Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

amiable

gonzovision wrote: »

Ye only since yesterday I think, RDM said he wouldn't be involved earlier.

Understandable so why he isn't involved.
He'll need at least another few days training.

Gonzovision

amiable wrote: »

Understandable so why he isn't involved.
He'll need at least another few days training.

At least it gives Lukaku another opportunity to impress potential suitors.

Sgt Pepper 64

Telegraph reckons Azpilicueta is our next target

Chelsea are understood to have agreed an £8m fee with Marseille for Cesar Azpilicueta #CFC (Telegraph)


Very impressed with us getting a lot of business done early - looks like we have learnt some lessons from the past

Meglamonia

Chelsea XI: Hilario, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Cole, Benayoun, Essien, Lampard, Marin, Ramires, Lukaku (via @MLS) #CFC

GavRedKing

Meglamonia wrote: »

Chelsea XI: Hilario, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Cole, Benayoun, Essien, Lampard, Marin, Ramires, Lukaku (via @MLS) #CFC

Recording for 2mw, cant stay up for this ha.

Meglamonia

GavRedKing wrote: »

Recording for 2mw, cant stay up for this ha.

Ah go onnn

wonderfullife

as pre-season friendlies go, this is going to be epic

wonderfullife

pretty useful front 4 for the all-stars: Henry, Donovan. Beckham, Wondolowski

Gonzovision

CTV also confirm there'll be no Cech, Blackman, Hutchinson, McEachran, Kakuta or Torres in action tonight.

Gonzovision

Not the greatest 20 minutes of football I've ever seen.......

Gonzovision

1-0 Wondolowski

Nuri Sahin

Wando is a machine.

TheStook

1-0 to the Mls, Wondolowski goal on the 20th minute. Terrible defending from the Centre back, Gary Cahill I believe. Can't see too well.

Definitely room for improvement so far.

Gonzovision

1-1 JT

Gonzovision

Marin not fond of going down the outside it seems....constantly cuts inside, quite predictable.

TheStook

gonzovision wrote: »

Marin not fond of going down the outside it seems....constantly cuts inside, quite predictable.

Robben was painfully predictable, doesn't mean you can stop him

TheStook

I'm sorry but Americans just shouldn't commentate on football. It's not that they say the wrong things it's just that it doesn't sound right in their accent. It always sounds so cliched its horrible.

The_Hustler

2-2 now and Lukaku doesn't look like scoring at all

The_Hustler

Actually, he certainly doesn't because I think he's been taken off!

TheStook

3-2 Mls, game set and match. I was really looking forward to a penalty shoothout and all. Terrible defending again. 6 goals conceded in 3 games isn't good enough friendly or no friendly. Hazard didn't look bothered tbh. Improvement needed.

The_Hustler

What a stupid goal to lose by. Chelsea really need to work on the defending before the Wigan game

Sgt Pepper 64

After the MLS game, anyone still not agree with me, that our defense is either old,slow or not good enough and we need a new central defender?
Cahill not good enough and slow
Luiz - too many dodgy moments, unpredictable, never know what you are going to get game to game
JT - very very slow, gets to easily caught out for pace and has to dive into tackles to recover
Cole - cant play high enough standard every game anymore - dont think Bertrand is the same standard as cole to replace

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

After the MLS game, anyone still not agree with me, that our defense is either old,slow or not good enough and we need a new central defender?
Cahill not good enough and slow
Luiz - too many dodgy moments, unpredictable, never know what you are going to get game to game
JT - very very slow, gets to easily caught out for pace and has to dive into tackles to recover
Cole - cant play high enough standard every game anymore - dont think Bertrand is the same standard as cole to replace

Its only preseason :P

I'd like a very good CB, as I dont think Cahill is good enough and neither is Ivanovic TBH, JT is pushing on and has never really had pace but its still our best defender, Luiz is likely to do anything but is needed as no one else in the squad can do what he does, Cole can still do it, hes still one of the best FB's around, Bertrand can slot in when needed as hes a good player but as ya mentioned will probably never reach Coles level which is very hard to achieve.

Panthro

I think ye are writing Cahill off far too easily to be honest.
Also Bertrand will never reach Cole's level, simply because those that would reach that level are few and far between, simple as.

And most importantly, its only pre-season, no player is going to be at full throttle with the new season just around the corner.

