The season kicks off this week for Chelsea with the pre-season matches at China and Malaysia. A good number of players have traveled to China for the pre-season friendlies. That’s not going to be any indication of who’s going to stay and who’s not. The complete squad including Deco and Bosingwa has travelled except for Ballack and Drogba. Let’s not make any stories about their absence. Ballack played until the final of the Euro so his holiday started later and it’s fair that it would also end later. Drogba is still under rehabilitation from a knee injury. He is in Cobham and not in some icecream parlour in Milan.
The first pre-season match is on 23-July which is broadcast only on Chelsea TV. I need to check if my online Chelsea TV subscription is still alive. If I get to see the match, I’d publish my match reactions too. This match at China is the first under Luiz Felipe Scolari. I know that these friendlies are just meant to loosen up the players a bit. We may not be able to see the ‘Scolari effect’ in these matches yet. Let me tell you upfront that even if we were to draw or lose these matches, I’m not going to be worried. As such, I attach very little importance to these friendlies. These are primarily marketing measures where the players can warm up for the season. As long as all the first team players and the bench players get a run in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be fine.
Scolari just confirms my views that it’s going to take a few matches to see his philosophy in action:
The players are not ready yet totally, but we are starting to build a new team and a new philosophy. This is just the beginning, and I expect after these five games that I have a general idea about all the players and a system.
I’m very keen to know the system that Scolari has in his mind. Would it be a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. We have the players to play in any of these formations. With every rumour that’s associated with Chelsea, I’m getting more and more worried about Joe Cole. I do not know where is he going to fit in and what role is he going to play. Would there be a possibility of Joe Cole being fully fit and still making it to the first team.
A very good news! Petr Cech has signed a new 5 year deal with Chelsea. He is just 26 now and he is already one of the top 3 goalkeepers in Europe. Goalkeepers generally peak between 30 and 35 years or some even beyond 35 years. So actually, we are yet to see the best of Petr Cech. This new contracts of Bridge and Cech sends out a great sense of stability and faith in the camp. If Drogba too signs a new contract, I’d say we are ready for the next season.
The other good news is that JM has conceded that Lampard may not join FC Inter after all. This does not mean Lampard is signing a new contract. JM also left a hint that Lampard might see out his current contract with Chelsea and then join him next season. If that’s how all this pans out, Lampard might have a very difficult 12 months in the team. He may not be a favourite with Scolari. Lamps could spend a good part of this season in the bench. Scolari has to find a balance between not snubbing or humiliating him and giving opportunities to players who see their future in Chelsea. If we are not going to use Lampard as much as he would be otherwise, we should rather let him leave and get the 10 or 12 million that FC Inter are offering.
And then comes this Kaka rumour. To start with, I love this guy and he is one of the best players around. I’d love to see the such players at Chelsea. But do we need Kaka? Is it Kaka that we miss in our team? I don’t think so. For the 70 to 80 million pounds that he is rumoured to have bid, I don’t think we need him. A striker and a right back are needed much more than an attacking midfielder. I don’t think Bosingwa is the answer for our right back weakness. He can paper the cracks for sometime but he is not even in the top 10 right backs in Europe. And he is not that young to evolve at Chelsea and improve himself by a great deal.
Drogba has still not confirmed about his Chelsea future. Shevchenko is doubtful and even if he is to sign a new contract, he is not the player now that you can go with to win the premier league title. The other strikers are all temporary fillers – Kalou still needs to improve, Pizarro should be leaving, Di Santo is unknown, Anelka does not seem to have his mind here. Why would I go buy Kaka for 80 million pounds while I badly need a striker and a top quality right back? And why would I do that when I have Ballack, Essien, Mikel, Deco and possibly Lampard too.
Another new theme for the blog. I can now understand Roman’s psyche. A small time blogger like me can be so fickle with the stuff that I own, I can’t blame the billionaire owner of a club about what he wants to do with the club. May be I’m dealing with the themes like Roman does with the managers of his club. Success or no success, once and only when you get tired of something, look for another thing which is not necessarily a better one. Once we get through the niceties of the themes and gloss, we know all that we care for is the engine, which is the posts, the comments and the community over here. Catch you later.
