Chelsea played with such freedom and swagger that it would have scared some of our fellow contenders. It was truly a fearsome performance by Chelsea. If we play like this against an opposition of Villa’s quality, we could give sleepless nights to Fergie and Rafa. Because, Chelsea are also consistent with some robotic accuracy. This kind of uber-confident style of playing is coupled with our consistency, is what you call champions’ stuff.
We were supposed to be in some injury situation here. We were missing first choice players in defence, midfield and attack – Carvalho, Deco, Essien and Drogba. We also had problems with Alex, Ashley Cole and Terry. Anelka and Joe Cole went off limping during this match. But nothing could stop the Chelsea juggernaut in their ruthless demolition of big-four-wannbe Aston Villa. Martin O’ Neill’s boys have started very strongly this season. They think their dream of breaking into the top four could be a reality this time. They have been playing in a way that substantiates their belief and hope. At Stamford Bridge today, Martin O’ Neill would have realised what it takes to be in that exclusive league of top four.
Scolari started with his usual 4-1-4-1 formation. He didn’t surprise many with his team selection. The only decision he had to make was to start with Kalou or Joe Cole, where he chose the latter. Ivanovic made his premier league debut. That was the strongest starting eleven we could come up with. In the end, it appeared that player selection did not matter much as the Chelsea unit were so determined and confident that they would send Aston Villa packing. Players like Ivanovic and Franco were making premier league are not regulars but the way they stuck to their jobs was fantastic to see. Together, they gave a performance which was nearly flawless. I must be a bitch to look for negatives in this game, which I would later on 
The big positives first. Nicolas Anelka scores, again. I wasn’t mightily impressed with the way he scored but I liked the way he played. Was this his best match in a Chelsea shirt? He put in the hard work today. He movement was fine. He participated in the scheme of attacks like never before. He seemed to have understood what was happening and what his role was in the plan. He also worked for his colleagues. He won possession and lost very rarely, created space, made some interesting runs, and even set up for his colleagues. He’d surely become more popular with Chelsea players more importantly, and also with the fans, if he keeps trying so well.
Why did Anelka have his off day? How did he play so well? I have a guess. He must have seen how Franco di Santo performed in the training. He knows Drogba is off for few weeks and this is his best chance. And now he must have thought that Franco could be a realistic threat to his place in the starting eleven. I could imagine how this boy Franco would have impressed Scolari in the training session. Sounds like a good theory?
It was a pleasure to see Franco in action. He was as good as I thought he would be. He was very quick but I think we did not see a fair display of his pace and acceleration in this match. Despite all the pounding Villa were not pushing up and hence Franco did not have too much space to showcase his pace but I could see the glimpses. His movement was awesome. For such a young striker, he was so aware of where was and where he should move. He looked like a natural striker. He moved and played rather intuitively. He also has this composure that allows him to dribble and beat the defenders right inside the box. It’s a shame he didn’t score.
There was this moment when he positioned himself so well in front of the goal and was pleading for the ball, while Lampard absolutely inconsiderate of Franco’s request, went ahead and blasted one himself from all of 25 yards. If I were Lampard, I’d have given the ball to Franco, for two reasons. One is Franco was right in front of goal and had the best position of all to score and second is he’s just come in, he should score, he should gain confidence. Franco was unhappy and surprisingly did not hide his feelings! Let’s play him more. I see a real gem in Franco. How do you think Franco will do, if Scolari uses him as much as Wenger uses Walcott? Anybody gets better with time, good players certainly do.
Loading ...Do you realise something? Franco di Santo destined to succeed. He’s got a name that sounds ‘frank’ in there. We have some very illustrious Franks in Chelsea. In the early nineties it was Frank Sinclair, in the late nineties it was Gianfranco Zola, and in the early 2000s it was super Frank Lampard and now it could be Franco di Santo!
Ivanovic impressed me. He was absolutely calm and cool in the way he went about his business. I’ve seen Alex fit into this back line seamlessly like he’d been playing with Terry and Cech for ages. Now, Ivanovic does even better. He is from the Russian league, which is not the most respected in Europe. He must have been playing in some sub zero temparatures. He never played champions league. He just walks in to play in this crucial match against a very good team like Villa, plays in front of the home crowd and plays so bloody well. He must be a very good player. He is just 24. He’s got his prime ahead of him.
Our midfield was class. The trio of Lampard, Ballack and Mikel simply owned Villa. Many a times, Aston Villa were running out of ideas as they realised how difficult it was to get a decent ball past this midfield. Ballack and Lampard should have scored as they had some lovely shots on target. Lampard once again, is my man of the match. He ran the show for us. He bossed that area, while defending and attacking. Anyway, he should have finished that simple header. That was a bad miss but despite that Lampard was right on the money. Joe Cole scored a superb goal. He certainly owed it to us after a string of poor performances. It was a great finish. Wish he had finished one of those chances against Man Utd like that. Malouda is well and truly back. I think we’ve started to see the best of him.