GavRedKing

I'm just not a huge fan of Cahill's if I'm honest.

He was a bit of a bargain due to his contract situation at Bolton and hes done well enough but a long term replacement for JT? I'm not so sure at the moment.

Ideally our CB pair would be Luiz and Cahill, both fairly mobile, both good in the air but JT's leadership and organising of the defence aswell as his defensive ability are far above anybody in the squad at the moment.

GavRedKing

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2861145,00.html

Small bit on Oscar from RDM.

'He is a fantastic player, one of the youngest to push through to the Brazilian national team and he will be a fantastic signing for us,' Di Matteo said.

'Oscar is a very exciting young talent, a creative midfield player who scores goals. He will add a lot of options and solutions for us in midfield.'
Oscar becomes the fourth young attacking midfielder to have joined the club this summer, following Kevin De Bruyne, Eden and Thorgan Hazard and Marko Marin, and Di Matteo admits it will be a challenge to bring balance to the line-up, though the signing can only help our push for honours.

grumpymunster

amiable wrote: »

Liverpool might have a right back for Chelsea. Decent player and used to play fro Chelsea. He's 27 and and a regular for England. Yours for £25 million

He never was and never will be a RB, good RM player but useless defender would prefer Bose back.

Ivan is a CB not a RB, his favoured position is CB. He does well there but he is really not good enough always been of this view.

gosplan

Holy Crapola!!!!

So are you guys looking at ...

--Mikel - Ramieres
Mata - Hazard - Oscar(in some order)

---

Torres


With Miereles, Lampard, Moses on the bench and then hopeful that Essien comes back to full fitness and form.


That's going to be seriously interesting and is about all you can do to try and get the best from Torres - I mean if that doesn't work for him then you can safely say the midfielders aren't the problem.

I think Moses would be a great buy though, insurance would be important with so many new players coming in.

It'll all work brilliantly if Mikel becomes the player you're hoping he can and that he showed glimpses of last season. If he doesn't, you'll probably win or lose every game 6-5.

Anyway, jealous as I am of the infinite wealth I'm not one to moralise about it. Get it in before FFP and good luck for the next 10 years.

solarith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLnvf2NLVJ8

Highlights. Their goals were pretty soft to be honest.

solarith

I could see Lampard reverting back to a more defensive midfielder position like in CL final alongside Ramieres too.

gosplan

gosplan wrote: »

Holy Crapola!!!!

So are you guys looking at ...

--Mikel - Ramieres
Mata - Hazard - Oscar(in some order)

---

Torres


With Miereles, Lampard, Moses on the bench and then hopeful that Essien comes back to full fitness and form.


That's going to be seriously interesting and is about all you can do to try and get the best from Torres - I mean if that doesn't work for him then you can safely say the midfielders aren't the problem.

I think Moses would be a great buy though, insurance would be important with so many new players coming in.

It'll all work brilliantly if Mikel becomes the player you're hoping he can and that he showed glimpses of last season. If he doesn't, you'll probably win or lose every game 6-5.

Anyway, jealous as I am of the infinite wealth I'm not one to moralise about it. Get it in before FFP and good luck for the next 10 years.

Totally forgot about Marvin too. Guess Roman had been restrained enough for a couple of seasons and then remembered how enjoyable the initial great splurge on players was and the following couple of seasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeVyXFN1OTY

what a day

grumpymunster wrote: »

He never was and never will be a RB, good RM player but useless defender would prefer Bose back.

Ivan is a CB not a RB, his favoured position is CB. He does well there but he is really not good enough always been of this view.

I have to disagree totally Grumpy,sorry.

I think Ivan is a much better RB than CB. Ok he is not great going forward but he certanly is mobile and works the flanks well. Very strong and quicker than he looks. When he plays CB his marker always gets away from him and can tend to get caught napping at times.

As for Johnson i think he is a very good RB and id be delighted if we resigned him. I think he is a good defender as well as attacker. I was sad to see him go when he did.

As for Bertrand not replacing Cole, i think Bertrand is a quality young full back and id be delighted for him to take Ashs place some day. Have to say though i think PVA is a slightly better player than Bertrand but would be great to have both playing with us. Both very young and hopfully they will develope further and become as good as Cole.......the best LB in world football

Like Johnson we have to give full back time to develope, they need expeirence and it may be another 5 years before they show their ful potential.

