3rd Time Lucky, but not Everyday is a Sunday

Perhaps it’s unforgivable to get carried away so early into the match yesterday. Playing at a blistering tempo that was previously not seen in our last 2 matches was vindictive of Jose Mourinho and team’s efforts at hitting back at volleys of criticism that were levelled in their direction. It wouldn’t have been fair to suggest that such criticisms were uncalled for, given the drastic drop in performance levels in the 2^nd half that was reminiscent of the struggles the team faced towards the end of last season and for the past 2 matches.

Alluding to Jonas Olsson’s endorsement of John Terry prior to the match, 2 months does not necessarily turn a defensive rock into a defensive liability, given that he was arguably the standout performer for the team on par with Eden Hazard last season. It certainly did not help his case that Salomon Rondon sought to target him for his lack of pace, a common knowledge by now (equivalent to how you never have to bother with the R1 button with certain players on FIFA/PES).

Playing an absurdly high line of defence yet again for the 3^rd match running is simply suicidal. Perhaps that could be attributed to a failure in striking a balance between an expansive style that Abramovich craves and the pragmatic style that Mou favours. Hopefully, Branislav Ivanovic’s glaring deficiencies at right-back once again would necessitate a switch into the centre defence.  No longer able to bombard up and down the right flank at will, Mou would do well to consider the case of Paolo Maldini and to a lesser degree, Jamie Carragher.

Both were accomplished full-backs (Maldini being absolutely world-class in actual fact) who were moved inward and enjoyed a renaissance in their respective careers. Being a centre-back by trade, it’s high time that Ivanovic reverted back to his natural role so as to serve the team in his best capacity as a player possible. It would be galling to see him omitted from the first team after years of excellent service.

The only positive derived would be that there’s finally a player with the ability to dart into space created by Diego Costa and provide much-needed incision from the flanks. From the disappointment of missing out on Arda Turan and Douglas Costa, I’m glad that we didn’t let this one elude us. Welcome to Stamford Bridge, Pedro!

Without being overly critical of the individual performances and Mou, credit has to be given when it is due, and so, kudos to WBA for the match that they have given us. It’s time to go back to the draw board and sort the tactics out during the international break.

Man City v Chelsea – Battle for Midfield Supremacy

Crunch match. Super Sunday. Yet again, not something to get me riled up at despite being a Chelsea fan for almost all my life. Reasons are pretty much understandable. For all of Jose Mourinho’s tactical nous, he has always struggled to win over neutrals with his approach towards the big games. In particular, it’s been really hard to convince myself to turn on streams to catch matches since the final results would be more or less within expectations.

However, today’s match has a more significant underpinning on the title race as Man City is arguably the only team that is standing in our way en route to retaining our championship trophy come May. The risk of being 5 points behind after the match would be unfathomable even at such an early point of the season. On their day, Man City is a different beast to the rest of the teams in England. Matches against them are always likely to leave me clinging frantically to whatever I could lay my hands on.

Being an armchair critic for the day and armed with over 10 years of management experience (in the virtual world of course), I’ll be throwing in my views on the midfield combination that I would choose to go up against Yaya Toure and co.

Ideal line-up to face City: 4-3-3

Midfield:

Matic – Zouma – Oscar

Considering the plethora of attacking options in City’s half, it would be almost suicidal to pair Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas as a double pivot in this formation. Much has been made of Fabregas’ defensive negligence that marks him out as a defensive liability in such a crucial part of the pitch. For all his undoubted natural talent, it’s been increasingly frustrating to watch a player of his calibre to utterly fail to impose himself on the game ever since his form tailed off spectacularly towards the 2^nd half of last season.

With the luxury of being an armchair critic, I’m opting for Kurt Zouma instead and go for a 3-man midfield in order to establish dominance in the middle of the park, where the match is likely to be fought and won in. In light of the manner in which he had so successfully shackled both Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling last season, Matic could definitely use some help in curtailing barnstorming runs from the revitalized Yaya Toure especially. With both centre backs likely to have their hands full with Sergio Aguero, the presence of Zouma as a 3^rd defensive option to allow Chelsea to revert to a 3-man back-line would alleviate some pressure on the backline. My instruction would predominantly be for Zouma to restrict the space for Toure by sitting deep in front of the defence to anticipate offensive runs, with Matic pressing the opposition a little higher up and given the license to roam forward in a box-to-box manner.

