Tag Archives: Striker

What Chelsea need to do to become dominant again.

After Chelsea’s humiliating 6-nil defeat to Manchester City, PL Analysis goes through the possible solutions that could permanently revitalize the Blues.

Image result for chelsea logo

  1. Be patient with Maurizio Sarri

Image result for sarri

Maurizio Sarri, at Italy, was once renowned for his ability to mastermind big wins and create attack minded teams that won the hearts of footy-loving Italians. In fact, last year, almost everybody around the world rooted for Napoli to snag the Serie A, with their stellar team, only to be crushed by Gonzalo Higuain and his Juventus side. Abramovich, who has not seen such football at his club since the days of Carlo Ancelotti, seemed Sarri was the man to do the job. Everything started out fine, and at some point in the season, Chelsea were even regarded as title contenders. But then it took a few sour games and things have turned grey for the Blues and Maurizio himself.

However, despite the fact many Chelsea fans refuse to agree, Sarri does have a philosophy that could work for the club. With the crop of players he’s got, the Chelsea hierarchy could do with being patient with the Italian tactician.

Related image

  1. Restore Kante to the destructive role

Despite Maurizio Sarri being convinced that the world’s best destroyer of play can be effective in a more attacking role, the truth is that N’golo Kante is more of a Claude Makelele than an Andreas Iniesta. Kante’s greatest strength his is supernatural ability to detect and snuff out danger before it actually happens, and his desire to burst lungs for the good of the team by galloping from box-to-box. Maurizio Sarri once said he likes a more technical player in that role that made the dimunitive midfielder a superstar, and has opted for Jorginho, but many teams have exploited the Italian’s inability to protect his back four, leading to costly defeats Chelsea could have avoided if Kante had been deployed in that deep-lying position. Besides, now that Kante has been fairly taught the roles of the attacker, he can be ideal to Sarri’s future plans.

Image result for piatek milan

  1. Buy a younger, hungrier striker.

There is no doubt that Gonzalo Higuain is a goal scoring beast. His feats at Real Madrid were mind-blowing, and his record of most goals in a single Serie-A season is yet to be broken. However Higuain is 31, which means he is nearing the end of his peak, and soon, Chelsea would have to face the fact that they might have to scout for a new striker to live up to the greats of the past, like Didier Drogba and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank. Piatek, at AC Milan is a good fit, whilst Mauro Icardi, who is at conflict with his club is another choice. Whatever they do, Chelsea should start looking for a genuine young center-forward/striker, because that is what wins championships.

Image result for christensen david luiz

  1. Play Christensen instead of David Luiz

There was a time where the frizzy-haired Brazilian was one of the most imperious center back. But now, he’s basically a playmaker who hides under the tag centre-back. His ability on the ball, his passes, and his vision are beyond extraordinary for a defender, but his defending, well, eh, is not something to be admired. Luiz, in his 30s, is a great deal older than Christensen, who has not done bad when called up by Sarri. Is it time for the Brazilian to go?

Image result for hazard

  1. Entice Eden Hazard to stay.

The Belgian magician is one of the league’s standout players, as his 10+ goals and 10+ assists show. Hazard in his late 20s and entering his prime should be the center of Chelsea’s attention at the moment, and as he enters the final years of his contract with the Blues, and with Los Blancos seemingly interested, Chelsea should do all in their power to keep their best player at Stamford Bridge for a little while longer.

 

What do you think Chelsea should do to become feared again? Tell us in the comments below.

The new baby-faced assassin: Everton’s Richarlison

 

The old holder of this title, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer (Remember him Bayern fans?), may not care about this prestigious title anymore, now he is the caretaker manager of Manchester United, so we feel we can hand his crown down to Everton’s number 30, Richarlison.

Arrived from Fluminense as a young, acne-invaded faced teen, the Brazilian flourished under the guidance of Portugal’s new Mourinho, Marco Silva at Watford, until said manager got tempted with the offer of managing the Toffees. We all know what happened next: The Hornets refused, Marco got his vengeance on the pitch, Marco got the sack, Richarlison’s performance dipped massively.

Then Marco got his dream job, and brought the son he never had to Goodison Park, and things are peachy for them at the moment, with the Toffees sitting comfortably in a Europa spot, and Richarlison banging the goals. He’s got 8 at the moment.

Image result for richarlison

The Brazilian also has a frightening goal rate of 0.53 per match. He’s scored 5 of those goals with his deadly right foot, two with his left and one header, showing he’s the full package. He’s had 37 shots so far, and 15 of them have been on target, meaning a shooting accuracy of 41%. He’s whipped in 20 crosses as well, and his eagerness for getting into attacking positions shows: He’s got 11 off-sides. He’s had three big chances missed, and his defensive stats are pretty decent too: 18 tackles, 7 interceptions and 19 clearances.

Image result for richarlison header

The stats can safely say that the man’s doing just fine (and has got Cenk Tosun biting his fingernails.) We expect bigger things of this man who is impressing the blue side of Merseyside with goals, pace, trickery, consistency, flair and ice-cool finishing Ruud van Nistelrooy will be proud of. If he form keeps up, the goals will continue to flow, clubs will be knocking on his agent’s door, and he may be the answer for Brazil’s forward position as they bid for world domination. Ain’t that right Bobby?

Image result for firmino brazil

“Fat chance Ricky”