Hurrah! He signs the extension, finally! Frank Lampard says that there have been compromises on both sides to come to an agreement, but it’s certainly worth the wait. It’s great to know that Lampard will be with Chelsea for another 5 seasons. This is the kind of contract that will make him retire at Chelsea and that’s what he wants. Lampard was so good last season despite all this uncertainties around his beloved manager, his prolonged contract discussions, his mother’s health and he still came up with some telling performances. Now, he can just concentrate on giving his best to Chelsea. I want to see him outscore every other midfielder in the premier league, of course, including that winker.
I’m very pleased for Lampard that he could get himself a 5 year deal at the age of 30. His agent must have been working overtime. Anyway, there must have been some compromise from both parties as Lampard admitted. The compromise from Chelsea FC being the 5 year contract instead of a 4 year one. May be, that extra year could be on a different pay scale and that could be the compromise on his side. Anyway, Lampard’s happy, Kenyon’s happy, we are happy. Having spent 7 seasons with us, Lampard is well on his way to be a Stamford Bridge legend, if he is already not. Add this 5 to the 7, he’d have spent 12 seasons with Chelsea at the end of this contract!
Now, the core of Chelsea are all well protected by contracts. Essien, Cech, Lampard have all singed extensions in this summer. Drogba, Joe Cole, Carvalho and Terry have all at least two years for their contract expiries. Only Ballack, Cudicini and Kalou have their contracts expiring in June 2009. At least for Kalou, I’m sure there’ll be another lengthy contract extension during the course of the season. Overall, there is a strong sense of stability in the squad.
If last season was all about instability and uncertainty, this season is all about clarity, stability and continuity. We’ve got a new manager whom the players really respect and admire, we’ve got three crucial players that have signed their extensions, we’ve got two important players join us, we’ve got a good pre-season and a decent break before the start of the premier league. So now, the only focus would be on football and in particular, winning. This must be a very worrisome development for the rivals. Aren’t we supposed to disintegrate and dissolve in this summer? What’s been happening is quite the opposite. We are consolidating and grouping so nicely ahead of the new season. The credit should go to Scolari, Kenyon and Deco.
Why Scolari because his name has given a lot of confidence to the players. They genuinely believe that he will guide them to glory. Scolari has also been able to being in players, while he also managed to retain talents. And Kenyon for being able to tie the players with agreeable contracts. Finally Deco for being such a lovable and admirable player that he is. Players are overawed at his character and ability, they are all excited about his arrival and him being around and are keen to play alongside him. Deco is the name on everyone’s lips.
Frank Lampard says he is a huge fan of Deco and they both can link up nicely:
I’ve always been a huge fan of Deco from afar, having played against him and watched him. He is a fantastic player, a dream to play with, and with his unselfish attitude and way he moves the ball and sees a pass. The early signs with the way we linked up in pre-season are that we are both happy with how it is going and he is going to add a lot to our midfield.
Here’s John Terry heaping praises on Deco:
Deco looks awesome and it’s exciting to see him play. I never realised how good he is, I played against him four or five times, and he’s probably one of the best I’ve ever played against and trained with. He can pass the ball, has a great touch, opens up defences, gets stuck in as well, which I like about him. He makes it look so easy. I heard speaking to Eidur [Gudjohnsen, now at Barcelona] he is a class act, but day in, day out you see he is determined as well. He wants to prove himself and there is no better place to prove it.
One surprising thing about Deco is how easily he has adapted to Chelsea. In all the pre-season friendlies, he was not playing like he had just joined a new club. He was the man of the show. The Catalan fans are still aggrieved about two things – one is that Deco was allowed to leave and two is he was sold for just 8 million. They simply crucified Laporta for this decision. At 30, Deco’s shown his best at Barcelona but that does not mean that he is on the decline. He can still better himself. He is a kind of player whose style does not depend on strength or pace. His style is all about skill, ball control, intellect and passing. Players with this kind of style don’t grow old that soon. Playmakers are like wine. They are better when they are older. I can’t wait to see Deco play. Come Sunday, the strongest midfield in Europe would be in action at Stamford Bridge.
