Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

grumpymunster

D'Agger wrote: »

He was impressive from what I saw of the highlights - making me look a right fool so he is! :pac:

Have to say I have been very consistent in my thoughts on Oscar from the first start against Juve last season I thought he had what it takes to be one of the best in the world.

I just hope we tie him to a really long contract before Barca try to unsettle him.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Happy that the Schalke game is on tuesday means we get an extra days rest over city, they are also travelling a little bit further then us but not much. Don't really think it will make too much of a difference because the game is on Sunday.

As log as we dont lose and pick up key injuries I'll be happy with a draw in Germany.

I think the time frame shouldnt effect us regardless, we'll have 4 days to prepare for the City game.

grumpymunster wrote: »

Have to say I have been very consistent in my thoughts on Oscar from the first start against Juve last season I thought he had what it takes to be one of the best in the world.

I just hope we tie him to a really long contract before Barca try to unsettle him.

Why Barca? :pac: Also as long as Jose is in charge I'm not sure Barca will get anything more then a polite "no chance" reply.

duploelabs

I know we're only a quarter of the way into the season but is Oscar as big for us this season as Mata was last?

GavRedKing

duploelabs wrote: »

I know we're only a quarter of the way into the season but is Oscar as big for us this season as Mata was last?

I reckon hes more important, out of possesion he does more work then Mata done last year while still having a positive effect going forward.

I dont think hes as subtle as Mata and I reckon Mata has a better eye for the killer pass but Oscar doesnt lack either in that department that its an important thing.

Even his goal at the weekend, its something I'd expect of him more so then Mata, it was very Lampard esque in execution and how he shifted it to make the space for the shot.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

As log as we dont lose and pick up key injuries I'll be happy with a draw in Germany.

I think the time frame shouldnt effect us regardless, we'll have 4 days to prepare for the City game.



Why Barca? :pac: Also as long as Jose is in charge I'm not sure Barca will get anything more then a polite "no chance" reply.

Ah they are undisputed kings of "unsettle the player and get him cheap". More likely an impolite "no chance" I would have thought :P. At least Madrid have the decency to unsettle the player and pay the going rate

Be interesting to see if Eto'o can push on from his goal on Saturday, he took it very well.

GavRedKing

I think Huntelaar is out for Schalke which is a bonus for us.

What do we want to see tomorrow night?

Cech
Ivan Luiz JT Bertrand
Ramires Lamps
Schurrle Oscar Hazard
Torres

Call Me Jimmy

Looking forward to watching draxler tomorrow and oscar has been great this season, I can't compare to mata last season because I didn't watch much football but oscar is the real deal imo.

Worst case scenario, in every game this season chelsea could play either oscar or mata and keep them bot in tip top shape. Only Arsenal are as lucky. United have kagawa for rooney, but neither have done what mata and oscar are doing.

Hazard did well the other day but I think Oscar has an extra notch of class about him, tiny bit more subtle.

GavRedKing

If I had to pick I'd be going for Hazard over Oscar, as you mentioned we have another Oscar, its Mata.

Hazard has no equal in our squad, hes much better then Willian, Schurrle and Moses and is probably the only guy we have that can actually commit defenders and drag players around the pitch with ease.

His only downside is hes not as consistent as he could be and I hope Jose can bring that into his game as it wasnt mentioend pre-season that it was his goal to get more assists and goals.

GavRedKing

Also, Sunday is the real test of the season so far, City are like us, havent started great, not poor either.

Theyre scoring for fun, 20 in 8 but theyve left in 9 in those games.

We'll get chances but can we keep them out is the main thing, theyve managed 4-1 against Utd and 4-0 vs Newcastle in the league and theyve beaten Everton 3-1. Theyve lost 1 away to Cardiff, drew with Stoke and just beat West Ham.

Theres no reason to suggest we cant take 3 points from this game and it would be a huge 3 points, for either team, especially given the face they're 1 point behind us only.

Call Me Jimmy

I'd say chelsea will hope that city have an off day, as you say in the bigger games they haven't had too much of a problem, it's like their rag-tag band of players aren't as motivated against opposition that they individually and collectively feel they can steamroll.

Sometimes when I look at chelsea they look obviously solid, but sometimes a bit inhibited by their own solidity or extreme focus on the overt tactics. But that's how Jose wins 'championships' as he'd say, but my criticism is that sometimes he needs to let his players off the leash a bit.

