Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

GavRedKing

RichT wrote: »

Only if its violent conduct .......I think

Correct, Ivan and Torres both available for the Swansea game.

Happy days.

MaroonAndGreen

GavRedKing wrote: »

Correct, Ivan and Torres both available for the Swansea game.

Happy days.

Not too bad

I always thought that any red card would be a 3 game ban, but when you think of it, a foul like Ivanovic's against United would only have been a yellow card offence if it was closer to the half-way line!

GavRedKing

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Not too bad

I always thought that any red card would be a 3 game ban, but when you think of it, a foul like Ivanovic's against United would only have been a yellow card offence if it was closer to the half-way line!

Cant remember if it was Wotton or Keane but somebody took dpwn Sturridge, much like Ivans red and was only given a yellow last night.

Didnt cost us but was inconsistent.

GavRedKing

Drogba has won an online poll at Chelseafc.com and is recognised as our greatest ever player.

Blue Shamrock

He'd be number 3 for me behind Lampard #2 and Zola would have to be my number 1

GavRedKing

I think I voted either Lamps or Zola but for me it would be, 1) Lamps 2) Zola 3) Drogba

the_doctor199

I'd say if you did the poll in five years it'd give a different result, so close after the Munich win Drogba wins it. I'd have it Zola then Lampard and Drogba joint second.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Things I took from last night :

We need a bigger squad, we were missing 3 from suspension and 1 through injury and we were forced to play a few players that played only Sunday against Utd.

Ramires is turning into an excellent box to box CM. His drive and energy matches anything Essien had in his locker but his technical ability and running withthe ball is superior to Essien.

Moses played well, should have scored at least one, offered good cover to Azpilicueta, who played ok.

Sturridge did ok, took his goal really well and didnt stop.

Mata/Hazard/Oscar, dont need to say much about these lads that hasnt been said, Mata if he continues his form will be player of the year, Hazard scores a cool penalty and set up Ramires with a good run and hit the post, Oscar has adapted really well to the English game.

We're far from the finished article at this stage but thats a good thing, we can improve much more and that cant be good for the rest of the league.

Swansea got a good win away to Liverpool last night so going away to them this weekend could be tricky, we've to start really well and put the game to them and we should win.

We do need a bigger squad for sure dont think we have to buy though. I would bring Lukaku and DeBruyne back in January not sure if we can bring anyone else back but those two we can and both certainly could play a part. We have yet to see the lesser spotted Marin as well of course, though you would have to wonder if he is another Robben the sort of player you build a hospital rather than a team around.

I really am not sure about Studge, he is just so greedy. I know to be a top class striker you need to have that greed element to your game but you need intelligence to go with it. I am just not sure he has the speed of thought I really have no confidence in him at all.

GavRedKing wrote: »

Cant remember if it was Wotton or Keane but somebody took dpwn Sturridge, much like Ivans red and was only given a yellow last night.

Didnt cost us but was inconsistent.

Yes that was Keane in first half of extra time, was a red no doubt but you get the feeling Mason was under orders to try and avoid flash points. I think it was Wotton who brought down Ram for the second peno (should have been 3rd peno) that should have been at least a yellow as well and as he was on a booking a red also to my mind.

Caveman1

grumpymunster wrote: »

I really am not sure about Studge, he is just so greedy. I know to be a top class striker you need to have that greed element to your game but you need intelligence to go with it. I am just not sure he has the speed of thought I really have no confidence in him at all.

Yes that was Keane in first half of extra time, was a red no doubt but you get the feeling Mason was under orders to try and avoid flash points. I think it was Wotton who brought down Ram for the second peno (should have been 3rd peno) that should have been at least a yellow as well and as he was on a booking a red also to my mind.

Even though Sturridge was extremely wasteful the other night, he still got into the positions to take the chances, Torres wouldn't have caused that United defence the same amount of problems, IMO Sturridge should start against Swansea, he showed with Bolton that when he gets a run of games he can be a lethal CF.


Awarding 3 penos in the one game is hardly avoiding flash points, the ref had another stinker of a game, we should of easily had another peno & both Utd CB's could of seen red. I think Mason took pity on them as they're only young. As was said in commentary, if that was someone like Ferdinand he'd have walked straight away.