GavRedKing

Bertrand is going to be 23 by the time the season starts, hes not good enough to reach the level Ashley was at, at a similar age.

Van Aanholt will be 22 at the end of August, dont think he'll be as good as Cole either but I'd suggest hes a better chance then Bertrand.

grumpymunster

what a day wrote: »

I have to disagree totally Grumpy,sorry.

I think Ivan is a much better RB than CB. Ok he is not great going forward but he certanly is mobile and works the flanks well. Very strong and quicker than he looks. When he plays CB his marker always gets away from him and can tend to get caught napping at times.

As for Johnson i think he is a very good RB and id be delighted if we resigned him. I think he is a good defender as well as attacker. I was sad to see him go when he did.

As for Bertrand not replacing Cole, i think Bertrand is a quality young full back and id be delighted for him to take Ashs place some day. Have to say though i think PVA is a slightly better player than Bertrand but would be great to have both playing with us. Both very young and hopfully they will develope further and become as good as Cole.......the best LB in world football

Like Johnson we have to give full back time to develope, they need expeirence and it may be another 5 years before they show their ful potential.

Never mind people disagreeing at all so long as its logical, in fact its good for the soul.

I must admit to being a fan of Ivan's but I would not rate him as top tier. I see him as back up to our starters whoever they may be. Very honest player who never seems to sherk his workload. I see him as a better CB as I dont think he is mobile enough for RB but not a huge amount in it.

As for Johnson love him going forward has a decent shot and a fantastic cross but to my mind he is just a terrible defender. I cant see any positional sense with him, very rash at times in challenges. Even playing for England they are very weak down the right and I would lay most of the blame with him.

As for Sideshow I think he is a bit of a work in progress he has any amount of talent just needs to be focused which I think it will be. I like Cahill old fashioned no frills defender who will do a good job for us I think. I always thought that PVA was a better player than Ryan as well but I think both are good enough to become solid steady defenders. They are not many as good or even nearly as good as Ash, he is one of the all time great LB's I think.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Aquila wrote: »

Pre-season and all but the defence is really worrying me,we simply arent tight at the back and im worried that it will cost us points

As long as we score more then we concede I could not care how the lads at the back do.

GavRedKing

What do we all make of the 3rd kit?

Its a bit different, I like it though.

Caveman1

Lads I think some people are reading way too much into a friendly match.

I watched the game last night we were pretty poor, although we need to remember that its pre season and the lads will be doing some serious fitness training, Also its hard to get into any sort of rhythm when there's so many subs being used too.

As for people saying we arent good defensively are we forgetting that all our success from last season was from outstanding defending? Cahill Luiz & Cole were all immense.

The only thing that sort of annoyed me from last nights game was that Ferreira was brought on again?? Although Chalobah eventually came on he should of been first option.

I for one cant wait the the new season to get into full swing, definitely exciting times ahead for Chelsea FC.

bullpost

Think Malouda was played as well which I found surprising.

Caveman1 wrote: »

The only thing that sort of annoyed me from last nights game was that Ferreira was brought on again?? Although Chalobah eventually came on he should of been first option.

SlipperyPeople

Since the summer of 2003 when Roman Abramovich decided to make Chelsea a global force, the club have become a major player on the domestic and European game.

And last season was one of the most unpredictable, chaotic and amazingly successful ones that Chelsea have experienced in recent years. As Di Matteo is given the reigns for the season and players like Hazard are being recruited, there are people suggesting that Chelsea could be challenging for the title next season. This article will look at the possibility of this happening.

The problem that Chelsea have faced in recent seasons is that they have lacked a certain level of longevity in regard to their managers, which has meant that as a team Chelsea have not evolved naturally. Instead each manager appears to be set on relying on the previous nucleus of players in order to keep Chelsea challenging for titles and cups. This method has worked for Avram Grant, Scolari, Hiddink and Ancelotti, where they simply retained the players and style that had been imbedded into the club from the previous “special one”.

Their logic was not flawed, Mourinho is a master at putting together a group of players, making them a unit, giving them belief and knowing what style is necessary to be successful. He brought success and adulation and thus it was a method which did not need changing.

However, that was until Roman Abramovich saw Ronaldinho rip his team apart and then witnessed Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Winning became only part of his desire, the rest was to see tiki-tika football played at Stamford Bridge, this time by the home side.



