Chelsea have 3 problems - can Mourinho solve them?
Chelsea’s problems are usually well-diagnosed, so no points for guessing what I’m talking about.
Chelsea’s first problem: No Gallas.
Carvalho and Boulharouz are not proper replacements for Gallas. His sale (and the circumstances surrounding his sale) has made Chelsea unbalanced in defence. You have Ferreira, Boulharouz, Terry, Carvalho, Cole and Bridge in defence. I count only two world-class defenders.
Mourinho has exchanged a quality centre-back for spoilt (yet excellent) left-back. It may be good for team spirit to get rid of Gallas but now Chelsea have to compensate. Thing is, Mourinho’s plans for the team being more ‘adventurous’ were realistic with Gallas around - Carvalho does not have the pace to anchor an attacking Chelsea.
One way to reduce the pressures felt by the departure of Gallas would be to have Essien replace Makelele in the side on a semi-permanent basis. Essien’s pace will allow him to provide defensive cover as well as to move forward to support the attacking midfielders. If Mourinho is going to play the diamond midfield, Essien, not Makele, is the logical choice at the base.
Chelsea’s second problem: Team formation.
How do you fit Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Joe Cole, Arjen Robben, Obi Mikel and Wright-Phillips into 4 slots? Makelele and Essien are effectively scraping for one spot, while in a 4-4-2 Mourinho will have to drop one of Lampard, Ballack, Cole and Robben on a consistent basis. And this is not even counting players like Wright-Phillips and Obi Mikel.
The best formation for Chelsea right now is not 4-4-2 but a return to their 4-3-3, with Lampard and Ballack playing in front of Makelele and Sheva up front on his own, with two of Drogba, Cole and Robben rotating on the wings. This forces Drogba out of his natural striking position, and at the expense of accomodating Ballack, alienates a whole bunch of fringe players.
Chelsea’s third problem: Wantaway players.
Like it or not, Wright-Phillips has ruined his career by moving to Chelsea. Scott Parker managed a move away, but Wright-Phillips could not and for another year this kid will be denied the chance to play regularly - something that he needs to do if he wants to get into the England squad.
Gallas, Crespo, Drogba, Duff, Gudjohnsen - all of them were unhappy at Chelsea. Only Drogba remains from last season. While Duff and Gudjohnsen went peacefully, Crespo managed to create quite a ruckus with his daily plea in the media to Chelsea to ’set him free’ and Gallas rivalled Ashley Cole for the title of victimised player (although in his case he might actually have a point).
Chelsea is still the place to be in the Premiership, but the wage differences between Sheva and Ballack versus the rest of the squad are sure to cause imbalance. Terry is rumbling for an upgraded contract, and while he’ll get it the price of keeping their top stars at Chelsea is proving to be quite high. Winning the Champions League will help keep players happy, but you cannot alienate your best defender (Gallas) and say that there’s nothing wrong.
Wright-Phillips and Drogba won’t be happy, and how long before Robben starts complaining about his lack of opportunities at the club? And what about Bridge?
Mourinho has managed to win the league four years in a row now, and there is no doubt that he is a very talented manager (one of the best).
But can he control Chelsea, and more importantly, can he solve their problems?
It has to be said that most clubs would gladly take on these problems in exchange for a realistic chance at winning the Premiership and the Champions League.
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Don’t make me laugh. How many of those defenders went to the world cup? As for wantaway players, name one. Your guess is pure speculation. Drogba has been persuaded to stay by mourinho and seems content. Robben has got over his histronics and will play regularly with J.Cole, swapping wings. This is all detailed in Mourinho’s planned formation, a 4-3-3 similar to last seasons. This can convert to a 4-4-2 with ease (Ballack is a natural left, centre and right midfielder). With such a small squad (22), everyone, perhaps including some reserve players, should get a decent fill of games. I’m afraid you are deluded and seriously guilty of wishful thinking.
Harry - i’m neither trying to make you laugh or to win an argument here, just making observations based on the facts in front of us.
Are you so naive as to think that because a defender goes to the World Cup he is automatically world-class? Cannavaro and Gallas got to the final, Terry lost out in the quarters, should we now say that Cannavaro and Gallas are better defenders (Canna probably is, but that’s not the point)?