With the inclusion of Oscar in the match day squad, I would expect greater dynamism from both him and Matic by effectively functioning as box-to-box players. I’ve yet to understand Mourinho’s reluctance in deploying Oscar in a deeper role in place of Fabregas. In terms of defensive output, Oscar tackles and presses the opposition almost as ferociously as Edgar Davids (okay I’m pushing things a little but you get my point). Offensive-wise, his set-pieces are miles better than what we have witnessed from Fabregas and he provides a greater threat from distance arguably.

Of course, 2 bad games do not render a player a bad one overnight, but on the basis of current form, Fabregas should be made to work harder for selection rather than just walking straight into the team. This would help supplant us with a greater degree of dynamism from the midfield that was missing ever since the days of Frank Lampard. Time to leapfrog City and get our asses up the league table!

Final score: Man City 1 – 2 Chelsea

Dzegol – Roma’s Messiah

In what nearly ended up as an underwhelming summer transfer window, there was finally some reprieve to be found for a long-suffering Roma fan. After spending almost the entire summer chasing Edin Dzeko, I was glad that we finally landed him in what could potentially be the most important transfer made in recent seasons after the acquisition of full ownership rights to Nainggolan. Despite his more than average stats on FIFA and FM, he was a cornerstone of Roma’s midfield last season, providing leadership in place of the missing de Rossi and important goal contributions, glossing over an utterly deficient attack last season. But the signing of Dzeko could be the most important of yet.

Arriving on back of an impressive goal-scoring pedigree (with the exception of last season), his height masks the fact of his more than decent skills on the ball. One of the main reasons as to explain Mattia Destro’s exclusion from the squad (another player whom I really liked) was the simple plain fact that he is just a one-dimensional player in the mould of Ruud van Nistelrooy who is merely capable of finishing off chances, but unable to partake in the team’s attacking moves.

Despite Totti’s claims that he intends to play for as long as he can, it is growing evident that he can barely last 45 minutes or function effectively as a false 9. With Juan Iturbe and Adem Ljajic both failing to convince as viable alternatives to Totti’s role as the designated false 9 in the team and Gervinho being the poor man’s version of Ronaldo, it is indeed time for the team to return to the formation back when Gabriel Batistuta was spearheading Roma’s attack.

Batistuta’s game was primarily characterized by his penchant for scoring goals by the bucket loads, to the extent that fans eventually christened him “Batigol”. Dzeko, despite hailing from a lesser pedigree as his legendary predecessor, has the ability to provide an immediate panacea to address the team’s impotency in front of goal and being able to play with his back to the goal.

Exciting times lie ahead, with the addition of Mohammad Salah (best Egyptian player in the world mind you) to relieve some of the creative burden from Gervinho on the opposite flank and provide incision from the flanks, hopefully continuing the excellent goal-scoring run he embarked on last season while on loan at Fiorentina. Taking into account that Juventus lost 3 of their key players from last season, this could be a season to mount a serious assault on the Serie A title after years of near misses.

After years of playing second fiddle to Sergio Aguero at Man City, it is time for Dzeko to resume his role as the chief goal scorer just as how he did for Felix Magath’s Wolfsburg in that unlikely Bundesliga title win in 2009.

When Playing with 4 Defenders ain’t enough to win matches

The match with Swansea once again laid our weaknesses bare, leaving me to dread this weekend’s clash with Manchester City. This was strikingly reminiscent of our mid-season slump last season whereby our normally reliable defence was simply ripped to shreds by the opposition attack.

Ivanovic, in spite of his usual buccaneering runs down the right flank, is increasingly becoming a defensive liability against pacey players. Watching Jefferson Montero getting the chance to run at him at almost every available opportunity just makes for uncomfortable seating. As if the adrenaline rush from the early flurry of goals weren’t enough.

I guess most Chelsea fans would also relate to me on the following frustration as well. When presented with the ball in advanced positions, both of our fullbacks are not the ones you would want to see in such positions. For all of their defensive nous, it hardly compensates for the lack of offensive contributions from our fullbacks. With their crosses rarely being able to find their desired target or even clear the first defender, it is little wonder that we’re reliant on focusing much of our offensive play through our wide players like Hazard or Willian.

Personally, I was gutted at Felipe Luis’ departure from Chelsea as despite not playing as much regularly, his offensive contributions would arguably be more crucial in alleviating some attacking burden and provide another alternative to channelling our attacks mainly through our attacking players. Azpilicueta’s penchant for cutting in on his right foot negates his offensive contributions heavily as it just renders our offense down the left flank one-dimensional. Not something you want to see especially when the team is chasing a goal or the situation calls for wide players to stretch opposition defences. An Ashley Cole incarnate would have been better served in that aspect (Ryan Bertrand anyone?). The signing of Baba Rahman would be a positive step in remedying that deficiency in our attack ever since Cole left.