coogar: buhahahaha - coming from a twerp that said no striker @ the age of 22 has won a tournament or cup competition - i find the above comment absolutely ironic!

nateevs: How you guys have the patience to argue with Dayo beats my imagination.

Ibime: The boy Oscar really locked down pirlo. Outhustled him and rendered him less of a factor. Apart from the goals his work ethic was encouraging. Always like attacking midfielders that hustle. Hazard is hustling small small as well but Mata needs to stop acting scared

dayokanu:

How about backing your own arguments with FACTS.

everyone ese on the field was to blame even those not on the field except Failure Torres

dayokanu:
Show us one country or club who won a tournament with a 22yr old main striker.

Put up or shut up.
No be today I don dey school you on football

coogar:

how old was pele in 1958/62 world cup he won for brazil?
how old was rooney when he won the champions league in 2008?
how old was messi when he won the champions league in 2009?
how old was fat ronaldo when he won copa america in 2007?
your idiocy in micro watts would solve all electricity problems in 3rd world nations!!

dayokanu:
Younger and inexperienced attackers are preferred? By whom if I may ask?

Name any country who has won the World cup starting with an inexperienced striker or less than 22..

How many countries have won the Euro cup starting with a striker less than inexperienced striker or striker less than 22.

How many teams have won the Champions league starting with an inexperienced striker or young striker less than 22.

You are a saphead for even spewing such rubbish.

dayokanu:
1 Pele was not the main striker for Brazil in 1958

2 Rooney was 23yrs in 2008

3. Messi was not the top striker in Barcelona 2009, Etoo was.
More schooling?

nateevs:



What do you want me to blame Torres for?

Ibime:

You and your online friends have no clue. The greatest decision RDM ever made, which was key to all our success last season was moving Ramires out wide. Ramires has never been a central midfielder, and does not have the slightest iota how to play that position, especially not in a midfield two. Ma gripe is with Emenalo who signed all these wingers perhaps thinking of Ramires as a central midfielder. Ramires shoulda been sold for top-dollar (£25m+) if Emenalo wanted to sign so many wingers.

Average passes per game last season shows Ramires is not in any way a credible central midfielder:


Dribbling stats however show his best position as he made more dribbles than anyone per game.

IB u're really tryin' to make a sensible point and ya Stats are Genuinely Correct but HEY! All that were Last Season, Ramy is Prolly a shadow of his true self tis season so far.
Our Right side of attack seem to be Dead Jxt cos the dude aint devourin' those Lbs - He's got pace that i know but keeps running outta ideas when faced by a def, key Reason he had to be Subed in the Reading, QpR [moved to CM] and Yet Juve games.
Tellin' displays ve seen frm him so far, aint Jxt encouraging, Moses Only had few mins to show him how itz been done against a vulnerable Bosingwa at the weekend.

One Big Reason Nateevs and I would sought for that 'flickster' kinda players - Truth Is, they never Run Outta Ideas!

El Guapo:

IB u're really tryin' to make a sensible point and ya Stats are Genuinely Correct but HEY! All that were Last Season, Ramy is Prolly a shadow of his true self tis season so far.
Our Right side of attack seem to be Dead Jxt cos the dude aint devourin' those Lbs - He's got pace that i know but keeps running outta ideas when faced by a def, key Reason he had to be Subed in the Reading, QpR [moved to CM] and Yet Juve games.
Tellin' displays ve seen frm him so far, aint Jxt encouraging, Moses Only had few mins to show him how itz been done against a vulnerable Bosingwa at the weekend.

One Big Reason Nateevs and I would sought for that 'flickster' kinda players - Truth Is, they never Run Outta Ideas!

scottN: RDM shld start acting as a dynamic coach and read games as they progress.
I think he shld hv choked up d midfield a little bit more with abt 15 mins 2 go.
(He shld hv replaced torres with a DM). He shld stop waiting
till d very last minute b4 acting.

In all fairness the team performed well above standard considering the opponent they faced and our
present crop of players with respect to Champs League Football.
RDM needs 2 start acting like a coach of Champions.

debosky: Whenever the any problems are solely caused by someone else without your favourite's involvement, I smell bootlicking from miles away.

Are we supposed to believe RDM had no input into who Chelski bought this summer (including the lack of a DM purchase) and put that all at Emenalo's feet?

If the team lacks balance then it is RDM's fault that the team lacks balance - while he may not have 100% say on player signings, if he requests a particular player it is implausible to think that request would simply be ignored. That simply suggests that he is more or less happy with the 'unbalanced' team, as at no time in the summer was Chelski linked with DMs.

As for this hyping of RDM's tactical performance last season, I'll take the actual players' comments instead - even they recognised it was simply 'Chelski's time' to win the UCL, not that they were the best team or used the best tactics.

I'm not trying to denigrate RDM's contribution by any means, but things need to be viewed in perspective.

lalaboi: Who outplays Barca nowadays in terms of possession? WHo does't get enough men behind the ball nowadays whilst playing barca? who?

coogar:

28%?? 28??

Ibime: Eediots like to hang unto a lacklustre performance against Bayern as evidence of "luck over tactics". They forget that we had half our first team out, no wingers except Kalou, two centre-backs who had not even trained for 6 weeks and could not break into a sprint who needed tight protection. RDM is a genius for what he achieved last season.