Ashley Cole and Bosingwa were once again, so good that it felt like we were playing more than 11 players on the pitch. At this rate, Bosingwa must be in the reckoning for the player of the season. Kalou played for less than 40 minutes and see the havoc he created. He is certainly in form. We should have a plan for him. Anyway, Joe Cole never plays consistently well for all 90 minutes. Like today, may be they should play either halves of the match, Kalou coming later. I guess that would be a good plan.
And then, as I promised, now on to the negative from the match. In a match where it was difficult to pick the man of the match because of so many sterling performances, one man’s performance stood out, for all wrong reasons. Yup, John Terry. Very panicky, very confused, very unlike of him. I’ve never felt the nerves when he is control of the ball. But nowadays, he’s becoming too error-prone. He’s too shaky, his confidence is down. In matches like today, we could have got away because we were so bloody dominating in attack. In very tight matches, one mistake could prove too costly. I’m not sure what’s bothering him. Is the Moscow night still haunting him? I hope not. If yes, the only way to erase that is by winning it in Rome. On current form, he is not quite leading us. When the other 10 players are giving 7/10 and 8/10 performances, he cannot possibly lead them with a 4/10 or a 5/10. Scolari should take note. He must do something.
In the dug out, Scolari always appears to be upset. If you had just turned your TV on, going by his facial reactions, you might wonder if we are trailing by a couple of goals. All his animated gestures from the dug out are to keep his men on their toes. He is a very reasonable man. I found that out after the home draw against Tottenham. Here is Scolari sounding very happy and satisfied:
I am satisfied because we played very well and for me it’s the most important game in the season because if we win we are in first position in the league and we have now a minimum of ten days to recuperate our players. Afterwards when we start the league after 10 or 15 days we are all in good condition. This is most important for us and we can continue from first position in the league, still top in the Champions League and in the next round of the Carling Cup. What more could I want? Nothing.
This was undoubtedly our best match of the season so far. If you didn’t get to watch, do watch the replay of the match. Highlights won’t do justice, watch the whole match. Frankly, you cannot ask for more. We had 61% possession, 35 shots, of which 14 were on target and allowed Aston Villa only one shot on target. In the first half, we played high tempo and scored those goals. In the second half, we played a bit slower but some quick slick moves in the final third.
Chelsea’s versatility with playing styles was a joy to watch. We can play any type of football depending on the circumstances. We are not the types to lose points and cry about the opponents’ tactics. We recognise their approach and employ a counter tactic to break them up. That’s why Chelsea does not have a set playing style. We can play your slick passing game, we can play long balls to target men, we can bomb down the wings, we can cut you through the centre with throughballs, we can build up play ever so slowly, we can make you pay in those set pieces and we can kill you with our long shots too.
Not only we’re in fine form, we are on top of the league with a very very comfortable goal difference of 11. What a time to take the international break! By the time we return to the premier league, we might have Deco and Carvalho back in the squad. Imagine what they can add to this team now. I’m sure we must be scaring the hell out of our rivals. ‘How can you stop Chelsea’ would soon be the topic!
73 Responses - Add your comment!
32 shots and 14 shots on target wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
couldn’t see the match but Great result and also liked Scholari move to bring di santo at half time..
absolutely wonderful, lots of second choice players, but they performed better than our normal lineup. Pleasure to watch. Hats off to Scolari and the players who performed today…..
its ironic how cole and anelka scored the winners but both got injured!
gd game, amazing play and passing – chelsea are the team to beat at the moment!
Fantastic! Anelka ain’t the best striker in the world. But, he did contribute a goal before his injury. Same for Joey. Ivonic and Di Santo saw plenty of action and played well to boot.
One good thing about the loss of “The Special One” is that we are seeing the team win instead of the manager. Granted, I was a member of the Mourinho cult. But, this season, this team is getting the job done and Scolari is letting them do it.
Who is Hull? Weren’t they below the Championship just a few years ago? Poor Spurs, they have our silverware and really aren’t playing like they deserve it.
And, I confess, I am glad that Liverpool (I no longer hate them) beat the frauds.
PRAYING FOR THE QUADRUPLE!
