Chelsea have started the 2012/13 season in spectacular
fashion. A few bad results aside, the team has generally played well and the
team’s attacking style of play has earned them praise from one and all. But
one thing is still missing in this 'new' Chelsea: a world-class striker. Torres’ form has been mixed
so far and Sturridge hasn't been given enough chances (nor has he done enough
so far in his Chelsea career) to show that he is ready to lead Chelsea’s line
week-in and week-out.
I am not going to tell you which striker I think we should
sign (check out our "Striker Target Evaluation" series if you want an in-depth analysis on the strikers who would fit in at Chelsea), but rather I want to take a look at the qualities Chelsea should try and
consider while buying a new striker. This is because a lot of names have been
linked to Chelsea and each name offers some pros and cons. These qualities I am about to mention are based on the assumption that at least one of Torres or Sturridge won't leave the club in January. While Torres' form could be the reason Chelsea decide to sell him, Sturridge is in the last year of his contract and is refusing to sign an extension.
The
things we must keep in mind while signing a new striker are:-
1) Age- The striker
we sign should not be a young prospect, but a player who is around 25-27 and
already in his prime. The reason I am against us signing a young striker is
because we already have players like Sturridge, Lukaku and Feruz at the
club. It would be silly to sign someone young and not give our own players a
chance of making the first-team. All of them are talented young strikers and
deserve their opportunity instead of being sidelined by a young striker
signed from another club.
2) Price- I can't underestimate the importance of not over-paying for whoever we may buy. The club has been guilty of doing that on a few occasions and will be keen to avoid such a situation again. Although Chelsea have no shortage of funds, the club will want to ensure that we don't end up paying more than what the player is worth. Ideally, anyone we target should be somewhere between the range of £30-40 million. Anything more than that will be a rip-off.
3) Marketability- You can't ignore the business side of football. Any player we buy should be a marketable one i.e. the club shouldn't have a problem selling shirts with his name on it. While spending £50M on Fernando Torres was a case of over-spending, the club would have made back a lot of that money through shirt sales. Torres has a massive fan-base (he's obviously popular among the ladies) so even though he can be labeled a "flop" in footballing terms, he certainly didn't harm the clubs coffers as much as the media thinks he did.
4) Compatibility- Whoever we sign should be able to fit into Chelsea's new system perfectly. It'd make no sense for the club to sign someone who doesn't fit the club's style of play. Ideally, the striker should be a prolific goal-scorer who likes running latching on to passes that will come in abundance from our attacking trio of Mata-Oscar-Hazard, not a target-man who requires long balls to be at his absolute best.
With the criteria I mentioned above, who do you think would be perfectly suited to Chelsea? Do let me know!
Shayne Dias
TweetFollow @CFC360Official
Chacharito
ReplyDeleteNooooo....
Delete
ReplyDeleteIf Falcao cost us too much money we should have a look after Jackson Martinez or Wilfried Bony (plays in our partnerclub vitesse nd should not cost as much as the other strikers in january)
Definitely Neymar. He's versatile,marketable and compatible to our style of play. He's a bit on the light weight side but with pace and flair our team should pass teams off the park. With him we can successfully play the false 9 system. Imagine this. Neymar left wing,Hazard right wing and Mata as the deep drifting centre front/false 9. The reason I wouldn't place Oscar as the false 9 is because I wouldn't trust Mata as a deep playmaker. In midfield we have Mikel as our defensive shield,Ramires as our box to box and Oscar as our deep playmaker (Xavi type).
ReplyDeleteToo expensive.
DeleteWorth every penny. Remember Santos isn't well known as Chelsea is throughout the world. We pay 40-45 for him and his shirts will easilly regenerate that money. We can even sell him for a large sum of money to club's like Real Madrid,Barca or PSG. I'm thinking his age and marketability is can benefit us. Neymar is like the next big thing. Allow him to play with the young talents (Oscar,Hazard,De Bruyne,Piazon,Moses,Marin,Sturridge,Mata) we already have and mark my words,he'll thrive off all that talent. Ronaldo is part of the old generation and he'll be 30 soon alongside other greats like Xavi,Iniesta,Lampard,Gerrad and Rooney for example. Neymar,Oscar,Hazard,Cleverly,Sterling,Wilshere are the new generation greats and Neymar is up there. Let's say in 5 years Neymar is established in Europe as one of the best around,we do the same to Madrid what United did to them with Ronaldo...cash in big time. Neymar is an investment for the future mate.
DeleteFalcao ticks the boxes. He is a player who thrives under pressure and can radiate positive energy and confidence to the team which would eradicate our shaky starts. He is proven in Europe and has a good fan base. He has been consistent over the years and we must not delay signing him any further. I would like us to keep Torres as a team player.
ReplyDeleteJst bring Lukaku!
ReplyDeleteToo early
Deletegive lukaku half the chance given to torres (dorris) and i bet u that his name will become a brand in the attack... our stricking solution is as simple as terminating his loan deal..
DeleteJackson Martinez, Loic Remy or bring back Lukaku. Falcao is a bit too much, while Atletico's been making the deal really difficult. play either 1 of the strikers with Torres, making a 4-2-2-2 formation. Torres has been undoubtedly an effective target man who can still shoot well, the other arriving striker can be a poacher who will score plenty of goals with the support around him.
