There it is. Most of us knew it would happen. Some of us didn’t want to believe until it happened. I was expecting this though I had hoped otherwise. Is it now fair to say that this league is finally over? We are not out mathematically but then it will be unfair to Man Utd to even talk about it. They were deserved winners and they would be deserved champions too, just like we were last season.
We had to win this match today. Honestly, we weren’t even good value for a draw. That’s the truth. Man Utd were out to prove a point right from the kick off, literally. We didn’t know what hit us and we were two goals down, only lucky not to have been four goals down.
Once we went behind by two goals, we were never going to get back into the match. Though I was hoping for some luck to score and to equalise, I didn’t see us coming back from 0-2 down to beat Man Utd at Old Trafford today. We just did not have the fight in us as much as I had wanted.
I didn’t quite agree with the playing eleven. Kalou should not have started. Torres should have. Essien should not have started. Ramires should have. After half time, Mikel was gone while Essien was still on the pitch. David Luiz was gone too. While we were chasing a two-goal difference, we wasted a substitution on a central defender. Big mistake. The problem was with Lampard and Essien and both of them played all 90 minutes.
Credit to Man Utd but I’d say both those goals were conceded cheaply. Right after the kick off, Essien failed to block a pass from Giggs to Park, Ivanovic was in Man Utd’s half (in just 30 seconds into the match) and no one could put enough pressure on Park. Next thing we see is Park, with no pressure on the ball-side, sends a through pass to unleash the little pea. JT’s poor run made it easy and David Luiz had only one option and that was to bring the man down. Quite reasonably, he didn’t do it. It was the first minute of the match. Luiz tried to intercept but his effort just wasn’t enough. Little pea beat Cech at his near post.
The second goal was the saddest goal I’ve seen in a match of this significance in recent times. A short corner from Man Utd, followed by a cross into the box. Not one Chelsea player jumped as the cross came in. No one attacked the ball that came into the box. Ivanovic was on Vidic who headed it with his feet on the ground. Poor poor defending. High school stuff, really.
After the two goals Man Utd started to consolidate as that’s all they had to do. The angry response from Chelsea just didn’t arrive.
Half time. I was expecting Chelsea to come out in the second half with all their guns blazing and dazzle Man Utd with a blitzkrieg just as they did to us in the first half. Didn’t happen.
We did get a goal in the second half but even that didn’t look to change the fortunes for us. Man Utd could still have increased their lead by a couple more goals. There was nothing to complain. 2-1 is a very kind score. In reality, this was a rout. And yes, Howard Webb was brilliant today. Best refereeing in a high profile match in recent times.
After the match, Ryan Giggs said:
It was a great start and it would have been easy for us to take our foot off the pedal but we didn’t.
Wish we had done the same for this premier league season.
Carlo said this after the match:
We started so badly. It was very difficult after that to come back and try to win. The second half was better but United played better and deserved to win. We have to accept the defeat. Today, United were better and, in general this season, they were better than us. They deserve to win the title. They will win and we have to try to maintain second place.
As always, gracious in defeat. Also, he is not the ‘wounded animal’ type. Always, the football teams reflect their manager. I’m not referring to the results here. I’m talking about how teams play. They reflect their manager. As soon as we conceded in the first minute, we were a bit deflated immediately and that’s where some killer instinct and siege mentality would have helped.
May be I wasn’t really expecting us to beat them or to even draw the match. All I was looking for was probably a good fight. I just probably wanted them to know what we’re made of. We weren’t quite mentally strong today. We gave up a little too early. We were a bit afraid to play our game. We were always worried about the Man Utd counterattack.
What’s surprising is, Chelsea should have been up for this more than Man Utd. It was Man Utd that had to play Schalke, home and away and had to play a tough away game at Emirates but still they seemed to be totally sharp. We had no champions league commitments. All that we had was premier league. We were the form team. We had a fully fit squad. Still we could have lost this game quite badly. The scoreline could have been really nasty.
