dani alves will join us within a week. i have some undisclosable sources that tell me this. there is a big chance of robben’s deal breaking down.

i dunno why the playing style has to change. it has been solid for us. we only have to score more goals and we can do it with the same style with better finishing.

just when jose thought of reverting to our successful 4-3-3, injuries are killing us and we would now play 4-4-2 only. don’t you think that the current situation is somewhat similar to what we had in dec 2006?

mancienne would play for us in 2010, if he stays that long.\

trublu - who is you undisclosable source? as long as it is BBC or skysports, i’d believe your source!

wow now all websites have started to say that chelsea will win the title this season. did you see the reason they quote, they dont think cronaldo will have another season like the last one. fair assumption. me too think so. ronaldo would be injured before christmas ad would return only next season

wow now all websites have started to say that chelsea will win the title this season. did you see the reason they quote, they dont think cronaldo will have another season like the last one. fair assumption. me too think so. ronaldo would be injured before christmas and would return only next season

the chimbonda deal is still there or it was just a hoax? i’m really sorry that i’m checking about chimbonda while we talking at dani alves level, but i just i’ll ask.

alves thers anotha player whos attackin style will b hampered by the tactics. jus look a ashley cole, has been absolute S since joinin, nt da ashley tht was him da best left back in da world, whn playin glourious footall wit da arse (unbertable season cant argue against tht).

boi whn is dis hamperin on attackin footballer gonna stop. i mean look at ballck, shevshenko, SWP n now ROBBEN, good gracous let thm express themselevs, (although it pins me 2 say dis) either tht let thm join mor entertainin/better clubs. ie barca asre or man utd.

cn ne 1 prove me wrong. remeber the style offootball played, was da reason RONALDINHO said he would NEVER join chelsea cos of da BORING football playd.

by da way. WOW guys did u see da man utd match dat kid NANI is 1 2 watch as is anderson, i personally will b shittin in my pants whn thy play da blues. boi thts wht i call attackin football

footballguy@6,

Robben and duff in 2005 expressed themselves freely without hindrance- All Jose asks is for the player to be conscious of the overall goals of the team. do not get carried away and think that you are more important than the team. Remember Joey’s goal against man city in 2005? jose slammed him not because of the skilful play but needless showboating after the goal and failing to track back to support the team. This is no unreasonabe demand is it? Players must learn to play for each other at all times, innit? after all was Deco not playing for Jose in Porto? did he inhibit from being stylish? No, as long as he knows the team comes first. You say, look at sheva, ballack, SWP? What about them? Is that the first time a player has taken time to shine? Drogba had a torrid time over two seasons and nearly left at the end of the second. Essien had difficult first season and most fans thought he would be consigned to bench when Ballack arrived. So, we should understand that there is still hope for Sheva and Ballack. What about SWP? Is Jose the reason why he is failing to deliver inch perfect passes? is Jose the reason why he loses the ball so often after promising runs? No. Its all down to the player and am happy SWP is fully aware of that and is therefore keep his head down and working hard. I believe, with some effort, this season might see him coming alive on a consistent basis.

Ronaldinho would not join us cos we have no time for lazy players who just want to remain up there showboating and failing to help the team when the going is tough. You said Ashley’s forward movement is hampered by Mour? What of the brilliant forward movement by Bridge? How come Bridge was attacking brilliantly last season but Ash was not. the cause could not be Mour my friend.

Mour has his fault as a mortal but pls lets be fair.

mourofsame

mour is a great mager i mean 1st title in 50 years, hts says it all. but 2 b a dominant force in football, n b as great as barca, real and man (whos football was mindblowin at tyms last yea, n is sur 2 b again) da style of football need 2 change neva gonna get otha fans required 2 bcom a great club. enough of da nosense football. yes the tem wins, but y is dt at da sacrifice of sxy football.

ps da comment 4 ronaldinho been lazy, when u r great u can aford 2 b. whn u get a standin ovation at da bernabeau, r greatest rivals staduims n their fans, no 1 can call into question ur talents. ZINDANE NEVER, dropped bac 2hlp da team, r u sayin u wouldnt want him, RONALDO(brazil), NEVER DOPPED. TIAGO dropped back, do u want him. dont fink so. thts whts wrong, da mentality is win at all cost, no idividual flair only team work. man hav team work but plenty of indiviual flair as do barca.

common some1 prov me wrong change is needed

Barca is one of the best entertainers over the last few years. how have they fared against us? they have never beaten us when we both have 11 players on. in 2005, they were lucky to even come back after we totally mesmerised them scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes. What about last season? We completely outclased home and away not just playing functional football but great attacking and creative game that made them look pretty pedestrian even at Camp Nou. Same we did to Valencia in front of their fans?

