The most challenging premier league match for Avram Grant. I’m not taking into account the match at Old Trafford as we were only hoping for a draw, at best. Man City could not score against us even once in their last 5 matches. That tells you something about the doubles and domination we had over them recently. This Man City team under Sven could be something else.
I feel Avram is improving with his team selection. He is learning things by trial and error. While there are people that feel that Avram is dropping Sheva only to show that he is in control. I doubt that. I think Avram has really understood that if Sheva starts ahead of Drogba or Kalou or Pizarro, it would seriously impact the results and subsequently his own job. He knows that we simply can’t afford to lose any more points until our rivals have lost big time. After more than a season, playing Sheva is still an experiment. Pity. Avram says:
Andriy Shevchenko was a very, very good player and is still a very, very good player, even if he has not been playing often in the team. His attitude in training every day has been fantastic. For us it is the challenge to improve all the squad, individually and as a team, and we want all our players to be at their best. I know from my experience that there are always some good players who are not at their best, it doesn’t mean they have finished their careers. Andriy has been in a not good moment like every single great player in the past has been in a not good moment at some point in their career. If their attitude is good, they make a good comeback and I think that is what we will see with Andriy Shevchenko. He is a very good player with a very good attitude.
Sounds familiar? For Andriy, nothing has changed – his form, his manager’s remarks, expectations, nothing’s changed.
Ashley Cole and John Terry are still unavailable. The Observer newspaper has tendered an apology to John Terry for carrying a news item blaming Terry for Jose’s departure. I don’t blame Terry but I felt that there was something wrong between the captain and the coach. Even after Jose left, Terry’s media reaction was very suspiciously mellow. May be, he was just trying to be politically correct, as the captain of the team or he was programmed to react that way. Anyway, I’m happy to hear this news on Observer’s apology to Terry.
Playing at home, I guess he would start with a 4-3-3. Drogba, Malouda and Joe Cole up front. Essien, Lampard and SWP if he is quite bold or Maka or Obi for SWP, if he is cautious. I’d go with the earlier because it is Fortress Stamford Bridge. No team, I repeat no team, could beat us in the league in the last three years there. Only team to beat us at the Bridge in any other competition was Barcelona when we went one man down in the first half.
Whatever doubts were there about the commitment and motivation levels of Drogba and Malouda, must have been cleared with their recent performances. I understand that Malouda had a fantastic match (oh that goal was a lucky one, I’d still say!) and Drogba has scored twice since his outburst.
Avram never misses a chance to say we’re playing a different kind of football – “we will win matches but not like before”. The way I see it nothing much has changed. Well, I’m comparing the title winning football from Chelsea and the current one. Short and quick passes are not new to us. If there is something that can be attributed to Avram that is the unleashing of Joe Cole and pressing for more goals.
Jose had a major role in making an international player out of a spoilt glory-seeking Joe Cole. He brought that discipline and structure in him. Jose had always given him a framework to do what he wants to do. I too believe that Joe Cole is not someone who can be given a free role. A free role can be given only to players with incredible quality, brilliant understanding of the game and also have enough maturity. I see the danger of Joe Cole roaming around everywhere in the attacking half soon!
My prediction is a 2-1. If we win this match, the highest we could go up is the fourth place, that is if all other results go our way. A win for us, defeat for Man Utd, draw between Arsenal and Liverpool, I guess we would be No.4. Not bad, my expectations have gone down to such an extent that No.4 is something I’d end up celebrating. Once we are at No.4, I’d be hoping for a No.2 and then to lead the table, you can’t blame me for that. For someone so pampered with near-assured success in the last few seasons, I’m quite lenient right?
[tags]Chelsea, Manchester City, Avram Grant, John Terry, Joe Cole, Malouda, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Premier League[/tags]
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i have no doubts that blues will WIN, im very sorry 2 all man city fans, at STAMFORD BRIDGE, chelsea r juz “bulletproof”!!!!!! =)) =P
I saw the game in midweek. Pretty good performance but iam still waiting for a much quicker flow in our game, while Jose was here our game was focused a lot on security with passes allways directed straight at the player even in offensive play which personally i hate. This team is starting to penetrate quicker the opposition by passing the ball in front of people while on the run to add penetration and momentum to our game which i prefer much more. Iam happy that SWP is out of the team very important player with his pace and adds volume to our game but useless personally to keep the ball and beat players on one on one situations. Cole on the right is where is should allways have played, very good player. Iam must admit the biggest downfall to chelsea this year is not the dismisal of maurinho but letting robben go. Malouda has had important goals but in the actaul play Robben was a much better asset in the team. Add so much speed to our game.
