typical chelsea performance, very strong and unbreakable with decent forward moves, a little further then good enough to get three points. regardless of who the opponents apart from the top 4- the performance is always the same.
im eagerly awaiting the game against arsenal, it will be big.

lpool flunked against reading. they lose their first game

hahahaha liverpool lost 3-1 against reading. with rafas amazing tactical ability he played veronin, crouch and torres upfront.

well i said before the chelsea game, sunderland is not a roll over, they are decent side, its unlucky they got beaten by 7 goals at everton, same like we gave man city a 6-0 trashing, doesnt make us supereb or man city crap, every team has a bad day, but as for the match i am happy we kept a clean sheet and as long as we keep tight in the back, attacking players will have confidence going forward and we will score goals, but desperately we need to get someone inda stiking department, no doubt. sheva, pizz, sidwell all have become fringe players. so we need a quality striker.

Till end of december, i would prefer AG plays sheva and kalou upfront and if necessary pizz and sheva. and 4-3-3 wouldnt work at all if hes going to play sheva as a lone striker. we need some one with drogba’s caliber if he prefer 4-3-3. next game is valencia at home, if i am honest, i dont really care about the result since we are through, though i hate to loose. just need to keep it tight and give players some rest for the big game.

I know ballack is back in training and plyed cple of reserve games, but anyone knows when exactly is he back to play for the first team ??? we desperately needs some creativity and he can provide that. go on chelsea, lets all get behind the team and keep winning.

the game sucked. we need drogba and essien. pizzaro is the worst striker ever. his just running around cant even get the ball under his feet. i hope drogba plays the next to games against arsenal and liv.

BlueFan Nr:1 - Apparently, you haven’t seen the post on the left hand side of the home page. Drogba is out and might be back only in Feb.

shevchenko was super. i think chelsea will be a champion

pizarro can u please hold the ball for few seconds before u lose it ….

today, i woke up late … and when i turned on my t.v I saw pizarro more confident….

i thought that he scored a goal, so that’s why he was playing from the middle field to the front…. hehehehe

but then…

on the highlights, i saw that he was a substitution….for some player…
and he was playing from the minute 65…. that’s why he was running…instead of walking

pizarro, i’ll ur enemy number one until you prove me wrong….

now u have all the time in the world to show what u can do ….

there is not World CUp classifier matches… or drogba’s shadows around you….

pos.

First of all, “If this is what he calls ‘good football’, then I’m Diego Maradona.” Haaaaaaaaaahahahaha. This is what brings me to this blog, BC, your humor’s fantastic.
Thanks for posting my responses so quickly, BC. This idea’s pretty cool, methinks.
About the match, you nailed every performance, but about the penalty, I definately think it was one, especially that the ref had passed on the goalie tackling SWP in the first 10 minutes and Belletti tackled from behind without touching the ball. Those two would have been controversial penalties, but they at least were debatable. And if you keep poking the dog in the face, you’ll get your finger bitten off. So we get a penalty. Which is fantastic, ’cause Lampard’s my captain on Squadgod But we deserved a 4, 5 goal margin. I can’t even believe we got so few shots on goal. Lampard was more of a defensive midfielder… WHY?! He didn’t shoot except twice, which is horrible. He’s probably our top scorer that was playing! Joe Cole was average, SWP is good in the midfield three, I like him there (a page from JM’s book, eh AG??), but was subpar today. Overall, playing anyone in the top ten, we would have had a tough day, playing anyone in the top five we would have dropped points.
In short, I think it was unacceptable, we really need to improve.

I love how even the commentators were asking throughout the game, what’s changed from Mourinho to now?? And the answer is simple and clear, absolutely nothing. Except AG says we played beautiful football.

Overall, I’m happy with Liverpool losing and us getting three points, but it’s a shame we’re not playing well.

I give you $1000 by paypal if you give me acceptable reasons for Benitez substitutions. :))
the game was a big joke.

big games are next week.
I pray for these results .
Chelsea win Arsenal and Liverpool win Manchester
or Chelsea win arsenal and Liverpool manchester Draw.

Adonis :
yes lamaprd had defensive responsibilities in this game becasue Joe Cole and SWP and Kalou went too much forward to help Sheva becasue Cate or Grant knew that Sheva cannot do anythnig alone there. So when Cole, Kalou And SWP went forward, center of the field was empty if Lampard did not stay there with Mikel.
I think we will see this formation more when Kalou and Essien and Drogba and Mikel are absent due to African cups.
at that time we have Malouda , Cole, SWP and Ballack.

that’s a good formation becasue sheva is not like Drogba he needs to have some support at front.

by the way, good move by Pizarro , that’s what I call professional. I think he should start in some games instead of Sheva.

