Scott “who is theo walcott” Sinclair!

Chelsea Reserves went top of their league this evening at Barnet FC’s Underhill Stadium with a 2-1 win against close rivals Arsenal. Before tonight’s action Chelsea were in third place and Arsenal were top.

Prior to the match reserve team GK Yves Ma Kalamby was promoted to the first team squad for the Champions League game against Barcelona. Therefore Academy GK and German Youth International 19 year old Nick Hamann made his first appearance for the Reserves.

Additionally James Russell a second year Academy Scholar was promoted from the Academy to sit on the subs bench. Unlike Saturday, fortunately he wasn’t used, but what good experience for the young lad. Chelsea won tonight 2-1 with Ben Sahar opening the scoring. James Randall equalised from the penalty spot for Arsenal and then a couple of minutes later, Scott (Who is Theo Walcott?) Sinclair scored Chelsea’s winner.

I know throughout webland there is a fierce rivarly between Chelsea and Arsenal fans, but I have to say having watched this game live on Chelsea TV, both clubs have extremely exciting players of the future playing for their clubs. For Arsenal fans information. Philippe Senderos played a full 90 minutes after returning from injury after the World Cup. Mart Poom in goal made some extremely wonderful saves and Flamini could start in Arsenal’s first team as early as Saturday.

As for Chelsea. Scott Sinclair could start against Blackburn next week in the Carling Cup and there are a number of other players who could easily sit on the bench. Adrian Pettigrew a centre0half could be one example. Michael Mancienne could have been another one. But he has gone on loan to Queen’s Park Rangers for a month to join Jimmy Smith (who scored on Satur day in their 3-3 draw against Norwich)!!

SO FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT

COME ON CHELSEA

Get well soon Petr!

Chelsea Football Club is pleased to confirm that Petr Cech’s condition is improving. He is now fully conscious following the operation and the effects of the anaesthetic. He is communicating and talking with his wife Martina as well as the Chelsea and hospital medical teams who have now given permission for visitors.

Several members of the Chelsea management and team including José Mourinho and John Terry visited him this afternoon, while Carlo Cudicini was at the training ground today. Chelsea is grateful to everybody for their concern and good wishes for both Petr and Carlo. We would appeal to the media to please respect the privacy and feelings of Petr’s wife at this time.

Carlo was at the training ground today and did fifteen minutes on the training runner and during his interview he said that he would expect to go back to work on Wednesday and hopes (subject to medical advice) to be available for selection for the Premiership game against Portsmouth on Saturday. Carlo is a brave man as he expects to in the weekend premiership match:

I have just a little bit of a headache but apart from that I’m okay, I remember a sequence of corners and then after that, I just remember being in the ambulance and talking to the doctor. I think that is quite usual after a knock like that. Now everything is fine and the scan is okay so it is just a matter of letting two or three days pass and then to start again doing my usual work. Now for a couple of days I am doing some tests with the doctors and keeping an eye on the situation. Hopefully on Wednesday I begin again to train and hopefully for Saturday I will be okay.

 

I’ve had a lot of messages from here and from Italy and I use this occasion to thank everybody for concern about my situation. I have been a bit lucky, looking what has happened to Petr. It is quite awful what has happened to him and I wish him to recover as soon as he can. Tomorrow I will probably go to the hospital to have a good chat with him. It is quite strange what happened to two goalkeepers in one game. It is probably something that is going to be written in the record books.

In one way, it is good news as he may not be out for months as assessed originally. Meanwhile Hilario is set for his debut against Barcelona on Wednesday and Reserve team Goalkeeper Yves Ma Kalamby has been called up to the first team squad.

COME ON CHELSEA

GET WELL SOON PETR

GET WELL SOON CARLO

COME ON HILARIO

Yes Boss! On my way!

After the thuggery Reading dished out to Chelsea’s goalkeepers tonight, Reading have no doubt severely dented the CHAMPIONS hopes of rapid progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Wednesday October 18th could see Chelsea playing Barcelona with third choice Portuguese goalkeeper Hilario between the sticks after both Petr Cech and substitute goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini were victims of thuggish and brutal challenges by Hunt and Sonko this evening at the Madjeski Stadium, Reading.

For me the result a 1-0 win for the CHAMPIONS is irrelevant against the health of the Best Goalkeeper in the World and the Second Best Goalkeeper in the Premiership. The game wasn’t even 30 seconds old when Cech dived to smother the ball at the feet of Reading’s Stephen Hunt, making his first start for the Royals in the Premiership. Instead of attempting to jump over Cech’s body as attackers try to do, Hunt decided to continue on his path and the full roundness of his kneecap caught Cech flush on the side of his head.

Cech was left out cold. He was treated for a full five minutes before being stretchered off and eventually replaced by Carlo. A minute before full-time (in injury-time) Carlo came out to punch away the ball from a dangerous Reading corner and Sonko the thug from Brentford (schooled by ‘mad dog Martin Allen’) clattered into Carlo after the ball was punched away.

