(no subject)
Rumour.
So rumours are rife since our elimination from the Champions League that there is to be a huge overhaul at Chelsea squad wise. Apparently Roman and Ancelotti have had a meeting and the rumoured changes are:
Torres (Forward), Angel Di Maria (Midfielder), Franck Ribery (Wing) and Sergio Aguero (Striker) IN
and
Deco, Riccy, Ferreira, Belletti and Salomon Kalou OUT.
And, according to the Guardian newspaper's prediction, Abramovich himself will demand immediate contract extension with Ballack, Joe Cole and Anelka.
Musings.
OK, let me begin by saying I am all for a manager and an owner working together to find the best team, however I am becoming increasingly sure that Ancelotti is not the right manager for us. We lack passion, not talent and frankly the players aren't responding to the off field leadership.
Ins:
Torres coming to The Bridge is a mouthwatering prospect, especially playing with Lampard who would assume the feeding role currently assumed by Gerrard, though how exactly he will fit in concerns me. My guess would be that it would be a forward rotation policy with him, Drogba and Anelka. I've never been a fan of the forward rotation policy as it throws the team dynamic off, as they need a split second to think which players they have up front in that particular match and with the pace of today's game that can be costly. The magic number is allegedly £60 million again, as with previous rumours and a bidding war between Manchester City and ourselves.
Di Maria has also been linked with Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid. I think we will get him.
Franck Ribery is between us and Manchester United. I think we will get him (60-40%), mainly due to a bidding war that despite United's sale of Ronaldo, United can't afford.
Sergio Aguero has also been linked to a move to Real Madrid. He will move and I think Real are favourite, though we know Roman likes strikers and pays accordingly, so I am going to say Real 60%, us 40% here.
Outs:
Deco - Fine with him going. He is aging, not showing a lot, not playing a lot, never really fulfilled his potential at the club and is being payed far too much (more than Drogba currently!).
Riccy, Ferreira, Belletti - I can live with these departures. They don't make me jump with joy, but I don't lose sleep either.
Salomon Kalou - NO! KEEP HIM!!!. This would be a big loss. See my comments about Anelka below.
Re-signings:
Ballack - Don't bother. He can be useful, but we can do better and could get a good price for him at the moment.
Joe Cole - Keep! He is part of Chelsea and while he would do better at United that is all the more reason to keep him!
And
Anelka - SELL! SELL! SELL! If Ancelotti is to stay, then Anelka must go, as we are not using him the way we can get the best return from him, he hates being number 2, or lower even if Torres comes over and his mental attitude when things don't go his way will see him become a ticking time bomb on the team! In Drogba's absence during the African Nation's Cup Anelka was number 1 striker and brilliant, but Drogba is the better player and deserves number 1 and Anelka has shown he doesn't or won't do number 2 consistently. Also we can get a good price for him now, but that isn't going to improve. Kalou is much more of a Chelsea future than Anelka.
Needs:
Eh, anyone thought of the part of the pitch called defence, you know, the back line??!! Cech needs to be number 2 keeper, Hilario and Turnbull are both useful, but not number 1 keepers.
Our back line is shaky. JT is getting older by the day and problems on and off the pitch are going to take their toll. I'm not suggesting we off load him, but we need to realise he won't be there week in, week out for too much longer. Ashley Cole could be moving, when he can play again and we are rapidly running out of solid players in our already questionable defence.
So rumours are rife since our elimination from the Champions League that there is to be a huge overhaul at Chelsea squad wise. Apparently Roman and Ancelotti have had a meeting and the rumoured changes are:
Torres (Forward), Angel Di Maria (Midfielder), Franck Ribery (Wing) and Sergio Aguero (Striker) IN
and
Deco, Riccy, Ferreira, Belletti and Salomon Kalou OUT.
And, according to the Guardian newspaper's prediction, Abramovich himself will demand immediate contract extension with Ballack, Joe Cole and Anelka.
Musings.
OK, let me begin by saying I am all for a manager and an owner working together to find the best team, however I am becoming increasingly sure that Ancelotti is not the right manager for us. We lack passion, not talent and frankly the players aren't responding to the off field leadership.
Ins:
Torres coming to The Bridge is a mouthwatering prospect, especially playing with Lampard who would assume the feeding role currently assumed by Gerrard, though how exactly he will fit in concerns me. My guess would be that it would be a forward rotation policy with him, Drogba and Anelka. I've never been a fan of the forward rotation policy as it throws the team dynamic off, as they need a split second to think which players they have up front in that particular match and with the pace of today's game that can be costly. The magic number is allegedly £60 million again, as with previous rumours and a bidding war between Manchester City and ourselves.
Di Maria has also been linked with Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid. I think we will get him.
Franck Ribery is between us and Manchester United. I think we will get him (60-40%), mainly due to a bidding war that despite United's sale of Ronaldo, United can't afford.
Sergio Aguero has also been linked to a move to Real Madrid. He will move and I think Real are favourite, though we know Roman likes strikers and pays accordingly, so I am going to say Real 60%, us 40% here.
Outs:
Deco - Fine with him going. He is aging, not showing a lot, not playing a lot, never really fulfilled his potential at the club and is being payed far too much (more than Drogba currently!).
Riccy, Ferreira, Belletti - I can live with these departures. They don't make me jump with joy, but I don't lose sleep either.
Salomon Kalou - NO! KEEP HIM!!!. This would be a big loss. See my comments about Anelka below.
Re-signings:
Ballack - Don't bother. He can be useful, but we can do better and could get a good price for him at the moment.
Joe Cole - Keep! He is part of Chelsea and while he would do better at United that is all the more reason to keep him!
And
Anelka - SELL! SELL! SELL! If Ancelotti is to stay, then Anelka must go, as we are not using him the way we can get the best return from him, he hates being number 2, or lower even if Torres comes over and his mental attitude when things don't go his way will see him become a ticking time bomb on the team! In Drogba's absence during the African Nation's Cup Anelka was number 1 striker and brilliant, but Drogba is the better player and deserves number 1 and Anelka has shown he doesn't or won't do number 2 consistently. Also we can get a good price for him now, but that isn't going to improve. Kalou is much more of a Chelsea future than Anelka.
Needs:
Eh, anyone thought of the part of the pitch called defence, you know, the back line??!! Cech needs to be number 2 keeper, Hilario and Turnbull are both useful, but not number 1 keepers.
Our back line is shaky. JT is getting older by the day and problems on and off the pitch are going to take their toll. I'm not suggesting we off load him, but we need to realise he won't be there week in, week out for too much longer. Ashley Cole could be moving, when he can play again and we are rapidly running out of solid players in our already questionable defence.