Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

blue-army

Just looking at the stats of tonight.
64% possession against Swansea, one of the best possession teams in the league. 24 shots, as opposed to 5.
We're playing the right way. We're just missing that something. A leader and more importantly, a match winner.
Imagine we'd signed RVP in the summer. His ability to turn draws/defeats into wins are what really pisses me off about Fernando Torres.

I read last week that, without RVP, Man Utd would be 12th and out of the FA Cup. Without Torres, Chelsea would be STILL 4th and in the FA Cup.

Tonight, Torres is pure and utter ****. A complete passenger once again. I've stood by him for so long because he looked like he was trying, but now that has even stopped. He doesn't even care anymore. He'll end up taking the easy route in somewhere like the MLS or Qatar within 2 years time - mark my words.

There are positives to take from this season. We are playing some great football at times, but we need a manager who can transform the team spirit and turn these games where we actually play well into victories.

McDave

bullpost wrote: »

I wouldn't think so but I do hope RA enjoyed what he saw tonight.

As 'interim' he was finished all along. But he had a chance to do it his way. Losing winnable trophies willy nilly simply confirms his official tag.

McDave

blue-army wrote: »

Just looking at the stats of tonight.
64% possession against Swansea, one of the best possession teams in the league. 24 shots, as opposed to 5.
We're playing the right way. We're just missing that something. A leader and more importantly, a match winner.
Imagine we'd signed RVP in the summer. His ability to turn draws/defeats into wins are what really pisses me off about Fernando Torres.

I read last week that, without RVP, Man Utd would be 12th and out of the FA Cup. Without Torres, Chelsea would be STILL 4th and in the FA Cup.

Tonight, Torres is pure and utter ****. A complete passenger once again. I've stood by him for so long because he looked like he was trying, but now that has even stopped. He doesn't even care anymore. He'll end up taking the easy route in somewhere like the MLS or Qatar within 2 years time - mark my words.

There are positives to take from this season. We are playing some great football at times, but we need a manager who can transform the team spirit and turn these games where we actually play well into victories.

On tonight's performance we're missing midfield steel. You need the creativity we have with Mata and co. But in the EPL context, you also need warriors.

Jelle1880

Belgian press reporting that Fellaini to Chelsea is pretty much a done deal, and he'll sign this week.

peteeeed

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Belgian press reporting that Fellaini to Chelsea is pretty much a done deal, and he'll sign today.

very much needed

peteeeed

looking back on last nights game it another example of chelsea not being able to get past teams who park the bus anymore, QPR, Fulham and now swansea. if BA had of started we could have walked this game. ivanovic has been just about our most consistant performer this season and no one puts in more effort than him so blaming him is a bit harsh .
the team has no leader at the moment , cole never wanted to be captain , torres just cant do it when we need him, he'll score the 3rd or 4th goal when we are hammering someone but never gets the odd goal anymore (except barcelona of course)
we can still go through if we get an early goal in the 2nd leg

Caveman1

Torres is done at Chelsea IMO, he's always had the support of the fans, but after last night I think people have finally had enough.

When Ba played against Southampton, he made runs, created space, he was a psychical prescence up front and for his efforts he bags himself a double.

I was really surprised that he didnt start last night, he also should of got a lot more time than he did.

If Ba starts the 2nd leg and we play like we did last night, well then I believe we'll beat Swansea.

Some of our play last night was fantastic, all we lacked was the finishing touch.

GavRedKing

If Swansea play the same way they did at the Bridge they could easily get through to the final, personally after watching the 1st leg I think we'll definetly score and on another night we could have got a penalty and a goal from Ba's efforts.

As long as we beat Stoke, which is a very difficult task I'll be happy, we're out of the running for the title but if we can keep winning in the EPL we'll at least be in a position to be in touch if either Manchester team slips up.

GavRedKing

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Belgian press reporting that Fellaini to Chelsea is pretty much a done deal, and he'll sign this week.

Lots of talk about Everton bidding for Wigan's James McCarthy which if true, would add weight to the Fellaini leaving rumours.

