Arsenal star deemed ‘not good enough; Chelsea fans propose new formation
Arsenal fans want a tactical rethink and one fan says Alexandre Lacazette is “not good enough” and Chelsea fans want two up front, all in our forum.
Join in the debate…
Kolasinac injured
Arteta can’t pick Kola at the moment since he is out injured and he was injured before he came back against Everton and then he got injured again in that game.
muffler_1
Lacazette not good enough
It pains me to say it but Laca is just not good enough. Can’t fault his work rate but he lacks the clinical finishing that top strikers have. Arteta has been more than fair in giving everyone a clean slate and an opportunity to prove themselves. Unfortunately Ozil has reverted to type and must be shown the door this Summer. Xhaka and Mustafi should follow, their performances have improved but they are simply not good enough if we are serious about returning to the CL.
This upcoming transfer window will be the most important in our history. As well as the three mentioned already there are more that need to be sold. So far I like what I have seen from Arteta, now it is up to the Club’s hierarchy to give him support he needs to sort out the mess he inherited from Wenger and Emery.
OttawaGunner
Put Saka out wide
Muffler – For when Kola is available or even tierney,I’d like to see them in at full back with Saka pushed outwide next to Auba.That way he can provide more creativity, has more freedom and even track back to cover the full back which is very important.
It’s an absolute no brainer, there’s no other player that can provide a similar balance.The fact that we now have to rely on a 19 year old just proves this squad is weak and unbalanced and most importantly unplanned.
Ottawa – Laca is actually a good finisher but someone who’s on extremely poor form probably the worst season of his career.But for me it’s more about the balance.I don’t want to shift auba outwide.It doesn’t sustain in the long term.
I don’t think Mustafi is good enough, but xhaka certainly is and he’s proved that.I don’t know what more you want from him.It doesn’t mean we should not sign other midfielders, we must certainly should as that will be the defining moment for next season.
Speaking about defining moments,I agree that this transfer window is going to be the most important in a long time.we’ve got the manager, have we got the backing.Most certainly not.
Will auba or laca be sold?Will both?Who will replace them.Will Ozil be Sold and if yes who will replace him?Which midfielders will we sign?Who’ll be the creative force in our team.Man utd signed Bruno Fernandes…Who do we have?
A LOT of important decisions to be made this summer.But I can tell you that regardless now that we’ve failed to qualify for the CL,the owners Kronke will need to pump in his own money for any sort of success.Something that he has never done, and never will and even indicated the same.Hence,I can see us only being pushed down further in the table.
You can whinge about managers, players ,upper management etc but the owners will always remain the single biggest problem of the club.Until we get rid, we can never achieve success again.
the specialone
Liverpool XI to face Chelsea
Milner and Gomez are back, so thats a good sign.
Possibly a strong lineup of:
Adrian
Williams Gomez Matip Larouci
Jones Milner Lallana
Elliott Origi Minamino
Songman
Hard to predict the line up here.
Can see the likes of Adrian, Matip, Hoever, Jones, Minamino, Origi, Milner, Lallana, Williams, Chirivella play.
That doesn’t necessarily rule out the likes of Gomez, Fabinho or even Salah, Mane play. The argument there being some of them need to bounce back into form before Atletico.
I want the win here.
I want to get past Chelsea.
gingerlfc
Two up front for Chelsea?
I’m not one of Christensen’s biggest fans, but yesterday Tomori was better. but in his defense Tomori has been out injured and never played since December. so looked sluggish and slow. but still i rate him more than Christensen. the only reservation i have against Tomori is that he is not dominant in the air. at the moment i would use Zouma and Rudiger, and if we play back three i would include Azpi or Tomori.
Chelsea.man, you have raised some interesting points there. if we play 3 out and out midfielders and two strikers and Reece James and Alonso as wing-backs is very interesting. Even if it means partnering Michy and Giroud. at least they will be better than the wingers or those attacking midfielders who don’t score. having a striker or two in the box gives us the best chance of scoring.
