I never thought I’d be excited about the Watford match. I’m not only excited, I’m expecting a lot. You may say it’s a little too early to expect Hiddink to show us a difference. But why not? By sacking Scolari, Roman has showed his intent that he cannot put up with this nonsense anymore. He wants improvement, in results and in performance. His standards and expectations are very high. It’s a strong message to all the players and coaching staff.
Have you ever heard Hiddink speak English? You’ll be as pleasantly surprised as I was. The guy speaks very good English. Not the ‘yesterday bad . . today good . . tomorrow i don’t know’ type of English. For me, thats a huge relief. He speaks good English. He speaks sense. He looks like a tough no-nonsense guy. He’s known to be a master tactician. He has mostly worked with teams that are not gifted with the quality that Chelsea has. That’s quite a contrast when you compare him to Scolari, who has always worked with teams of high quality. That’s one more reason why I think Hiddink would certainly perform better.
I expect Roman to have more patience with Hiddink. Also, I expect Hiddink to perform lot better than Scolari did. That way, this should be a fruitful partnership. There are a lot of rumours that Hiddink is here for the long term. I doubt that. With very few international commitments he can probably manage both Chelsea and Russia in the next three months. After that, as he himself admitted, it would be quite a stretch. Anyway, let’s talk about the three months for now. All said, Hiddink is in a win-win situation. If he turns around Chelsea’s season, he will be hailed as a magician. That’ll be another feather in his cap. If he is unable to resurrect our season, he can’t take any blame. Much of the damage was done before he took over. Okay, let me not call it a win-win situation, he’s got a ‘nothing-to-lose’ situation.
All focus would be on Guus. What team he chooses, who’s on the bench, which formation he plays, what does he wear for the match and all such stuff. Against Watford tomorrow, if he plays a 4-4-2 with Drogba and Anelka as strikers, and if he plays any youngsters, I’d sign up in his fan club plus I’ll sing a song for him. For him, the starting point is clear. List down all the mistakes Scolari did and try to avoid all or most of them. I know we are not in a stage where we can experiment but not expeimenting has left us where we are now. That’s a good enough reason to experiment.
On the valentine’s day, let Hiddink’s romance with Chelsea and Chelsea fans begin!
57 Responses - Add your comment!
Hey BC, I don’t think Guus Hiddink is going to select the team for saturday. In his interview with Chelsea TV he said that,
Q: You are leaving the team on Saturday [at Watford] to Ray Wilkins?
A: Yes. I will talk now daily with Ray and all the people within the club to get together everything as fast as possible. But Ray will do the game against Watford.
Still I expect some changes in our lineup and formation. I hope we get to see Drogba + Anelka starting upfront esp. with Drogba having a bit of confidence scoring in midweek friendly. Let’s hope Stoch and Ivanovich get a run tomorrow.
KTBFFH!
hope Guus give more chance to young player or at least rotate them.. I’m expecting a lot tomorrow… go go chelsea..
Hi BC and BlueChampions
I first have to chat to my girlfriend and I’ll send my post.
Cheers
@3. Lol.
The first thinkg Guus should do is to cut off player egos. He should make the team understand that only performance on the pitch matters and nothing else. Tactics? I think he is one of the best tacticians around. I still remember the damage he has done to the Netherlands in Euro, which was considered the best. I think most of the time he studies the opponents before the match and chose the best strategy.
@BC
you are completely wrong with this post. Ray will be in complete charge tomorrow. He´ll start managing chelsea from sunday….