Ideology over realism?



What arose was a clash of ideology and pragmatism and last summer Andre Villas-Boas was brought in to implement this change of style. As we know he failed emphatically in his quest to give Roman what he wished. Now many may argue that Villas-Boas did get Chelsea playing a more “Barca style” way, yet it ultimately led to defeats and anarchy. Villas-Boas failed because he tried to do too much too soon, with a group of players not able or willing to change. He left too early in order to see if his “project” could ever evolve, yet the truth is he was failing, he was simply not the right man for the job and at Chelsea, failure, even when seeking the owner’s ideal, means the end.

Now we all know what happened after AVB left; Di Matteo came in, at first somewhat cautiously, with reports of dislike of him from certain players, and ultimately brought the players and the club around with doing something which any manager gets praise for, winning games. He brought about nights like the Napoli game in the second leg and made Stamford Bridge appear like the fortress it was under previous managers (remember Mourinho went undefeated at home throughout his whole Chelsea period).

He did what I had argued for months previously, the simple yet effective necessity, to change the tactics. Simply Chelsea did not have the players to play the high pressing game and were made to look like fools in many games, especially John Terry, who knew he could not play that way. Di Matteo reverted back to the deeper defensive unit, compact midfield and counter attack mentality which had served the side so well in previous seasons. Amazingly Chelsea would win both the FA Cup; out playing both Spurs and Liverpool convincingly and by luck, fate or plain old hard work and determination, they overcame Barcelona and then Bayern Munich to win their first Champions League. It was not pretty, but nothing can take that away from Chelsea.



Di Matteo’s problems



Di Matteo was given the manager’s job yet don’t forget however that Abramovich’s aim was to bring Guardiola to Stamford Bridge, and I am sure he sought out his old friend Hiddink again too. With their rejections he was left with a choice of another potential AVB gamble, or a better the devil you know option in Di Matteo.

The problem that Di Matteo has is that he will expected to play much better this season than he did (against the better sides that is) last season. At times Chelsea were simply defending at all costs and luckily surviving, whether with 11 or 10 men. It was admirable and ultimately successful, yet plaudits are not won (something which Roman seeks and lusts for) for that style and Di Matteo will be tasked with improving the quality of the play, while being successful. The question is, is this possible?

To help him in this coming season Di Matteo has been gifted with new players (Hazard, Marin and potentially Oscar), this is to go along with attacking options of Mata, Torres, Lukaku and Sturridge, the signing from last season Kevin De Bruyne and also the impressive youngster Lucas Pizon. The potential for Chelsea to create goals and have flair is clear and what Chelsea’s policy appears to be is to emulate the Barcelona model of small, technical players, possessing speed, creativity and skill.

In some respects this is commendable, at the top of the elite levels we are seeing success coming from these type of players possessing technical quality. One needs only look at Barca, Dortmund and Man City to see small players dominating games and terrorising defences and now Chelsea have caught on and want to come into this new cycle of football.

In Eden Hazard I believe Chelsea have a real special player, reports of his performances for Lille these past two seasons regarded him extremely highly and for me he was the best player available this summer, therefore Chelsea have done very well to capture his signature. I expect big things from him playing a central role, with Mata on the left.

However, I do not expect much from Marin, he appears more of a squad player and his potential which was spoken of years ago has never been met, instead players like Ozil, Reus, Kroos and Schurlle have overtaken him in the national side. At £6m it is not a major gamble, yet Chelsea appear set on bringing in this type of player. However there are issues which will curtail Chelsea’s season and which appear set to prevent Chelsea being successful this season.



Tactical choices



Di Matteo favours the 4-2-3-1 formation and for the players he has, it is the right tactic to use. It offers solidity in defence, allows the full backs to attack and gives licence to the three attacking midfielders to roam and create. It was played to good effect in Munich, especially with Lampard and Mikel holding. And it is what Chelsea will need if they have any chance of challenging this coming season.

With the option of Torres, Sturridge and Lukaku fighting for the No. 9 position, it leaves a combination of Mata, Hazard, Marin and possibly Oscar to play behind them. It resembles the setup of City, Madrid and Dortmund, all sides which won their respective leagues last season and thus is no coincidence then that Chelsea will seek to implement it too.

