What were you expecting? A thumping win in the last game of this season at Stamford Bridge against Newcastle who are playing for nothing but pride? Same here. In the end, in a game where we were to make a point, we just did that, got a point.
We made six changes to the side that lost to Man Utd last weekend. Finally, Essien didn’t start. Good omen. Josh McE started. Even better. Yossi was there. Alex in place of David Luiz. Torres for Drogba. This in fact looked like a very attacking line-up. If only we had bothered to play ball!
We probably got exactly what we deserved. For a game that was not supposed to mean much to either sides, this was a well fought contest. That said, I must also say this was a well fought but terribly boring game of football. Our defenders scored our goals and we conceded through a deflection and a poor set piece defending in the last minute.
Some say that this game summed up our season. I disagree. If a game summed up our season, it would be like this:
We take 3-0 lead in 15 minutes. That’s when we stop attacking. We see Lamps is limping but we don’t want to sub him. We concede in the 35th min and 45th min. 3-2 at HT. Right after the half time, Drogba is injured and walking. We continue to play him as he says he’s fine. He continues to walk. Essien keeps passing to the opponents like he’s switched sides. We don’t sub him because he’s Essien. We concede again in the 55th min and the score’s 3-3. We still don’t attack. Then we go down 3-4 in the 65th minute. With most of our players limping or walking, we still don’t attack. We bring on Torres. The rest of the team treat Torres like he’s still with Liverpool. We concede again. There you go. A match that we led 3-0 is now down to 3-5. Fans start booing, start walking off the stadium much to the disdain of the ‘real fans’.
Opponents are totally in control. We’re just going through the motions. Just 5 mins more. The game totally looks lost. Suddenly, we realise this is Stamford Bridge and we can turn it around. We find some energy but it’s already stoppage time. Drogba scores a screamer to put us 4-5. Game on! Get in there! Last 90 seconds of stoppage time. Right at the last minutes, we get a dodgy penalty and we convert it. We convert it. 5-5 now. In the last one minute, we give away possession only for the opponent to finish a sweet passing move to score the winner in the last few seconds of the match. We lose 5-6 at home. We hail the team’s fighting spirit for coming back from 3-5 down to make a match of it.
Now, if this happened, you can say the game summed up our season.
I don’t know if there’s much point in going into the details of the match. I’ll touch upon some big headlines. We played in our new home kit for 2011/12. I don’t like this kit. I don’t know how am I going to stand this kit for all season. Hopefully, I’ll get some good memories next season so I remember this kit for good reasons. I have to say this. Whoever got the idea of painting so much white on the shoulder should be go to jail.
Finally. Finally. Finally. Josh McE made his first premier league start for Chelsea. Finally. He played the defensive midfielder role today. He was a bit shaky when he started but then he grew well into the match. One of our better performers of the day. Deserved to play all 90 minutes. Don’t know how and why Lampard had to play for 90 minutes in such a match. Josh also got very good appreciation from various football pundits and media for his performance today. Hope he gets to start more matches, in a more attacking role.
Our attacking play in this match was something we had gotten used to. Same slow build-up which results in attacking players clogging the box and waiting for the ball to arrive. It wasn’t a surprise that both our goals were from set pieces. Not much was created otherwise. The match itself was pretty boring. Not sure if that was to do with the fact that the league’s been won by Man Utd already.
Now, with this result we should have run the risk of losing our second place. But then, as I write this, Arsenal are 0-2 to Villa at the Emigrants. As always this season, our opponents are making us look more decent than we actually are. My biggest fear is that we don’t become like Arsenal. Feeble and fragile – mentally and physically. Pure confidence team. Plays brilliant football when things go well and responds poorly to adversity. Lacking fight with poor resilience. Revered and respected manager. Lots of stability. Less success. In simple terms, premier league’s also-rans and bridesmaids. Someone please wake me up from this nightmare!
The question today was, is this Carletto’s last match at Stamford Bridge? Before the match, Carlo said this:
I don’t want to think about it being my last home game. I am focused to put the best team out, to win, to say thanks to our fans. They gave us fantastic support and it’s not been an easy season for them. It doesn’t matter if it’s the last or not. We have to wait and see what happens at the end of the season. I don’t know what is going to happen about my future, but I’m not nervous. I’m quiet. I’m calm. I hope to stay – I’ve said a lot of times – but if something’s changed, I will find another solution without problem. I think that I have a very good relationship with the players, but I don’t think it would be a problem for next season if I’m not here. I hope, obviously, to stay here, but there may be another coach and they’ll have the same relationship.
You draw your conclusions.
