Chelsea Tactics

[Bailey]

Just had a little look at the Chelsea formation and players and it makes me think there is a lot Moyes can learn from the way they set up, especially when we dont have Cahill available, just like in that pathetic game at the weekend. Chelsea are scoring hatfulls and arent conceeding very many which is the complete opposite of us!

 

If you look at the formation, they play a 4-3-3 which drops into a 4-5-1 when they are defending. If you look at the types of players they have then there isnt really too much difference between them and us. Two solid, ball playing CB's (Jags & Heits), two rampaging FB's (Baines & Coleman), a strong DM who pick the ball up off the back 4 (felli), two real workers in midfield who chase, hassle & break forward (Arteta/Rodwell/Osman), one big strong central striker (Saha/Yak) and two wingers who play off the striker cutting inside (Pienaar/Vic/Billy/Gueye/Baxter?). In my opinion its the perfect formation for us and if my memory serves me correctly its very similar to the way we played against Man Utd & Hull last year, when cahill was injured.

 

Yes they do have better players in certain positions but we also have a couple better than theirs. We dont have a natural successor to Cahill and he isnt going to be around for too much longer so we have to start developing our game plan now, especially as it isnt particularly working that well right now. I also think this would bring the most out of Billy, I think his best position would be drifting off the striker and cutting inside, he seems to be very good at finding space almost by accident and many of his goals and close shots have come this way.

 

Obviously this is nothing new and as I mentioned, im pretty sure we have played in this type of way before, but its about time Moyes looked at these real quality performances and looked at how he structered the team and where his players excelled. Then he should look at the shite he has been serving up this last few weeks and realise what can be done when he sets his team out properly and doesnt try and 'fit' his big names in.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Just had a little look at the Chelsea formation and players and it makes me think there is a lot Moyes can learn from the way they set up, especially when we dont have Cahill available, just like in that pathetic game at the weekend. Chelsea are scoring hatfulls and arent conceeding very many which is the complete opposite of us!

 

If you look at the formation, they play a 4-3-3 which drops into a 4-5-1 when they are defending. If you look at the types of players they have then there isnt really too much difference between them and us. Two solid, ball playing CB's (Jags & Heits), two rampaging FB's (Baines & Coleman), a strong DM who pick the ball up off the back 4 (felli), two real workers in midfield who chase, hassle & break forward (Arteta/Rodwell/Osman), one big strong central striker (Saha/Yak) and two wingers who play off the striker cutting inside (Pienaar/Vic/Billy/Gueye/Baxter?). In my opinion its the perfect formation for us and if my memory serves me correctly its very similar to the way we played against Man Utd & Hull last year, when cahill was injured.

 

Yes they do have better players in certain positions but we also have a couple better than theirs. We dont have a natural successor to Cahill and he isnt going to be around for too much longer so we have to start developing our game plan now, especially as it isnt particularly working that well right now. I also think this would bring the most out of Billy, I think his best position would be drifting off the striker and cutting inside, he seems to be very good at finding space almost by accident and many of his goals and close shots have come this way.

 

Obviously this is nothing new and as I mentioned, im pretty sure we have played in this type of way before, but its about time Moyes looked at these real quality performances and looked at how he structered the team and where his players excelled. Then he should look at the shite he has been serving up this last few weeks and realise what can be done when he sets his team out properly and doesnt try and 'fit' his big names in.

 

 

The only thing that we have in common with Chelsea is that we both play in blue!

 

We have not got the players to adopt that formation. For a start we havent got a decent CF who can hold the ball up and bring others in to play the way Drogba does, secondly we havent got any wingers at all

[Bailey]

Yakubu could easily play a similar role to drogba, he is big and strong enough to do it as is Saha. Some times it might not stick but it doesnt with drogba.

 

Also if you look at Chelsea they dont play with traditional winger in the same way I said that we technically dont. Malouda & Kalou are not wingers. They occasionally pull out wide, and track back down the wings but when Chelsea have the ball they move all over the place and play more as a front 3. The real wingers of the Chelsea team are the FB's, which could easily be the same as us with Baines and Coleman.

 

There is a lot more in common than you think! Im not saying we should be a carbon copy, because we havent got the same power in midfield as they have, but we have more industry.

[Matt]

Yakubu could easily play a similar role to drogba, he is big and strong enough to do it as is Saha. Some times it might not stick but it doesnt with drogba.

