We played poorly. There’s no two ways about it. We might have had the possession and the shots but still we were very lacklustre. We weren’t sharp at all. As a team we were always slower by about half a second. I don’t know why. Apart from a couple of efforts from Drogba, we did little to trouble the Inter defence and the goalie. With this kind of performance, I think a 2-1 result at the San Siro is a good result. At least you have an away goal.
Team selection was a headache as both Ashley Cole and Zhirkov were unavailable. Ferreira not having been registered for the champions league squad didn’t help. I would have played Belletti on the right back and Ivanovic as the left back. By having Malouda play as the left back, our left side of the defence was weaker and also we missed Malouda’s utility upfront. As far as I remember, Inter were always trying to play on our left side, in order to exploit Malouda’s defence. Though their goals came from the right side, they did spend a lot of their possession on our left side. Malouda, credit to him, did decently well in that position.
John Terry played a blinder the day after the news of his affair broke out. He even scored the winner at an away stadium. Ever since he was sacked as the England captain, his form has gone downhill. He was lacking in confidence. Big time. He was shaky and let that pass on to the other defenders and the goalkeeper. For the first goal, he made it easy for Milito. I don’t want to take anything away from Milito. It was a striker’s finish. It was a superb goal. But Terry made it easier for him to take the shot. Meanwhile, Ivanovic was very good. He was one of the few Chelsea players who would get anything past a 6/10 in my books.
We played our 4-3-2-1 with Anelka and Kalou playing behind Drogba. Anelka has been out of form ever since Drogba returned. Kalou is not dependable at the big stage. Even tonight, Anelka and Kalou not being up to the mark hurt us badly. You have an in-form Drogba who just begs for service while Anelka and Kalou just not living up to the expectations. It was the same story in the midfield too. You have a Mikel who was simply fantastic and you had a Lampard and Ballack who were substitute candidates by half time.
We must have certainly had a penalty closer to half time. Kalou was very clearly fouled and we were denied a 10/10 penalty. Kalou could have forced a save by then but anyway he did well enough to ‘almost’ earn a penalty. Our goal was silly one. Ivanovic made a great run but the shot from Kalou is nothing but a cutomary pop at the goalie, which adds one to the ‘shots on target’ column but bothers none. Cesar should have saved it rather easily but why would not welcome an away goal! Petr Cech limping away from the pitch was a bit worrisome. I really hope that he’d return for the weekend match.
I think Ancelotti took little too much to time to get his sub in. By the hour mark, you had so many players who deserved to be subbed – Anelka, Kalou, Lampard, Ballack – but still he brought in Sturrdige only with about 10 minutes to go. I wasnt sure what he was expecting. Any Chelsea fan watching the match must have been screaming for substitution, right from the half time. We had to somehow get the ball to Drogba. We just could not do that because that’s what Inter were very good at. They did allow us to connect to Drogba that easily. With Malouda playing in defence, if Inter could switch off Drogba, they have taken much of the goal threat from Chelsea. Inter did it just well enough. TSO’s experience and knowledge was pretty evident there.
The match is evenly poised. Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is stronger than Inter at San Siro. It’s perfectly possible for Chelsea to get a 1-0 or 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. A lot will depend on Inter’s tactics. A lot will depend on what result TSO wants in the next leg. If he doesn’t want a win or a goal, we could have a tough night. It’s not so bad, this result. We’ve got a very important away goal and it’s not often we concede at home. So chill out and gear for the weekend match against Man City! If you’re looking for good news, Adebayor just got a straight red! As for me, I’m already elated. You know why? The darling of India, my hero, Sachin Tendulkar made history by scoring a double century in an ODI! It’s been a great day ruined only by my other hero, Jose Mourinho. Anyway, as they say with any two legged matches, it’s only half time and fortunately for us, we’d play the second half at home!
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Spot on BC!!! My fears came true tonight.
Just before the match,(Just after the Indian maestro’s marathon knock) I msgd my superior that a DRAW would be a GREAT result and a WIN will require a SACHIN like performace. Unfortunately we turned out to be the RSA team. The players seemed to have gone to San Siro with an intention of DRAW and when we play for DRAW we lose. We just dint show that urgency for an equalizer. That shows us in poor light. More over, with Malouda in defence, Anelka was the only creative player and he too failed miserably. Joe cole should ve been in for him at half time. Atleast he could dribble and run past the defenders. And the Drogba free kick was unfortunate. In all an poor performance from the team.