There are two views of looking at this Chelsea season: (a) We were many points behind Man Utd in February and we could have levelled them today. We were fighting for champions league spot and we’re second in the table now. Great recovery! (b) We were running away with the league after the first three months. We should have won this league in April. We lost the initiative, we lost the lead and ultimately the title. Sad collapse!
It’s very well documented in this very blog which camp I belong to. Even if we had won the title, I’d have still said that we made a meal of this season. True, it’s all about relative performance when it comes to winning the league. And that’s what can paper the cracks too. While the relative performance can show you on top of the table, you do need to look at what should the table have shown, if we had done our job. We should have not only won this title this time, but also with 80+ points and with a handsome margin.
Bravo Fergie! He’s done it. He’s knocked Liverpool of their ‘fucking perch’. This is a brilliant season for him. He had a squad that was weaker and lacked depth when compared to Chelsea. He missed Rooney early in the season and had to go through the transfer drama involving him. He missed his captain Rio Ferdinand for most part of the season. He missed Nemanja Vidic, his stand-in captain and his best defender, too. And then he missed Valencia, for most of the season, who was starting to shine well for them. He went through the whole season without an established right back. His use of Giggs and Scholes was pure genius. Used Chicharito wisely despite Berbatov’s fine form. More than anything, he continues to be passionate and hungry for success and somehow magically, he passes this on to his team, no matter who the team comprises of. Hats off!
Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, has already started talking about his future. In his own words, he’s been told that his future will be discussed in a couple of weeks. He was brilliant last season. I think he lost on two counts – (a) he couldn’t quite change/adapt when necessary (b) he didn’t use/develop his squad well enough. There are rumours that he would get the sack. That would be terribly sad if it happens. I don’t want to change our manager. I want our manager to change.
Trophyless season then. Expect several changes in Chelsea FC between now and the beginning of the next season. What’s now for us at BlueChampions? Too many questions. Lots of debates. Painfully deep analysis. Stay tuned.
It was a sad loss, and you’re right on the money in that we didn’t show the kind of fight and intensity that United displayed and which defined our team during the Mourinho and Hiddink eras.
I tend to agree that this season was a poor one. The team lacked an identity. Veteran players have started to slow down. Poor results littered the schedule – a double loss to Liverpool, the shellacking at the hands of Sunderland, points dropped at Wolves and late collapses against the likes of Villa (at home) and Everton (in the FA Cup). Most importantly, no trophies earned.
But we have to keep it all in perspective. Despite all of the bad moments, we were still in with a shot at the league with a few games to play. We’ll end the season trophy-less, but consider the case of Liverpool and Arsenal – they’ve collectively struggled to pick up much silverware for years now. Going one season without anything isn’t a sign of the apocalypse. We’ll come back stronger and hungrier next season. Despite all of our old guys, we have a good core of players who will be productive for the next several years (Cech, Luiz, Ivanovic, Ramires, McEachran, Sturridge). Finally, Torres will be much better next season. And whatever happens to Carlo, the club will spend money on fresh faces over the summer. Thus, the 11-12 squad will be much stronger than this year’s version.
Finally, we didn’t do all too badly in the league against our main rivals – with the exception of ‘pool. We split the series with United, the Gunners and Man City and took four points from Spurs. Where we slipped up were the games against Villa (two points), Wolves (3 points), Sunderland (3 points), Birmingham (3 points) and could only muster a home draw against Everton. We lost the season in that we couldn’t grind out results against the mid-tier teams. Correct those mistakes and we’ll be back to the top!
You get the impression that by the reaction from Ancelotti after the first goal that a weeks worth of tactical planning and preparation had instantly become obsolete. For the first 30mins it what painful to watch Chelsea as they failed to put together even a few straight forward passes in midfield, however i dont agree with you that it was a rout, i think in the second half were atleast as technically sound and as solid as manchester united and deserved our goal when it came. Ultimately MU deserve the title this year but in my opinion Chelsea still comfortably have the most talented squad in the league and next year, with a few signings and a bit more luck should be able to prove this again.
Why was Luiz taken out? Ivanovic had the yellow. Was it because if Carlo and Luiz arguing?!!?!?
