My heart is still beating after the most important game of Barclay’s English Premier League season. We did it, we really did it. What a brilliant performance by the Chelsea Football Club. Words don’t really suffice for the performance of this club today. It’s hard to think that this is the same team who played Liverpool on Tuesday. So much heart, it truly was beautiful and a moment to remember forever. We played with passion and Manchester United was no match for a Chelsea side at home without any fear. Maybe destiny is on our side this season and we’ll ride it all the way.
Two huge games that were a must win at home, Manchester United and Arsenal — and two beautiful victories. It’s not often that Chelsea has come out to play this season, but it must be said that when it has really mattered, our Blues have pulled through the way any champions should. From the first whistle of the game, Chelsea attacked and completely dominated a Manchester United side that did not take us seriously. Sir Alex Ferguson made a mess of his team choice, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo, Owen Hargreaves, and Carlos Tevez on the bench, clearly in preparation for the Barcelona game at home. I can’t wait to hear his little red-faced comments on Sky about the match, the penalty decision, and a title decider between the Champions League Semi-finals. Sir Alex whines almost as much as Arsene Wenger and today I will highly enjoy it. I will be watching the Wigan and West Ham game with just as much intensity as a Chelsea game. This season looks to be one of the best ones in the history of the Premier League with the title going right down to the wire.
Today it’s gotta be about Michael Ballack, the captain of Germany and the Manchester United slayer. The man was absolutely superb today with a brace that took us to the lead twice during the game. I had said in the pregame buildup that we need people in the box during crosses and preferably Michael Ballack. What do you know! Michael Ballack finds the back of the net with his head again in another important game. Didier Drogba provided a brilliant cross in stoppage time of the first half that was just asking to be finished by the German. Didier saw that we had trouble with crossing the ball in the first half and took it upon himself to power around the box and lay a ball into the path of Michael Ballack. The finish was 100% world class by one of the best headers in the world, Michael Ballack. Curving into the corner, Van Der Sar had no chance even at the full stretch of his 6 foot 5 physique. After the goal, our captain brought out a jersey that read “Pat Lampard R.I.P.” and our players proceeded to hold it up in the memory of the death of Frank Lampard’s mother. This was a special moment no matter what team you support.
Nobody can deny that this goal was fully deserved based on the prior 45 minutes of first half play. Almost all our players were spectacular, notably Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, and John Terry. Essien did what was expected of him, powered forward and got involved in the attacks. Essien had two shots within the first five minutes. Joe Cole also gave us an early thrill when he hit the crossbar from 12 yards out. The United players during the first half seemed to be quiet uneasy, playing a similar style to that against Barcelona but looking much less comfortable. We were also aided by Vidic taking an Ivorian knee to the face; he should have stayed in the hospital with his stomach bug and not played today.
Mikel swallowed everything up around the middle of the park and never let United get going. If anything got through the midfield of Ballack, Essien, and Mikel, it was quickly cleared by the back four. Nani, Anderson, and Giggs we’re quiet the entire game. I saw Giggs after 30 or so minutes and started to remember that I hadn’t seen him at all during the game. Ferreira and Ashley Cole played great on the wings to stop the majority of Manchester United attacks. One particular tackle that Cole had on a charging Ronaldo really stands out for me. The crowd were booing Ronaldo’s run and had to cheer when Ashley Cole stopped Ronaldo’s momentum with a perfect slide tackle.
The second half was one that anyone could have predicted: The Red Devils were going to get a word from Sir Alex and would most likely start the second half with some fire. They certainly obliged this prediction and came out with a good fifteen minutes where I was weary of a goal. I was weary but still confident of our defense holding them. It wasn’t until Ricardo Carvalho played a perfect backpass for Rooney to snatch up and score. It was a woeful error by our reliable centre-back. I was feeling extremely bad for the Portuguese and equally as bad for the club. I knew the rest of the half would be nervy for Blues with their title hopes fading away by the minute. There was a certain moment that exemplified the desperation we were feeling, the on-field word scuffle between Drogba and Ballack. I wasn’t on the field so it’s hard to assume what exactly happened. I can infer however that Ballack wanted to take the free-kick because Drogba had has his turn a couple minutes prior. It didn’t end after Drogba took the shot with Michael Ballack not happy about his selfishness. Drogba confronted Ballack on the sideline during an intermission due to a Mikel injury. Ballack gave Drogba no recognition and walked away after drinking some water. It seemed like Chelsea were going to self-destruct, they had began to enjoy the majority of the possession as was the case in the first half but couldn’t create a valuable chance.
Avram Grant had already brought on Anelka and Shevchenko for Kalou and Ferreira and we were going all out attack on the Manchester United goal. Our drive soon became a battle of desperation and heart while Grant was lining up to bring on Juliano Belletti in order to push Michael Essien back into midfield after he had assumed the right-back role with the substitution of Paulo Ferreira. Michael Essien continued his great game by surging forward and rocketing in a cross that deflected of Michael Carrick on the edge of the area. And then it happened. The linesman’s flag shot up for a handball call and Alan Wiley pointed to the spot despite the protests of the entire Manchester United team. Our boys had finally gotten the chance to take the lead and put a hand of the trophy. Michael Ballack stood up to take the penalty for his brace and for the lead. The German captain beat Van Der Sar for the second time of the game and gladly accepted Carvalho’s thank you as he was the first to celebrate with him. There are no more words for me to describe Michael Ballack with. I can just say, thank you.
This was a prime example of the heart us Chelsea fans and the Chelsea team have. We never gave up and were rewarded as we were against Arsenal when we won 2-1 accordingly. Avram Grant looked very professional as he put his celebration on hold after the penalty conversion to change his substitution from Belletti to Makelele. I applaud Avram Grant for this move. Our true spirit was put the test during the last 7 minutes of the game when United went all out attack. They had put Ronaldo on earlier and he was looking to provide something in a big game. I held my breath as a ball came rolling back to him on the edge of the box (which always seems to happen; every deflection is Ronaldo’s fortune) and he ripped in a perfectly placed shot that beat Cech to not find the back of the net but Ashley Cole’s foot. Two minutes later it was Andriy Shevchenko who cleared it off the line from Rio Ferdinand’s shot to finally seal up the game and give us the win.
Today was surely one of my favorite days as a Chelsea fan in some years now, certainly the best moment of a season where we’ve lacked inspiration at times. We’ve beat United and tied them on points to prove we really deserve a shot at the title. We’ll be at the mercy of a result when Man-United play Wigan and West Ham but our spirits are high and their belief is low after 2 points from their last 3 away games. We now have a real shout for the league and European Cup double. In order to do so we might just have to beat Manchester United again in the Champions League Final in Moscow. Chelsea FC and their fans will celebrate today and slowly shift their focus on the Liverpool 2nd-leg on Wednesday. We have performed like champions today and I fell like a champion today although we have won nothing. Hopefully we will celebrate a real championship later in the season. Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!
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WE WON!!! WE WON!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God listens to you!
It’s 2:1 and end of the game yeah!
What a performance by the men in blue!!!!!
ITS FOR THE LAMPARDS
up the blues
hats off to chelsea players, they were all the best (except for that silly mistake from ricardo carvalho). they made me really proud to say i´m a chelsea fan!!!
yup guys, let liverpool be our next victm!!!
Great game from chelsea. Our midfield was the most important in this game.
Essien with his runs and he continued shattering the United defence
Mikel was superb, none of their players could move comfortably with the ball and get past the halfway line… i was impressed, he checked both Nani and Ronaldo together.
Ballack with his goals…. incredible penalty, i never knew anyone could send van der sar the wrong way…lol
Kalou ripped ferdinand apart, he has a lot of potential
Joe cole was unstoppable, he truly came alive and he hit the crossbar…
This is the kind of match where you wish SWP was introduced in the 85th minute to rip and tear the United defence.
Kudos to Ashley and Sheva for saving us from a last minute equalizer from United…
Toady looked tearful at the end of the game… i was laughing.
What a game. There’s only one Michael Ballack.
“Stamford bridge is falling down”?
in their wildest dreams.
Probably the best game I’ve seen this season! WAY TO GO CHELSEA!
fantastic chelsea thoroughly deserved all da 3 points. ballack yu da man, sheva clears off da line frm fletcher’s header at da dying seconds, god what a match! dis victory is for yur pat lampard, R.I.P.
CHELSEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HATE FUCKIN UNITED, NOW ITS LIVERPOOL LEFT. LETS SHOW THEM WHAT CHELSEA IS MADE OFF.
