if ramires plays on the right midfield/wing Chelsea will be fine

I don't think we will either, but it isn't because that we are just a poor side, its just other teams are simply better.

While we have gotten some fantastic signings, who have insane potential, they are still projects and not 100% ready to jump in and be star players.

I predict we finish 5th. Arsenal looks great, Man U and Man City are sure to finish higher, and I think New Castle or Tottenham will take the 4th spot.

Righto

And who is going to stop you exactly? Spurs maybe at a push and with them likely to lose Modric and still not bought a striker that looks highly unlikely at this point.

Most blatent reverse jinx if i ever saw one.

It's only pre-season.

I think I just saw Newcastle and 4th spot in the same sentence together

better for MU if they finish outside of top 3

Oh god.

Who let Gil out drunk?

It's pre-season. The point of it is to get fit and find your weaknessess before the games that matter, if we can fix the problems in coming weeks it won't matter.

Its going to be tough, congratulations ManU/City for the title. GG WP

They'll finish in the four. They'll be grinding results in the first 3-4 months until the new signings gel. And that's being generous. Takes a good one season before they gel in properly.

Chelsea will finish in the Top 4 but I would be surpised to see them in the CHL top 4 or winning EPL.

I said this when they signed Hazard & the rest & everyone started worshipping them. It takes time to gel & more important it takes a great CM & a very good CM to makes these attacking talents work.

Neither is Lampard that great CM(he's not even a CM IMO) nor is Mikel that DM. Chelsea need Steel,Driver,heart in that defensive mid-field. Without it they cant compete with say a Bayern or a Barca on a regular basis

Kingofeverythingclassy wrote:Chelsea will finish in the Top 4 but I would be surpised to see them in the CHL top 4 or winning EPL.

I said this when they signed Hazard & the rest & everyone started worshipping them. It takes time to gel & more important it takes a great CM & a very good CM to makes these attacking talents work.

Neither is Lampard that great CM(he's not even a CM IMO) nor is Mikel that DM. Chelsea need Steel,Driver,heart in that defensive mid-field. Without it they cant compete with say a Bayern or a Barca on a regular basis

Lampard is a boss CM, but he needs to keep form if we have any hope of top 3.

We are at that awkward stage where our youth CM's aren't quite ready and we have no prime CM's. We won't buy one that is for sure.

Kick wrote:

Kingofeverythingclassy wrote:Chelsea will finish in the Top 4 but I would be surpised to see them in the CHL top 4 or winning EPL.

I said this when they signed Hazard & the rest & everyone started worshipping them. It takes time to gel & more important it takes a great CM & a very good CM to makes these attacking talents work.

Neither is Lampard that great CM(he's not even a CM IMO) nor is Mikel that DM. Chelsea need Steel,Driver,heart in that defensive mid-field. Without it they cant compete with say a Bayern or a Barca on a regular basis

Lampard is a boss CM, but he needs to keep form if we have any hope of top 3.

We are at that awkward stage where our youth CM's aren't quite ready and we have no prime CM's. We won't buy one that is for sure.

Lampard is a CAM with little creativity & defensive rate but superb goal scoring ability.

With growing age and slowing speed and ability obviously he is concentrating more in his defensive duties and is playing a much deeper role so you can see he is evolving into a CM kind of player.

But in my opinion he does not have the skills sets for that position. Maybe in a 4-4-2 where he is backed by a CM who can play a Deeper role than he does & where the whole defense is Top Class & Wingers give protection to the Full Back's.

But with the likes of Hazard,Mata,Oscar & so on and the formation with which Chelsea will play Lampard will be a very mediocre CM. As will Mikel be a Mediocre DM. Both of them will be completely run over by good teams.

Won't Oscar play CM?

1) city
2) united
3) Newcastle
4) Chelsea
5) arsenal
6) pool

So yes, they will.

Lampard is not a cam, he is a pure cm. He regularly racks up high mileage every match and his passing is generally underrated (i am accused of underrating it too). He has never had speed and agility so that goes out of the window anyways and aside from final 3 CL matches hes pretty much been a pure cm.

& Newcastle third haha you would be safer betting on Arsenal to win a trophy tbh.

Abramovich wrote:Newcastle third haha you would be safer betting on Arsenal to win a trophy tbh.

You don't have to laugh

Don't think chelsea will finish top 4 tbh.

United
City
Arsenal
Spurs

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Abramovich wrote:Newcastle third haha you would be safer betting on Arsenal to win a trophy tbh.

You don't have to laugh

I mean to replicate 5th will be tough as it is, getting 4th a real long shot but not impossible. But then third is just

Spurs will do either really shit or really well, either way going to be fun to see AVB tactics with them.

I can't see Spurs finishing in the top 4 tbh, a big part of last season was Modric and Adebayor and both will be gone come the end of the window.

Out of Chelsea and Spurs i expect Spurs to have a more disappointing season.

People say Chelsea have a lot of questions to answer, but i'd argue Spurs are shrouded in mystery just as much.