The decisions havnt went our way at all this seaon, so we're due a bit of luck, unfortunately with this Clattenburg mess I think we're gonna be in for a long season with regards to refereeing decisions.

GavRedKing

Alan Smith on Sky said before the Man Utd League Cup game that Marko Marin was some way behind the other players in our front 3. Hazard/Mata/Oscar/Moses.

Now I took it that he just wasnt upto speed yet and Smith went onto say that Marinhasnt progressed like we thought he might but there was still hope for him.

TBH I think he'll be like Quaresma, he wont get much game time at all and he'll be gone next year, hopefully not, I think he could still be a good option out wide, hes a very direct runner.

Caveman1

GavRedKing wrote: »

Alan Smith on Sky said before the Man Utd League Cup game that Marko Marin was some way behind the other players in our front 3. Hazard/Mata/Oscar/Moses.

Now I took it that he just wasnt upto speed yet and Smith went onto say that Marinhasnt progressed like we thought he might but there was still hope for him.

TBH I think he'll be like Quaresma, he wont get much game time at all and he'll be gone next year, hopefully not, I think he could still be a good option out wide, hes a very direct runner.

Well tbf to Marin, he looked quality on the pre season tour then picked up a hamstring injury, then a thigh injury afterwards I think we could throw a calf injury in there too :pac:

He's obviously very injury prone, but you cant blame him being way behind, the players who had a full pre season & played the last few months would be at their peak fitness wise now, he'll need to get a good run of games and maybe a full months training to even get properly fit.

Considering we only paid a small amount for him I wouldnt worry too much, if we were to sell him on next season we wouldn't lose out on much.

Sgt Pepper 64

GavRedKing wrote: »

Alan Smith on Sky said before the Man Utd League Cup game that Marko Marin was some way behind the other players in our front 3. Hazard/Mata/Oscar/Moses.

Now I took it that he just wasnt upto speed yet and Smith went onto say that Marinhasnt progressed like we thought he might but there was still hope for him.

TBH I think he'll be like Quaresma, he wont get much game time at all and he'll be gone next year, hopefully not, I think he could still be a good option out wide, hes a very direct runner.

how would Alan Smith know?

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

how would Alan Smith know?

Its his job to know, I presume if he asked around the club theyed give him an answer, he'd have no reason to make it up.

even if he did make it up its clear that Marin and even Moses are behind Oscar/Mata/Hazard in terms of ability.

grumpymunster

Caveman1 wrote: »

Even though Sturridge was extremely wasteful the other night, he still got into the positions to take the chances, Torres wouldn't have caused that United defence the same amount of problems, IMO Sturridge should start against Swansea, he showed with Bolton that when he gets a run of games he can be a lethal CF.





Awarding 3 penos in the one game is hardly avoiding flash points, the ref had another stinker of a game, we should of easily had another peno & both Utd CB's could of seen red. I think Mason took pity on them as they're only young. As was said in commentary, if that was someone like Ferdinand he'd have walked straight away.



The decisions havnt went our way at all this seaon, so we're due a bit of luck, unfortunately with this Clattenburg mess I think we're gonna be in for a long season with regards to refereeing decisions.

None of the penos awarded were contentious even Fergie only said he hadn't seen the second one so wasn't sure which is Fergie speak for yea it was a stick on.



I agree that Mason was taking pity but that is no excuse. Ivans red was harsh I thought but a case could be made for it, Nandos was a joke the decision of a ref who had totally lost control of the match. It is these inconsistencies which is at the root of a lot of problems really. ManU once again get away with it, we dont get the rub of the green the seige mentallity is normal after such actions.



I fear you may be right regarding the Clattenburg issue. You sort of feel for the club there if players report something like that I dont see what choice the management have they have to act on it. Now of course I have no idea what if anything was said but Clattenburg had lost control totally at that stage so it is entirely possible he let something slip that he shouldn't. I think if the FA have any sense at all they will hold an enquiry and the result will be everyone was right. Lift up the carpet sweep it under and then make the changes that are needed to stop referee's being pressurised as they are.

Kess73

GavRedKing wrote: »

Drogba has won an online poll at Chelseafc.com and is recognised as our greatest ever player.

Think that reflects on the age groups voting more than anything else.

