Debates, News, Players, Transfers - Written by BlueChampion on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:57 | 1,818 Views | 77 Comments | Add Comment
Chelsea on a striker hunt | Robinho to join today?
Some surprising transfer rumours involving Chelsea - David Villa & Luis Fabiano. These may just be stories manufactured by the Sun. David Villa could be a big money transfer. The Sun may not want to see a bumper transfer without a bit of Chelsea in it. With Luis Fabiano, there’s a stronger case. He is Brazilian.
Now you’ll start seeing every decent Brazilian footballer linked to Chelsea, because of Scolari. Looking at Scolari’s preference for 4-3-3, I wonder if he would really go for such world class strikers. Neither Drogba nor Villa/Fabiano would enjoy being a second choice striker. Moreover, if Villa was available, Benitez may not have gone for Keane. At 28, I can’t believe Fabiano’s prime is ahead of him. Don’t we know a thing or two about past-the-prime strikers?
With Drogba and Anelka in the squad, if at all we’re looking for a striker, I expect him to be less than 25, or in fact in the early 20s. I see no point in buying another 29 year old striker who wants lacks ambition and is keen on retiring with Chelsea. If we don’t buy any strikers now, it should be big psycological boost for Franco di Santo. Franco has seen Sheva and Pizarro leave. He has Anelka and Kalou ahead of him. I would not bet against Franco playing a role in this season. Staying on with the striker transfers, there is a rumour that Luiz Ronaldo (the true ‘Ronaldo’) is wanted by Man City. If I see a rumour that Chelsea are hijacking that transfer, I would cry.
Hold your breath. Now that Zenit is on top gear to sell Arshavin, they are checking if Chelsea could buy him and in fact are seriously hoping for it. Mr. Kenyon, if you’re reading this blog: just stay away’. I’m not saying Arshavin is not good. He is actually unproven, despite his Euro exploits. Even in Euros, didn’t he struggle when they got to the business end of the tournament? He is 27 and is not worth the £20m that Zenit are asking for. He has not shown his worth for £20m. Zenit will have to call the bluff and sell him for around 10 million.
SWP is still on standby. I see people saying that he is a good player and he could click with us if we give him more chances, probably a start for 10 to 15 matches in succession. The problem is, we cannot experiment. We simply cannot afford experiments. If the ambition is to be No.1 and anything less than No.1 is seen to be a failure, there is less margin for error. When we bought SWP, he was not like some Franco or Fabio. He was a star by then in Man City. He was supposed to click straightaway. He was/is expensive. He knows he is in a squad where the competition is very high. I don’t mind giving him the starts but when I play for 2 or 3 matches on the trot, I should see some kind of promise that can extend my favour to him. He’s simply not shown that promise. As I said, I love this guy but he should go.
And now, the daily dose on Robinho. There is a widespread belief that Robinho is in London today to sign his Chelsea contract. There are simply no hints on the club website. That’s allright, I thought they’d put the Fabio news only after his debut. The people at the club website is either too lazy or too smart. I hope it’s the latter. I wish Robinho’s transfer is completed today. I want to see him play on Sunday against Spurs. It’s nice get your debut at Stamford Bridge. It’s almost clear that SWP is out if Robinho’s in. But then what happens to Malouda? Robinho plies his trade in the exact zone of the pitch where Robinho excels. Here’s Malouda’s agent clarifying his position with Chelsea:
Florent is simply not interested in leaving Chelsea, so I’ve no idea where the constant rumours of him signing for Newcastle or Roma are coming from. Whether Robinho signs or not it will not make any difference to Florent because he’s absolutely committed to succeeding at Chelsea. I can confirm that he’s ready to fight for his place and to persevere simply because he has total faith in his ability to triumph in the face of adversity. Personally, I am certain he’ll end up winning everyone over just like he has always had to do at each of his previous clubs. We reckon that Florent is the only naturally left sided midfielder or winger at the club and he’s convinced that if he stays loyal to his dream then he can play a really big part in Chelsea’s push to win all four trophies that they enter this season. It’s true that Barca, Juve and Inter all contacted me during the summer to see whether or not he wanted to quit Chelsea but Florent immediately told me that he didn’t want to leave. He knows he still has a lot to prove at this club but above all he’s convinced that he can become an important footballer for Chelsea.