If Giroud can win the first ball, then Michy can capitalize in the second balls. Michy’s biggest weakness is winning the first ball and Giroud’s biggest strengths is winning the first ball, while Michy’s biggest strengths is in around the box and the second balls, while Giroud is weak in and around the box. so those two can compliment until Abraham returns.
young_blue
Chelsea’s centre-back problem
I think all our Centre Backs have got their weaknesses Tomori is too small and weak in the air, Christensen lacks physicality and is also weak in the air , Zouma is half decent in the air but poor on the ground Rudiger is the best we’ve got but he’s been poor at times this season and hasn’t been as dominant as he should be in the air.
Only Villa have conceded more goals than Chelsea from crosses. That’s terrible .
I honestly can’t see Frank playing Tomori v Liverpool on the back of his performance on Saturday and I think Frank will go with Rudiger and Christensen if we go with a back 4 and the same two plus Azpi if we go with three at the back but we’ll see.
Signing a dominant centre back is a must for the Summer though imo.
nine nine nine
Have quietly thought the same myself about going with two strikers, not just for the first ball and second ball as YB points out, but also so when a cross comes in we can have a player run to the near post, the second striker making a run into the middle of the goal and the third striker being provided at the back post from the wing back, like Alonso does. We see so many of our crosses either get cut out at them near post, fizz across the goal or end up at the back post and no one is there.i think the two strikers is a good call.
Touching on Aindro point. To do ell in the premier league, you need players in certain positions that are suited to it. Physical strength at the back is paramount o play against the teams that try to bully you from set pieces, and speed is required against the teams with the nippy forwards. You might not have a playe with both attributes, but you need both types of players in your squad so that you can set up well against your opponent. As was pointed out, a tall defensive midfielder doesn’t go amiss either. Yes, we did have Matic, but remember, we also had amikel who was a vital player in our years of success. When we had Makalele, you would often see Jose bring on Robert Huth late in the game to prepare for the aerial barrage that you knew was going to come from certain teams in the last ten minutes
Thinking about it, I don’t think a lot of clever thought has gone into our player recruitment over the last few years. Player recruitment is key to success, making sure you analyse the premier league opponents, and knowing what type of players you need to be successful in 5e league. During the successful years when we dominated games, we had such a good all round squad with a strong clever forward thatbknew how to score, speedy wingers that also knew how to score, a strong powerful midfield that never used to get bullied, classy half backs and strong goal scoring centre backs. Add to that a a tall strong goalkeeper that commanded his defence and was capable of shot stopping. Taking nothing away from our tactical displays, it is no wonder we were so successful. We know that model worked. Look at our squad now and work out how many of our squad carry the same attributes of the squad we had and then you begin to see where the problem lies.
Chris451
Blues lacking strength
Chris451: we need physical strength in Premier League more than any other leagues. We are lacking that now and I think it’s obvious. Our keeper Kepa and Willy aren’t amongst tall goalkeepers. Azpi and Tomori are short for centrebacks, 178 cm and 185 cm respectively. Christensen is not too tall either, 187 cm but the problem for him is more his toughness. Only Rudiger and Zouma are 190 cm and strong but Zouma’s passing is awkward IMO. Alonso is quite tall 188 cm but his defensive quality is lacking. Our midfielders: all small, including Mount and Barkley. RLC (191 cm) will help in term of physical stature when he will come back. So either we buy a world class centre back (but we already have a lot of CB at the moment), we may want to add more physical strength in the midfield. We may need Ampadu next season.
Nine & Chelsea.man: I think it’s logical that Kepa will start the FA Cup. But for the league, I cannot see him starting again for us this season unless Willy makes a terrible mistake. While not spectacular, Willy has always done the job when called upon since joining Chelsea. Look at his positioning, I think it’s his strong points. Kepa was good last season, I disagree. He’s not bad but he’s not a world beater like Cech or Courtois (who becomes immense for Real). I rate Kepa as our worst goalkeeper since long time. De Goey, Cudicini, Cech, Courtois, all are better keeper than him. As Chris451 pointed out, I think too that we need a tall GK to compete in the Premier League. That’s why I think Onana may be our best choice.