Well I’m so happy that we won Today. Let me tell u that from now on every team will come to Stanford Bridge and try to destroy our home record. Thats why I call our matches at home the battles of The Bridge. Congrats to Big Phil for pulling it up with 8 injuries. And 4 taking the risk and using Di Santo for 45 ms an Ivanovic as well. In the Chelsea site I read that his a devoted Christian an that he 7t7 every time he prays God listens to him. He said that he has prayed for his players because their his family. Well Phil those prays sure work. Because with our team looking like Hospital FC he manage to get us through the day in a brilliant way. And I’m not saying this because I support the Blues its because a lot of people say it too. I couldn’t watch the game Because the FSC Español didn’t show it dammit. Cus they love to show Liverpool and Manu matches. I don’t mind Liverpool but I just can’t stand Manu & Croasssnaldo. Back to the topic. I read on ESPN that the MOTM was Lamps in other site was Bosingwa. I didn’t see the match but I’m pretty sure they both did well and made a great contribution as always. Last words 4 Anelka tanx 4 that point. Now I’m 5% less angry at U. Witch tells that U have a lot to do B4 that 95% goes away. Thats all blues. Be Champions.
You forgot to mention Bollocks…sorry, Ballack. How he missed a clear shot at goal, I shall never know. Heck, my grandmother could have put that in! I’m yet to see the immense potential that you see in Franco di Santo coz I think he was average at best. Mikel should stop trying to shoot at goal coz his aim is hopeless!
hey guys I so happy that Ivanovic got his first EPL start… and DI Santo go alot of minutes….but i must say ivanovic looks like one for the future…. he seems like one of those defenders we love here at chelsea…. and thats a defender with HEART!!! and he’s go alot!!
I think Mikel should work more on his shooting…. if only he had perfected them, we could have scored a couple more. I couldn’t believe ballack missed that chance… it was harder to miss than score. man of the match is lampard (no doubt) and who agrees with me that he should wear the captain band? Terry has been Terrible lately… what if it was torres who had the opportunity he gave away to agbonlahor?
Great performance nevertheless.
In the list of Franks, you forgot Frank Leboeuf!
I was at the game today and it was absolutely astonishing, a much more comfortable performance than anyone expected. Even in the 4-0 games this season, we have had periods (generally in the second half – has anyone noticed we’ve become more of a first half team than a second?) of about twenty minutes to half an hour where we have eased off, perhaps not allowed our opponents back into a game but simply reached a lull. Today, we were optimistic for the entire ninety minutes, forever searching for the right pass. Whenever it didn’t pull off, we didn’t get down; we just kept on plugging, and it was wonderful to see.
Lampard is my MOTM – every move, every pass he made today I noticed. Bosingwa is a close second – in the first half, he was always available, creating space. Everyone played well today – the only one who looked a little off was, as you mentioned, JT. That isn’t to say he played badly. I think once he shakes off those injuries, he’ll be back to his old self.
I know it’s almost sacrilege to think about this current team without JT, but how silky would the centre of our defence be with Ricky and Ivanovic running it? I suppose the tried and tested brain/brawn combination of JT/Alex and Ricky/Ivanovic is the best option.
It’s great to see that even with our injuries, we don’t have the problems of the last few years, needing to play Essien at centre back or right back. Ivanovic looks quality defensive cover from how little we’ve seen of him, and Bosingwa is consistently excellent – we’ve not had a right back that can attack like him since Dan Petrescu. Seeing as no one looks like touching Jose’s place, Scolari’s use of Belletti is also nice to see – a very handy option on the right wing. Juliano’s becoming a minor cult figure. Very happy days indeed!
Lets give it up 4 all the guys that played out there. Fantastic match guys,hats off 4 Big Phil. At first I was about believing Villa could break our record but everything just changed when I saw the lineup. And I thank God once again for answering my prayers although He didnt answer that of the nite at moscow. Lamps,Ballack,Mikel,Joey,infact all of them did so marvellously well and I hope we continue like this after the intl break. Blues 4 life.
very good game, chelsea begining to click but lets wait n see. Boy frank is one hell of a player, a very unusual english midfielder. Himself ballack n mikel a begining to form a scary treesome in the middle. Mikel was gr8 2day n i’ll say he shuld keep trying 2 shoot soon he’ll get it right
good match, was expecting villa to score as a 4-3-3 usually hurts a 4-5-1, but it would appear j.cole was playing slightly centrally so it must of helped the balance some what
I like di santo, and he is actually revered as one of the hottest prospects in the future of the game
ivanovic is doing well, ive seen some of his plays back in russia, and he is showing what he can do in london
thankyou anelka for not wasting another goal on a plate
we could have really had a feast today and villa aren’t a poor team, well constructed with limited resources
i think in light of our current situation, our rotation may need looking at, pushover teams need not be underestimated, but we shouldn’t send out the best 11 week in week out, it should be a capable team of taking 3 points
BC Ur writing its eye candy.