For an agent, this guy is way too clear. Robinho or not, Malouda stays and he has no interest going anywhere. He wants to prove here and win here. Fantastic attitude. Malouda has potential. I’d love him to stay only if Scolari sees that potential in him that I see. When Malouda joined Chelsea and scored that cracking debut goal, I went crazy. I knew that he was a brilliant player and he would replace Robben very well. Mind you, he is not Arjen Robben, which means Robben had certain things that Malouda did not have and vice versa. If you wonder what comes under the ‘vice versa’, it is fitness and strength to start with.
Malouda admired Jose Mourinho and that was one of the reasons why he joined us, and it was unfortunate for him that JM left just weeks after Malouda joined. His pal Drogba was not in the best frame of mind then. Grant was in and he did his templated tactics and frankly Malouda did not improve under Grant just the same way SWP did not improve under JM. But in this case, I have some sympathy for Malouda. This season, Scolari can use Malouda because Robinho can play on the right too. And what happens to Joe Cole? Well, the best two in-form players of the trio of Robinho, Joe Cole and Malouda would play on the wings. As simple as that.
The UEFA club football awards would be announced tomorrow. There are five contenders for each of the four categories - goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward. My guess is that, the goalkeeper award would go to van der Sar, defender award to Rio Ferdinand, midfielder award to Lampard and forward award to Drogba. What are your guesses?
One more interesting thing to happen tomorrow (Thursday) - the champions league draw for the group league stages. As John Terry said, the Chelsea players are all saying that we could face Inter at some stage of the competition. I hope we draw Inter. I want JM to be back in England, right here at Stamford Bridge. I want to see him as an opponent. The Chelsea vs Inter clashes could be as illustrious as the Chelsea vs Barca matchups of the last few seasons. Do you know that Chelsea are the top seeded team in this season’s UEFA champions league?!
77 Comments
1. Den
2. Spyder
Hi BC. It was announced long back that fabio paim signed for Chelsea on a season long loan deal. Check this link from the official site http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1373249,00.html if you missed it.
PAIM SIGNS ON LOAN
Posted on: Fri 22 Aug 2008
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Fabio Paim has signed on a one year loan from Sporting Lisbon.
The 20-year-old Portuguese winger becomes our third signing of the season, following Jose Bosingwa and Deco.
3. Jo
i would also want inter in our grp stages….so we will not meet them in the knockout rounds….do’t want mourinho’s inter milan to be kicked out by chelsea…….if there’s fate they will meet again in the finals….if inter can reach there…..haha.. SCOLARI AND MOURINHO ARE GR8 MANAGERS!
4. BlueChampion
Den - the awards are given based on only the champions league matches last season. Why Gerrard? Why Gerrard over Benayoun?
Spyder - i know it’s on the website all i’m saying is that the news on club website appear very late.
5. mike ayad
Goalkeeper: van der sar
defender: Ferdinand
midfielder: ronaldo? I don’t know whether they count him as a striker or not
forward: drogba
6. stan
BC pls tell Roman 2 get robinho at any price,
i just watched is videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ChwH7hcfz8&feature=related#
dat guy is better than C ronaldo (BC dont u think so, he never had the oppurtunity 2 xplode in Madrid)
is got pace, skills, dribbles (wat we lack in chelsea), provides alot of assist, and also scores.
i think he will add greatly 2 our counter attack (have not seen dat in chelsea in past 2 seasons)
Robinho is the d best thing dat can happen 2 chelsea, he give us that entertainment we have been looking for.
BC wat do u think?
7. heyjose
hi inter are going to be seeded cant meet in group stages only in knockout phase.