Just one more game to this season. Truly, I wish this season had ended already. Honestly, I feel mentally very tired myself. Let’s end the season soon. Let’s make those decisions on manager and players – this way or that way – let’s make those decisions, so we can move forward. Too many rumours, too many uncertainties, lack of understanding – you can’t miss the sense of grimness around Stamford Bridge today. We didn’t come out with our chin up on the last day at the Bridge. In fact, as much as I saw, there was no farewell to the Stamford Bridge crowd from the players or manager. I truly hope they did when the cameras weren’t watching them. [Update: Yes, they did a lap of honour. Thank you guys!]
Let’s go to Goodison. Let’s not be defeated. Let’s go back to the drawing board straight from the pitch. That’s all there’s to be done.
Millions of reasons to smile, right.. Arsenal are drowning…
Jaz,
:)) first of all, you are claim Serie A was corrupted and that is whuy Carlo did not win anything :)). I agree that Serie A is corrputed. but how come you bring a manager who was successful in a corrupted leage? so Chelsea hired the guy merely because of 2 CL. my friend CL also is corrupted :)) based on Barcelona results. These are just excuses.
You mention Carlo did not buy any player and all thosep layers were gift. from who? so the owner makes all decisions for players? so what the role of Carlo is? he just says “YES”? so we should have hired Berelsconi not Carlo.
then you mention injuries and forms. This is the role of manager to predict these things. I ask you a question. It is like a project manager does not predict some problems and then the project is finished one year late. you as a manger will not crticise your project manager for not predicting those problems?
I mentioned Van Baston alone is not good I always said Van Baston + supervison of Hiddink.
same old story, but I do not really judge anybody because of THIS game. it is really hard to keep players motivated. the league is almost over, we have no chance. so, I just wanted to weatch MacEchran. Yussi, new guys.
I beleive Chelsea’s next seeason started from today. If I were the coach, I would say, guys show me why you deserve to be here next season.
Ivanovic was hungry for goals today and McEachran’s perfectly weighted passes were a joy to watch. The rest of the team was frustratingly pedestrian. They did not seem capable of hurrying New Castle. The reason Terry and Lampard got yellow cards is because they both made tackles when they were a meter short. They really have lost pace. The teams overall lack of speed is worrying.
I personally like the new kits a lot. I think they look slick and are a big improvement off of this year’s awful version.
Wish we could fast-forward through the Everton game and get the off-season rebuilding project underway. As for today’s poor result and so-so performance – don’t worry about it. There was nothing to play for and our guys were probably lethargic after a long, disappointing season. It doesn’t surprise me that a workman-like team like Newcastle would match us under the circumstances.
I’m happy to see McEachran and Benayoun played meaningful minutes today. They’ll hopefully both be a bigger factor next year.
Unfortunately, we’re looking at another week of speculation about Carlo’s future. It’s becoming something of a bore and I just want the situation to be resolved one way or another.
Finally, I was browsing ChelseaDaft this week and the author was bemoaning how we might miss out on Kaka to AC Milan. If that happens, rejoice. Kaka is over the hill. His knees are more questionable than Essien’s. He’s lost all of his acceleration, which I believe was the key to his game back in ’06-’07. If you watch YouTube videos of his best moments and best goals, it’s all because of his speed. He just kind of ran past defenders rather than make brilliant moves. Now that he’s lost that element, he’s just not the same. Bringing in a 29 year old with injuries problems to the rough and tumble of the Premier League – at extreme cost – is just a bad idea. Please Roman, look past Kaka and go with somebody else.
Carlo Ancelotti on 23-Dec-2010:
“The squad is good, the players are in good condition, players without injury, and the squad is enough in this moment to play this game well – at our best.”
Carlo Ancelotti on 13-Feb-2011:
“Now we have a strong squad with David Luiz and Torres, we’ve improved our ability and we have more power. The squad was good, but now it is even better.”
Carlo Ancelotti on 20-Apr-2011:
“I don’t think the squad was good enough this year. At the start of the season, we couldn’t have envisaged having very important players out at the same time. We struggled to manage this – without Lampard, Drogba, Essien, Terry, Alex. It was very difficult.”
Carlo Ancelotti on 14-May-2011:
“The squad was good enough. We started the season very well, and we finished it very well. The mistake was not being able to manage that bad moment. It was too long, two months, a lot of defeats and draws. Above all, home games. We lost a lot of points in the last minute: Tottenham, Aston Villa, Everton. That was the reason. The strength and power and skills of the squad were good.”
Confused!
Carlo looks more and more bereft of ideas the longer he stays….
About this call for “stability” ( which can be a cover for inflexibilty and lack of creativity :
times have changed since SAF was given 6 years before he won anything but those were the days of lifetime employment at one company…… nowadays we do things differently and definitely faster……. By looking at his comments Carlo probably will go… but just by keeping him doesn’t mean there’ll be “stability”. Anyways I don’t subscribe to Carlo’s philosophy which are the idea of winning the league every 8 years and accepting players as “gifts” at Xmas.
