Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

Duck Soup

As the season unfolds, we might crash and burn, but I'd just like to state that RDM has continually surpassed all expectations. Obviously, he took a team in crisis and took them on to become winners of the Champions League and FA Cup. But then RA asked him to reinvent the team as Barcelona In Blue.

He signs Oscar and Hazard, drops Lamps to the bench and starts playing in a completely different style. Are they the finished article? No, nowhere near it, but then the Oscar-Hazard-Mata axis has only played 2 league games together. We're top of the league, the new players are starting to gel and he's doing exactly what he was asked to do.

Maybe he's just a seatwarmer for Pep, but if he wins the league this season, playing in the new style - and yes, there are going to be some calamities along the way - wouldn't it be a brave or foolish owner that turfs him out? Sometimes you get just the right manager at the right club and at the right time. At the moment, RDM seems to fit Chelsea and be successful at whatever they ask of him and whatever he asks the team to do.

I reserve the right to say that he's overrated and clueless and demand his sacking if we don't win everything in sight at the end of the season.

GavRedKing

Duck Soup wrote: »

As the season unfolds, we might crash and burn, but I'd just like to state that RDM has continually surpassed all expectations. Obviously, he took a team in crisis and took them on to become winners of the Champions League and FA Cup. But then RA asked him to reinvent the team as Barcelona In Blue.

He signs Oscar and Hazard, drops Lamps to the bench and starts playing in a completely different style. Are they the finished article? No, nowhere near it, but then the Oscar-Hazard-Mata axis has only played 2 league games together. We're top of the league, the new players are starting to gel and he's doing exactly what he was asked to do.

Maybe he's just a seatwarmer for Pep, but if he wins the league this season, playing in the new style - and yes, there are going to be some calamities along the way - wouldn't it be a brave or foolish owner that turfs him out? Sometimes you get just the right manager at the right club and at the right time. At the moment, RDM seems to fit Chelsea and be successful at whatever they ask of him and whatever he asks the team to do.

I reserve the right to say that he's overrated and clueless and demand his sacking if we don't win everything in sight at the end of the season.

I'm looking forward to your rant in May if RDM has failed. :cool:

Sgt Pepper 64

GavRedKing wrote: »

I'm looking forward to your rant in May if RDM has failed. :cool:

Good to see you think he will get to May!

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Good to see you think he will get to May!

http://www.hasrobertodimatteobeensackedyet.com/

212 days as manager.

About 90 more then I thought he'd get. :pac:

duploelabs

A Chelsea Legend retires

http://www.football365.com/news/21554/8133323/Ballack-Announces-Retirement

Former Germany captain Ballack, who also played for Bayern Munich and Chelsea, was believed to be in talks with clubs in Australia about extending his career there, but he announced on Tuesday that his appearance in a Leverkusen shirt on May 5 this year was his last.

"At the age of 36, I can look back on a long and wonderful time in professional football," he said in a statement released by his agent Michael Becker.

"As a child, I could never have even dreamt of having such a career.

"It was a privilege working with first-class coaches and fantastic team-mates. Of course I am going to miss running out in front of 80,000 spectators or scoring goals."

Ballack became a free agent at the end of June after Leverkusen opted not to offer their former captain a contract extension.

He has had plenty of offers in the meantime, but said: "The last few months without playing football have shown me that the time had come to give it up.

"I am now looking forward to the next chapter in my life and would like to thank my family and all the amazing people who have supported me, pushed me and accompanied me," he added.

"They have made a major contribution to my success."

Ballack began his professional career in 1995 and won the first of four Bundesliga titles with Kaiserslautern in 1998.

He missed out on a major trophy with Leverkusen in his first spell at the club and in 2002 he finished as a runner-up in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League and World Cup.

However, he won three titles in four years with Bayern Munich before moving to Chelsea, where he won the Premier League, the FA Cup three times and the League Cup.

Having made 98 appearances for Germany, he missed out on a century of caps when a dangerous tackle by Kevin-Prince Boateng in the 2010 FA Cup final led to him missing that summer's World Cup due to injury and losing his captain's armband as he failed to fight his way back into the national team.

He spent the last two seasons of his career with Leverkusen and appeared for the last time in a 4-1 win over Nurnberg, leaving the field to a standing ovation in the 51st minute of what turned out to be his last-ever game as a professional footballer.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

bullpost

Ah still - that was great fun to watch.
Result a bit flattering as they took the game to us but even so.....