Ballack is uncomfortable playing at the left and right positions. There’s a difference between drifting out wide to play and being a wide player. I have no doubt that it can work, but it would be using a quality-player out of position where is is keeping the natural wingers out of the starting lineup.
Speculation about players being unhappy? Crespo and Gallas were unhappy, mind you, Gudjohnsen talked about his lack of opportunities and that’s why Duff moved as well. Droggie stays because Mourinho promised him that he won’t be terminally benched because of Sheva.
Unhappy players? Wayne Bridge, to start with. Drogba is not happy in England, Robben won’t like being out of the starting lineup (imagine Ferguson benching Ronaldo for a long time and you’ll understand) and Wright-Phillips will realise sooner or later that it’s not just about the money.
I actually like Chelsea, and unlike the Chelsea-haters I don’t automatically condemn every move Mourinho or Roman make.
And while I may be deluded and guilty of wishful thinking, all you’ve done is provide false arguments.
The squad is good enough to be rotated in all four competitions, but rotation doesn’t always make for happy players.
chelsea players may have to play around 70 games this season maybe more as they are almost all full internationals this means at least 35 games for almost all the players that is a full season for all normal teams taking injuries and suspensions many will play more …plenty for every body …well except maybe hilario that one really defeats me
Based on facts?! And where are you getting your facts from? The bloody media just like the rest of us. Have you spoken personally to these players, from wherever it is you blog? I very much doubt it.
Gallas and Cole are as bad as each other. I’m happy we got Cole for £5m and Gallas. Hopefully he’ll behave better than Gallas and better than he did at Arsenal. Incidently, Gallas is going to be asked to play out of position at Arsenal; let’s see how long before he goes to the likes of the Sun moaning about it. I give it 6 months tops.
These kind of lame “Chelsea’s problems/can’t keep everyone happy” articles have been rolled out since 2004 and they’re becoming increasingly tiresome. The team ethic at Stamford Bridge is second to none.
I do agree that Wright-Phillips will move unless Mourinho does a Joe Cole on him and improves him 100%, which isn’t out of the question. Wright-Phillips hasn’t played at all well so far this pre-/season either. The thing is the same stories were written two seasons ago about Joe Cole, now look at him: one of the best players in his position and solved England’s left-sided problem. All down to Mourinho.
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The only problem with your post is the supposition that JM will play 2 upfront when clearly he will not as demonstrated at Blackburn.
Actually there is another problem with your post in that whilst Gallas is a quality centreback he played more at fullback so obviously the place to replace him is at fullback which has been done.
Oooops,a 3rd problem.
SWP has stated he didn’t want to go.Drogba so wanted to go he signed a new contract and Bridge will do as he’s told.
Chelsea have less players than the last 2 seasons and yet less players will find it more difficult to be kept happy,hmmmmm interesting.
Tel - you’re right - with the amount of games Chelsea will be playing everyone will get games. But that’s not the point, is it? Players like SWP and Bridge are good enough to be first-choice at most other clubs, and neither will get a chance to seriously improve at Chelsea. Cole is one of the best, if not the best, left-backs in the world. You think Bridge will overtake him by playing for scraps at Chelsea or playing regular football at another club?
The point is, if you bring in star players as backups you won’t be able to keep everyone happy.
Art - blindly defending Chelsea’s honour wont get you anywhere mate. The arguments are being rolled out because there is some element of truth in them - the media exaggerates it greatly, but yes, there is truth to them.
Eric - you’re right - Mourinho won’t play 2 upfront everytime. But there’s the problem. If he plays 1 upfront Drogba is marginalised, while if he plays 2 upfront one of the midfielders gets cut out. It’s not a case of bit part players getting cut out - these are players who would be regulars at other clubs.
About Gallas - ummm, you’re fkn kidding me, right? Gallas was being played at fullback BECAUSE he was so fkn good that he was better than Del Horno / Bridge in that spot. He’s a better centre-back than Carvalho, or have you not been watching close enough?
SWP has stated he doesn’t want to go, yup, but are you telling me that a player who hardly gets games is happy at Chelsea? This is a kid who was supposed to replace Becks last year, then he goes to Chelsea and now, Lennon is on the radar and he’s getting into England ahead of SWP.
