Chelsea

[Tyler]

Cech _ Two howlers in a couple of weeks

Interesting to see if he disintegrates ala Beasant

 

Shevchenko starting to score in the absence of Drogba

 

Lampard - is he seriously injured

 

Mourinho bought some rubbish when in charge considering the budget they had

 

can seem them tested now in absence of terry, carvalho, african cup players

 

honeymoon period for grant ending

 

 

interesting to see who they bring in in january/next summer

[Magic8Ball]

Rumour has it - Anelka will be brought in

 

But I think we've caught up with Chelsea, its Arsenal and Man U we need to catch up too now

[Florist Cinema Pond Goal]

Mourinho bought some rubbish when in charge considering the budget they had

 

Who? Kezman aside I'm struggling to think of a dud signing sanctioned by Mourinho; it's obvious Shevchenko was not his choice. Two titles in three years suggests he bought and sold well. The problems arose when trying to integrate players not of his choice and attempting to appease his superiors with promises of more attractive football.

Edited December 27, 2007 by Florist Cinema Pond Goal

[growler]

obi wan mikelbe

kalou

swapping cole for Gallas

Ben Tal Haim

Sidwell

Parker

'super sub' SwP

Ferriera

Benneti (sp?)

del horno

 

off the top off my head.

[Clay Davis]

I actually think Lampards been in good form recently

[Florist Cinema Pond Goal]

obi wan mikelbe - how is he a flop?

kalou - not a flop

swapping cole for Gallas - Mourinho allegedly was livid it was allowed to go through

Ben Tal Haim - reportedly didn't want him but got him anyway

Sidwell - free transfer, a squad player

Parker - decent enough player who didn't get games, not sure he's the 'rubbish' the initial poster was alluding to

'super sub' SwP - not done a lot wrong

Ferriera - an ok first season, indifferent later but hardly rubbish

Benneti (sp?) - Belletti? not done a lot wrong thus far

del horno - never really settled, would give you that one

[Greenoak]

Ballack what a total ****

 

Diving all over the place and as for the deliberate elbow into Barrys face.

[Guest DanTheDaggerman]

Boulahrouz was pretty poor.

[Hassony]

Hiliario (even though he is free, still a s**** keeper)

[StevieC]

Paulo Ferreira cost a fortune yet is complete w@nk.

 

Grant seems to have the same 'they're all against us' mentality as his predecessor. The twunt.

[Rimbeux]

Anyone from Portugal, Essien and Drogba are Mourinho-led, anyone from PSV or Holland are 'club' signings. What you can say is that had they bought to the excellent side of averagely rather than the poor side of averagely in general, I think they'd be incredible. Money has allowed them to make errors and go big again, still left them unbalanced.

[Hassony]

Grant seems to have the same 'they're all against us' mentality as his predecessor. The twunt.

Grant comes across as a bit of an idiot

 

Carlvahro apologized for his tackle yesterday and grant still defend it saying it wasn't a red card!

[Benitez]

Who? Kezman aside I'm struggling to think of a dud signing sanctioned by Mourinho; it's obvious Shevchenko was not his choice. Two titles in three years suggests he bought and sold well. The problems arose when trying to integrate players not of his choice and attempting to appease his superiors with promises of more attractive football.

 

 

come on! Considering he had an unlimited fund of dosh, he didn't half waste a lot of it on some indifferent players and players he couldn't even figure out what to do with or players who just didn't fit his team's 'style'. Not that it matters one bit, if you have the money to waste in the first place. But his transfer dealings where one of the weakest points of his time at Chelsea, which may well be why Abramovich took that power away from him in the end. You don't have to make excuses for him, Maurenho had plenty positives in his time there, much of his transfer dealings wasn't one of them.