In the Olympics, it is Kalou who’s setting Beijing on fire. Watch out for him. This could be his season. He has already spent two full seasons at Chelsea. His ‘getting to know’ period is over and he’s got some fierce competition in Franco di Santo. Let’s see if he makes the best out of the absences of Drogba and Sheva. If Franco’s form in competitive football is as good as it was in the reserves and friendlies, Kalou should do something special to get himself playing opportunities. As you know, I like Kalou. I know he can do better, will do better.
While I was expecting Chelsea FC to come out and clarify on Joe Cole, Kenyon chose to insist that we are still chasing Robinho and that we have time till the end of this month to pull a coup. Hardly inspiring news for Joe Cole. Pizarro may not really move as the interested clubs find him a bit expensive for their budget. May be we should try loaning him out if we don’t get any good offers. ‘Ivanovic could be Milan’s in a matter of hours’ say the headlines. It appears that Ivanovic has agreed to move. It’s so pathetic. Let him leave.
Man Utd are rumoured to be signing Berbatov. I’m sad for two reasons. One is, I think Berbatov should stay with Spurs in their most realistic pursuit to date of breaking into the top four. Another is of course, he would immensely strengthen the Man Utd team. The vacuum created by van Nistelrooy’s exit would be filled in by a player like Berbatov. We’ll see how strong Ramos is, in holding on to what he wants. Especially after letting Keane go, it would be suicidal to let Berbatov also go, unless Ramos is planning for a sneaky bid for David Villa.
In champions league qualifiers on Wednesday night, Arsenal have undeservingly beaten FC Twente and Liverpool have been held to a goalless draw by Standard Liege. Any bets on Liverpool missing out on Champions league football?
I’m done with the part 3 and 4 of “I’ve been to Stamford Bridge” and would publish soon. I’m coming up with one long pre-match analysis post for the Portsmouth match. Save all your discussions on the first match until that post! See you!
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On heavy public demand, here is your favourite theme (B&W) back in BlueChampions. Guess there will be peace now
Ah! Brilliant. How i love this theme. Pls keep this forever.
three cheers to lampard. he is gonna create some more records that will take decades to be broken. Lamps is a chelsea legend!
i have always loved you blue champion because you make me still realise that there are some true chelsea fan out there that really gives their best in making us better…i love the theme please dont change it…i am happy lampard signed a new deal and i am also happy that the robinho saga is still on….i trully like joe cole but i think its time we let him go because i dont think he would ever be the fierc joe cole we are all used too and i think the competition in midfield would overwhelm him..
i am happy that everyone loves deco…i love and admire him and i am so glad he has blend into our team without much hassle…so many things are going right for us this season and i think this is the season where we can fight for the unprecedented quardriple silverware we’ve all been yearning for..
i love FOOTBALL,i love CHELSEA and i love BLUECHAMPIONS..
KTBFFH
guys today we will find out if our 24.5 million offer for robinho will be succusfull, anyways BC put prtsmouth vs chelsea up already i cant wait. My team:
———————Cech———————-
–Ivanovic–Terry—–Carvalho–A.Cole–
——————-Mikel————————
——Lampard———–Deco—————
–Essien—————————J.Cole—–
——————Anelka————————
Subs: Cudicini, Alex, Ballack, Malouda, Di Santo
@BC
Wan’t able to comment earlier as i was busy.
On Deco-Deco is class and our only true playmaker…………..he should add that missing defense splitting passes we have been missing for since gudjohnsen[way below deco actually] left.
Deco should be able to bring out better from anelka,sheva,kalou atleast
On Joe Cole-Yes,he is one of my fav players but the truth he is a good impact player and a good back-up………20 million and deal should happen.
On Scolari-He combines the better qualities of mourinho along with a better brand of football,a more positive mentality and definite leadership.We actually thrashed teams in friendlies…………while mourinho won 1-0[lucky like it or not] against la galaxy which has been thrashed 3-0 two days ago by mexican team.
i m satisfied 100% till now.