Bridge will do what he is told? Is he your bloody cow or something? What the hell is wrong with you?
If you RTFA, you’ll realise that I’m not saying that the end of the world is coming for Chelsea. In fact, I still think they will win the Prem (obviously you know this, because you guys are literate and read the last sentence of the article) and these problems are not ‘big’ problems, but they are concerns that need to be addressed.
Please, read before you slate me for what I’ve said.
what about lassana diarra, tipped to be the next makelele.
mourinho seems to like him, plays him more than SWP!:D
mourinho once said he’ll play a diamond 4-4-2 this season, which means that’s definitely not the formation chelsea’s gonna have.:D
One thing 1 don’t undertsnad is, if one of Terry and Carvalho is injured, or if are out, where are the backups???
With Huth and Gallas out, and NO REPLACEMENT, CHELSKI IS GOING DOWN!!!!!
Ahmed, Gallas couldn’t get a game at centre back. We had the depth to cover all positions, the fact is that he left because Mourinho refused to guarantee him a centre back position, which was because he wasn’t good enough. He was, however, a better left back and very versatile. This is his main strength, not his competence at centre back. By selling Gallas and Huth, and buying Boulahrouz and Cole, Chelsea have replaced a player playing predominately on the left (Gallas) with the World’s best left back, and one man eating centre back (Huth) with another, Khaild ‘The Cannibal’. I would say, having watched all these players go to the world cup, having watchedthe premiership for so many years, and having watched some of the Bundesliga during my internship in Hamburg, i would conclude that i’m qualified to say that Cole and Boulahrouz are more than adequete replacements for Gallas and Huth.
To your earlier comments, Ballack himself sees himself as a complete midfielder, as he said at his first press conference. I pointed to the world cup as a gauge of a player’s quality, not necessarily that the are all world class. However, if you watch the premiership, you would know that Ferreira, Carvalho, Cole and Terry are World Class. This is confirmed by the fact that the previous back four, of Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Ferreira, was the best ever, in terms of statistics. They recorded the most clean sheets ever, and the team as a whole got more points than anyone has before in a premiership season. I remind you that Robben will not be out of the starting lineup, and li’l Shaun wants to prove himself, now he’s here. Bridge is the only one. However, your comment that the team is good enough to be rotated is true. This will lead to playing opportunities for all the players in the squad. I know that playing time is not the only factor in a player’s happiness, but no other factor has caused a player to move from Chelsea, as you state yourself.
Oh yeah, Muhammad, who is Boulahrouz? Oh yeah, a centre back, who can play right back. Can Essien play at centre back? Yes, he did in preseason and for Lyons. This is if we need him, as there is no certainty that either Terry or Carvalho will get injured.
Chelsea fans slating you no doubt? Chelsea’s chances remain the highest of winning the league but I think, Mourinho is trying to solve problems brought on by the owner and having too much money. Can’t believe I said that. I have to agree with the fact that superstar bought as backups will in fact spoil the team’s morale. When you have an average team, a star name does wonders for team morale but not when the team is made up of star players. Look to Real Madrid. If Mourinho start his squad on a consistent basis, he won’t have that sort of team that won the league. Lampard and Terry nearly never missed a game and were their most consistent player. I don’t see how giving them half of the games they played last season will do anything for their consistency. Ballack and Lampard is all the too similiar and I sense another England type problem occuring here. But this season, I think we have the upper hand even if we are short on numbers and/or quality.
I believe Bilal has been pretty objective in his assessment. I find it hard to believe that anyone honestly believes the Chelsea squad can keep its harmony, as evident from all the departures. Like what Duff say, he left because he wanted to play; heck titles and money.
Keep up the good work with the blog. Don’t let the boo boys get ya=)
Well,I may certainly believe what you are saying at some extent,but remember that Gallas didn’t want to play for chelsea any more,there fore there wasn’t any meaning to hold him back unless you want him not to play as to the expectations of the team.Now I believe that the squard is really big so For the 4:4:3 formation to work very well I believe that Lampard should be benched at times,because he gets overworked by playing almost every game of the season and what is happening he is losing a lot of balls through blind passes.And If Ballack can take on the role that he is doing,we are most likely to reach where we would never have hoped to.
