Nobby set for central role

[Rich]

They played 4-4-2 against LA Galaxy and Mourinho was at the pre-match press conference explaining how he was going to make it work and that the players had been "practising" it.

[Guest alex]

 

And?

 

Mourinho was saying that he thought it would be more effective if he went to 4-4-2.

I thought he played 4-4-2 last season. A more rigid 4-4-2 with wide men did he mean?

[Parky]

 

And?

 

Mourinho was saying that he thought it would be more effective if he went to 4-4-2.

I thought he played 4-4-2 last season. A more rigid 4-4-2 with wide men did he mean?

 

 

Moun has lost his way a bit. I think Liv have a chance this year to finish above them.

[Rich]

 

And?

 

Mourinho was saying that he thought it would be more effective if he went to 4-4-2.

I thought he played 4-4-2 last season. A more rigid 4-4-2 with wide men did he mean?

 

Aye, more a "flat" 4-4-2 than the "diamond" thing they used for a lot of the games last term.

 

Makelele seems like a fringe player on that basis and it will be very interesting to see who he pairs with Essien - who is apparently an automatic starter for him now, according to the Egomaniac himself.

[Mick]

I thought he played 4-4-2 last season. A more rigid 4-4-2 with wide men did he mean?

 

It wasn't easy taking everything in as I was driving through a rain sodden Sheffield at the time.  He said Shevchenko would probably get more games at the expense of Ballack, or something like that.

[Mick]

 

Aye, more a "flat" 4-4-2 than the "diamond" thing they used for a lot of the games last term.

 

Makelele seems like a fringe player on that basis and it will be very interesting to see who he pairs with Essien - who is apparently an automatic starter for him now, according to the Egomaniac himself.

 

Ballack was mentioned as the odd one out, it wasn't easy taking everything in as I was driving through a strange City and it was pissing down so my mind was on the road as much as the radio.

[Shak]

 

ITK?

 

Mourinho on 5 live a couple of Fridays ago.

 

Someone had best inform him he seemed to be playing 4-4-2 quite a lot last season then.

[Guest Knightrider]

Until Deco arrives...

[Mick]

 

Someone had best inform him he seemed to be playing 4-4-2 quite a lot last season then.

 

I think he knows that, it did sound as if he might use one system and stick to it rather than changing.

[Rich]

Understandable! So it looks like Malouda - Lampard - Essien - Cole as their first choice midfield then, most of the time?

 

Along with SWP, Makelele, Ballack and Sidwell there as back-up. Still question marks over SWP, though, and there's going to be a big hole to fill if Robben goes.

[Guest alex]

I'm with 2J in that Ballack should start ahead of Lampard more. I think it's a bit like the England thing with Gerrard where you can't really play both together. Not in a 4-man midfield anyway.

[sempuki]

I remember watching us win 5-1 away to Coventry many years ago and Spidersheed subbing Nobby from CM about half way through the first half.

[Skeletor]

Am I alone in still wishing for a big powerhouse to play in this "deep lying role" behind Barton/Emre/Both?

 

We still seem desperately lightweight in every area of the park to me, both in terms of numbers and physically as well.

 

I think Barton's injury has given us all a jerk of reality and shown just how thin we are in several areas. As things stand with injuries and low numbers, I honestly believe our defence would barely be above relegation standard with Ramage and Huntington possibly walking straight into the team. The only positions we have "sorted" are goalkeeper, the wings and up front, everywhere else needs work. In central midfield I have more faith in Emre than most but he does have injuries and I'm not convinced Butt is as good as many here make out, he's had one 'decent' season on the back of two awful seasons and he's prone to the odd injury himself. That should be our engine room, where we control games - I honestly thought Barton would be the mainstay but he hasn't lasted two games. Defence simply must be the first priority but someone like Baptista would be such a useful addition.

 

We can move people into unfamiliar positions, but then problems can pop up in the gaps they leave. It's a problem that'll only be solved by bringing more bodies in, but to see Big Sam trying to juggle players around doesn't fill me with confidence that the numbers we need will make it through the door. Taking a look at our squad and Sam's comments over the last couple of weeks I'm a bit concerned at the way things are going.

 

Glad I'm not the only one. We have two recognised central defenders and one of them is still young and fairly wreckless in the way he plays. We have no decent full backs. The only one who's capable of doing alright there is Solano who we're being told might be used in a central midfield 3. We really don't have enough central midfielders to play Sam's 4-3-3 as evidenced by nearly a whole reserve/youth team playing the second halves in the two friendlies so far. In fact we barely have enough to cover two 4-4-2 formations. There seems to be no sign of new signings and Sam is already voicing his frustration at the new boards naivity/incompetence. Things look very worrying after looking so good to begin with :-/.

[Rich]

All relative concerns at the minute, unfortunately. Let's just hope things get resolved sooner rather than later.