So I really do not know what you are on about? Manure played some great stuff last year? Remember when we met them at Old trafford and they went up in the first half? The whole second half was played in their half as we completely overran them and dominated them with superb attackingh play. A team must not have static play styles. A great team must be dynamic and respond differently to different challenges. Am a great boxing lover and my best boxers are those who are multi dimensional- punch good, jab good, clinch good, take good punch etc. Same for football- great defense, great midfield and great attack all depending on the need of the day.

by the way, nani really impresses you huh? Not me. give mikel any day, and i will not i the direction of nani.

@ footballguy
Go and learn to spell dude!
Or go and learn proper English!!!
I cant even follow the argument!!!!!!!
Crap

I don’t know Alves very well , but I watched some clips of his play , his style does not look like a right back . he is very attacking mind. that’s very good. I really like to see him in blue.
I think we will join us .

Champions are made not just on flair n attcking football..if that was the case, arsenal would win every year:)..We can talk all we want on Barcelona, Arsenal, United palying beautiful football n stuff..But they dont play beautiful football gainst teams that can stand up to them n threaten them.U dont see beautiful football when arsenal play united..those games are very rough n ugly..U dont see arsnal or united running rings around chelsea..bcos they cant n they know trying to play too beautiful can cost them..we have routed teams 4-0 4-1 3-0 etc under jose..those were weak teams n they could be toyed with.Against stronger opposition we opt to be solid n cut out the beauty part.A win is after all just 3 points..we dont get extra points for playing beautiful.Chelsea also dont sit back n defend when they are trailing..Jose is probabaly the only manager whould dare to take out defenders n put more attacking guys in..the best example i can give is the FA cup Qf with tootenham..we were tariling 3-1 at half time..jose played with 2 defenders in the second half..n pushed people forward..so chelsea is a team that adapts n plays according to situation..thats a great quality to have..A team that is brilliant at defending can easily adapt n attck..our players are suited to the style..lampard, essien, drogba, shaun..all these guys drop back n defend well when needed..
Why Do we need a new right back??.because Glen isnt that good defensively n paulo isnt too good getting forward..Is alves the perfect RB who can defend well n get forward at will??.
as for being a global power n name..chelsea can achieve it only by winning..just keep winning titles..fans will follow..beautiful football waont bring in fans..winning brings in fans..barcelona, united, arsenal etc wouldnt have any fans if they never won anything..all the big clubs like liverpool,united,arsenal,barca, real etc boast of fan base,history,tardition n stuff..all of those count for nothing if they never won anything..thay have all they claim bcos of the titles they have won..take chelsea for instance..the fan base of chelsea must have easily quadrupled ovr the last 4 years..simply because chelsea started winning..WINNING is the key..

trueblueind - great comments, very valid and interesting. i completely agree that those ‘beautiful football’ teams have never played with Chelsea like they play with other teams. i agree the idea that ‘winning is the key’ at least for this moment.

small suggestion - split them into various paragraphs, makes it easier for all to read.

JM said we’d be more attacking this year.
He must mean it. He ususally says his mind and does what he says
He never said he’d play Beyootiful footy in the past, but now that he says he will ,I guess he will.

RH - don’t expect too much in this month. we are already missing so many players. Until, they get back JM will not have anything more than ‘3 points’ in his mind.

Manure plays shit for the first 30 minutes every time they meet us too.

Whatcha think Sir AF is a dud and would go 100% attcking and showboating againsta team like ours 100% of a match?

And Sheva expressing himself ? against three defenders ? the man never did that. It was Kaka who played him onto the ball and then his finishing that did the trick. Team work was what he did at AC.

Btw Manure was boring against AC past two years and Aresy was really defensive against Barca in the Cl finals and they could’ve won it if Henry had converted in he second half.

CFC is what it is and will hopefully evolve into a fluidly playing team but lots of times u gotta be pragmatic to win I guess and maybe JM’s fault is that he’s been more pragmatic than most.

All

If you haven’t signed up for the BlueChampions fantasy football challenge, do it now!

40 members so far and steadily growing! Should be fun to compete against fellow Blues! Enjoy!

Great comments about Chelsea’s playing style, how it’s so adaptive and fluid… One thing to say, I saw about 10 to 12 matches for Alves last year, including many of the UEFA Cup matches, and he seems the absolute perfect player to help us play the magical football everyone’s talking about. Our left side is looking fantastic with Cole/Malouda/Bridge/Robben (big IF), but our right side isn’t as adept offensively… Ferreira is more defensive than anything and rarely does he have a tremendous offensive game, and Johnson impressed me one game out of five. But Alves brings huge ability with crossing and can play with SWP or Joe Cole brilliantly.
I think that should he come he and Essien will be a key relationship as Alves moves forward and Essien covers the RB spot, I’m looking forwards to seeing that very much.
Oh, and just a little extra bonus… Alves is a mighty free-kick taker.