On Lampard’s new contract-Stupid………the only word to describe it……………………and i am not saying it caus i don’t like lampard…………………5 years at 1.5mp for any player is stupid……………let’s hope atleast he scores 20 goals for next 5 seasons.
@BC
On Ivanovic-The lad is solid,good going forward with a habit of scoring goals……….for this year loaning him to milan won’t be a bad idea as long as we are not forced to sell him next season…….milan have sold digao and dario simic so he will be getting regular playtime in a good league.
Alex is very much dependent on a carvalho like defender……………we have seen terry-alex combo doesn’t work well caus the combo is low on pace.
I still hope he stays.
On Robinho-Showboater with a decent end product………….should freshen up our attack in particular…………that said i hope he doesn’t come.
I think kalou,anelka in particular will step up…………..hope remains for malouda,swp[should have been sold to pompey for 10 mp IMO] and sheva
BTW,please don’t change this theme……………it’s nice.
@den
why would u play essien in the right wing position? scolari only tried him there.
i doubt scolari would put essien there against pourtsmouth.
anyway im getting confused which formation to pick for the season:
4-2-2-2:
———————————————cech————————————————-
bosingwa———–carvalho—————————terry—————————–cole
———————————–essien———mikel—————————————-
——————-deco————————————–lampard————————-
——————————anelka———–drogba—————————————-
4-3-3:
———————————————cech————————————————-
bosingwa———–carvalho—————————terry—————————–cole
—————————————-essien—————————————————–
—————————-deco——————lampard————————————–
————cole—————————————————-kalou————————–
—————————————anelka————————————————————
WHICH ONE DOES EVERYONE PREFER?
This is a good theme, I will wait till you post match analysis on our first game. Good work.
Pretty difficult for me as well.
But i prefer to start with 433 formation and later move to 4222
i disagree with other regarding this theme. The theme you had few months earlier was the best. This theme looks like a widow, all white and grey. Give us Blue(ich) theme that you had a month ago.
its good that we’ve secured the spine of the team
this season will be a strong one, we should win the premiership easily
not sure about the champions league, all depends on malouda and swp form
as for liverpool, i don’t even expect them to finish in the top 4, they bought a striker and two very poor wingbacks, their team will struggle domestically,
this season it’s tottenham and everton that are looking for the top four and i think they have what it takes to do it
Essien in a right wing means he cn use his drive and power to get to the touchlines, and kalou is away at the olypics and is unavailable and im not convinced about malouda or SWP
and mike ayad essien is more inefective in a holding midfield position rather than on a wing
———————————————cech————————————————-
bosingwa———–carvalho—————————terry—————————–cole
———————————–—–essien—————————————-
—————-deco————ballack——————–lampard————————-
——————————anelka———–drogba—————————————-
Robinho come here
@ BC I loved the the theme with Ballack screaming!! that was your best theme!!
@ DEN I love the formation!!
Now this is called a classy theme…..
This theme rocks and hopefully will now be the face of BC, along with all the wonderful things already present that is!
why do you guys want joe cole to leave?????????
wasnt he terrific last season
great theme-
i would play a 4222 vs pompey this weekend
————————cech————————–
ivanovic———-terry———carvalho——cole
——————essien——-mikel—————
————-lamps———————–deco——
—————–anelka———–di santo—–
what do you guys think?
Maybe I’m too new to know the difference in these themes but this one hurts my eyes. I actually liked the one from yesterday. As for Gravatar’s – is the username just for that account or does it effect your user name everywhere it is used? Just a little confused. Thanks.
Here is how i will line up against pompey this weekend
4-4-2
————————cech————————–
ivanovic———-terry———carvalho——cole
——————mikel—————
——- Essien——–Deco———–Lamps——
—————–anelka———–Sheva——-
Talking about Deco, Bc above wrote this- “His style is all about skill, ball control, intellect and passing. Players with this kind of style don’t grow old that soon. Playmakers are like wine. They are better when they are older. I can’t wait to see Deco play.”
BC, i completely agree. Deco might well be the reincarnation of zola for us.
@ churchill love that formation man !!!