GavRedKing

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

I'd say chelsea will hope that city have an off day, as you say in the bigger games they haven't had too much of a problem, it's like their rag-tag band of players aren't as motivated against opposition that they individually and collectively feel they can steamroll.

Sometimes when I look at chelsea they look obviously solid, but sometimes a bit inhibited by their own solidity or extreme focus on the overt tactics. But that's how Jose wins 'championships' as he'd say, but my criticism is that sometimes he needs to let his players off the leash a bit.

Rafas 1st game in charge was a dire 0-0 against City and it was the right result neither team were at anything that night.

I'd take a 1-0 right now with a rock solid defensive display if it was being offered by Jose. :pac:

GavRedKing

Zola's all time XI players hes played with.

Buffon
Thuram Cannavaro Baresi Maldini
Poyet Wise Di Matteo
Careca Maradona Baggio

GOALKEEPER - Gianluigi Buffon: I played with him in Parma. You could never score against him. He was incredible - you could see he was a different class of goalkeeper. We could stay there at the end of the training session to take shots and it would always be very difficult to beat him.

RIGHT-BACK - Lilian Thuram: I also played with Lilian in Parma. I had some other picks, like Albert Ferrer, who was very good with me at Chelsea but defensively he wasn't as strong as Lilian.

LEFT-BACK - Paolo Maldini: He's not a bad pick! Although I've had good players in that position - such as Alberto Di Chiara at Parma, who was very good going forward. At Chelsea we had players like Graeme Le Saux, who did very well for us, and Celestine Babayaro. But Maldini is probably one of the best - if not the best - left defender of the century so I go for him. I played with him in the national team, not at club level. It was always a pleasure to play with him.

CENTRE-HALF - Franco Baresi: I played with him for the national team, as well, and he was from a different planet. He was difficult to beat in a one-on-one situation, plus he was good with the ball. He was a great leader on the pitch.

CENTRE-HALF - Fabio Cannavaro: He's one of the few defenders that own the Golden Ball. Man-to-man he was basically unbeatable. He was very good.

HOLDING MIDFIELDER - Dennis Wise: He had good competition from players like Didier Deschamps, Demetrio Albertini and Alemao, who played with me in Naples. But I believe that Dennis beats the competiton because he was clever and a good leader.

RIGHT MIDFIELD - Gustavo Poyet: He was such an intelligent player and he had the fantastic ability of scoring important goals at important moments in important matches.

LEFT MIDFIELD - Roberto Di Matteo: Another Chelsea legend. He knew how to play the midfield role in every aspect. He could organise the team defensively and also finish.

RIGHT STRIKER - Careca: An unbelievable striker - I played with him in Naples. Strong, quick and technically fantastic.

LEFT STRIKER - Roberto Baggio: He's another fantastic player. Maybe he's out of position a little bit but I will allow him to come inside a little bit! He's got fantastic ability and is an intelligent player - good in all the aspects of the game. He gets in ahead of Faustino Asprilla, who I played with at Parma. He's another fantastic player who deserved to be in the team but I can only play 11.

CENTRE FORWARD - Diego Maradona: He's my first choice on the teamsheet. It goes without saying that we are talking about football. He was inspirational for me and he was inspirational for many others that played with him. In Naples we used to play against other teams - Milan, for example, who had players like Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Rijkaard. Although they were good, you could see the difference between them and Diego. He was on a different level.

Thats some collection of players. :eek:

Techless

GavRedKing wrote: »

Zola's all time XI players hes played with.

Buffon
Thuram Cannavaro Baresi Maldini
Poyet Wise Di Matteo
Careca Maradona Baggio



Thats some collection of players. :eek:

How much would that team cost to buy nowadays.........

Baresi was just class, unbelievable defender, used to love watching the old Football Italia on C4 especially the Milan team with him and the Dutch boys, happy memories.

GavRedKing

Techless wrote: »

How much would that team cost to buy nowadays.........

Baresi was just class, unbelievable defender, used to love watching the old Football Italia on C4 especially the Milan team with him and the Dutch boys, happy memories.

In that defence you have some of the greatest players to ever grace a pitch in those respected positions.

Agreed on Baresi, although I was young at the time, looking back on those milan teams of the late 80's early 90's. they were out of this world.

Maldini is one of my favourite players of all time, a real class act and a guy who deserved a World Cup medal in 2006, I think he was offered the chance to play but turned it down.

