Without a doubt, Eden Hazard has been our player of the year so far. He has had a great start to his career in the EPL, better than most of us could have imagined to be honest. He seems to have an impact in every game we play. He is a sure fit in our squad and seems to be a star in the making.
Juan Mata has not had too much of an impact but that does not worry me one bit. I know he will get his and he will be a factor on the left wing all year long.
Ramires. Oh Ramires. What is he on the wing? That is the only question I have. Why? I understand he has pace and played well on the right last campaign but that was as a box-to-box player who fed our more attacking midfielders. It is clear to me that he is not a winger, plain and simple. I would love to see him in our lineup but at another position. That is another point which I will get to later.
Oscar. I watched Oscar during the Olympics and I saw the potential he had. I thought he was a great signing and I was hoping he would be in the starting lineup every week but yet he never was. I was a little frustrated with this but I think it was good managing from RDM to let him acclimate himself to the club first. I could only imagine moving to a big club, in a new city, new language, new teammates, and everything else that comes with being a young player. I did not expect him to appear in the starting XI for the first time against Juventus but boy did he step up to the occasion! Two goals with the second being a thing of beauty. I hope he continues to work into the starting XI as the season continues.
Then we have our substitutes in Moses, Sturridge, and Marin. Obviously Marin so I cannot make any judgements on his play so far. We only saw Moses get a little action against QPR but he looked pretty good on the right making a nice cross to Hazard who unfortunately missed (his only glaring low point so far this season). Although RDM says Sturridge will play more at CF this season, he has only really played on the RW except for coming on as a substitute for Torres against QPR.
If my math is correct, that gives us 7 attacking midfielders to fill 3 positions. If you ask me, that is about 2 too many. Eliminate Sturridge from the mix and you have 6 which is still a lot. 4 of these guys are new signings who will need time on the pitch to get used to the system and their new teammates play styles. I see this as a problem because our lineup always seems to be changing and some players may not get a fair shot depending on how they perform when they do make it in the lineup.
It can never be a terrible thing to have depth, but as a manager you need to pick a lineup and stick with it. So what should RDM do and who should he play? To be honest, I don't know for sure, but I do know that I would not always be changing the lineup. I understand it is still early and he needs to see how guys play in live action before he can make some definite decisions. I think a 4-2-3-1 does fit our team depending on who is in. If Ramires is in, I just don't see it working well. With Ramires in the lineup it seems more of a 4-3-2-1 set up would be more fitting with Mikel play central, Lampard on the left and Ramires on the right of the back 3 with Mata and Hazard on the wings with Torres up front. Even a 4-4-1-1 could work.
It would be interesting to see how either of these systems would fair. This would allow Lampard and Ramires to feed either Mata or Hazard down the wings. These two are clearly our best playmakers and with the ball going through either Lampard or Ramires first, teams will have to stay spread out which should open up Mata or Hazard (depending on who has to the ball) to make their own runs.
So what do I want to see in the future? I would love to see RDM change the formation depending on who is in the lineup. I want each of our players to use their strengths when they are on the pitch. I really hope to see Oscar play more on the right and let him build his confidence and play with Hazard because at this point in time, they seem to be the future of our club.
Either way, I have full confidence in RDM and his decisions. It seems he will continue to fix small things in our lineup until we can find that perfect chemistry we are all looking for!
I Know I Am, I'm Sure I Am, I'm Chelsea Til I Die!