 

Also if you look at Chelsea they dont play with traditional winger in the same way I said that we technically dont. Malouda & Kalou are not wingers. They occasionally pull out wide, and track back down the wings but when Chelsea have the ball they move all over the place and play more as a front 3. The real wingers of the Chelsea team are the FB's, which could easily be the same as us with Baines and Coleman.

 

There is a lot more in common than you think! Im not saying we should be a carbon copy, because we havent got the same power in midfield as they have, but we have more industry.

Im with ya on this, with the exception of comparing the Yak to Drogba. Drogba will run and that makes all the difference. The comparisons with the team, positions and formations are right though.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Yakubu could easily play a similar role to drogba, he is big and strong enough to do it as is Saha. Some times it might not stick but it doesnt with drogba.

 

Also if you look at Chelsea they dont play with traditional winger in the same way I said that we technically dont. Malouda & Kalou are not wingers. They occasionally pull out wide, and track back down the wings but when Chelsea have the ball they move all over the place and play more as a front 3. The real wingers of the Chelsea team are the FB's, which could easily be the same as us with Baines and Coleman.

 

There is a lot more in common than you think! Im not saying we should be a carbon copy, because we havent got the same power in midfield as they have, but we have more industry.

 

 

How on earth are either of them anywhere near comparable to Drogba?

 

Drogba is great in the air, he works his socks off, holds the ball up brilliantly, has pace and sprays superb crosses/passes all over the pitch and can practically score from anywhere.

 

I would say the Yak is the polar opposite so unless he wears the same type of boots as Drogba I would say they have nothing in common what so ever.

 

Drogba is instrumental in the way Chelsea play and we dont have anybody remotely like him on our books. The other vital ingridient we are missing is pace. Chelsea can be defending a corner one minute and then scoring at the other end in a matter of seconds.

[DonKey]

How on earth are either of them anywhere near comparable to Drogba?

 

Drogba is great in the air, he works his socks off, holds the ball up brilliantly, has pace and sprays superb crosses/passes all over the pitch and can practically score from anywhere.

 

I would say the Yak is the polar opposite so unless he wears the same type of boots as Drogba I would say they have nothing in common what so ever.

 

Drogba is instrumental in the way Chelsea play and we dont have anybody remotely like him on our books. The other vital ingridient we are missing is pace. Chelsea can be defending a corner one minute and then scoring at the other end in a matter of seconds.

 

Not sure if I'd say that's completely accurate.

Might be an isolated case, but did it not take something like 8 seconds to break from a corner v united. Fair enough we don't do it consistently, but we can play with pace when we choose to.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Not sure if I'd say that's completely accurate.

Might be an isolated case, but did it not take something like 8 seconds to break from a corner v united. Fair enough we don't do it consistently, but we can play with pace when we choose to.

 

 

I would say that was the exception rather than the rule. We are more likely to string a load of nice passes around then waste it in the final third

[Bailey]

How on earth are either of them anywhere near comparable to Drogba?

 

Drogba is great in the air, he works his socks off, holds the ball up brilliantly, has pace and sprays superb crosses/passes all over the pitch and can practically score from anywhere.

 

I would say the Yak is the polar opposite so unless he wears the same type of boots as Drogba I would say they have nothing in common what so ever.

 

Drogba is instrumental in the way Chelsea play and we dont have anybody remotely like him on our books. The other vital ingridient we are missing is pace. Chelsea can be defending a corner one minute and then scoring at the other end in a matter of seconds.

 

I never meant to imply that they were as good as Drogba but I meant to get across the fact that they have qualities that Chelsea utilise in Drogba to bring others into the game and get the team performing. Drogba is probably the best striker in the world and I am very aware that Saha & Yakubu arent, but I think the qualities Drogba brings to the team set up can be found in most parts in our two main strikers.

 

Yakubu is great with the ball at his feet, he can hold the ball up against almost anyone (providing support gets to him quick enough!) and as we have seen in his 2 cameos he brings his team mates into the game. Yakubu is also a great passer of the ball that goes unnoticed a lot of the time. Im not saying he has the range of Drogba, but he has the vision to play in other people and Iv seen him whip in decent crosses (although I wouldnt have him take corners like Drogba does!). I also think people dont give Yakubu enough credit for the work he does do. He might not chase everything down (but neither does Drogba) but if you play the ball in and around him he will try and get on the end of it, or run the channels and chase the defender. He has frustrated me at times with his lack of willing to chase sloppy passes but I have seen a change in attitude in that respect since his injury and I hope it continues.