GavRedKing

Schurrle has traveled to Germany, Cole misses out.

Soby

GavRedKing

Is that the same dude who said Jose was hogging all the leg room. :pac:

Should have whispered in his ear a few tactical changes he would have made if he was manager.

GavRedKing

FA charge for Jose.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been charged with improper conduct in relation to his behaviour during his side's game against Cardiff City on Saturday 19 October 2013.

'Mourinho has until 24 October at 6pm to respond to the charge.'

peteeeed

GavRedKing wrote: »

FA charge for Jose.

in the days of modern tech, not really a problem . lets not forget the kit basket in munich

GavRedKing

peteeeed wrote: »

in the days of modern tech, not really a problem . lets not forget the kit basket in munich

I think that was during Stamofrd Bridge leg of the tie, no?

The hat and ear piece was brilliant too.

peteeeed

GavRedKing wrote: »

I think that was during Stamofrd Bridge leg of the tie, no?

The hat and ear piece was brilliant too.

yeah laundry basket at the bridge and the earpiece was in munich . he'll get his message across by any means necessary

peteeeed

mathew harding died 17 years ago today, true blue and kind of got the ball rolling with looking to get chelsea on the up and up with investment in the team

GavRedKing

peteeeed wrote: »

mathew harding died 17 years ago today, true blue and kind of got the ball rolling with looking to get chelsea on the up and up with investment in the team

F**k :eek:

I remember hearing about it on Sky/BBC news the next day and wasnt sure what it meant for the club at the time TBH.

Bates didnt cover himself in glory in the weeks/months after it, didnt he come out and saying he didnt like him at all or something to the effect?

peteeeed

GavRedKing wrote: »

F**k :eek:

I remember hearing about it on Sky/BBC news the next day and wasnt sure what it meant for the club at the time TBH.

Bates didnt cover himself in glory in the weeks/months after it, didnt he come out and saying he didnt like him at all or something to the effect?

yeah , he hated the fact that the fans loved harding and knew that harding was looking to buy in more on the club . the power struggle had only started to kick off when he tragically died

GavRedKing

peteeeed wrote: »

yeah , he hated the fact that the fans loved harding and knew that harding was looking to buy in more on the club . the power struggle had only started to kick off when he tragically died

Had Harding got more shares and had a bigger stake in the club to the point he could have bought Bates out, would he have sold to Roman?

Being a Chelsea fan would have made it harder to give up your stake in the club to a rich Russian although I'm sure in the grand scheme of things he would realised that Romans billions would have made for more investment opportunities then he could ever haved imagine.

Dozen Wicked Words

GavRedKing wrote: »

F**k :eek:

I remember hearing about it on Sky/BBC news the next day and wasnt sure what it meant for the club at the time TBH.

Bates didnt cover himself in glory in the weeks/months after it, didnt he come out and saying he didnt like him at all or something to the effect?

Struggling to think of too many times when Bates, after his initial "saving" of the club, ever covered himself in glory. Hiring Ranieri and spending a few quid in his penultimate season as chairman maybe, but I think the spending was designed to make a sale more appealing. I also wonder how things would have panned out at Chelsea if Harding was still with us.

GavRedKing

The hotel initially was a good idea and the corporate facilities provided a new market for the Chelsea fanbase, had we known down the line that the Hotel would basically restrict the largest outsidea area of the ground for expansion, building it given the hindsight, was a bad idea.

I suppose its one of the only parts of Bates legacy that will remain long after hes forgotten about.

peteeeed

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Struggling to think of too many times when Bates, after his initial "saving" of the club, ever covered himself in glory. Hiring Ranieri and spending a few quid in his penultimate season as chairman maybe, but I think the spending was designed to make a sale more appealing. I also wonder how things would have panned out at Chelsea if Harding was still with us.

its well documented that we were broke just before roman took over , we signed Enrique de Lucas on a free and that was it and got into the champions league on the last day , bates left the club with an £80 million debt

Dozen Wicked Words

peteeeed wrote: »

its well documented that we were broke just before roman took over , we signed Enrique de Lucas on a free and that was it and got into the champions league on the last day , bates left the club with an £80 million debt

Hence I said penultimate season. But you are right though.

GavRedKing

We were days from going bust, we had to reportedly make a repayment thought to be over 20million and prior to Roman coming in adminstartion was a real threat as the money wasnt there to pay back the debt.