I would have been thinking along the lines of, in no particular order, Wilkins, Speedie, Zola, Nevin, Wise (much as I disliked the little sod), and Dixon, with Lampard being the most obvious modern day player to join that group.

Then again an older fan might well point to the likes of Osgood etc.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Caveman1

Nice to see Fergie doesn't mind giving his opinion on this racial scandal but wouldn't open his mouth when it involved Evra. Hypocrite

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/8218663/Alex-Ferguson-does-not-believe-Mark-Clattenburg-would-make-racist-comments

grumpymunster

Nobody and I mean nobody plays referees like Fergie. I am sure most are scared stiff of him, had Clattenberg made the errors against ManU I think it reasonable to assume he would not referee them again for a very long time.

Is this worse than calling a ref unfair?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/02/sir-alex-ferguson-the-fa

this is a good view on how fergie plays refs and the media

http://www.frontup.ie/media/Mourinho%20vs%20Fergie.pdf

And to show it is totally premeditated

http://dailymailnews.com/0511/14/Sports/index.php?id=4

Who ever follows him is going to have such a hard job, we are making it very difficult for ourselves to get anything from refs though.

what a day

On the subject of critisizing our players i think we dont have any poor players in our team bar Turnbull and Malouda.

Oriol and Piazon had a stinker but both are very young and played aginst some top oposition. I was really suprized with how badly Oriol played TBH but he showed when he signed for us he has the making of a top DM.

As for Sturridge he missed out on a super super cross from Moses that even took Sturridge by suprize plus if you look at the replay it too a slight nick off a Utd defender and the ball went under Dannys foot which caused him to make poor contact with the ball. He is very greedy at the moment and could have set up better chances then the ones he took but this will go with time, he needs goals and to get that he needs games. He has not played at all this season so give him time, he will be quality!

As for Luiz i think he is getting critasized for the time he gave the ball away to anderson which lead to us conceeding. But in my Opinion we conceeded a goal because of poor defending from Cahil and Mikel, both eith side of Hernandez and Cahill should of had him marked. Mikel done well to drop deep and cover for Luiz but he did not defend, he just went to Luiz spot when Luiz bombed forward.

On another note i dont think we need any more players, we have a huge amount on loan and if we sign more players we will only have to move some players on.

Two players for every position is what we need and we have that but we are stretched for just one or two games with JT, Torres, Ivan, Marin, and Cole out injured or Banned. If we have too many players some wont get game time and that not only causing unrest in the camp but also stops the growth of our younger players.

Next season we will have to fit Lukaku De Bruyne Piazon and McEachran into the squad some how while Courtious Hutch Bruma Kalas and Chalobha may also be added to the mix not to mention the lads on loan i.e Essien kakuta etc

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TORRES

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Sturridge

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HAZARD

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OSCAR

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MATA

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Marin

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Piazon

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Moses

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RAMIRES

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MIKEL

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Lampard

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Oriol

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COLE

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TERRY

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LUIZ

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Ceasar
Bertrand

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Cahill

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Ivan

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Ferraira

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CECH

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Hilario

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GavRedKing

Well you dont get to Fergie's level without having the knowledge of the game that he is and the ability to get into peoples head.

Its an old cliché but he really is a master of the mind games.

Its going to be very interesting to see how Utd get on without him when he eventually does pack it in, it will be weird not seeing him in the dugout.

Sgt Pepper 64

Kess73 wrote: »

Think that reflects on the age groups voting more than anything else.

I would have been thinking along the lines of, in no particular order, Wilkins, Speedie, Zola, Nevin, Wise (much as I disliked the little sod), and Dixon, with Lampard being the most obvious modern day player to join that group.

Then again an older fan might well point to the likes of Osgood etc.

It was Ossie for me alright as a kid But now I would say Zola

Kess73

what a day wrote: »

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TORRES

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Sturridge

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HAZARD

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OSCAR

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MATA

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Marin

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Piazon

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Moses

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RAMIRES

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MIKEL

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Lampard

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Oriol

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COLE

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TERRY

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LUIZ

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Ceasar
Bertrand

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Cahill

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Ivan

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Ferraira

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CECH

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Hilario

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As a rival supporter looking from the outside, that is very close to being an awesome team and that is without even looking at some of the outstanding young talent that Chelsea have loaned out.