Your analysis of the match was spot on BC.

This was a typical Chelsea style performance.

I notice that Grant still carries on with his silly ramblings about us playing far more positive, attacking football than we ever did before.

As Adonis so rightly said:
“I love how even the commentators were asking throughout the game, what’s changed from Mourinho to now?? And the answer is simple and clear, absolutely nothing. Except AG says we played beautiful football.”

I listened on the radio and heard them after the game say it was a typical Mourinho style game against limited opposition, we got the two goals and then sat back, conserved our energy for the next game - job done. Nothing fancy, nothing spectacular, job done and 3 points in the bag.

Likewise on TV they said the same thing. No change in style despite Grant’s repeated utterings on the matter, the team are winning and winning a la Mourinho.

That’s probably the very reason why Grant can boast about how well he has done since the Man Utd game - he has let the team play as they know and it works as we always new it did.

The test for Grant will come when he starts mucking around seriously with the team and introducing new players, because if he wants to keep Roman happy he is going to have to start actually doing something rather than keep talking about what he thinks he is doing (but isn’t).

Glad to see Reading beat Liverpool - what a result and the pressure is back on Benitez - I can’t see him ever winning the league for them - long may he stay in his job!

Chelsea gano de vuelta¡¡
Muy buen partido y un golazo de Shevchenko de cabeza. Jajajaja Liverpool perdio 3 a 1 contra Reading FC. Y otro gol del mediocampista Frank Lampard que esta jugando bien en los ultimos partidos que jugó. Meparecio que no fue penal sobre Alex pero el arbitro lo cobro. Espero que se recupere Carvalho de su lesion. Espero que Chelsea gane los proximos encuentros y especialmente contra Arsenal que es un equipo potente que tiene un muy buen juego con Rosiky y Hleb.
Espero que chelsea salga campeon de la barclays.

Bye bye

we need didier drogba . f*** off i hope he will be back soon

Hi Guys.

Good RESULT..Bad GAME

I heard AG speaking on TV after the game n I seriously felt like breaking my TV listening to his crap..He n his Beautiful football bullshit..n the digs at jose..just felt like kicking him

I want to appreciate him for the work hes doing..but he makes me hate him with his silly comments after every damn game…the team is winning..great..I am happy..but why is claiming a revolution when nothing much has changed???

The game also answers the question of whether we need to get in a striker in jan..YES WE DO..We were POOR in the attacks all day long..

Our attack is definitely the weakest of the top 4 teams..sheva scored today alright..but his overall game today was poor

Pizzaro wasnt doing much as a Center Forward..He is more of a supporting striker

forget the ANC..We need a better strike force if RA’s dreams of being a world power by 2014 needs to come true

Our Defence n Midfield are good enough..I would definitely love to see a new good winger though..SWP n Malouda arent exacty the ones that can set the stage on fire consistently..

We need 2 good center forwards..i prefer Podolski n Anelka..Adriano would also be a good option..Crouch would do fine as well..

AG has the support of RA..n millions to spend..I just hope he spends wisely

Ballack has started playing with the reserves..He hasnt been named in the CL squad for the group stages i think..so he cant play against valencia

We should rest Terry, Lampard, Joe, ashley etc..keep them fresh for Arsenal

==============Hilario================

Beletti======Ben haim====Alex======Bridge

SWP======Sidwell=====Mikel=======Sinclair

===========Sheva====Pizzaro=======

even a 0-0 draw with valencia would do just fine..

Cmon BLUES

if avram cant play what hi calls pretty fotball against sunderland then i dont know what he is doing coaching chelsea. i miss the way chelsea dominated most of the games during jm time. they where like machines. i hope romans thinking about spending some money cause this is bull.hit. change manager and buy 2 new strikers and one attacking midfielder. damn grant show us some of that good fotball your talking about..

and get rid of pizarro!!!!!!!!!

Pizarro’s much better than Sheva, sweetheart. He was horrific today, but so was Shevchenko. I give Sheva a 6/10 because of the goal but Pizarro a 4/10. But throughout the season, Pizarro’s a better player for Chelsea. Especially with a Drogba or big striker.
We know one thing for certain, Sheva and Pizarro can’t play together well at all.
Any guesses why? They’ve only been replacements for Drogba. That’s how Drogba’s presence hurts the chemistry of all the substitutes/bench players.
It’s going to hurt us pretty soon, too. I just hope Essien returning will help.