I think when he became majority shareholder he bought the stakes of the Harding estate, Sky and I think Barclays Bank and Bates remaining shares.

Roman wanted a club to build on and Portsmouth were originally touted to him by that Israeli super agent whos name I cant remeber, Phil something or other, but Roman was keen on setting up base camp in London and the rest is history as they say.

So for all Romans faults as an owner and there is many, Chelsea owe the last decade of unimagineable success down to him firstly for saving the club but also allowing to grow into a European super power with domestic and European titles.

Techless

GavRedKing wrote: »

We were days from going bust, we had to reportedly make a repayment thought to be over 20million and prior to Roman coming in adminstartion was a real threat as the money wasnt there to pay back the debt.

I think when he became majority shareholder he bought the stakes of the Harding estate, Sky and I think Barclays Bank and Bates remaining shares.

Roman wanted a club to build on and Portsmouth were originally touted to him by that Israeli super agent whos name I cant remeber, Phil something or other, but Roman was keen on setting up base camp in London and the rest is history as they say.

So for all Romans faults as an owner and there is many, Chelsea owe the last decade of unimagineable success down to him firstly for saving the club but also allowing to grow into a European super power with domestic and European titles.

Agree totally with the above. Chelsea fans owe Roman big time. Many of us older fans gong back to the 70's can remember when we were one of those clubs looking to get to the magic point mark in the league to avoid relegation and be happy to win the odd cup , even the Zenith Data Systems trophy was huge for us. When he came to buy the club, many thought he was here to buy a play thing for his own amusement and would soon tire of it and move away not caring what was left in his wake. Instead he is still here and is obviously a genuine fan, not just the owner and hopefully long it will continue.

peteeeed

GavRedKing wrote: »

We were days from going bust, we had to reportedly make a repayment thought to be over 20million and prior to Roman coming in adminstartion was a real threat as the money wasnt there to pay back the debt.

I think when he became majority shareholder he bought the stakes of the Harding estate, Sky and I think Barclays Bank and Bates remaining shares.

Roman wanted a club to build on and Portsmouth were originally touted to him by that Israeli super agent whos name I cant remeber, Phil something or other, but Roman was keen on setting up base camp in London and the rest is history as they say.

So for all Romans faults as an owner and there is many, Chelsea owe the last decade of unimagineable success down to him firstly for saving the club but also allowing to grow into a European super power with domestic and European titles.

he had also visited white hart lane at the same time as he sounded out chelsea , thank **** he chose us

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8777697/Chelsea-owner-Roman-Abramovich-is-a-football-anorak-reveals-chairman-Bruce-Buck.html

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Had Harding got more shares and had a bigger stake in the club to the point he could have bought Bates out, would he have sold to Roman?

Being a Chelsea fan would have made it harder to give up your stake in the club to a rich Russian although I'm sure in the grand scheme of things he would realised that Romans billions would have made for more investment opportunities then he could ever haved imagine.

GavRedKing wrote: »

We were days from going bust, we had to reportedly make a repayment thought to be over 20million and prior to Roman coming in adminstartion was a real threat as the money wasnt there to pay back the debt.

I think when he became majority shareholder he bought the stakes of the Harding estate, Sky and I think Barclays Bank and Bates remaining shares.

Roman wanted a club to build on and Portsmouth were originally touted to him by that Israeli super agent whos name I cant remeber, Phil something or other, but Roman was keen on setting up base camp in London and the rest is history as they say.

So for all Romans faults as an owner and there is many, Chelsea owe the last decade of unimagineable success down to him firstly for saving the club but also allowing to grow into a European super power with domestic and European titles.

I think that agent was Zahavi not certain though.

Met Matthew Harding once in a pub in Liverpool before we played them in the league, place was full of Chelsea fans and he pulled out a serious wad of money and bought us all a drink, top bloke.

I think had he not died the roles of Spurs and Chelsea may well be reversed today. I am not sure cuddly Ken would have won a power struggle with Matthew Harding and he would have gone about building the club slowly much as has happened at Spurs.

I think Roman wanted a London club so he could well have bought Spurs if we were not on the market. That would have been a sickener. As Gav says roman has made his mistakes but no one can doubt his passion anymore.