For me Chelsea are two first team players (maybe three) away from being a truly dominant domestic and European team. The striker position is one that many may want to see filled but I have a feeling that Torres is going to finish the season on 20+ goals and putthat debate to bed.


Someone like Vidal in the centre beside Ramires and someone like his Juve teammate Chiellini in the left CB slot instead of Terry.

I picked those two because of their obvious top class talent and because a club like Chelsea could afford them.


If you wanted two cheaper options who might turn out to be very good players for the same two positions then Fer and Ogbonna look to be players that would slot in very well with the current Chelsea first team and also look to have the ability to become really special players.

I just wonder will Roman sit back with what he has, which is a pretty damn impressive team as is, or will he be thinking that he is a few players short of something special and willing to go after the players to get that.

GavRedKing

The way I see it is if I was RDM I'd be bulling for a new CB, it will give the club and Roman 2 options.

1) To stand by RDM and bring in a new CB no matter what the cost.

2) Reject his request, thus painting a picture that RDM will not be a long term manager which is never a good thing as the current squad seems to stable as is so that could be a bad thing.

I think we're not bad at CB but we're light. We need another top class CB IMO and also a guy to replace Lamps. Maybe Bruma and MacEchran are the anser but I'd rate MacEchran higher then Bruma in his chances to play with us.

greendom

Kess73 wrote: »

Think that reflects on the age groups voting more than anything else.I would have been thinking along the lines of, in no particular order, Wilkins, Speedie, Zola, Nevin, Wise (much as I disliked the little sod), and Dixon, with Lampard being the most obvious modern day player to join that group.Then again an older fan might well point to the likes of Osgood etc.

All great names and players in their day, but Drogba is better than them all I would say. It's difficult to compare over generations but the only forwards you mention are Speedie and Dixon. Would you honestly want either of those in your team before Drogba ?</p>

what a day

Thanks for your opinion kess!
I agree we are still one or two players away from been an awsome team but i think we would have to replace players rather then just buy.

I think we could do with a better striker than Torres but im not giving up on him untill the end of the season and i do think he will bag a decent few goals but to be a top european team we need an awsome striker that finishes 1 out of two chances.

Im happy with Mikel and Rami in the deep role but again we could do with a better player but i would like to keep what we have and replace Lamps.

RB is another area we could improve on with Ivan we have a solid player and Ceaser has yet to show us what he can do but there is a position to be taken from ferraira IMO. Ivan can move to CB Ceasar and another RB can take over the RB position.

I think Luiz is quality and Cahill will partner better given time but we could do with another CB i think but with Chalobha growing stronger i think he will one day make it as a regular CB for us. So for that reason i think we are fine at the back with Kalas Hutch and Bruma on loan plus JT, Luiz Cahill Ivan and Chalobha are plenty. All pacy CBs (bar JT) is what we need playing our new brand of football.

Pal

Kess73 wrote: »

Think that reflects on the age groups voting more than anything else.

I would have been thinking along the lines of, in no particular order, Wilkins, Speedie, Zola, Nevin, Wise (much as I disliked the little sod), and Dixon, with Lampard being the most obvious modern day player to join that group.

Then again an older fan might well point to the likes of Osgood etc.

A bit subjective are these polls.

In actual fact, Drogba was more prolific than Osgood at scoring. A goals per game rate of 0.44% vs 0.36%. I loved Osgood but think Drogba was better too.

Drogba's 0.44% comes in almost the same as Kerry Dixon. But then Kerry played a lot of games in a lower division.

For those who remember Bobby Tambling and Jimmy Greaves. Their stats are way ahead of Drogbas. They are 0.54% and 0.78% respectively. Greaves went even higher at Spurs !

So he wasn't our most prolific striker ever.
Subjectively, he wasn't our best player either. I would put Gullitt, Lampard and Zola all well ahead there.

greendom

Pal wrote: »

A bit subjective are these polls.

In actual fact, Drogba was more prolific than Osgood at scoring. A goals per game rate of 0.44% vs 0.36%. I loved Osgood but think Drogba was better too.

Drogba's 0.44% comes in almost the same as Kerry Dixon. But then Kerry played a lot of games in a lower division.

For those who remember Bobby Tambling and Jimmy Greaves. Their stats are way ahead of Drogbas. They are 0.54% and 0.78% respectively. Greaves went even higher at Spurs !