Although I am the sore l;loser that I am ….I would rather lose with a hard-fought cracking with the other sides really having to work their socks off plus a heavy dose of skill and smarts to win the match rather than the indifferent capitulations we see now caused by tactical and self-wrought pains ….
Perfect comment!!!
I’m happy someone spoke about Sir Alex taking 6 seasons to win a title and how times have changed since. If Sir Alex had not won anything since 2004, does anyone think he would still be in the Man Utd job? No way. Yes, in Arsenal they have kept Wenger. That shows their ambition. All that Arsenal wants is to stay in the champions league and keep making money. Last thing a top football club should be.
It’s looking more likely that Carlo would go, based on his own comments. I don’t see any replacements on the horizon. That said, Grant has just been sacked by West Ham. Oh my God!
Next year :
1. Liverpool will get better and more confident… will be pushing for CL place and maybe FA Cup
2. Man Shitty will spend if need be and sure try for 2nd position in the league
3. ManUre will not sit on laurels but will buy and buy well and go for a reapeat with their experienced and motivated team
4. Tottenham will look to take points off especially the best teams for honor’s sake
5. Arsenal can’t do worse than this season
So what about Ol Chels ? we stick to the game plan as this year ? ….. and hope ?
Do you guys realize that if Petr Cech was injured the chances of making top 4 would of been out of the question? He surely deserves player of the year for Chelsea if he wins. I say lets sign Stefano Sorrentino from Chievo. Or Begovic from Stoke and trade Turnbull in the deal.
xerxesk,
True. Copying from my comment on the last blog:
If I look at the last two seasons, have we made progress?
(a) We’re still reliant on Lampard and Drogba, like we were 6 seasons back.
(b) Petr Cech is the only quality keeper that we have. For two seasons we haven’t found a good back up for him. If Cech had gone on a 6-month injury or something, we might have gone mad.
(c) Ashley Cole is our only recognised left back. No options in the last two seasons. No one was experimented or brought through.
(d) Essien/Lampard playing as poorly as they did, might have got dropped in any other team (okay, except Arsenal). We still persisted without using that opportunity to shake up
(e) In the last two seasons, not one young player has come through to the first team on a regular basis. We hadn’t even tried.
(f) Hardly any challenge or competition for the some players.
Do we realise our first choice playing eleven has not changed for many seasons?
Not enough progress.
Cech for player of the year!
I like the new kit … it’s got a military theme down the arms and across the shoulder. Didn’t like last years red strip, it was so Man United!
Carlo will be fired!
BC, surprisingly i like the new kit. Seen pictures of it prior to the game and i thought it looked awful but when i watched the game i thought the lads looked ok in it. I agree there’s a lot of white in the kit. Anyways just hope it’s lucky on us though i must say we didn’t start well in it. I thought last seasons was aful with the shoulder pads but we went on to do the double in it. So who knows?
The game became meaningless as soon as Arsenal lost.
About Carlo, i think u know where i stand with him. It’s getting tiring when fellow Blues tell us if u point his errors then u r plastic. We all want the very best for our beloved CFC.
Well after seeing Ron Gourlay’s and Roman’s reaction after the game yesterday, it’s almost certain Carlo will be axed come next week. Am I dissapointed “YES” am I surprised “NO”. Here at Chelsea we have become accustomed to seeing a new manager at the end of every season or two. I have nothing but the upmost respect for Carlo as a dignified man and manager, but its Roman’s empire, his money being invested into the club and his decision, so if Carletto is going to be sacked then I wish him the best of luck. He will most likely end up at Man City and it would be a sad day if he comes back to haunt us just like Jose did but oh well most of us revelled at the sight of Jose knocking us out of CL and were wishing him the best of luck, applauding him and what not, all while we claim to be CHELSEA supporters.
Anyway, thank you for the good memories Carlo, if you go this weekend, hold your head high, this season might have been a sad sight, but the record breaking, history making season you delivered first time around will never be forgotten. KTBFFH
Guys, Carlo may still stay on . There’s no one better available out there. However if he stays the pressure on him will b even greater. The red tops in the UK will b baying for blood at every turn. By the way i learnt we wont get to see our match against everton. It’s not on tv. So we’ve probably seen our last match unless u r on ur way to Goodison Park
The verdicts:
1. Carlo was very clever by keeping underperforming Lampard for all 90 mins despite playing like a Newcastle player, spraying balls to opponents. Attempted to dribble but stumbled and can’t win back balls.
2. Mikel was benched for a no good reason. He was supposed to replace Lampard at half-time, giving way for Josh play further up.
