IthacaMatt
Old Timer / Unofficial Contributor for 25+ years
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OMG, the roster moves Chelsea are making, or rumored to be making, are making me tear my hair out.
Chelsea needs a striker to provide an alternative to Diego Costa. They could have people like Alexandre Lacazette for around 24M pounds. They could make a run at someone like Klaus-Jan Huntelaar, who is a terrific poacher/big body in the box. They refuse to play Loic Remy, who is a proven 12-15 goals/year man in the Premier League.
Who are they rumored to be interested in? Sadio Berahino, who is a sulking player for West Brom who has only scored 3 goals all year and is poison in the locker room if he doesn't play, or they are bringing in a retread like Alexandre Pato, who washed out of Inter years ago, and hasn't exactly been lighting the Brazilian domestic league on fire. If they had real amibition, they would be going for Higuain, Lewandowki, Ibrahimovic (even for just a year or two) or Karim Benzema.
I have been reading that they are looking to sell Ramires to China for 25M pounds, when their other holding midfielders are John Obi Mikel and Matic, who wants to be sold in the summer, and the young kid, Loftus-Cheek, who they won't play.
I look at the defense, which remains among the worst in the league in terms of goals conceded. Ivanovic gets signed to an extension, when he has been the single worst player on the team this year. They are letting Aina, the promising right back, go. They bought Baba Rahman, who led the Bundesliga in tackles a year ago, and won't give him a game at left back (just like they never really gave Felipe Luiz a chance and sold him back to Athletico too soon), so they can switch Azpilicueta back to his natural right side in place of Ivanovic. They need a replacement for John Terry in central defense, and they have apparently given up on Gary Cahill, who has been a very effective sidekick, but apparently can't command a line by himself.
The natural choice, to me, is for a solid English back. They are infatuated with John Stones, for reasons that completely escape me. Yes, he is tall, but he is slender. He's like a poor man's Rafael Varane. He's not especially great in the air, and he lingers forever on the ball, when playing it out of the back. I guess that impresses some people, but his pirouettes in his own box with the ball at his feet are a primary reason why Everton's defensive record is so dreadful.
Instead, I would look to a player like Scott Dann, currently at Palace, but previously an effective defender at a number of lower level Premier League teams, and has been selected by his teams as their player of the year on more than one occasion. Only 28 years old, very solid defensively, good in the air, very composed on the ball, at the top of his game right now. It sounds like they are going to put forward a 50M pound bid for Stones, when they could buy Dann for probably 20M and have money left over for a really good midfielder or attacker.
Of course, you look at the sale of Petr Cech to Arsenal, and just like John Terry said, it would be worth about a dozen points to Arsenal over the course of the season, and they look the best they have defensively in the 7 seasons that I have been following the Premier League, and they are likely to win this year's title.
My moves - Buy Scott Dann and pair him with Zouma at central defense, with Cahill as your back-up, along with one of the younger guys out on loan, like Tomas Kalas or Andreas Christiansen. Give Rahman a run at left back, and if he doesn't make it, try out Bertrand Traore and/or Kennedy at that spot, both of whom have a world of potential.
In the midfield, sell Hazard for 85M pounds to Real Madrid this summer and use that money to buy Antoine Griezmann from Athletico Madrid, who could be had for around 50-60M. Clear out Mikel, but you have to keep Ramires, if he's not already gone, because of his pace on the counter. He's your insurance policy in holding midfield, and you give Matic a proper partner who is willing to put in a shift instead of Fabregas, who needs, IMO, to play further upfield, or they need to switch their set-up to a 4-3-3 with him at the forward tip of the middle 3, which would not place so much defensive responsibility on him as it does to put him at the base of a 4-2-3-1.
I would buy back Romelu Lukaku from Everton and pay 50M for him. They never should have sold him without a buy-back right, just like they never should have sold DeBruyne without one. While we're at it, Emanalo should not have listened to Mourinho and ditched Mata and Schurrle, who could provide us with offensive firepower off the bench.
You have to have a deeper squad, and you have to actually use these guys from time to time. Whoever the next coach is has to do that. I would try to get Pochettino, who seems adept at giving young players a chance to grow into a role, but unlike Roberto Martinez, Pochettino actually can get a team to play rock solid defense.