So he wasn't our most prolific striker ever.
Subjectively, he wasn't our best player either. I would put Gullitt, Lampard and Zola all well ahead there.

Jimmy Greaves ? Now you're talking !

what a day

greendom wrote: »

Jimmy Greaves ? Now you're talking !

He was before my day but he seems like the guy we need nowadays!

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

The way I see it is if I was RDM I'd be bulling for a new CB, it will give the club and Roman 2 options.



1) To stand by RDM and bring in a new CB no matter what the cost.



2) Reject his request, thus painting a picture that RDM will not be a long term manager which is never a good thing as the current squad seems to stable as is so that could be a bad thing.



I think we're not bad at CB but we're light. We need another top class CB IMO and also a guy to replace Lamps. Maybe Bruma and MacEchran are the anser but I'd rate MacEchran higher then Bruma in his chances to play with us.

You have to still wonder is RDM keeping the seat warm for Pepe don't you.

greendom

what a day wrote: »

He was before my day but he seems like the guy we need nowadays!

I saw him at Barnet for a couple of seasons at the end of his career - 77,78 (I was very young ) He was an alcoholic at the time and his legs were gone. He played in midfield and was still the best player on the pitch week in week out. He scored approx 25 goals in his first season with us.2nd season he really went off the rails and he seemed to get sent off more often than he scored.

Pal

Highest goalscorer in English top flight.
Got dropped for the 66 WC Final.
Used to do the Football TV show with Ian St. John.

Different game these days I guess, but Greaves could only beat what you
put in front of him and he did that in bucketloads.

Sgt Pepper 64

Oh No, looks like Mata is out! :eek:
and Luiz
So a first start for Cesar then and Ivan at CB

Chelsea look set to be without key duo Juan Mata and David Luiz for Saturday's trip to Swansea, but Ashley Cole should return. Mata and Luiz picked up hamstring and ankle injuries respectively against Manchester United in midweek as 120 minutes of Cup football took its toll on the duo.
The absence of both players could leave the European champions short in attack and defence at the Liberty Stadium, but Roberto Di Matteo does have some good news.
Cole, who missed out against United with an ankle knock, should be fit enough to return, while Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanovic are back from suspension.
Frank Lampard remains on the sidelines with a calf problem

and RDM politely tells Fergie to do one!

"He likes to talk about other clubs. We tend not to. I'll leave it up to him."

grumpymunster

As long as we have Mata for the Champions league match. Much as I love the little man Haz, Oscar and Moses should really be enough even though Swansea are a good team.

Cesar looked decent in defence on Wednesday, thought he may struggle to hit a barn door with a shougun in attack though but he is better than Bose at any rate.

Kudos RDM nice quite way to put the Fergie question to bed, I wish he had not said we will use it as a motivational tool though might give the impression he is listening too closely. Or indeed I might be paranoid.

GavRedKing

If Luiz and Mata are both out then we should play Sturridge and Moses and give Oscar a break. Team should read :

Cech
Azp Ivan Cahill Cole
Ramires Mikel
Sturridge Hazard Moses
Torres

what a day

I hope Mata is not out for long, the lad is amazing!! By far the best player i have seen play in PL ths season.

Even with all theses players out we have more than enough to beat Swansea and if we can get them all back ready for Shaktar would be excellent.

Depending on how Cole is doing id start him he if it wont affect him against Shaktar. If it may hinder him id start Bertrand tommorow.

Id play Swansea witha strong a team possible as we need to pick 3 points up after our recent loosing streak and a tough game on wednsday.

Is JT band for this game too?

GavRedKing

JT is still banned, this is last game isnt it?

Kess73

greendom wrote: »

All great names and players in their day, but Drogba is better than them all I would say. It's difficult to compare over generations but the only forwards you mention are Speedie and Dixon. Would you honestly want either of those in your team before Drogba ?</p>

I think Drogba had an advantage over both Speedie and Dixon in that he was surrounded by superior players for pretty much all of his Chelsea career.

I don't think Drogba, in terms of his ability, was anything other than a top player for Chelsea, but I do think that if Kerry Dixon had his Chelsea career start in 2004 with modern training methods and the same players that Drogba had around him, that Dixon would have been more lethal in front of goal than Drogba and I also think that Dixon brought more of a threat to a lesser team than Drogba would have.