3. Kalou should be off the bench at 60th minutes (when Benayoun ineffective).
4. Terry was an onlooker for the 2nd Newcastle goal.
As long as we have Lampard-must-have team sheet, we’re going nowhere. I bet my house+farm on this!
This sounds a bit harsh, but … I’m letting it out.. Seeing your players giving out balls fcuking cheaply, it’s unbearable..
Whoever the manager is next season and beyond will be faced with a tough call: going up to Lampard and telling him he’s not starting for certain games. I wonder how Lamps will take this, given he’s been a lock for selection.
I still think Lamps is really good. He just needs dynamic wide players to stretch the field and allow him to run into the box unmarked. But he’s getting a bit old and inevitably he’ll have to someday accept his role as a sometimes-starter rather than an every-game starter. Maybe not next season but some day.
BlueChampion,
I agree with everything you said BC. Our situation is very much like Inter Milan! When Cesar got injured, there team was dissolving like sugar in hot water. This is even though they had signed Castellazzi who is still pretty decent. And as you said about Cole, well for Inter Maicon has no competition and so we saw his form drop this season.
Just sign Begovic or Sorrentino and we will be set for GK position. And for Left Back we should give Zhirkov more chances, before he got injured again he was brilliant, he never disappointed. And all of us ca remember his Champions League goal!!!!
Listening to the latest statements and interviews regarding Carlo it looks like the boardroom is going to fuck it all up again. I think Carlo has been informed that he will be fired after the Everton game.
As for Drogba, am I the only one who sensed after yesterdays game that he also knows his destiny at the end of the season. His whole body language and the way he went around Stamford Bridge Sunday suggest to me he was in fact saying goodbye. If that is in fact the case I sincerely hope that Chelsea will arrange a testimonial game in order for us all to say properly goodbye and a massive thank you for the time at Chelsea. DD is already a living Chelsea Legend
Board Room Fuck Ups (add to the list; I have a feeling it will be a long list)
1) sacking Jose Mourinho
2) employing Louis Felipe Scolari
3) sacking Ray Wilkins
4) employing Michael Emenalo
5) buying Andreji Shevshenko
6) selling ArjenRobben
7) letting Frank Arnesen go
8) letting Michael Ballack go one season too early
the list will surely grow and some points may be up for discussion. And remember this is just the Abramovic era.
Let’s hope buying Torres wont qualify for the list.
What I don’t understand is why our chelsea club doesn’t build a brilliant squad. There are alot of talented playes out there in the world. We don’t have to spend millions and millions on quality playes. Carlo Ancelotti is a calm man, a respected manager and a gaffer that can take a club specifically like ours forward in the football community. I don’t think that the basis of our club’s strategic five year forward thinking plan should lie on this man’s shoulders. I’m not a big fan of Martin O’ Neill, but I would love to see him as the manager of our club. I was surprised by how well Carlo Ancelotti did in his first season in England and no one can take that away from the man, but don’t think that its in the best interest of the club to have him as a long term solution. Cheers!
1. We saw why Josh doesn’t have a regular place and why he’s not Chelsea’s savior, not anytime soon. He had two moments which showed his great control but gave away the ball after one of them. Other than that he lost the ball too often, was too weak to physically challenge and was caught out of position too often. Holding mid is not a good position for him. The team improved when Essien came on.
2. Torres looked disinterested. I still can’t believe he didn’t make a run for Cole’s cross in the first half. He should study Chicharito’s runs. I hope the problem is that he’s burned out and that the solution is a summer away from the game.
3. Luiz finally pays for his sins by being benched. This was Chelsea’s strongest defense. First goal was a fluke. Luiz belongs somewhere where his mistakes don’t cost goals. I like him as the holding mid with an attacking flair.
4. The horrendously slow buildups highlight once again the need for a creative mid. We now see how over reliant the team had become on two men, Lampard and Drogba. That must change.
how about using josh as an attacking misfielder and luiz at the DM position…
1. Drogba still has a good year or two in him. But he’s twisting on the winds of change and will probably fly away. Watch Mourinho grab him and win the CL next season.
2. I think Essien is a huge decision for next season. Two major knee surgeries have dramatically changed his game. Will a full year of recuperation return the Essien of old, or is this as good as it will get? I think we’d need a crystal ball to know.
3. Lampard isn’t going anywhere. But we’ve seen the best of him. As I keep on saying, a creative mid is a huge need. I should caution the plastic fans about badmouthing Lampard, though. Anyone who fails to show this man the respect he deserves can expect a relentless sh*tstorm from me.
I think we all see that this squad needs major changes. To say that it’s better than a second-place and a CL quarters is just silly.
Sounds perfect!