Love your prolonged defense of David Luiz. :)
Carlo didn’t see it the same way. A rather obvious disagreement between defender and manager broke out. This is a manager who never loses his cool, remember. Defender replaced at halftime.
Injured, they said. Riiiiight.
How many supporters actually appreciate that?
Some of the ones who’ve come aboard since Roman bought the team take winning for granted. Not all, but some.
God forbid Chelsea should get relegated. They’d be off in a flash, looking for another winner to complain about.
Chelsea have a terrible image in England.
Supporters of other clubs think Roman purchased his titles (never mind that the success of United, Arsenal and Liverpool is due to their high revenues and that they also buy players.)
They think the majority of Chelsea supporters are “plastic.” Which is to say, they’re seen as not being true supporters; they’re just along for the ride and they’ll hop off when the team stops winning.
For all his success, Jose Mourinho did nothing to enhance the club’s image. If anything, he aggravated the situation.
Now we have Carlo Ancelotti. For the first time in the Abramovich era Chelsea have a manager who enhances the club’s image. He’s dignified beyond words. He’s never publicly critical of anyone. He handles pressure with unbelievable grace. The players like him. he plays a nice style of football.
Carlo Ancelotti is good for Chelsea in every way imaginable. I hope Abramovich recognizes this and breaks his demented cycle of hiring and firing managers.
Probably not many.
I’m not suggesting fans should be happy with zero trophies. But these last few years have been the greatest in club history. The saner fans – and I believe those to be the fans who are most committed and passionate about the club – probably realize that one mediocre season doesn’t equal armeggedon.
I like Carlo for these reasons too. But I’m conflicted whether these are the right reasons to keep him around.
i just hope that carlo stays ,and roman needs to stay away from the foootballing matters.
Kind of a weird season and didnt get any silverware but still will be up their supporting the blues
If this was a season of transition :so be it !
Next year, I expect to see 1. new wingers 3. a creative midfielder 4. a mix of fit disease-less older and younger players
But me heart is not THAT broken this year though it IS wounded….
From the players and manager I hope for lots more resolve, entertainment and a Blue Premiership next year !
WXWAX,
Here here. We DO NOT have a terrible image in England because of our success after Roman took over. When a billionaire comes in and the club turns successful it’s quite natural for anyone to think the money’s done the trick. I think the football world has moved on. There are too many examples around us to prove why money is not everything.
When it comes to fans, all top clubs have their fair share of ‘plastic fans’. Chelsea are no different. Success breeds following. For the record, there is a famous quote that says why there are no Man Utd fans in Manchester.
And for God’s sake, in order to portray someone as a ‘good man’, you don’t need a ‘bad man’. Even if you do, don’t try to find them among the club greats. Jose Mourinho is a Chelsea legend par none. He made this club BELIEVE. He made them champions. The gap between the champion and runner-up is massive, even if it’s one point or just on goal difference. It was JM who made us believe that we can also be champions and turned us all into one. And in a competitive league like premier league, he even won back-to-back titles. His job was not to improve the image of the club. He was supposed to make us successful and he bloody did that. Therefore, it’s a very poor comparison of what Mourinho and Ancelotti did to the images of their club. For the record, let me say it that had Carlo Ancelotti managed us in 2004-05, he wouldn’t have managed what JM did. Similarly, JM’s Chelsea would never have made the 105 goal record that Carlo’s Chelsea did.
Since you talked about the image, I’ll touch on the image of the club on the pitch as well. Chelsea were feared by all the teams back then. I’d always be thankful to Jose for turning us into the lions that we were. You just couldn’t mess with the Chelsea of those days. That, in my opinion, was good enough work on the image of the club, on the pitch.
I’ll tell you who dented the image of the club, off the pitch. It was not Mourinho, the best manager Chelsea has ever had. It was Roman Abramovich. Our club image was dented every time he sacked a manager. The sacking of Chelsea managers has had the biggest impact on the club image than anything else. I’m forever thankful to Roman for what he’s done to the club but one of the ‘acceptable’ downsides was what he was doing to the image of the club.
