Scolari? Should he stay or go?

Two more dropped points now see us down into fourth, behind Man United, Liverpool, and Aston Villa. The question is, why is our away form better than our home form? Maybe it's the fact that we haven't got an unbeaten record to protect any more, or maybe it's us fans, getting on Scolari's back becuas eof all these bad results. Whichever, Scolari has got to go. After having successes in South America with club teams, and winning the 2002 World Cup with Brazil, we all thought he could be the man to turn our fortunes around, and I still think he can. But it will take him a long time to motivate Drogba. So he has to go. maybe he could help us win the FA Cup, possibly even the Champions League, but even if he wins both, he's still got to go. So now onto a successor. Avram Grant did a good job in his first season, and maybe if he had stayed on for a second season he clould have go on to be successful. But Abramovich doesn't give people a second chance, as was shown when he mercilessly sacked Ranieri. However, it's extremely unlikely that Grant would want to come back to the Bridge, and he's already the bookie's favourite to take over at Portsmouth.
Curbishley? No, he's more suited to relegation-battler's, not title contenders. Hoddle? No, he wasn't very successful at Spurs. Maybe Frank Rijkaard. He didn't do a great job with Barcelona, but I'm sure that he could be successful with us, if given time, but he won't get it, so he's out. One of the most obvious candidates is Franco Zola, who has done a superb job so far with West Ham. Di Matteo is another former player who has gone into management, and I'm sure, if possible, he'd be telling scolari what to do.
I think that the sooner Scolari packs his bags, the better, and Abramovich should bring in Rijkaard or Zola.

Which Formation Is Our Best?

We've played so many formations over the last five or six years, that no-one can remember most of them. Here's the formations we could use, and how they would help us:

4-5-1 - Has been used with Essien or Mikel, Lampard, and Deco or Ballack making up the centre of midfield, while J Cole and Malouda, or now Quaresma and Malouda playing on the wings. Anelka or Drogba can play up the front, and with a back four of A Cole, Carvalho, Terry and Bosingwa, we would have strength all around the pitch.

4-4-2 - Would have the same back four as in the previous formation, then Essien or Mikel would play just behind Lampard, with Quaresma and Malouda or Kalou on the wings. Up front, Anelka could play just behind Drogba, using his creativity to find a way to play Drogba through on goal.

4-1-4-1 - Has been used a lot by Scolari, with Mikel playing just behind Deco or Ballack and Lampard. Up front, Drogba or Mikel would start.

After looking through these three formations that have been favoured at some point by one of our recent managers, I believe that 4-4-2 would be best for us.
Feel free to add your comments on this article

Was the Transfer Window A Success for us?

After Peter Kenyon had told us that there would be no signings in the January transfer window, Quaresma was brought in on loan on deadline day. What else would you have liked to have seen? A striker, maybe? Or a full-back? Here, we'll see which players we would have liked, and it which positions.

Full-back - As Bridge left for Man City, a gaping hole was left. We had 3 right-backs in the squad, but only Ashley Cole on the left. What if he gets injured? Someone like Giorgio Chiellini, who can play across the defence would be useful, or maybe even just an average, back-up left-back, like Guilherme, of Almeria, who is still young and has a bright future ahead of him.

Centre-back - As mentioned before, Chiellini could play at left-back, as well as at centre-back, while someone like Gianluca Zambrotta of AC Milan, would have been a great signing by Scolari.

Striker - There are plenty of players that could have filled this spot, with Luis Fabiano and Vagner Love the prime candidates, but they may have taken some time to adjust to the English style of play. Fredi Kanoute, of Sevilla, would have been a good temporary solution, but in the long-term a big-money move for Lyon's Karim Benzema could, and probably would have payed off.

Feel free to add your comments below, and tell us who you would have liked to have seen join us in the January transfer window

Quaresma - Good Signing Or Not?

As an exciting deadline day reached it's climax, news reached us that Chelsea were trying to hijack Spurs move for Quaresma. We had to wait until the evening, though, for the news that we had managed to sign the Portuguese winger.
So, will he be able to rejuvenate his career at Chelsea during his 6-month spell at the Blues? He kicked his career off at Sporting Lisbon, scoring a total of 8 goals in 59 appearances, before having an unsuccessful spell at Barcelona. He then returned to Portugal with FC Porto, and during his 4 years at the club he made 124 appearances and scored 24 times. Scolari has more options now, so expect us to change from 4-1-4-1 to 4-5-1 or maybe even 4-1-2-3, with Quaresma playing on the right of the attacking three and Malouda or Kalou on the left.

With any luck, Quaresma will be the best signing of the transfer window.