8. BuildChelsea
5. mike ayad ………I think they consider Ronaldo to be a striker…….so…
Goalkeeper: Van Der Sar
Defender: Ferdinand
Midfielder: Lampard
Forward: Ronaldo
9. k.drogba
Chelsea to sign Real Madrid’s Robinho in next 48 hours, says Peter Kenyon.. *-)
10. trueblue
@BC
there is no way we can be drawn with inter milan in the group stages,coz we are in the same pot
the only top teams possible in our group would be bayern munich or juventus
11. Denver
@77. heyjose thanks for informing these folks!!
chelsea are now the #1 team in Europe!!! , top seed !!
Goalkeeper: Cech — there is no way ill pick Van Der Sar over chech… even if im wrong…
Defender: J terry
Midfielder: Essien
Forward: Ronaldo
12. Pensioner
Hi Bluechampions,
Good to be back. I take back my words with the woman on this blog on the subject matter that Jose Mourinho can’t dress. In fact his a terrific dresser.
I wish Jose Mourinho all of the best. Can Inter win the Champions league?
Cheers
13. BuildChelsea
@11. Denver …….We are all great supporters of Chelsea ,but you have to give some credit to players from other teams………the best defender :John Terry…….im not saying he played badly…….but to rate him over Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic is a bit too much…..
14. Denver
@13. BuildChelsea for the champions league ofcourse terry stood up well, personnaly my pick would have been R. Carvalio.. but i dont think he was on the list. (whats that about……?)
there were a few factors to my decision..
which team made it the furthest …etc
what about Manuel Neuer FC Schalke 04…. i think he would be a top contender for the top keeper !! ( why dont we look at him as a back up to chech!!) + he is good on penalties…… and for a young back up ustari from Argentina… but i guess we have R. Taylor …!
15. Chaka
The deadline date is almost here.When is SWP leaving?
16. trueplatinum
what would truly make me laugh, is to have either man utd or liverpool in our group stages
liverpool barely made qualitfication,
but yeah, i think you speak for every chelsea fan bc, scolari beating mourinho would make him jesus in the eyes of chelsea supporters
17. Zola - Legend
@ 16 - that would make me laugh aswell if we had Man u or Liverpool in the group stages cuz thats impossible, jesus…some people on here are sooooo thick, learn a bit about football before you make comments about it.
18. Zola - Legend
Goodbye SWP, looks like he’s going now he’s set to have a medical at Man city on thursday ahead of a £9 million move, Man city have done well theve made over £10 million profit on him… http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_4058162,00.html
What ever anyone says he is a good player it just didn’t work for him at chelsea, he will show how good he is when he plays for Man city were he is at home i feel, He never moaned or complained while at chelsea and always gave his best so fareplay to him. goodluck
19. xerxesk
Who the hell is R. Taylor , when Hilario was subbed and R. Taylor came in we were 2-0 ahead of United (Reserve Games) when R. Taylor came in it was 2-2 . Please dont even talk about a nobody.
20. MourOfEssien
Rob will bring the best out of anelka. Both love movement and are very good on the ball. I cannot wait
21. Joe
“At 28, I can’t believe Fabiano’s prime is ahead of him.” Are you unaware that he just had his best season of his career so far and scored over 20 goals?
22. FleetofFoot
Actually there is an interesting goof on the Chelsea Megastore site. They have already posted a page selling Robinho shirts with a number “TBC”. I cannot take credit for this discovery, as a member of another online group of Blues fans pointed it out to us earlier today. One can only hope that this is a sign that Robinho is on his way.
Evidence of the long-awaited transfer?
http://www.chelseamegastore.com/stores/chelsea/products/product_search.aspx?search=Robinho
23. Scott_Sinc
fleetoffoot - you’re right, lol. robinho is there in the chelsea megastore already. so it’s almost as good as done. i think robinho will get the number 7.
24. Steve Clarke
Peeps, here are the pots and the teams for the champions league. let’s not have any confusion about who can be where. for the 8 groups, one team from each pot will make it. so it cannot be inter for us in the group stage.