39 Responses - Add your comment!
i think lampard will sign a new contract. drogba too. if kaka comes in, we can surely release lampard for he will have no use. no way im going to pick him ahead of kaka, ballack and deco and essien. robinho is a waste of money for even 20 mil.
Tats good news about Peter Cech…..he is truly world class……as for lampard i cant understand why he wont sign a new contract….a 4 yr deal for a 30 yr old is as good as any….As for the pre-season friendlies i would love to see how players like Branislav Ivanovic , Deco , Jose Bosingwa perform…..also how the players from the reserves prove themselves…..and finally kenyon admits tat Kaka move is unlikely…
This theme is bad.
Nice Theme.
It is most possible for lampard to leave so I think it is a good move for Chelsea to go for Kaka, though expensive but I believe it is one of the players that will play their hearts out for the new coach which will really go along way in winning back the legue title. Chelsea is also believe that it is most likely lampard will leave. Kaka will bring flair and decisiveness to chelsea attack including commercial value.
Malouda, Ben Haim. SWP , Shevychenko, Belleti and Makalele all should leave and give room to new players.
I think our right back is well equipped with Ferreira and Bosingwa and any other places at the back, Including our midfield either lampard goes or kaka comes.
A good Striker is only what will need to replace Shevychenko or if Drogba leaves. Someone like Eto or Aguero
I cant wait to see the new season starts.
Up Blues
Pls revert to original theme. Its all big here
i think you’re being a bit harsh with your judgement on bosingwa. he his actually in the top 5 rbs in europe and had a reasonably good euro.
as for strikers, yup we definitely need a striker. drogba most likely will be staying by default, and maybe we’ll sign robinho, but I dont know what is his best position.
80mil pounds for a single player? is that the procedure for the club to break even by 2010????
Makelele’s just been released on a free transfer to PSG today. He should be revealed by them either today or tomorrow.
im not in favour of kaka, he would be overpriced and there is no guarantee he would adapt
equally, robinho is not the best choice because he is not very strong nor good in the air
i was never keen on bosingwa, he is just like rio ferdinand, relying on his speed rather than any sort of positioning or skill, we would have been better off signing someone solid who isn’t so offensive, i had really hoped to see someone like micah richards or sergio ramos at the bridge asw they’d give cover at centreback aswell
its good we’ve offloaded makelele as mikel needs more opportunities to play
scolari’s squad should operate with joe cole on the right wing or right attacking attacking midfield,
whatever happens now, our priorities should be bringing in a left winger and some youth for the midfield and attack
ben sahar is on loan at portsmouth so a good season could see him called into the first squad
i think we should try kalou and drogba together as kalou has alot of pace and is improving
as for our lampard situation, lampard ballack and deco are all relatively close to retirement
i dont know of any brilliant midfielders in our academy and id love to see us chase after some youth like joah moutinho, michael johnson etc.
but my number one worry is our left midfield, we have malouda but we should offload him, bring in a young talent and someone established
thank you makalele.. for ur service…………
guys pay tribute to makelele services to chelsea 4 5 years
Claude Makelele has made his mark as one of the finest holding midfielders in the world.His presence at the bridge will be sorely missed.To quote Zinedine Zidane’s words:”Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine? ” .Enough said.
CHELSEA IS IN A GREAT REBUILD.IN THIS WEEK MORE PLAYERS WILL LEAVE CHELSEA .ONE OF THEM IS DROGBA.
WHY CHELSEA DIDNT BID FOR BERBATOV.HE IS A GREAT AND WISE FORWARD.BUT HE IS TO EXPENSIVE.CHELSEA FORWARD SYSTEM IS TO WEAK.FOR A GREAT TEAM CHELSEA MUST IMPROVE ATTACK SYSTEM.
I LIKE TO SEE ETO AND SEBASTIAN IN 9 & 11 SHIRTS FOLLOWING NEXT WEEKS.KHALID BOULAHROZ SET TO JOIN STUTGART.OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS CHELSEA SQUAD NUMBER WILL REACH TO 25 OR 26.
this theme sucks BC. the other one was great. stop changing something that works. u are like avram grant.hahaha
pizza, ben haim, belleti, malouda will be leaving soon. as far as i think the only player will be having is a striker or a attacking midfielder. and it wont be kaka. i hope van der vart comes.
my chelsea dream team would be if benzema and vam der vart joined uss.