@ MourofEssien really like this formation however i dont think sheva is ready as yet… we have to remember that Malouda can play as a forward aswell!!! I cant wait till Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I now noticed that everyone has Ivanovic in their starting line up to face pompey…. wow it seems that because Milan wants our player we now seem how good he is !!
we are getting 14m from mutu.
————————Cech————————–
Essien——Terry——Carvalho—-—A.Cole
———–———-—Mikel—————————
————- Deco———–Lampard————–
J.Cole————————————–Malouda
———————–Anelka———–—————
Subs: Cudicini, Ferreria, Ivanovic, Ballack, Di Santo
@ Chris hey man why do you have essien at RB man !!! your joking!! your wasting the train !!
@ BC its so funny … now anelka is in everyones starting line…. a few weeks ago most of you wanted to sell him !! we must learn to give players a chance!!
team vs pourtsmouth:
————————————————-cech————————————————
ivanovic———————carvalho—————–terry——————————cole
———————————————essien———————————————-
—————————–deco—————————-lampard—————————–
—————–cole———————————————————malouda————
———————————————anelka———————————————
i doubt we will play a 4-4-2(4-2-2-2), because sheva isnt quite ready and di santo still needs to play in some cups to get ready for england. only when drogba is fit will we start to start matches witha 4-4-2!
gd luck to the blues!!!!
————-cech—————
bosingwa-carv-terry-a.cole
————-mikel————-
deco——-essien—–lampard
———j.cole———————
———————drogba—–
if drogba plays. if not then anelka should take that role. joe cole plays as a second striker, runs up and down as a winger,
and i would like to se lamps and deco change positions now and then. cause they bouth have diffrent style of playing and it would be hard for opponents to figure theme out when changing. a very good thing is that allmost every player in our midfield eccept mikel are good at scoring. so playing with two srikers allways is not needed. thou it would be nice to se anelka and drogba playing together.
by the way. BC good theme this time. but take away that; “be afraid, be very afraid” that is really gay. haha otherwise good job:)
A compromise from Lampard’s side? That’s laughable. This deal is a financial disaster, unless you look at it as compensation for all that he has been “underpaid” for the last several seasons. I am as happy as anyone that he is staying, but at five years and that much money…that’s a bad precedent to set considering future negotiations are coming up and we are supposed to remain a top club while cutting player wages…
I couldn’t stand Deco before he came here. I am still not a fan of him personally. But the man is class and is going to be a huge addition to our attacking football.
United can have Berbatov. If they think they can play him with Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez at the same time, they are delusional. Weak teams won’t be able to keep up, but strong squads, especially ours, which on paper is the best midfield in the world, will destroy theirs is they try to play 4 attacks and two defensive mids. We can already shut them down at will (See: UEFA Champions League Final 2008, 35th minute on) so I’m not worried.
Let’s keep everyone fit and healthy this year, and we should be in good shape for the two major titles!
@ 20 Wisey
Gravatars are universal. In whichever site you use your tagged email ID, you’ll see your gravatar. The thumbnail image is linked to your email ID you registered in gravatar.com – simple! As for the theme, I hope you start linking it. As you see there overwhelming response to this theme. There must be something good about this
joe cole off to inter milan
robinho to chelsea
no way joe cole is staying.we have to wait on robinho saga
I think Scolari will field a 4-1-2-1-2
——————-Cech———————
Ferreira—-Terry—-Carvalho—-Cole
————–Essien————————
——-Deco——-Ballack—————–
————–Lampard———————
——–Anelka——–Sheva————–
Subs : Alex, Ivanovic, Di Santo, J. Cole, Malouda/SWP, Cudicini, Mikel.
Second half you can expect a 4-3-3 with Ballack, Sheva and Ferreira making way for J. Cole, Malouda/SWP and Ivanovic respectively.
This way he will use all the star players in the starting line-up, and will substitute others in the second half. Every one would get a chance too. I don’t want
I think Scolari will field a 4-1-2-1-2
——————-Cech———————
Ferreira—-Terry—-Carvalho—-Cole
————–Essien————————
——-Deco——-Ballack—————–
————–Lampard———————
——–Anelka——–Sheva————–
Subs : Alex, Ivanovic, Pizzaro, J. Cole, Malouda/SWP, Cudicini, Mikel.