 

Saha on the other hand is great in the air and can hold the ball up (albeit not as good as Yakubu), he does chase and he can score from anywhere.

 

You only have to look at our failed list of quality strikers under the Moyes era to see how we have completely failed to play to their strengths and IMO its no wonder they have a sulk and cant be fucked to chase yet another pointless ball down a channel or a simple pass that is 5 yards to their side or to challenge for the continual hoofs from the back 4. If we play tot heir strengths they will be happier and work harder. Dont forget how sulky Drogba was under Scolari and all them traits you listed before were virtually non existent at times.

 

I do agree to an extent with the pace issue, but I think it has as much to do with pace of passing than pace of players. As you quite rightly say we seem to rather pass it neatly keeping possession instead of attempting to release someone in on goal.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I never meant to imply that they were as good as Drogba but I meant to get across the fact that they have qualities that Chelsea utilise in Drogba to bring others into the game and get the team performing. Drogba is probably the best striker in the world and I am very aware that Saha & Yakubu arent, but I think the qualities Drogba brings to the team set up can be found in most parts in our two main strikers.

 

Yakubu is great with the ball at his feet, he can hold the ball up against almost anyone (providing support gets to him quick enough!) and as we have seen in his 2 cameos he brings his team mates into the game. Yakubu is also a great passer of the ball that goes unnoticed a lot of the time. Im not saying he has the range of Drogba, but he has the vision to play in other people and Iv seen him whip in decent crosses (although I wouldnt have him take corners like Drogba does!). I also think people dont give Yakubu enough credit for the work he does do. He might not chase everything down (but neither does Drogba) but if you play the ball in and around him he will try and get on the end of it, or run the channels and chase the defender. He has frustrated me at times with his lack of willing to chase sloppy passes but I have seen a change in attitude in that respect since his injury and I hope it continues.

 

Saha on the other hand is great in the air and can hold the ball up (albeit not as good as Yakubu), he does chase and he can score from anywhere.

 

You only have to look at our failed list of quality strikers under the Moyes era to see how we have completely failed to play to their strengths and IMO its no wonder they have a sulk and cant be fucked to chase yet another pointless ball down a channel or a simple pass that is 5 yards to their side or to challenge for the continual hoofs from the back 4. If we play tot heir strengths they will be happier and work harder. Dont forget how sulky Drogba was under Scolari and all them traits you listed before were virtually non existent at times.

 

I do agree to an extent with the pace issue, but I think it has as much to do with pace of passing than pace of players. As you quite rightly say we seem to rather pass it neatly keeping possession instead of attempting to release someone in on goal.

 

 

I know you were not making out that either were as good as Drogba , I just dont think either of them have any of his qualities at all.

 

The Yak on his day can hold the ball up and knock it out wide but over the past 2 years he hasnt had any of those days. More often than not a ball played in to him will just bounce off him as he fails to control it.

 

Neither of them have Drogbas range of passing, workrate or power and niether is as clinical, so I just cant see any similarities at all

 

The problem is the Yak is too static, and so is Saha for that matter. Look at the movement of Drogba or Torres or any other top forward. Im sure if we had a player like that the likes of Arteta and Piennar would find a way of getting the ball in to them

Edited September 21, 2010 by duncanmckenzieismagic

[Bailey]

I know you were not making out that either were as good as Drogba , I just dont think either of them have any of his qualities at all.

 

The Yak on his day can hold the ball up and knock it out wide but over the past 2 years he hasnt had any of those days. More often than not a ball played in to him will just bounce off him as he fails to control it.

 

Neither of them have Drogbas range of passing, workrate or power and niether is as clinical, so I just cant see any similarities at all

 

The problem is the Yak is too static, and so is Saha for that matter. Look at the movement of Drogba or Torres or any other top forward. Im sure if we had a player like that the likes of Arteta and Piennar would find a way of getting the ball in to them

 

I would agree with the fact that top players need great movement and that Yakubu doesnt always move as much as he should but I think you do him a bit of a discredit as he does get into some great positions its just the ball never finds him. Beckford has great movement but we never seem to be able to find him in any real space as of yet and I think that says a lot about our build up play in recent games.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I would agree with the fact that top players need great movement and that Yakubu doesnt always move as much as he should but I think you do him a bit of a discredit as he does get into some great positions its just the ball never finds him. Beckford has great movement but we never seem to be able to find him in any real space as of yet and I think that says a lot about our build up play in recent games.

 

 

I cant say I have witnessed any of that and the only 2 games I have missed are Blackburn away and tonight