[Florist Cinema Pond Goal]

come on! Considering he had an unlimited fund of dosh, he didn't half waste a lot of it on some indifferent players and players he couldn't even figure out what to do with or players who just didn't fit his team's 'style'. Not that it matters one bit, if you have the money to waste in the first place. But his transfer dealings where one of the weakest points of his time at Chelsea, which may well be why Abramovich took that power away from him in the end. You don't have to make excuses for him, Maurenho had plenty positives in his time there, much of his transfer dealings wasn't one of them.

 

 

Of his first season signings:

 

Kezman - flopped but no loss when moved on

Drogba - great signing

Carvalho - great signing

Ferreira - a player Mourinho obviously knew would do a reliable job having bought him at Porto, but simply wasn't worth the money they paid

Tiago - 21 league starts in a title winning season, an ideal squad player

 

Thereafter it's uncertain as to which transfers can be attributed to Mourinho and which to Arnesen, de Visser and Abramovich's multitude of advisors.

 

On identifying the need to sign a centre back in January he was offered Ben Haim, recommended to Abramovich by Grant. Mourinho didn't want him, the deal fell through and he played Essien, a player thought to be a Mourinho recommendation, as a centre back. Of course a few relative blunders in the market were made, which top manager hasn't signed a Josemi, but in the end the players you say he didn't know how to fit in were on the whole players bought on decisions out of his hands.

 

On Mourinho's ability to identify and sign up effective players I'd also factor in his transfer record at Porto where through 4-5 convincing signings he turned Porto into domestic champions much like he did at Chelsea. It wasn't just down to coaching but an eye for the right player.

[Guest PaulMcC]

His record of buying players was s*** for Chelsea.

[stressederic]

I still find it amazing that Chelsea don't have that much strength in depth.

 

They've got real problems now. Cech doesn't look fully fit. Terry is out, Carvalho and Cole suspended, Lampard is confirmed out injured for a few weeks, and Drogba might just make it back to fitness in time for the African Cup of Nations.

[Magic8Ball]

chelsea can buy themselves out of trouble - (wish we could ) but they've not been the same since they lost their wingers Duff and Robben. Seems to be that we've just about caught up with Chelsea ( they still have Drogba on us) but are trailing Man Utd in terms of players who can change a game

[Rimbeux]

chelsea can buy themselves out of trouble - (wish we could ) but they've not been the same since they lost their wingers Duff and Robben. Seems to be that we've just about caught up with Chelsea ( they still have Drogba on us) but are trailing Man Utd in terms of players who can change a game

 

 

Chances are Drogba is in his last season, big possibility that Lampard and Carvalho are also, so they might at well look to bed in the replacements and sort the team out to start next season strong and concentrate on the PL.

[crisps]

When Abramovich took over and they were splashing the cash everywhere, i really thought they'd have created an almost untouchable team. Just goes to show!

[Magic8Ball]

Chances are Drogba is in his last season, big possibility that Lampard and Carvalho are also, so they might at well look to bed in the replacements and sort the team out to start next season strong and concentrate on the PL.

Without a drogba like player or those two wingers they're just a good side despite thier cash - for me the next big step is finding the players to turn a game Torres and Gerrard can do that - but we now need Wide midfield players who can do that Kewell isnt doing it - that's where we are weakest now and that weakness could stop us winning the league

[Maldini]

They'll finish 4th or worse. They're becoming ever so slightly worse for every month Grant is there.

[Montse]

Lampard is out for a month with a torn thigh muscle - oh dear seems they are in a bit of trouble over the next month

 

Indy

[fyds]

Grant is devastated at the news of the thigh injury to his Minkey...

[MFletcher]

The problem with analysing Mourinho's buys is that you can't be sure which were his, Arnesen's, Grant's, Abramovich's etc.

 

I think it's fair to say that Alex was an Arnesen buy, ben Haim a Grant buy, Shevchenko an Abramovich buy and so on.

 

I suspect that Chelsea will look back on the season when they foisted Ballack and Shevchenko on Mourinho as a turning point in their history.