And I wont feel too happy about the away goal either. Cos, Inter can and will score at the BRIDGE. Hope this performance doesnt affect the EPL form. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.
I think initial line up was fantastic. I had a question over Kalou but he answered my question with his goal.
I believe Carlo did a great job on line up despite of many injured players. When we finished first half 1-0, I coud not find any ready players on the becnh to introduce and make some changes to the game.
John Terry acted like an amature defenders on first goal. If “Terry” was not wirtten behind his shirt, he would not play tonight because of his week performances in last weeks.
I do not agree with you on Ballack and Lampard. The reason they could not play ws well was Mourinho’s tactics. I do not blame Lampard and Ballack, I will give credit to Combiasso instead.
Anelka …. I do not know. Was he playing? I am his huge fam , to me he is an unchanted hero. He played really bad.
After Cech injury, it was obvious that Chelsea golas changed, they wanted to keep it 2-1 , instead of going for the second and concede the third.
The best player for Chelsea was Ivanovic without any doubt and for Inter Lucio.
after all, 2-1 is not bad at all. We are all Chelsea fans, we know Mourinho has always had problem with playing outside home in CL.
We kicked out by Liverpool when we played the second leg in Anfield.
We kicked out by Barca when we played the second leg in Barca
however, we kicked out Barca in Stamford Bridge while we lost the first leg in New Camp.
Well, I am sure Ashly will not make it for the 2nd l eg, but I hope Zhirkov can make it.
I am optimistic about this result.
As much as I’d like for it to be 2-0 at the Bridge, I doubt it’ll happen due to the Cech injury. I don’t know if Hilario is a good enough keeper to fill in Cech’s shoes. His goal kicks were a bit dodgy. Hopefully the team will get their acts together and grind out a win.
it’s not about how gonna play in Stamford Bridge
it’s about the way Morinho will play against us
dont worry guys i think essien will back by then we need to score first then tie is there for taking bring on 16 mar plus game at sb
Hopefully essien and zirkhow will be in the 2nd leg and we can win 2-0
as for me…I’m not too disappointed about the team performance tonight..
we played well…created chances….but the problem is…it’s not effective….
Inter got 2/3 chances and scored 2 goals…
Terry was in dilemma position…once he must play as CB and once he have to cover Malouda at LB…
the difference between Ancelotti and Mourinho is the decision to choose the subs….
I’d prefer change Anelka with Joe Cole, Kalou played superb and he scored too….
tonight Chelsea missed Essien and Ashley….
in 2nd leg, Essien come back is more than enough…
hopefully we’ll win with 1-0 or 2-0 better..
as for Hilario…
remember guys….Hilario lately never let us down…
remember how good he was at 2-0 win over Liverpool…
Reactions to yesterday game
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2639/calcio-debate/2010/02/25/1806175/cl-comment-inter-produce-a-performance-to-make-italy-love
Jose confident about not losing at bridge
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/221/champions-league/2010/02/25/1806193/inter-manager-jose-mourinho-declares-i-do-not-lose-at
We didn’t play poorly, we played bit ineffectively! We were slow and we didn’t create as many chances as we could possibly have.
But as Scott Minto said 1:2 is far better than 0:1, so we will take the away goal close to our heart. his prediction is 2:0 for us at the Bridge, i am with him!
The first 11 was not a good one:
Cech, Terry, Ivanovic, Mikel, Lampsy, Ballack and Drogba were spot on but the rest, in my opinion would have been:
1. Either Ivanovic at the left with Belletti at the right and Malouda up left with Nico at the right flank;
2. Malouda at the left but Belletti coming on at HT and Malouda as a left winger taking Nico off;
3. Joey on instead of Kalou, i have always stressed that Kalou plays better coming from the bench, and he proved it so tonight as well. His goal was a lucky one, thanks to Cesar! Apart from that goal his overall performance was bad, very bad. He made wrong decisions, poor touches/passes and wasted his energy running with the ball eventually to lose it. He made one extra touch, a costly extra touch! Even the sure penalty that he was denied he could have taken an early shot instead of waiting for ages and going down theatrically with his hangs in teh air, this act sort of made the referee feel he was diving! I was just so mixed up that he got to play for 80 minutes;
4. At half time, Kalou and Nico should have been off for Joey and Sturridge but Ancelotti just boiled my blood up to 1200 degree celsius that i was shouting why on earth is he not bringing on the substitutes when Nico and Kalou are badly performing;
5. Ballack was a good player, his tackles were timely but his passes were sometimes hurried and other times poor. He could have been off at hour mark while Belletti comes on and Malouda moves up front;
All in all, Ancelotti first put on a wrong first 11, and then he took aeons to replace them. He was unnecessarily so cool! I felt so sorry for Joey, he was cheering the team from the touchline even in the dying minutes.
