Transfer Window Analysis

Going back a few months,when the season kick started in August,there were a lot of expectations on the shoulder of Chelsea players and even more after the club's previous manager Carlo Ancelotti got sacked. Many believe that his sacking was un-called for and the club would not benefit and their thinking was not wrong upto a certain extent as he was the same manager who led Chelsea to a double winning season in his 1st season in charge. But you never know what goes inside Roman's head do you? After a fairly decent season that saw us finishing 2nd in the league behind Manchester United Carlo got the sack and Roman took a gamble and bought in another Porto manager Andre Villas Boas. This was AVB's second stint at Chelsea. He was also the opposition scout under Jose Mourinho when he came to Chelsea from Porto. The Portuguese was under enormous pressure as many expected him to redo what Jose did during his time at Chelsea.

1. Andre Villas Boas- AVB was bought in by Chelsea to replace Carlo Ancelotti. At a tender age of 34 many believed that this was a huge gamble taken by Roman considering his lack of experience. AVB had a great time incharge at Porto where he won a treble in his first season incharge and was highly recognized in the footballing world as the Next Big Thing. This was a huge test for AVB as not many managers have been able to keep Chelsea's chairman happy for quite a while. In the past 5 years 4 managers had lost their job most notably managers like Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti. Roman paid a whooping 24 million pound buy out clause to Porto to avail the portugese services. AVB with him got the former West Bromwich manager Roberto Di Matteo as his assistant manager. It was a very young back room staff, with AVB himself only 34years old. AVB had a fairly decent start to his Chelsea stint with a good run of wins apart from the early 0-0 draw with Stoke. His 1st defeat came to the hands of Sir Alex at Old trafford where AVB's men put on a good show but lost the match 3-1. As the season continued and AVB started loosing hisluck it seems when Chelsea started to fall drastically after getting eliminated from the league cup to the hands of liverpool and a run of poor results in the league that saw them trail the 2 Manchester clubs and the 2 London clubs ( Spurs and Arsenal) not far behind them. AVB was under enormous pressure and many believed that Roman's plans had backfired him and saw this as another fail move by the Chelsea owner. But AVB it seems had different plans. The squad that he played was mainly without Chelsea's top star Frank Lampard. Many believed that AVB was getting his tactics wrong by leaving the Englishmen on the bench but AVB stuck to his tactics but the reseults were not favoring him.

Chelsea's dismal run continued which saw them drop down to 5th in the BPL behind the 2 Manchester and the 2 London clubs. A poor result against Birmingham in the FA cup did not do any favor to the manager and to add to that a dismal performance in the Uefa Champions League against Napoli which saw them lose the first leg 3-1. A lot of eyebrows were raised on AVB's team selection when he decided to leave out the likes of cole,essien and lampard and decided to start with Malouda and Bosingwa who have been fairly average this season when compared to the likes of Cole and Lampard. News paper reports started suggesting that he had lost the support of his players and many started betting on him to be the next manager to get the boot.

But during the course of the season Chelsea's poor run was mainly because of the lack of good players in that squad rather than AVB's tactics, the likes of Bosingwa,Malouda,Mikel,Torres were not upto the level as many would have expected them to be playing. Mistakes in key games like Napoli,Arsenal and Manchester United have cost Chelsea valuable points and have put AVB under enormous pressure.

My view- It will be a mistake by Chelsea if they decide to sack this young manager as Chelsea are a team under transition and need to keep faith in him if they want to move ahead .Rating-6.5/10

2. Juan Mata- A player who came up from the Real Madrid youth academy was daunted by many to be the next big thing in football but Madrid failed to see his potential and handed him over to Valencia. At Valencia he cam across pretty well and was undoubtedly their star man. Playing just behind the strikers he was a danger all teams were aware of. AVB scouted his talent and even though he was being tracked by Arsenal he decided to join us. During the course of the season if there is 1 man who has stood above all it has been Juan Mata. He has been what Robin Van persie has been to Arsenal FC,not in terms of goal but his ability to create an impact in the game. Already rated as the top passer in the BPL in his 1st season he has been a prodigy for the club. 10 assists this season with only David Silva ahead of him the young Spaniard has totally left a mark in the English football with his wonderful movement with the ball and his passing abilities. Scoring on his debut against Norwich people knew there were more signs of greatness to come from the little Spaniard.

My view- Should be played behind the strikers as that is where he is most comfortable and dangerous

Rating-9.5/10

3. Raul Meireles- Another recruit from Liverpool after Fernando Torres,there were huge expectations from him after Chelsea failed to lure in Luka Modric from Tottenham as Chelsea were looking for a playmaker. Meireles this season has not been able to create the same magic he did with Liverpool. With Liverpool he scored the famous goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Problem this season has been that he has not been playing in his desired position rather in a more defensive role. He hasn't come up with any stand out performances rather has been a very ordinary player after a very promising transfer.

My view- Should be played in his desired position but problem is that there are already 2 or 3 players in that same position who have been better than him. Should be given an opportunity next season as well as he can be a part of the new Chelsea squad.

Rating-5/10

4. Oriol Romeu- Romeu is another talent from a very talented academy of Barcelona. It has produced players life Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta etc. and Romeu is another player who can follow their footsteps. Romeu had an amazing start to his Chelsea career when he took full advantage of Essien's injury and made sure Chelsea did not miss him with his good performances day in day out. He looks to be the ideal CDM and an ideal replacement for Micheal Essien. After the first half of the season he has struggled to regain his place after he was hit by an injury and also the return of Essien has limited his place in the starting line up. He looks better than John Obi Mikel and should be used as a replacement to Essien

My View- Should be played more often as this would help him settle even better at stamford bridge and Chelsea should keep hold off him as he is an amazing talent

Rating-7/10

5. Gary Cahill- Gary Cahill was signed as a replacement for Alex who left the club in January 2012. Signed from Bolton he looked a very promising player but many felt he was not upto the level of Chelsea and Chelsea may have made a move in desperation. 3 starts so far this season his best game has been against his former club Bolton where he managed to keep a clean sheet and put on quite a decent performance. So far has not made any blunder and has taken advantage of the missing Chelsea captain.

