At the end of the transfer window all Chelsea eyes were fixated on a potential move for Luka Modric, the saga of the summer some would argue, a battle of will between player and club, however when it came to it Raul Meireles was the player that eventually moved to Chelsea in a surprise £12m from Liverpool to Chelsea, some would argue that this isn’t the type of player Chelsea need however he is a player who is capable of defending and attacking, being an able tackler as well as being able to create goals and score them.
In the game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge most will remember his display as he scored a goal but also put in a decent shift, over the season he did well, scoring 5 goals as well as creating 5 goals. As we can see from the chalkboard above Meireles is an able passer of the ball only misplacing 6 of his passes, based on the evidence he is comfortable in both halves, he can be attacking as well as being able to help defensively, with Mikel, Ramires and Lampard seeming to be a settled three in midfield where would a player like Meireles fit?
Mikel and Ramires have had decent starts to the season, especially the latter who made a fantastic run in order to gain a penalty against Norwich for Lampard to dispatch. Lampard on the other hand hasn’t really regained the form of the double season, troubled by injury and age he sometimes slows the midfield down and this seems to be a problem, therefore it’s arguable that Meireles would replace Lampard in a midfield three. Again, I’m going to refer back to the game against Liverpool at home and do a statistical comparison (courtesy of the Stats Centre) of the two.
On the left is the statistics of Meireles while on the right are the statistics of Lampard, the differences in styles are clear, Meireles is more of an all round midfielder while Lampard is an attacking one, Meireles made two tackles and successfully getting the ball on both occasions, Lampard made one and didn’t. In terms of passing, Lampard made more passes however Meireles has a better pass completion with near 84% in comparison to Lampard’s 79%, in open play his pass completion rate was even better at an impressive 89%. When it comes to attacking though there are clear differences, Meireles made no crosses while Lampard successfully completed two, Lampard also created three chances while Meireles only created the one in this game.
Meireles & Torres celebrate against Chelsea
What is clear from the analysis of this game is that Meireles last season was arguably a better overall midfielder, he had 79 tackles over Lampard’s 53 over the whole of last season and had 69 interceptions compared to Lampard’s 30. However Lampard was more of an attacking influence, despite a dip in form and injury Lampard still managed to score 10 goals compared to Meireles’ 5. It is arguable whether Meireles deserves to start but his main rival for a starting place seems to be Lampard based on current form, some parts of Chelsea fans want Lampard to take more of a ‘Giggs role’, as he gets older he becomes more of a squad player making an impact coming off the bench, Meireles could arguably be his successor as the attacking midfielder in the trio although Juan Mata could also feature in what looks like a positive future for Chelsea’s midfield.
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Categories: Chelsea, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Player Profiles, EPL Opta Stats
Tags: CFC, english Premier league, EPL, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Lampard, meireles, Opta Stats, premier league, Premier League Stats
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Meireles is not a good defender, he will pull out of 70-75% of 50-50′s and does not go into tackles with much force. Good going forward though
Dat guy is nt a gud creative midfieder we want nd i dont tink everi bodi lyk dat guy cos is nt gud.
Lamps should be coming off the bench…let the likes of Meireles and Mata get starting shirts
That’s a nice article, but I don’t think I will agree with you on the passing ability of Lampard. A great attribute of Lampard game I will forever appreciate is his one touch pass, which is so magnificent it won us three3 premier league and more titles.
Mereilles..he is good..he will add pace to our game..but i also think we should stop playing dat 4-3-3 formation..we dnt hve dat kind of midfield
Lampard is that silent star, you don’t get 2 see them shine often but I tell you, they shine bright. A midfielder who run with the call, ala S. Gerald may be seen often in matches, but that does not mean they are playing better them Lampard
i think this is a great analysis… with Mata, i don’t think we need another creative midfielder.
Meireles starting with Lamps coming off the bench is a great idea. whilst playing Ramires and Mikel. Mata should start when Meireles does. This will make us more strong defensively and attackwise….
THIS SHD BE OUR STARTING 11 IN 4-1-2-1-2
Cech
Bosingwa, Terry, Luiz(or Iva), Cole
Mikel(Romeu)
Meireles, Ramires
Mata
Sturridge, Torres
For 4-3-3
Midfield and Forward
Ramires, Mikel, Lampard
Sturridge, Torres, Mata
agree with most but Meireles will share games with Ramires and Mikel mostly. Meireles will play mostly on the right of the 3 in midfield instead of Ramires and also will make Ramires play holding while mikel drops to the bench. McEachran will take some game from lampard and Meireles the odd time but Lamps is still class. Lampard always takes 6/7 games to get going and his best form is in mid-season.
perfect…
Great fans of chealsea, i think mikel ,lampard should play and ramires should stay for meireless bcus duos first mention are playin a great ball this season,chealsea mid field will be a very great one this season including miereles
I’m a Liverpool fan so I’ve seen alot of Meireless over last season and think that he’s a good passer of the ball but can sometimes be a bit light weight and pulls out of challenges, I don’t personally feel he’s a good enough replacement for Lampard but could be a usefull squad player.
What Dave said. He’ll make a good squad player & with chelsea in the CL, he’ll play more then he would have at LFC.
He’s a nice pass and move player that’ll score the odd goal (prob outscore torres this season), just don’t expect him to get stuck in.
Meireles and Mata I think have been bought to replace Lampard and Malouda.And Essien is fit again then I can see him playing in place of Mikel.
4-1-2-1-2
…………………____
.(1)…………….|. _|
(2)..(6)..(9)….. /|.|.|
..(5)..(8)……..( |.|.|
(3)..(7)..(10)…. \|.|_|
.(4)…………….|___|
Starting 11:
(1) – A.Cole
(2) – D.Luiz
(3) – J.Terry
(4) – Bosingwa
(5) – J.Obi Mikel
(6) – R. Meireles
(7) – Essien
(8) – Ramires
(9) – Sturridge
(10)- Lukaku
(GK) – Cech
I’m a Chelsea fan, I say that Lampard is better attacker than Meireles. But because Lampard is better that means that they will save the best for last. For me Lampard has a lot more to give and think AVB should believe in him to produce the best of him. But that doesn’t mean that Meireles is a bad player, Meireles and Lampard have to train really hard and then it is up to AVB to chose who he thinks is the best for him.
Wish the best of luck for Lampard to score and get more gametime