If having to much money is a problem then you really do have problems ,its all about knowing how to use it to your advantage and chelsea have done that to great sucess so far.
First of all, Gallas was never happy.
Legend as he was/is - he was always unhappy about one thing or another. I remember years ago he wanted to leave because the club lacked ambition. I loved him but if he is not happy he can go as far as I am concerned, no player is bigger than the club.
I don’t think we’ll miss him that much, he played most of the last season at the left back and we now have two best left backs in the country. As for the back up CD, we have Khalid, Ferreira can play there too and Manciene is developing fast as well, he’ll play some cup game this season for sure.
As for the other two problems, as I was explaining to my little son (he understood and he is three) different players are needed for different formations, we’ll play 4-4-2, Diamond and 4-3-3 and are well equipped for them. We will not be predictable as previous two seasons.
The season is long, no doubt we’ll have good runs in both domestic cups, Champions League as well as all the Premiership games. Most Chelsea players are internationals too.
There will be enough games for everyone, except maybe those who don’t play good enough - like SWP last season. He didn’t ruin his career by coming to Chelsea but by not playing well. Anyway nothing is ruined, Joe Cole was in the same boat and look at him now. It’s up to the individual player and sure, some will not be good enough. And if they are not good enough they will be replaced with World class players.
We are stronger than last season and last season we were stronger than the season before. Problems my back side.
Carefreeeeeeeeeeee!
Forgive me for stating the obvious but Mourinho hasn’t been at Chelski for four years… much less win the Premiership four years in a row.
With all the changes in the Premier with the run of last minute transfers it’s going to be more difficult for any of the “Big Four”, including Chelski, to win it this season. It looks to be an actual race for the title. Thank God…
YOur manager is bigger than Chelsea! Whats worse the manager or the player with a big ego.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, Gallas was finished with Chelsea so whay make him sit and rot for a year, lets be honest Chelsea Football Club could have done it.
It was a good thing for Cole, Gallas and both Clubs and whatever happens happens.
Thats what make thing in the Prem so exciting and i feel this season will be a lot closer than the last two. Lets hope the others are strong enough to test Chelsea cos if they can the only winner will be Football itself and thats good for everyone, Right?
Thomas - 2 title-winning seasons at Porto right before coming to Chelsea…hello people, do you even know your club and manager?
SWP had the chance not to join CFC - he decided to. He was fully aware he would have to work his socks off to get into the team.
Unlike Joe Cole who was prepared to knuckle down and do the work necessary to improve, SWP is lazy in training.
In the end, CFC is not to blame for his attitude and ruining his career
Hey Firstly the Chelsea fans need to get chill out and take it as constructed critcism and not slating. I dont support Chelsea, but i dont hate them like some people do. There wealth has made the premiership surpsiingly better with clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal having to raise there game. Ok let me give my opinion on the 3 problems
Problem 1: No Gallas: You have to say that Mourinho was desperate to keep Gallas. Regardless of them eventually selling him and leaving him in the reserves, they were forced to negotiate the deal with Arsenal otherwise they would have not got A. Cole. Remember AC Milan having a offer being turned down for Gallas. The thing is Mourinho fought that having Gallas Terry and Carvalho in the back line would make there backline strong, and that doesnt mean that Carvalho is better than Gallas. Infact Carvalho weakness is known by every club now, and he struggles with the cross falling behind him, (See Middlesborough and Blackburn match and even Andy Gray points this out).
Problem 2: Team formation: To me is there any point in changing a winning formular which is the 4-3-3? i let you comment on this.
Problem 3: Wantaway players: Hmm i kind of agree with this, but i feel that this happens in big clubs anyway because the manager cant make everyone happy. What does Bridge however, have to do to be first choice for Chelsea at Left Back? His been there best player so far. So with this in mind, i kind of think that players will want to go because there not given a fair chance. This is generally the problem with buying too many players with a high price tag, because they assume that they should start and they are good enough, whereas homegrown players for eexample Richarson for Man Utd is a England Regular, but can hardly get into the England squad and is happy at the club.