Lovely Bloke

blue-army wrote: »

I read last week that, without RVP, Man Utd would be 12th and out of the FA Cup. Without Torres, Chelsea would be STILL 4th and in the FA Cup.

But that is, of course, total bollox. An article written by an idiot, for idiots.

If RVP wasn't playing, do you think they would have played with ten men, or another striker, or someone else in another position? Do you not think that other striker would have scored ANY goals?

What a bizarre thing to read, and use in a debate on a forum.

It is clearly an idiotic piece that has zero meaning.

hots

TheNinthGate wrote: »

But that is, of course, total bollox. An article written by an idiot, for idiots.

If RVP wasn't playing, do you think they would have played with ten men, or another striker, or someone else in another position? Do you not think that other striker would have scored ANY goals?

What a bizarre thing to read, and use in a debate on a forum.

It is clearly an idiotic piece that has zero meaning.

It's obviously not meant to be taken as literally as that (no-one thinks utd would be in 12th), it just shows how much of an impact his goals have had.

Caveman1

If we can beat Stoke & both Manchester teams drop points that would be great, Spurs also have a tough game away to QPR so it could be a big weekend for us.

GavRedKing

Caveman1 wrote: »

If we can beat Stoke & both Manchester teams drop points that would be great, Spurs also have a tough game away to QPR so it could be a big weekend for us.

I can see Utd beting Liverpool , City I think will sneak a draw and Spurs will turn over QPR, all IMO of course, which makes our game against Stoke very important.

Techless

Agree that last night was a disaster and that Torres is making up the numbers. However, credit to Swansea, they worked harder than us and deserved what they got. Both goals primarily came as a result of pressure been applied up the pitch on our defenders and forcing errors and having players with the ability to capitalise on these errors when they arose.

what a day

Once again Ivan has been caught slack jawed and it was certainly highligted last night...twice!! Il say it again he is not good enough to be a CB at our club but im all for him playing at RB. Falls asleep way too much and will cost us time and time again at CB.

Luiz again was amazing and was our MODM. Mata Hazard and Oscar teamed up brilliant but got tired as the match went on. Torres should be sold in this window and should have been taken off at 60min mark. We played brilliant and i was delighted with our play bar Ivans mistakes, i feel for the lad. He is such a good worker and was gutted for him but he does it almost every game but gets away with it having Cole Luiz or JT beside him.
If we sign Fellaini to play along side Luiz we should be devastating. Rafa again making poor decistions and costing us by leaving Torres on untill the 80min.

---

Cech

---

---

Azpilicueta----Cahill

---

Terry

---

Cole

---

---

Fellaini

---

Luiz

---

---

---Mata

---

Oscar

---

Hazard---

---

---

Ba

---

Caveman1

If we sign Fellani do you reckon he'll play alongside Luiz, or will Luiz drop back to CB ?

Panthro

I'm quite happy to cut Ivanovic a bit of slack to be honest, I rate him rather highly and add to that I'd hazard a guess he would be one of the more positive influences in the dressing room when the chips are down.
And please oh please don't send back Luiz to CB.

peteeeed

Panthro wrote: »

I'm quite happy to cut Ivanovic a bit of slack to be honest, I rate him rather highly and add to that I'd hazard a guess he would be one of the more positive influences in the dressing room when the chips are down.
And please oh please don't send back Luiz to CB.

totally agree , other than last night i think he's been great and would be my choice as captain when JT is not playing . 100% commitment

GavRedKing

I'd prefer to go with

Cech
Azp Cahill JT Cole
Luiz Fellaini
Moses Mata Hazard
Ba

But my next choice would be

Cech
Azp Luiz Cahill Cole
Ramires Fellaini
Moses Mata Hazard
Ba


The problem with that is JT wont be dropped at the back.