Quoting IwasMissingJose
That’s the official line. But Hiddinl will surely have big say. As of now, it is Hiddink’s team.
i don´t think so. As far as i know, he´ll be watching this game with RA up with the fans…..
guyyyzzz
from carefreechris.com
hows our new kits??????????
http://www.carefreechris.com/2009/02/04/chelsea-mock-home-kits-2009-10/
Yup, it is for the Press. As the above commenter said, it is Hiddink who is the manager of this team. It’s like the asst manager taking charge when the manager is sent to the stands. It’s Hiddink’s match.
hiddink says he is most likely to return to russia in the summer:(…hope nt if he perform a gd job…c’mno chelsea c’mon hiddink
Regardless of whether it’s Ray or Guus, it is a match which signals a “renew” Chelsea. Meaning those who dislike LFS tactics need to buck up and those backbone players need to get right into it. Either it is a 4-4-2 or the standard 4-3-3 or even 4-1-4-1, it is the team spirit and will to turn our season around will under the microscope. I do not expect a 0-5 win to CFC, I’ll settle for 1-0 win with at least 8 attempt shots on target.
KTBFFH!!! Higher please!!!
regardless of the rest of season we need a fresh start next season sacking manager is not required every season we need a manager
who rebuilts look ballack is 32 or 33 i think his best his behind him,deco is too old ,malouda is awful,kalou is ok he can stay he has to devolop
ricck gets injured so ofen joey cole is injured so often drogba is not drogba under jose he can stay if he is plays with same passion as he had
with jose but i think 90 per he will be at inter next summer i think manger was squad during october i found something is missing
we dont have makalee thank god hopefully we will full season of essien with this present squad if even we win something is not going to help
in the long run it will not be good .even jose would say that i think we made a mistake in selling swp although he was a fringe player he would have
remember last seson in jan che won because of maka ballack and swp we should not sold bridge tocity waited atleast till summer
we broght mineriro 4 free and he has not played 30 min entire season why did bring him then as 4 today i think drogba ivanovic
mancieene should play also disanto and stoch in 2 half next 3 matches including this one will make or break chelsea season
i think chelsea has never been same since robben left
cheers 4 blues
we have to spend some more this summer bring in young player they need not be superstars of the type of robben not yet a superstar but has
capabilities we should let diarra leave he was makalle in waiting he could loaned out to clubs but not sold he would have helped better than
we a player of diarra type we need striker leftback midfielder wingers
diarra is better than mikel
@heyjose,
Go sholve ya diarra is better than Mikel nonsense talk in ya ass.Diarra can never ball with the kind of composure,maturity,vision and confidence that Mikel balls with.
BC, Nice build up for the game today.
am sooo damn eager to se us play today. Whom ever start, I just hope we get on the right track by winning. I have great feeling for this wit GH.
Watford, hope they are ready for a ride….
/k
maybe we can finally play drogba and anelka together…
Hi BC and Bluecampions
Happy V-day and good article…
new executives, new manager, new players everything…
“Hold ‘em or Fold ‘em”, which is an obvious reference to the fine game of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker. And also what happens when you have to decide between say, something like the lesser of two evils!
cheers
Q’s but obviously estimate:
how much money does the club recieve,
wins the EPL, FA, CC and UCL?
sponsor?
chelsea’s tv rights revenue?
merchandise?
new owner…new executives…new manager…new players…
cheers
lassanna diarra is very good, that said he older then mikel and is a different player, he more similar to essien a true box to box. Mikel doesnt have the pace for that, i see him fulfilling a role similar to ballack but because our DM woes he has stepped in and performed well. Diarra was never gonna stay at chelsea, he wasnt prepared to sign a contract unless chelsea offered first team football.
I can see drogba getting a start over anelka and maybe di santo and stoch if chelsea steam roll watford
Real Madrid –
# Position
Manager Guus Hiddink
Is Guss Hiddink even good enough to be the manager of Man Ud, Real Madrid?
