So much silly money was paid ever since Roman Abramovich completed his takeover of Chelsea.
Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho spent half a billion pounds, but the side Avram Grant left for Luiz Felipe Scolari is frankly not world-class. But Scolari was promised cash to make his side better.
The deal that took Jose Bosingwa from Porto to Stamford Bridge was made before Scolari took over at Chelsea. This means that Scolari's only acquisition was Deco who was bought for £8m.
So the cash that Scolari was promised turned out to be £8m, while Mourinho spent £20m on Shaun Wright-Phillips!
Then why the slop?
Scolari might not be doing a dazzling job, but the injuries of Deco and Joe Cole has made it hard for the team to find their balance and form.
Chelsea do have a good team, but the expectations are too high with injury-prone players on the pitch and low quality players on the bench.
Salomon Kalou is not up to the standard and class of a Champions League contender. While needless to say, Florent Malouda is a major flop.
Meanwhile, Didier Drogba's heart does not seem to be at The Bridge.
How can Chelsea and Barcelona both want to win the Champions League? Even Hleb can't find a place in the Barca first-team!
The board and fans shouldn't expect to see great results unless they show Scolari the money.
Surely the credit crunch has affected the football clubs. But with the sale of Wayne Bridge, Chelsea should spend or may suffer more this season.
However, The Mirror reckons Chelsea and Scolari have already "agreed" that there will be no spending in January.
5 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Salomon Gonzales 6 months ago
The players Mourinho had at his disposal were a far cry from what Scolari has now. These are the same players that finished second placed in every tourney bar the fa cup.
Yes, he only spent 8M but still...
Bosingwa has turned out to be one of the best right backs in Europe based on form. Ballack who was so influential when he got back from injury, towards the end of last season. He (when he played) has taken a backseat in the side, to allow Lamps and Scolari's Deco to take care of the attacking situations. Lampard has done his bit, what has Deco done since the 3rd game of the season? Absolute fuck all, i tell you! He has completely ignored J.Cole and tries to squeeze Deco,Ballack,Mikel and Lampard into a midfield of 4,without using the diamond formation.
This basically means, Deco starts the game out on the left wing but keeps coming inside, where Lampard is doing his business.
Then we have the refusal to use the youngsters availabe and give them a chance. To be fair though, none of the previous managers has done this, so i dont expect him to do it either..
Scolari has good enough players to do better than how we doing now. Grant almost managed it and he is considered an inferior manager compared to Scolari, so why can't he do better than this?
No one is shoving all the blame on Scolari but he has to take some of the blame. His inept subtitutions and tactics are weak and so far he has shown that he either stubborn (too confident in tactics that obviously don't work) or he is just a really weak club manager...
Granted, he needs to be money to buy a left winger and striker but still, he a squad good enough to do better play better than they are now.
P.s.. Hleb wouldn't even get into the Chelsea squad ....
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T G 6 months ago
Good points.
Overcrowded midfield a major prob also tactics not right.
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Shyam Parthasarathi 6 months ago
I think that if you're Chelsea.. you just cannot point out that injuries are hampering the squad because Chelsea have the supposed squad depth - 2 players' absence cannot really be the only reason.. its the system that they're playing with Scolari preferring the full backs to come forward and support the attacks - this reduces the reliance on the midfield to a certain extent and reduces the width in midfield.. so when the fullbacks are dealt with.. there is no width in the team.
It's got everything to do with the formation and nothing much, as you suggest, to do with injuries.
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Steven Ho 6 months ago
Hey Zahi, nice to see you're still going.
It was good writing, and had a nice succinct pace to it which I like. I also like that you dug into the past to compare Scolari's spending against Mourinho's, revealing a fact that I previously wasn't aware of.
I disagree with your main arguments though. Scolari may not be doing a perfect job, but he's definitely done a very good one, and he's certainly made Chelsea dazzle at times this season.
I also think that they've missed Carvalho and Drogba, more than Joe Cole and Deco. Especially Deco since he's played a fair number of games so far this season.
I've expanded on this in my article:http://bleacherreport.com/articles/101868-chelsea-the-problems . Would love it if you gave your feedback.
p.s. I don't understand the bit where you wrote: How can Chelsea and Barcelona both want to win the Champions League? Even Hleb can't find a place in the Barca first-team!
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T G 6 months ago
To summarise:
1. Bosingwa was blatantly given the nod by scolari before he officially became chelsea boss.
2. Mourinho inherited a brilliant squad from ranieri which he progressively (with a couple of exceptions) weakened.
3. Injuries are due to us having an OLD team, not bad luck.
4. Steven disagree with your point 'I disagree with your main arguments though. Scolari may not be doing a perfect job, but he's definitely done a very good one, and he's certainly made Chelsea dazzle at times this season'
Scolari has not done a good job - reason is we have only 42 points after 20 games just over two points a game. The terrible performances of the 'big four' are only being masked by the fact that all 4 top teams are playing poorly. At the halfway point the league leaders had 39 points - an embarrassing total - yet everyone is saying how brilliant Liverpool have been - this is only in comparison to Chels, ManU and Arse.
There is something wrong at Chelsea and has been every since the season Mourinho finished 2nd, something is not quite right, team morale is gradually getting worse.
My opinion is that it is the increase in players purely there for the Money and not for the love of Chelsea - Just compare Zola to Drogba, i know who i would prefer in my dressing room......
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