Their first goal came while we were trying to settle down, may be Ivanovic impeded Cech to make a full stretch! And their second goal was luck-assisted in a sense that the rebound off Ivanovic fell straight to their player.
Hilario was so cool and he didn’t at all hurry to take goal kicks and release our front men! More than once, his passes to Malouda was risky, easily an opponent could have won teh ball.
Overall, we played better than them it is just that we couldn’t create chances and couldn’t take those that came. Drogba’s free kick would have fetched a great goal, it was just so unlucky that few inches denied us the chance, and lucky were the opponents that the rebound didn’t hit the goalkeeper.
Let us get on with EPL business this weekend!
Anelka shouldn’t be starting the game against City. He just isn’t upto the mark at the moment. Ditto with Ballack. All he does is pick up silly fights and arguments with the opposition players. For the next game against City,
Cech/Hilario
Ivanovic Cravalho Terry Zhirkov/Ferreira
Mikel
Joe Cole Lampard
Kalou/Sturridge Malouda
Drogba
Right, first things first. Last night’s game , we were poor. The attacking half of the team didn’t produce at all. Anelka, Drogba, Lampard, Ballack. These were our attacking quartet and they failed miserably.I will rue the first goal but somehow i feel it’s understable. The tension was high, some players hadn’t even touched the ball yet, nerves were jangling and the opposition took their chance. However thereafter we had the ball to play. We lacked ideas upfront. This was so evident thru Anelka. I am a huge fan of the man from France but he was piss poor last night as he has been since Drogba returned from Angola.He wasn’t playing from wide right so he can’t complain he was out of position. He was used as our creative spark yet his decision making on the ball was poor. This is the worst performance i have seen of Anelka to date. I think this game will help Carlo decide on the future of players he wants to buy, lets face it, we may b knocked out of the Champions league this year. Inter r capable. It seems we lack the mental toughness we had before. Even JT has looked shaky for a couple of years now. When teams cramp their defence with bodies u need players with supreme technical ability ditto Barca. That is why Barca r fancied no matter the team they meet. Ballack needs some time off. He’s been poor too this season. I just Big Pete and Yuri make the second leg and hope Drogba turns up. Essien where r u?
We all knew Mou doesn´t lose at home. Now we need to show him, that we still don´t either! while 1 – 0 is something that i consider irrealistic and risky, we need to score at least 3 to ensure our safe passage.
Quoting MatBlue
no knee jerk reaction we were better than vs wolves sometimes it happens dont blame drogba he has been brilliant in 90 percent of games with hopefully essien back we can win at fortress bridge
Twas a night of mixed emotions and Chelsea didn’t play badly IMHO. except for the first 15 mins.
My namesake has proved a point tho I have to say…… if Eto’o had scored instead of falling over his own legs or the Kalou penalty was given if Motta was red-carded for his karate kick on Ballack, if Ballack was sent off for the punch and elbow in retaliation if Drogs shot was half an inch lower …. things could’ve been different.
The portugee is wily … and if we get by him and Inter and I firmly believe we will…. I hope we get Real Madrid in the quarters or the semis….. I’d love to see Drogs and Lamps battering Real ! Twould be a sight !
Ironically, the worst player on the pitch was our goalscorer himself. I think the lone goal got him the extra 20-25 minutes in the match.
Let us now confirm it; We cannot play Drogba & Anelka together. I cannot explain how did we manage them early in the season. But Anelka is not a winger & both Drogba and Anelka’s positional play have deteriorated like JT’s recent form & reputation. Lampard played well, not to his standards though. He is far from the Lampard of the previous season (his best). Ballack did his job and provided muscle to the midfield. Mikel was splendid.