TV pictures proved that Sonko deliberately put Carlo out of the game because his eyes WERE NOT on the ball, in fact they were not focussed on anyone. As a side issue, the CHAMPIONS won 1-0 after a Frank Lampard free-kick was deflected into his own net by Igmarrsson just before half-time. Didier Drogba gave a perfect lesson in GK and striker etiquette when on two occasions challenging Reading’s ‘keeper Hahnemann he jumped over the ‘keeper after Hahnemann grabbed the ball. After what happened to Cech I am sure ‘The Dids’ would loved to have left a boot in!!?!?!?!?!?!?

There were two red cards – one of each side – first Mikel was sent off on his Premiership start for two bookable offences and incidentally Mikel ONLY made two tackles all game. Reading’s Andre ‘The Pikey’ Bikey was sent off for the same. His second yellow card came after he pulled and tugged on Drogba’s shirt in the second-half.

I hope Reading’s fans are feeling really HARD and good about themselves tonight. Chanting Barcelona, Barcelona and with Chelsea losing TWO goalkeepers due to the thuggery of two of their players, Wednesday night COULD WELL be Barcelona’s night.

COME ON CHELSEA

GET WELL PETR AND CARLO SOON – REAL SOON

Jose fine-tuning his formation?

Firstly I want to thank Blue Champion for inviting me to co-post to his excellent blog and his first request of me is to write a piece on tactics and specifically whether Chelsea should employ – 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 4-5-1.

Now when it comes to tactics, you are talking to ‘old school’ here. Only known to 4-4-2 and now we have got 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, but honestly isn’t 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 the same. NO it isn’t unless you work for or support Chelsea FC.When Chelsea use 4-3-3, to everybody else its boring boring 4-5-1, but if any other club uses 4-3-3 its exciting, fashionable and in vogue and depending what type of club you are in the sea of the football world, the media can make 4-5-1 look exciting too!!

When Chelsea first won the title way back in 1955 it had to be 4-4-2 that was employed by manager Roy Bentley. During the heady years of Dave Sexton’s success: FA Cup in 1970, Cup Winners Cup in 1971 and the losing League Cup final to Stoke City in 1972, again tactics had to be 4-4-2.

You look at the players in Sexton’s days: The late Peter Osgood (Striker), the late Ian Hutchinson (Striker), the late Peter Houseman (Left winger), Charlie Cooke (Right Winger), Tommy Baldwin (Midfield), John Boyle (Midfield), David Webb (Central Defence), John Dempsey (Central Defence), Ron Harris (Capt and Right Back), Eddie McCreadie (Left Back) and finally Peter ‘The Cat’ Bonetti (Goalkeeper).

Try and get a 4-3-3 out of that lot. It was a straight 4-4-2. When you look at the team that John Neal and Ian McNeill produced with the likes of David Speedie, Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin, Joe McCloughlin and the like, it was always 4-4-2.

Glenn Hoddle began to muddle the waters when he became Chelsea manager in that he introduced zones into his play and on the training ground and critics say after Hoddle left Chelsea to become England manager that his methods were worse than rubbish. Look at Chelsea’s League record in Hoddle’s Chelseas tenure. 13th, 13th and 11th plus a losing FA Cup final to Man Utd.

But look who Hoddle brought to the club. Yep Ruud Gullit and look who Ruud brought to the club. Vialli and then everybody wanted to come to Chelsea – Zola, Di Matteo, Poyet, Lebeouf. You name them, they wanted to join.
Vialli using 4-4-2 in its basic sense gave us the League Cup, FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup.

Then we had Mr Nice Guy, Claudio Ranieri. All he wanted to do was to ‘arrive’ first everytime. Claudio success was to get us in the Champions League with that famous victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, which had it not happened, I may not be here to write this first piece.

But it was Claudio that really and seriously clouded the waters with tactics that nobody understood. Called the ‘Tinkerman’ he tried to fine-tune a Chelsea side at every possible moment and perhaps his ‘tinkering’ got to the players and after the defeat in Monaco and having Huth up front with Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink at right-back sealed his inevitable fate.

So bring on Jose Mourinho. His third year at the club. Already back-to-back Premiership winners, Carling Cup winner and a winner of the Giant Frizbee Shield or in other words the Community Shield.

4-3-3 is Jose’s favoured formation, no doubt about that. But without Joe Cole and Arjen Robben or Shaun Wright-Phillips playing together Jose can’t play it and to be honest little Shaunie hasn’t quite cut it yet playing under Jose’s direction and tactical planning. Also I am sorry to say, but Shaunie needs to work on his first touch, which since he has been at Chelsea is quite appalling, but Shaun always gets my support from my touchline seat at Stamford Bridge.

I actually think that Jose has been found out with the 4-3-3 or the 4-5-1 formation as it proved during the latter the part of last season. But when you sign the quality of Ballack and Shevchenko you are hardly gonna leave them two on the bench, plus when you get Michael Essien playing superbly and Jose publicly saying the he will ‘never rest or drop’ Super Frankie Lampard, you have got no choice but to play 4-4-2.

Drogba has been supreme since he got his head together and stopped all the embarrassing diving and histrionics and Sheva’s time will come, although for his age and price tag, his clock is starting to run down!! So formation wise with Makelele or Diarra in front of the back four, the formation is really 4-1-3-2.

Football has become an art of science nowadays (and I do not have a degree to understand it all) but, just ask any ‘old school’ Chelsea supporter and all they want is for the players to give 110% for the blue shirt and the badge.