malouda and alves

[The Barber]

chelsea getting malouda and now bidding for alves ...if the deals go through they're gonna get the width they were in dire need for...hance making them quite a strong opposition for next season.

[Henno]

but they already have width

cole, robben and SR philips.

they can still only play 11 players at any one time

[Guest]

You make an excellent point there. And both players were targets of ours based on what's been written in the newspapers, if we want to believe in that.

If that's really the case (that Chelsea are buying both these players), we surely need to have other quality options in store, because having Torres without having ammunition to feed him goalscoring chances, is like having a first class winchester without gun powder.

[dww]

but they already have width

cole, robben and SR philips.

they can still only play 11 players at any one time

Yes but a back four of Cole - Carvalho - Terry - Alves would IMO be immense, both solid defensively and offering a lot in terms of attacking play. The signing of Alves would IMO fill the one position that Mourinho has consistantly struggled with almost perfectly.

[Howard_lfc]

Yes but a back four of Cole - Carvalho - Terry - Alves would IMO be immense, both solid defensively and offering a lot in terms of attacking play. The signing of Alves would IMO fill the one position that Mourinho has consistantly struggled with almost perfectly.

By the same token though - Cole and Alves are both weak defensively.

It's also worth noting that Cole no longer gets into the last quarter of the pitch on a regular basis due to Maureens strict instructions. He's no longer the 'lateral' player that Wenger introduced. How this would affect Alves is anybody's guess.

Finally - anybody think that buying Alves is simply a way around from having to make the decision to drop one of Lampturd, Ballack and Essien from the middle of the park? i.e. let the width come from other areas of the team.

[tommyg]

they are getting rid of SR phillips

[Henno]

Yes but a back four of Cole - Carvalho - Terry - Alves would IMO be immense, both solid defensively and offering a lot in terms of attacking play. The signing of Alves would IMO fill the one position that Mourinho has consistantly struggled with almost perfectly.

true

i forgot alves was a right back too.

BTH i dont want chelsea to get either of them and if i was to choose one player for us to buy this summer then it would be alves. i havent seen a huge amount of him but the few times i did see him he was very impressive (apart from the haircut )

[Henno]

Finally - anybody think that buying Alves is simply a way around from having to make the decision to drop one of Lampturd, Ballack and Essien from the middle of the park? i.e. let the width come from other areas of the team.

he will probably play alves in central role too

[dww]

By the same token though - Cole and Alves are both weak defensively.

It's also worth noting that Cole no longer gets into the last quarter of the pitch on a regular basis due to Maureens strict instructions. He's no longer the 'lateral' player that Wenger introduced. How this would affect Alves is anybody's guess.

Finally - anybody think that buying Alves is simply a way around from having to make the decision to drop one of Lampturd, Ballack and Essien from the middle of the park? i.e. let the width come from other areas of the team.

I think most big teams should defend on the front foot as it were - using fullbacks to make the oppositions midfield wary as much as traditional defenders.

I don't think Cole is bad defensively at all. He had a bad season last time but I think he will improve and show how good he is again this year. He is an exceptional player.

I've not seen Alves enough to know how good he is defensively on a regular basis. He has been great in a couple of matches I have seen and god awful defencively in another. Everyone has their bad games though.

I agree with you that Maureens tactics don't ideally suit this idea of laterals but he clearly wants those players and I suspect that they would work well with the traditional Jose 4-1-2-2-1 formation. Providing the width that can be lacking.

[Tee]

Chavs going for our targets again. Seems like Moaninho waits to see who Rafa wants and then gets his rich sugar daddy to gazump us. What a bunch of jokers. I can't wait for August 18th.

[dww]

Chavs going for our targets again. Seems like Moaninho waits to see who Rafa wants and then gets his rich sugar daddy to gazump us. What a bunch of jokers. I can't wait for August 18th.

Or alternatively there are a limited number of top players who all the better managers are after. I have said for a long time that one of the problems for us this window would be that Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea all require players for the same positions as us.

[Howard_lfc]

I think most big teams should defend on the front foot as it were - using fullbacks to make the oppositions midfield wary as much as traditional defenders.

I don't think Cole is bad defencively at all. He had a bad season last time but I think he will improve and show how good he is again this year. He is an exceptional player.

I've not seen Alves enough to know how good he is defencively on a regular basis. He has been great in a couple of matches I have seen and god awful defencively in another. Everyone has their bad games though.

I agree with you that Maureens tactics don't ideally suit this idea of laterals but he clearly wants those players and I suspect that they would work well with the traditional Jose 4-1-2-2-1 formation. Providing the width that can be lacking.

Defensively.

[dww]

Defensively.

sneaks off to edit.

[Howard_lfc]

sneaks off to edit.

You did an' all. Sad git.

[Parm]

but they already have width

cole, robben and SR philips.

they can still only play 11 players at any one time

indeed, but Robben maybe off, depending on how much Real want him, not sure how long SWP and Jo e Cole will put up with losing out on even more chances to play.