RIP Matthew

grumpymunster

Techless wrote: »

Agree totally with the above. Chelsea fans owe Roman big time. Many of us older fans gong back to the 70's can remember when we were one of those clubs looking to get to the magic point mark in the league to avoid relegation and be happy to win the odd cup , even the Zenith Data Systems trophy was huge for us. When he came to buy the club, many thought he was here to buy a play thing for his own amusement and would soon tire of it and move away not caring what was left in his wake. Instead he is still here and is obviously a genuine fan, not just the owner and hopefully long it will continue.

Or worse having to win on the last day of the season to stay in the old second division. Or even worse again do you remember the toilets at the shed end OMG revolting does not even come near.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

I think that agent was Zahavi not certain though.

Met Matthew Harding once in a pub in Liverpool before we played them in the league, place was full of Chelsea fans and he pulled out a serious wad of money and bought us all a drink, top bloke.

I think had he not died the roles of Spurs and Chelsea may well be reversed today. I am not sure cuddly Ken would have won a power struggle with Matthew Harding and he would have gone about building the club slowly much as has happened at Spurs.

I think Roman wanted a London club so he could well have bought Spurs if we were not on the market. That would have been a sickener. As Gav says roman has made his mistakes but no one can doubt his passion anymore.

RIP Matthew

I think it was Zahavi couldnt remember his 2nd name, London was where it was at for Roman, anyone fo ye that have been to London and know the affluent areas, know they're jammed packed with Russian & Arab mega wealthy families, Roman has setup other LTd's and PLC's in and around London, I think he has a Fund/Asset Management company in the area too.

Had Harding won a power struggle, he would have had the fans backing and would have been very relecuant to sell to an outsider after only gaining the club we'd say 5 years prior or so, Roman may have been forced to look elsewhere and we wouldnt have pushed on.

I'd nearly believe anywhere Harding went he was a true blue and that kind of gesture doesnt go unnoticed.

Techless

grumpymunster wrote: »

Or worse having to win on the last day of the season to stay in the old second division. Or even worse again do you remember the toilets at the shed end OMG revolting does not even come near.

Happy memories, us and the Glasgow Rangers fans........not a place for the faint hearted

GavRedKing

So tonight, what do we reckon?

A sneaky 2-0 I reckon.

peteeeed

GavRedKing wrote: »

So tonight, what do we reckon?

A sneaky 2-0 I reckon.

would have some of that, schurrle's fit and time to show some of his german form . u-19 1-0 up with 15 mins to go ,baker penalty

Techless

GavRedKing wrote: »

So tonight, what do we reckon?

A sneaky 2-0 I reckon.

That would do very nicely indeed.

Any kind of a win would be great.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

peteeeed

2-0 to the u-19's in schalke , ake , hopefully a good omen

peteeeed

Phoenix wrote: »

Are we on tv tonight?

sky sports 2

GavRedKing

Basel are away to Steaua tonight so if Steaua managed to nick a point off them as long as we match Basels result we should be ok for at least 2nd in the group.

A draw in Germany if Basel draw in Romania wouldnt be the worse set of results in the world and would probably put huge pressure on our 5th game of the group, away to Basle.

Although thats a long time down the road at the moment.

Torres to come back in, Schurrle and Oscar to replace Mata and Willian and I reckon that'll be our 3 changes for tonight.

GavRedKing

Match thread : http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=87137344#post87137344

peteeeed

Great result , delighted for Torres , first half average , 2nd half excellent

Johner

Excellent result!

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

ShoulderChip

Delighted with that, if we follow it up with a victory on sunday we will truly be laughing, nice to see Arsenal stutter too.

GavRedKing

Sunday is our real test.

We left Schalke have a lot of possesion in and around our final 1/3 last night, City will exploit it with Aguero and Silva and Negredo is a big threat too, if we can get Cole 100% then the defence will be a lot stronger.

I'm not sure about Schurrle, they handled his pace fairly well last night and doubled up on him and more then likley they'll recall Zabelta for tonight and Sunday so that would be a huge challenge for the young German if he started.

I'd make 2 changes, Cole for Azp, Mata for Schurrle.

We've 100% record at home in the league so keeping it up is really important, if we can manage to pick up 45+ points from the 54 available for our home league games we'll be sorted.

GavRedKing

Jose on Torres.

What boosts him is the confidence he knows I have in him. Samuel played a very good game against Cardiff and scored the goal. I felt Fernando was adapted to this game, but maybe if he'd played and the team didn't get the result people would have asked why I changed it, but I put faith in him and he answered well, it's a good feeling to score goals, winning goals in the Champions League.