

This post has been edited by SpectacularButter: Dec 27 2009, 03:40 PM

chelsea's poor run is due to ROMAN's injustice towards jose..if he gave jose some time..i'm sure by now blues will be a firepower around the world...so now we are getting paid back becoz of this..

i think ancellotti will be sacked anytime & hiddink might re-join chelsea sooner...just watch out!

i think this year chelsea will go empty handed this term also...

This post has been edited by krk24: Dec 27 2009, 10:17 PM

hm, sacking a manager is not the solution. hiddink is superb and so do ancelotti. the difference is on how they tackle problems within the team. let ancelotti do the math and equation for our team and let us pray for the best.

as for me, i think the diamond should be more flexible rather than being too rigid. what i mean is that the player that is within the diamond should be able to stretch wide when the opponent player is concentrating at the middle of the park and vice versa. the key point is ADAPTABILITY. our diamond now is favoring more on pushing plays through the middle and when opponent put many players at the middle, we stuck.

2ndly, we should really gives lampard his freedom back. he look really uncomfortable at the side of the diamond. IMO, lampard and essien is very crucial focal points in our team. lampard at top, essien at bottom tip. the side of the diamond should be filled with players who are comfortable to push play through the middle AND to play out wide (aka as pseudo wingers).

finally, ballack and deco definitely started to show the sign of aging. thier decision is not as sharp as their former self and i strongly feel they should warm the bench. i'm also eagerly awaiting zhirkov to prove what he have. other than him, we also have joe cole who can fill the side of the diamond (he is adapted in playing at center and side). malouda is inconsistence. kakuta also have great potential in him.

i agreed with u mate on sacking manager is not the issue; but our OWNER Mr. Roman does not understood that....i still missed jose's team. even though chelsea ply avg, we still can get 3 pts; but now eventhough attack more cant even put back of the net.

wow. back to blaming roman for jose's dismissal and linking it to our poor run of form? congrats on making the most ridiculous post of the day. the huge egos of roman and jose were never a match made to last. its in the past now so deal with it.
what's with the thumbs up? you're looking forward to seeing ancelotti getting the sack? so what happens if guus comes back and hits a poor run of form? u going to start calling for his head too? there is NO perfect formation and there's NO perfect manager.

at the risk of sounding like a broken record i shall repeat once again : the MAIN problem is the players ON THE PITCH.
carlo, guus, jose, ranieri, k.raja gopal can only do so much in putting out the best tactics and players as he sees fit.
yes they will have questionable decisions just like everyone else, your beloved guus and jose had them, while carlo is no exception.
they can't physically come on to the pitch and smash the ball into the back of the net, to ensure all 3 points.
at the moment there are several players under performing, and the problems won't magically disappear PERMANENTLY with another managerial circus.

This post has been edited by Kerplunk: Dec 28 2009, 12:10 AM

the losses of Essien and Anelka r truly irreplaceable. I think w/o both of them Che cannot used the same diamond thingy. Yes, Malouda is poor but if u put him on the suitable position as what Guus done last season im sure he'll flourish. All pundits n commentator hv already mentioned many times that the way to neutralize Chelsea is by stopping their fullbacks, n hell yeah they were RIGHT!! Chelsea r to narrow..However, i really can't understand why Carletto sub Lamps instead of Belletti or Malouda that day..

yes. i do believe that not all the players are suited to the diamond formation that brought us all those wins early in the season. when deco and ballack was on form earlier this season, it looked like the best formation we had, dangerous upfront and two strikers and a solid defense with a string of clean sheets. unfortunately when deco and bally isnt on form, our diamond turned to crap because malouda lampard and joey cole cannot work together and play through the middle. it is as simple as closing them down everytime they've got the ball and terry goes to work. so i think it is both! we need a plan B, fit the players in formations they are suited best, we have a very adaptive squad, proven from the number of managers changed in the years. put malouda and ashley wide on the left while lampard gets more space with essien and bally in the middle. brana and whoever is on the right can provide those crosses and let drogs be the lone striker. if we continue to be stubborn and fit two strikers up front, its more like to please the players instead of winning silverware for the club.

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Added on December 28, 2009, 10:06 amAND LASTLY, WE NEED SOMETHING AND WE NEED IT NOW. AGAINST FULHAM!

This post has been edited by madfag: Dec 28 2009, 10:06 AM

tonight match really need to win..havent taste victory for quite a time now

dont expect much against fulham , if we keep on playing like this. we are losing ground fast by end of jan we will be 3rd. perhaps its better to be behind , so we can see whats infront and chase it. is it mental problem, tactical , fatigue , aging , lost of form , all of the above ? frustrating to see chelsea playing not up to par to their standards. im sure the players and manager is more frustrated at what they put on for the fans to see on the pitch......

its probably a combination of fatigue, loss of form and of course age as well. while i understand the need for a plan B, i'd rather prefer a plan A that works most of the time! hmm at the moment i think carlo's plan is okay as we've managed to score in every game except birmingham. the chances are being created, yet we don't seem to be clinical enough in front of goal. three examples come to mind : vs aston villa, man city and recently birmingham. there were opportunities to finish these teams off which weren't taken and that's down to the players themselves.
city admittedly played us off the park, but we could've nicked it considering we scored first. we matched villa stride for stride, yet our positive attacking play counted for nothing. birmingham was a close replica of the match against the villains.

an interesting thing to note though was kalou who came on and had his best 20 - 25 minutes in a chelsea shirt this season. that's what a little kick up the backside can do, as carlo knocked kalou's ego a little (a lot?) by giving studge the nod ahead of him. i agree though bella and malouda should've gone off at half time the other day.

I think to win, and destroy Fulham, we might have to go in this oldskool formation;



This post has been edited by Kernkraft400: Dec 28 2009, 01:52 PM

bro, essien n anelka most probably not available..

n the 4mation look oddly familiar..which part is oldskul act?

come on, boys! we just need 3 points and good performance, hopefully lampard can work his magic

i'm not 100% blaming on the coaches; what i mean was past mistakes done by roman is taking effect on current chelsea squad.
everytime rotate players; too much of midfielders in our squad...changing coaches multiple time in few years time REALLY pissed me off and they are suffering now although they had plenty of chances against birmingham but why cant they put in the net??

if chelsea draw/lose against fulham, i would say we are handing over the title to devils!

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Added on December 28, 2009, 4:12 pmmy preferred formation for today's match:

cech

ivanovic alex terry a.cole


mikel

j.cole zhirkov


sturridge drogba

subs:
hilario, belleti, kalou, borini, carvalho, ballack.

This post has been edited by krk24: Dec 28 2009, 04:12 PM

well...he did what he thought was best for the club, and it can't be reversed. i guess we're all a little frustrated now to put it lightly. if we fail to win against fulham, i hope roman has some plans to tweak the squad, not the manager. we could've won vs birmingham and our discussion would be of a whole different nature. our midfield is beginning to stumble, and carlo's insistence on playing joey to replace malouda tonight (as claimed in our official webby) will be put under intense scrutiny if we fail to win. let's see how it goes. 0-0 at half time and i fully expect yuri or kakuta to come on at the start of the 2nd half.