I hope we can get the momentum flowing sustaiably and get the points to catch up to the top of the table.
Chelsea forever
My Prediction : Chelsea 0-0 Manchester City
I mean draw, maybe 1-1
To start off with
there are no second doubts about starting line-up
cech
belletti
carvalho
terry
ferreira
essien
mikel
lampard
joe
drogba
malouda
if we win this match,trust me our title challenge is back on track………………very imp match
A dead team with dead football……winning matches bcoz of drogba the wrestler…………u r doomed man
my prediction is a win in favour of chelsea,but i’ll prefer to see this starting line up;
cech
belleti
carvalho
alex
ferreira
mikel
makelele
lampard
j cole
malouda
drogba
mikel should be played ahead essien,essien does not support the attack anymore,and he has really lost form,he is fond of losing the ball these days and making wrong passes.i’ll also prefer to see pizarro on the bench instead of sheva.SWP and Kalou should both come on later.i dont see the reason why SWP should not make the bench,he is beginning to gain his form,lets give him a chance,we need flying wings,no one can do it better than brilliant SWP.
“chelsea,go and win”!!!
i want a 4-1-3-2 even though i know they wont play that formation.
so here is my team:
—————–cech————–
belletti—-alex—-carvalho—ferreira-
————————————
——— —-makelele—————
————————————
————–lampard—————-
—-J.cole—————–malouda—
————————————-
——–sheva———–drogba——
i would play makelele to give lampard the freedom to attack and i would play sheva and if he wasnt performing well i would put on pizarro or kalou instead of him.
Arsenic bugger off …. let us be in our own domain… we wallow in our own confusion and …. it’s such a bore sniggering around like that….. yep u might not be so afraid of us since JM went … but we got tsill left lotsa balls… wait till we meet u… Then lets see whose got bragging rights
this is a very important match we have to win and i think that we ‘ll win, my fotmation.
cech
fereirra
alex
carvalho
bridge
mikel
lampard
essien
malouda
j.cole
drogba
Alby, your spot on maybe exept for ferreira but well have to wait and see!!
@Blue Champion
I Just Found Something
——————————————————————
Barcelona midfield ace Xavi admits Thierry Henry has been let down by his teammates so far this season.
Xavi believes Barca are still to play to Henry’s strengths and declared: “Henry is a player capable of anything, and it is a matter of time and confidence before he returns to form and starts scoring goals.
“We’re all seeking to understand his game, exploit his strengths, when he goes into fifth or sixth gear and we send the ball deep so that he can prove his quality.”
He added: “If the midfield plays more as a unit, then we can do more for our strikers. We know players like Henry are capable of causing great damage to opposition defences.”
after reading this piece,i was left wondering …………..HAVE WE EVER PLAYED OR TRIED TO PLAY TO SHEVA’S STRENGTH?????
Agree he is old………..agree he has lost pace……..but i don’t think a player of his calibre can become a useless piece of crap…….maybe he does not now has the potential to be europe’s best but can his form detoriated to such an extent that he cannot merit place as 2nd choice striker.
it’s not only sheva who has lost form………..adriano and even ronaldinho are a prime example of lost form case…………but their lost form is largely due to their physical problems……….alcohol………no training sessions you name it……….even when grant don’t find sheva fit even for 2nd choice striker,he made it a point in his yesterday’s press conference to appluad sheva’s attitude and how hard he is working to regain his sharpness and pace……………it is reported that cfc has appointed british olympic medalist sprinter to guide sheva……to regain his pace and sharpness……………..
the question:forget playing to someone’s strength………think the behaviour metted out to him by our dear jose mourinho….to put in simple terms ridiculuos……..just because it was not his signing he metted out such behaviour to a legendary striker………..TSO interviews never helped him……….and when roman tried to bring on a personal trainer for his improvement…………..jose opposed openly……..after all whichever guy roman wanted to bring wasn’t going to undertake complete training…….just sheva’s training……so what was the big deal………..
we have a guy named “sambit”the most sensible cfc fan i know of in cfc comm on orkut…………we were discussing sheva and here was his reply
” Simple break down according to me:
When we got Sheva, he was coming back from an injury, wasn’t in match fitness etc etc.