I bet you Ivanovic can play in any position. I feel amazed how do we get players of the mould like Essien, Ivanovic and now Malouda who are ready to play in any part of the field.
JT didn’t need to do much (Inter wasn’t playing a crossing game), but the one time he was tested he flopped. Cech could have done better for the 1st goal. Why does he take 3-4 steps when there are defenders ahead of him? Had he stayed put in the goal, I believe it could have been a regulation save for him. Instead has less time to react to the shot and gets beaten at the near post. And who was that idiot who ran over him?
We played well in the first half but were conservative in the second (satisfied with the away goal) as were Inter during the entire match.
Why oh why doesn’t Ancelotti use his subs. Don’t tell me, we had the best players on the ground. Anelka should have been substituted and made way for Joe. I can’t remember the last time we used all our subs.
As far as the result is concerned I don’t think its a bad one. Because I saw Inter managing just two shots on target. Obviously you don’t expect Jose to make a team attack beyond that extra one goal. But as I saw it they were outplayed in midfield. You don’t see a Jose team getting BULLIED, but yes we didn’t allow the ball reach to Milito and Eto. It would be different when Inter are forced to attack and we could see Balotelli and Pandev operating from both ends. I can’t see us keeping a clean sheet. Hence early goals, not goal, is the only way ahead.
KTBFFH.
i dont know why y’all keep saying we played poorly,,,i believe we were just unlucky cos the boys did a good job controlling the game and its obvious we would score more goals when we play the return leg…Terry’s case is becoming really pathetic and he’s costing us more damage than good…what do you think we should do about this man….i dont care if he’s our captain…i think he needs some time off..i bet he would make another terrible mistake against man city that would cost us the 3 points…i pray not…i hope for the best and prepare for the worst this season…i hope ancelloti can buy his players and let go of some old folks by the end of the season
@heyjose.
I dont think i am taking a knee jerk reaction here bruv. I agree some of my points r a tad harsh but tell me which part of my analysis i got wrong? We’ve been poor away all season because of something. Intensity. meaning the opposition take the match more seriously than us. It was so obvious we lacked a creative spark up front. Yes Drogba has been great for us all season but when he disappoints like today, like against Hull the other night , we need to point them out. Remember there r no second chances in Champions League. All the teams r good.I hope we win and go thru but who is to say Inter can’t get a draw at the bridge? Hoping for the best.
GOD (Sachin) plays for my country (INDIA). what a innings it was, take a bow!!! after seeing the blues(INDIA) winning in that fashion, i thought its gonna be the night of the blues, indeed it was, inter wore blue and they played well.
the problem with chelsea: do u think they have indeed gone backwards after mourinho????
i mean last 20 mins or so chelsea did the same thing over and over again( midfield to flank to trying to give it to drogba but ending with inter and then clearance and agian midfield and so on), no creativity at all,i wish deco was here!!
i personally feel, drogba was a bit lazy, if he didnt get the ball, why didnt he come a little to the midfield area???
tactics by CA wasnt impressive. 4-3-2-1 is just not what will choke a inter defence, pairing of strikers are necesaary, anelka didnt play well, true, but look where he’s playing, i hardly saw him in the box.
lampard, ballack was just not their ownselves, in the mourinho era, lampard used to play where anelka plays now, and he was very effective there, ever since he has been moved to the 3rd tier (of the christmas tree) he was more defensive responsibilities and thus cant contribute much in the attack, i hardly see him drill the ball through the defense, i used to called that total internal reflection (used to get atleast 2 deflections before his shots went in the goal).
And JOHN TERRY, he used to be my hero, if one thing which chelsea has but no one else, it was JOHN TERRY, i cant say he sucked, it’ll be like stabbing myself, what can i say then??? leaving it you guys.
p.s. Shevchenko flourished under CA do you letting him go now was a mistake, another chance would have been nice. after seeing mourinho’s striker play yesterday i understood why he never did well under him.
With this deffence we cannot afford a cleansheet at bridge ,so we have to score more than 3 or4 goals to be sure of progress.Last night Inter was not a bright team ,their second was lucky and we could change the game with that penalty.
Carlo must do something to score in 10 minutes of second leg.We can kill inter in first 45 minutes.
