Tuesday, 01 July 08, 11:43 AM
Chelsea Seal Deco Deal
Well first of all, I have to say that this article will be a mass because there are lots of points on my mind about this signing and I want to mention about all of them. His age, Barça and Euro 2008 performances, number of the mids at Chelsea and possible tactical changes that Scolari would make in Blues’ playing style. In my opinion, it’s a great risk to sign Deco. At Barça, he spent difficult times at Nou Camp and now he is at Bridge.
First thing that makes me consider is Deco’s age. He is nearly 31 years old. Signing experienced players is good but Chelsea has a great youth. Ballack is also at the age of 32. Makelele is 35 and now Deco 31. But this team has shiny young players such as Sidwell, Essien, Obi Mikel and Shaun Wright-Phillips. And I believe that there is more to come from youth team. If we consider Scolari’s style, he is good at playing with youngsters. But now Deco.. It’s a big confusion. Chelsea must give chance to its young player in order to build a world class team and guarantee the team’s future. They already have a great experience sitting on the manager chair, Scolari. Signing such old players will just make youngsters to go to bad or dogs. Those are mine ideas, you agree or not. It’s up to you to criticise :)
Another point that I want to take attention is departure of Lampard. When Ballack came, everybody divided wondering that whether if they can play together well or not. But we saw that Lampard – Ballack twosome can make good things. But Deco came. Now, somebody is going to end up at benching or leaving. Ballack, Deco, Sidwell, Essien, Lampard, Mikel and Wright-Phillips. It’s very crowded. If Lampard stays, then the Blues midfield will be a total chaos, any of these player would accept benching. It will either end up as a mass or a winning team.. We’ll see.
Additionally, Ronaldinho could be a better choice for Blues. Ronaldo’s situtation is not certain. If he leaves, Ronaldinho could have the chance to dominate the Premier League’s midfield. But now Deco came. If Ronaldo stays, how can he struggle with this great golden-footed Ronaldo? On the other hand, I don’t believe that Deco could replace both Kalou and Makelele. But Ronaldinho, maybe, could have acvhieved that ‘cause Blues already have Ballack and Mikel as central mid. But there is another option. A lot of Manchester United supporters hope that Lampard and Drogba leave. If this happens then maybe Abrahmovic can open his wallet and do his best do make Ronaldinho a Blue in order to partner Deco. If this happens and Ronaldo stays at Reds, then we will witness a great war at Premier League. Yet, Arsenal and Liverpool are not ready, Chelsea and Manchester Utd seem to battle against each other for the title. If Drogba and Anelka leave, Chelsea should chase after young strikers such as Huntelaar, Torres or Villa. ( Remember, Spurs found Villa too expensive but it’s just a daily expenditure for Abrahmovic to pay for Villa, huh? )
In order to Lampard’s departure, Ballack will be left to do Lampard’s job. No matter what people say about Lampard, he scores 20 goals a season from midfield. Except Ronaldo, it’s hard to find another midfielder scoring that much goals from MF. And see what, Drogba leaves, too! And it means, another 20 goals are gone. Anelka and Shevchenko? Not coaxer.
And my last point, finally. Deco’s signing show us that the Chealse’s playing style is changing. With Deco at the side, Chelsea will attain the ball back better and open the opposing defense with splitting passes. Yes, Lampard is great but he is not a winger and Deco is better at pressing. In my opinion, Chelsea will play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with Deco, Ballack and Essien as a winger. This looks like a little attack-minded midfield but Essien and Ballack share the defensive responsibilities and Deco could pull the string trough to forward. Deco can make the play and Ballack can cross the balls to Drogba. Defense is still strong with Terry and Carvalho. After watching Bosingwa at Euro 2008, I’m persuaded that Blues will have great help from him on the attacks. While Makelele is getting even older, youngsters can find chance. If Drogba stays, 4-2-3-1 seems more convinient. But if he leaves, then we can see a transfer show from Scolari and Abrahmovic.
If it’s true that Deco coast only £8mil, then it’s a little bit acceptable. Considering his 2 year-contract, this shows us that Deco may be a short-term replacement until Scolari gets done with the team. I hope that Blues learnt a lot with the mistake of Shevchenko and don’t do same garbage again. If Drogba stays, it means Chelsea can prefer playing with a lone striker. Then, Scolari maybe stop looking for top strikers.
But nobody knows what is happening behind the curtains. We are talking about Abrahmovic and Scolari. I’m sure that they have lots of up-coming deals in mind. Maybe it’s better be to wait for Scolari to finish his signings and then criticise.
Anyway, life goes on. Hope that Deco will settles in quickly and do great things for Blues :)