Trawling

As a frequent internet trawler I have noticed that there has been a lot of opinion sharing about Joe Cole. As a football fan as well as a Chelsea fan I think he is a fantastic player. In his best season (two seasons ago) he played on the right hand side of a three prong attack at Chelsea, getting into double figures for goals as well as assists. He is well known for being a very good ball carrier and being able to create opportunities and bringing strikers into the mix. He has, of course, struggled since coming back from injury and as a result there have been a lot of people saying he should leave the club, others saying he should take a contract which is below what he wants so he can stay, and most people just being disappointed in his current form.

Personally I would really like to see him stay at the club, but be utilised in a different way. At the moment The Anchovy has been playing Cole behind the striker or strikers, usually on the left hand side. Initially this took the form of being at the tip of the diamond formation, but has since been changed to being on the left hand side with another striker, usually Anelka, playing on the right hand side. While I favor a formation with three central strikers, I do think that Joe Cole could be used deeper in central midfield where he can drift outside as well as play more as an attacking midfielder, which is what he is.

By playing in front of a holding midfielder and next to Lampard he would be required to work harder and move more like a box to box midfielder, but with his natural propensity to drift outside, as well as attack, and his ability to not only hold the ball up but also to thread passes together, playing behind three central strikers would allow him to attack (provided one of the strikers dropped deeper to cover) as well as move outside and play with the fullback while still being able to feed strikers and get into goal scoring positions.

Having said all of this, that position would only work if Chelsea were playing three central strikers. These are the strikers I would like to see being played and appropriately rotated: Drogba, Anelka, Malouda, Kalou, Sturridge, Borini, Mitrovic. I think Marco Mitrovic reminds me of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and he could become a fantastic technical striker. I think it will be interesting to see what happens when Miroslav Stoch returns from loan, as he is proving to be a wonderful left wing striker, and I think Chelsea NEED to aquire Romleu Lukaku because he would be amazing. Gael Kakuta will also be an amazing right wing feeder, but I think Chelsea should play him in the same way as I would like to see them play Joe Cole, hence his exclusion from the above list.