The only ugly thing was our last 10 minutes performances,we shoud bobmbard them instead of chasing the ball stupidly.
I love Jose mourinhio ,but he has to accept Chelsea is worthier to go to the next round.
dont agree with you too much on this one BC. Im with Karma CW and Blues_Godson. Ancelotti was obviously very concerned about keeping our attack going hence choosing malouda, to be honest, it worked fairly well. Yes Malouda isn’t great but Inter made hardly any attempt to take advantage of it and Maicon as well as Balotelli remained failry ineffective throughout the second half. Terry ran further than he should have done, probably expecting milito to cross the ball, scrappy and light goal. There was absolutely nothing we could do against Cambiasso, not a keeper in the world would of stopped it, the shot was away before anyone had a chance to get up from blocking the initial one so can’t really say alot.
Yes Eto’o squandered another simple chance as he does so consistently against us (felt relief after seeing he was starting last night) but Inter’s goals were not really hard earned. I’d hoped Ancelotti would pack the midfield with long range shooters as cesar was abit battered and you could see he was in pain from every save and dive he had to make, he was very shaken when Lampard pelted it from 6 yards.
All being said, it is just like Barca tie. We came out slow, had chances, squandered the mjority of them. We kept putting the ball on Drogba’s head, in that formation, it needs to go to his feet. Anelka was poor, Kalou’s defensive work and energy up front was good to see and was happy to see sturridge carry it on. Was happy with Ivanovic’s work rate, Carvahlo played well. I think it is the playes like Ballack and Lampard we need to step it up that extra bit more to turn the tie. Ballack was quiet most of the game, a few passes to keep attacks going but not alot. Lampard would usually put shots like the one he had away.
I notice Inter do not like being ran at, as soon as the line breaks, everyone is at a panic station and they mess up, especially zanetti and lucio. Chelsea irritated me as they made no attempt to run foward, the few times they did we got a goal, a penalty shout and plenty of shots. I see what Ancelotti was trying to do, but Mikel will also need to play much better if we want a win.
Come a few weeks time, we may well have Bosingwa and Essien (not to mention Zhirkov) and to be honest, all the damage was truly done to us through sneijder and cambiasso, you can be sure with those two guys back, they will stabilise everything again.
We are perfectly capable of winning at the bridge. Remember, we just need a 1-0 win. The most negative thing to take out of the game is Cech being injured, I heard its just his calf though which in itself is positive as they are much simpler ad quicker to heal than knees.
If I was picking the next team, I would revert back to diamond as deco is unlikely to be used and its his kind of passing we needed last night. Put Sturridge or Anelka next to Drogba, they can use their speed to drag away defenders and open up that extra bit of space drogba wants for aerial attacks. Lampard, Kalou, Malouda and hopefully essien would give us a very tenacious midfield and our backline would be near full strength again. To be honest, after watching Inter play, they lloked like a relieved team, a surprised team and most of all, a team that showed us their entire bag of tricks. i take solace in knowing that once we pull out our moves, Inter are not going to deal with us. I just hope we concentrate at the Bridge for the win.
a return from injury can Essien, Bossingwa ..?
And cheeky Samuel even admitted: “It was a penalty but I like this referee.”
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2867940/The-ref-was-Kalouless.html#ixzz0gYtSaDT1
20. TruePlatinum always look for your comments man!!
i think malouda did well at the back, most of our attack started with him running from deep, kalou played well for me, Anelka….non existent… ballack did nothing much, i want to see ESSIEN/Lampard combo… they play better. Mikel!! wow.. did you guys see his direct passing!! i was impressed tackled well also… I have never see chelsea attack for so long!!! they just kept going.. i really thing it was because malouda was running from the back with soo much confidence.. wow Ivano… i dont think Boswinga can take his spot.
i would have prefered to see Anelka go off than kalou, i was a bit disappointed with Danny… he look timid would have probably done nice with joe…. but it makes u think…. and see who calro has faith in…
i just hope we drive at them !! just like we did Liverpool! I know we can
After s many years there is danger of Chelsea soon elementation from cl ,in last years we wasn’t ready to win it but we played well on all games,this year we are ready , and we lost a big chance in the half,we really need a good luck to win the Cl.