[Willow]

Well, at least fanni's not joining us

 

from .com:

As widely predicted, the fantastically-named Rod Fanni has left Nice for pastures new.

However the defender who has recently been linked with a move to Newcastle has opted to stay in his native France and moved to Rennes.

 

There'll have to be a hell of a lot of transfer phone calls done this week like, I hope to see some new faces sharpish...

[Rob W]

Rob in trouble straying too far from his home territory of politics.

 

myhome territory is the aisle of an EasyJet 737 laddie

[Rob W]

Am I alone in still wishing for a big powerhouse to play in this "deep lying role" behind Barton/Emre/Both?

 

We still seem desperately lightweight in every area of the park to me, both in terms of numbers and physically as well.

 

I think Barton's injury has given us all a jerk of reality and shown just how thin we are in several areas. As things stand with injuries and low numbers, I honestly believe our defence would barely be above relegation standard with Ramage and Huntington possibly walking straight into the team. The only positions we have "sorted" are goalkeeper, the wings and up front, everywhere else needs work. In central midfield I have more faith in Emre than most but he does have injuries and I'm not convinced Butt is as good as many here make out, he's had one 'decent' season on the back of two awful seasons and he's prone to the odd injury himself. That should be our engine room, where we control games - I honestly thought Barton would be the mainstay but he hasn't lasted two games. Defence simply must be the first priority but someone like Baptista would be such a useful addition.

 

We can move people into unfamiliar positions, but then problems can pop up in the gaps they leave. It's a problem that'll only be solved by bringing more bodies in, but to see Big Sam trying to juggle players around doesn't fill me with confidence that the numbers we need will make it through the door. Taking a look at our squad and Sam's comments over the last couple of weeks I'm a bit concerned at the way things are going.

 

Glad I'm not the only one. We have two recognised central defenders and one of them is still young and fairly wreckless in the way he plays. We have no decent full backs. The only one who's capable of doing alright there is Solano who we're being told might be used in a central midfield 3. We really don't have enough central midfielders to play Sam's 4-3-3 as evidenced by nearly a whole reserve/youth team playing the second halves in the two friendlies so far. In fact we barely have enough to cover two 4-4-2 formations. There seems to be no sign of new signings and Sam is already voicing his frustration at the new boards naivity/incompetence. Things look very worrying after looking so good to begin with :-/.

 

in the good old days there were no subs and the bast ards palyed 90 minutes - you didn't have any pocy injuries like a cruciate ligament either

 

owt else but  broken leg meant you were back in training on Tuesday or else

[ohmelads]

Chelsea lost the league title because of key injuries (Cech, Terry, Robben, Cole) and the fact a better team came along and picked up more points. It had nowt to do with the formation change, they started dropping points when they had to put Essien and Ferreira in central defence, Hilario in goal and try out half a dozen different right backs. I actually think that some of their best football since Abramovich arrived was with a 4-4-2 formation and from Mourinho's own comments he seems to be coming around to this idea.

 

4-3-3 does have its place but I'm not sure we have the players to pull it off yet. It generally makes you a lot stronger defensively because you're sacrificing a striker for a midfielder, which is something we may need if we don't get some defenders through the door.

[ChezGiven]

Rob in trouble straying too far from his home territory of politics.

 

myhome territory is the aisle of an EasyJet 737 laddie

 

[toontownman]

If we play a 4-3-3 with Viduka, Owen and Martins up front we will be deadly.

 

Especially with Geremi at RWB and hopefully a decent LWB.

 

I think this 4-4-2 / 4-3-3 issue is a crucial one. 4-3-3 is what Sam believes in, and we do have the attacking players to play it. Trouble is Owen and Martins aren't in that category. They aren't target men, they're not wide players and they're not good at dropping into the midfield. They are specialist finishers who need to play around another striker in a 4-4-2.

 

In a 4-3-3, Viduka or Shola could operate in the centre, and Milner, Dyer, Zoggy, Duff or Emre could go wide.

 

My fear is that we'll end up wasting a lot of time trying to play 4-3-3 in order to fit in the big name players.

 

I'd expect Martins would be very well suited to being a wide-man in a 4-3-3 tbh, as he's anything but a penalty box predator/finisher type.

 

The big issue is Owen. He's our best player and seems to be suited exclusively to a 4-4-2, while the rest of our team look to be very well suited to a 4-3-3.

 

Tough call.

 

True, but didnt Owen play in a 4-3-3 at Real. Wasnt too shabby there.

 

I think Owen will adapt to whatever we use. Although I think he would be the main worry like you say.

 

Dont think its any coincidence we are linked/have been looking at Baptista, who is very similar to Gudjohnsen for what he could bring to the club.

 

We are lacking a bit of height and brute force in midfield though, Emre, Butt and Barton have the battle factor but not the height and physical presence. Its definately an area we need to increase depth in after Defence. Im sure we will despite our recent frustrations in the market.