Chelsea needs a striker to provide an alternative to Diego Costa. They could have people like Alexandre Lacazette for around 24M pounds. They could make a run at someone like Klaus-Jan Huntelaar, who is a terrific poacher/big body in the box. They refuse to play Loic Remy, who is a proven 12-15 goals/year man in the Premier League.
Who are they rumored to be interested in? Sadio Berahino, who is a sulking player for West Brom who has only scored 3 goals all year and is poison in the locker room if he doesn't play, or they are bringing in a retread like Alexandre Pato, who washed out of Inter years ago, and hasn't exactly been lighting the Brazilian domestic league on fire. If they had real amibition, they would be going for Higuain, Lewandowki, Ibrahimovic (even for just a year or two) or Karim Benzema.
I have been reading that they are looking to sell Ramires to China for 25M pounds, when their other holding midfielders are John Obi Mikel and Matic, who wants to be sold in the summer, and the young kid, Loftus-Cheek, who they won't play.
I look at the defense, which remains among the worst in the league in terms of goals conceded. Ivanovic gets signed to an extension, when he has been the single worst player on the team this year. They are letting Aina, the promising right back, go. They bought Baba Rahman, who led the Bundesliga in tackles a year ago, and won't give him a game at left back (just like they never really gave Felipe Luiz a chance and sold him back to Athletico too soon), so they can switch Azpilicueta back to his natural right side in place of Ivanovic. They need a replacement for John Terry in central defense, and they have apparently given up on Gary Cahill, who has been a very effective sidekick, but apparently can't command a line by himself.
The natural choice, to me, is for a solid English back. They are infatuated with John Stones, for reasons that completely escape me. Yes, he is tall, but he is slender. He's like a poor man's Rafael Varane. He's not especially great in the air, and he lingers forever on the ball, when playing it out of the back. I guess that impresses some people, but his pirouettes in his own box with the ball at his feet are a primary reason why Everton's defensive record is so dreadful.
Instead, I would look to a player like Scott Dann, currently at Palace, but previously an effective defender at a number of lower level Premier League teams, and has been selected by his teams as their player of the year on more than one occasion. Only 28 years old, very solid defensively, good in the air, very composed on the ball, at the top of his game right now. It sounds like they are going to put forward a 50M pound bid for Stones, when they could buy Dann for probably 20M and have money left over for a really good midfielder or attacker.
Of course, you look at the sale of Petr Cech to Arsenal, and just like John Terry said, it would be worth about a dozen points to Arsenal over the course of the season, and they look the best they have defensively in the 7 seasons that I have been following the Premier League, and they are likely to win this year's title.
My moves - Buy Scott Dann and pair him with Zouma at central defense, with Cahill as your back-up, along with one of the younger guys out on loan, like Tomas Kalas or Andreas Christiansen. Give Rahman a run at left back, and if he doesn't make it, try out Bertrand Traore and/or Kennedy at that spot, both of whom have a world of potential.
In the midfield, sell Hazard for 85M pounds to Real Madrid this summer and use that money to buy Antoine Griezmann from Athletico Madrid, who could be had for around 50-60M. Clear out Mikel, but you have to keep Ramires, if he's not already gone, because of his pace on the counter. He's your insurance policy in holding midfield, and you give Matic a proper partner who is willing to put in a shift instead of Fabregas, who needs, IMO, to play further upfield, or they need to switch their set-up to a 4-3-3 with him at the forward tip of the middle 3, which would not place so much defensive responsibility on him as it does to put him at the base of a 4-2-3-1.
I would buy back Romelu Lukaku from Everton and pay 50M for him. They never should have sold him without a buy-back right, just like they never should have sold DeBruyne without one. While we're at it, Emanalo should not have listened to Mourinho and ditched Mata and Schurrle, who could provide us with offensive firepower off the bench.
You have to have a deeper squad, and you have to actually use these guys from time to time. Whoever the next coach is has to do that. I would try to get Pochettino, who seems adept at giving young players a chance to grow into a role, but unlike Roberto Martinez, Pochettino actually can get a team to play rock solid defense.
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