Let tell u that not every player gets a face to face talk with Maradona. And Di Santo recieved a visit by Maradona in January hi gave him some footie advice. I don’t if Maradona has visited Messi to speak to him. So that tells us that Di Santo must be realy realy good
Quoting Archer
Well I’ll include Bollocks since he wears my favorite number. An some say that he did great in the mid field.. But I’m a little piss because as u say he missed an important chance. Tanks God I didn’t see that.
di santo from what i saw has a huge chance to break into the 1st team. That said probably not this year. The moment between lampard and di santo when lampard went for a shot was very poor on di santo but previously di santo could have passed the ball off to kalou as well but instead took the shot. Franco’s need to improve his vision if he wants to be the main striker for chelsea. That said he speed for such a tall guy was very amazing, also quite strong and caused two CB’s problems.
Malouda had a good game but i think he can get even better. Bosingwa was amazing, its partly because we controlled the game so much. How many times did AV have to bring 11 players to the left just because malouda and cole were causing so much problems and then chelsea just crossed to to bosingwa and he is by himself with no defenders.
Mikel did very well and ballack is improving and able to last a full match now. Luckily international break is coming up and allows players to heal some injuries and gives us time, hopefully no one gets injured
After seeing the match as a repeat, the first thing came into my mind is “I wish i could have seen this match live”.
Great performance by Chelsea! Despite the Injury scare on each and every 1st team player and a Home match record crisis and Aston Villa’s great run ideally would have had every Chelsea fan to think a draw would be a great result. But boy, what an answer from our Chelsea team.
The whole team was fantastic. There was never a bit of dullness in the match in every area. Be it Defence, Attack or Finishing, we did it in style, commanding and with a little bit of arrogance(Mikel’s trying to score!).
I love everytime mikel’s tries to score. Comeon, how long he will be playing the same defence midfield role. He should be bored. And with the performance today, i think its the right time for him to get his name in the score sheet. And after all, its only his shooting needs a little improvement. His placement and effors to score is all fine.
It would be unfair if i miss to mention the contribution of Mr. Scouldari(Every time he is scolds someone in the pitch). Look at his post match comments. His english is not a problem as long as he delivers the message.
He wants our team to be tip top all the time… physically and mentally. Thats why he is more concerned about the international breaks where some players can recoup.
Also look at how he sets short term goals
Quote”This is most important for us and we can continue from first position in the league, still top in the Champions League and in the next round of the Carling Cup. What more could I want? Nothing.”
Did you see any manager reacting to a post match interview like thiswhere they dominated the match sooo much. Most of the time they will heaping praise on the team and some blah blah stuffs.
But this man knows what to do next…
Come on Blues!
helllo alll
a long time since i posted. i couldnt get to read this blog since it is blocked in my company.
watched the match yesterday.i never had the feel good feeling i had yesterday. even chelsea under JM was not as secure as i was made to feel yesterday. even Belleti had AV rattled. imagine if Deco comes back!!!!!!!!!
i think that Bosingwa was very good going forward but when defending set pieces or corners he tries to create a counter attack rather than clearing the immediate danger. i have seen that twice yesterday. hope it does not land us in trouble in future …..but what a master class performance by the blues…..
i forgot to add……..
not many people gave credit to Avram Grant for helping maintain the proud home record. Poor guy……i pity him a lot….but still i like him for his composure and handling of the media(fish on the table remarks) aftermath the high profile departure of JM.
wish we meet Inter sometime in the champions league and see if JM can counter this Chelsea team with his tactics. i think small tactical changes might not halt this juggenaut…..
i dont think the home record is an Albatross around our necks. it helps us to get that extra 1% to protect it. i rather lose it once our quadraple has been achieved..
Forgot to mention about belletti. Somewhere in the Goal.com they mentioned that Belletti as Striker. He should have seen this. With some 7-8 miniutes of match time, i really thought he played like a Striker. What a man he is. His adaptiveness with great speed is an awe to watch
By the way team chelsea, if anelka scores next time, go and celebrate with him. Just jump over him. No matter how screppy the goal was. This will only add good to him. Dont allow him to celebrate lonely. Not a good scene to watch.
I’ve concluded that Nicholas Anelka is our very own Andy Cole, he can play an invincible man for 80 minutes and not do much outstanding stuff but produce the last goal touch to round things up. And meant to say it as a complement. Trust me, it meant alot considering I was one of his worse critics. Most of us (mainly referring to myself most) expected Anelka to be as deadly as Didier, to provide the sense of physical presence, the attack holding role, the man who score out of nothing… well the fact is that he is none of the above. He is just a pure opportunist at goal, preying on defensive error which requires a very good positioning attributes.