1 Goalkeeper Petr Cech… good
2 Defender Branislav Ivanovi?… sold
3 Defender Ashley Cole… average
5 Midfielder Michael Essien… good
6 Defender Ricardo Carvalho… good
8 Midfielder Frank Lampard (vice-captain)… good
9 FW Franco Di Santo… average
10 Midfielder Joe Cole… good
11 FW Didier Drogba… average
12 Midfielder John Obi… Mikel…good
13 Midfielder Michael Ballack… average
14 Midfielder Mineiro… tv?
15 Midfielder Florent Malouda… average
16 FW Scott Sinclair… sold
17 Defender José Bosingwa… good
18 Defender Wayne Bridge sold
19 Defender Paulo Ferreira… sold
20 Midfielder Deco… good
21 FW Salomon Kalou… average
23 Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini… sold
26 Defender John Terry (captain)… good
33 Defender Alex… average
35 Defender Juliano Belletti… sold
39 Striker Nicolas Anelka… sold
40 Goalkeeper Henrique Hilario… sold
42 Defender Michael Mancienne… tv?
43 Midfielder Miroslav Stoch… tv?
cheers
Real Madrid –
# Position
Staff
Chelsea executives are they even good enough…?
Manager Guus Hiddink
Is Guss Hiddink even good enough to be the manager of Real Madrid?
Players
1 Goalkeeper Petr Cech… good
2 Defender Branislav Ivanovi?… sold
3 Defender Ashley Cole… average
5 Midfielder Michael Essien… good
6 Defender Ricardo Carvalho… good
8 Midfielder Frank Lampard (vice-captain)… good
9 FW Franco Di Santo… average
10 Midfielder Joe Cole… good
11 FW Didier Drogba… average
12 Midfielder John Obi… Mikel…good
13 Midfielder Michael Ballack… average
14 Midfielder Mineiro… tv?
15 Midfielder Florent Malouda… average
16 FW Scott Sinclair… sold
17 Defender José Bosingwa… good
18 Defender Wayne Bridge sold
19 Defender Paulo Ferreira… sold
20 Midfielder Deco… ggod
21 FW Salomon Kalou… average
23 Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini… sold
26 Defender John Terry (captain)… good
33 Defender Alex… average
35 Defender Juliano Belletti… sold
39 Striker Nicolas Anelka… sold
40 Goalkeeper Henrique Hilario… sold
42 Defender Michael Mancienne… tv?
43 Midfielder Miroslav Stoch… tv?
cheers
Replying to Michael Mariens:
11 FW Didier Drogba… average
20 Midfielder Deco… good
is this based on old performance? cause it have to be, cause non of them have been superb this season. but in dd defence he been havin alot of injuries. and u call him average and deco good….?
Hi BC and Bluechampions
Staff
(Frank Arsenan)…?
Manager
Is Guus Hiddink good enough to manage Real Madrid?
Players
More than half of the players?
cheers
DD…sold he can play for Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan.
Deco…sold AC Milan.
cheers
I’m goona have a beer. #21 directed kuhulai
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=619044&sec=england&cc=5901
Is Jose signalling his desire to Roman early on that he wants to return at the end of the season? Surely this is not just coincidence from the Special One – he always knows what he is doing!
Interesting team
Cech, Mancienne, Alex, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Mikel, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba.
Subs: Hilario, Di Santo, Quaresma, Ferreira, Deco, Belletti, Stoch.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/14022009/58/premier-league-mourinho-ll-return-chelsea.html
GUYS PLEASE READ!!
This from the BBC from Jose Mourinho: “If you ask me if one day I think I will return to Chelsea, I will tell you yes I think so, I think so because we were so happy together. But when I say one day, I am not saying to you when.” What a great thing to hear.
Hi BC and Bluecampions
Happy V-day and good article…
new executives, new manager, new players everything…
“Hold ‘em or Fold ‘em”, which is an obvious reference to the fine game of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker. And also what happens when you have to decide between say, something like the lesser of two evils!
If those businessmen were interested in buying Chelsea they would obtain their wealth by winning the EPL, FA CC UCL and sponsors revenue and tv revenue and merchandise/ticket sales. This would lead to new executives, new manager and new players.
[Staff]Frank Arsenan is he good enough to be incharge of youth development and chief scout at any major club.