We deserved to win and we did. We will show Liverpool how strong we are. We just beat Manchester United at home. I think we are prepared now. And also thank god that Shevchenko came in at least for 20 minutes. I really like him, but worried that he will leave to Milan. I hope Avram Grant lets him play more often, because he saved us from a goal and had very good skills.
The players were incredible with the performance put up today. And I am very much impressed with substitution and the changing of formation to 4-4-2. Mikel impressed me with the comfort he used in controlling the midfield, nullified Anderson and Carrick. We deserved the Victory and I praise AG for the good substitutions.
Ballack and Drogba messed up but they acted properly and matured during the second goal jubilation and at the final whistle. I think this for late PAT LAMPARD. AG couldnt do anything to drogba and ballack when they arguing instead Steve Clark come to the rescue as both players went to Clark directly to complain. It shows AG has no power over the players in the dressing room. I hope manutd dop points in their next matches.
Common Blues
Cheers
Mikel has proved today that he is worth his money…Essien was superb as usual…
Drogba…LOLOL….he is trying to make excuses to leave…
The royal blue flag is flying higher and higher- can you imagine what the situation would have been but for the following-
Chelsea conceding final minute goals against Everton, Villa, Tottenham and wigan- That is 8 points lost.
match that against Manure’s last minute equalizer agaisnt spurs, Borough, Blackburn and the fluke win against arsenal- That could have been at least 4 points dropped by manure-
In all, but for that combination of poor fortune, we should have been at least 10 points clear (netting off our lucky draw at anfield in the league).
Go the Royal blues- Knock the scousers out on wednesday and Overwhelm Manure in moscow.
For MU -
“Carefree, wherever we may be,
We are the famous CFC,
And we don’t give a f**k,
Whoever you may be,
‘Cos we are the famous CFC..”
@13, Mikel has always been top quality.
A worthy win. Everyone was good today and raised themselves for the occasion. The fight between Ballcks and Drogbas was bit embrassing though.
wat was the argument btween drogba and ballaks?????????
i cudnt see the 2nd half cmpltely
Brilliant performance, although it just highlights the potential costliness of all the home draws we had this season. If we had seen out those matches against Tottenham and Everton, we would be four points clear and the title would be ours. We’re entitled to expect more of the same against Liverpool and Newcastle. I would play exactly the same team and give Lampard time to grieve. What an exciting end to the season!
we played like champions and out played the champions in every department.
carvalho back pass was a thorn in this win, i hoping for a clean sheet.
@16…I said because many doubted his capability….today he was going forward which made him more effective…Anderson,who?…if he can learn to score goals he would be a great asset in coming times…Kalou needs to get a bit more strength…after making nice dribbles he gets overpowered…
so the ‘toad’ is the manager of the team tied at the top of the EPL, well great win, great game, we deserved it!!
Kudos to the lads!!
Lampard, come back with a vengence…………….
@22…joeblue, today all ‘toad’ bashers have an egg on their face…they must be scaring away….no Joseholiday,no Arthur,no AG’SFriend yet…oh,they may be looking for Mourinho’s new club
It see Grant even gets Steve Clarke to calm Drogba down which shows you how little power Grant has over the players now – seems to me the players are in charge not Grant?
Good win and we played well and deserved the victory – I congratulate Avram but I am somewhat bemused he had to hire a psychologist to gee up the players.
I thought that was his job?
Apparently not.
But then I’ve listened to his press conferences and if his team talks are anything like that then I can see why.
He couldn’t persuade an alcoholic to get drunk locked up in a brewery for the weekend.
@23
no dude they will be here with the same………
Toad dint do a thing, th players did it all and blah blah blah….bt we r used to that now……lol…btw
gr8 game dude njoyd it……
Hi guys,
Really fantastic performance from us today.It was almost perfect except that Carvalho error.
Really touching gesture by the team with the No.8 jersey saying RIP Pat Lampard.
We just outplayed the SO CALLED’ BEST TEAM ON THE PLANET’.Rooney wasnt involved in any losing Man utd team this season n he was veryyy proud of that record.I hope this defeat teaches that big mouth a lesson in humility.
What was SAF thinking when he put out that team??..Did he really think Chelsea are pushovers at home???..or was he playing for a draw??..HOLD ON..THIS IS MANCHESTER UNITED..GREATEST TEAM ON EARTH…THEY DONT PLAY NEGATIVE FOOTBALL..THEY PLAY ONLY TO WIN..thats what all the united fans keep saying right??..so then, what was SAF thinking
???
Drogba n ballack at that freekick was embaressing..I heard ballack’s post match interview n everything is fine..He took it in the right spirit..He said it happens during a high pressure game when all players want to stand up n be counted..GOOD..we dont want unwanted distractions at this stage of the season.
We have the tougher games in the EPL..a REVITALISED NEWCASTLE AWAY and a RELEGATION THREATENED BOLTON At Home on the last day.What is worrying is that Newcastle away has regularly been a game where we have dropped points in the Roman Era.Bolton has also caused us problems though not as much as Newcastle.
United have west ham n wigan..both teams have nothing to play for..both are safe from relegation and have no chance of europe or anything..So atleast on paper, united have it easier than us
And theres a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy worrying pattern here.
———————————–Rewind to last season——————————-
After the 2-0 loss at anfield, we went on a winning spree and were brusing aside every team in our path.
Then, we lost the 2nd leg of the UCL semi to Liverpool.At that stage we were just 3 points behind United in th EPL.
Next Game United DREW with Boro n we DREW 0-0 with NEWCASTLE..still 3 point gap
Next game United BEAT Everton 4-2 and we DREW with bolton 2-2..They had a 5 point gap
Next they BEAT Man City n we DREW with Arsenal..7 points ahead n they sealed the title
Next was of course the 0-0 DRAW we had with united
Last game we DREW with everton 1-1 n United LOST to west ham..so we finished 6 points behind them
Those 3 games against Liverpool,Newcastle and Bolton ruined our season last time.
————————————–THIS SEASON—–The next 3 games—————–
LIVERPOOL(UCL SEMI 2nd LEG)
NEWCASTLE
BOLTON
The season depends once again on these games
Amazing Coincidence..
I just hope n pray that these 3 games turn out in our favour this time.
cmon CHELSEA
@26…u were damn right…@25 is first one…
ballack ashycole and shevchenko are very good.
The toad must still be sacked even if we win the double- Everything achieved this season has been in spite of him not because of him.
See the way he sat still while Steve clark quickly moved in to quell the war between drogs and ballack? That should tell u what influence the toad is having.
long live the Jose Spirit that continues to drive this blue train is spite of the toad’s zero sum effect.
If Ferguson had started with Ronaldo and Tevez this might have been a different game. But he didn’t & we played like champions, while Manure dithered. Ferdinand was petulant, chippy and arrogant, NOT the qualities of an England captain. Terry was a true captain, calm and courageous.
As for The Toad, he didn’t win it, the players did. He mouldered on the bench like a wart on YES! a toad. Don’t like him, will never support him. Born blue, Chelsea til I die.
Yes!!! You won…
Well done Chelsea for winning a great game. It was a very tight game but in the end the team in blue was smiling at the end of the wistle. My hats off to Michael Ballack. Why??? because he stopped the pressure from getting to him. Well done well done. I’m actualy glad for Chelsea on winning because I want Liverpool to win them on there own home ground. This time Liverpool is more confident as ever and at the end the team in RED will be smiling at the end of thet wistle…
But I’m feeling for Lampard because uts not easy loosing a family member and its really difficult loosing your mother. SO EVERYBODY go home and hug and kiss your mother because you never kow when she might get taking away.
So God please be with the Lampard family. Take away there sadness and make Frank be able to play again.
Amen.
Great Win for Chelsea today.
Not sure what was Fergie game plan in not starting Ronaldo & Tevez today in a important game when they have scored 43 goals ( out of the 74 ) between them in Premier League. Wasn’t Tevez ,the person who scored all those important goals – Chelsea , Lyon, 88 + equalizer against Rovers, another equalizer against Spurs ?
Three important games for Chelsea – Liverpool & Newcastle are going to very tough
Evidently Lamps was in the executive box and sent his thanks to all the Chelsea fans for their sympathy and respect.
THIS GAME GOES TO U PAT LAMPARD
R.I.P
WHAT A MATCH AN AMAZING BIRTHDAY PRESENT (FOR ME).
If SAF thought the performance against Blackburn was Champions’ stuff, what about this! Stunning performance by the Blues. Truly Championship class. And for once we did play some good football on the attack(as if that was needed
)
looking at ballack’s penalty…way better than Ronaldo’s…hahaha! That is how you seperate a skillful young player with a great experienced player.