Alright! That’s why exactly why we should address the issue of our squad. If we had the right players we could be miles ahead. As I would love Carlo Ancelotti to put a ” ruthless ” streak in the way we play our football. I don’t think that Josh McE is, well as of now he is chelsea material but in reality shouldn’t be with the quality of players in the world. Good idea about David Luiz as a DM player, he could be as good as Claude Makalele (if not better). Cheers!
I’m of the opinion that true gentleman (doesn’t matter which country you’re from) should know when its time to bow out gracefully in their career. I have alot of respect for Frank Lampard the football player, but I think that there are better players worth GBP 150,000k a week (in the world). Cheers!
I’d love to see Chelsea make a run at Wesley Sneijder to solve our creative midfield problems. He’s ridiculously talented and even better than his compatriate Van Der Vaart. It would be a real shame if Sneijder ended up at Man U.
Injecting some pace into our wide positions is important too. Malouda/Anelka/Kalou are all good players, but this is an area in need of refreshing.
How did we get this notion of ‘Josh McE as our saviour’? If a 18-year old is our saviour, then God save this club. The claim has always been that Josh is good enough to start and he could not have done any worse than Essien this season and probably would have helped Essien/Lampard rest during the season.
For me, Josh showed why he should be a regular starter for Chelsea. He was different. He had something that the Chelsea midfield was lacking all season – flair. He had the control, style and swagger. He was apparently a bit over-awed by the occasion of his first premier league start. Plus, playing as a defensive midfielder didn’t make the best use of his abilities. On a few occasions, his efforts were wasted as his colleagues didn’t quite read him. He should have been moved further up field as the game moved.
I’m under no doubt that he would have done better than how Essien did all season. We missed the trick there. Hope Josh becomes a regular after this 7/10 performance.
On Essien, he still has a Chelsea future. He must stay. We must keep him. On Lampard, we need to make a decision. If letting Lampard is good for the club, he should be let go. There’s nothing to be sentimental there. Club comes before every individual. Even otherwise, he need not be a regular starter. I would give no promises to anyone except two players – Petr Cech and John Terry. Others should get no guarantees. See what happened to Thierry Henry? David Beckham? Raul? You can be a legend but when the club has to move on, the right decisions have to be taken.
As regards the squad, it’s much better than the showing in the premier league and the champions league. Anything else is pure propaganda material bordering on being scandalous.
Brilliant comment!
I think it was better for McEachran to sit on the bench for most of the games this year. For him, this season was all about learning how to be a professional, training with the first-team, travelling to games and just maybe getting a taste of the action here and there in mop up duty. After all, he only turned 18 in March.
Next season, I hope his playing time increases a little bit more. After all, if these guys are ever going to develop, they’ll eventually need to get playing time. If that’s not a realistic short-term possibility, than we should send him out on loan somewhere.
In the meantime, he seriously needs to hit the weight room. He’s reed-thin and needs to bulk up. Until this happens he’ll be beaten up by thugs like De Jong. I know Ramires is equally skinny but we’ve seen the problems he’s had in getting muscled off the ball. Plus, McEachran isn’t the freak athlete that Ramires is. Rambo just runs and runs and probably has covered the distance between Rio and London this season with his work rate.
Thanks BC. The players are out there we don’t need to spend millions and millions. If we could sell Flourent Malouda (rating 6/10) for say GBP 2.5m ( someone’s been eating a bowl of crazy flakes) but hear me out, then we could use the money to buy Siphiwe Tshabalala (rating 8.5/10) for say GBP 350,000k. And probably pay him GBP 40,000k to 50,000k a week as a wide-attacking player. Trust me this guy is probably the best player in the world excluding Europe and South America. Cheers!
Our reserves just won Barclays Premier Reserve League title. Beat Blackburn 5-4 on penalties after 1-1 after regular time.
Congrats a little bit of silverware this season after all.
The only reason Chelsea does not say “Carlo is fired” is because they are negotiating with others.
Carlo is a dead man, even if he stays, it is just because they did not find anyone else ….
Whatever happens, a hat off to Carlo.. would like to see him again next season, perhaps with some more game intelligent than at the moment.
Somebody might telling Carlo off to pick team based on tactic employed and form.. not by names and and popularity.
Cheers
Michael "The Great",
well said michael…. :) .. with all due respect to lampsy… i couldn’t agree more with you….we need to have a young and dynamic midfield…….. ..
ps I, too, dislike the new kit.
Watching Sunday’s match I found myself thinking “They’ll never win anything wearing those shirts.” A bad omen for next season!
Pity. This ends a nice run of Chelsea shirts which I thought looked good.
The Europa League final is on Wednesday.
I expect to hear more about Porto’s newly-famous manager, Andre Villas-Boas. I mean, his 30-0-3 league record is a stunning achievement. He also gives his players the freedom to play attractive football, unlike the more disciplined style of his mentor, Jose Mourinho.