————-cech————–
bosingwa–terry—carv—–a.cole
———–mikel—————
deco——-essien——vandervart/lampard
——–benzema—drogba——
if i saw this team i would come in my pants. hahahaha
If Lampard leaves only then we should think of bringing in Van Der Vaart…….where are we going to fit in all these midfielders???…..AS Roma are bidding for Florent Malouda……if he leaves we will have more more problems on the left wing….Robinho is too inconsistent to play this role……and @15 don’t expect to win all the matches without any wingers….
@BC stop fiddling with the theme …. change it back because this one sucks …..
“while I badly need a striker and a top quality right back?” are you trying to say Bosingwa is not top quality (world class)…?? didnt you see him in Euro 08… sir?? why do think Man u wanted him so badly?. Our right back problems have been solved plus we have good back up in Ivanovic, and Ferreira or belleti depending on which one stays.
ETO -9 AND SEBASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER OUR NEW NUMBER 7 PLEASE!!! (SHEVA’S NUMBER)
why must the blues sign deco,this guy is not strong for the premiership.lanmpard,mickel are better than kaka.not forgeting the king of the midfield essien.
bc this theme sucks
chang it pls
@ Everyone….. Chelsea only needs wingers and forwards….
people seem to for get that joe cole is also inconsistent !! therefore we need 2 wingers… one for the left and one that can play both left and right…
left wing…..SCHWEINSTEIGER
utility winger Quaresma
forwards….Eto’o, David Villa ( a must get player!!), Mario Gomez, Benzema, Aguaro( a must get… hell we should shell out 50 mil for him … instead if Kaka!!)
@ 16 van der vart plays very good on the wings so does deco. quaresma sucks stop saying u want him. he is a show off, a very bad one. trust me, benzema will be the best forward ever the coming years, he is 19. if lampard leaves i want to se silva in chelsea. did someone said lampard is better than kaka? u have to be on drogs.
bc this new look sucks
if maka is gone this means that mikel will get some regular playing time. i wonder how he’ll do playing full time.
@21…….tats true……quaresma is a big show off……plus he never bothers to regain the ball when he loses it….chelsea should bid for silva……valencia must sell atleast 1 of their top players to settle their financial debts…we could very well end up with silva instead of robinho….
we want SCHWEINSTEIGER and lahm…both are world players…when compare to bosingwa..lahm is far far better player….and you all can see in euro 2008 itself(eg:germany vs portugal)…and lahm can be played in (rb) or (lb) he is capable in both & he can score goals…..
@ 25 ilayathalapathi vijay lahm might be a right back but his best position of left back(he is more effective …because he cuts in on the strong foot) …. and that position if full already.
When will it stop …. we have a world class right back now and you people are still talking about signing another……… why dont you take out your checkbook…..! and sign one….
hi guys! haven’t been around in a while. lots of things happening at chelsea. i could see some kind of squad rebuilding being done by scolari. good for him. with full support from roman, scolari should make the best possible moves. by giving a huge transfer budget to his coaches what roman does is knocking off one big excuse straightaway for any sort of underperformance. roman seems to tell scolari – ‘i’ll get you whoever you want, you get me what i want’. scolari should understand that there is zero margin of error for chelsea managers. he is a proper football manager, so he should know.
many have said that schweinsteiger is good and we should go for him. i agree and disagree. he is good but he is a right midfielder or right winger. his arrival would make joe cole a bit uncomfortable. lampard should be allowed to leave. kaka can join but not for 80m. that’s crazy money. robinho is just wasting time. and BC, i too think you’re underestimating bosingwa but i agree he is not a ‘world class’ right back as you call it. what do u say about schweinsteiger???
Hi Guys,,
BC..about this theme…you have just sacked JM and appointed Grant.;)
TBH & Beletti not in the party to china..I hope it means they are going to be sold.
I am really surprised at the lack of transfer activity on our part. We need wingers & Forwards and NO move is being made for any of the kind. 250 million or so according to the press available to Scolari.Then why on earth arent we chasing the right people???