Chelsea won this game with more powerful reason…
Lampard’s mum passed away…and they all play and contribute the best for his mum and lampard and family. Chelsea need to win to make their hopes alive. Everybody wants to beat a team with Ronaldo – so called the best. Need a tonic for the champions league clash and indeed will be an inspiration and belief to beat Liverpool and reaching the Champions League Final. It seems that, this year will be Chelsea’s year.
Some of the Manure players (oops! meant jokers) got into it with the Chelsea groundstaff and stewards after the game.
anelka, shevchenko, drogba and j. cole at the same time- that’s attacking football.
yeah!we’re champion.
Sadly, that Mr. Abramovich missed this match…
I didn’t see him….
Someone saw a Mr. Roman Abramovich today on “Stamford Bridge”????
Sheer brilliance from Ballack, just proves why I prefer him to Lampard, might not have that attacking instinct but is so much more versatile
good movement down the flanks, j.cole has been off abit lately but hopefully he should take his chances against liverpool
ferreira had a solid game, shaky but still kept threat out as did a.cole, kalou has come along way since setting the record for most offsides in a season, keep it up boyo.
the only thing that worries me is that we fielded our strongest team (-lampard) we had few impact subs, anelka was useless, im so happy belletti didn’t make it to the pitch
but behind the scenes, it is obvious that either Grant or ben–haim+drogba will be leaving us this summer
Not sure what Fergie was thinking today, fielding a weakened squad – not smart.
And he sure paid the price today.
He risks losing everything at the death.
And he only has himself to blame.
I really hope the FA show some standards and fine United for failing to control their players. What they did today was worse than the two times we were fined.
Hey BC…
What an opening para.. even i was thinking to write something same about the so called “cement sacks”
and this penalty i wont call lucky because we deserved it. Awesome commitment by the team and it looked like the team we had earlier. committed to the purpose. The 2 saves of the goal line really touched my heart how desperately the blues wanted to win it for lampard. awesome.
these guys just need the motivation as playing every weekend becomes monotonous. I have faced the same thing last few yrs when i am doing the same job as i used to do earlier. but some managers words do make a difference if he justifies me that what i am doing will add value .
great professional performance by men in blue. if sheva was just introduced for the goal line clearance cheers to AG otherwise his subs sucked. anelka was invisible but its good that we attacked.
still the title is for man utd to loose. we have put awesome pressure now. next match at new castle we have to win and hope the best for weest ham
cheers guys… after a long long time i am off to bed in a good mood after a chelsea match
this was the performance which chelsea used to give every weehats y i loved themk in and out and t
it was a fight after the game. the chelsea staff V man utd players hope they broke som utd bones.
Vidic lost a tooth. Ha.
fantastic win! unbelievable victory! all hail chelsea fc! all hail our superb players!
where are all those AG stooges like joeblue, TBF, ‘my-foot-in-your-balls’ etc who called these players ‘CEMENT SACKS’? these brainless twats would have now realised what a magnificent group of players we have.
i’ll give no credit to average grunt because he is not responsible for the good things with the club. when drogba had a problem with ballack today, it was steve clarke who came up and sorted out the issue. toad meanwhile is hiring psychologists for his players to motivate them.
even if chelsea wins the double, the average bum should go. i can’t stand if toad takes any credit for these players who have the JM instilled qualities and philosophy in them. the determination and desire they showed today have nothing to do with toad.
Seems ironic that Grant introduces Sheva – and he turns into our best defender at the end.
This kind of spirit was what we always used to play with – just shows how much we’ve missed it.
And yes Nihongo Blue I noticed Clarke’s actions and agree with you in the main with your points – little things but they show who does what at Chelsea now.
As for the psychologist – can’t believe we need to hire one – how many coaching staff and hangers on do we have there now?
Still Grant can rightly bask in the glory tonight.
Who can to answer me:
Someone saw a Mr. Roman Abramovich today on “Stamford Bridge”????
Sorry it was Arthur’s post I was referring to and in agreement with but I also agree with NG too.
Grant an “average bum” (Arthur’s post). You’re not American by any chance are you?
We’ve got so many nationalities on here by the looks of it.
This win has certainly set us up for Wednesday.
Good report Adam! Ecstasy is the right word for the feeling after Ze German scored. I loved this line of yours Adam – “I fell like a champion today although we have won nothing” – that’s the exact feeling I’ve not been getting this season. Only two or three matches this season made me feel so. But that’s what I want. We should boss the game in attack, midfield and defence. I don’t care if it is 1-0 or 4-0. If we control and dominate the game, we are good enough. This match is one of the few matches this season where we dominated the opposition. We dominated Man Utd especially because Fergie had already pressed the ‘self destruct’ button. Had he played a full Man Utd team with their usual tactics, they’d have done a lot better. Instead he showed too much respect for us by playing defensively right from the word ‘go’.
Fergie did drop the ball. He was trying to be a smart-arse by benching Ronaldo, Tevez and Hargreaves. Also the injury to Vidic complicated Man Utd’s situation. Bascially he was trying to re-do the Camp Nou performance. The problem is that Chelsea is much more versatile than Barca. Without Ronaldinho, Barca are skillful but very predictable. All predictable teams can be undone tactically. Whereas a team like Chelsea which is very versatile in their methods, is always going to be a threat if the opponent just plays for a draw. May be that’s where Lord Fergie erred. He should not have played for a draw.
So the infamous ‘cement sacks’ can march on to the third title in four seasons. Man Utd can still win their matches on hand and win the title by goal difference. But I think Chelsea have the morale and momentum. In the champions league second leg fixtures, Chelsea are favourites to progress while Man Utd may not be quite sure about themselves. What develops in the champions league could also have a major impact on the last two premier league fixtures. Man Utd must be completely demoralised and should be low in confidence now.
Hats off to our players and their determination. They absolutely wanted to win this match. Same like the Arsenal match. They wanted to win and they got it.
I loved it when the players celebrated with the jersey with the RIP message on Pat Lampard. That shows how much Lampard is loved and also indicates to me that Lampard is here to stay. Pat Lampard RIP – this win is dedicated to her.
BC
i think lampard is not gonna stay… only these recent developments can make him stay.
Nihongo! Lot many careers are dependent on Grant’s stay, if rumours are to be believed. If AG goes on for another season, we may not see quite a few players in Chelsea anymore, and Lampard could be one of them.
Wait for the season to end. May be, that’s when the drama will begin.
yeeess .. great perfomance by our players and no doubt one of the best game of the season .. next is Looserpool and for those who think that they can beat us at the Bridge i say stop dreamin coz this is our fortress .. see Ya in Moscow again
and especially for ManU fans that before the game was saying “Stamford Bridge is falling down” ..
according to the bbc a few of the man u players had a scuffle with our pitch staff during their warm down! their frustration is showing!
i loved this game alot too, i just hope it results in something..
man, i’ve got to ask you. Where do you get the images from ? In most of the times they’re brilliant !
Can I get an answer ? (send me a mail with the link if you can’t post here).
loved to see sheva’s reaction after he cleared d ball off d line,was like dat he scored a goal
Ballack gave Red Nose the bollocks! Come on you Blues!
Fox Soccer didn’t carry the game in the States. I’m sorry I missed it. I still don’t like Grant. But, the spirit of the men on the pitch is what has kept Chelsea with a shot at the Prem and CL. I will rejoice if they can do it again against Anfield.
You can say what you want about Avram Grant, but the results are speaking for themselves. it seems that if chelsea wins the fans glorify the players, and when they lose – it’s Grant’s fault.
Give the man a break and let him work. he’s doing well so far, and i’m sure he’ll do even better next season when he builds his own team.
grant will not be here next season…. i reject that comment
For an imformal chat.
My email address is mariens@smartcape.org.za
—————————————————————————————
Why does only half the line come out?
South African time 3:20 AM
Chelsea FC
GOALKEEPERS: (GK)Petr Cech (GK)Craig Gordon (GK)Kasper Schmeichel
DEFENDERS: (RB)Micah Richards (RB)Paulo Ferriera (CB)John Terry (CB)Ricardo Carvalho
(CB)Alex (CB)Tal Ben Haim (LB)Gareth Bale (LB)Wayne Bridge (R)???