Andre Villas-Boas signed a 1 year contract extension with Porto. Is it possible that he reaches a back-door deal with Chelsea which allows Carlo to see out his contract? Probably not. Abramovich isn’t the kind of man who waits a year to get what he wants.
Still, I’ll be watching the Final with great interest. I haven’t seen any Porto matches this season, so this will be a first.
André Villas-Boas is almost same age as Drogba and Lamps.
Can he control/manage those two in dressing room? Somebody has to go if he comes..
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Liverpool-have-made-a-formal-approach-for-20m-rated-Lille-midfield-starlet-Eden-Hazard-who-is-also-target-for-Arsenal-Chelsea-Real-Madrid-article737374.html
I bought this kid in FM2011 :)), He is still injured in the game so I have noy used him :))
- Sergio Busquets of Barcelona racially abused Marcelo, just to being ignored by UEFA.
- 2 finger-salute to Platini and Co. (UEFA corrupts)
I thought the world the was saying we will be crazy to sign Kaka cos he’s just an expensive crock. Now Kaka says he never wanted to leave Madrid in the first place, what do we get? “Kaka snubs Blues”. These journalists never cease to amaze me.
We’ve lost Borini cos Carlo couldn’t convince him he had a future with us. Apparently he wanted to be on par with Kakuta in terms of wages. We have missed a trick here with this lad. He is a natural finisher with pace and guile. Our very little Suarez. Now some other team will benefit. Such a shame. Carlo doesn’t negotiate contracts, agreed, but he could have had a word with him, encouraged the young lad to trust him. That is the work of a manager. Oh well ! too late. All the best Fabio Borini. I hope you come back to us sometime in the future. Ciao
KAZ, Thanks friend. In March 2011 there was a newspaper article (Daily Mail) with quotes from a chelsea club spokesperson stating RA’s intentions for the club in the future. The chelsea board wants to bring down the average age of the squad down to around 24 years. They made public their five transfers that they will be pursueing in the off-season (Neymar (19yrs), Hazzard (20yrs), Lukaka (18 yrs), Van der Wiel (23yrs) and Sanchez (22 yrs). These are good targets, but will be very expensive. I would love chelsea to do what real madrid does, which is actually asking the clubs supporters which mega star(s) they would like them to bring to the club. Cheers!
I concur.
I can’t tell if Porto are that good or if Braga are that bad. Horrible marking on Porto’s first-half goal.
Braga can’t keep possession. I’m not sure whether Porto’s pressing is responsible or if Braga are just poor.
This needs more study!
I wanna buy 1 player Midfielder and 1 Strike ??
Javier Pastore or David Silva
Sergio Aguero or Neymar
Looket formation its so fucking good with 2 player?
—————–Cech——————
Ivano—Terry—Luiz—-A.Cole
Lampard—Essien/Ramires—Pastore/Silva
Aguero/Neymar–Torres–Sturridge/Kalou
We have and new player ?
Van Anholtt ,Bertrand,McEachran,Kakuta,Borini??
And i wanna to leave to go out ?
Anelka,Malouda,Benayoun,Zhirkov,
I like this formation !!
k.drogba,
you do know that David Silva is in City right? Are you 10 years old or just play Fifa 11 Manager mode too much? Be realistic please.
Guys Pirlo said officially he won’t sign with AC for next season, should we go for him since he is a free agent? I say if Carlo stays then ya.
Pirlo is 32. Chelsea have enough old players.
Xerxesk,
Pirlo is over. By the way he is only good for Seria A where midfielders give you chance to build the game from your defense. Pirlo will not succeed in EPL because midfielders press in EPL … out of question. Chelsea will never offer him anything.
maysam,
I agree with you Maysam. But maybe Carlo can utilize him. He can be like Deco. We all know Chelsea suck at set pieces to a point where Drogba has to take them, so he can be useful for that. By the way are you Persian Maysam?
I’m looking forward to the Champions League final. Should be a good game. I think Man U have a solid chance, although Barca deservedly start as favorites.
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I hope I’m wrong, but I think Barca will overwhelm Man U just like they did two years ago. The money and the players are in Spain these days. United’s midfield can’t compare.
Xeresk, I love Drogba’s free kicks. They’re deadly. What I don’t uncertain is why he, the center forward, takes corner kicks when he belongs in the box.
Wxwax,
I definitely think Barca have the advantage, particularly in midfield. But Sir Alex is a wily fox and I’m sure he’ll think up some novel game plan after the disaster of two years ago. Man U. have bags of speed in attack and I think they’ll use that to their advantage. Plus, Barca really struggled to cope with Theo Walcott the last two years in the CL which shows they’re susceptible to speedy players.