1 Goalkeeper Petr Cech[good] 2 Defender Branislav Ivanovic [sold] 3 Defender Ashley Cole[average] 5 Midfielder Michael Essien [good]
6 Defender Ricardo Carvalho[good] 8 Midfielder Frank Lampard (vice-captain)[good] 9 FW Franco Di Santo[average] 10 Midfielder Joe Cole [good] 11 FW Didier Drogba [sold] 12 Midfielder John Obi… Mikel [good] 13 Midfielder Michael Ballack [average] 14 Midfielder Mineiro[???]
15 Midfielder Florent Malouda [sold] 16 FW Scott Sinclair[sold] 17 Defender José Bosingwa[good] 18 Defender Wayne Bridge [sold] 19 Defender Paulo Ferreira[sold] 20 Midfielder Deco[sold] 21 FW Salomon Kalou[average] 23 Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini[sold] 26 Defender John Terry (captain)[good] 33 Defender Alex[average] 35 Defender Juliano Belletti[sold] 39 Striker Nicolas Anelka[sold] 40 Goalkeeper Henrique Hilario… [sold] 42 Defender Michael Mancienne[???] 43 Midfielder Miroslav Stoch[???]
cheers
we won yesss……the line up was exactly what i wanted it to be
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah=)
have nice weekend fellas
/k
Hatrick Anelka!!!!!!!!!!!!! F all U who doubt him all the time.
BC and Bluechampions
The match was dissapointing. I can’t believe how Chelsea could struggle against Watford.
KTBFFH
Quoting Michael Mariens
if you wanna argue our win i think your in the wrong place………
Quoting Michael Mariens
seriously man… we won with our assistant coach that shows da character of the team…
if u are disappointing then im dissapointed for u as a chelsea fan
Hey BC, I think you have to sing a song for Ray Wilkins now. Ray made a good move by switching the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-2-2 after Watford scored. He started with Mancienne who made his Chelsea debut today and he looked very promising indeed. Ray could’ve taken off Anelka but he kept his faith in the Frenchman which surely paid off. Ray could’ve brought on Quaresma or even Deco (which Scolari would surely have done) but instead he brought on Stoch who really made a big difference today. This kid’s got a pace, confidence and hunger.
It was not an amazing performance by Chelsea FC. But it surely was the performance that showed team and fighting spirit. I can say we dominated the game and deserved all three points. Knowing the opponent was League 1 relegation battler, we don’t have to be carried away. I was very glad to see Roman watching this game with Guus. I think Guus will now have a certain picture of what he should bring in when he walks into the office on Monday.
I thought too many times this season that it is the game that would’ve turned our season. But from what I’ve seen today, I think I should believe once again that it is the game which really would turn our season into good.
Drogba looked different player. I think he will come good under Guus as he always does. He is one of the best if he wants to be. He is one of those players who really motivates himself and gets even better when he is criticized.
Come on Chelsea. We’ll win something this year!!!!
what a wonderful game.We kept the possession, we kept on promising, we had massive shots on target, and we got 3 goals. Although we scored only after conceding 1, i am really satisfied with today´s performance. We were without our captain, and we had untested Mancienne playing full 90 minutes, we had stoch in the second half to turn things around. i´m sure lads had a great expierience today. Although our side were superior to Watford, i must say were low on moral, and what club has undergone through wasn´t easy. they had real manager and we had an assistant manager. i must say Ray did a wonderful job today and out witted his opponent, he did a lot better than Lfs.
So hiddink officially starts training chelsea after this game. I keep my fingers crossed, but i´m pretty confindent that we can win the next game against Villa.
what a wonderful game.We kept the possession, we kept on pressing, we had massive shots on target, and we got 3 goals. Although we scored only after conceding 1, i am really satisfied with today´s performance. We were without our captain, and we had untested Mancienne playing full 90 minutes, we had stoch in the second half to turn things around. i´m sure lads had a great expierience today. Although our side were superior to Watford, i must say were low on moral, and what club has undergone through wasn´t easy. they had real manager and we had an assistant manager. i must say Ray did a wonderful job today and out witted his opponent, he did a lot better than Lfs.