Richards-Terry-Carvalho-Bale
MIDFIELDERS: (LM)Arjen Robben (if possible a return) (LM)Florent Malouda (CM)Frank Lampard (CM)Steven Gerrard (CM)Ryan Babel (CM)Gelson Fernandes (CM)John Obi Mikel (RM)Joe Cole (RM)Morten Gamst Pederson (R)Adel Taarabt (R) Scott Sinclair
Pederson-Gerrard-Lampard-Cole
FORWARDS: (FW)Fernando Torres/Samuel Et’o (FW)Robinho (FW)??? (FW)??? (R)Claudio Pizarro
Robiniho-Et’o
Chelsea needs top professional team if the club wants to compete for the Premier league and Champions league(first priority).
Morten Gamst Pederson has been very consistent in the Premier league and is a tested player who can play at the highest level. CFC should purchase him, for around about £3m.
I would play R Babel as a CM. His main attributes is (A)strenth (Hold onto the ball
(B)Match-winner (Conduct? Play) (C)Take shots (Score Goals) (D)XYZ?
I think that A Cole/Wayne Bridge has to come to terms with the fact that Chelsea is the richest club in the world and therefore should also be the biggest. Either one of these two players, should be sattisfied alone, with just being included as members of a special squad.
We are also in desperate need of forwards who can score important match-winning goals.
This is the final draft for now.
Cheers
For an imformal chat.
My email address is mariens@smartcape.org.za
—————————————————————————————
(This line will probably on come out haf complete)
51. Bella
April 26th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
—————————————————————————————
-[Probably again only half a line?]
Seems ironic that Grant introduces Sheva – and he turns into our best defender at the end.
This kind of spirit was what we always used to play with – just shows how much we’ve missed it.
And yes Nihongo Blue I noticed Clarke’s actions and agree with you in the main with your points – little things but they show who does what at Chelsea now.
As for the psychologist – can’t believe we need to hire one – how many coaching staff and hangers on do we have there now?
Still Grant can rightly bask in the glory tonight.
—————————————————————————————
“Seems ironic that Grant introduces Sheva – and he turns into our best defender at the end.”
-What’s ironic?
“This kind of spirit was what we always used to play with – just shows how much we’ve missed it.”
-We’ve never ever since JM was manager, did we ever play with this kind of spirit. This is definately unique. Congrats Avram.
“And yes Nihongo Blue I noticed Clarke’s actions and agree with you in the main with your points – little things but they show who does what at Chelsea now.”
-Does the CEO of a company park cars?
“As for the psychologist – can’t believe we need to hire one – how many coaching staff and hangers on do we have there now?”
-I can’t see Alex Ferguson motivating me to give more than one hundred percent. Let the PROFESSIONALS who has the neccessary skills (who not only learnt techniques at University) to motivate men (players) but who also recieved this gift naturally as well. Obviously Mr. Grant will talk to the players as well.
“Still Grant can rightly bask in the glory tonight.”
-Correct.
Cheers
at the momment i just wondering why chelsea playing like a arsenal on the first half even do when player got in box they still passing each other Y_T btw the title race still on the line and hopefully we can win all the game that we need to face. and for our manager even do i didnt support you but you deserved applaud in this game.
- go chelsea.
Go Chelsea! As always the Grant haters praise the players when we win and blame Grant when we lose. Just accept that he got the marginal calls right. He left Maka on the bench , played Ferreira & Mikel and brought on attacking substitutes
We still need Man Utd to fail but certainly in the UCL I think we have the team to win
Liverpool fielded this side yesterday
Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Skrtel, Riise, Pennant, Plessis, Lucas, Benayoun, Crouch, Voronin.
Subs: Itandje, Gerrard, Kuyt, Carragher, Insua.
Full rest to torres , carragher, gerrard, alonso, mascerrano.
After such an intense game at bridge that we had we might be having a few tired legs. Hope the men in blue show it again
great win by chelsea. we were all over them all the match. thoroughly deserved victory. i loved the spirit displayed by the players. i thought drogba and ballack were going to have a small quarrel on the pitch, thankfully our manager steve clarke got himself involved and switched on drogba’s brains.
though we deserved the win, the penalty was a lucky one. the ball hit carrick’s arm but no way it was a penalty. his arm did not move towards the ball. the ball hitting his arm was purely an accident but we had to get lucky. great win for us but we were helped by the referee and even by alex ferguson himself. he helped us big time by fielding a weakened team. our full team took full advantage of ferguson’s mistake.
where are all those fools that called these spirted warriors as cement sacks? is this a performance by cement sacks? go hide your faces somewhere. don’t ever talk about this brilliant players again. i have always said we have an amazing squad and that was in display yesterday. roman can buy players but he cannot buy determination and spirit for the players.
Guys! It’s high time you got yourselves a GRAVATAR. These grey squares in your comment boxes look as ugly as Paul Scholes tackles.
Get your own GRAVATAR here!
great win. great win. i’d give some credit to grant for this match. it was the players who brought us this win but toad should get some credit. don’t mistake me. i can’t tolerate to see him as the manager for the next season. toad was decent yesterday but steve clarke’s involvement while toad was scratching his bald head was obvious to see. toad should go anyways.
fergie made a big mistake and capitalised very well. yesterday, once again i was convinced that toad was not the manager. it was steve clarke that players look up to. it was steve clarke that players would like to celebrate with. it’s me. end of the season, there would be many stories about what actually happened behind the screens at the club.
anyway, now is the moment to soak in this superb win! KTBFFH!
Grant said this after the match:
This is why I call him an amateur manager. We all loved the shirt display and know the meaning behind. By saying “you saw the shirt, we are a big family” is like saying ‘we put up the shirt so i can say this “big family” comment’. Ideally he should not have talked about that jersey at all. I hope we were NOT trying to show our team unity. We were simply comforting Frank Lampard at this difficult period. Grant should not try to gain any press mileage out of this noble gesture.
Actually, I doubt if Grant had known about that jersey before the players flashed it during the goal celebration!
Quoting Johnarejr
Johnarejr – There are so many live streams available. So if you have a decent internet connection, you should try them! I pity those Chelsea fans who had to miss this match! Try watching the highlights or replay!
Jose Mourinho said this on Friday (before the Chelsea vs Man Utd match):
How much ever bad Avram Grant is, the players will not unlearn easily the valuable knowledge that they gained under TSO. Go Chelsea! The trophy is coming to Stamford Bridge!
Great spirit, True grit and HUGE balls
I saw last night
For an informal Chat.
Title: Michael Ballack leads a Dominant CFC
Kick-Off
I saw the majority of the match (the first half and a bit of the second). I had made earlier arrangements and was slightly delayed because of my trip to the supermarket. I’ll try to watch the repeat, if it will ever come on.
Introduction
Chelsea FC is preparing to face liverpool in the next champions league match. This will serve as a prep game.
Man U didn’t even bother to field all their big players.
Match Analysis
Match Summary
We played with passion and Manchester United was no match for a Chelsea side at home without any fear.
From the first whistle of the game, Chelsea FC attacked and completely dominated a Manchester United side.
Also, today it’s gotta be all about Michael Ballack.
Goals
Michael Ballack 45 min. Put players in and on the edge of the box.
Other goals self-explanatory.
CFC Players
Petr Cech
He was hardly tested. I think he owes his team-mates a beer. 9/10
Paulo Ferreira
He kept Man U from penetrating his zone of the field. Forced crosses. 8/10
John Terry
A typical captain’s performance, he inspired the team to do their best. 8/10
Ricardo Carvaliho
Was everywhere on the field, pity though he made such a costly error. 7/10
Ashley Cole
This is the reason why Madrid wanted him. Ashley keeps world-class players quiet. 8/10
Jon Obi Mikel
Showing signs that he is in control. Also the link between the defense and offense. 8/10
Joe Cole
Put Man U on the back foot, the game could have been completely different. 8/10
Michael Ballack
Made himself available often and got involved in the match. Also made it possible for his team-mates to score goals.(Man of the match) 10/10
Michael Essien
Typical CM performance. Was almost always on the offensive. 8/10
Soloman Kalou
Didn’t play the role of the invicible man. 8/10
Didier Drogba
Must have felt like a spectator? Watching his team-mates take Man U apart. 8/10
Nicholas Anelka (sub)
He is a household name. Didn’t see any of him because of my appointment. But I know that he is a world-class player. I’ll try my best to watch the repeat and give the Frenchman a fair rating. ?/10
Andriy Shevchenko (sub)
Decent match. 6/10
Claude Makalele (sub)
Decent match. 6/10
Teams
Manchester United
Simply out-played. 4/10
Chelsea FC
First time under Mr. Abromavich Chelsea played a big club in Europe and gave the knock-out punch from the referee’s whilste.