I don’t want Roman/Board to stay away from footballing matters. When that happens, you’ll end up with something like the Arsenal project. We need Roman’s ambition, aspiration, hunger and desire to be successful. He is the reason why our managers can’t take anything easily or lightly. He is the reason why our managers are always on our toes. What’s required is a healthy dialogue between Roman and our manager and clear understanding of expectations and outcomes.
I think the football fans are lot more sane than the fans of other sports. Most of the football fans realise that it’s not possible to win something every season. Trophyless season does happen every now and then and you need to move on to come back stronger. The question I would pose is, if we have not won anything today, is that because we were too busy working for tomorrow’s successes?
BC, i have always said that we have a much more talented players than Manure. What sets them apart from us is that they work hard at their game. Tell me which team would like to have Evans, Carrick Oshea, even Smalling in their team. Yet when all these guys are playing a team like ours they compensate their lack of ability with hard work and grit. Why are we always slow to wake up in games. If you watch our lads closely, when the opposition have the ball no one wants to get stuck in. That is why Arsenal are unsuccessful. Who is our enforcer? We dont have any method to win the ball back. Yes it’s all well and good stuffing minor teams week in week out, but when u meet ur equal and u cave in then i am afraid u r not up to it. Fact is we love our players and it becomes hard to criticise even when they r past their sell-by date. Guys Michael Essien is washed up. The Essien we know is not the one we have now. His double knee injuries have finished the lad. He can perhaps flourish in another but not the blood and thunder that is the Premier League.
I am all for keeping Carlo for another season, however i do feel that Roman has been vindicated everytime he has had to change the manager. I have said it before and i’ll say it again. Carlo ancelotti’s flaw is that he cant change. He is stuck in his ways and always like to play it safe. Whenever we play Manure i know they will out-fight us. That is the only way to beat Chelsea. Whilst teams are kicking us about our players are cuddling the opposition defenders. That alone is a sign our players are scared. No manager who is astute keeps his team in a slump for 4 bleeping months. Carlo’s problem is , from the outside it seems he really doesn’t give a hoot what happens. Afterall he has the media on his side, but guys ask urselves when has the media ever been on our side. We were hounded un-end when Avram Grant was the manager , telling u everyday why we let Ze go. Then when Grant was changed we were told we are silly to let a manger who took us to a Champions League final go. I hope we all see what a fantastic manager Avram Grant is now.
Fact is that something has got to change within the team. Some players have gotten too comfortable and lack that desire and fire in their belly. Some changes afoot. Long Live the Blues.
Just going by stats, isn’t this our Worst season in the Roman Era?
The major difference between this season and the last one was our performance in the key matches. Last season, we won most of our MUST WIN games. It’s been completely opposite this season.
1 genuine winger and 1 decent backup GK should be enough for our team. Maybe even a playmaker if genuine quality is available out there in the market.
I don’t think there’s a need to release anybody except Hilario and Turnbull. Everyone else in the squad can prove useful over a long campaign.
Players’ attitude reflects dat of thier manager, teams are built around the philosophy of thier manager. Carlo’s not dynamic, he’s not inspirational, he’s too nice to manage a team like chelsea. He might’ve been succesful in his past clubs but this team was built on a very high pedigree to what he’s used and so can’t cope. Lately, chelsea has had two managers, one built a very succesful philosophy at the bridge but fell out with club heirachy, the other has the ability to maintain this philosophy but on a caretaker level. Others couldn’t build nor maintain, lets be wise. Two ways forward, 1. Bring back Jose Mourihno or any manager like guus hiddink. 2. A total overhaulin of the team with a new manager with a fresh philosophy. Thank u!
@ BlueChampion true but Carlo should stay for another season .And maybe we need an overhaul slowly but surely
It’s been really sad seeing Essien look so feeble out there. He used to single-handedly destroy teams. Remember his rampaging run through the entire Valencia midfield and defense to secure us a Champions League victory back in 08? Now old man Giggs and Ji-Sung Park run circles around him.
The Chelsea board and Roman have a big decision ahead of them this summer. Ditch Ess and we’d probably raise good money to invest in new blood. But then there’s the risk he just had one mediocre season and will be back to his Bison best next year.