If we get Fellaini then Rafa could easily rotate the options we have in there between Luiz/Ramires/Lamps/Fellaini/Mikel for the rest of the season.

grumpymunster

Hi Chaps back again, chatted to a few people yesterday and perhaps I should have held back a bit. I am sure being a mod has its difficulties and I certainly did not want to cause offence to Gav, who seems like a decent chap, so if I did apologies for that Gav. That being said I stand by everything else, I dont like bullies and I still feel that was what was happening however I will initially go about things in a different manner in future. But everything that is posted here is in the public domain and that being the case who does not want to defend their good name in a similar manner? Perhaps everyone should remember that.

To those that offered support many thanks, there are few enough true Chelsea fans about in these parts and I really should not let the ignorance of others annoy me so lets KTBFFH and march on.

Caveman1

Hopefully after the transfer window is closed, we can settle on our CM pairing.

IMO its the most important position on the field, it can't be easy playing every week with different people playing in the middle.

Ramires wasn't great last night but with Id like to see him & Luiz in CM and stick with it for a few games at least.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Hi Chaps back again, chatted to a few people yesterday and perhaps I should have held back a bit. I am sure being a mod has its difficulties and I certainly did not want to cause offence to Gav, who seems like a decent chap, so if I did apologies for that Gav. That being said I stand by everything else, I dont like bullies and I still feel that was what was happening however I will initially go about things in a different manner in future. But everything that is posted here is in the public domain and that being the case who does not want to defend their good name in a similar manner? Perhaps everyone should remember that.

To those that offered support many thanks, there are few enough true Chelsea fans about in these parts and I really should not let the ignorance of others annoy me so lets KTBFFH and march on.

No need for the apology, we all have different opinions at the end of the day.

As I say to everyone, its easier to just report items and let Mods deal with them then getting into an online argument that could p*ss ya off and get ya warnings/bans, we're not bias to any one set of fans even though the Mods here support different teams we dont favour one set of fans over the other, we just Moderate to the letter of the charter as best we can.

Please to ya have back on board, thoughts on last night?

GavRedKing

Caveman1 wrote: »

Hopefully after the transfer window is closed, we can settle on our CM pairing.

IMO its the most important position on the field, it can't be easy playing every week with different people playing in the middle.

Ramires wasn't great last night but with Id like to see him & Luiz in CM and stick with it for a few games at least.

I think Luiz has really made CM his own, he has an energy and drive to close down and win the ball back that isnt matched by anyone else we have available in that position.

I'd agree, of the current squad the Ramires/Luiz partnership is our best going forward but if we add Fellaini then that would be a huge boost.

MUSEIST

what a day wrote: »

Once again Ivan has been caught slack jawed and it was certainly highligted last night...twice!! Il say it again he is not good enough to be a CB at our club but im all for him playing at RB. Falls asleep way too much and will cost us time and time again at CB.

Luiz again was amazing and was our MODM. Mata Hazard and Oscar teamed up brilliant but got tired as the match went on. Torres should be sold in this window and should have been taken off at 60min mark. We played brilliant and i was delighted with our play bar Ivans mistakes, i feel for the lad. He is such a good worker and was gutted for him but he does it almost every game but gets away with it having Cole Luiz or JT beside him.
If we sign Fellaini to play along side Luiz we should be devastating. Rafa again making poor decistions and costing us by leaving Torres on untill the 80min.

---

Cech

---

---

Azpilicueta----Cahill

---

Terry

---

Cole

---

---

Fellaini

---

Luiz

---

---

---Mata

---

Oscar

---

Hazard---

---

---

Ba

---

What a team that would be, strong defensively and in midfield and then the holy trinity of haz, mat and oscar doing the business with ba banging them in.

maximoose

Panthro wrote: »

I'm quite happy to cut Ivanovic a bit of slack to be honest, I rate him rather highly and add to that I'd hazard a guess he would be one of the more positive influences in the dressing room when the chips are down.

I bet I'm not the only one who read that as "Azar" the first time :pac:

Caveman1

Lads whats your thought on the Demba Ba penalty incident last night?

Its a hard one to call, but after watching it a few time, I think it should of been awarded.

Ba knocked the ball past the keeper who in turn blocked Ba from getting onto it, without making any contact with the ball.

I cann see why people would argue over it, but I don't know where the ref came up with the yellow card for a dive?

