Lahm > Cole ; Sagnol > whoever

Bilal wrote:Me too ,I think Ballack is definately better then Lampard but Jose wont drop Lampard and neither he is going to drop his system of playing 2 defensive midfielders.

Have to say I disagree. Lampard has been far superior to Ballack this season (maybe it's because Ballack is still trying to find his feet in the Prem).

As for 2 DM's, I think Maka has only played 70% of the games this season. Jose also likes to play 4-3-3 with Essien, Lampard and Ballack in midfield.

I think what people don't understand is that Ballack is one of the most versatile players in Europe, but he needs a certain SYSTEM in which his full strengths come to the fore.

At Leverkusen he did have a defensive mid (Ramelow?) behind him and a playmaker (Bastürk) in front of him, and he was roaming between the positions as a further defensive mid, attacking mid, on the left and right or even as a third striker, depending on whether Leverkusen or their opponents were in possession of the ball. In this free role, he played his best, because then he was able to show his full repertoire.

At Chelsea and also at Bayern in their systems of play, he is or was more or less captured in a single position, which is a waste of his talent and also doesn't suit him well. He likes to roam on the field and in the current system at Chelsea it isn't possible. It wasn't at Bayern either (to a certain extent it was though), but then at least he was provided with passes and crosses which has allowed him to score goals. Now even this is no longer possible...
If Mourinho won't change anything, then I don't think he will improve much.

But to be honest, Ballack should have seen this coming...

S4P
Lampard has been better this season (he perhaps is the best English midfielder after Scholes this season) but I still argue that Ballack is better then Lampard(not biased ,just my opinion).

SnowBall
I agree , he likes to roam in midfield , defend and attack both.
Would have loved to see him at United but he made a choice.