Ancelotti must leave. We need a consistent manager. I do not want someone 100% all the time but at least 75% most of the time. Ancelotti started the season 100% and then he became 20% and at the ned of season he became 70% ; this will not work, if you want to win EPL. Manchester was not great through the season but they were consistent.
I recommend a dutch manager, Hiddink or Van Gal
Congrats, Man Utd! Firstly, I don’t think that anybody in this blog thought that we could win at Old Trafford. Just by judging by the way we played this season. The Chelsea football players lack “character” and a “culture of professionalism” on and off the pitch. That is essentially what Alex Ferguson instills in his players, they’re not saints but most of their senior players act like men and not little boys. Carlo Ancelloti is a decent manager, who was probably under-estimated by people in his first season. This season the Chelsea team lacked chemistry in midfield where we couldn’t string passes together as I think that’s where we’ve lost most of our important matches this season. Also our forwards weren’t hitting the back of the net on a consistent basis. Typical blues performance to play their best football in the last few weeks of the season. My advice to Carlo Ancelotti would be to bring in personel with character both on and off the field. I’m sure the blues will come back even stronger and perform on a more consistent basis with the changes to come next season. Cheers!
maysam, I would also like to see a strong manager and strong players that can compete for four cups. Cheers!
Very wise words, thank you.
What’s your 2nd expectation. I suggest a world class play-maker with pace. Do we have him already, I suspect BC believes so, we have McE and I totally support him for that role in a few years. Until then send out the scouts.
This season was not lost at Old Trafford. It was lost when we
1) lost 0-3 to sunderland
2) missed the final minute penalty at White hart lane.
3) loss to birmingham.
4) extra time goal by Villa..
I am for a change of manager , not because we lost the league.. but in the last two years, we have lost convincingly home and away against a good champions league opposition and I thought ancelloti was master at Champions league ..
maysam,
Van Gaal will KILL CHELSEA look what he did to Bayern
Bullshit……. No offence meant to you……. respect. But I simply cannot buy that idea. Our team is highly overrated while man utd’s is proportionately underestimated.
*** going to mouthwash as soon as I finish writing, for praising those scums ***
Defense : Ashley cole, the best leftback in the world …… my foot. He was toyed around by Valencia ….. a nothing but good player made to look like Messi. Cole has been simply a shadow of old similar to his native midfield counterpart this season.
David Luiz – Alex showed the difference yesterday. Has to be converted to DM. Young has lot to learn and not the God people here make him out to be.
Midfield : Just count the number of one touch passes, lobs (just kidding), dribbles, through balls, decent crosses that this midfield makes. I bet you the count is less than some of the midfields in championship teams. Essien has been pathetic, but please don’t overlook the uselessness of one of our legends. Lampard, used to be my favourite player, has turned out to be one of the most redundant players to occupy the ground. He gets the ball…. passes it sideways…. makes a run into the box. I am fed up of seeing this, when nothing is being created or provided to the Strikers upfront, he makes his stupid runs into the box WAY TOO OFTEN narrowing the strength in the middle and clogging the already overcrowded final third. And please don’t give me the excuse that one of those runs scored for us. We paid a a huge price for that lucky goal and his runs….. the match, by being outplayed in midfield.
Strikers: A striker without a midfield is like a locker without a key (for a robber), that cannot be explored unless unlocked, so sparing my rant on DD, Torres, Kalou.
Carlo : I assume and a big assumption that player power exceeds his’. I find no other reason for him to not have benched some bigwigs when they didn’t belong to the pitch. That is where stability is important bcoz with stability comes power, and thats why I wish he stays next year and wins something significant to ensure a prolonged stay.