POT 1
Chelsea (ENG)
Manchester United (ENG)
Liverpool (ENG)
Barcelona (SPA)
Arsenal (ENG)
Lyon (FRA)
Internazionale Milano (ITA)
Real Madrid (ESP)
POT 2
Bayern Munich (GER)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Villarreal (ESP)
Roma (ITA)
Porto (POR)
Werder Bremen (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR)
Juventus (ITA)
POT 3
Marseille (FRA)
Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
Panathinaikos (GRE)
Bordeaux (FRA)
Celtic (SCO)
Basel (SUI)
Fenerbahçe (TUR)
POT 4
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Fiorentina (ITA)
Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR)
Cluj (ROU)
Aalborg (DEN)
Anorthosis Famagusta (CYP)
BATE Borisov (BLR)
25. Thunder
chelsea group will be like this
1- Chelsea
2- Bayern Munich
3- Zenit St. Petersburg
4- Atlético Madrid
i know what Chelsea LUCK look’s like : )
26. Nick
I actually miss having Grant around when it comes to UCL draws. Let’s hope we get Sporting, Basel and BATE.
27. Arthur
lol yes . . grant shud join as scolari’s assistant coach, just for the champions league draw and the own goals.
28. chelsea4life
I wish we meet Inter in later stages so that we can defeat them 5-0 playing champagne football….it will be like a kick in teeth for THE ORDINARY ONE….Scolari will teach that buffoon how to play football….
29. Jo
respect mourinho,respect chelsea…mourinho help chelsea gain their first premier league title in 50 yrs…rmb…
30. Jo
respect mourinho,respect chelsea…mourinho help chelsea gain their first premier league title in 50 yrs…rmb…he has been a gr8 manager for us
31. Jo
lol…when are we going ot see paim???
32. Joe
Proberbly not for a while, hes going in the reserves this year like Di Santo did
33. Zola - Legend
@ 19 - Rhys Taylor is actually pretty good if you have ever watched him and is only 17 (i think) he’s a V.good prospect, just because when he came on he conceded 2 goals and Hilario didn’t concede any does not mean Hilario is better than him, if that’s how you judge who the better goalkeeper is then you need a lesson in football.
34. Johnarejr
It does seem that Robinho is on his way to play for Chelsea. I believe that he is a player that can be the crown jewel of the younger players we have such as Obi Mikel, Kalou, and others. This kid didn’t just fall off a vegetable truck. A Brazilian with Real Madrid on his resume? This is excellent news for every Blues fan, if indeed it does happen.
As far as the Champions League, I could almost care less who we draw. But, I do find the anti-Mourinho comments rather ridiculous. He wasn’t everyones cup of tea. Yet, under his ORDINARY management Chelsea earned 6 pieces of silverware in 3 years. Compare that to Benitez or Wenger in the past 4. As far as Grant is concerned, he was just lucky to inherit a talented team with a winning tradition that almost won something despite his poor management.
I hope that Chelsea beats Spurs like they stole something!
35. Arthur
No one in Chelsea might want to ridicule our dear special one jose mourinho. He always holds a special place in our hearts. If we meet Inter, we should beat them but im not stupid enough to ask for a 5-0. That’s not possible and I don’t want that. Good luck to JM, the great chelsea legend!
36. Mike Ayad
i think fate will bring us to another former chelsea manager.
thats right i have a feeling we will face:
1- chelsea
2-juventus
3- marseille
4- dynamo kiev
37. IwasMissingJose
I wish Chelsea wins if we face Inter at any stage of the match. But I´m nearly confident, the result will be the other way around. JM will kill Chelsea. So guys hoping for 5-0 win against Inter can go and get boozed up from right now…..If someone watched Inter vs. Roma match, they´ll understand. It was a pleasure to watch the recording even if i already knew the result….I could watch that match 1000 times…..
38. owonatty
I will love chelsea group to look like this:
Chelsea
Sporting Lisbon
Steaua Bucharest
Cluj
39. MiguelC
31. Jo - He was not even playing for Sporting, do you expect him to feature in Chelsea first team?Hes not gonna play first team football, at least not for a year time, period.