We have 3 wingers now..Joe, SWP & malouda..we need atleast one more..SCHWEINSTEIGER…PODOLSKI…BENTLEY..
Fowards..we need 1 solid PREDATOR..someone similar to Ruud Van Nistlerooy..Huntelaar..Aguero…
Cmon scolari,kenyon,roman..please buy some players to plug all our weak areas..
WE HAVE TO WIN THE EPL BACK
makelele has left chelsea what is our squad size now?????????????????
anyway i think we need a good, young winger
we also need a striker that can actually score goals!!!!!!
hey guys the chelsea website says this:
‘missing were injured pair didier drogba and claudio pizzaro,as well as juliano belletti ad tal ben haim’
neither of them were part of the euros so they couldnt of been having a break which means the only other reason is that they are getting sold!!! they arent injured so this means they are getting sold.
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1348005,00.html
benhaim is leaving behind the #22 shirt which is the perfect time for kaka to join lol
@ 29 well thats sidwell, kalid, Makelele, TBH( soon) , Belleti(soon) , SWP (scolari will have a look at swp and see he cant hold the ball for 3 seconds without falling on his face and sell him, and Pizzaro to go now.
cant really wait to see this chelsea team in action, ill like to see wat big phil has done so far. chelsea without dd and frank will be unusual, just like utd without rooney and ronaldo, although i think chelsea is a great team without them provided the right chemistry is kept. personally this is mikel’s season and deco’s time for stardom
From what I saw on Sky Sports, Kaka is out of the question. Good, now we can focus on buying a couple of good young strikers. As for Makalele, dang, can’t the team throw some sort of appreciation party for the man? Maka has been more than instrumental in the team’s success. The only thing he didn’t do for Chelsea was score (Okay, that first prem and maybe one or two times other than that).
As for the new theme; naw, I liked a couple of the older ones better than this.
hey guys-
i think that we have too many midfielders (mikel/lamps/deco/essien/ballack) to buy any more(kaka/vandervaart).i dont think that robinho will be a very good fit at chelsea, and i personally wouldnt pursue him.
all we need is a winger, and possibly a striker if drogba finds another team. the 3 players that i would try to sign are bastian schweinstager, david silva, and sergio aguero.
my chelsea squad
2008-2009
———-cech————-
bosingwa———-riccy———-jt————-cole
——–mikel/essien/ballack—mikel/essien/ballack
——————–deco/lamps——————–
—-schweinstager/silva—————-joey
———-kalou———drogs/aguero
good theme bc. this is quite neat and white.
i wish makelele all the best. he has done great service to chelsea fc. mikel has to grow up this season despite not possibly getting a regular starting place. after all this there is no point in keeping lampard. what for? we’ve got the replacements, we can get decent money for him, we should sell him.
we need to appreciate makalele services he was best defensive midfielder ever .we will miss him in europe didnt imagine a team without him in ucl
THE ONLY THING THAT CHELSEA NEEDS A LEFT WINGER AND 2 STRIKERS.
I LIKE KAKA BUT I DONT WANT HIM FOR 150M .SO WITH THAT MONEY WE CAN BUY 5 TOP CLASS STRIKERS AND TOP FINISHERS LIKE AGEURO/BERBATOV/HUNTLAIR/ETO/…..
I HOPE ROBINHO SIGN A NEW CONTRACT WITH REAL MADRID AND CHELSEA FOCUS ON OTHER PLAYERS.
AT THE END OF THIS WEEK:BELETTI/BEN HAIM/DROGBA/PIZZARO:WILL LEAVE CHELSEA.I HOPE SOMEBODY BUY ANELKA TO.I DONT WANT HIM AT CHELEA NEXT EASON.HE IS SLOW AND STUPID AND DOESNT HAVE A CHELSEA SPIRIT.
i think kevin u saying lamps is useless is crap!!!
look at the contributions he had made for the club!
u are not loyal at all!
u dont fit to be a chelsea fan!
everybody in the team is competent, good and classic. but i think it’s about time deco left, ‘coz he’s not the deco we used to know, he’s deformed and not performig, and i thing sergio aguero is needed in this team, plz the management shld do some’ng about tht. blues forever.