Is Villas-Boas or the Chelsea players to blame? And what is the solution?
Chelsea’s problem revealed! The true story! by Tushar L.Kuzhi
People can debate all life long whether Ancelotti could had done a better job at Chelsea, would Hiddink have been a better option than AVB, whether Chelsea would had lifted the Champions League if Jose Mourinho was still the manager. But the real deal is, the managers aren’t the one’s who’s supposed to bear the full deal of blame. For me, the manager is worth of maybe just 40% of the blame. 40% lies with the players. 20% lies with Roman Abramovich himself. I’ll explain my views.
Take an instance of Barcelona and Manchester United (keep your hatred for the clubs aside for now). They both have a good manager. But do they always get things right? Barcelona has flirted with experiments ever since. I’ll give a combined list of where both teams have flirted. CM at CB, CB at RB, Winger at ST, CM at ST, youth player starting a big game, ST at CAM, CM at RB/LB. They have used the central midfielders almost everywhere. Chelsea, luckily were blessed because only maybe once or twice had to make such alterations in recent times. The difference? Barca and Man UTD won almost 75% of the games where they had made such alterations. And Chelsea lost or drew in all.
Debaters can debate all they want about the decisions AVB takes. If he leave Frank Lampard on the bench, they say the manager has problems with the seniors. If he plays Frank Lampard, they say he is afraid to replace the old guard and so starts the underperforming stars everytime (yes, that goes to all, all of our old guard has lacked consistency, maybe Ashley was the most inconsistent of them all).
If he plays Drogba, why is he not playing Torres, if he plays Torres, why is he not playing Drogba. Drogba is certainly not the player he once was. He once said he felt disgusted to come to Chelsea because he wanted to stay at Marseille, but gradually he became our heart and soul, but that heart and soul is now old, and less viscious. He decides to play a pass to a nearby player rather than shoot selfishly, he decides to come back to defend, he has lost his predator skills. That doesn’t mean he is bad but he is not the REAL DORGBA. Terry and controversies have become a habit now. the media hates him so much that they don’t fail to exaggerate any small stories. Actually they hate all of Chelsea, always looking for our downfall and failure and negatives.
When a manager sets a team into play, whatever formation, whoever plays, the players representing the club of Chelsea’s calibre must know what they are supposed to bring on stage. Against teams like West Brom, Swansea, Fulham, etc. we cannot be expected to have our full first team on the pitch, still we have 70% of the first team at least, still we lose ground, is it the problem of the manager? I don’t think so, it is surely the players. The current crop of players don’t know what is expected of them, they are clueless of what to do next, maybe the manager doesn’t motivate them enough, but experience is a thing Chelsea never lacked. Still we lose, draw.
When I said Roman is at blame too, I want to say, firstly I’m so proud to have him our owner. He cares for the club, he spends for the club, he desires success for the club and not just the profits. The real problem is that, whenever there is a problem in performance, instead of backing the manager with more firepower in form of classy players, he decides to stick with the players and fire the manager. Ancelotti once justified Roman by saying, “It is easier to change one manager, than a whole team.” But how long will the same team play? How can a manager create tricks from a pack of cards the whole world is well aware of. They know what we can do, what we will do, how we play, how we defend. Roman is like a rich dad with spoilt kids, the kids are not only the players, but the fans too. Roman listens to the fans desires to bring someone in, to sack the manager or something else.
But again, even if I like AVB, I’d want Roman to solve his differences with Jose Mourinho and bring him back, for a long long spell this time. It doesn’t relate to any problem I have with AVB, but to the relation of the club with Jose. Chelsea loves Jose and Jose loves Chelsea, what else does a fan need?
Well said, we’ll continue to change managers without any trophies, for once and all bring on jose mourinho .. we are still paying the price for sacking him ..
this is naive, really!
Super story with mouriho coming back,I rather back avb than those stupid players we call players that lack fighting spirit,look @ arsenal despite poor form of the team still have fighting spirit to bring the game back,roman pls don’t sack avb,sack d players now is there turn to be sacked not coach.
This really shows that you don’t know what you are talking about. Firstly Barca were the first European team to decide to play without a CF (an old fashioned number 9). Watch their tactics and they play 4 4 2 with the two forwards as wingers and NOT central attackers. Their four midfield players all inter change and go wide to create triangles with the winger and attacking full back or come inside to make attacking pairs or triangles. The system leaves the opponents two central defenders not knowing whether to sit and be unemployed or move out to meet the attacking midfielders. The defenders also have the problem of being attacked by 2 or 3 wide attacking players. It is a very difficult system to emulate unless you have the excellent players to pull it off but there again if you do it is an extrmely difficult system to play against, ask United and Ferguson. In fact Ferguson is the ONLY Premiership Manager who has tried to emulate the system this term without an old fashioned big number 9. He uses Rooney and Hernandez deep lying with the likes of Nani and Young or Valencia wide.
