Chelsea’s Gameplan for January [Part III] - Wingers and Strikers

This article is the third part of Chelsea’s strategy for January regarding its Wingers and Strikers. The earlier two parts are as follows:

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/01/09/chelseas-game-plan-for-january-part-i-goalkeeping-and-defense/

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/01/09/chelseas-gameplan-for-january-part-ii-midfielders/

The Article on Wingers and Strikers are usually the most popular as people always link their favorite player to Chelsea or plead to Chelsea in forums to buy them without any reasonable justification. Usually the motto is simple: If the player doesn’t score,then SELL HIM(you-know-who). If the player has been getting hits on youtube or another club is interested in him,then buy him.

It should be noted that Chelsea are looking at a evolution and not a revolution for the nth time. Utilizing the talent of the existing players to the optimum remains the crux of the situation. The problem in this area remains that almost all of the players are usually played out of position. Some of them adapt very quickly while others remain frustrated with the subpar performance. Here’s analyzing the remaining players from the Chelsea squad:

Juan MataAVB knows in the back of his mind that ,if it weren’t for Mata, Chelsea would be somewhere in the Middle of the League and that he would meet the same fate as the earlier coaches. Mata, easily the signing of the season, has single handedly used all the creativity to save Chelsea from the murky waters. Apart from his trickery, Mata has also portrayed honesty in his play by not resorting to cheap tactics such as diving which usually come hand in hand with trickery in this day of age. Being involved in the majority of goals Chelsea has scored this season,the fans are already proclaiming him to be the New Zola. But being the only creative figure in the team at the moment, AVB should make sure that his services aren’t lost due to in jury or suspension.

Verdict: The Only player to cement his place in the squad, AVB needs another player who could ease the pressure off him. Mata is better playing a free /Gerardesque role than a Left winger.

The only creative force for Chelsea

Florent Malouda: Malouda’s forms changes as frequently as his hairstyles. Although he was the top scorer for Chelsea, he was largely blamed for his lack of form during Chelsea’s slump last season. Now with Mata already cementing his place in the left wing, Malouda now finds himself on the bench. Malouda,though a bit selfish with the ball, is still a quality player. Thus, he would be better off playing fewer games, like Man Utd’s Park Jee Sung, but having a larger impact. Using him as a wildcard will bring an element of suprise in the starting XI also.

Still as awesome as his hairstyle?

Verdict: Flo Mo has stated his desire to stay at Chelsea but now is unhappy with the chances he gets. Chelsea should be satisfied with even 8 million for him. Otherwise a good squad player and can rule the flanks if AVB decides to play Mata in a free role.

Solomon Kalou: It seems Kalou has been at Chelsea for eternity. The Ivory Coast man, just 26 years of age has helped Chelsea scrape out wins time and again. But maybe first team action was never meant to be for him. Every time Chelsea gave Kalou an opportunity to start, he would fade away before the 90 minutes. Kalou’s strength has been in being a super sub but with Lukaku waiting in line, Chelsea would need to think in a long term prospective by choosing Lukaku over Kalou.

Verdict: Kalou will not get a start with Lukaku and Sturridge fighting for the Right wing which shows evidently as he is hardly included in the squad. Nonetheless, Chelsea should give him a respectful farewell to this soldier and sell him to a place at which he will be happy at and get some more game time. The bid amount does not matter as long as Kalou is happy. Thats the least Chelsea can do to return the favour.

Didier Drogba: The man is a legend. A joy to watch for the spectators and a fun filled character in the dressing room. Drogba, along with Lampard,Cech and Terry has been responsible for catapulting Chelsea among the top teams in the first place. However the only problem with Drogba is his inability to adjust to a given formation. Even after buying Anelka, one of the best strikers at that time, Drogba’s inclusion forced Anelka to play as a winger. Today with Torres and Sturridge in the team, Drogba hasn’t been able to play alongside them. Playing in a 4-3-3 formation was a forte for Drogba,wherein he had displaced even great strikers such as Crespo and Gudjohnsen. But today he finds himself becoming a liability for Chelsea at a time when the Manager is going all out to try something new.

Drogba hogging the limelight in Bosingwa's pic

Prima facie, Chelsea know that Torres and Sturridge will be the long term prospect, and not Drogba. However, Drogba’s motivation is such that he is ready to fight out for his place. Since Torres is not really firing all cylinders at the moment and Sturridge hasn’t been partnered with Torres in a satisfactory formation,selling Drogba is not a very wise move. And treating a legend in this manner certainly won’t go down well with his fans either.

Verdict: It looks like matter of time when Drogba will make a big money move to another league to secure his financials and end his career on a high. However, it should be Drogba’s decision alone and not Chelsea who instigate it. Drogba should be kept at least till the end of the season.

Fernando Torres: The reason why most readers have opened the article is to read the views regarding this man. Finally Torres’ confidence is building and he has been more involved in the games than in the earlier seasons. Haters would love to make Torres a scapegoat because he hasn’t scored many goals while the pseudo intellect experts would give you ridiculous reasons as to why Torres is not scoring. In reality, Torres has slightly changed his position by not making those threatening runs but instead trying to create chances for his teammates. Again, due to less creative heads in the midfield, Torres has tactically moulded himself to help the team, even though he would face more criticism. However the counter argument can be that he doesn’t have the pace or the confidence and so is trying to change his stance. The later argument would have been valid had not Torres performed so brilliantly against Wolves and more recently against Sunderland. Torres is getting sharper and sharper every match and nobody is ready to write him off just yet.