“He is there at the right time, at the right place”…
…a quote famously referring to Andy Cole during ManUtd’s glory days. Don’t get me wrong, he is of course a bit better than Andy in terms of dribbling, but hardly a creator of match winners. I’ve googled and watch all his goal from this season and realized that he play best and score most of his goals when our central midfielders are approaching/in the box. It provided the much needed attention for him to create the space for himself to finish off things. And I think that he is doing it brilliantly. We need to change our expectation of Anelka as he is NOT Didier Drogba. We need to start appreciating the role he is playing as no one else (available) plays better (as most are injured). Big credit to him and LFS as it made me eat my own words from previous posting.
Chelsea were just toooooooo much for AV. the match was a great signal to our rival bcos that match was one of their hopes of getting us down. Up blues.
@BC
Sorry for posting less but do remember i also read every single comment and post in here.
Good to see the quality of comments is going up.
On our journey so far…….
ashley cole and bosingwa are the best pair of full backs in the world………………………lampard is a lot better player with his less shooting antics and more playmaking role…………..ballack is ballack and deco has added that pure playmaking we have always lacked.
mikel is the first name in our midfield list…………….he is one step ahead of maka already…………………………………………..joe and anelka are getting unnecessary flake…………malouda has taken a big leap and looks like the player who deserved 13.5 mp……………………….cech has been solid………………only concern is terry but i guess he plays through injury.
terry had a bad injury in his back . scolari must rest him for some games . terry without injury is the best defender in the world.
Yesterday Chelsea played too excellent football.Chelsea is back with a super phenomenon form.Keep it up Chelsea.The team is toooooo excellent.We now pose a great threat to our rivals.Well I’ think Ivanovic was too
goood.He really deserves first team.At least we should bench Terry so he would know that every position now has a competition.Anelka today was way too good.He did not shy off the ball, good ball control and good shot.
I was very excited when Di santo came on, he really showed he would be a threat in the chelsea squad, someone of his size with much pace! this guy would be our next legend.Well I would rate him good, although he could have finished that goal well.When he came on all i wanted was for him to have his first chelsea goal.He is still young and i felt there was much pressure on him.That was how Bojan started missing and now scoring.My MOM is either Lampard or Malouda. Thumbs up Chelsea.
DAILY MIRROR quotes “Chelsea are chasing top Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iH3YYgQm9g
Looks promising. Let’s be hopeful.
Ivanovic overall didn’t have that much to do. What he did have to do though, he did really well. He (like Vidic) doesn’t give a player much time on the ball at all. There were a few great sliding challenges that he made yesterday. Terry made more mistakes then Ivanovic did for sure, I reckon Ivanovic > Terry with a decent run in the first team but that won’t happen because Terry is like a god at Chelsea. Carew the big man rarely troubled Bane at all.
Hopefully Scolari will give him another shot in the next game because he has played very well in the last two games, just think what he can play like when he has a decent run of games under his belt.
lavezzi is a very good player. Ivanovic is like a faster version of carvalho. Alex is good but ivanovic is better.
I think anelka is a goal poacher. He goes into space and is fast enough to arrive their before others, not good enough to be a true centre man but with a deadly midfield he provides a continuos threat. Instead of a true striker he plays much like a second striker who requires back up from either a strong midfield or a true striker. I think anelka will do better with ballack/lampard partnership then with deco on. Deco will still provide but anelka will need to do more to provide space for deco.
…. @ BC some one said this…..In our defence I would rate Ivanovic,he played like he always played for us before.
@27. ish ….im gonna watch it match again to look at Ivanovic….. I told you all he was a great player!!!!!!
very calm and composed… and quick!!
Can anyone show the Average of all chelski players in fifa 09.And the growth rate
Chelsea played really well. They were in control of the match, throughout most of the 90 minutes played. Well done.
Cheers
So the Serbs have more than one excellent center-backs, then. Ivanovic, following in Vidic’s footsteps. Fantastic.
Lampard is feeding all his haters some humble pie. I’m loving this season for him.
Without three of our best players, Drogba, Carvalho, and Deco, we have dominated and only played average in one and a half games: in Romania, and for the first half against Man U. 10 games, and only 3 goals conceded. This with our best defender mostly not playing, and the captain uncharactaristically shaky. Our fullbacks rampaging in the opponent’s half has meant we dictate play. We decide the tempo. And more often than not we win (and are undefeated.)
Excellent start to the season.
Scolari is the best.