Maysam, I understand why Lamps is defending, I just don’t want him in that role.

I’m with you TrueBlue, I am really trying hard as time moves on to like Grant believe it or not but after every game he ruins it.

This one? Yet again he has made another uncalled for dig at Mourinho to try and make himself look better than he really is. On MOTD tonight he said that he was pleased with how we are quietly moving up the table and that he liked to get on with his job without a fuss “especially after the poor, no BAD start we had”. He then went on with his laughable rent a quote of “but we are now playing good, positive football”.

Grant, lets get this straight when you took over we were 2 points behind leaders Arsenal, if they win tomorrow we will be 6 points off the same team! Please explain to me how you have actually improved our situation that radically and how being 2 points off the league leaders in SEPTEMBER was a BAD START! Please explain to me how you have radically changed our style of play, please explain to me how what you have achieved in your low key career to merit you being in charge of a club like Chelsea? Show me your winners medals Grant which would justify your repeated snide digs against our former manager’s achievements with this club and playing style.

I’m lucky I’ve got more than one TV in my house because every time I hear him spout forth his misleading and insecurity racked platitudes I just want to stick my fist through the TV set.

Instead I think I will just press the mute button now when he comes on.

There was nothing much overly exhilarating or attacking about our football today for him to crow about but he still tries it on, so much for the great psychologist he claims to be, if this is as far his mind games go then he needs to go back to school because they don’t fool me one bit.

He said when he took over he wanted to respect the past and what had been achieved but try something different that was fair enough. However, it’s clear now with some wins under his belt, he’s got cocky and he has jettisoned any idea of “respect” for what Mourinho achieved and is consistently trying to diminish the success he brought us in his own sneaky underhand way.

Bad form Mr Grant and you win no plaudits from me. I don’t care how many games you have gone unbeaten now. To gain respect you have to earn it, Mourinho earned it and you had better start doing the same.

Adonis
How many games have they , sheva and pizarro , played together? they need time.
what did you expect pizarro to do today? scor two goals and assist three times? he just came in to run and keep the ball for cheslea , he made referee to show Miller the red card. that was great.

it was a decent game and please get rid of swp and pizzaro. good goal by sheva chelsea should have won by 3or4 swp go back to man c

sheva scored a beauty against lesciter city in the carling cup with pizz as his partner they both played really well together i dont think its a bad combo for not very difficult matches

Bella,, hahahahah ——- i watched the match of day and i was hoping avaram grant wud shut his mouth today as i defended him in the last post match analysis, and as soon as he opened his mouth i knew what was coming, but still i dont know if hes having a dig at Jose, because what ever he says or anyone says about jose, hes a proven manager, so its just foolishness from grant to have a dig at Jose, i think hes just trying to convince everyone that we are trying to play a bit more attractive and attacking football, we are not boring as everyone has lablled us, that might be his intention.. i dont know, infact i dont understand half the thing he says, he always has this grumpy noiseeee wenever he gives interview, hahahaha well dont have a go at me for defending him lol,

I think we have solid central defence with JT, RC and Alex and good central midfield with the likes of mikel, lamps, ballack, essien and if needed the likes of makalele and sidwell for cover, but for wide players we need to get some one who can take on players and deliver good balls into the box, at the moment the only player whose anywer near there is kalou, infact he can be classed as a centre forward, malouda, SWP and joecole, i dont know, if they have the ability to take on players and deliver the final ball, malouda hasnt been that excellent as he was for lyon, dont get me wrong, Joecole is an excellent player but i still dont know if his actual position is as a wide player. he is excellent when he plays that typical no 10 position jus behind the strikers and infront of the midfield, roaming behind the strikers, so it becomes hard for the opposition to pick him up and mark him, with reagrds to SWP,i dont know what happened to that lad who was sensational at mancity, hes also very much like joecole,he should probably have a free role behind the strikers, if you watch them play for both chelsea and england both likes to cut inside either from right or left, cant go wide outside and cross in, we need some one with pace and a bit of trickery to go past players and provide crosses and set up assists to strikers. would be great to see if grant goes into transfer window and buy a wide player and a striker. its been said in few papers that chelsea might try and get roysten drente from real, since hes not happy playing as a left back and shuster hasnt been in favour of him, he would be a great buy, he can play as a left or right winger, i have watched him through out the under 21 last year and he was magnificent, but Roman would have to spent some roubles for sure and i think we should stop buying players who are getting into retirements, Huntellaar would be a great buy as well if hes available, he has been consistantly scoring goals infact a goal machine as they say in holland for ajax for past 2 seasons. we cant play this route one football unless drogba is upfront, he’s the only player infact the best inda business at the moment to hold up the ball and bring in other players into play.will wait and see what happens in Jan, tough few games coming up now, soo lets get behind the team and lets hope for the best.