Aquila wrote: »

Took us long enough to make sure we got all three points!
Top of group E!!!

smuckers

Oscar was superb he works so hard.
Torres a little bit unlucky not to have scored, but other things he did well.:)

GavRedKing

Avoid losing to Shaktar and we should be sorted. Juventus next 2 games is more then likely 6 points. putting them on 8 after 4. I think we'll take at least from our Shaktar double header. That puts us and Shaktar also on 8 with 2 games to go. This group is still wode open amd could easily kick us in the arse if we dont do the business.

DazMarz

Just in reference to a post above, fair play to Michael Ballack. Might not have been at his best when he played for Chelsea, but he put in some good, solid performances, scored some class goals and of course launched himself at that Norwegian referee in the Champions League semi-final horror against Barca.

He was also behind one of the funniest things I've ever heard at a football ground:

West Ham away, December 2009. Side note: the African Cup Of Nations was in January 2010. Ballack made a mistake on the pitch. A young fan near me reacts:

"For fúck sake, Ballack! I can't wait til he fúcks off to the Africa Cup of Nations!!!"

The national IQ of Great Britain dropped a few points.

Good luck to him. Surely he will be snapped up by some German TV station to do commentary/analysis; he's a living legend in Germany. Sky might get him too for Champions League games.

Best of luck to him in the future, come what may!

GavRedKing

Looking forward to this game at the weekend.

Hopefully another 3 points and a possible 19 from 21.

geeky

Duck Soup wrote: »

As the season unfolds, we might crash and burn, but I'd just like to state that RDM has continually surpassed all expectations. Obviously, he took a team in crisis and took them on to become winners of the Champions League and FA Cup. But then RA asked him to reinvent the team as Barcelona In Blue.

He signs Oscar and Hazard, drops Lamps to the bench and starts playing in a completely different style. Are they the finished article? No, nowhere near it, but then the Oscar-Hazard-Mata axis has only played 2 league games together. We're top of the league, the new players are starting to gel and he's doing exactly what he was asked to do.

Maybe he's just a seatwarmer for Pep, but if he wins the league this season, playing in the new style - and yes, there are going to be some calamities along the way - wouldn't it be a brave or foolish owner that turfs him out? Sometimes you get just the right manager at the right club and at the right time. At the moment, RDM seems to fit Chelsea and be successful at whatever they ask of him and whatever he asks the team to do.

I reserve the right to say that he's overrated and clueless and demand his sacking if we don't win everything in sight at the end of the season.

Agree with all of this. RDM has exceeded every reasonable expectation of him at Chelsea, from signings to changing the style - and results. I'll be furious if he keeps this up and gets the bullet at the end of the season.

I also think his record at West Brom is seriously underrated. They were in a bad run when he got sacked, but not on course for relegation, while playing attractive football. It was a solid first half-season with a need for defensive improvement. The fact that Hodgson came in and played an absolute blinder makes it easy to forget that they were already a solid team.

Also, my goodness, that Oscar lad is something special - not just from a creative perspective. He works his socks off, plays after some nasty knocks, and generally looks to bring everyone into play. Eden Hazard's work-rate has also been impressive. Everyone knows the Mata-Oscar-Hazard triumvirate have skill, but they also seem to have a world-class attitude.

Sgt Pepper 64

DazMarz wrote: »

Just in reference to a post above, fair play to Michael Ballack. Might not have been at his best when he played for Chelsea, but he put in some good, solid performances, scored some class goals and of course launched himself at that Norwegian referee in the Champions League semi-final horror against Barca.

He was also behind one of the funniest things I've ever heard at a football ground:

West Ham away, December 2009. Side note: the African Cup Of Nations was in January 2010. Ballack made a mistake on the pitch. A young fan near me reacts:

"For fúck sake, Ballack! I can't wait til he fúcks off to the Africa Cup of Nations!!!"

The national IQ of Great Britain dropped a few points.

Good luck to him. Surely he will be snapped up by some German TV station to do commentary/analysis; he's a living legend in Germany. Sky might get him too for Champions League games.

Best of luck to him in the future, come what may!

For me, Ballack was very underrated, and often over shadowed by Lamps, who effectively played in his position.
If Carlo had been allowed to keep Ballack, I dont think we would have struggled so much in our "difficult" moment.