We still played our long ball strategy with him in squad (made no sense).
He didn’t get teh kind of first time balls and through balls that he’s used to.
End result? He didn’t score much.
Also, he seemed to have lost a bit of pace after the injuries. So, what happens to a striker in his late 20s, who’s not been able to score, not in prime fitness and has gone from God to Joker within a season? He loses it. Loses confidence, loses faith in his own ability. So, he starts missing stuff that he could have taken with his eyes half open.
Of course, lot of what I’m saying is my personal opinion and lot of what I’ve said takes it for granted that my previous thoughts about them are correct (which might not be).
But in the end, I think… give him a few decent balls to the feet. Let him play a bit more up front rather than always coming back to help out midfield and play him alongside a big guy and he’ll be fine. Just make sure that when him and Drogba play together, he doesn’t end up trying to head the ball into the goal from a cross or trying to muscle his way in. That’s just not his forte.”
True Blue Fusion :
.. I totally agree with u 100% .. and for the game i think another
2-0 for us ..
TBF
Let’s go back to the intial days. TSO started with Sheva as much as possible. He got his delivery to his and to his head. He failed to impress. There was tremendous pressure from the Press that Sheva is not scoring. TSO said “Sheva will play – irrespective of he scores or not”.
Sheva was very much part of the plan. He was fed with passes and through balls. When time after time, he has a heavy touch and loses the possession in crucial areas, do you think the players would also have some confidence in playing the ball to him again and again?
Personal trainer, personal interpreter, personal psychologist – all personal things from the club’s money. Are we talking about a 15-year old prodigy? Sheva is a legend. He should know how to adapt to various situations, various formations, various playing styles – he is Sheva.
Sheva has to show the improvement from his side. He should show the hunger, determination and grit to stand up and deliver. His body language has been poor from the beginning. There is more to correct in Sheva than anyone else.
Henry did the right thing for his career. It is perfectly ideal to play in the Premier league until you’re 30 and then move to La liga or Serie A. Sheva did quite the opposite. This means Sheva’s efforts should be much much more than Henry’s.
P.S: I’m a big Shevchenko fan myself that I chose to buy the No.7 Chelsea jersey ahead of No.11 and No.23. If you go back to some of the earlier posts in this blog, you can realise that.
The formation for today is: Cech,Belleti,alex, carvalho,ferriera,mikel,essien,lampard,kalou,drogba,joe cole…..sheva is on the bench…..hopefully sheva play a part in this game and score a goal!
2-0 Essien and Drogba
Thats a good start. And we’ve been denied two penalties.
And missed some clear chances. Mike Riley is having a bad day
Hopefully Cehlsea will win this match .
it lokks like where a championship team wight now, joe hart made a brilliant save to soloman kalous shot. drogba shouldvbe been given a penalty/free kick but anyway playing very good attacking football.
Fine game so far, both teams attacking with numbers. Chelsea look good, showing attacking intent and great passing from Lampard. Dreadful refereeing though.
yeep we’re playin brilliant .. very atackin football .. Lamp&Drog just great .. did u see that assist from Lamp in 2nd goal !?
i love drogba, lampard ,robben, joe cole,ballack,shevchenco,john terry,peter cech
i am from egypt
going great!! lets finish it 4-0 .. 2-0 half time cant expect better…. what a pass by lampard and finish awesome… great
Drogba Again , 3-0
I cant believe this. it looks exactly like last season
I need more goals
Joe Cole again
4-0
Still More Goals
I don’t get Avram an ‘A’ , he deserves more .
I like to see SWP and Sheva in this game, 4 goals is enough , we should use the players who does not get opportunity to play.
shevchenko’s on, here’s his chance, no excuses
5-0, sheva on
Can anyone believe this. Chelsea Up
5-0
Courtesy of Kalou
drogba off…pizzaro on…
and whoever said essien lost form, he scored
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