For me it is the modern tactic, improving on the 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formations of previous years. It is much better for Chelsea to use a 4-2-3-1 than attempt to emulate the Barca/Spain tactic which requires above all cohesion and understanding of that system, something those players have been developed with all their footballing careers. One cannot just say we are playing this way and expect to see Barcelona (take note Brendan & Andre).There are issues for Chelsea which will affect their chances of success.



Personnel



Chelsea have just lost their most influential and dominant forward, a player arguably the best forward in England for the past five or six years and who when asked upon, especially in finals, has come up with the goals again and again. You cannot just lose a player like Drogba and expect to be okay, this is a major loss to Chelsea, the players and the new manager.

Drogba offered much more than goals, he destroyed defenders with strength and power, his movement was top class too and it is no surprise too that he assisted many goals as well. Questions must remain over Torres and his ability to consistently perform in a blue shirt and he will need to do more to help Chelsea, he needs to vary his movement and become a bigger part of the game, too often he is only waiting for the chance to score, he will need to involve himself more now.

Lukaku has impressed in Belgium and yet was seemingly ignored by AVB last season, is he mature enough and good enough to challenge Torres and become the “new Drogba”? I have my doubts in all honesty and see him as another Di Santo. Drogba therefore will be a major loss to the side and will damage their chances of success.



Defensive issues?



When Roberto Mancini arrived at City he made sure to address their defensive issues first and build from the back. Di Matteo addressed the defensive issues when he came in and made Chelsea stronger. However, although Terry and Lampard have been simply excellent servants for Chelsea this past decade, and have pulled the club through difficult times and matches, they are the both past their best, both have lost the speed they had and although their experience and positioning has improved, Lampard particularly adapting to his deeper role, these players will struggle with another full season and importantly will struggle against the better sides in the league.

Just last season John Terry was pulled apart by Andy Carroll against Liverpool in a 4-1 loss and he showed signs throughout that he was past his best. It is interesting to note that for the majority of the Barcelona game and the Bayern final, Terry was absent and Chelsea appeared arguably better (of course, very different if Messi or Gomez take their chances), yet the truth is that Terry is past it at the top-level, similar to Carragher at Liverpool, both have lost their sharpness and although Terry’s leadership and courage are admirable, I would be worried as to his ability to handle the speed of the game now. From Cahill, Luiz and Ivanovic Chelsea have a better defensive pairing, yet through sentiment and not wanting to unsettle such an influential player, Di Matteo may be forced to continue with Terry, which may be to the managers downfall.



Midfield issues



In midfield Lampard is best suited now to a deeper role, similar to Gerrard at Liverpool, age has caught up with these dynamic box to box midfielders and they need to adapt their game if they wish to continue at this level. Lampard’s scoring record is simply phenomenal yet he will be expected to break up the play and provide passes to others if he wishes to continue at Stamford Bridge. Next to him is Mikel, a player who promised so much yet has not as yet achieved that potential. He appears languid and casual and too often lacks the ability or willingness to get on the ball. The talk was that he would be the heir to Makelele yet he lacks the speed, bite and anticipation to rival such a great player.

Unfortunately, the player who Chelsea need in this role is Michael Essien, and it is such a shame therefore that injures have destroyed what was one of the best midfielders to play in the Premier League. For me Essien had it all, his versatility meant that perhaps he was not regarded as highly as he should have been. Yet quite simply, five years ago, Essien would be the first name on my world XI, he was that good and important to the side. And although I hope for Chelsea that he has recaptured his old form, I worry that his career has been cut short, a shame for the player and importantly the club.

Added to this players like Mereles and Romeu, and Chelsea really do lack real quality in their midfield. If they wish to have the slight technical players interchanging and creating ahead, then they need real quality behind them. City has players like Yaya Toure and Kompany and because of these City are favourites to win the league. Chelsea have gone from having the best midfield in the league to being only a top six one, it is here also where issues will arise.

Attacking flair and creativity are all great to watch and excite over, yet the key to being successful is defending, Mancini knows that and his side were victorious, Mourinho the same, Barcelona too. Dortmund have an excellent defence built on the quality of Hummels and Subotic. It interesting therefore to see managers like Wenger neglect this key aspect and win nothing because of it. Ferguson has been hit by injuries yet has not sought to improve his side with genuine quality in defensive positions, instead seeking to enhance his strike force over defence, a suicidal move. Chelsea must learn sooner than later that improving the defensive side of the team, will mean more success.