I wish we had a greater deffending,because a champions always deffends well
Safe Denver, I like that you can pick the right stuff from a match too
guys, just a rallying cry, we went to turkey to play fenerbache, one of the most hostile teams and receptions in the world, lost, and ended it at the bridge
we went to anfield, needed riise to score to keep us in it and then destroyed them at the bridge
we went to the nou camp and became the only team in the world to stop them scoring in the competition.
We have exited the Champions league only from stupid unpredictable refs, slips and moments, have faith that this won’t happen now.
This is literally the moment when all of us usually say “if we win this, the trophy is as good as ours”
Yes there is work to do, but should be beat inter, won’t you all think the same? Every team in the champions league is beatable for us. Lets have some faith, KTBFFH!
Gosh!!! I think we are done for this season. Our season will be going wrong all the way from now on. I’ll be glad if we finish 3rd. Here is how: -
1) On Ashley Injury – Yuri can never replace Ashley. He is a light weight and will give a lot of headache to Ancellotti on the left flank. When fit he always goes in his attacking mode and starts playing as a winger. This will leave us exposed at the back which might cost us dearly in away games. Just when Malouda was doing well we will have to push him back and not let him make plays which he is good at.
2) On Essien injury – Mikel again is very when it comes to playing away. I dont know what’s the deal with this guy but he has stiff feet and no speed. Even timings of his tackling is wrong. We need to give him one more year before he can fill the gap of Essien.
3) John Terry – Ancellotti needs to have the balls now to sub this guy half time if he concedes in the first half. With all due respect to JT being the leader and all, stripping of england captaincy has affected his form. We shouldn’t have lost to everton if Ancelotti would have subbed right after we conceded the first one for Alex when he had the chance. JT is strong at home but his away form has costed us points. Starting from Wigan and Aston Villa, remember how he couldnt keep the defence and conceded from set piece all the time. I think we need put some trust in Alex, Carvalho, Ivanovic, Belletti and Ferreira for the remaining of the season and hand the captaincy to Lampard after subbing JT. I dont want to see JT starting in Champions league away game if we go through to the next round.
4) Ballack – this guys is so slow and tired, maybe we should blame his age . Only flashes of acceleration like a 1989 3 series beamer. Very strong and sturdy on the outside though will take heavy blows without showing signs of falling apart. Similar to our old friend Deco who is a Mercedez logo on a Honda engine. I see Mikel as a replacement to Ballack then for Essien. (Its a wild thought Essien n Mikel playing together might just work they could switch positions when either of them goes forward with lamps by the side n drogs waiting to lash it in to our oppositions net.)
5) Petr Cech – This guy practically out of the season as well. This might cost us badly in away games. Remember those magical saves against Wolves when JT blundered in defence. We all will miss that. But i have full faith in Hilario mid way season when we were losing away i thought Ancellotti should have again subbed him in for Cech. My only fear is playing with Ross Turnbull. i saw this guy in a reserves game where he easily conceded 4 goals against a teenage side. Anything that comes for free is not good.
6) Ancelotti ‘than man himself’ – since he took over i agree he has done very well. but he still doesnt come out as dominating as mourinho was. My only problem with him is he should not give special treatment to our big name players like JT, Lamps, Anelka, Cech, n Ballack. (Drogba is awesome this season, he is the one who keeps my hopes up for this season). What we need to see in Ancelotti is the urgency from the box to win a game when we are down trailing in the first five minutes. I have seen him wait entire 80 mins when we are trailing to sub a player. somewhere in his mind i think he gives up depends on the quality of our squad to come back in a game. Like we did against the small sides like Stike and sunderland beginning of the season. I can see him run out of options and he never has a plan B. Playing Anelka, Drogba n Kalou was foolish when he knew he has a left back injured. How can you justify a team with winger playing left back and another one as a striker. I dont know what kind of italian math this is. He should have played Joe cole instead of Anelka or Kalou quite clearly.
I hope we come out top against City after missing key players and Tevez back n hope for our rivals defeat. I dont see us beating Manchester United on 3rd April with the current form. Although i would love to see us win the league with this game. More than that its my birthday.
Come on Blues make us proud this season.
—–peace out..
For all those people who say Joe Cole should of started need to rethink that, Joe Cole like Kalou is a wild card…You never really know what player will show up. Joe Cole has been playing quite poorly as of late and I don’t know if he would have made a difference. I think CA should of played Belletti at RB and Ivanovic at LB which lets Malouda play at his usual position.
