Last match of the US tour today or tomorrow depending on where you are. David Beckham may not play and I don’t think his participation is really going to matter for the Chelsea fans. I’d still get up early in the morning to tune into Chelsea TV to watch us win the match. No, I’m not calling this a trophy or cup or whatever.

Jose Mourinho just broke my heart:

We are going to play 4-4-2, a new experience for the players. I look forward to the game to see how they react on the pitch. We want high intensity. It’s a reason why I’m not playing players for 90 minutes, I know if they do they are not ready to play high intensity. I think they care about themselves, about their position in the team. Every minute of every friendly game is important for me to make a judgment. They know the competition in the team is hard because the squad is good.

While we are gearing up for 4-3-3 on and off the pitch, suddenly boss wants to play 4-4-2. We know that he is not going to play 20 – 22 players this match. He is going to make only 3 or 4 substitutions and see this match to be played just like any competitive match. Bad news for Malouda unless Jose means 4-1-3-2 where the side midfielders are more wide forwards.

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Like many of us, I expect Joe Cole to play an important role this season. Be it 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, he’s going to find his name on the teamsheet. I hope he plays for all 90 minutes and show us the magic he is always capable of.

He also gave us some good news on recovering injuries:

He’s [Ashley Cole] coming, he’s in the last phase of his recovery period. Ballack is the same, he will train with the group on Monday. He [Terry] has a problem in his toe but he can play. I think playing on Saturday and resting Sunday and Monday is fine, and Robben has something in his knee. We have to protect him because he had surgery last season.

Did you notice that he talks about Robben as if he has signed a new contract with Chelsea. That’s the message he wants to send out, may be. Robben is a Chelsea player and we treat him so.

And then, the final Jose special to make the day for the journalists:

. . we would like David Beckham to play and play well. We would like to help him on that. If we can make a deal with him, we’ll give him freedom to play, but he cannot hurt us. If he is on for 10 minutes and we are winning the trophy, then we will let him play for free and will make a free-kick for him to score.

LA Galaxy must have already made up their mind in not playing Beckham but publicising it would not help their advertisements and campaigns for the match that shows the ex-captain and current captain of England pitted against each other.

I think we should see the best game of the US tour against LA Galaxy. Not only because the opposition is good, but also because the players should be much more improved and sharp than they were for the Club America game. The starting eleven could be: Cech, Glen, Terry, Carvalho, Cork, Essien, Mikel, Joe Cole, Lampard, Sheva and Drogba. The subs could be Carlo, Tal, Malouda, Kalou, Sidwell.

That’s it for now. Catch you tomorrow tomorrow!

[tags]Chelsea, LA Galaxy, Jose Mourinho, Mourinho, Beckham, David Beckham, Cech, Glen Johnson, Terry, Carvalho, Cork, Essien, Mikel, Joe Cole, Lampard, Shevchenko, Drogba, Cudicini, Tal, Malouda, Kalou, Sidwell[/tags]