xerxesk,
Why did he do ? Compare the way barren played before van gal with now …
chelsito,
I agree with you but your opinion is somewhat harsh
I always said that British players are overestimated in EPL, give u examples … Carnaliho vs Terry ; Gerrard vs Alonso ; Vidic vs Ferdinand .. British media tries to make British players big , that’s why everyone will be shocked by England international team
But …. Lampard is not that bad , the problem is others are also playing bad … I don’t blame players … I always blame managers … Manager should know how to use players … I don’t Blane David luiz , I blame Carlo .. He should know that the kid is not ready … No player ( a few) goes to manager and says hey I cannot play I’m not ready … Manager should realize that …
BlueChampion,
Look at HOW we didn’t win anything … Of course , we can’t win every year ( mourinho was exceptional ) but look how we lost …
1. The beginning of season manager says my squad is perfect , 5 weeks ago he said the squad is not good enough
2. The team was sleep almost 2 months , this us not acceptable at this level
3 Carlo scared to put big names on bench
He is a weak manager … If he stays ( very low chance ) , he will cost us next season too and he will be fired in the muddle of season
I say we bring in Roy Hodgeson as manager. Cheers!
The Guardian was not kind to David Luiz for his terrible mistake. Harsh. The guy tries.
“But even though David Luiz played like he was wearing Sideshow Bob’s giant clown shoes, he wasn’t wearing Sideshow Bob’s clown shoes, which means he didn’t intercept Park Ji-sung’s immaculate through-ball to Mexican…”
Michael "The Great",
Are you serious ? :)He has not owrked with world class players ….
This is my list :
1. Jose Mourinho (impossible)
2. Guss Hiddink (20% chance)
3. Luis Van Gal : He is great at using youth players, he was the one who reinvented Schweinsteiger. I love his philosophy .. get him , give him 4, 5 years , you will see how he turns youngp layers into professional
4. Marcello Lippi (High chance) specially since Chelsea targeted Zola as coach … I think they are negotiating with Marcelo Lippi …
I mostly agree with this.
I disagree about firing Carlo. This team simply isn’t good enough to win the CL. Old, slow and lame. United aren’t good enough to win it either, and right now they’re playing better than Chelsea.
As I’ve written many times, the EPL is not as strong as it was. The money and the players are in Spain.
This fetish for Josh McEachran is a bit much.
We all agree he’s a lovely player. But to see him as the key to next season is extremely unfair…. to him.
He’s unproven, young and inexperienced. He seems to have potential. But so do a lot of young players. And most of them end up being ordinary.
Josh could be something special. But give the young man a break. Let him show on the pitch that he’s a star, before you start pinning all your dreams on him.
Because if he falls short of your expectations next season (and that’s almost a certainty, given the outsize expectations some of you have!) some of you may turn on him the way some of you have turned on faithful club servants like Essien and Lampard.
Give the kid a break be realistic about what an 18 year old is likely to contribute next season.
Josh may not have done wonders. He may not produce magic next season either. What he could have done / could do is allow Essien or Lampard to rest. He could have also provided some variety in the way we play. I definitely don’t place massive expectations on him now. I only say that there was a phase (which lasted months) when a Josh wouldn’t have done any worse than Lamps/Essien and we missed an opportunity to rest them and use it to develop Josh.
There were/are several prodigious players who have made fantastic contributions before they even turned 18. Wasn’t Rooney 16 when he ended Arsenal’s unbeaten run?
Anyway I don’t think the question should be about how much he can contribute. It’s about how wisely and cleverly we can use him.
Maysam,
Now they actually qualified for Champions league!
xerxesk,
look what type of player he made while he was there. What Carlo has done? give me an example of player he made in 2 years ? no one, team still has the structure of Mourinho’s team … Mourinho left many years ago, only changes are Bowingwa and Anelka … he could not even transform 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.
Van Gaal did a fantastic job with Bayern, He built players whom most giant clubs are looking for now …
I do not care about trophies, I care about the affect of manager on team .. I always said Ranieri was one of the best to me, what Ranieri won? nothing but he introduced players such as Lampard, Duff, robben, Cech, Cole, Gallas, and many more.
What Ancelotti has done? He let Sturrudge go and look what he is doing in Bolton. Do no t win anything but show me you are doing something .. we did nothing this year, we won nothing, we did not give any oppotunaty to our young players .. what did we do?