As for Anelka..His form hasn’t been the same since Drogbas return..He used to be the center of attack, but now has been pushed to the wing which isn’t where he thrives. I don’t think Anelka and Drogba can play together anymore.
15. chelsito,
I fully agree with you!
20. TruePlatinum,
You are right and……
24. TruePlatinum,
……this one gives me hope!
25. Realistic True Blue,
Very true but i think we can still be optimistic that we will win the league….if not for Miss Luck, manure would have been somewhere where loserfool currently is! Manure is not a great team, a big one, a best one…it is just that they are so lucky with goals and they have the backing from FA, referees and opponent players (who might be getting paid for own goals).
I am not at all comfortable or confident about our form and run, but i take solace in our opponents, majority, if not all, of whom are not playing their best football, they can’t! So, we can still win the league because we are Chelsea!
I would love to see bridge getting what he deserves at the Bridge for crying over his ex-partner! I just wonder why people cling onto something “EX”, it sucks!
One thing, on JT’s performance in away games, i guess that it might be due to the booing of the away fans that is affecting him, may be!
As long as DD is fit and fine, as long as we have mikel, lampsy, Ballack in midifield and Anelka upfront, and as long as we have Terry, Ivanovic, Alex, ferreira at the back, WE NEED NOT WORRY FOR EPL!!! We will win. The only thing that worries me is in CL coz ferreira is not registered. I only wish Zhirkov doesn´t catch other injuries and become umavailable again. And as far as the Carletto performance concerns, he´s been really really good.
I really hate it when some ultra supporters go ultra pessimistic when we happen to lose a single game in ten. No way its a bad performance.
Acelloti is really disappointing me lately with is tactics. I complained abt this after everton’s game. Stop starting anelka when we re not playing 4-4-2. I hate hearing people talk abt how fast and pacey he is, all i see him do run with the ball for some time and stops, waste some time with the ball looking confused, turns back and passes the ball back to the midfield, is that being pacey?All i can say is anelka has been killing the attack. A friend of mine(an arsenal fan) during the inter’s game jokingly told me that if we want to win that anelka shouldn’t have started.
Secondly, i once told my mate that the one problem with the chelsea team is that we have bunch of average old players that have made names for themselves. This set of players can’t be at their best in all games and the coaches will always be at a compromise of experience and fitness.
I don’t agree with BC that we played badly. We all know that was not our best team and we’re a bit unlucky. Come 2nd leg in stamford bridge we’ll progress to the next round.
hi, everyone.
Why be so harsh to Ancelotti?
He didn’t disappoint me at all.
We have 2-1 at San Siro, that’s normal. There are still 3 weeks to adjust our squad, who knows may be Anelka will get his form back or Sturridge discovers super striker form.
What goes around comes around. (CL’s unlucky dissapointments) I’m sure we’ll have some good surprises.
We’re playing the second match at SB, which means we’re surely not going to lose, we just need to win conceding only one goal.
Anything can happen. A mere small mistake can lead to a goal.
I want more first teamers from reserve, please, Ancelotti!!!
GL to CFC.
Quoting Stino
YES spot on with that Anelka view!! thats what i have been saying!!!!… slows down the damn counter attack!! and gives the opponent time to get back and defend… i hate it!!! we need some damn direct players…. You saw how Baloteli ran at malouda when he came one…. just damn direct.. force a issue… cause a mistake!!! the fact is we dont have players to do that…. we need some new blood… like BASTIAN, JOVOTIC, RAKITIC…. SNIDJER, KUN!, use STRUDDIGE more!! SESSONGON, BEN ARFA! come on scouts….. ANNA (ghana mid fielder), OZIL,
deco neds to leave i love him but he is too old, ballack love him.. but Mikel needs room to grow (one of or best players inthe inter game)
ill say again.. malouda did well at LB… most of the attack started with his drive.. and combining with kalou… to force something….i just wished kalou would have cut in more.. and tested cesar… I loved that ivano drive which lead to the goal…. you saw it for your selves….. WE WE RUN AT THEM THEM THEY BECOME CONFUSED….we need to run at them for 90 mins!!! as i said again.. i have never seem such consistent attack form chelsea.. they just wouldnt stop goingt at it!!
i thin cech’s injury .. restricted carlo’s subs.. he probabaly though… what if i sub on everyone.. and get and injury.. finishing the game with ten men because of injury could have cost the game….. rememeber earlier inthe season…. made all subs and kalou had to retire injuried.