Also, he made sure I got an autograph when at the back of the q!

grumpymunster

Always liked Ballack and would agree was very underratted when he played for us. Looks like the type who will be a good coach you never know he might be back one day when RDM retires of course

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Avoid losing to Shaktar and we should be sorted. Juventus next 2 games is more then likely 6 points. putting them on 8 after 4. I think we'll take at least from our Shaktar double header. That puts us and Shaktar also on 8 with 2 games to go. This group is still wode open amd could easily kick us in the arse if we dont do the business.

We need to step it up an awful lot from last night to be in the last 16 at times we were so slow and narrow it was painful to watch. I even forget Moses was on the pitch at one stage, he was woeful lets just put that down to nerves.

I did like that lad who played in defence for them with the bandage on his head, we should take a good look at him very strong, great pace has a pass on him too. Apparently also a Chelsea supporter so lets get there before other teams (Schimichael apparently recommended him to Fergie already).

GavRedKing

I dont think the CB was great, what was name, Onoke or something like that.

The Sky commentary team made him sound like he was playing like Baresi.

He was decent but I wouldnt go raving about him.

Techless

I thought their no 2 was very good, though seemed to tire near the end.
He seemed to have plenty of speed and good defensive awareness.
Also, looked very comfortable on the ball and was able to pick out a pass. Only 21, a very good prospect imo.

Johner

I liked the look of Okore, looked him up and he's only just turned 20! Makes it more impressive that hes so young.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

grumpymunster

Would have thought similar to last week against Arsenal. Might go with Cahill & Sideshow again, Norwich really are not up to much and will give them some time to blend as we will most likely be without JT for Spurs and ManU games (if report published today as is being reported).

Could give Ivan a rest as well for Cesar.

What has happened to Marin is he injured again? Moses was that bad last night would be nice to have him on the bench at least.

Sgt Pepper 64

grumpymunster wrote: »

Would have thought similar to last week against Arsenal. Might go with Cahill & Sideshow again, Norwich really are not up to much and will give them some time to blend as we will most likely be without JT for Spurs and ManU games (if report published today as is being reported).

Could give Ivan a rest as well for Cesar.

What has happened to Marin is he injured again? Moses was that bad last night would be nice to have him on the bench at least.

The interesting one will be if Lamps plays or not.
Its quite clear that RDM doesnt consider him suitable for when he wants a quick, mobile midfield, like the arsenal game. Maybe he will feel he can handle a game against Norwich, but I expect him to be dropped.

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

The interesting one will be if Lamps plays or not.
Its quite clear that RDM doesnt consider him suitable for when he wants a quick, mobile midfield, like the arsenal game. Maybe he will feel he can handle a game against Norwich, but I expect him to be dropped.

Romeu to figure? Play him with Mikel and rest Ramires for the UCL.

We can rest a few and still beat Norwich at the Bridge.

kev1.3s

GavRedKing wrote: »

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

The interesting one will be if Lamps plays or not.
Its quite clear that RDM doesnt consider him suitable for when he wants a quick, mobile midfield, like the arsenal game. Maybe he will feel he can handle a game against Norwich, but I expect him to be dropped.

Romeu to figure? Play him with Mikel and rest Ramires for the UCL.

We can rest a few and still beat Norwich at the Bridge.

Ya think??

weiland79

Hey guy's I'm hoping to go to the bridge for the Spurs match on the 13th of April next year. It will be my first time (excited). I was looking at their website to buy tickets but don't seem to be able. I'd like to get them squared away ASAP.
Hoping someone can point me in the direction of tickets.

Thanks.

GavRedKing

weiland79 wrote: »

Hey guy's I'm hoping to go to the bridge for the Spurs match on the 13th of April next year. It will be my first time (excited). I was looking at their website to buy tickets but don't seem to be able. I'd like to get them squared away ASAP.
Hoping someone can point me in the direction of tickets.

Thanks.

Tickets go on sale 3 months before games I think, it could be 10 weeks before hand though.

Either way, they wont be on sale for April yet.