As for the punk claiming RDM has all the input into the squad, everyone except Oscar, Azilicueta and Moses were signed before RDM came on board and all three were in negotiation before RDM signed. RDM has no input into the squad, he is just a coach, and this is made clear by the 2 months of dithering before they gave him a contract, letting us know who is really in charge of the squad.

Emenalo thinks Ramires is some kind of God-footballer and touted him as the best thing since sliced bread and signed him to replace Ballack. In 2012, Emenalo still thinks Ramires is a central midfielder and signs a million wingers thinking that Ramires, Mikel, Romeu and Lampard is enough central cover.

Knowing RDM's tactical nature and his instinct for never giving away any opportunity (as evidenced by patching Ramires and Bertrand to provide defensive balance), RDM can never go into a season thinking that the current defensive midfielders will provide adequate cover for defence-deserters like Marin, Hazard, Torres and Mata.

My problem is with the sudden know-it-alls who populate cyberspace these days, talking all kind of stuff about RDM's tactical decisions to provide balance.

debosky:
Is it Emenalo that persists with playing Ramires in each game or the coach that can do no wrong? Answers on a postcard please.

debosky:
Di Matteo’s trademark 4-2-3-1 system resulted in the Dons receiving regular praised on their expansive style and attacking footballing swagger.

This is what the West Brom chairman after he was unceremoniously sacked:

Di Matteo was praised for his commitment to attacking football, yet Peace said in a statement that the board had lost confidence in his ability to pull the club out of its tailspin.

More evidence - this is what is on RDM's profile on soccernet: While the Blues received criticism for their negative approach in the Champions League, it was not representative of Di Matteo's philosophy.

This phat phool now wants to convince us that he 'knows' RDM's tactical nature and 'instinct' is not to give anything away. RDM that went gung-ho at OT and was trying to outscore United while at West Brom. The same tactical nature that ensured that Athletico Madrid wiped the floor with his side in the Super Cup. Nigga please.

Ibime:

Ramires would never blend with the tricksters cos he's only good at counterattacking from deep, not when Chelsea have possession. His job in a Brazil midfield 3 (before he was discarded) was to stay on the right side and cover Dani Alves as a shuttling midfielder/auxiliary right-wing-back..

Ramires as stands has little role in the team. We have a DM who can pass brilliantly (Mikel) but is too slow to cover the counterattacks. On the other hand, we have a midfielder (Ramires) who can cover with pace and aggression but lacks basic passing ability. If Mikel loses the ball (as seen yesterday), it is highlighted by the fact that it would lead to a dangerous situation. Imagine Ramires losing the ball 9, 10 times in that position of the pitch?

Ramires shoulda been sold last summer, otherwise do not buy Azpilicueta and use Ramires as right-back. Dude is actually sick in that position as he showed against Barca.

Yet another Good point raised by arguably my NL favorite poster.

Well technically, that doesn't make him an ideal marksman at that right flank irrespective of the fact that he provides cover and support to our RB and Midfield.

Are we goin' to stick to a strategy of covering the Rb and Midfield Jxt cos we dont wanna concede? Thereby rendering the right flank Dead?

If Yes, then of What Value are our Rbs and Midfielders that are payed on weekly basis?

IMO, Deploring Ramy to the Right for such assignments should only be in games like Yesterday's; games that are strictly down to tactics, not against a QPR team that had Fabio and latter Bosingwa at the left full back.

We wanna play good football, be creative and score goals YES! But that aint gon happen if we keep havin' Ramy and Bertrand at the Flanks Shikena!

coogar:

rdm's tactical performance or bayern munich are rubbish? chelsea are the most undeserved winners of the champions league ever. packed the bus against barca and packed the bus against bayern! had the final been a boxing bout, the referee would have stopped the game as early as the 60th minute and declared bayern as the winner..........

yes, rdm got more out of the quack employees he inherited but that style of football should not be hailed as any tactical ingenuity. even in the real world, smash-n-grab is a criminal offence. chelsea did not win in europe out of any tactical innovation, they simply packed the van - 28% possession in both legs against barcelona is an effing disgrace to the credentials of di matteo!

Ibime:
Eerm. . . the reason why RDM has NEVER played Ramires in central midfield. . . Emenalo bought him as a central midfielder, sees him as a central midfielder, and like I said, signed all these wingers with the thought that Ramires is a central midfielder. . . RDM sees him as a winger, another proof of his insight and another proof that Emenalo is behind signing policy.

Tell that to the magans who keep claiming RDM is too defensive, not me. I dont need "schooling" on RDM history.

The RDM who brings on Bertrand and Ramires for attacking wingers is obviously the RDM we are talking about, not the RDM who plays gung-ho footie. I wish Wenger could learn quickly and become as astute as RDM

El Guapo:

Mr ITK what does ya Lexicon define the term 'Tactics' as?

He packed the bus to get what he needed and it yielded dividends and u claim its not tactical ingenuity - Lemme keep seeing ya stale old gaffer come up with his outdated 4-4-2 against Barca and keep gerrin' disgraced.

debosky:


It appears you've either forgotten or were typing bollocks up there - RDM's instincts/natural tactical leaning is to be attacking, not 'preventing any opportunity of giving anything away'. To claim otherwise is unadulterated nonsense.



Wenger applied the same tactical astuteness over 6 years ago in 2005 to win the FA cup and in 2006 till we narrowly lost out to Barca due to a red card. As always, luck plays a big part in winning cups and that's what RDM had.