Panthro

Gav's a hero!:pac:

GavRedKing

Caveman1 wrote: »

Lads whats your thought on the Demba Ba penalty incident last night?

Its a hard one to call, but after watching it a few time, I think it should of been awarded.

Ba knocked the ball past the keeper who in turn blocked Ba from getting onto it, without making any contact with the ball.

I cann see why people would argue over it, but I don't know where the ref came up with the yellow card for a dive?

My thoughts were it was neither a penalty or a dive.

The keeper came out, Ba knocked it past him, got a knick but was never getting to the ball he knocked to far ahead of himself.

IMO, the right decision would have been a goal kick and no yellow card.

I'm more annoyed at the goal that was ruled out for offside.

Panthro wrote: »

Gav's a hero Full Kit Wanker!:pac:

Fixed that for ya. :P

what a day

Im with Gav on the peno. Ba hit it too far ahead of himself and was brought down by him self and the keep colliding together. The ball was fair game to both but it was never a dive!!

For me Luiz has to stay in DM role, he played really well with himself and Ivan switching roles in attack. Ivan would bomb forward and Luiz would slot back into defense beside Cahill. Id love us to keep playing the way we did last night but obviously with a striker up front. If Ba started that game we would have trounced Swansea.

Some lovely football played last night with the players all over the pitch switching roles, passing was great bar some poor long balls again. We have to start Ba up front, sign Fellaini to partner Luiz in DM and play JT and Cahill at CB.


Ohh and Rafa has to cop on to some crazy starting line ups and very late subs!

GavRedKing

Rafa has to cop on with rotation, its just not working all the time.

Like the biggest mistake was dropping Mata/Hazard for the QPR game.

Also, Oscar was on for to long last night, he was been wasted out on the right last night.

I honestly thought he was going to go with a 4-2-2-2 when Ba was coming on.

I would have subbed Oscar for Ba and played 2 CF's when chasing a game 1-0 at home and a team defending so deep the way Swansea were, we would have lined up with for the last 10 mins :

---

Turnbull

---

Azp--Cahill--Ivan--Cole

---

Luiz Lamps

---

Mata

---

Hazard

---

Ba Torres

---

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Rafa has to cop on with rotation, its just not working all the time.

Like the biggest mistake was dropping Mata/Hazard for the QPR game.

Also, Oscar was on for to long last night, he was been wasted out on the right last night.

I honestly thought he was going to go with a 4-2-2-2 when Ba was coming on.

I would have subbed Oscar for Ba and played 2 CF's when chasing a game 1-0 at home and a team defending so deep the way Swansea were, we would have lined up with for the last 10 mins :

---

Turnbull

---

Azp--Cahill--Ivan--Cole

---

Luiz Lamps

---

Mata

---

Hazard

---

Ba Torres

---

I wouldn't have had Torres anywhere near the pitch and I certainly wouldn't have left it until the last 10 minutes... Oscar Ramires and Torres could have all come off after 60 imo

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

thoughts on last night?

I would prefer not to have any

Swansea were very good great discipline and showed great poaching ability so kudos to them and Laudrup. As for us where do you start.

I was very nervous when I saw the line up as expected we had a lot of the ball but two really good saves apart we did not test the keeper enough (the second one in the second half from Luiz was an excellent save). We seem to have had a lot of shots but some of these could have been a navigation hazard for Heathrow approach.

Poor enough as we were in the first half after about 10 minutes of the second half Swansea were comfortable and keeping us out with real ease. Our substitutions were pathetic too late and not inventive. The obvious one was Ba for Torres that should have happened at half time, if Jose was still here I think it actually would have happened in the first half.

I also think of our defenders Cesar was total muck, yea I know poor old Ivan made two schoolboy errors but everyone has bad days in the office. But Cesar's positioning in defence is questionable at best and going forward well words nearly fail me. Did he actually beat the first man once and deliver a cross, he spent more time doing an impression of Gary from Team America waving his hands frantically in the air appealing for God knows what. He should have been hauled ashore as well at half time Ivan pushed out, Sideshow to CB, Oscar back beside Ram and Marin on the right. If it didnt happen at half time it certainly should have with 30 mins to go. We had no real width all night it was just too easy for the Swans defence.