Aindro
Quite right guys we are too short and weak in defence, it’s ok having those kind of players in other areas but we need a taller centre half and keeper, I was never really in favor of buying Kepa purely cause at that time I thought it was far too expensive besides his other short comings. I noticed also we are extremely venerable to crosses whether it’s a set piece or not, hope that problem is urgently solved though don’t now how at the moment.
Notnice
Chris, good post no one bar perhaps Kante and Hazard from last season would have got into those early Abramovich teams. We’ve got to get better at buying look at Liverpool Alisson, Robertson, Van Dijk, Gomez, Mane, Firmino and Salah all great buys and the nucleus of their current CL and PL winning side.
I don’t think you can say Kepa won’t start again for us this season Aindro if he comes in against Liverpool for instance and has a great game he could well start the next game.
The Club won’t want to throw away most of the £70m spent on him which is what will happen if he doesn’t get back to being Number 1 at Chelsea so in an ideal world Kepa finds some form gets back into the Chelsea team but perhaps moves on in the Summer for a half decent fee?
I think you’re right though we do need a taller Keeper with more of a physical presence and Onana fits that bill but so does Pope, Ramsdale and Oblak and a number of others. Time will tell we also need a dominant Centre Back good in the air who can deal with crosses like Maguire did yesterday and is half decent on the ball too.
nine nine nine
999, yes agree! Kante is a good Makalele replacement and Hazard would have been a good replacement for let’s say Joe Cole. Maybe Mason Mount could have the makings of a young Frank, but he needs to start converting his chances more, Pulisic for Robbin and Hudson-Odoi as a young version of Damien Duff, Maybe Loftus Cheek for Ballack, but that’s it isn’t it? Jorginho, Kovacic, Willian, Pedro, Giroud and Alonso are useful and different in their on sort of way, and all are well suited to a coach who wants to play a different style to the style we played back in 2004/5 era. Maybe I have missed one or two, but when you look beyond that the others just don’t cut it do they. Abraham has the makings of being a decent, but he is not the answer on his own. Like most of the best teams, we need a world class striker, which is easier said than done.
Chris451
Chris, after Drogba we had Costa since then we’ve struggled when signing strikers despite often spending big money on the likes of Torres and Morata.
There’s no easy route back to where we were imo it’s about bringing the best of our young players through developing them and moulding them together with some good signings.
Frank’s doing the former but has been prevented from doing the latter and imo he shouldn’t be judged until he’s been allowed to sign some quality players and allowed to mould them together with the exciting young prospects we have.
Of course Frank lacks experience but we all knew that from Roman down when we appointed him allegedly Roman promised Frank time prior to his appointment and I hope he’s true to his word.
There’s too much expectation at Chelsea driven by our previous success imo but given all the circumstances at the start of the season the loss of Hazard, no ability to buy and a rookie PL Manager with the media seemingly now keen to load pressure on Frank as are some of our own fans even on here how many of us would really have predicted we would be in the top 4 in March given all the circumstances very few imo.
We might well not make the top 4 we might not even make the EL but we are going in the right direction imo but Frank’s needs time and a decent Summer window to try and get us back close to where we were.
nine nine nine
In my opinion, we don’t seem to play to the strengths of the current set of strikers we have. for example, when we have Giroud on the pitch, we don’t put crosses into the box for him to feed off, and when we have Michy on the pitch we seem to put crosses into the box and that is the weaker side of Michy, his strengths lie running behind the defences, whereas Giroud’s strengths lie in the air in winning headers as well as exploiting and relishing the physical battle with the defenders. with that in mind, we tend to struggle as we don’t seem to play to the strengths of the strikers we have on the pitch. i hope Frank and his coaching team realise this and work out.
Chelsea.man