Rating- Too early to decide as he has only 3 games under his belt, should be played more next season in cup games..so far has been an average player.

6. Romelu Lukaku- The young Belgian from Anderlecht surely set the Belgian league on fire when he chipped in 18 goals last season for the belgian side. Signed by AVB for 22 million pounds,the 18 year old described this as a dream move. A look alike of Didier Drogba with an equally good built and a little more pace maybe a lot of expectations are their on him,considering the fact Drogba might leave the club next season. Limited chances this season has summed up his season with no goals so far for Chelsea 1st team but he has managed to chip in a few for the reserve side. A good talent and another player who can be a part of Chelsea's new squad over the coming years.

My view- Should be sent out to loan next season to gain some BPL experience that can help him settle well for the club.

Rating-None so far considering his limited chances so far for the club.

7. Lucas Piazon- The young Brazilian "wonderkid" as called by many was signed by Chelsea for 11.5 million pounds from Sao Paulo. Often referred to as the Kaka look alike, Piazon's chances in the first team are yet to kick start. He has been on the bench for 3 games but has never been called into action by AVB mainly due to Chelsea's dismal run of form lately. Has looked quite good for the reserve squad where he has chipped in with goals. A player who can play both as a striker and a play maker looks an amazing prospect for the future and can do wonders for the club if used well.

My view- Should be loaned off for a season to gain some BPL experience can come off good and can be an ideal replacement for Lampard in the coming years.

The Curious case of Fernando Torres!!

Late January, fax machines put to work...a reported fee of 50million pounds paid from Roman's pocket to Liverpool FC for a certain Fernando Torres. Yes the very same player who run ragged even the best CB's in the world,the guy who famously scored the winning goal that led to Spain winning their first major title after a long time. It was a transfer every LFC fan dreaded of and every CFC fan wondered is our puzzle solved. Often said "with great powers come great responsibility" but in this case it was "with great fee comes greater responsibility". Even though Nando looked a bit out of touch in the FIFA World Cup considering his knee injury he was still becoming an early fan favorite among all CFC fans...Handed over the coveted #9 held by almost every great footballer in any club,the pressure on Fernando Torres just kept on building. Then came the day and what a day it was to get your first game for your new club,a game against a team that made Fernando Torres a household name it was the famous CFC vs LFC game @stamford bridge and all eyes had to be on Fernando Torres. The game ended with Chelsea on the loosing side thanks to a Raul Meireles goal,questions were raised on Fernando's performance but considering it was his 1st none made a big issue of that...time passed Fernando just could not settle....there was an air of disarray among the CFC fans considering his form.Then came the month of April, a rainy day Chelsea vs West Ham a london derby game...Fernando had been dropped on the bench because of his run of goal-less games,on he came on a very wet pitch @stamford bridge,and on he came with a heavy load of pressure and taunts surrounding him...after playing nearly 10 mins he got his 1st chance of the game cutting past 2 defenders and slotted it past the defender and it was a GOALLL!! the first of the many CFC fans hoped of....season ended many were worried about his form majority were optimistic about him. Come the end of pre-season he did not have much to show for but a flare of positive feeling was found in every CFC fans when they heard his name. Come the start of the next season after goal-less start to his 2nd season came the biggest game of the PL campaign the game at Old Trafford, Chelsea unbeaten under their new manager AVB. Fernando had a lot to prove and after a dismal first half seeing CFC go down 3-0 pressure was on them to see this game through..throughout the game there was something positive about Nando's game and come start of the second half it took Fernando Torres just 45 seconds to score past De gea what looked to be one of the best goals he would have scored as a striker,it was a top class finish...the game continued with CFC pushing and pushing on United's goal and then came the moment, Nando skipped past 2 def and rounded the keeper off with goal at his mercy and he shoved the ball wide, for every United fan it was a situation of laughter,for every CFC fan well they could not believe what they had just seen and for Fernando Torres it was a humiliating scene in front of 80k fans sitting in the stadium.

Days passed and Nando looked better than before winning balls,creating chances and a run of goals in games against genk and swansea saw many take their words back on Torres being a fail signing,but good days just did not last a red card after scoring a goal against Swansea left him fuming. October turned out to be quite a fairytale month for the striker but since then Nando is yet to find the back of the net come end of February. Even though there have been glimpses of him coming back in touch but they have been usually overshadowed with his rather poor display in most of the games. Having 12 assists to his name this season he has been better than many CFC mid fielders but here comes the question : Ain't he a striker??yes assists are a added bonus when they come via a striker but goals are the things that describe a striker which Nando has failed at during his 1 year tenure at Chelsea. A mere tally of 5 goals in somewhat around 40 odd games for Chelsea has left fans fuming and many have called for his axe. With a pay package worth 10million pounds it seems like every goal he has scored has been worth 2 million pounds. The question that arises in everyone's mind is how come a striker so prolific,calm,composed can turn into such a big failure within 1 year. Some blame it on AVB,some on the lack of creativity and some on the style of play.....

My opinion: The lad has lost all his confidence and constant support shown by the manager and fans is making it a more pressure situation for him. Too much effort he puts up in certain games and some lack lusture displays in some has been his story. Is it time to offload this summer??Maybe a yes maybe a No,a very debatable situation but as it stands a Yes looks a high value for money.