Official Chelsea FC Thread

[J-Mezzy]

I don't see Mata as a RW. Why not play him at 10 and let Oscar be the RW?

[5DOM]

Jose likes inverted wingers and Mata's the only left-footed attacking midfielder we have. As for why Oscar has to be the #10:

"It's part of a process with him, too. It is one thing to play with Ramires and Oscar closing down opponents on each side, and Mata as a No10 behind a striker with his clever assists, clever passes and fantastic actions because he has great talent. But it is another thing to adapt to the way we want to play. In this moment, Oscar is my No10 and, if anyone tells me Oscar has not been Chelsea's best player this season, I'd have to disagree. I have to prove to the fans that I am good. Now [Mata] must do the same."

Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard featured regularly last season as an attacking trident behind a lone forward, and there remains the scope for that trio to be restored. "But only when [Mata] adapts to what we want," Mourinho said. "I'm not ready to ask Oscar to track opposing full-backs. Brazil has more talented players in the No10 position than any other country in the world, and he plays there for the national team, so I want to build with Oscar as my No10. I want the other two players, from the side, to adapt to that reality and learn how to do things they were not ready to do before.

[treiz]

I don't see Mata as a RW. Why not play him at 10 and let Oscar be the RW?

He was essentially our RW the first season he was here and played that position outside (LW and RW) for Valencia, if anybody's capable of it it's Mata. Certainly trust him much more than Oscar out wide.

Mata is probably the best we have for that position too, especially with what Mourinho likes to do with his wingers

[J-Mezzy]

I understand what Mou is trying to do, but I wouldn't say Brazil has the most talented 10s in the world. I would put Germany and Spain over Brazil quite easily. I never saw Mata at Valencia, so I was unaware of his experience as a RW. The thing is that he is behind the curve as a RW since Mou seems to prefer De Bruyne and Schurrle on the wing.

Mata is not a selfish guy, but I doubt he will be ok with this situation for much longer. Juan was one of the 5 best players in the EPL last year and now he is reduced to being a bench guy. I hope we can work this out, I would hate to lose him.

[fatlever]

you have to give it to mou, he has always had big balls. how many other managers in the world could have come and benched mata?

i love that oscar is being groomed as our #10 for the future. as mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, oscar is my favorite player at chelsea right now. i think we are much more versatile with oscar than we are with mata. that is no disrespect to mata because he is a pure wizard and has been amazing the past two years, but he really limits what you can do with a team because of his liabilities defensively. perhaps there is still time for mata to reinvent his game as a winger. if not he will either be the greatest back up #10 in the world or we will get a ton of money for him in january or next summer.

anyone have a solid guess at the lineup tomorrow?

what i expect to see tomorrow
-------------cech
ivan----cahill--terry----cole
------ram------lamps
schurrle-oscar-hazard
-------------etoo

i hate that debruyne has not been given many minutes lately. i really thought he was ready to be a big part of the team this year, even ahead of schurrle. now with willian on the squad and schurrle ahead of him, debruyne seems to be the odd man out in the midfield. how long do you think he will be content with watching from the bench? being a world cup year, i would expect him to push for a loan in january if he still isnt getting any minutes. then again, if mata leaves, that changes everything.

the other odd men out - essien, azpi and bertrand - do any of these guys start making waves soon? i honestly still have no idea why azpi isnt getting minutes here and there. i love ivan to death, but i wouldnt play him 90 mins at right back every single game. he is a bad matchup vs some teams. i read somewhere that perhaps mou prefers ivan do to his ability to deal with set pieces on defense, especially since cole is a bit small as well. mou isnt comfortable with two smaller fullbacks. i dont see essien getting any minutes outside of the FA and league cup. its a shame because i thought he looked pretty good in preseason.

good luck picking a half decent striker. chelsea, where strikers not named drogba go to die. that should be the club's new motto.

[fatlever]

I don't see Mata as a RW. Why not play him at 10 and let Oscar be the RW?

He was essentially our RW the first season he was here and played that position outside (LW and RW) for Valencia, if anybody's capable of it it's Mata. Certainly trust him much more than Oscar out wide.

Mata is probably the best we have for that position too, especially with what Mourinho likes to do with his wingers

im thinking that mou just doesnt trust mata defensively on the wing as much as some others, like schurrle and perhaps willian and maybe kdb or even ram.

[fatlever]

back to oscar for a minute... while i am happy that mou is giving him the #10 role (at least for now), i was really always hoping that oscar would eventually be groomed for a deeper role in the midfield, either one of the pivot midfielders or lamps role in a 4-3-3.

and speaking of a 4-3-3, if mata is being marginalized, why not spend more time in a 4-3-3? i always thought that mata was the main reason we spent so much time in a 4-2-3-1 the past year and a half despite not having an adequate pivot.

i always liked a future midfield 4-3-3 of
------------------------------mikel (mvg/chalobah)
-------------ram (essien/chalobah)----oscar(lamps/mceacheran)
schrurrle/kdb/moses---------------------hazard (willian/moses)
--------------------------------lukaku (????)


sell mata to generate some cash for a premier striker or a premier defensive mid and replacement for cole.

speaking of chalobah, would his best place in a 4-3-3 be the role of the deepest defensive mid or more of a box to box guy? what about mvg?

am i crazy?