I think Man U. will come out all guns blazing like they did against us two weeks back. They’ll hope to unsettle Barca, perhaps get an early goal and the momentum that comes with it and look to stamp their high intensity style of play on the game right away. Man U. don’t have the style of play to sit back and play Mourinho-style suffocating defense. I think they’ll go for broke and just attack and press rather than park the bus.
If Barca stay strong in the first 15 minutes, then they’ll go on to win. So for me, the early minutes are key.
Wxwax,
because the man is the best at delivering the ball i suggest u tell malouda.. lampard.. ro step their games up for fcuk sake…..
this is exactly why i dont want the guy to stay .. i respect pirlo.. but the damn man is too old… and carlo will try to sign him if he stays…. i think pirlo would be something different .. but just the wrong age
guys Pirlo 32 he is not that old! Look at Viera in City. Viera is having an impact for City, so I would say we offer him a one year deal and he can have an impact on our team.
Official: Real Madrid sign Hamit Altintop on a four-year contract
How did we miss this one? God damn it. He would of been awesome for a 4-4-2 formation.
I would like to say a word about Madrid. Madrid has the best squad in the world. They should be winning every trophy there is to win. When one mega star is substituted, another brilliant player comes on, in his place. Its just unbelievable and just plain ridiculous. To even better that they have a manager who knows how to get the best out of his players and has a track record with winning trophies and making the club more prestigeous than before in the eyes of the football world. Madrid should win atleast a minimum of 7/8 La Liga trophies out of the next 10 seasons, if they are to live up to their potential. In that period of time star football players may come and go, but that shouldn’t upset the apple delivery van. Cheers!
Rors21,
I agree that Man U will play their game. I admire the style of football that Ferguson always plays. But I think we’re going to see them abruptly cut open by a neat Messi pass or run and that will be that.
United can hope that Busquets opens his filthy little mouth and utters another vile racial insult and gets his racist ass sent off. There is no honor in Spanish football. None.
denverblue,
Malouda can still do it. Lampard will benefit from a proper off season but as I wrote before, I don’t believe he’ll ever reach his top form again. I earnestly hope I’m wrong, I respect him more than any player or manager in Chelsea’s recent history.
I thought that I should just say something. Its so sad, that there are so many talented football players in the world, for example sipihwe tsabalala. One of the wisest words that rafa benitez ever said was that a good manager always strengthens his squad at every possible transfer period. Some of the best clubs in europe being barca, man utd and real madrid seems to apply these basic rules in football. But even though chelsea has been a big club since 2003, they still fail to do the simple things in football (this is just one example) right. Cheers!
This is my opinion. But sipihwe tsabalala 8.5/10 (left-wing midfielder) should be bought for under GBP 5m as a replacement for flourent malouda 6.5/10. Obviously you’re entitled to your opinion, but to anyone who reads this, don’t discriminate againt players just because they’re aren’t famous. Cheers!
i might get abit of flack for this….but ……..umm…lets say.lampard should be relegated to a bench role….i mean he’s great but he’s hogging the midfield when he’s injured so i don’t think its fair..i think its fair to quote thierry henry here:’I'm better off leaving arsenal because the young lads really need to play and i think they’d be better off without me because i keep screaming for the ball even when im in a a bad position’
lampard scored 13 golas this term and thats amazing but if we can give him a proper off season and train till he’s u know confident of playing well, till then he shudnt start…..same goes for john terry.take half the season off if you want to to john….but u need the rest cos u’ve said it urself tht u haven’t been fully fit in 4 years…..
paremal, super Frank Lampard is definately a Chelsea legend, but he has to step up his game. Cheers!
What the hell man.
http://www.galatasaray.org.la-rp.com/futbol/futbol_as/haber/10099.php
It is official website of Turkish Club GALATASARAY and they claim they have signed DROGS for 2-3 year deal and will be announced on Monday officially…
Did anyone see this coming?????
Zac,
All I see is an offer is “being prepared.” Your link doesn’t work.
All this talk of Messi chasing 50 goals this season, folks overlooked that Cristiano Ronaldo is outscoring him in La Liga.
Ronaldo netted his 39th and 40th league goals on Saturday. In all competitions, 53 goals.
Really, this just highlights what a sad bunch La Liga are. Two teams and a bunch of punching bags. Not much of a league.
xerxesk,
cause we miss every damn thing man!! I feel so pissed off man !! the man will be a good buy
.. now im waiting to see what chelsea will do… they need approach madrid for a few of there bench warmers :)
Gago, Pedro, Canales, Granero… anyone
how about resigning Diarra?
we need to look at Kun the man is damn good
wxwax,
same thing happened with drog last season bro .. all the talk about roo.. fcuking drog came back fro AFC and passed roo o take the golden boot and push chelsea to the Double!! great guy!!
denverblue,
I know exactly how you feel Denver. Chelsea is always dead last in picking up bargain buys. The only free agent that were worthy to mention were Pizzaro that we picked up, and he didnt get no time playing.