ReplyDeletecontinuing with my suggested 4-2-2-2 formation. many people say that with 2 strikers including Torres, Chelsea can be even deadlier. 2 wingers can be Hazard and Mata. in the holding role there'll be Oscar(MaZaCar still there) and Ramires(superb counter-attacking as usual). also, 4 defenders Cole, Terry(if they still stay), Luiz and Azpilicueta. that sounds perfect to me. please tell me if there's anything i've mentioned wrongly, or if there's anything else to add. thanks ! :)
ReplyDeleteWake up mate, playing 4-2-2-2 with Oscar and Ramires in the holding role is tactical suicide. However, I like this 4-2-2-2 idea, but I very much doubt RDM would even consider it. You underestimate the importance of Ivanovic too, as Ceasar is not yet a starter, like an article on this website rightly pointed out.
DeleteOscar and Ramires in midfield can most certainly work. Case study: Manchester United in the League Cup. I'll assess all three pivots that we used.
DeleteRomeu-Mikel, 45mins. Dismal. There was no spark, creativity or thrust from either player, and Romeu was horribly exposed when he lost possession with no support from Mikel, that was 1-0. Victor Moses hauled us back into the game, but Giggs, Anderson and Fletcher were controlling the game. Romeu and Mikel could not live with them, and our attackers weren't getting any supply from midfield. David Luiz identified the problem and tried to solve it himself and took matters into his own hands but got caught out badly when he lost possession high up the pitch without any help from Romeu or Mikel. Anderson slipped in Chicharito; 2-1 and clear problems.
Mikel-Ramires, 25mins. Improvements. Ramires' introduction in place of Oriol Romeu at half-time gave us thrust, speed and potency on the counter, and we began to take charge of the game. Cahill just about about managed to get us a deserved equaliser, but there still wasn't any real creative spark, and in defence we were no better. Nani and Anderson sliced straight through our whole defence for 3-2, and Chicharito should have had a second goal but blazed his shot wildly over the bar.
Ramires-Oscar, 55 mins. Excellent. The pace, skill, stamina, creativity and work-rate of our two Brazilians totally dominated the last 25 minutes and the whole of extra time. Man United's whole team were fighting for their lives and eventually cracked under the pressure of relentless attack in the last minute of stoppage time. We were lethal on the break, and very solid in defence, our pace getting back was so good that our very high line didn't give United any chances at all. Chelsea were creating chance after chance, and when watching it live I always felt sure that Chelsea would get more goals, even with Man United parking the bus on the edge of their box and trying in vain to counter us.
In extra time we were even better. Sturridge gave us a well-earned lead with a very cool finish, then Luiz hit the crossbar. Victor Moses missed a sitter one-on-one with Lindegaard, and although United were now chasing the game, the hustle and work-rate of our Brazilians meant that United couldn't create anything and couldn't keep hold of the ball. We exploited this perfectly with our pace on the counter; with five minutes left Hazard broke out of defence and charged towards goal, then slipped a great ball to Ramires who beautifully rounded Lindegaard for 5-3. A goal I hardly think we will see Romeu or Mikel score any time soon.
United were lucky to get one back after Azpi's needless foul on Chicharito, but that was hardly deserved and the only chance of any description that United had while our midfield was Ramires and Oscar.
In conclusion: Ramires and Oscar as our can certainly work, and in my opinion it is our best option. The midfield may look lightweight with those two, but their speed, stamina, work-rate and creativity more than compensates for that.
@bobchyke, it's not too bad in my opinion. Ramires can drop deep to defend once in a while since he's tackling and speed is superb, while Oscar can still be part of MaZaCar and expand the creativity of the midfield. if you think about it, it will be quite similar to Barca's style. Xavi plays in the holding role, and since Oscar is a lot like Xavi (just younger and more talented in attacking), he can actually shine there. after all, that position is something like his in his national squad. Mata and Hazard are also similar to Iniesta and Pedro/Cuenca respectively. whereas for Mikel, despite his great performance, he can still come on as a later sub and solidify the midfield, because Ramires's speed, dribbling and endless stamina has been playing a pivotal role to almost all of our counter attacks which lead to good amount of goals.
Delete@Anonymous thank you for agreeing. Oscar and Ramires in the holding role will definitely flourish because that combination will be perfectly balanced in terms of speed, defense, energy, tenacity(Ramires), attacking, passing, solidity and vision(Oscar). would love to see RDM use this kind of line-up after getting another striker/bringing back Lukaku on January. thanks again ;)
DeleteFalcao since we need quality and prolific. Am also sure he will be able to play along with Torres. Deadly i call this
ReplyDeleteLukaku and Sturidge just rates below Borny and Jackson. You can't just bring any of them as our main striker right now. They are all good team strikers like Torres.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the article Shayne, what you write is so much better than the crap that Ervin keeps spewing out. Everything you say is absolutely correct bar the price tag! We don't need to spend £30m-40m on a player, and the only players I can think of in that bracket that could fit the criteria are Benzema and Aguero. Great players for sure, but they would be near-impossible to prise away from their respective clubs.