Players showed their class. Linking-up play and the build-up towards the goals deserves full marks. More importantly, for the first time in a while they played together as a team. Completely opposite performance to the arsenal match (emarites Stadium) and liverpool’s champions league match. Impressive! 8/10
Editor’s Comment
We definately need a stronger second choice team to sustain a performance like this against our only rival (for now) for the Premier league title. CFC developed and matured into winners.
Conclusion
Honestly, I always believed that CFC Players are world-class. Undisputed,a Champions performance.
Great game and great tactic employed by AG. He outsmart Fergi in any aspect of the game.
The attacking football was here to see.When you have an improved JC ,a bulldozer like Essien a back to form Kaloue and an improved Drogba(stoping the ball and distributing it accurately) CFC game is flowing.Mikel was good and I will be the first one to addmit it,though non of his passes were clever or threatening.But yes he contributed
immensely to the overall controll of the game.
The secret yeasterday was two fold:
1.The constant movement without the ball of every players which increased the degree
of freedom of our passes, enabeling fast forward movements.
2.Flexible formation.That is,a player was not stuck to his position at any given time.
JC and Essien were all over the place and while it was a team collective effort I
beleive these two were the main reason for this great performance( for me those two carry CFC on their back and if they have a bad game the team will follow).
And to you BC ,it is now clear to me you are a biased anti AG motivator.
While back you claimed AG can’t win it against the big ones and only when he dose you will be the one to acknowledge his ability.You have the chance to do that but you will not.It was AG game plane and AG deserve all the credit for this game.
And You Bella asusual looking for excuses.Someone answer you nicely.An MD doesn’t park cars.That why AG has a group of helpers whose job is well define.Fergi don’t get involve in everything that is happening in MU. Often you see Quizero coming down to the field to instruct his player.That is fine for Fergi,but a no no for AG.You are a bad loser.
After 3 days in his job AG had to face MU with a team deserted by JM. A team that lost direction allready in the previous season and didn’t seem to find its way early in this season. Yet YOU and BC (and many other anti AG FANATICS)insisted that this game should be attributed to AG.You can’t have it both ways now that AG beat Fregi 2nd time around.Your true nature is for everyone to see.Shame on you.
Yesterday performance was nothing I have seen in the last two years with JM.
IT WAS MORE OF A REMINDER OF THE TEAM HE HAD INHERITED FROM RENIERY ,THAN ANY OF HIS OWN CREATION.
SWALLOW THIS ONE BC .
@24. its foot+ball, not air+ball
I am here, went to see the game.
My opinion has not changed, after all I noticed that the players remember how to beat ManU, I didnt see anything from the toad, that made me change my mind.
Even SC had to calm down DD, not the toad.
The psychologist that chelsea has hired must be doing a good work, players show a great will they real wanted to beat ManU, and they did remeber HOW.
Good win, now lets see what hapens next.
Very sad about the Carvalho miss, the best and the most consistent player in chelsea makes that mistake.
What a blunder AF did lol, leaving ronaldo and C tevez in the bench, geee thats how much he reckons the toad, but forgot about the players.
R.I.P Pat Lampard (8)
What JM said last friday in the Independent interview,was what the real true supporters of chelsea know, thta was the spirit, the winning mentality and professionalism of the players that carried chelsea, all season, and yesterday was the living proof.
So the toad may claim the glory, but he will not fool anyone else with the rhetoric that chelsea is playing better. Chelsea so far played very well against ManU and Arse, this season, maybe the players like to measure themselves against the top teams.
The fact that chelsea has hired a psychologist, just shows the toad is extremelly deficient on man management, something that is common knowledge.
I still believe he should be moved sideways, upways, downways or whatever, I, and 90% of chelsea fans, dont reckons he is the right manager for chelsea.
BC, how dare you disrespect a player of such calibre. Scholes has been a superb player for nited and he deseres the respect that you dont give to him. One of the best midfielders in the last 10 years so think about what you said.
Den – I myself admire Scholes. My remark was just a light hearted one. I do make jibes about Ronaldo and Fabregas but that does not mean I insult them. Just a funny jibe.
Owonatty – Did you follow the steps correctly? Gravatar normally shows up within 60 seconds. I think you must have uploaded the pic and left it like that. You need to click on the photo in the gravatar website, so that it is chosen as the gravatar.
Den & Ownonatty
See this post now. I have uploaded an image to help you activate your gravatar. Should work then.
Den-
Nobody can deny Scholes poor tackling ability, it’s been the same for ever. He never bothered to learn how to tackle and that’s not a bad thing when you’re world-class. But seriously, he’s a dreadful tackler.
is hes a dreadfull tackler then you could say mikel is the wort tackler in the history of the game. Who is youre favorite chelsea player?
Mikel is a pretty bad tackler as well. However he is only 21. My favorite player, assuming Drogba has given up his Chelsea loyalties, is Michael Ballack.
hopefully next season we will play 4-4-2 with mikel in a cm role where he can actually make forward runs and be creative unlike the roe he is playing now, I expect kalou to score 20+ goals next season and playing on the left wing aswell, i see so much potential in the guy but he needs some strength and needs to work on his forward runs and the timing of his forward runs, he also loses the ball lots of times because he tries to take everyne on. He needs to look for a pass before a shot unless he is in the box and has space. Even though his dribling ability is good if he improves this aspect of his game the kid ill become a world-class signing for chelsea- Perhaps chelseas ronaldo?
@arthur
i have never called our players ‘cement sacks’ , if u say so , prove it……..and if u cannot just jump off a cliff and die, sheesh the amount of crap ppl on this blog, post coments without knowing a thing……..
@81, j_blue_m …mate u really hit it on head of nail…can’t put it better…particularly about Drogba…he may be annoying and disgraceful after all those on-ground disputes but credit to him..for me this was his best performance till date in blue jersey…first goal was right down to his ball possession when surrounded by 2-3 Manu players and then delivering a ball into the box..for the first time ever I saw him dribbling and making accurate passes otherwise he is all shoot,shoot and shoot,nothing else…Mourinho was never able to bring this aspect of Drogba to fore…if Drogba is capable of doing all this then I have to say Mourinho just wasted this striker…Essien and Mikel were jut superb as always…Cole and Kalou were also good while moving ahead..Kalou needs to add a bit more strength while Cole must add more guile when in opposition box…
this game just blew to pieces the false myth of effective football which Mourinho imposed on Chelsea FC…did our players do something special this time,no…they just did the basic functions of movement and passing correctly…if we can keep doing so we can trouble every opposition unlike hoof-the-ball approach of Mourinho who converted this outfit into a dull malfunctioning machine…I wish this match proves to be a watershed and helps in getting rid of Mourinho’s legacy…
@92…hey Joeblue how u dare challenge ARTHUR THE GOD…he will give a decree against u also just like he did yesterday against TBF by saying ‘YOU WIN BC!’…be afraid of ARTHUR THE GOD..he is on a vengeance campaign on behalf of Mourinho…
Great game by chelsea.
I dont think Grant has a man managing bone in his body but as a purely technical coach he passed with flying colours 2day. After the rooney goal he made alot of attacking changes to the team which put pressure on man.u again. Ballack was a monster and deserved both goals for sure.
Drogba a little petulant but performed very well, he opened up space and his cross was excellent. Any1 see drogba’s performance halted mid way when he saw vidic with blood in his mouth? I nearly laughed.
Mikel is maturing well and i think next year will be big for him since he will basically be first choice for makelele who is starting to show signs of age. Essien has shown time and time again that he is our best player and the focal point of the team. I will be very happy if chelsea can get a great attacking right back so essien can play his CM duties more.
since we playing 442 next season i might as well see what we can have with minimal transfers.
——————-cech———————-
lahm——-terry———-carvalho——-cole
cole——essien———lampard——–kalou
————anelka—–drogba—————-
or
——————cech————————-
lahm——terry———-carvalho———cole-
—————–mikel————————-
———essien———-ballack—————
—————-lampard———————–
————anelka——drogba—————–
so many options for the positions as well, i really think the only thing chelsea needs is a fabregas type playmaker and a RB. We should only buy players if ppl leave, with lampard, drogba, sheva and bridge all slated for transfers out i think we will see a slightly busy transfer season for chelsea but hopefully we dont go crazy.