As for Diarra to come back I would love it!!!!! He had said in past he would return to Chelsea, lets go for him! But for Gago we should stay away, and Pedro Leon is a gamble. For a proper winger we should go for Nzogbia from Wigan! He would cost less then 13 Mil and will push Malouda out to perform his best or pave the way for his leaving.
Ready to watch Carlo’s last game ?
Not many players coming out in defence ,unity with or praise of Carlo…. while all these articles about him leaving etc circulate at full blast…..
Carlo ain’t a bad bloke ….or a bad manager…..it’s just that I for one, would hate to see Chelsea playing next season with the lame formation and tactics as in this campaign….. same old stuff again and again…everyone knowing what Chelsea would do…..the slow buildups and running into walls of defenses …… also the capitulations / let-downs / lack of oomph….to ManUre in both the CL and league…. this must not continue …
and tell me ….when in this ever had to wait for major slip-ups of rivals or favours from the gooners for a crack at the title.. ? And if CA could not effect a tactical change this year who is to guarantee he would next year ?
He is steady that much we know … but he doesn’t seem inspirational…… and that may be the reason he might be let go… if for nothing else……
Or let me put it this way …… we get Ol red-nose SAF and we send CA…. u think ManUre would swap ?
JoseHoliday,
Not so.
In fact, the only one even mildly critical of Ancelotti is Solomon Kalou, and that’s for the the obvious reason, the same reason he didn’t smile after scoring his last goal: he wants to be a starter and he blames Ancelotti for holding him back.
I guess at this point it’s useless to observe out how many different formations and variations of personnel Ancelotti used this year.
The only thing he didn’t do is throw the kids into the fire when things were going bad. Based on their appalling showing against Newscastle United in the League Cup, I don’t blame him a bit.
I guess at this point it’s useless to observe out how many different formations and variations of personnel Ancelotti used this year.
The only thing he didn’t do is throw the kids into the fire when things were going bad. Based on their appalling showing against Newcastle United in the League Cup, I don’t blame him a bit.
Carlo all but knows come the end of this week, he would be sacked as Chelsea gaffer, and if i’m honest that is simply pathetic, this constant axing and changing of managers will leave us rudderless for years to come. What amazed me is the fact that when Carlo was asked would he consider the West Ham job he said “why not”, it’s simply amazing that a manager of his stature and calibre wouldn’t even mind working in the second devision, that shows nothing but upmost respect for the game and ethics of this business. A lot of people here are Jose’s followers, well I for one am proud to say, Carlo Ancelotti as a manager and a human being gets all my respect. Pure class Carlo, bravo … KTBFFH
The above portion of the comment is terribly wrong and scandalous, in my opinion. To use the Newcastle match un the league cup is just bad. He didn’t have ‘throw the kids into the fire’ and that was never the blame on him. The blame was on his lack of cleverness and streetsmartness in integrating the kids. He got it totally wrong there.
So, it looks like that only way Carlo wants to use the kids is by using most of them in the line up? Why can’t he get one young player every now and then. Simply put, probably, Carlo didn’t know how to use his squad. He simply made a mess of it. Plus, perhaps he didn’t have the courage to tell his senior players to sit out when they were performing poorly. That’s the ONLY explanation for sticking with Essien when he was our worst midfielder this season and also with Lampard when it was very clear that we needed to change something.
Carlo has made several blunders. He has had a very poor season. And he tries to find faults everywhere except within. He doesn’t show any promise. He is totally uninspirational. I have a feeling that we would turn into an Arsenal under him. If he gets the sack, I can totally understand. But then, if he stays, it’s not with expectation but with just hope.
You won’t find any players criticising Carlo because he’s been very ‘nice’ to them. No matter how poorly they play they don’t get the drop. No matter how bad they play, they won’t get someone breathing down their neck. Some of the players are virtually unchallenged in their positions. Why would they criticise Carlo?
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11668_6944782,00.html
That is where the guy really deserved to be ….
BlueChampion,
Exactly :))
Even Kalou should be pleased with Carlo. When he was missing 6 goal-scoring opportunaty every game, Carlo still used him …
Carlo’s team selection against Everton today just stinks. With nothing to lose, why can’t he be playing Ryan Bertrand, Josh McE and David Luiz (is Luiz still serving his punishment for hitting back at Carlo who was simply scapegoating the brazilian?)?
We all know Carlo is very poor at taking risks. In fact, he hardly takes any risks. He was like that in Milan too. But today’s team selection is just unacceptable. Terrible.
Can someone please tell why Drogba is not even on the bench today?
BlueChampion,
And you still defend him.. No more Carlo plizzzzzzz…He should go to West Ham.
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