And I’d rate him as better defensively than any option we have at right back at the moment.

Yellow cards hardly matter as long as he is able to keep the red cards in the refree’s pocket. Alves is nice player provides lot of width to chelsea and great in crossing. He was nice in the Copa America and should fit in to the chelsea family nicely.

What about the injury crisis guys?

Wats the latest on alex???..is he coming??..i believe his work permit was ok a week back..so wats the daly now???..why isnt he at chelsea as yet??

football guy and moursfan, excellent debate, agree wid both of u , i cant remember any team scoring more than 2 goals against us last season apart from spurs (fa cup). we are very strong defensively as well as attacking wise if needed,if we want to see more flair, i think the opposition should score first every game, seems like unless oppsosition scores first our players don go into their top gear, i think we as a team are not very selfish and don want to embaress the opposition scoring too many goals, quite happy with a 1nil win,,more sorta champions league game, hopefully this season everyone scores a lota goals,

Aryen robben now gone? Sky Sports breaking news a moment ago states that Spanish Radio has officially announced that a deal has been done securing both Robben and drenthe. Thank God. We need the money now to bring in Alvez and IMO, Quaresma.

Hi SS,

I like the modification you gave my name- Moursfan. Ha ha ha, thats a nice one.

BC talking about BlueChampions fantasy football challenge, i cant scroll down that page as i mentioned to you before.
please check it.
and correct it BC, please.

yes i heard that too … drenthe move to madrid and robben excepted to sign today

MOURofYOU

whats the update on the Robben deal? anything new? where can I find the breaking news story?

agent blue.
firstly thers no need 2 b rude. i can spell thanku very much, dnt mean 2 blow my trumpet but im highly educated thus i have no problem with my grammar or spelling abilities.
thers no need 4 insults just bcause u not in agreeance with me.

yes its tru the (great) clubs such as barca and manutd dnt play exceptional football againts the blues. but y is tht i ask. its mainly cause chelsea dominate by slowing down the tempo of the game, in effect making the game boring.

barca, man utd, real madrid (of old), and arsenal are tams built on attacking emphasis. meanwhile chealsea’s tactics are based on solidarity nt just frm the bac bt fm da whole team. therfore da reason y players ly ashley cole, ballack, shevscehnko (cnt spell his name.lol), robben cannot shine. thus players lackin flair such as lampard, terry and essien shine.

ps the games with arsenal v man utd hav been the most anticipated games in premiership/world football. 2004/5 season arsenal 2 man utd 4. or the 2:2 draw da season b4.

look at BARCA nad REAL last season 3-3 draw. no wonder they win fans

and ONLY WINNING, does not win u fans.(IE IN COUNTRIES LIKE AMERICA). football the way it should b played wins fans. look at BRAZIL (national team), they win BY playin beautiful football. are u sayin the blues cant hav best of both worlds

Greedy bastards taking both… And Ballack staying, too. Thing just get better and better, dont they?

I think, in Malouda, Kalou, Sinclair and to some extent Wayne Bridge we have more than enough on the left side of the attack. What we need now is to make the right side equally deadly by gerring Alvez asap to add to SWP, JOe Cole and essien (whenever the Bison is needed there.) Sinclair in particular must be encouraged. The boy combines pace and guile. I have so much faith in his potential and I think Mour has same no wonder he now has the number 17 shirt.

common guys. sinclair is a raw talent. im sur hes gonn b good, 1 2 watch out 4. bt lets faceit hes gonna bcom a joe cole, a player of flair, whos talents n wish 2 express himslf will b stoppd frm flourishin by da team tactics. if he really wntd 2 improv he shld go (cnt believ im gonna say ths but….) arsenal. or might aswell hav satyd at plymouth

Trueblend, love your write up. It about sums up everything.

Mourofsame how can u compare nani and mikel.they play totally different positions and did u watch uniteds game?

You have still not answered how come the forward thrust of robben and duff flourished under Mour in 2005, football guy. If he stifles so much, how come they flourished.