@93
really good stuff dude, what most people here cant see is there was a vast difference from the way Jose’s Chelsea wld hav played this game, and how this team (Roman-Grant-Ten-Clarke-the groundsman or whoever else they say runs the team)played, there was a lot of passing, movement, and most of all we played the ball on the ground, not just hoofing it up, but moving it around, i m really proud of our performance yesterday, blue flag flying high, United are going down……….haha…if we win the league this season, man all i wld say is……unbelievable…….(and even if we dont)!!
cheers fellow blues!!
Statement by Ballack…’It was our best performance, especially in the first half. We passed the ball and didn’t just use long balls. We moved the ball very well in this game and showed we can play good football’…
I am really amazed and wonder when these players know that what they are lacking then y do they commit same follies again and again…these are well experienced players…we fans watching out team dish out same pathetic crap week in week out think that our players don’t understand what is really needed to do but then give such a nice performance and also admit their earlier mistakes and tell what they really did right in the match…y can’t do they same thing every week…grinding out results once in a while is not only acceptable but needed too over such a long and tiring season but making them a norm is really painful for we fans…I hope what we see yesterday becomes a norm with Chelsea FC….
Incredible match. My heart was in my mouth when I saw that penalty kick by Ballack, praying it goes in.
The spirit that players showed are incredible, makes me wonder why they’re not as determined elsewhere. Perhaps beating Man Utd turns them on more than even winning against others? That’s when someone like TSO should motivate players and make them stay focused and hardworking. And that’s what we miss
AG will probably be dropped next year going by how Chelsea haven’t played ‘attractive football’ (barring a few great matches like last one), and I hope someone who can atleast supplement JM’s legacy comes here (unlike AG who downplays JM’s greatness).
“He was trying to be a smart-arse by benching Ronaldo, Tevez and Hargreaves.”
Is he doing a Benitez?
“Actually, I doubt if Grant had known about that jersey before the players flashed it during the goal celebration!”
Spot on.
BC, two things bother me. One, where’s the link to forums? Two, the page looks terrible in post view of the blog (no sidebar, problems in dropdown menus etc.). Did you tweak something and forget to check? I’d be happy to help, as I know my way around WordPress themes
@98…’That’s when someone like TSO should motivate players and make them stay focused and hardworking.’..yeah, motivate them to play dull boring ‘effective’ mind numbing football….what u r on mate…yesterday’s football was total anti-thesis of what Mourinho stuffed in this team..no long balls,accurate crisp passing,mid-fielders making movement to suit each others position,we played on ground, surprisingly even Drogba was creative…best performance in last 2 years or so….so please don’t bring ghosts of Mourinho…we Chelsea fans and deserve much better footie than what Mourinho plans to serve…look for better things.
@ 98 – brilliant comment. completely agree. it takes just one win to bring the AG-stooges back on their feet. When Chelsea does not play well, the players are cement sacks and they claim that they don’t support AG to be here next season and when the team plays well suddenly, AG is becomes special. chameleons. very typical of plastic fans.
@ 94
ha ha ha ho ho ho! you’re so funny mate, you have such a wonderful sense of humour! Is this okay for you? go now, your mama is calling you.
@ 96
it’s obvious you started watching football only last week. why do you pretend as if you know football and that too as a chelsea fan?
too many manure fans posing as chelsea fans and trying to wind us up.
Guys! Some more of TBF enlightenment:
True Blue Fusion on Sep 4, 2007 – Just after the defeat to Aston Villa
@BC
I Don’t mind we lost 2-0……………2 goal means nothing……….as jose mourinho obviously put it…………………..we played football the way i guess “joeblue” and “midfield_decider” wants…………….if they don’t call this beautiful football……………..i think they are better off with arsenal or manchester united………………………
about roman abramovich………………..his reaction just showed that chelsea is not his toy as media puts it…………he loves his team…………can’t see them loosin………and contrary to the media i can picture him tryin to console the team and even congratulatin jose for the way we were playing football.
@joeblue
my advice: go and search for other club………and change your name to fabregas.red or anything………….this is ridiculuos critising………………….even my arsenal fans admitted we lost due to luck we had the better chances……………….we played football as “joeblue” wants it………………..if you call ballack is not creative enough………go and get a life…………schneijder scores ………..u want him……………………..in football we can play with 11 players only i guess you know it…………….throw off lampard who in his off-form scores as much as cristiano scores in his best form……………….[note that ronaldo dives and scores from those penalties]………….
jose won’t be sacked because you are of those rare breeds who wants jose out………………….if jose was a bad tactician or manger trust me he would be praised even in rival communities
i guess arsenal and man utd play beautiful football……………but are they able to defeat us??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Well, what can I say . . . . !
BC – why are my comments under moderation??
All those who want the Gravatar or could not make it work, please read this post which is now updated with a tutorial image.
the thing i hated was that steve clarke had to stop the argument between drogba and ballack!!! isnt that the managers job?????
i hate how avram is so scared or too lazy to do anything apart from pick the team!!!
i do give praise to steve because he was the one who actually got up and did something about it at a difficult time (1-1)!!!
anyway great win and i love the rubbing in to all those man u fans!!!
Best b day present i could ask for!!!
Woah! Wish you many more happy returns of yesterday Mike Ayad! Hope you were having a blast! What more can you ask for!
By the way, how old are you, if you don’t mind sharing
Great win great game
Some of you Anti AG needs a reminder that this win was one of 21 wins over his 30 games as our manager in EPL games, ill remained you that 21 wins +7 draws + 2 losses makes it an average of 2.33 points for game!!!
That’s means that if AG had the all 36 games as a manager we would had 84 points after yesterday’s game!!!!! I think that would make us in a need of a win and a draw no matter what Man U will do to be the champions , that’s without even thinking about 6 out the 7 draws we had under AG that we where leading !!!!
Amazing isn’t it? Dry facts!!!!
But this blog makes as a roof for the most selfish clawless group of fans that probably can’t deal with facts
Just few samples from this last post only
25 bella
“It see Grant even gets Steve Clarke to calm Drogba down which shows you how little power Grant has over the players now – seems to me the players are in charge not Grant?”
That’s the 1th thing comes to you mind after a win you probably couldn’t dram about ? Poor very poor
30. MourofEssien
“The toad must still be sacked even if we win the double- Everything achieved this season has been in spite of him not because of him.”
You forgot the usual it’s the players and JM bla bla bla
31. bluebayou
“As for The Toad, he didn’t win it, the players did. He mouldered on the bench like a wart on YES! a toad. Don’t like him, will never support him.”
What’s that if not stupidity
46. Nihongo Blue
“great professional performance by men in blue. if sheva was just introduced for the goal line clearance cheers to AG otherwise his subs sucked. anelka was invisible but its good that we attacked”
That’s if you don’t have a dictionary when you look for logic
And so on more and more of the same, I have really hard time to understand if it’s more embracing or funny when I read the same since 50 games ago .
I will tell you one thing
Its 70%-30% for Man U to win the title ,that’s about 30% more than we had 2-3 weeks ago ,I really can see them drop 2 points but don’t forget we yet to win our 2 games
I guess so many fake fans here will cross their fingers for ManU not to drop,
After all I have seen them writing it here!!!
Our home Record – a success or a burden???????
Not like most of you I see our home record as a burden,
I will explain
If you look at the away games table you would see that we lead Man u at this table by far just as they lead us at the home game table, the only parameter we win is the zero losses at home
But that is deceiving, both the players and the fans are so much in love with this record so we don’t want to risk it
Too many times we try to keep it instead of having the courage to risk it for another win
It may cost us the title
I sometimes wonder if certain people on this forum actually watched the kind of football we played at our best under Mourinho over THREE seasons worth because apparently:
The players hardly ever passed the ball along the ground.
We couldn’t accurately pass the ball to each other – funny that I wonder how we won any titles then since we kept giving the ball away under Mourinho so much?
We simply hoofed the ball upfield all the time because Mourinho didn’t know how to play any differently.
Drogba didn’t play as well under Mourinho, he couldn’t dribble or pass the ball to other players properly but now he can under Grant and is a far better player – could have fooled me, he looks very fed up if body language and his comments earlier this season are anything to go by.
Oh and AG Talk unlike you I had no fear that we would lose today so this win did not come out of left field for me.
And yes that was the first thing I noticed after the bald fact that we had won the game.
Yet another example for Grant’s “hands off” management style.
@AG Talk
dont talk rubbish,
Yes chelsea is doing well in spite of not because of AG, it is obvious that AG is very very short on mangerial qyalities, even now he needs a psychologist, c’mon a manager is supposed to motivate the players not a psycholigist.
Nest time they may hire a psychiater, oopss cant spell, maybe AG neewds one.
Well said Bella.