To everyone critiquing SWP-yes, he did look pretty poor today, but I thought that was due in large part to Grant’s bizarre decision to play him a central roaming player. He’s MUCH better when he stays wide, and to compound the error Joe Cole was playing even though he’s a better player when roaming in the middle.

Happy to take the three points, as always. Thought Shevchenko looked pretty good. Definitely an encouraging performance from him, even though it was a simple finish. We’ll need him to step up over the next month!

Maysam, sweetie, read my comments again. You didn’t get it. I said how much I like Pizarro “Pizarro’s much better than Sheva,”throughout the season, Pizarro’s a better player for Chelsea.” I’m not an idiot, I understand that one playing so few minutes can’t score “two goals and assist three times…” I was talking about how Drogba playing too much ruins their match sharpness. “Drogba. That’s how Drogba’s presence hurts the chemistry of all the substitutes/bench players.”
And by the way, he made him show the red card by kneeing the guy. He’s lucky the ref didn’t see it. But it was dirty, don’t think he’s such a genius because he got away with it. And besides, what kind of good thing is that?? OOH, AAH! He made him get a red card! He started a fight and didn’t get punished!!
He played rubish, we all know they need more time to improve. No rocket science here.
Please don’t insult my intelligence, and read my comments more carefully, and you’ll see, we’re talking about virtually the same thing here, mate!

Bango, Shevchenko wasn’t that great. He just wasn’t. He lost the ball too much, didn’t win the ball back throughout the match, seemed lost quite often, and his only saving grace was the goal. But with this form, no strikers of ours (maybe Kalou???) other than Drogba deserve to be in the Big Four.
Man, oh man, I can’t wait till transfer season.

God, I wish the Ronaldinho rumors come to fruition!

Adonis-
I didn’t necessarily mean good in comparison to strikers in general. I meant pretty good for him, haha. I don’t think Kalou deserves to be on a top four club, actually, certainly not until he stops attending the Andriy Shevchenko School of Finishing.

The one positive for Shevchenko is that the lad is trying. I do pity him a bit, because he doesn’t go wanting for effort. He’s just as befuddled as we are about his sudden precipitous drop.

…Then I remember how much he makes. And I sigh, and move on.

Hahaha, very well said BANGO. But Kalou’s been good for us, mostly. Really, I mean he’s always making runs, always chasing down loose balls , always crossing (and is decent at it!). He’s started the most games for us this season, out of anyone. He’s good. I like him. I agree, his finishing’s more Shevaish than Drogbaish, but he’s still 22. I mean, 7 years ago Drogba was nowhere… I’m not sure Kalou can be a Drogba, he’s not built for it, but he certainly shows signs of brilliance from time to time. Imagine, if he was English, he’d be the next Maradona!!! He still drives me crazy sometimes, though.

Or rather, “The next Maradona!!!”

adonis and bango ???

have u ever guys seen maradona playing soccer???

the closest player to look like maradona is messi :S

….

kalou…is a m…selfish…. he never shares a pass w/ other strikers….

shev…is ok…but if he losses the ball , he should get it back……

claudio “Orgy” pizarro … cannot hold the ball but at least try to recover the ball
and remember my words….he will be penalized for the red card…..

peace out…

well i have been following Sheva ever since he came to bridge…and for those who say he played very bad today, i am sure they didn’t follow his earlier performances….he has been atrocious earlier….at least he was a part of things today….was passing ball to others….running around a bit with ball…and was also able to hold on to ball when challenged….
swp was same old story..moments of brillliance and then those frustrating crosses….cole was quite good….rest did their job, dare i say ‘effectively’ in Mourinho’s parlance…
and to moderator….u immediately brought Ferguson into context…u never did so in entire last season when Mourinho was also happy’ with his team and Manure were banging goals left, right, centre…shed ur Moro-dimensional’ bias mate….

I did not question your intelegence, It seems to me it is you that have doubt about your intelegence , i did not write anythnig but an ordinary comment.
I have said that times and times and repeat that again , everyone has a different concept of a soccer game. for me Pizarro was clever. Soccer is not game for me , it is war. in war you can shoot your enemy from behind. for me Pizarro ’s bahavior was totally acceptable.

about Drogba, it is not in my mind anymore, I am through with him, For me he is not a chelsea player anymore and I am looking forward to seeing a new striker much better than him sooner.
I like to see Anelka.