[J-Mezzy]

The problem with benching Mata is that you might be hurting his market value. He is worth $50 million, but are teams really gonna pay that much for a guy who spent much of the season on the bench?

We better get a striker if we sell him.

[kakaman]

^ His market value will be great because it's not one of those situations where he has a preferred destination, he's going to go to the highest bidder. I can see PSG, Monaco, etc throwing big cash at him. Ironically, he's exactly what United need, but there's no way Mou will see him to a rival.

[treiz]

I don't see Mata as a RW. Why not play him at 10 and let Oscar be the RW?

He was essentially our RW the first season he was here and played that position outside (LW and RW) for Valencia, if anybody's capable of it it's Mata. Certainly trust him much more than Oscar out wide.

Mata is probably the best we have for that position too, especially with what Mourinho likes to do with his wingers

im thinking that mou just doesnt trust mata defensively on the wing as much as some others, like schurrle and perhaps willian and maybe kdb or even ram.

I agree with you completely, I'm just explaining how Mata would be better served down the wing in comparison to Oscar since he's played a lot there during his career and has what Mourinho would prefer down that side.

I don't trust Mata defensively too, but I think that's what Mourinho wants to teach these 'young eggs'

[5DOM]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/381354630174605312[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/381484355966607360[/tweet]

Outdone.

[Double Helix]

It takes time for a manager to stamp his preferred style on his team. The transition may not be without serious growing pains but we all have to think big picture here. If Mourinho is able to lay a foundation while also fast tracking the development of the teams best young players then perhaps we'll all look back on this and see that the tough love and tough decisions were worth it.

Let's hope so. I hope Mata adjusts. It would be nice to see him try.

[fatlever]

MIKEL!!!!!!!!!

mikel was great even before the goal. lets hope this game today solidifies his spot as the first name in the pivot each week.

im about over the eto'o experiment after 3 games. give torres a run of games.

[J-Mezzy]

So Eto'o will eventually become the 10th.

Who are the other 9? Mikel, Drogba, Essien, Kalou, Stein, Moses??? Who else?

[5DOM]

MIKEL!!!!!!!!!

mikel was great even before the goal. lets hope this game today solidifies his spot as the first name in the pivot each week.

im about over the eto'o experiment after 3 games. give torres a run of games.

I thought Ramires and Mikel were both poor in the first half, Ramires especially with his distribution. In the second half, Mikel got forward a lot more than he usually does for us, and that's something I would like to see more of as he's great for his country in a more advanced role.

I don't know what to feel about Eto'o. He makes decent runs and does seem to work reasonably hard, but I've never thought for one second he would score today. It seems to be the common theme with our strikers though.

So Eto'o will eventually become the 10th.

Who are the other 9? Mikel, Drogba, Essien, Kalou, Stein, Moses??? Who else?

Weah, Geremi, Babayaro, Moses, Drogba, Essien, Kalou, Mikel, Ba

[J-Mezzy]

Damn, completely forgot about Ba. How could I?

Would you guys be open to swapping Mata + 10 million for Falcao? That would be an ideal scenario for us since Mata is now on the bench and we are still having striker issues.

[fatlever]

I thought Ramires and Mikel were both poor in the first half, Ramires especially with his distribution. In the second half, Mikel got forward a lot more than he usually does for us, and that's something I would like to see more of as he's great for his country in a more advanced role.

i guess i just feel safe with mikel out there. he still has his flaws for certain - like you mentioned, his passing can leave a bit to be desired at times and he can play a bit slow. however, based on our current options and mou wanting to play 4-2-3-1, i am happy when i see mikel's name on the team sheet in league games and CL games.

[fatlever]

we should get a good look at the forgotten players in the midweek cup game

i have a pretty good feeling we will see this team + a striker. which striker should get the run midweek? i could see cases made for all 3 of them. maybe give eto'o another chance to get his first goal with the team and hopefully get him going.

----------------schwarzer
azpi-----cahill--------luiz-----bertrand
---------essien-------van ginkel
---debruyne-----mata-----willian
--------------------eto'o

bench: cech, ivan, ram, lamps, hazard, schurrle, torres

is kalas still out? any other youth that should be in the bench instead?

[kakaman]

Damn, completely forgot about Ba. How could I?

Would you guys be open to swapping Mata + 10 million for Falcao? That would be an ideal scenario for us since Mata is now on the bench and we are still having striker issues.

I'm not sure Mata would want to go from winning titles to just picking up a paycheck. I think PSG is probably the most realistic location for him, although United is the most ideal, but it will not happen.

[J-Mezzy]

Damn, completely forgot about Ba. How could I?

Would you guys be open to swapping Mata + 10 million for Falcao? That would be an ideal scenario for us since Mata is now on the bench and we are still having striker issues.

I'm not sure Mata would want to go from winning titles to just picking up a paycheck. I think PSG is probably the most realistic location for him, although United is the most ideal, but it will not happen.

You never know. Mata doesn't seem like a greedy guy, but money makes a big difference to some players. Besides, he will keep winning titles on the national team. I do agree with you though, PSG seems like a logical destination for him.