For me Dixon was one of the most natural front men that I have seen in the english game and he had all the best qualities that make up a top class traditional centre forward, but he was blessed with the talent to be a top class striker.

Is just an opinion, but Dixon and Speedie (especially the former) managed to perform to a high level for years in what were generally lesser Chelsea teams and never looked anything other than class players whilst at Chelsea.

I would not have a peak Speedie in a team over a peak Drogba because Speedie was a very different kind of player and was the perfect foil for a Drogba style player, but I would certainly have a peak Kerry Dixon over a peak Drogba and that is no knock on Drogba rather a sign of how good I thought Dixon was.

greendom

Kess73 wrote: »

I think Drogba had an advantage over both Speedie and Dixon in that he was surrounded by superior players for pretty much all of his Chelsea career.

I don't think Drogba, in terms of his ability, was anything other than a top player for Chelsea, but I do think that if Kerry Dixon had his Chelsea career start in 2004 with modern training methods and the same players that Drogba had around him, that Dixon would have been more lethal in front of goal than Drogba and I also think that Dixon brought more of a threat to a lesser team than Drogba would have.


For me Dixon was one of the most natural front men that I have seen in the english game and he had all the best qualities that make up a top class traditional centre forward, but he was blessed with the talent to be a top class striker.

Is just an opinion, but Dixon and Speedie (especially the former) managed to perform to a high level for years in what were generally lesser Chelsea teams and never looked anything other than class players whilst at Chelsea.

I would not have a peak Speedie in a team over a peak Drogba because Speedie was a very different kind of player and was the perfect foil for a Drogba style player, but I would certainly have a peak Kerry Dixon over a peak Drogba and that is no knock on Drogba rather a sign of how good I thought Dixon was.

You make a good case for him and his goal-scoring record was phenomenal but I still think Drogba is the better player. Dixon never really got a chance to prove himself on the European stage or for his country. His level was generally in the lower reaches of Division 1 (now the Prem of course) or even in Division 2. If he'd been that good surely a more successful club (at the time) would have picked him up ?Once he reached 30his career faded - wheras Drogba is still in his prime. (Although I realise that Drogba took a little longer to get going)

Crann na Beatha

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what a day

My team to play Swansea

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Cech

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Ceasar

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Ivan

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Cahill

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Cole

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Mikel

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Ramires

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---Moses

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Oscar

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Hazard--

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Torres

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Id love if Marin could come on at the 60min mark and replace Hazard

Maybe Oriol on too if we can take control of the game

If Cole is not fit then id be happy to start Bertrand

Kess73

greendom wrote: »

You make a good case for him and his goal-scoring record was phenomenal but I still think Drogba is the better player. Dixon never really got a chance to prove himself on the European stage or for his country. His level was generally in the lower reaches of Division 1 (now the Prem of course) or even in Division 2. If he'd been that good surely a more successful club (at the time) would have picked him up ?Once he reached 30his career faded - wheras Drogba is still in his prime. (Although I realise that Drogba took a little longer to get going)

You say his level was the lower reaches of the then top division in England, I would disagree as he was scoring as many goals for a mid to lower table team as most of the strikers at the top teams. He proved himself season in season out as being able to match pretty much any striker in the country despite not having quite the same level of quality around him as was at the top clubs of the day.


As for no clubs being in for him, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Man U all tried to buy him at one point or another so he was in demand.


Dixon in a lesser team was as good as any striker in the country so who knows how good his record would have been had he been in a team of top class players. Dixon got his goals in a team that had some decent players in it, but Drogba was in a team that at times contained some of the best players in the world yet only have a similar scoring average as Dixon.

I can see why people would pick Drogba over Dixon, and to be honest it is a close thing for me also, but Dixon I think gets overlooked a lot in terms of how good he actually was.

McDave

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Oh No, looks like Mata is out! :eek:
and Luiz
So a first start for Cesar then and Ivan at CB

Chelsea look set to be without key duo Juan Mata and David Luiz for Saturday's trip to Swansea, but Ashley Cole should return. Mata and Luiz picked up hamstring and ankle injuries respectively against Manchester United in midweek as 120 minutes of Cup football took its toll on the duo.
The absence of both players could leave the European champions short in attack and defence at the Liberty Stadium, but Roberto Di Matteo does have some good news.
Cole, who missed out against United with an ankle knock, should be fit enough to return, while Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanovic are back from suspension.
Frank Lampard remains on the sidelines with a calf problem

and RDM politely tells Fergie to do one!