GavRedKing

No Falcao in January, but could be in the summer if Atletico Madrid dont make UCL football.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2212635/Chelsea-alert-Radamel-Falcao-admits-futures-uncertain.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

It is the Blues who are at the head of the queue for Falcao should he quit the Spanish capital, where to moved in 2011 as a direct replacement for Manchester City's Sergio Aguero.
The 26-year-old is happy at his club who currently sit second in the Spanish La Liga behind Barcelona, but revealed failure to qualify for the Champions League could see him head for pastures new.

'I have a contract for more years. Now my reality is Atletico and I cannot think of anything else,' he told Marca. 'I do not know what will happen in the future.

'The situation depends not only on the players and the management but also the economy of the clubs and even the country.

'I could only go by what was said by the club and they said it would be difficult for me to stay if they did not reach the Champions League.

'The future was uncertain regarding the economic issue, but it was a great effort from the team and they kept almost the entire playing staff, which speaks volumes for how well Atletico are doing.'

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

Ya think??

Yup, Norwich are a poor, poor team.

Another win at the weekend for us.

geeky

GavRedKing wrote: »

No Falcao in January, but could be in the summer if Atletico Madrid dont make UCL football.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2212635/Chelsea-alert-Radamel-Falcao-admits-futures-uncertain.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[/COLOR][/LEFT]

Lad seems to have a good attitude as well.

Techless

GavRedKing wrote: »

Yup, Norwich are a poor, poor team.

Another win at the weekend for us.

Hope you're right Gav, heading over to it and looking forward to what should be a good football match. Norwich like to play and are not that bad of a side, Houghton will them a lot tighter than they were against Liverpol.
Hope Marin might get a run out and Az.....

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

geeky wrote: »

Lad seems to have a good attitude as well.

He seems like a hard worker only thing that could put teams off his price tag which has only gone up since he joined Atletico.

Techless wrote: »

Hope you're right Gav, heading over to it and looking forward to what should be a good football match. Norwich like to play and are not that bad of a side, Houghton will them a lot tighter than they were against Liverpol.
Hope Marin might get a run out and Az.....

Marin could get a run if hes fit enough, I think playing Azp would be ideal, we have more then enough to punish Norwich but every now and again a team puts in a display that goes against the form book.

What I'd like to see :

Cech

Azp Cahill Luiz Bertrand

Mikel Romeu

Moses Oscar Marin

Torres

GavRedKing

Aquila wrote: »

Wonder will we buy in the january window

Wont be Falcao unless our strikers are injured.

Maybe another CB though or a quality CM.

Techless

GavRedKing wrote: »

He seems like a hard worker only thing that could put teams off his price tag which has only gone up since he joined Atletico.



Marin could get a run if hes fit enough, I think playing Azp would be ideal, we have more then enough to punish Norwich but every now and again a team puts in a display that goes against the form book.

What I'd like to see :

Cech

Azp Cahill Luiz Bertrand

Mikel Romeu

Moses Oscar Marin

Torres

I'd settle for above but would hope that Hazard will play at some stage (have him in my dream team)

GavRedKing

Techless wrote: »

I'd settle for above but would hope that Hazard will play at some stage (have him in my dream team)

Makes two of us.

We could see him, he got what, 20-25 minutes the other night.

He could very well start, Moses did himself no favours the other night so hopefully he gets a start this weekend.

JT & Lamps to be benched again I reckon.

kev1.3s

GavRedKing wrote: »

kev1.3s wrote: »

Ya think??

Yup, Norwich are a poor, poor team.

Another win at the weekend for us.

All I'm saying is that this new free flowing chelsea style isn't perfected yet and dropping key players isn't going to help that! Although it pains me to say because he is in my opinion a true legend and a fantastic ambassador for the club but the time has come for super frankie lampard to wind down for us, doesn't do it for me as a defensive mid and he has been replaced by too much quality in an more attacking role.

Techless

GavRedKing wrote: »

Makes two of us.

We could see him, he got what, 20-25 minutes the other night.

He could very well start, Moses did himself no favours the other night so hopefully he gets a start this weekend.

JT & Lamps to be benched again I reckon.

Yip, would agree with Kev that Frank's contribution will be less and less.
Also disappointed with Moses but put that down to his first real experience of Champions League football, also he was on the left a lot, imo he's better suited and more effective on the right. Still think he wil be a big player for the blues and will improve with more gaame time.