Think the top 4 will be Manc City, Manc Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Abra the reason i'm confident of replicating last season is because of return to fitness of certain key players and because we did'nt really play anywhere near our best team until around March.

We probably won't finish 4th but leave Daneq alone he is just a fellow Shearer lover who goes a bit insane sometimes

1) City/United
2) United/City
3) Arsenal
4) Chelsea
5) Newcastle/Tottenham
6) Liverpool
7) Tottenham/Newcastle

I expect City and United to fight it out for the top spot, with City favored to edge out United. Arsenal to finish out in third, regardless of the RVP saga. (Their signings have been intelligent and look to fill the needs of the club.) I think Chelsea may struggle at times, but eventually come together to make top four. They simply have too much ability in the squad. The question is how fast can they figure out how to play them all together.

After top four, things get somewhat foggier. I think one of Tottenham and Newcastle will take the 5th spot, with Newcastle favored to do so. NUFC's signings have been very well handled in the last few season and have the potential to keep them in contention for top-four again. However, I could see them having a let-off after last season's effort, especially if they don't sort out their LW situation. (Ba is not a left-winger... Period) Tottenham have looked very good at times the last few seasons, but have also choked at crucial moments. A lot depends on transfers (in-coming and out-going) as well as how they adapt to AVB's system and style of play. It may seem strange, but I feel that THFC and NUF will come in 5th and 7th. One of which will be able to keep up their level from the past season, the other will drop off a bit.

I may be optimistic, but I think Rodgers can get LFC to 6th, even with the competition for 4th-7th. I think the new system and style will take some time, but I believe our home form will improve, and we will be able to grind out more tough results than last season. I expect results closer to the first half of the 11-12 season, as opposed to losing to relegation scrappers in the second half. There will be fewer drastic swings in performance, with more consistency in play and results throughout the season. I don't expect a complete reversal of fortune this year, but I do expect considerable improvement in consistency and home results.

On a somewhat different subject...

Here's as tough a challenge as predicting Chelsea's finish. Predict Chelsea's formation and lineup in Midfield and Attack.

I'm guessing it starts out as:
------Essien-Lampard
Ramires-Hazard-Mata
-----------Torres

True, not to mention Parker is out for ages although he is totally not an AVB type of player. I wonder who the captain is going to be, I can see both Walker and Ben struggling with the tactics and formations.

Them losing Modric is a way bigger blow than us losing Drogba for the league at least, people forget that Drogba was pretty shit in the league because of those epic cup performances.

As long as Williamson sees only league cup and Europa matches then who knows, I swear I haven't even see that Marveoux guy play yet at all. Then again Bas knees are a time bomb apparently so .

& I don't get why people put Essien in the starting line ups for us now, it baffles me to the max.

Marveaux is class, he's like Silva with more pace and less vision unfortunately he's made of glass

What i meant by best team until March was this btw, this was our team for first half of season.


The difference in quality to now is drastic, in any case i wont judge us until the transfer window is closed.

As for Parker i agree with you, i actually wouldn't be surprised to see him dropped for Sandro eventually purely because of style.

BTW DROR, Ba wont be left wing this season we will be playing a 2 striker system which going by pre season could be 4-2-2-2 ,4-3-1-2, 4-2-4, 4-4-2.

Pardew doesn't seem to like 4-3-3 for some reason, saying that Cabaye and Ben Arfa have not been available in pre-season and they make 4-3-3 work so you never know.

@Mole:

I like the two-striker system with the current players a lot more than the 4-3-3 used at the end of last season. Unless a DM is bought (like Anita or Toulalan), some variation on 4-4-2 fits very well.

-----------------------Krul
Signing(Debuchy?)-Taylor-Colo-Santon
-------------------Tiote-Cabaye
---------Ben Arfa----------------Jonas
---------------------Ba-Cisse

I'm not usually a big fan of the 4-4-2. However, in this case, if the shoe fits wear it...

@Gil:
Who would you have over Essien, Mikel? I think Lampard needs some sort of counter-balance as a CM partner (a true b2b, ball-winner). While you may not think of Lampard as a true CAM, he does tend to move forward, potentially leaving the defense a little exposed.

As for Parker, I agree as well. He really doesn't fit AVB's conception of a DM. Sandro may well find his way into the starting lineup by the end of the season. He can be a much more dynamic player, if he can become more consistent. His performances for the Brazilian Olympic team have been promising for Spurs fans. He's young, though. He has time.

Liverpool will barely make it to top 5.
Donred is spot on with his post.

I'm not a fan of the flat 4-4-2 we used last season either but a variation of it is ok.

After all City used a variation of it to great success.

The problem the flat 4-4-2 is how static and lacking in movement it is and how difficult it is to maintain possession using that system.

4-2-2-2 and 4-3-1-2 are good though, even a 4-2-3-1 with one of the striker's dropping into midfield is good.

Just flat 4-4-2 is a big no no for me and that goes for any team, i feel a flat 4-4-2 is just outdated and shud'nt be used when in possession it limits you in so many ways.

Ba to get injured Ryo comes in on loan for the 433 on the left.

Ryo Cisse Ben, top 4 front 3 that