HELLO GUYS….I WATCHED THE MATCH LIVE AND I MUST SAY THAT IT IS OFFICCIALLY THE BEST MATCH I HAVE SEEN THE TEAM PLAY IN A VERY VERY LONG TIME…EVEN WITH ALL OUR INJURY TROUBLES,FOR US TO COME UP WITH THIS PERFORMANCE IS ABSOLUTELY GENIUS…MY ONLY PROBLEM IS TERRY,,,IT SEEM TO BE GETTING WORSE BY THE MOMENT AND I THINK IF HE HAS INJURY,HE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO REST BECAUSE HE HAS LOST HIS CONFIDENCE AND THAT COULD HAVE BEEN COSTLY FOR US IF WE HAD BEEN PLAYING A STRONGER OPPONENT..
I ALSO THINK MIKEL SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PRACTICE MORE OF HIS SHOOTING SKIILS….COULD COME IN HANDY ANYTIME,AS HIS FELLOW COUNTRYMAN,I HAVE SEEM HIM PLAY ALOT AND I THINK HE HAS SOME GOOD SHOOTING SKILLS BUT HE SEEMS TO BE RELAGATED TO A NORMAL 4..THAT HE DOESN’T FEEL HE CAN SCORE…ANYONE REMEMBER VIERA…THIS BOY COULD BE THE NEXT VIERA OR EVEN BETTER…AND HE’S JUST A KID..
I AM HAPPY FPR ANELKA AND I THINK HE HIS GETTING MUCH MORE INTO THE TEAM..I LIKE THE COMMENT LFS MADE ABOUT HIM THA ALL HE NEEDS IS A LITTLE HUG AND NOT TO BE CRITISIED…THAT WAS SO SWEET AND I THINK WE’RE YET TO SEE THE BEST OF HIM..
LASTLY I THANK GOD FOR LFS..FOR HIM COMING INTO THE CHELSEA TEAM..AND I ALSO THANK GOD FOR CAPELLO,FOR ADVISING ROMAN TO GO GET LFS…NOW WE PLAY WITH SO MUCH DIVERSITY AND HUNGER THAT I NO LONGER MISS THE SPECIAL ONE…
I LOVE MY TEAM.I LOVE YOU ALL…KTBFFH..UP CHELSEA…..ITS IN THE BLOOD
Suddenyl all praising Anelka….for me he is always ahead of Drogba in terms of skills,ball control and passing….whenever Drogba plays we resort to long balls as he doesn’t possess skills to retain and regain ball….once he looses ball or is in an non-scoring position our attack comes to an end…while Anelka has enough skills to maintain the attack by passing the ball, dribble or bring himself to a better position…
regarding Mikel, I have already once said that he has most wayward shooting skills and I think Scolari will look into it…I think its down to his big physique which causes wrong footing just before tacking kick…
Quoting Blues_Godson
Is your keyboard broken or something?Its damn hard and anoying to read all caps…plz dont do that.
Quoting srbin
no one is better than terry at chelsea. its not only how he plays its his mentality that ivanovic will never have. i bet u are a serb, u guys love everything about your country. ivanovic is a very good player and im happy he plays ni chelsea. but carv and terry are much better but i might put ivanovic on before alex. alex is good but i dont know he is like king kong he dosnt really look fast but very strong.
Belletti – Will he become the new ‘cult hero’ of Stamford Bridge, not legend but ‘cult hero?’
Quoting Adonis
We also have Slobodan Rajkovic( who is unjustly suspended) and maybe Neven Subotic( he has not made a decision yet)
Quoting bluefan #1
I do not understand your comment. Yes i am Serb , but who does not like everything about his country please? Yes i think that Ivanovic is better than both Carvalho and Terry and not only them but also Vidic, and i will always think that. Quality-wise he is not worse than them. But the problem is that they have been at Chelsea longer than him and the most important-He is Ivanovic and not Ivaninho.
He should leave chelsea if he doesnt get a regular spot. He is too good to be benched, doesnt matter which club in Europe it is.He was very near Milan in summer transfer window but deal fell through because of technical problems.
chelsea are chasing 4 barca youngsters.
Srbin, if you’ve been following chelsea for longer than we’ve had Ivanovic, you’d know that of all the injury problems we’ve had, center-back is the worst. I expected as much this year, and I haven’t been disapointed. Now that we have sufficient cover, we’re not going to be foolish enough to let it go. We had to patch up with Tal Ben Haim and ‘the Cannibal’ Boulahrouz. Now, thank heavens, they’re gone. We have reliable, powerful defenders in both Alex and Ivanovic. We’re not going to let that go to waste.
They’ll get their chances to impress, and don’t worry about playing time: Chelsea center-backs are injured three months a season… their time will come.
About Ivanovic not being called Ivaninho, that’s quite witty, it made me smile. I see your point, but I think Big Phil is playing the Brazilians ahead of the others because he knows them much better and knows what to expect. I think the elimination of the language barrier also aides in these selections. He can tell them exactly what he wants. But soon enough, when he knows his players better and better, and when his communication skills improve as well, I think it’ll become more even, and everyone will have the same chances to play.