@105…’the thing i hated was that steve clarke had to stop the argument between drogba and ballack!!! isnt that the managers job?????’..I totally agree with u…he also didn’t run to provide medical support to injured players, he also didn’t carry water bottles,he also didn’t massage players in break,he also didn’t this, he also didn’t that…
Now go to sleep….stupid moron.
Bring on Liverpool !
Crush ‘em ,May own goals fall like cement sacks on their heads,
Nyet goals except OG’s for Liverpool.
Onward to Moscova !
KTBFFH !
@Arthur
So you are up in arms against me……….
Cement sacks-i just recall using this term once at my whole time in the blog and that in a moment of heat……
I have never critisized ferreira,ashley,carvalho,terry[except that he hasn't been the same since injury],ashley,mikel,essien,ballack,joe,kalou
i have critisized drogba at times mainly due to his greediness and at times his inability to create space for others.
i have critisized lampard due to his inability of picking the-not-so-easy passes and lack of vision and creativity and at the same time i have always stated that his finishing and strikin abilities are world class.
on my earlier post…………….at times it’s better being open to realizing ur past mistakes than to be stubborn.
@BC
Cech was a virtual spectator.
Ferreira’s best match since FA Cup Final
Carvalho is world class and as for his horrendous error,it shows he is human after all.
JT is one of the world’s best leader and is slowly getting back to his old form
Ashley-The best left-back is back
Essien-Return of bison continues
Mikel-Absolutely world-class
Ballack-Ze’ German is one of the world’s best
Joe-was consistent and deserved a goal
Drogba-Welcome back Drogba of 1st,2nd season who holds and creates.
Kalou-Lil disappointing………dribbles too much
I dont understand how come almost no one here gives any credit to avram grant?
when he came to the team we were well behind man and arsenal, now we are level with man and well above the gunners, it is obvious that he did much better then anyone else in the league. the guy comes to work and does what he needs to do, you will all eat your hats when he hopefully brings us the champions league trophy and then we will see all of you comment. is it racism or is it just that you are so narrow minded to accept anyone else as a manager, get over it mourinho is gone so get use to it and mve on, chelsea did not play better a year ago !!!
Chelsea FC
Players:
GOALKEEPERS: (GK)Petr Cech (GK)Craig Gordon (GK)Kasper Schmeichel
DEFENDERS: (RB)Micah Richards (RB)Paulo Ferriera (CB)John Terry (CB)Ricardo Carvalho
(CB)Alex (CB)Tal Ben Haim (LB)Gareth Bale (LB)Wayne Bridge (R)???
I think that A Cole/Wayne Bridge has to come to terms with the fact that Chelsea is the richest club in the world and therefore should also be the biggest. Either one of these two players, should be sattisfied alone, with just being included as members of a special squad.
MIDFIELDERS: Arjen Robben (if possible a return)(LM)Joe Cole (LM)Florent Malouda (CM)Frank Lampard (CM)Steven Gerrard (CM)Ryan Babel (CM)Gelson Fernandes (CM)John Obi Mike(RM)Morten Gamst Pederson (CAM)Adel Taarabt (R) Scott Sinclair
Ryan Babel is a CAM.
I know this.
But lets just call it CM so we can see in which direction we are going.
Morten Gamst Pederson has been very consistent in the Premier league and is a tested player who can play at the highest level. CFC should purchase him, for around about £3m.
I would play R Babel as a CM. His main attributes is (A)strenth (Hold onto the ball)
(B)Match-winner (Conduct? Play) (C)Take shots (Score Goals) (D)XYZ?
FORWARDS: (FW)Fernando Torres/Samuel Et’o (FW)Robinho (FW)Adriano (FW)Darren Bent
(R)Claudio Pizarro/Franko Di Santo
Franko Di Santo:I have no idea if he is a decent player. But if he is decent, let him work his way up to the top. From reserve to bench and then starting XI.
Adriano:
Trials
Darren Bent:
YOU MUST WATCH Spurs pre-season friendlies against Orlando Pirates and Kazier Chiefs from South Africa. I know that these teams are in the same class as Coca-Cola Championship Teams. He won’t play well for Spurs, because he probably wants to leave.
We are also in desperate need of forwards who can score important match-winning goals. Seeing that Didier Drogba wants to go anyway.
Chelsea:
Chelsea is in need of a PROFESSIONAL GROUP of players. If the club wants to succeed in the Premier league and Champions league. The squad should consist of no less than twenty-six players.
The club should provide the best facilities: Training Grounds and Pschologists etc.
Put in place:Performance-based contracts. So that the manager and coaches can breath and sleep easily at night. Provide BONUSES so that the players can play towards a goal and will remain motivated throughout the long season. This could shorten the season dramatically.
Cheers
Title: Michael Ballack leads a Dominant CFC
Kick-Off
I saw the majority of the match (the first half and a bit of the second). I had made earlier arrangements and was slightly delayed because of my trip to the supermarket. I’ll try to watch the repeat, if it will ever come on.
Introduction
Chelsea FC is preparing to face liverpool in the next champions league match. This will serve as a prep game.
Man U didn’t even bother to field all their big players.
Match Analysis
Match Summary
We played with passion and Manchester United was no match for a Chelsea side at home without any fear.
From the first whistle of the game, Chelsea FC attacked and completely dominated a Manchester United side.
Also, today it’s gotta be all about Michael Ballack.
Goals
Michael Ballack 45 min. Put players in and on the edge of the box.
Other goals self-explanatory.
CFC Players (World XI)
Petr Cech
He was hardly tested. I think he owes his team-mates a beer. 9/10
Paulo Ferreira
He kept Man U from penetrating his zone of the field. Forced crosses. 8/10
John Terry
A typical captain’s performance, he inspired the team to do their best. 8/10
Ricardo Carvaliho
Was everywhere on the field, pity though he made such a costly error. 7/10
Ashley Cole
This is the reason why Madrid wanted him. Ashley keeps world-class players quiet. 8/10
Jon Obi Mikel
Showing signs that he is in control. Also the link between the defense and offense. 8/10
Joe Cole
Put Man U on the back foot, the game could have been completely different. 8/10
Michael Ballack
Made himself available often and got involved in the match. Also made it possible for his team-mates to score goals.(Man of the match) 10/10
Michael Essien
Typical CM performance. Was almost always on the offensive. 8/10
Soloman Kalou
Didn’t play the role of the invicible man. 8/10
Didier Drogba
Must have felt like a spectator? Watching his team-mates take Man U apart. 8/10
Nicholas Anelka (sub)
He is a household name. Didn’t see any of him because of my appointment. But I know that he is a world-class player. I’ll try my best to watch the repeat and give the Frenchman a fair rating.
OK. HERE WE GO AGAIN.
He is a good player, no one doubts this. Beacause its a fact.
But, just take a look at Makele and Shevchenko, they came on literally in the last ten minutes of the game and even though CFC were in the groove, these two just fitted straight into the team (very professional).
Nicholas just needs some time to relax and get away even just for a day to just clear his head and he will be a new man. 5/10
Andriy Shevchenko (sub)
VERY PROFESSIONAL. 7/10
Claude Makalele (sub)
AGAIN FILLS THE TEAMS WITH CONFIDENCE. 7/10
Teams
Manchester United
Simply out-played. 4/10
Chelsea FC
First time under Mr. Abromavich Chelsea played a big club in Europe and gave the knock-out punch from the referee’s whilste.
Players showed their class. Linking-up play and the build-up towards the goals deserves full marks. More importantly, for the first time in a while they played together as a team. Completely opposite performance to the arsenal match (emarites Stadium) and liverpool’s champions league match. Impressive! 8/10
Editor’s Comment
We definately need a stronger second choice team to sustain a performance like this against our only rival (for now) for the Premier league title. CFC developed and matured into winners.
Conclusion
Honestly, I always believed that CFC Players are world-class. Undisputed,a Champions performance.
oh and BC i am really surprised that Manu’s disgraceful behavior hasnt been put up for discussion here, Rio’s temper, kicking a woman, Manu players crowding the ref, that fight with our players, Quieroz and SAF’s post match comments, and not to forget their players fighting with our groundsmen after the match, for being asked to get off the pitch………..pathetic, disgraceful, United…….
!115…dude they are a frogs in a well…and well is called MOURINHO…
@ Bella
Are you serious ?
No One with the right mind claim that the players didn’t pass the ball during JM time.
That is not the point here.
One need to look at the game as a whole; its characteristics and its philosophy.
And that is where you fail to distinguish between passes to passes.
During JM ,passes were part of the holding process ,not of the forward moving process.