Ba did make a difference, I really do not think he was offside for his goal and the booking was a joke. There was a claim for a peno there but in fairness would have been a little harsh, there was a stick on one in the first half when Ki man handled Cahill I think from a corner but the ref gave us nowt all night.

Can we pull this back, yea we can of course. Will we, well I hope the players at least front up.

GavRedKing

One thing about the ref, he did leave a lot of things go that I thought were going to be given.

We were wasteful with them though when we got them, like Mata's floated attempt late in the 2nd half when straight out at the back post.

If we're clinical in the 2nd leg we can turn it around, what we need is to get at least 1 goal back in the 1st half of the next leg to get the fans onside and to put the nerves on Swansea.

If you had told me after the semi final draw that Bradford and Swansea would be winning after the 1st legs I would have laughed but both teams approached there games differently and both performed very well.

Melion

Just after watching the highlights of the Chelsea game last night. It might sound ridiculous but it looks as though Torres just isnt clever enough for the likes of Mata, Oscar, Hazard etc. They are spotting great passes but Torres isnt making the runs necessary.

Andersonisgod

Does anybody know if Torres was booed after he was subbed off last night? Looking to see if anyone is reporting that as a story (you'd think it would be newsworthy stuff) or was it the Swansea fans booing or was the booing for something or someone else?

grumpymunster

Interesting take on why our interim is here

http://www.theweek.co.uk/football/chelsea/50893/benitez-protects-abramovich-chelsea-purge-gathers-pace?

GavRedKing

Melion wrote: »

Just after watching the highlights of the Chelsea game last night. It might sound ridiculous but it looks as though Torres just isnt clever enough for the likes of Mata, Oscar, Hazard etc. They are spotting great passes but Torres isnt making the runs necessary.

I think has hunger and desire just seems not to be there, maybe a rest and the threat of the bench from Ba will help him but it remains to be seen.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Does anybody know if Torres was booed after he was subbed off last night? Looking to see if anyone is reporting that as a story (you'd think it would be newsworthy stuff) or was it the Swansea fans booing or was the booing for something or someone else?

For me it was more cheering that Ba was coming on and a sarcastic cheer that Rafa had waited for so long to actually whip Torres for Ba when it was clear that it wasnt going to happen for him.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Interesting take on why our interim is here

http://www.theweek.co.uk/football/chelsea/50893/benitez-protects-abramovich-chelsea-purge-gathers-pace?

Most fans smart enough know that its always going to be down to Gourlay, Buck, Roman who stays and who goes.

Leaving players go was always going to come back to haunt Roman and I disagree with the article as I think its a double edged sword, Roman has appointed Rafa, a deeply unpopular choice AND hes letting legends go so the only one to blame is Roman in all of this but then its his club and what he says goes.

grumpymunster

And just to depress people even more (God I am on a roll today) remember this guy?

http://www.iffhs.de/?788b42b90cc13ccf80391ad53d4f02f85fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aeedb88384f0220a

Our current striker (and I use that phrase in the loosest possible sense) barely makes the top 50. Must admit I did not realise Berbatov's record was so good.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

And just to depress people even more (God I am on a roll today) remember this guy?

http://www.iffhs.de/?788b42b90cc13ccf80391ad53d4f02f85fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aeedb88384f0220a

Our current striker (and I use that phrase in the loosest possible sense) barely makes the top 50. Must admit I did not realise Berbatov's record was so good.

I presume the first number is club and 2nd is international?

Drogba has a great record for Ivory Coast alright and scored some big goals in Europe over the years, shows hes a big game player whcih we all knew anyway.

what a day

Good post Grumpy, glad to see you back BTW!!

I think there is some truth in this story as i said the other day, we could be clearing the decks for some one like Guardiola to come in when he is ready. We are also trying to play more like he would want us to with the passing at speed high pressing and switching of player roles during the game. Very good to watch last night but you can see it will take time for us the master this new tactic and maybe we will have a good grasp of it when a new manager is signed.