So hiddink officially starts training chelsea after this game. I keep my fingers crossed, but i´m pretty confindent that we can win the next game against Villa.
Once again, I want to say Ray made an impressive move. He was smart and brave enough to change the formation. Scolari was not brave enough and he always said we would lose the mid-field if he played 4-2-2. But he never played it.
Replying to bookcengham:
mate its 4-4-2, you said it twice, so i wanted to correct you.
This is what happens when I don’t watch the Blues. I feel like I curse them every time I’m watching them. I’m gonna try to keep my eyes away from the Blues. Props to RAY (of light) Wikilns I hope everything goes well between him and Guus. & Chelsea please get your ass out of 4 place that hurts my eyes every time I see it, Please. BTW Happy Valentines Day For All. Cheers, Enjoy the love Weekend.
Sell Anelka, hes so shit and never scores first and never scores important goals…oh………wait
Replying to Chelsea4ever:
Replying to Tru Blu 4life:
This exactly the reason why I took a break from watching Chelsea matches. Before I begin Stock was very, very nervous and all three goals were due to Watford’s pathetic defending. Instead of closing the man down they gave Nicholas Anelka plenty of space and time to do what he wanted to, apart the first goal, the corner that was utterly brilliant to watch. That was not a champions performance…
KTBFFH
Replying to Michael Mariens:
i think you can very well shut your mouth up. You even don´t seem to know who we were playing against. It was Watford not stoke idiot!!!
And at this level of FA cup, even 3rd grade team delivers better than most of the premier league teams, coz this is the most prestigious trophy for them to win. Besides chelsea were playing ivanovic and mancinnie, alex and A. cole– thats the weakest possible defence because alex was always catastrophe, a. cole is a winger, ivanovic has played very few games and mancinnie is playing for the first time. So our lads did excellent job today. Stoch was brilliant, anelka scored for the first time decisive goals, drogba shows his intentions of getting better and kalou is getting much better than earlier. Except ballack, who was average, the rest were doing very good. well done lads, well done.
the only sad thing is that, we´ll miss ‘A.cole against villa through suspension….
Should I read too much into the match. I don’t know. But I would say 4-4-2 worked very well. Would Scolari have given the start to Mancienne. I don’t know . May Ray Wilkins could have played Paulo or Belleti , but it was truly inspiring to start the youngster and the first substitution was not deco or quaressma but Stoch .
Ashley is out of the villa game, so I think Ivanovic would start as left back and if bosingwa is still injured then mancienne would play .
The next two games are Villa and Juventus and will we get the confidence back ?
didnt get to see the game, it was a deserved result, stats say alot, i think we had the highest pass completion of the season
when we were left unmarked, we forced saves
we are going to struggle against villa
just adding to the mikel versus diarra debate
ish, have you actually watched mikel run with the ball, alot more pace than you say
i suppose with mancienne and ivanovic at the back we were always more likely to conceed, but they did well
i dont think alex is catastrophic, far from it, very solid performer and should start ahead of carvahlo
Replying to IwasMissingJose:
True blue- mate I know we were playing, if that’s what you want to call it against Watford. It doesn’t matter wich stage of the FA Cup we are playing, we are playing against ameteurs and one-or-two semi-professionals. Which premier league teams does this ‘third grade team’ deliver better than?
Watford were not only playing their hearts out because this is their most prestigous cup but also take into account the financial injection the club would get and the players were also playing for a bonus.
Alex is supposedly a world-class player who has played at highest level [international stage] and the same goes for A. Cole who has to defend against C. Ronaldo & co. ivanovic and mancinne were forgiven because they lack experience and the only way you can get experience is if you’re given a game or to really speed up your growth [experience] be loaned out to another club. The latter two had a decent game, I cannot give any praise to the rest of the team.