I am supporting chelsea for almost 12 years, I have to say I hate two chelsea players the most ,
Robben
Drogba.

whatever it is..have trust in avram grant…he is nw the manager…and i think chelsea play quite well..dominating the game …attacking was quite gd too…just tt lack finishing…but i believe sheva and pizarro can be a dealy partnership

For those who’re saying Sheva had a poor game:
http://football.guardian.co.uk/Observer_Match_Report/0,,2224608,00.html

I agree he wasn’t as effective as Drogba, but it was his first start in the premier league after a long time. And you can’t deny he hasn’t improved in the last few weeks.

And I actually think it wasn’t such a bad win. Sunderland almost drew against a very in-form Arsenal. As soon as Ballack is ready for the first-team, the better. We need a more central playmaker.

I thought Sheva was good today, he had a quite good game. I don’t know what people are on about when they say he ‘constantly lost the ball’ … he was actually keeping possession very well! I thought sometimes he dropped a bit too deep, and he didnt have many shots. There were many occasions when he could have ripped in a long shot, something we see occasionally with him, but he didn’t. I wonder if it is a tactical order from the management, who knows. But all in all, a good game for him with a good goal. Have you noticed he is on a good run of scoring? The last games have been -

Man City - goal (sub)
Leicester - goal (started)
Schalke - didn’t play
Wigan - didn’t play
Everton - didn’t play
Derby - won the ball, passed to Lampard whose shot hit the post for SWP to score (started)
Rosenborg - came on as sub at 68
West Ham - didn’t play
Sunderland - goal (started)

So, basically, in his last 5 matches in which he started 3, he has got 3 goals and played a vital part in the 2nd goal against Derby. It seems he has hit some run of form, lets hope it continues because with Drogba’s injury he might be playing a lot more.

Other than that it was a good, professional performance you could say. Dominated possession like usual, just didn’t turn the possession into goals (somewhat like usual). I think we need to be a bit more creative in the final third, and if we were to get a player in the January window, Ronaldinho would suit that perfectly. Well, we can dream, can’t we?

JO, whats your real name? is it Avram Grant? haha. And maysam, how come? drogba and robben are bouth great players. they bouth did allot for chelsea

Nitesh_Chandra (or Manish as we know?!)

Quoting Blue Champion @

and to moderator….u immediately brought Ferguson into context…u never did so in entire last season when Mourinho was also happy’ with his team and Manure were banging goals left, right, centre…shed ur Moro-dimensional’ bias mate….

Mourinho was happy with his team but did not go around saying we are playing champagne football. Grant is trying to create an illusion as if things have changed and all that. Fact is, nothing has changed. I don’t mind if nothing changes and remains like it used to be, he should not ridicule us by making us believe that he has brought about massive changes, there was a disaster and we are staging a historic recovery etc etc. To say this after every single match is very annoying indeed.

Is Sinclair still on loan to QPR? When are we going to have him (and Sahar) back? Hopefully before the ANC, otherwise we are stuck with Shevchenko & Pizarro and no backups!

but my question still is there…u never ever mentioned Manure’s attacking style last season….

Because I never had to . . . I was pretty much contended that we were in contention for all trophies despite the absences of Cech and Cudicini and even Terry, Essien, Carvalho etc. I never bothered much about how Man Utd or any other team is playing or that we should play like them. Earlier the priorities under JM were very simple. Win at any cost. Now the priorities seem to have changed. At least on paper, we seem to be too particular about how we get that win. While this is the agenda and this is what is being claimed at ever post match conference. So, I’m forced to take note of that.

Like JoseHoliday said sometime back, I like Chelsea for being Chelsea. I don’t want us to play like Barcelona or Man Utd or Fenerbahce or Slavia Praha. Problem is when someone says that we are playing great football and all that. JM never claimed that we played best football etc. Of course, he used to say sometimes that we were the better team on the pitch, when we were not, that’s more as a tribute to our team that pulls off the result with their sheer spirit and determination.

It was claimed that RA wanted Barca-brand football and Grant is supposed to be the man to deliver. I’m just pointing out that we are still playing like Chelsea of 06-07, not even like 05-06 or 04-05. I have no problem with that as long as we win, but Grant should really really stop talking about how we play.

looks like the league leaders r slipping.. we may get to top of the table winning at emirates

boro 1 - arsenal 0

boro playing really good.. arsenal seems off colour .. ofcourse chelsea is so used to miss big players.. may be others are not