Quoting Since66
He already is a cult hero, in my opinion. Have you been watching the games? When beletti touches the ball 30 meters out, everyone screams SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! haha
I used to like him back in Barca, I was very happy we signed him last year, and now, his versatility is fantastic. And so is his wicked right foot!
lampard must be the player of the month.
Watching games Adonis. I have been watching Chelsea since 1966!! haha
Quoting chelsea4life
you had also said something like ‘mikel is useless’, ‘he is a cement sack’ etc LOL!
Quoting srbin
i mean serbs are very optimistic. im not saying this in a dissrespectfull way. but u are prooving it yourself, saying ivanovic is better than bouth carvalho and terry?.. and milosovic is a bigger man than ghandi right?
Chelsea is Rocking in every match and your articles and analysis are adding more glamour to Chelsea club & fans.
Keep going……
Vijay Anil
Quoting Since66
Like Beletti, you are also a ‘cult hero’ in here! Welcome back. Please post your post match comments regularly.
Regulars may please note that “BlueBlood58″ is now “Since66″!
@45…I said that Mikel is useless?…if you can produce a proof I will leave this blog forever….
LOL – i cant be arsed to spend time on searching for your nonsense. you sure said that. you were in a different nick then. you and some of your mateys were going hard on all those black players in chelsea calling them brainless and all. old timers do know that. you said that and now you regret. its fine, lets get on with life.
@50…going hard on black players?u seem to be on drugs…
Cheers
Blue Devil
I may just stay around !!
terry is a good player and excellent in the air as well as controlling a strong attacker. That said carvalho is a better defender then terry. Carvalho is more calm and composed, does the majority of the tackles and is able to read play better. Terry is still young for a defender though and people dont realize it because of his leadership and ability. Terry is a true bruiser, one who will punish the striker he is marking for the entire game but if something unexpected comes up he has trouble handling it. Ivanovic is similar to carvalho and alex is similar to terry.
Quoting BlueFan #1
Why do you have a problem with what i think or say? It does not affect you in any way.My opinion is that quality-wise Ivanovic is better than Carvalho, Terry and Vidic and you can not dissuade me. As for being very optimistic.. Well we are rightfully so.We have the population of 8 mil. and yet, we are one of the most successful nations in terms of sport.Our football team is very decent. Our players play in the best European teams.Our volleyball and waterpolo teams are among the best in the world.As for basketball.. Our current FIBA ranking is 4th. We have tennis stars Novak , Ana and Jelena. Milorad Cavic is the best swimmer in Europe. Let alone our great scientists and writers. That is great for the country of 8 mill, right? So i have right to be optimistic and maybe overconfident. That brings success.
Cool Srbin,
I respect your comments.
We all like Ivanovic and we all want him to get more play time. Dont worry all the chelsea fans are behind him and he will bring more sucess to Chelsea. Lets us say that Chelsea has some of the best central defenders. Lets us not rate them between themselves. Terry has one quality which others dont have. Like wise its applicable to Alex, Carvalho and Ivanovic. End of the day its Chelsea which will benefit of all these quality defenders.
Lucky they all are competing against their each others in the best way possible.
What I will say about Ivanovic. His normal position is full-back. For him to come him and play at centre-half with JT (Legend) without playing in that position before, he did not put a foot wrong. Ivanovic had Carew in his back pocket and if it wasn’t for the fact that Super Frank had a brilliant game – Ivanovic would have been man of the match.
Quoting Since66
Well you’re extremely lucky, mate!
I didn’t mean that you weren’t watching the games, just that it’s been great to see how SB is taking to Beletti.
It’s good to have good old Chelsea fans on this blog. I enjoy your company!!
Quoting Since66
I think that his natural position is CB. He is not RB in my opinion.I do not know why Antic plays him at RB. Probably to free space for his friend Krstajic.
Adonis… not so much of the old LOL
and srbin
We really don’t know what is best position is…. he was signed as a full back, but after Sunday’s excellent performance… will he get another chance. By the time Middlesboro comes up on the 18th, both Alex and Carvalho should be fit.
Since 66, Haha, I’m not calling you old mate, just an old fan, you know… I’ve been following football (and Chelsea) for only about five years now, so compared to you, I’m an infant
About Ivanovic, he’s certainly not built like a fullback; he’s got to be a center-back by choice. He’s 1.88 m and strong. He doesn’t have the speed to compete with the other fullbacks we have. I’ve seen him play next to (and honestly, outclass) Vidic in the heart of the Serbian defense.
He’s a versatile defender, a center-back that can play as the right-back
After seeing Iva playing 90 minutes as a CB i’m totally convinced he can be a excellent centre back. I’ll more than happy if he is capable of playing as a full back or right back. Comes in handy at times.
