Too many 'big head' players in the team - they think they are 'worldclass' players. Too much of dribbling, fancy passing of the ball. MU players dif - a lot of team work. Players position themselves strategically to receive their one-time passing move. Very quickly the ball is moved up to the opponent goal area. Chelsea players like to dribble with the ball, act like Maradona, Pele.....
Perhaps it has more to do with money - or the lack of it, compared to the free-spending days of Jose Mourinho. Back then, strengthening the team meant simply opening the cheque book to buy established stars at exhorbidant prices. We are now seeing the consequences of such a policy, as Chelsea's youth academy has failed to produce a single first team regular, from their ranks, during the past 5 years. Roman Abramovich has decided that the club needs to be self-sufficient, instead of continuing to rely on him to fund their success. However, the Blues are finding that competing on a more level-playing field is more difficult than they imagined.
Chelsea have been throwing huge amounts of money at their problems, & for the most part, have been solving these problems through the acquisition of star players, which money can buy. Now that they need to be more self-sufficient, they may finally be waking up to the idea that Luiz Felipe Scolari is not such an astute coach after all. How good are the coaches of the Big 4 without the huge war chests they have been having easy access to these past few years?
Got a lot to do with the coach! Compare the current England coach with previous ones. Almost the same set of players but they are performing differently under the new coach.... 'Star' players got no place in the team.
While I agree that the coach has a major part to play in the success of a team, how many Fabio Capellos are there around? Even David Moyes, with his immense talent in bringing out the best in his charges, can only go so far with the journeymen under him at Everton. While we are on the subject, how good are the managers of teh Big 4 clubs anyway? Can they achieve success without the wealth to recruit the best players over the past few years & maintain such huge squads?
I believe there have been some arrivals & departures since Mourinho's time at Chelsea. Playing personnel have also changed, with the introduction of Deco, & Drogba being a fixture on the bench rather than on the field. Of course the coach plays a part, but some of the staff are in decline or have lost form or the will to play for the team.
January 13, 2009 Tuesday, 04:08 AM