Have you ever watched Mikel play for Nigeria. No different from nani’s role. He is an excellent attacking midfielder for nigeria. and he would eventually be for us when Lamps’ influence starts waning by and by. So i compare their overall ability- skill, team play, competitiveness, vision and other abilities. i will pick Mikel above him. Besides, the impact Mikel had on the world under 20 tourney was more maasive than what we saw Nani do recently. I feel this is another mega media blitz starting with this Nani thing. If this same player had signed for chelsea, they would not have beeb making the same noise PeterJones.

mourofsame

1stly robben & duff did florish in da 1st season tht is a fact, n every1 no’s it. but 2 things. wht happened, duff was sold and robben may b on his way out. thus my point about flair players/plays nt bein allowed.
2nd. as much as thy did prosper, wr thy as good as giggs and ronaldo, or messi and ronalodinho, or lungberg and pires. i dnt fink so.

and i hav watchd mikel play frm nigeria ive known about him 4 several years as im nigerian myslf. hes is potentially a v.good player. but pls do not comare him 2 nani, thy play diff positions, and 1 is clearly better NANI.
(dnt let club loyalty blind u). mayb the reason is bcause he is playin 4 da blues, nt allowed to flourish.

lyk u said he plays an attackin role 4 nigeria, y nt at chelsea?

and y wouldnt the media make a big deal bout nani (if ) he singned 4 da blues. cos hes flair would b stifled, bcomin anotha ballck,schevchenko, robben, a.cole, and to a very lesser extent j.cole.

prove me wrong?lol

Nani isn’t impressive. What impressed you about him? I saw the match, he was just another number. I didn’t see anything special. Everyone compares him to Ronaldo… Why? I certainly am not yet impressed.
Footballguy, please stop being negative. I highly doubt you’re a Chelsea fan, the way you’re arguing. Sinclair will stay and flourish at Chelsea, under the manager who made Robben, Joe Cole, and soon enough SWP the players they are. And he’s going to be great, just like them.

Daniel Alves is a good player iam always asking him to join Chelsea fc, i know he want to join us but the Club Sevilla dont want him to join us./ If Sevilla are seen that refusing to give us Alavesis better for them one day they must go and look for another player or even our player. we too we will Revenge.
The True Man Najeeb Ts

ADONIS

hold on, made ROBBEN? was isnt RANIERI who bought him. and im pretty sure ROBBN was a talent b4 he came 2 chelsea, wasnt he about 2 join man utd b4 makin a u turn.

a question
are u sayin SWP has been as good, since he joined chelase. has he hit the form tht cost £21 mill. y is tht?

and nani was imperssive 3 goals in 4 apperances would support tht argument. (pls dnt let club loyalty blind u) of course he is nt the complete article, but u cant say thers isnt something special bout the him. just lyk theo walcott and potentially sinclair. common b fair, b objective b a football fan 1st nt just a chelsea fan. thts wht i do

I can’t believe this…

One guy says to another chelsea fan “We hae to play more attacking “

The other guy says “Hey don’t be Negative”

Flair..what exactly is flair??..is it doing step overs like ronaldo??..is it trickery like ronaldinho??..is it magic like maradona???..is it pace like henry??..is it passing like beckham??..

i guess all of us will have different definitions of the same..Then i would like to ask..how can a player’s flair be stifled by their own club or manager??..

take our players for instance..Only joe n robben are capable of some of the things people would call ‘flair’..they do exhibit their stuff on the pitch..when did jose or the club stop them from making reverse passes,step overs etc???
Drogba exhibits some trickery once in a while..n he does it whenever possible too..when was he stopped from doing any of those??

ability & skill are God given..u cant teach anyone to do step overs:)
team play & competitiveness are stuff that can be taught..stuff that can be nutured..
vision..that too is something Gifted by the Almighty..u cant teach someone to find someones head 50 yards away with a football:)

Now..which of the chelsea players have these abilities and dont use them..or the club n manager stops them from using their ability???

Chelsea is a team Built On solidity n team spirit..theres nothing wrong with it at all..There is a winning culture..the desire to succeed at all level..the willingness to fight it out..that is what makes a winner..

take for instance people like Ronaldo n ronaldinho..they dont exhibit their magic each time thay play..they come unstuck they come up against opposition who can stifle them..Stifling the opposition is the name of the game:)..Football isnt played in a way that both teams go all out n attack..n the team with the better attack wins..then wats the use of defence???..The chelsea defence is one of the best in the world..n they worked hard to achieve that tag..They are capable of stifling people like ronaldo, messi n ronaldinho..that is the way it should be..if we allow people like ronaldo, messi n ronaldinho to run riot..they will kill us..so stifle their play..slow down the tempo..WATS WRONG IN STIFLING THE OPPOSITION????