Yes, Van Gaal was losing the 3rd spot, but look at the youngp layers he made …
Carlo Ancelotti managed Milan for 8 years with the bestp layers in the world , and he only won Serie A ONE TIME . This should tell you something. I cannot believe when Guss Hiddink left Russia, Roman did not offer him Chelsea job, I cannot believe him …
I bought all our3 jerseys this season….and I still wear them with pride…if I was the owner of chelseafc,,I would change ancelotti!!! Why? Because he doesn’t have the swag to handle a club like chelsea.. To me,,he is a mediocre coach…..KTBFFH!
Nice blog and that’s coming from a united supporter. From the United point of view, I couldn’t understand starting Kalou or Mikel. For the whole match, I never once was scared when Kalou got the ball.I was probably even more worried when Drogba shot from 40 yards out early on.
As for Mikel, i was delighted when I saw he was playing. I don’t know why Carlo didn’t start Essien in the Mikel role and play Ramires farther forward, as his runs with the ball looked threatening.
For next season, Sturige should come in, and Anelka has to go along with Mikel.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/09/chelsea-contenders-runners-riders
Can’t disagree more. When Carlo won his second champions league title with Milan in 2007, it was hardly a young team. In fact, it’s well documented how Carlo managed the old Milan team. When he left, Milan was in shambles, with no replacements planned for his old stalwarts. Allegri turned that team around to win their Serie A title after 7 years. That’s another story.
The point is, Carlo has lots of experience in dealing with older, slower teams. And this squad can still win the champions league. When you look at a season when they haven’t played well, it’s quite easy to say this squad won’t win the champions league. I still maintain that this squad did not play to its potential. And it’s potential is to be champions of England and Europe. The manner in which we were tamed by Inter last season and Man Utd this season just does not reflect the squad’s strength and quality.
No matter who the manager is next season,i hope he is here for a long haul..chelsea fc needs stability and i hope the manager next season ,whether he’s ancelotti or nt,will be able to change tactics at times and not be one dimensional.Of course,the transfer window will be required to get players suited to the different system so this will be my list of transfers.
Out:Bosingwa In:Van der wiel
Out:Anelka In:Aguero
In:Sneijder/Hamsik/Pastore
In:Sanchez
If Malouda/Zhirkov leaves In:Juan Mata
Probably in this summer, Anelka will leave. Slow, can’t shoot! No real power. If Strurridge comes back, then Kalou should leave. Drogba has to agree if it is alright for him to be benched most of the season.
Torres has to improve as much as Suarez if not more.
Mikel is too slow for PL level, so is Essien. Only one of them has to stay. Lampard should play only 15 to 20 games in a season. So, we need a good midfielder. Give Zhirkov more opportunity.
Our defense is quite good, if Terry, Alex and Luiz stay fit. A.Cole is not the same player he used to be. If possible, we need left back.
I knew we can’t be champions when we lost almost all pre-season matches and a Community Shield.
Kaka’s mother has tweeted, that she is looking forward to life in London in the upcoming months, therefore it doesn’t take a genious to figure out, Chelsea have seem to agreed a deal with Real for the services of Kaka. Am I excited, not really, because he could turn out to be another flop and at the age of 29, don’t think there is much on offer, but what I am happy about is the fact that if these rumours are true then seems like Carlo will be given another season. I would hate to see Carlo being axed for someone like Villa Boas or Zola with next to no expereince to manage such a massaive team. Besides Carlo deserves another season, it’s not entirely his fault for the way this season has planned out. Give him the backing and the players he wants, let him be in charge, if he fails then by all means Roman do as you please, but until then have faith, the man won us the double last season, and you don’t become a bad manager overnight. KTBFFH
Jaz,
It could also be ManC who’ve secured his services….I think Sheva and similar past flops who’re 28+ will be in Roman’s mind (Torres is an established middle age player, while Luiz is a potential future star), and we are more likely to buy some young and quick playmaker to feed to Torres than Kaka, who is not exactly on fire any more…he’s worse than Torres, has been off form for well over 2 years.
Sometimes I wish we had bought Gerrard back in the day, Torres+Gerrard now (if it works as it did for ‘pool) would be simply mouth-watering!