A New Era



Chelsea are embarking on a new period of the club, as one of the big three in Drogba vacates and Terry and Lampard enter perhaps their final season, Chelsea are certainly in the midst of transition from Mourinho to the new era. As Roman seeks to replicate a Barcelona model, he is risking the potential of his club to win titles and trophies, which this past nine seasons have brought. Although the club has been through many managers and turmoil, success has come from the strong foundations of defensive security, these foundations cannot be abandoned in the search to become Barcelona.

I believe Di Matteo is more pragmatic than this, yet when his boss is expecting beautiful football, will he be able to balance ideology with pragmatism?

As this new era dawns, I worry that the “new” Chelsea will not be as good, as dominant and thus as successful as this past era was. They have a manager who stills has questions hanging over him and he will have a difficult task in evolving the side while staying successful. Perhaps Di Matteo is merely a stop-gap until Guardiola decides he is ready to step in. However I am very apprehensive about the possibility of Chelsea becoming anything like Barcelona; all replication appears to bring is failure, and any new manager at Chelsea, Liverpool or Spurs should be conscious of trying to not seek ideology and replication and instead assess the squad and find the best possible style and tactic to suit the players, not theirs or their owners wishes.

Can Chelsea be successful this season? Can they retain their European crown and challenge for the title? Abramovich will hope so, yet I have my gravest doubts for this side. I would argue that United and City have better attacking options than Chelsea and would say that Chelsea’s new vision for the future is flawed, remember their success came from dominating teams with strength and physicality and my worry is that they are neglecting these attributes which made them such a force this past decade.

The question was, are they title contenders, the answer is no.

What do you think? Will Chelsea be competitive in the league and in Europe? Can Hazard be a revelation and Torres recapture his form?

Leave me your views below, or find me for a discussion on Twitter @The_W_Address

some valid points

bullpost

I agree with him that we are not title contenders.
We are rebuilding and there are too many imponderables.

I think Man City and possibly Utd will finish ahead of us, but we should be good enough to get that 3rd spot, though there will be tough competition for it.

hungoverbunny wrote: »

some valid points

what a day

Grumpy, whats your view on Luiz playing as a CDM?
I for one would love to see him play in thet postion, he is like Fellaini (even his hair) but with more skill on the ball and better long ball distribution. I know we have Essien Meireles Lampard Oriol McEachran and Ramires all able to play that role but i just think Luiz would be amazing just in front of Terry and Cahill.

LOVE that 3rd kit!! Glad we still have hint of yellow in the kit much niver than last seasons kit and that wernt bad either!!

grumpymunster

what a day wrote: »

Grumpy, whats your view on Luiz playing as a CDM?
I for one would love to see him play in thet postion, he is like Fellaini (even his hair) but with more skill on the ball and better long ball distribution. I know we have Essien Meireles Lampard Oriol McEachran and Ramires all able to play that role but i just think Luiz would be amazing just in front of Terry and Cahill.

LOVE that 3rd kit!! Glad we still have hint of yellow in the kit much niver than last seasons kit and that wernt bad either!!

Yea I think he could be very good there, he has a great eye for a pass which aligned to the ability to deliver the pass as well could be great. A little like Frank LeBoeuf I guess never the best centre half from a pure defensive but an excellent footballer. Ram I think can play anywhere in the middle of the park what an engine that guy has, wasted out on the right (though the cross for Drogs header against Napoli was brilliant). That goal against Barca I still dont know how he did it and boy have I watched it a few times . Think CDM is Ess's best position and I would like to see Romeu given a try out at CB I dont know why think he would be excellent there.

what a day

I think the writer of the artical is an idiot!
We went through our worst run in over ten years under AVB and still managed to win a Champions league and FA cup.

He talks about us be defensivly poor yet ask Barca how tough it is to score against us. We have the sma defense as last season bar Bosingwa yet we will replace Bosi with a better player and in any way Ivan was our main RB last season.

Lamps played brilliant in his role last season even the writer of the above artical admitted it yet because 2 months past we are going to be poor this season?

Ok we lost Drogba Kalou and Bosi. Two bit part players and our starting 11 striker. I believe we will sign another striker and Moses to replace Kalou. Azipilicueta to replace Bosi and we added Oscar Marin and Hazard to the squad.