Then..Sheva, SWP, ballack..Did jose ask them not to perform???..NO..the thing is that these people couldnt adapt to life at a club like chelsea..The pressure of expectatations..their previous records..new club..all of these factors affected their performance

ballack never exhibited FLAIR:) at bayern or for Germany..he was a good attacking midfielder..not a magician..he couldnt reproduce the same form at chelsea..settling problems in the beginning..he was coming good towards the end of the season..but he got injured..

Did sheva exhibit FLAIR at Milan???..NO..he had a great midfield that supplied him well..he was a great finisher no doubt..But that was the ITALIAN league..it is not half as physical as the english league..sheva came in with a huge reputatation..so naturally he was the target of the opposition defence..it was this fact that stifled sheva a lot..plus adjusting to new club, style etc..TARGETTING OF SHEVA BY THE OPPOSITION DEFENCE HELPED DROGBA A LOT..
n Sheva scored 14 goals in all competitions..Drogba scored 11 in his first season n 14 in his Second..Who says sheva cant reproduce the old form..maybe this time around the focus will be on Drogba n Sheva might bang in the goals:)

SWP..That boy came to chelsea on a 21M price tag..he was brought in bcos of his exploits with CITY..Was chelsea rsponsible that he couldnt reproduce the same form immediately???..The pressure just Got to him..Huge club..big price tag..he had a million things on his mind..there was competition for places..he didnt have that at city..he knew he could play crap at CITY n still get into the starting 11..bcos there was no back up..Chelsea is not such a club..he had competition at chelsea..he focussed on too many things rather than keeping things simple..

then..Duff, Eidur were sold bcos they wanted to start every game n a club like chelsea couldnt guarantee them that..thats why they were sold..they werent sold cos they had FLAIR:)

Then others players sold…Kezman, Parker, babayaro, jimmy, Forsell,melchiot
These guys didnt have FLAIR:)..n they were deemed surplus to requirements..

Jarosik,Tiago,then another LB sold last season, Boulaharoz loaned, Crespo n Veron loaned out for free..all these guys had no FLAIR:)
Crespo was good..had a lill FLAIR:)..but he wanted to be in Italy..not because inter milan had FLAIR:)..bcos he preffered the living conditions in ITALY

Then Mikel..Mikel might be a great attacking prospect..Jose has played him as Holding MF..he gets forward..he makes some great passes..i dont think he can do any stepovers:)..he has been given the right to do what he wants as long he also does his job of holding MF role..so where has jose n chelsea stifled Mikel???..what extra can Mikel Do???..can he play like Ronaldo Or Messi:)??

lampard has been scoring 20 plus goals for the last 3 to 4 seasons..thats why he is our attacking midfielder..he has a huge number of assists as well..so whats wrong with lampard playing CAM??..

essien runs the length of the pitch tirelessly..thats his game..thts his utility n strength..hes no messi Or ronaldo to exhibit FLAIR:)..he is a hard working footballer who plays to his strenghts..thats what makes him successful

ashley Cole has admitted himself that he was carrying an injury much of last season n hence couldnt play to full potential..JOSE or CHELSEA didnt stop him from Exhibiting his FLAIR:)

My Point Is CHELSEA hasnt stopped anyone from doing anything..we dont have players like Messi or maradona..so we cnt Say WE HAVE TO PLAY LIKE THEM..we have our own system of play..and a very successful one at that..
We play Football to win..that is attacking football:)..that is aggressive football..WE NEVER PLAY FOR A LOSS OR A DRAW..SO HOW IS CHELSEA NEGATIVE????:)..we got all out to win against every team we play against..WE ARE A VERY VERY POSITIVE SIDE
Dont comapre ourselves with Arsenal, united, barca etc..thy have their players, their style n their manager..we have our players, our style n our manager..we have a SOLID defence n a pretty decent attack..we can play different styles according to situations..we have a great team..TEAM..TEAM..not great magicians..
we Score an average of 70 plus goals each season..thts proof enough that we attack, our players have vision etc:)
A team that plays to its strengths win..n chelsea is such a team..

United were suppossedly playing the best football on earth last season..but they lost 5 games in the EPL whereas Chelsea with all the huge injury problems lost just 3..n we were just 6 points behind them at the end..If we didnt have that huge list of injury problems..we would have won the league comfortably..we had an amazing season..it was achieved only by playing to our strengths in spite of all our problems..

so be PROUD of what CHELSEA is..dont compare CHELSEA with others

We are what we are..n we will remain forever..CHAMPIONS

Oh..another thing..SUCCESS..only SUCCESS brings in fans..there are 2 sets of fans
1) the local home grown fans..London will have Chelsea, arsenal, charlton, west ham, fulham according to the loactions
2)fan base around the world..Chinese guys or indians dont support Fulham, west ham,tottenham etc..they support chelsea, United, Arsenal,