40. Blue Dominos
Lemme be the first to give u this breaking news !!! Chelsea FC have confirmed SWP moving to Man City !! read here.. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1377646,00.html
41. Bipin
Chk this out.. SWP back to Man City !!! gd or bad ?!? Am I the first to c this ??
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1377646,00.html
42. denver
@39. Bipin yea your were the first !!!
damn he is really gone….. (AS PREDICTED!!!)
now we have a more dependable attack!
my group pick :
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
Dynamo Kiev
43. chelsea4life
JM will shit in his pants on sight of Chelsea..mark my word…so guys thinking Chelsea will lose against Inter better keep boozing in Burma jungles…
44. Jo
chelsea and inter will be a tight match but of course i hope chelsea will win…Robinho could feature in tottenham match!
45. Bluestillidie
SWP did leave and it’s a good thing. We need to make room for Robinho; also SWP was looking to leave Chelsea this summer anyways. I think that SWP leaving and Robinho coming will be the last transfers for this window and we’ll see what happens in January.
46. Pensioner
Hi Blue Champions,
I think that Chelsea FC should conentrate on just winning the league and the Champions league and forget about winning all four honours which could tire the players out.
Cheers
47. Bipin
I nw hope either of paulo or belleti goes… Not Ivanovic for sure.. I like d guy.. Dunno y no one seems to give him a chance.. i hope they atleast give him a run in the cup competitions.. since 3 of our RBs are attack minded, i would prefer Paulo to stay rather than belleti..thou he is a better RB..
48. BuildChelsea
Peter Cech - Goalkeeper of the year
49. denver
45. Bipin who says Ivanovic is not attack minded…..? I heard he supplied a few great crosses in the milan game… which is one of the reasons milan wanted him!!! they saw his quality !!!
50. denver
Petr Cech got UEFA keeper!!!! as i predicted!!!!
DENVER :
@77. heyjose thanks for informing these folks!!
chelsea are now the #1 team in Europe!!! , top seed !!
Goalkeeper: Cech — there is no way ill pick Van Der Sar over chech… even if im wrong…
Defender: J terry
Midfielder: Essien
Forward: Ronaldo
my group pick :
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
Dynamo Kiev
51. denver
John Terry’s the winner! is the defender of the year!!! that 2 out of 2 for me!!!!!!!!!!!1
52. Bipin
@ 47 - Denver: When I said 3 of our RBs are attack minded, I meant Ivanovic, Belleti n Bosingwa.. Thats y i was saying that probably Paulo shud stay as he can com in handy against sum stubborn teams like blackburn !!
53. BuildChelsea
Good job Denver
54. i bleed chelsea blue
where can you find the live draw and awards from 07/08??
55. BuildChelsea
Real Madrid with Juventus ………nice tie….
56. BuildChelsea
Frank Lampard ………..Midfielder Of The Year………superb……
57. denver
guys i got Roma in the group as well!!!
58. denver
Frank Lampard! More Chelsea! damn guys we are taking every thing!! I got this one wrong…(my better sense told me it would be lampard…. but rated essien’s contribution more) !! chelsea rules !
59. i bleed chelsea blue
where are you all getting these live updates?
60. BuildChelsea
61. denver
men im on fire !!! Usain Bolt big youth !!! big up all Jamaicans
i got Bordeaux as well!!!
group A:
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
62. i bleed chelsea blue
sweet thanks mate
63. BuildChelsea
Ronaldo ….Best Forward ……..no big surprise ……..
64. denver
@50. Bipin point taken man …. update , i got CR7 correct as well!!
i got tha last one incorrect…. damn !!
group A:
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
CFR Cluj
65. denver
@58. BuildChelsea hey guy … dont you have a link in english??
BC, goalkeeper of the year cech, defender of the year ferdinand, midfielder of the year steven gerrard, forward of the year ronaldo.
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