Gallas is pretty much the most athletic player we have. He can cover the wings and defend very well out there because of his speed and quickness, but those same qualities make him PERFECT to partner Terry. Gallas is the clinical athlete and Terry is the positional battering ram. Carvalho doesnt fit as well becuase he is basically a slightly lesser version of Terry. Good passing, very strong in the tackle, but as a pair they just arent as solid. And Carvalho has this tendency to piss people off by defending complacently in England by giving opponents space, and then suddenly making a last, desperate lunge to clear or foul or tackle. He tends to conceede alot of freekicks.
As Pete said, Gallas was displaced for a long time and only bitched occasionally. He was wildly underpaid too, and didnt bitch at all about that. The club owes him, and that starts with playing him where he belongs. I dont mind the occasaional game on the right or left, but he should be at CB 80% of the time.
Id thought about the three back formation some of you mention, and it just doesnt sell me. Im pretty traditional in my defensive preferrences, and im biased because I used to play rightback, but when only Gallas has experience playing wide and our outside mids are not the best defensively, id rather not risk it
With the formation, its as you guys say: With the necesscity of playing Makelele, and the undroppable nature of Lampard, we're pretty much going to be forced into a 4-5-1 if we want a balanced midfield + some width. But I hestitated to say that before because a 4-5-1 will prett much = a 4-3-3 with some of the personell we're fielding.
Something like
Robben--------------------
---------------Lampard------Cole
Essien/Ballack------Makelele
or
Robben--------Lampard--------Cole
---------Ballack
Makelele/Essien
are essentially going to become what we played last year when the attackers get up there
it might even be possible to play
Ballack-----Lampard
Cole-------------------Essien
Makelele
]
but again I am unaware on Essien's track record playing wide. But his key aspects are his speed, his athleticism, and his ability to transition defense into attack, so I cant see any reason he wouldnt be able to be at least tried on the right.
And I hope I didnt give people the wrong impression when I spoke down on the defense of our wingers earlier. No, they are not ideal, though a winger rarely is for defense. But with Joe Cole, Mourinho has made him into a player who will get stuck in every time when necesscary. Against Bayern a year ago he practically marked Ze Roberto out of the game
Defense is about effort and quickness, two things Cole seems to have in spades. He and duff I wouldve been totally confident with mannning our wings, but as it now stands, Cole must be a guaranteed starter.
pede54 said:
I must admit that I would not mind in the least Ashley Cole coming to the Bridge. I understand the questions over his "morality" resulting in the business between Arsenal and ourselves but, not knowing what his relationship with Arsenal was like prior to the "tapping up" case, I am not in a position to question his intentions.
All I know is this. That he is possibly the best left back we could get. His qualities as a player are first class and he just gets better and better all the time.
One other thing that endears him to me is the same thing that alienates Omar. He went behind Arsenals back to come to us. Now this is just me but, anyone who finds the opportunity to ass fu<k Arsenal AND take it, is alright in my book. With that action, he is already on the first rung of the ladder in the legend stakes. He will do for me.
At Chelsea, you will not find a player involved in tapping up episodes. If a player wants out, he says so. If we cant persuade him to stay then we help him move on. Maybe its not like that at Arsenal. Maybe the regieme is tougher and players are made to play out their contracts whether they are happy or not.
I get the feeling that Arsenal will sack anyone when they feel the need to, and they do very often, but this seems like a one way thing. If Cole wanted out, but was told "no way", then I can see some resentment forming there. There has been some crap going on behind the scenes at Arsenal even before the Cole / Chelsea thing, so before I cast opinions about anything I would like to know more about the background. It was not all about money thats for sure. Sol Campbell was hinting at the divisions within the squad ages before Cole approached us. Sol also talked about the English lads also getting a lot less attention from Wenger than the rest of the squad. I remember he said that he fell out with the "frenchies" when Arsenal won the title at White Hart Lane, and he refused to come back out onto the pitch and rub it in to the Spurs fans. This angered some players and Wenger, and the story has it that Sol, and either Henry or Viera came to blows in the tunnel over it. From that day on Sols love affair with Arsenal was over. Do you think this bad feeling tempered over the seasons? Apparantly not, so maybe that is what brings us to this situation with Cole signing for us. We will know for sure what went on at Arsenal one day, but until then I am happy to welcome Cole to Chelsea tomorrow.
Sorry Pete, but there I cant agree with you. Like you I dont know much about the atmosphere at Arsenal, but its reasonable to assume with the stories you tell about Campbell and the Reyes comments in the past that there are divides in the locker room there. But some of the stuff Cole supposedly came out with was complete and utter sh*t. Ok, Arsenal sent him up the creek with the FA, but that was after he chose to illegally work out a deal to go to their MAIN RIVAL behind their backs. The club shouldve been done with him there, but its a measure of their commitment to get a big transfer fee for him that they took him back, as did their fans.
Now, he slams the club in the press. This after he was refused an unheard of request that the club give a weekly wage to his agent (laughable) and after he came out saying he felt like a slave how he was being treated. Any player who feels the need to backstab the club who brought him into the professional ranks like that can never be trusted to be satisfied or content. Just as I would never have wanted Judas Campbell in my team if I were a gooner, I dont want Ashley Cole now. If he wanted to leave so badly, a transfer request is the common and respectful thing to do. Claiming youre a slave for being unable to determine your future with no impeding rules is a joke when youre making millions a year.
The bottom line in my mind is that Ashley Cole cares only about Ashley Cole and apparrently Cheryl Tweed and John Barnett. The only thing moving to Chelsea would change about him would be the signatory on his paycheck. On the pitch he could be brilliant. But that is the only place he would be superior. Give me Bridge every day of the week and twice on sundays, and hell, give me the supposedly happy go lucky Carlos even. Anyone but Cole
And I didnt even realize till now that a croation dude used the phrase 'Busting your balls'
south park.