Secondly you are wrong because the Manager is 100% responsible for the players, their tactics and motivation and the style of play a team produces. Look at what Martin O’Neil achieved with the same players as Steve Bruce within a week of becoming Manager at Sunderland! Look at what the Manager/Coach of Appoah Nicosia has achieved with the greatly unknown players of the Cypriot club. They have gone further in the CL this season than United or City for godsakes.
A few seasons ago when the European Championships were held in Portugal, I was forced to change my mind as to ‘who’ was the most important person or persons at a football club. The usual suspects of Germany, Italy, Spain, England and even Portugal themselves were being hyped up as the expected tournament winners. With all of their ‘stars’ and highly paid and profiled Managers. As each and every one of these sides were knocked out and beaten you had to give enormous credit to the virtually unknown (in the UK) German coach of the Greece team who eventually won the thing. No major stars or high profile European players, just an extermely well drilled group who were all very highly motivated, fit and determined to succeed for the cause. These players had been bought together, trained, coached and selected by one man. Not an ‘owner’, not ‘the media’, not ‘the fans’, not ‘the board’ or a’director of football’. All of the aforementioned can be blamed when things go wrong but when it comes down to pure success or failure the buck stops with the Manager!
AVB said last summer that he wasn’t going to into the transfer market before the Asian summer tour as he wanted to ‘get to know his squad better’. That was the first and biggest mistake of his Chelsea career. He already knew the majority of the players and had every piece of video and medical information on every individual player from the previous seasons since Jose and his team including AVB left. During the summer the clown did not even try for Aguero who had been expected to come to Chelsea for the previous couple of seasons. Just in case you don’t realise but Aguero has scored 21 goals for City this term which is his maiden season in The Premiership. This is the Argentinian player formerly of Athletico Madrid who stated to the World’s sports press two seasons ago how he would ‘love to play for Chelsea and dreamed of playing alongside Drogba, Anelka and Lampard’. With just that ONE signing (let alone the couple of others he should have made) Chelsea would now be at least a top 4 team.
The way this arrogant man has treated certain individuals including Anelka and Alex leaves me with no sympathy for him. The way his incompetance has turned Chelsea into an ‘average’ Premiership side in such a short space of time beggars belief. There is a tremendous catalogue of basic errors from this man this season which just continues to cost the side dearly. I wont talk about yesterdays formation away to a tricky West Brom on a very good run but to take Essien off and replace him with Torres? Essien held the back line together in the Bolton game and was playing the same defensive midfield roll yesterday until he was dragged off for Torres?
Footballers are not machines and it doesn’t matter how much money they are paid if they are demotivated because they know their manager and coach hasn’t got a clue they are not going to play well. I have been saying it for months and it certainly gives me no joy to repeat it but Chelsea will win NOTHING this season (again) AND will finish outside of the top 4 (most probably 6th or 7th) with AVB as Manager. ‘If’ the numpty is sacked now maybe, just maybe the players will respond and we may go on in the FA cup and start to put a run together in the league, who knows. The one certainty in all of this is that CFC can do no worse without this man who is obviously out of his depth and running out of excuses. The ridiculous ‘project’ should be stopped NOW!
We(Chelsea) can regain our form if and only if one of d following happens:
1. Abrahimovic should settle d differences btw d manager & d players..United we stand,divided we fall.(but dis could be difficult to achieve)
2. Abrahimovic should find means to call Mourinho back & i believ dis will gladens d heart of both d players & fans. I don’t subscribe to d idea of him bringing another young coach i.e Guardiola ‘cos he cannot manage d players just like AVB.
I know 99.9% of fans & players will prefer option 2.
Alan frank has said it all, admin please I’d like to for you to connect me with frank to read my articles. Thanks
I agree wholehearedly with the comments of Alan Frank.
AVB has displayed an arrogance and a complete lack of understanding of how to motivate players (yes even professional footballers need this and also guidance). We have all worked for poor managers and know how his feels. Footballers are no different.
We were at West Brom yesterday and at the end of the game was the first time I had heard a number of supporters turn on AVB. Hardly surprising as we had just witnessed one of the most abject and inept displays I have seen from a Chelsea team in a long time
Thank you Roman! Now do EVERYTHING in your power to get Jose back and get this great club back on track to actually playing well and winning things again…. KTBFFH!
Who ever would take over the coaching job at chelsea should make sure he sells the big for nothing senior players that put their personal interest before the club.
Avb designed his downfall by not buying good players.for the present players i think they lack the skill and zeal to perform well under any coach.
Mr. Frank may be the manager is the most important person at the club. But there nothing a manager can do if these silly player lose ball from their feet. I bet chelsea can win nothing until they get rid of malouda,kalou,mikel,bosingwa,drogba
Any coach who will come he must remove all the siniour playears and have young one like staridge,mata,luiz,romeu,torres etc