"He likes to talk about other clubs. We tend not to. I'll leave it up to him."

Injuries were always going to kick in at some point. The trick is to use rotation to cut key players some slack. That should help the squad through the winter months.

McDave

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

RDM politely tells Fergie to do one!

"He likes to talk about other clubs. We tend not to. I'll leave it up to him."

Keep your big red hooter out of it Ferguson. Do you think for a second you're psyching CFC out? Well played RDM.

amiable

McDave wrote: »

Keep your big red hooter out of it Ferguson. Do you think for a second you're psyching CFC out? Well played RDM.

Perhaps Fergie has some referees onside now with those comments?

MaroonAndGreen

We arent significantly weakened by Luiz and Mata being missing.

Cesar and Moses both looked decent in mid-week!

And with Moses having a MOTM display against United, he could have felt hard done by anyway if he didnt start.

Duck Soup

The majority of Chelsea games I saw were in the late 70s and early 80s. Dixon was the most natural goalscorer I've ever seen - didn't do much else, but you got the ball to him and it tended to go into the back of the net. Speedie was good, but a hot-tempered little git who was prone to the opposition winding him up.

To be honest, none of the old players would match up in terms of skill with the current big names, although Charlie Cooke and Pat Nevin both deserve honorable mentions. Peter Osgood and Ian Hutchinson ended up running a pub together in Windsor, which used to attract a fair contingent from nearby Slough.

I can't even begin to explain how bad that Division 2 Chelsea side was. Before Dixon arrived, we used to sing "Walker, Walker, Clive is the king of Stamford Bridge". Let me be blunt. Clive Walker was a fat, lazy turd who was only able to continue playing non-league football into his forties because he never broke sweat in the second division. The two main goalkeepers were Blunder Beasant and Petar Borota. Beasant had good and bad days, Borota had a screw loose.

The only reason we didn't drop into the third division was the centre back Micky Droy, bought from Slough Town for £5,000. When he played, we could squeeze out a draw or a win. When he didn't, we lost.

If nothing else, all the years of standing in a half-empty Shed watching the boys struggling to string two passes together makes you appreciate the current team all the more.

Meglamonia

Duck Soup wrote: »

The majority of Chelsea games I saw were in the late 70s and early 80s. Dixon was the most natural goalscorer I've ever seen - didn't do much else, but you got the ball to him and it tended to go into the back of the net. Speedie was good, but a hot-tempered little git who was prone to the opposition winding him up.

To be honest, none of the old players would match up in terms of skill with the current big names, although Charlie Cooke and Pat Nevin both deserve honorable mentions. Peter Osgood and Ian Hutchinson ended up running a pub together in Windsor, which used to attract a fair contingent from nearby Slough.

I can't even begin to explain how bad that Division 2 Chelsea side was. Before Dixon arrived, we used to sing "Walker, Walker, Clive is the king of Stamford Bridge". Let me be blunt. Clive Walker was a fat, lazy turd who was only able to continue playing non-league football into his forties because he never broke sweat in the second division. The two main goalkeepers were Blunder Beasant and Petar Borota. Beasant had good and bad days, Borota had a screw loose.

The only reason we didn't drop into the third division was the centre back Micky Droy, bought from Slough Town for £5,000. When he played, we could squeeze out a draw or a win. When he didn't, we lost.

If nothing else, all the years of standing in a half-empty Shed watching the boys struggling to string two passes together makes you appreciate the current team all the more.

Nice reading this as an 18 year old as I had only started supporting Chelsea when I was 5 years old.Certainly does make you appreciate the team alot more as my Dad has told me stories similar to this one about Chelsea.

And I thought the period of 99-03 was bad due to all my United and Liverpool friends how wrong was I!

Panthro

Had a quick read of RDM's response to Fergie's comments about the Mikel Clattenburg incident.
Have to say I was impressed with how RDM responded, he dealt with it very well.

TerryTibbs!

Chelsea Chelsea.

duploelabs

i'm really sorry, but does no one remember what a machine hassebaink was with zola??