We can’t expect Di Santo because he’s the one for the future according to Scolari (also as its his first EPL game he will play safe and will have an experienced team, we can expect Di Santo in the mid season, i.e after Scolari settles down).
In the second half you can expect a 4-3-3 with Ballack, Sheva and Ferreira making way for J. Cole, Malouda/SWP and Ivanovic respectively.
This way he will use all the star players in the starting line-up, and will substitute others in the second half. Every one would get a chance too.
I don’t want Robinho in the team, he’s using Chelsea to get a better contract from Real. We don’t need him when we have SWP, Malouda, J. Cole and Kalou (who was mostly used on wings last season), also Robinho can’t play in EPL, which is mostly physical unlike the La Liga. Even if he does come to Chelsea we can’t expect a great performance from in the first season as he needs to cope with the physical aspect of the game, just like Ronaldo’s first season at Manure.
Having Lampard for the next 5 seasons is great but the amount we pay him is too much. We could have bought Ribas Diego / Van der Vaart with that amount (fact is we have to shell out the cash at once,which is bad).
@ 27: no i’m not joking, essien is useful *anywhere* on the pitch, and without bosingwa i feel if scolari wants to play attacking football this is the best option available right this minute. in the second half you can bring on ferreira/ivanovic for anyone that looks tired and then move essien around accordingly, thats the beauty of versatility
Hey Blue champ this themes looks good.Very very good to hear that Lamps has signed a 5 yr contract.He is worth every penny.I wish that the Robinho saga ends as soon as possible.I honestly don wish to loose joe cole and fill robinho in his place.Joe cole till date has been very loyal to us and to my knowledge has never searched for a future elsewhere,though he didnt get as much first team footbal as he would have liked.Why do we fill his place with someone else!!! Our squad for this season is fantastic.I believe in Ballack and Terry’s words,We’ve got the quality to go for all the four cups this season..
I have no doubt in my mind THIS SEASON BELONGS TO THE BLUES…….
I have a question to those(TBF) who say Jose’s football is negative,I believe no one would’ve furgot the Chelsea 4-4 tottenham match last season.We’re behind,qualised,behind,equalised,took lead and extended the lead.We’re in lead until Keane scored a stunner at the injury time.I would say that match caused us the title.Now,you’re a manager what would you do when you’re playing such a high tempo match ? I say Jose would have sealed the match for the blues once we went ahead.When you’re playing a big team in an important match under crunch situation would you like to step down the tempo a bit once you take the lead or would you like to up the temp and attack the opponent.Honestly, if someone say i would still attack he should definitely be a Gooner.Jose’s tactics (4-3-3) was the one which bought new dimension to Chelsea’s football.I consider Jose’s tactics Superior than anyone in the League.Scolari is a great coach,no doubt about it.But dont compare him with Jose,they’re entirely different kind of Tacticians and characters.
My formation for Pompey: essien is injuried (but next week), and scolari said Anelka will play center forward, drogba not ready and Pizarro has been loaned out to Werder Bremen. hopefully to establish good relations when we try to go for Deigo!!
why the hell would we sell J.cole to make way for Robinho…. it should be SWP that is sold…!!! even if Robhino does not come
————————Cech————————–
Ivanovic——Terry——Carvalho—-—A.Cole
———–———-—Mikel—————————
————- Deco———–Lampard————–
J.Cole————————————–Malouda
———————–Anelka———–—————
Subs: Cudicini, Alex, Bridge, Ballack, Di Santo,Sheva,SWP
Scolari will probably go for a formation similar but like this:
————————Cech————————–
Ferreira——Terry——Carvalho—-—A.Cole
———–———-—Mikel—————————
————- Deco———–Lampard————–
J.Cole————————————–Malouda
———————–Anelka———–—————
Subs: Cudicini, Alex, Ivanovic, Ballack, Di Santo,Sheva,SWP