ReplyDeleteI'd be looking at someone in the £20-25m bracket if we aren't prepared to pay the asking prices for Neymar, Cavani or Falcao, which I espect we aren't. I'd also like to sign a young, exciting player who is yet to hit his peak. Bearing all this in mind, my preferred targets would be:
- Robert Lewandowski
- Thomas Muller
- Alexandre Pato
- Seydou Doumbia
- José Callejón
- Stephan El Shaarawy
Having said all this, Neymar is great value for money even at £55m and is my preferred target, and I wouldn't say no to Radamel Falcao either. And the man we really, really need is Cesc Fabregas, but I've explained that before.
Getting a standin 9 who can score frm any angle n has gud positnin is wot we need,in wic RADAMEL FALCAO wld b ma option,his arrival may even boost Torres goal scoring chances,coz Torres nids greater competitn 4rm great strikers nt frm d likes f Sturridge n co.4rm Justice
ReplyDeleteI like dis 1 and em I did like a young,fans favourite and goal scoring ability striker like
ReplyDeleteLawandowski
Benzema
Alexander PATO
J huntelaar
With 1 of dis pertuculally Alexander PATO much sprint goal scoring abbility terget man dis would be cool tagging him with Torres and making money 4rm sturridge bringing back josh,de bruyne and piazon dats deadly I say yea says its ad don't forget pato was once linked 2 chelseafc. So I say no more big signing its never work starting 4rm shevchenko 30 million Torres 50 million striker I mean so pato or huntelaar should be good 4 us
Buying pato will be a suicide...he frequently gets injured playing at Italy..the pace is even more frantic at EPL and the amount of matches that chelsea is playing will be too much for him...i like the prospect of jose callejon.he has the experience of.playing for a top club and is mature enough but u cant call him a striker,he is more of a winger...i would personally love to sign marco rues if thats possible...and buying falcao would cost way too much but u cant take.the fact away that he ia currently the best striker in the world... going for benzema could be another option..but neymar is the next big thing.
ReplyDeleteBring anyone, since Torres stays. If he leaves, my heart would break into pieces. :(:(
ReplyDeleteBoth Falcao and Neymar re all good players with great technical qualities. But my fear is if Neymar can fit into the physicality of the EPL. Both re prettly ok. So any of them can do. From Arthur Osadebe
ReplyDeleteI have been quiet for a while, loss of my precious blackberry has kept me away. But I'm back now!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo, the search for a quality striker continues for Chelsea. With Nando not up to scratch at the moment, i can understand why this should be the primary concern for RDM and the management team. My biggest fear is the signing of another BIG MONEY STRIKER just for the poor guy to buckle under the pressure.
We have had prime examples of this over the years, and we are still lingering with one right now. I am far from being a Torres basher, i'm probably one of his biggest supporters but even i am facing up to the fact that we n ed back up in January.
There are plenty targets out there, but i think Andre Schrulle (hope i spelt that right), Thomas Muller or Robert Lewandowski would be better targets. They are all young, fast and hungry for glory!! Yes they wouldn't be able to play for us in the Champions league this season, but that give Nando an option to stay till may while knowing full and well that his place is under pressure at CFC. These three have what it take to make it in England, and have proven European pedigree! They are also known for their team play, they not just one sided!
People will always bring up the Falcao and Neymar prospects, but I say lets save the money and possible embarrasment of killing off another "star" players career.
I think chelsea tried to buy shurlle on last transfer window,correct if i m wrong but he is a great prospect..and as u said it will give torres an initiative to stay at chelsea.
DeleteWe made an initial offer of 15mil for him, he's with twice that in my books. He would come to chelsea, RDM must just table a big enough offer. Nothing over 30mill though.
DeleteWe don't need a well known striker anymore,u remember when we bought shevy?now toress,when we bought Didierdrogba,most of us did not even know him but now we all celebrates his departure till date,what about this guy calvanni?his less expensive and pacy as well,should incase we can't have falcao,don forget we nned a bench striker we can bank on when one is injured or has fatigue like we laways believe something great will happen when DD is coming in.
ReplyDeleteThese descriptions people keep giving now looks like Sturidge or Lukaku. We should not forget Sturidge had a good run of goals last season. Chelsea is a world class club and we need our main striker to be world class else we would have to wait for him to become world class. I think the main striker position is all about a confidence radiating position right now and that's why it is both critical and delicate.
ReplyDeletewhat if we make moses our striker ?
ReplyDeleteI belive neymar or huntelaar is wat we need rite now a shooting striker ad well position good I say we get a want away, ad good example. Huntelaar benzema ad lawandowski good I say, ad at least Torres will will be force 2 fight for starting line up day means plenty goals ad de wount cost more dan 28 million or less
ReplyDeleteI belive neymar or huntelaar is wat we need rite now a shooting striker ad well position good I say we get a want away, ad good example. Huntelaar benzema ad lawandowski good I say, ad at least Torres will will be force 2 fight for starting line up day means plenty goals ad de wount cost more dan 28 million or less
ReplyDelete