We dont have AVB in charge this season and under DiMatteo we have done much much better all round. Im not saying we will win the league but we ARE contenders, even if it is a transitional period!

MUSEIST

I don't think we will win the league this season. If we finish top 4 then thats a good season IMO, that has to be our no.1 target after finishing 6th. It will take a bit of time for the new guys to settle in and they are all young so they will get better each year.

re. the defence.
I would not pay to much attention to pre season games, yes we are conceding some sloppy goals but I expect us to be solid when the wigan game comes around.

GavRedKing

We're in a better position this year then we were last year thats for sure, we're a year older which isnt to good for people like Cole/Lamps/JT but we've brought in one of Brazil's top talents and Europe's best young player.

I'd be very annoyed if we didnt finish within 9 points of the eventual winners of the league.

Once we replace Bosingwa then we're fairly well balanced, thats if we keep Lukaku, if not we'll surely be in the market for another CF as we cant rely on Torres/Sturridge for games.

Our strongest current XI is
Cech
Ivan Luiz Jt Cole
Lamps Mikel
Ramires Hazard Mata
Torres

Before everyone has a heart attack, I left out Oscar and Marin as neither are really seen as right wingers, neither is Ramires but hes played there last season and is best suited for the position at the moment, I've no doubt that Oscar will eventually be included in our first XI.

what a day

GavRedKing wrote: »

We're in a better position this year then we were last year thats for sure, we're a year older which isnt to good for people like Cole/Lamps/JT but we've brought in one of Brazil's top talents and Europe's best young player.

I'd be very annoyed if we didnt finish within 9 points of the eventual winners of the league.

Once we replace Bosingwa then we're fairly well balanced, thats if we keep Lukaku, if not we'll surely be in the market for another CF as we cant rely on Torres/Sturridge for games.

Our strongest current XI is
Cech
Ivan Luiz Jt Cole
Lamps Mikel
Ramires Hazard Mata
Torres

Before everyone has a heart attack, I left out Oscar and Marin as neither are really seen as right wingers, neither is Ramires but hes played there last season and is best suited for the position at the moment, I've no doubt that Oscar will eventually be included in our first XI.

Well said Gav!!

Our Squad didn not let us down because they were poor and they are not suddenly old since 2 months ago. We basicaly have tha same squad as last season bar Drogba but i bet we will sign another striker and it will be either Cavani Hulk or Shurrle.

You leaving out Oscar Marin will also highlight how stong our bench will be too. Hopefully we can off load the likes of Malouda too! Id be really suprized if we dont finish close to first place next season.

GavRedKing

what a day wrote: »

Well said Gav!!

Our Squad didn not let us down because they were poor and they are not suddenly old since 2 months ago. We basicaly have tha same squad as last season bar Drogba but i bet we will sign another striker and it will be either Cavani Hulk or Shurrle.

You leaving out Oscar Marin will also highlight how stong our bench will be too. Hopefully we can off load the likes of Malouda too! Id be really suprized if we dont finish close to first place next season.

I think Oscar will come into the first team after the Olmypics and after a bit of rest but the above team, barring injuries will probably line out against Man City in the Community Shield.

With Oscar, Marin, Mata, Hazard we have 4 very good options for 3 positions, couple in Piazon, Ramires and we have a good few options and as I said before I think we'll try and play very fluid, inter changing between the support 3 and positions.

Hell, even at DM we're well served, Mikel/Essien/Lamps/Ramires/Romeu/Meireles/Josh Mac.

RDM has a huge job of keeping everyone happy and thinning the squad out.

Imagine how good it would be to get to another UCL final and winning it at Wembley in May?

Now that would be the dream.

amiable

Fergie has claimed Chelsea paid £6 million in agents fees for Eden Hazard

'I mean, you make a phone call say 'Are you interested in a player?' A couple of hours of negotiations, you get six million pounds.

Via Duncan Castles who interviewed him recently

GavRedKing

amiable wrote: »

Fergie has claimed Chelsea paid £6 million in agents fees for Eden Hazard


Via Duncan Castles who interviewed him recently

Wouldnt surprise me TBH.

Agents and the fees they are paid are ridicolous IMHO.

Its not always as simple as " dya wanna join? " but its easy to understand that if one club offers the agent more money he could try sway his client towards that club, especially when clubs of similar status are after him and the wages and bonuses are fairly similar.