Sumesh,
Sumesh …. Manchester City is not in London, it’s in greater Manchester, the only London based clubs are, Chelsea, West Ham, Fulham, Arsenal and QPR (from next season) unless he’s going to any of the other 4 I have mentioned, it seems to me he will end up at Chelsea. Or Kaka’s mother has poor geography
Ugh, please no Kaka. He’s over the hill.
Top personal transfer targets for the summer: Alexis Sanchez, Charlie Adam & Gregory Van Der Wiel
would love kaka here, he is one of the best passers in the game, he might not have the burst he used to, but he has an eye for a pass very few do, and god knows we need that asap.
Anyways here is some really good news, our reserves have won the league, south division and will play either United or Blackburn to be national champions full story here: http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2356731,00.html
After Kaka’s injury problems I want no part of it, let him ride the bench in Madrid, there’s a reason he doesn’t start.
zeke so tell me why dosent benzema start? and how does adebayor play in a madrid shirt? why is gago out cold? why are talented youngsters like canales and leon not given a chance?
i guess you dont follow la liga, believ me if he comes we will go bananas over his assists, he can be the man that can get us back the real torres.
Kaka , I would sat it depends on price tag ,.. I don’t mind buy a used Gucco back from as long as the price tag is good and it’s in decent quality – like new ones :))
Chelsea shoud add another play maker …
I don’t think essien and mikel should leave …
What we need is transformation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and right back , a good at maker and a young good striker .. That’s it
Jaz,
My fault, I forgot the ‘London’ part of the tweet…I was just thinking about Kaka-England-clubs-that-can-afford-high-salary and ManC too popped into my head. But I really hope he is not coming to Chelsea. The problem is not Kaka the player, he has the passing and vision required, but it seems he will be yet another overpriced, past-his-peak player that comes to Chelsea. And Jose has a knack of shipping out such players and getting maximum bang for buck (Ibra from Inter to Barca, with the talented Eto’ going the other way!).
What we need is someone like Sneijder, possibly even younger…and groom McE to that role for the future too.
Wow.
Just, wow.
LOL WXWAX! Once again, you do it like ‘The Sun’! Carlo says ‘I’m not happy that we lost’ and Sun reports Carlo not happy at Chelsea :)
A rather depressing article in The Telegraph claiming Ancelotti is gone unless Roman fails to land his wish-list of coaches. The Telegraph is sober, relative to other English publications, so I consider it a tad more credible.
http://bit.ly/la0DnU
Zola has a special place in Chelsea history. But as a manager? After what he did at West Ham? Dear god, no.
I like Hiddinck. He did a nice job recovering from the disaster that was Luiz Felipe Scolari. But I don’t see how he’s an improvement. And he’s as pragmatic as Mourinho, so if he does come, don’t expect thrilling football.
The speculation about Porto’s Andre Villas-Boas is interesting. He’s had a good season. One good season.
Yes, I’m upset. A good manager and an excellent man is being abused by the Roman Abramovich machine.
Ah well, you have to take the good with the bad, and Abramovich has been very, very good to Chelsea.
Obviously, it’s a fair question to ask us.
What has Carlo done?
Anyone?
Let us ponder this question.
It’s on the tip of my tongue. So frustrating. I’m sure I know the answer.
Anyone help me here?
wxwax,
tell me what he has done? except using Jose’sp layers, Jose’s formation, even the warm ups still the same as Jose (as Jose said) … what he has done?
Jaz,
Tottenham feels very left out
wxwax,
A Double springs to mind
joeblue,
I doubt you’ll see since we’re on to the next post, but you would be wrong. I do follow La Liga, these players don’t start because of Madrid’s depth. I’m not worried about his skill, I’m worried about his injuries, he doesn’t seem the same player after them to me. Beside, we have Josh, and maybe you’ve forgotten or just don’t know that we have also signed Lucas Piazon. We have young talent, why waste it? they’ll never actualize their great potential if we just keep buying established players to play in front of them.
http://www.go-replica.com/hermes-watches-16.html