Miroslav Stock was so nervous, it was as if he was playing infront of a crowd for the very first-time [even look at the goal-celebration pure nerves and when some-one past the ball to him it went straight under his foot?].Nicholas Anelkas did not have one decisive goal, his first goal was magnificant, the second luck and the third a fluke. DD is coming back to his best, true. Soloman Kalou has been around since 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 and 2008/09 and still plays as if this is his first-season in the premiership? Ivanovic and mancinne had a decent-match, as for Nicholas Anelka he only hides himself on the pitch when we play quality teams and the remainder of the team did not play at their best.
KTBFFH
Michael, I have one question, ok. How dumb are you or do you have vision problems?
First of all it not Anelkas.
Second Stoch Created a goal with his dribbling and passing to Kalou, so how the $%^@ was he nervous?
Third its not Stock, its Stoch.
Fourth, how was the match was disappointing? They had one chance and they scored. We had the whole game. Did you see the comeback?
fifth what the hell does ….tv? mean. Just because you have never seen these players play, does not mean they are not good players.
By the way
Cheers.
Quoting IwasMissingJose
IwasMissingJose I love you man?
What a wonderful game, we kept possesion and we kept on pressing and we had lots of shots on target and we scored three goals. Imagine if this was Germany against Stoke City?
The only reason why we kept possesion was due to the fact that the entire Watford team were playing in their half of the pitch. We should have won this match so, so comfortably. IwasMissingJose if you’re satisfied by this second rate performance then it does not take much to satisfy you and do we really need John Terry when we play against ‘third grade teams’?
Michael Mancinne who is primarily a centre back and is also capable to play at right back. He was unable to gain any playing time at Stamford Bridge and receive his first taste of league football in a loan spell at Queens Park Rangers.He played most of his 28 games for the Championship side at right back, but also played a few times in his preferred centre back position. His impressive displays made him popular with the QPR fans, who voted him runner-up in the Supporters’ Young Player of the Year.
On 27 October 2008, he found the chance to gain playing time when he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan initially until 29 December 2008. Mancienne made his debut in Wolves’ 2-1 win over Swansea City the next day, replacing Carlos Edwards as an 81st minute substitute. His first starting appearance for Wolves came in the 2-1 away victory at Ninian Park against Cardiff City in which he was Man of the Match. Also he is already an established England under-21 player and also on 15 November 2008, Fabio Capello named Mancienne in the England squad to play an international friendly match against Germany.
Did Miroslav Stoch assist Nicholas Anelka in his third goal.
Petr Cech [international] Michael Mancinne [under- 21 internatioal] Alex[international] Ashley Cole [international] Frank Lampard [international] Jon Obi Mikel [international] Michael Ballack[international] Saloman kalou[international] Juliano Belleti[international] Miroslav Stoch[international] Didier Drogba [international] and Nicholas Anelka [international]
Chelsea are way more superior to Watford.
You’re confident we gonna give Aston Villa a run for their money, after this result?
Finally, the players are celebrating the fact that LFS has left the club. And we do have a manager. In which way did Ray Wilkins out- wit his opponent? Watford played with eleven men behind the ball, it was obvious that there plan was to score a goal and defend that lead. And finally. can you please give us an update of how ‘special one’s’ doing?
KTBFFH
Quoting xerxesk
I know that its Anelka? Oki
Have you ever played football recently, people don’t play the way Stoch did?
I know that its Stoch. Oki
Did we play a ten man Liverpool team or Watford?
What a comeback? [whistles]
These guys are suspstars. [ Carragher] and [Ferdinand] and [Beckham].
by the way
Another good one
KTBFFH
BC and Bluechampions
What I don’t understand is how can you be satisfied with the second richest club in the world struggling to win Watford?
KTBFFH
Hey michael
FYI
Chelsea was fourth or fifth… gone are the days wen we were the 2nd richest club….
Replying to Tru Blu 4life:
I don’t know what is going on in football anymore, the owner, administrators, manages and players… I used to have respect for Roman Abromavich?
KTBFFH
apart from the late goals by anelka,i think he was anonymous for the rest of the time…wanted quaresma to get some action but don’t know why he didn’t get involved?