But i still feel that he will used as a back up to the main team. So if Carvalho and Alex are fit i see little chance of Iva playing. I dont know why this should happen this way but if scolari thinks of some rotation policy particularly then he might get more playing time.
And like Since66 said, its a difficult job to manage Carew for any central defenders
Adonis – no worries mate – English sense of humour.
I remember seeing Carew play against us for Valerenga a few years ago and he caused us all sorts of problems then.
Quoting Blue Devil
That is the reason why i think he should leave if he does not get regular spot. I am sure that both Juventus and Milan would be more than eager to get him in the January transfer window. He would be a regular there. Player of his quality on the bench … unthinkable! Even though some people here may doubt that he is better than Carvalho or Terry, no one should doubt that he is better than Alex! In my opinion Alex is a brainless log.
As for Bane being CB or RB, I think that he is RB.
P.S. Why are you fascinated with Serbian defenders? I have read that our most talented CB Milan Milanovic( 17, 1.96 tall, Lokomotiv Moscow) is very near Chelsea. However i think that it would be a bad move for him at this stage. He should first establish himself at Lokomotiv because Chelsea youth school traditionally does not give many players to the first team. I have heard that Marko Mitrovic is doing well( i hope that our useless FA will get him because we have already missed out on : Krkic, Arnautovic, Marin…) By the way i think that Kakuta has a place at least in Chelsea Reserves.Extremely talented player.
Mitrovic is progressing well and he has scored a few goals, the majority after coming off the bench.
Gael Kakuta is working his way back from an injury – so it will be a while before he gets into the reserves. He played about 60mins in last week’s friendly against AC Milan, which Chelsea won 4-0 and Fabio Borini scored again – which was his 6th goal in a week.
The reserves play again on Monday night at home to Aston Villa (k.o. 7pm UK time)
Correct me if I am wrong – isn’t Milanovic on loan to L Moscow from Chelsea?
I think that you have confused Milanovic with Slobodan Rajkovic who was on loan at PSV and now Twente.Milanovic was born in 1991 and Rajkovic in 1989.
Milanovic played for Red Star and now for Lokomotiv Moscow.
yep my bad…. After all I am old!!!
(No treinamento, o trabalho é apenas em um período, só de manhã. Às vezes, tem três dias de folga. Acaba o treino e se você quiser se dedicar mais, não pode. Eles recolhem a bola logo, preservam demais o atleta. Tem que seguir à risca as orientações. Além disso, aqui não tem concentração, se apresenta no dia do jogo.) (treichos da intrevista do Diego Cavalieri Goleiro Reserva do Liverpool)
Rapaz o que vai fazer a diferença para o Chelsea nessa temporada concerteza vai ser a preparação fiisica o Liverpool chegar a da 3 DIAS DE FOLGA ! para o Jogadores e Doído.
com Felipão a coisa e diferente amigo, o time treinar de segunda a sexta vamos ver quem vai esta voando no Final da temporada. ah outra coisa concerteza nos jogos Decisivos da Champions o Felipão vai usa a concentração nos jogos, e claro que se concentração ganhase jogo o time do presidio seria Campeão, mais que ajuda ajuda ! Força Felipão THE BEST !
Quoting Since66
Hehehe you can say it here but i advise you not to tell it to your children. I am already thinking about expelling my father from the house:) Grumpy old man.:)
I am way past the grumpy Chelsea days srbin – after all ‘I was there when we were sh*t.’
Ivanovic scored a goal and hit the post against Lithuania( had he scored that goal he would have been the leading scorer of the qualifications!) . He played at RB and he was flawless.
Srbin, are you serious when you say Alex is a brainless log? Yo can’t be serious? How many times have you seen a brainless brazilian player, let alone one that does such a great job for us and Brazil? last season, it was Alex who made it possible for us to have a chance because both Terry and Riccy were picking up injuries. The boy was excellent all season. He has continued the same rich form this season playing against Man Utd as though he were playing first team for months. You love Ivanovic- we all wish our chelsea players well. but pls, stop trying to demonize otherwise great players cos of him. I remember how Gallas and those who love him in Mourinho’s first season kept saying he was better than Riccy but Riccy was playing simply because he was from jose’s portugal. Time has shown that jose was right- Alex is class- dare not call him crap. Ivanovic has also been brilliant in the few marches he has played- but time will tell how brilliant he is on a consistent level. KTBFFH.
Belleti, a cult hero? Am not surprised. Anelka winnin hearts over? Not surprised too- the more we switch into the movement, passing mode the more players like Malouda, belleti and anelka will thrive. Kalou as well I forgot to add.