It was the negative rather than the positive.
It is so much easier to pass the ball backwards and sideways than to move fast forwards
through the opponent midfield and defense line.
That is why JM game plane was boring yet effective .
JM played Drogba as a pivot ,much like in Basketball.The long balls to the opponent
goal area was the MAIN CHARACTARISTIC of the JM game philosophy. Drogba was brought to CFC solely for this purpose.In many ways it is similar to what happen to Brazilian footballers who come to Europe and are adopting to the European style of play. They somewhat lose their rhythm.
Drogba of two days ago was participating in the build up.He was not a target man.There was no target man in this game.Ferriera tried,foolishly ,to send some long balls to the area- as he has done so often under JM,only to find there was no one there.
And it is not an easy task to remove this tendency from players who were trained under this philosophy and somewhat forgot they have other skills they can utilized. In many ways it is similar to what happen to Brazilian footballers who come to Europe and are adopting to the European style of play. They somewhat lose their rhythm.
The attack came from everywhere.Essien,JC,Kalou,AC,Balack and yes Drogba.The reason
is very simple : CFC for probably the 3rd or 4th time in the last two years played positive football!
Everything that AG or for that matter RA dreamt on came together in this game.
And beating MU in their own game must feel good.
And that was what surprised Fergi.He in his mind couldn’t see CFC playing this kind of football.No one could.Fergi is no fool.He has been watching CFC long enough to know their weakness and accordingly he picked his team.He believed that the hard working Anderson and tight defensive midfield should be enough to disrupt and hold CFC.He was going for a draw or a small 1:0 win.
He was wrong.Becuse he,like many of us ,didn’t believe CFC can play as they played.
I am not jumping to conclusion and claim a victory to AG. Not at all.He has lots to learn and lots to change in this team. I am not even sure they can repeat this style in their next game. But if this is what he is trying to achieve than he needs our support.
It is the type of football I enjoy the most.
His record this year surpass CFC record of last year by far. So even if one claim that
it is the players who are doing it all than at least he is not damaging their effort as one can argue JM did last year.
And if one can easily argue that MU ,Arsen & Liverp. are better teams this year compare to last year than one can maybe appreciate his contribution as small as that might be.
@117…very pertinent points…certainly most flowing performance by CFC in last 2 years or so…Ferguson certainly didn’t expect this and thought a draw could be achieved with Chelsea’s style of play but we changed and result is for everyone to see…certainly I am not claiming we have conquered the world and AG is our messiah now but certainly if he can make team play like this time and again then he surely deserves some pat..
I want all fans to put aside their affiliations(JM vs AG) for a while and lets discuss what we did right this saturday(if moderator can write something it would be great )…and is it that difficult to repeat it week in week out with cerain grinding performances in between…
for me, we did basics right…we played on ground,even Drogba was able to hold the ball and move it…secondly our passing was far more accurate than other matches,even in tighter situations our players were able to reach each other…thirdly our players moved to complement each others position which made passing very meaningful,accurate and swift otherwise I have seen umpteen times players are left with none to pass the ball,this made our forward movement very fruitful and meaninful,there was no useless lateral passing which is a trademark of CFC…
I hope others also put forth their points.
I am not a fan of AG nor JM. I am just a fan of Chelsea FC. All you people here who debated about AG and JM, get a life!!! You all better start worrying about our next match and stop ressurecting JM name and appreciate AG who is trying his best eventhough he is not the best for all of you here and he is the person that is trusted to do the Job and that we have to accept the truth. Same if JM is the person in charge now, appreciate JM and not the person who is gone out of Chelsea FC. In the end, we all wanted to see Chelsea FC our beloved club to be in the Champions League final and also win the Barclay’s Premiere League. Why you people are not celebrating on Chelsea’s victory on ManUtd but instead arguing about AG and JM legacy??? Stupid isn’t it? This is the problem of our fan who seems to be supporting the same team but actually some of you are actually not supporting the team but the Managers…stupid isn’t it? Everyone must be in the same frame of mind, same level of faith towards the team and whoever is in the club then only we can see clearly the progress of our CHelsea FC. Stop all these nonsense, and start thinking of how to support the team and show it to the people around you rather than talk bad about JM and AG.
Will people please stop listening to Grant’s facts and look at the table back when Jose left please as this particular point trotted out by many annoys me no end (it applies to a few posters on here who have also quoted these “facts”).
We were JOINT FIFTH in the league – TWO POINTS off the leaders who were Arsenal I believe when Jose left.
And you know who we were level with – yes MAN UTD!
I realise Grant likes to give the impression that we were on the verge of relegation when he took over but we were not – and please note we were only 6 games into the season, it was hardly all over as Man Utd have proved as they are now leaders.
The same team was playing then as now in terms of personnel and tactics – if the team were that poor when Grant took over because of nasty Mr Mourinho’s managerial abilities then Grant is even more of a genius than I thought!
And he should be thanking Mourinho in part for leaving him such a great squad allied with grit, determination and talent which is being praised to the heavens now by all and sundry.
And thank you jbluem for responding to my post, I always appreciate people taking their time in giving a thoughtful response.
I think some are getting slightly carried away though with our performance in suggesting it was something they have never seen us do before, we have played like this – just not very often under Grant and people have short term memories apparently.
We also were playing a team that had tied one hand behind it’s back thanks to Fergie fielding a weakened side, we had to win, in the back of Fergie’s mind I think he was prepared to gamble and paid the penalty according – but it made life easier for Grant.
Fergie almost got away with it too and could have got a draw despite our good play.
So yes it was a great win, yes I’m happy and yes Grant deserves some plaudits for keeping cool, making Fergie look silly and bringing us level in the title race.
But I’m not getting hysterical over one good performance out of about 30 odd poor ones.
And I’m not about to annoint Grant as some kind of managerial God yet.
Bella
Don’t take it upside down like JM is under fire here and make him as a victim just becouse AG is not so bad
When the team was wining but not so good you and your likes kept talking about luck about the players about JM and about its all despite AG
But damn this last win you can’t really use the same old story’s?
For the first time there are more than one or 2 say that may be AG as something to do with our win so you can’t handle it?
You can’t handle the fact that there was no way you can say it was lucky win?
You are being unfair when you blame AG for saying things he never said
“Will people please stop listening to Grant’s facts and look at the table back when Jose left please as this particular point trotted out by many annoys me no end (it applies to a few posters on here who have also quoted these “facts”).
We were JOINT FIFTH in the league – TWO POINTS off the leaders who were Arsenal I believe when Jose left.
And you know who we were level with – yes MAN UTD!”
You ignore the fact that after 3 days it was Man u leading us by 3 points (that losse that you insist so much to put under AG)
But a point here and a point there back then was not the point at all, no one including AG said that we were so poor back then
But you can’t deny that we were not as good as we are now!!! And that’s an understatement
Give me a brake and use your good sense of fairness and judge AG for the 30 games (I say only 29 lol)
And if you want facts ill give you some
Don’t blame AG for the facts even if it gets against your theories
30 games!!
21 win -70% pretty good for any world class team
7 draws – 23.3 % 6 of this draws after leading
2 losses-6.7 % not bad for a world class team with a lesser manager
56 goals scored -1.87 per game, should have been 66 if we only haven’t had so many injuries
17 clean sheet –that’s 56.7% not bad for a defense that had missing players for 50% of the times
Average points per game -2.33!!!!!- By that parameter only (the bad start as you say that 6 games only, where we had made 11 points only 1.83 per game) you can see the difference , some will say (not me) that back then we lost the title ,under the great big spender Mr god himself JM
All this facts are for you not to take anything from JM, it’s here for you so you can check your double standards
I am certainly not AG fan but I would like to be honest,logical and rational in assessing his performance…I have to say so because I remember when we lost at OT immediately after JM’s exit many fans here said that it was due to AG’s influence over team(just 3 days in charge and he had overshadowed JM’s influence,hmmm?)…now when we won at SB same fans are saying its because of JM’S influence…I am perplexed…JM’s influence faded just after 3 days as per you guys but now it is back when we won….may be some time warping phenomenon shown in sci-fi blockbusters….
AGFF @126 that comment is truely surely from a warped mind
Time, 01.25am just got home with the trophy, oh our Premier League trophy.
Had a great day at Wigan, just bought Gary Megson and Stve Bennett a beer
Cheers all.
Ten titles and we are trading as a real club – unlike your club. If Roman pulls out you are isolvent and Ken Bates could buy you back for a tenner and have change
dis website is fukin gay
go suck ur mum