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

All I'm saying is that this new free flowing chelsea style isn't perfected yet and dropping key players isn't going to help that! Although it pains me to say because he is in my opinion a true legend and a fantastic ambassador for the club but the time has come for super frankie lampard to wind down for us, doesn't do it for me as a defensive mid and he has been replaced by too much quality in an more attacking role.

It isnt perfected but our squad has enough quality that anything other then a win,no matter who lines up, at home to Norwich in their current form should expect to win.

I think Lamps can still do a job, but the perfromances of old have passed him by and the likely hood of him pulling out a game winning performance a few times a season are fading quickly.

Could well be his last year with us.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

weiland79

GavRedKing wrote: »

weiland79 wrote: »

Hey guy's I'm hoping to go to the bridge for the Spurs match on the 13th of April next year. It will be my first time (excited). I was looking at their website to buy tickets but don't seem to be able. I'd like to get them squared away ASAP.
Hoping someone can point me in the direction of tickets.

Thanks.

Tickets go on sale 3 months before games I think, it could be 10 weeks before hand though.

Either way, they wont be on sale for April yet.

Was just talking to someone and they were saying it could prove difficult to get tickets for the spurs game. He said I should try getting them through a company called Marathon sports. Does anyone have any experience with them? Or if anyone has any suggestions on how to secure tickets I'd appreciate it.

GavRedKing

weiland79 wrote: »

Was just talking to someone and they were saying it could prove difficult to get tickets for the spurs game. He said I should try getting them through a company called Marathon sports. Does anyone have any experience with them? Or if anyone has any suggestions on how to secure tickets I'd appreciate it.

Tickets for that game will be very limited. Same goes for the Arsenal, West Ham, Man Utd, Man City home games.

Marathon sports? Is that the Irish based sports travel company? Id say only go through the club or Viagogo but if your willing to pay more for the tickets then go ahead.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

He seems like a hard worker only thing that could put teams off his price tag which has only gone up since he joined Atletico.



Marin could get a run if hes fit enough, I think playing Azp would be ideal, we have more then enough to punish Norwich but every now and again a team puts in a display that goes against the form book.

What I'd like to see :

Cech

Azp Cahill Luiz Bertrand

Mikel Romeu

Moses Oscar Marin

Torres

That is a truely awful team, have Haz and Mata in my fantasy team and that would make a complete mess of it

kev1.3s wrote: »

All I'm saying is that this new free flowing chelsea style isn't perfected yet and dropping key players isn't going to help that! Although it pains me to say because he is in my opinion a true legend and a fantastic ambassador for the club but the time has come for super frankie lampard to wind down for us, doesn't do it for me as a defensive mid and he has been replaced by too much quality in an more attacking role.

Absolutely we are not where we want to be yet and we have two critical champions league matces, ManU and Spurs coming up. Best team we have has to continue to play for a few matches yet. Would give it a mix up for the ManU league cup tie and the Swansea and maybe Baggies games other than that best foot forward I think.

homer simpson

Anyone looking for something to do Cech is live now answering fans question's. The man is a legend!

link to youtube

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

the_monkey

Nice to get 3 pts the other night ... Juventus away will be huge for us ..

GavRedKing

Shaktar away is going to be a huge game, if we can get anything out there we'll be laughing and should go through to the next round.

duploelabs

Saw this on reddit and thought it'd go down well here

what a day

A little interesting stat taken from the Arsenal game


Young tyro Eden Hazard has proved he has more to offer Chelsea than just technical wizardy. He worked harder than any of his team-mates as he ran for 6.3 miles against Arsenal.
Another Chelsea new signing, Oscar, was the fastest player on the pitch against Arsenal, recorded at 21.59mph.

GavRedKing

Oscar? Wow.

I would have thought our quickest players would have been Ramires or Hazard.

Would love to know who is though over a 30m distance, we have some pretty pacey players.

what a day

Yeah i was kinda suprized by it too. I know Mata Hazard and Oscar do a lot of tracking back for us but i still would have imagined Cole or Ramires would have clocked up the most miles and Oscar the fastest!! I didnt think he was that quick!! I have to be honest and say Hazard does not look that quick but he sure does shift up through the gears and gets ahead of defenders.

Really really happy with the way the Club is moving and the 3 signings of Mata Hazard and Oscar. And we have yet to see Marin!!

amiable

Ashley Cole will be in a bit of bother with the FA now.
Check out his twitter timeline.

Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFTWATS