Luniz – I got 5 on it.
Jackson 5 – ABC
5ive – Everybody Get Up
Now that you have random songs in your head related to the number 5, let’s talk about Chelsea!
We Won The League, Didn’t We? Do we need 5 players?
Well yeah…Conte masterminded winning the Premier League at a canter..the players all know and are comfortable within their role so why does Conte need to add 5 to his first team?
The Weakest Links
Gary Cahill – Ah, Gary Cahill. Overrated by many an English pundit, underrated by many an angry Chelsea fan. The truth lies somewhere in between. Brave? Absolutely. Passionate? Yep. Scores Goals? He does indeed. Gets caught out more than he should? Erm..kinda. Technically great? Nope.
Therein lies the problem with Cahill. He captures the struggle between 90’s rugged hard men like Tony Adams and Razor Ruddock and the Noughties more cultured defenders like Vincent Kompany and Rio Ferdinand. Whilst true that Cahill is not completely inept with the ball at his feet, the demands of the modern game and the constant splitting of defenders forces centre-halves to be more technically proficient than ever. Time and time again this season, Cahill has received the ball, panicked and lumped it out of play, then turned and done the weird Terry-like skip thing he does.
Too often he gets caught out of position against high-quality opposition. The game against City in December springs to mind. Time and time again we were carved open and the constant pressure must have been too much for poor Gary as, just before halftime, he took matters into his own hands and sliced a delicious shot into his own goal. Sigh.
We need a centre-half. An honest to goodness, world class centre-half. Technically Proficient, quick and positionally faultless.
The Wing Backs
No one can deny that both Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso have been miles better than expected this season. Moses, with his boundless energy, his drive and his commitment to the role and Alonso with his cultured left foot, great delivery and strength in the air have both been key components in our great season.
But.
You can’t help feeling that we could improve massively on both. Moses, whilst pacey and direct, too often gets snuffed out in the final third, his final ball often hitting the first man whereas Alonso, technically proficient though he is..is really slow. Like really slow. In Football Manager terms I would rather improve his pace from a 4 to a 10 and drop his Free Kicks from 18 to 12!
A concern about Moses also lies in his Football brain, the Final on Saturday being a key concern. Gets the ball, drives into the area..could either pass or take a shot with his left foot. He does neither and tries to buy a penalty. He gets sent off. We lose. Cheers, Vic.
Does it Really Matic? We have Kante!
I am so sorry. Honest.
Since storming back into the Premier League in 2014, making Yaya Toure cry and being the best Midfielder around for 18 months, Nemanja Matic has been somewhat of an enigma. Capable of making people look silly with driving runs and silky passes one minute then getting bypassed by all and sundry and spraying balls to the Managers feet the next.
He certainly adds balance to the team, teaming up well with Alonso to form a naturally talented inside left duopoly. He makes a nice foil for Kante, allowing the industrious Frenchman to push and press and Matic also does his fair share, often seen harrying opposition defenders and trying to win the ball back in dangerous positions.
The trouble is that the above happens 1 in every 3 games and whilst he’s much improved from his terrible form last year, it’s the brilliance of Kante that drags Matic up more than people realise. He is a great squad player but at this moment, nothing more.
Which leads me to our best squad player. Cesc Fabregas. Assist extraordinaire. World class footballer. Telepathic relationship with Eden Hazard. I would most certainly keep Cesc at the club over the summer, but not as a central midfielder. I would push him further up and use Kante/new guy as a base for him to have a free role. Especially in away games against big sides. Him, Hazard and Costa have a great relationship that I don’t think gets taken advantage of enough.
One of My Daughter’s Middle Names is Eden
That’s how much I love the guy. He’s not going anywhere. Pedro has been magnificent this season and Willian is an able deputy for either. Stick in the above mentioned Cesc into the front three and you have an able supporting cast.
Who for?
As has been much talked about, it looked all set for Diego Costa to leave the club for China this summer after a failed attempt in January from (insert Chinese club name). However, the joy of winning the league seems to have reinvigorated Diego and given him almost a new lease of life at Chelsea. There’s talk of a new contract via social media and all looks well in the Costa camp.
Still though, we need a striker. We’ll be in Europe this year which means Costa’s weird fetish with tailing off after 20 games will come in November this year, a mere 6 months before the season ends. MB has proven to be able to score crucial goals but his hold up play isn’t good enough, his touch a little too desperate and his finishing often wayward. He has raw talent but a loan to a premier league club where he can get first team football is a must this year.
So, there you have it. We won the league but we are far from a complete squad. Conte and Emenalo have work to do this summer if we are to avoid the disastrous summers of 2010 and 2014.
God, I hope we do.
Thanks for reading.
Justin.