Verdict: The man is here to stay. He would have to carry the 50mil tag everytime but now his growing confidence and the backing of the fans have made it a lot easier to get him settled.Now with Sturridge back after injury, it is going to be a treat for the eyes if these two work out well.

Daniel Sturridge: When a player displaces the likes of Anelka,Drogba and Torres to cement his place in a team, then the player will get a thumbs up from every football fan, irrespective of his club loyalties. Just a matter of time till the boy-wonder for Chelsea makes regular starts for England. There has been speculation about him but it can be safely brushed aside. Also being Home Grown as per the rules, Daniel has shown his versatility to score 10 goals even though he plays on the flanks. AVB should now focus on the partnership of Sturridge and Torres so that they can attain new heights

Verdict: A sure starter. If a player can play out of position to score 10 goals, how many can he score as a striker?

Lukaku: A great prospect but with so little gametime, he needs to be loaned out, preferably an English team so he can adjust to the football culture here.

Verdict: It is decided as per rumours that Lukaku will be loaned out. It’s a matter of time to see if this striker can replicate the success of Sturridge with his loan spells.

The Glass is half Empty: It is very difficult to decide the formation in this case because what theoretically seems right is usually disastrous practically on the pitch. Theoretically Chelsea would have won the League due to its Tactical coach and experienced players but practically, only a mathematical calculation sees them win the league.In an ideal and long term prospective Chelsea need to play Torres and Sturridge upfront with Mata in a free role behind them. With Ramires making dashing runs from midfield and Lampard being at the Right place at the Right time, the picture looks very pretty indeed. Goals galore you say? Not Really..

Fast and the Furious? Awesome Combo

The problem is that Chelsea don’t have a creative head other than Mata who can provide the quality crosses. And the bigger problem is that everyone wants to be the player who puts the ball at the back of the net. Which forces players like Torres to play deeper so that he himself can provide those crosses for others.Chelsea’s possession has been very low, having been outpassed in games against Man City, Man Utd,Valencia,Leverkusen and even recently at Wigan.In simple terms, Chelsea have Torres,Sturridge,Ramires,Mata and Lampard, all of whom try to score goals from inside the Box while Mereiles/Romue guard the defensive four. This means incase of a counter attack, Chelsea can rely only on a few players to retrieve the ball. The equation goes haywire again because, though Luiz and Bosingwa make forward surges,they are not skilled enough to backtrack to retrieve the ball. The high defensive line is also causing huge gaps between the defenders and the goalkeeper and sometimes we need to depend on Midfielders like Ramires to help us clear the area.Cahill’s signing has solved just one of the problems for Chelsea and now its upto them if they would want to make further amends.

Drink it or Fill the Cup?Filling the cup looks as a better option than just being satisfied with their disposal because, at the moment, Chelsea is still vying for all the Trophies. With the number of games remaining to be played, the top priority now would be to find another creative head to ease the pressure of Mata. Chelsea cannot buy players as they would have liked in previous seasons because of the applicability of Home Grown rules as well as the FFP Rules. The best option for them would be to buy either a Winger or a Creative Central Midfielder. Someone like a Benayoun type, but younger. Chelsea bought Benayoun with the same motives in mind, but unfortunately he isn’t the player he used to be.

Unlike the previous parts, squad formations have not been covered in this article as most of our players have been erratic. The formation would be changed due to factors such as the goalscoring form of Lampard, the workrate of Meireles and the fitness of Essien.

One thing for sure: Mata,Ramires, Sturridge and Torres(Yes, Torres) are sure starters. That leaves only 2 places vacant for Lampard,Meireles ,Essien and Romue.(Malouda and Mikel wont make it in the first team) At the moment, it boils down to only 2 options:

Option 1: Chelsea do not buy any player in this WindowPlaying either Romue or Essien as a defensive midfielder is a definite Yes as they would help Chelsea retain possession.This is a higher priority for them at the moment because they have plenty of attacking prowess in the Starting XI. The option between Lampard or Meireles would depend on the situation.Lampard is more useful when the strikers are not performing or are in dire need of goals and motivation. Whereas if Chelsea need to get across a packed 5 man midfield to keep possession or deal with counter attacks, they would rely on the services of Meireles. The examples are not very refined, but an overview of the benchmarks used by AVB when selecting the squad.

Option 2: Chelsea buys a creative midfielder or a winger on the Right Flank

This will change the whole formation as Sturridge will get to play as an out an out striker, which is his forte. Depending on whether a winger or a creative central midfielder is bought, the midfield will have to be changed accordingly. Since Chelsea isn’t selling any midfielders contending for a starting place, they would have to face the fact that Lampard would be used lesser than usual. The new player bought will be expected to not only fill Lampard’s shoes in terms of goal scoring, but also to deliver quality crosses for the strikers.

The entry of Essien has changed the whole equation as he is as good as a new signing for Chelsea. Still its better to get in at least one more player, so that if Mata gets injured or suspended, Chelsea still have another talisman.With important Champions League games coming up and a even a Top 4 Spot still unsecured for Chelsea, it would be advisable if they dig deep into their pockets for better quality players who can serve them for a long term. Having learnt its lessons the harsh way, it wont be suprising if Chelsea buy players who would be value for their money, thus shattering dreams of those handful people who would have to wait until the next transfer window to randomly associate players with Chelsea.