I want lamps to step up to the plat like he did against pool last year!…. i hope essien comes back (lamps essien mikel malouda ) that would be my middle.
man
Effectively we need to inject some PACE, DIRECTNESS, CREATIVITY and CLEVERNESS into our game for next season, with those new additions.
ashley young for Joe…. just a though…. see i want to maintain… english in our team.. I see young as a great replacement if they choose not to gve joe a contract.
Our attacks were too slow and too sloppy. We gave them time to get organised, no real pace which could worry them or catch them cold when players were out of position. It was too easy for Inter, they shut us out through the middle. They forced us wide and cleared the crosses that came in with ease. Sturridge was timid, you could feel that every time he touched the ball there was an air of uncertainty around him. Cech is out for a month which might rule him out of the second leg. Anelka and Cole have 3 weeks to find their feet. I just hope we have Bison back for the return leg.
Is not over until is over saying that losing in san siro is not a guarantee that london blues is out but let me use this oppurnity tell chelsea fans that nothing spoil we are going to bet inter(jose) 2:0 in bridge. But ballack should be sale because he has nothing to offer bridge any more FROM D’CAJAR
Saw the match again and I think we should play 4-3-3 at the bridge, with Maluoda and Joe Cole on the wings. We need Joe cole’ magical pass to break Inter defense.. to be on the safer side, we need a win by 2 goal margin or else the last few mins will be a nerve racking .. I think we should rest some big players against West Ham ( esp Carvalho, Ballack if he plays) .
If Essien is fit, the midfield should be lampard, obi and Essien..
Terry will be having a miserable time in today game ..( some players are not going to handshake him as part of pre-match pleasantries).. It is tough decision for ancelloti to play or not play Terry..
The same thing has been bothering me, but to side line our captain just because he has to face his mistakes wont help matters much. Moreover he needs matches to regain form. Ballack should be benched for the Inter game if Essien is fit. Mikel has been brilliant of late.
I don’t know why I’ve feeling like this…
for the 1st time since being a Chelsea fans……I will not too regret if Chelsea fail against Jose’s Inter…
but of course the 1st priority is Chelsea to go through….maybe 1-0 or 2-0 better……
yes I agree with some posts above….Chelsea players have to push run forward with pace more often….look when Ivanovic did it…straight become a goal….I hope Carlo start with 4-3-3 with Malouda and Cole in both flanks to support DD…
and maybe I’m not to regret because Chelsea so much have a chance to lift the League trophy this season…
Five reasons why chelsea fc will not win the league this year (and for many years to come)
1. playing players like anelka on the wing is the most hopeless decision one can ever think off……he has no skill whatsoever, he does not have the ability to move the ball freely and he just strolls on the park……he is the most laziest player in the entire squad…
2. Is it plain to see that john terry is bigger than the club…..I had huge respect for this fella but now i cannot stand this bastard….he thinks no end of himself and feels that he can do whatever he wants and get away from it….his performances on the pitch have been abysmal and rightly so…..i hope he breaks his leg on the pitch or his wife tony pool gets fucked by wayne bridge….the fucker deserves no better.
3. players like ballack ,deco are the most overrated players in world football………they might have been good players in their time but the world does not realise that nobody in the world is immortal…..and the fact is that they are already dead players who just need to be put into their grave….
4. the so called PLAYMAKER of the club called mr cole is just a squad player and nothing esle…he was a decent player when younger but he has passed his prime…he spends more time facing injuries and when he is fit he does not start a game and when brought in as a substitute he makes no impact whatsoever….CA prefers sturridge to him just shows how highly does CA think of cole……if he has any sense left in his head then he should walk out of the club at the end of the season on a free transfer…..
5. Chelsea are just a undisciplined, unprincipled and a unethical cub….a bunch of morons who are just paid to play soccer for this classless club….talk about ashley, terry, drogba, mikel have all been guilty of unacceptable behaviour……things will never change at this club and I hope they never become champions of england because they just dont deserve to .