Some high earners will be moved on and will allow a new manager to make a few sigings to tweet his team even further. Maybe Roman does have a master plan and is working behind the scenes!

peteeeed

what a day wrote: »

Good post Grumpy, glad to see you back BTW!!

I think there is some truth in this story as i said the other day, we could be clearing the decks for some one like Guardiola to come in when he is ready. We are also trying to play more like he would want us to with the passing at speed high pressing and switching of player roles during the game. Very good to watch last night but you can see it will take time for us the master this new tactic and maybe we will have a good grasp of it when a new manager is signed.

Some high earners will be moved on and will allow a new manager to make a few sigings to tweet his team even further. Maybe Roman does have a master plan and is working behind the scenes!

i think there is some truth that chelsea are preparing the team for a new manager who may be in the background specifying targets . lets not forget when pep took over at barca inesta and xavi were not in the team and he promoted them to the first team and built the team around them and messi. mata , hazard and oscar are pep kind of players

what a day

peteeeed wrote: »

i think there is some truth that chelsea are preparing the team for a new manager who may be in the background specifying targets . lets not forget when pep took over at barca inesta and xavi were not in the team and he promoted them to the first team and built the team around them and messi. mata , hazard and oscar are pep kind of players

Thats exactlly what im trying to get at. I think Roman is doing his best to get Pep and im sure he will offer what ever any other club will offer for Peps services and cleaning up the squad and recruiting Peps kind of players is just an added insentive of why Pep should chose us over ManCity.

On another note iv just seen Luke Shaw signed a new long term contract with Southampton. Cracking little player with a big future ahead of him!

Caveman1

what a day wrote: »

On another note iv just seen Luke Shaw signed a new long term contract with Southampton. Cracking little player with a big future ahead of him!

He's a decent player, another who's really impressed me this season is Swansea's young left back Ben Davies, I reckon a few of the big clubs will be taking a close look at him.

Caveman1

Chelsea U21s are playing tonight V Fulham, its live on CTV @ 7 o clock for anybody who's interested.

JT is expected to feature in the game.

MaroonAndGreen

GavRedKing wrote: »

I think has hunger and desire just seems not to be there, maybe a rest and the threat of the bench from Ba will help him but it remains to be seen.



For me it was more cheering that Ba was coming on and a sarcastic cheer that Rafa had waited for so long to actually whip Torres for Ba when it was clear that it wasnt going to happen for him.

Lads, I was at the Bridge last night.. and I can confirm that Torres was booed

peteeeed

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Lads, I was at the Bridge last night.. and I can confirm that Torres was booed

did you partake ?

MaroonAndGreen

Was at the game last night as I said above, and my thoughts on it would be:

-Thought we played pretty well, keeping such a high amount of possession against Swansea was very impressive IMO, we just lacked goals.

-As is the general consensus here, it looked like Torres really wasnt interested.. The difference between him and Ba was plain to see..

-The whole of Stamford Bridge was crying out for Ba and Lampard all 2nd half, and I thought it was a strange decision to only give Ba ten minutes..

Also on a side note, Bruce Buck was on the pitch before the start of the game and got booed pretty much by the whole ground. (He was part of presenting a 400th appearance award to Cech)

I reckon this tie is far from over, we are alot better than Swansea. Simple as, if we play to our potential we are more than 2 goals better, on any ground.

MaroonAndGreen

peteeeed wrote: »

did you partake ?

Nope, dont see the point.. was happy to see him go off though

grumpymunster

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Lads, I was at the Bridge last night.. and I can confirm that Torres was booed

It is sad really Torres was given so much support by Chelsea supporters like everyone else I really wanted him to succeed. But I am not at all surprised to hear that maroonandgreen he is giving the aura of a spoilt brat and appears to have given up.

The meltdown on the chat page of the Chelsea web site is something to behold, it is hard to see how he will come back from this. Of course if he started putting in a shift it may help but will he?