Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

kev1.3s

Quiet in here!
That was a real jeckle and Hyde result.

peteeeed

Got home with 10 mins gone , missed the torres goal which setanta never showed at ht or ft , amateurs .
Chelsea took the foot off the pedal after Moses goal , some sloppy play but we are through with some important players rested , the 18th semi final of the roman abramovich era

kev1.3s

peteeeed wrote: »

Got home with 10 mins gone , missed the torres goal which setanta never showed at ht or ft , amateurs .
Chelsea took the foot off the pedal after Moses goal , some sloppy play but we are through with some important players rested , the 18th semi final of the roman abramovich era

I missed all but the last 10 mins but I did see the torres goal after on espn ( via an internet stream ) and he took it well too, good thing that he is finding form at such an important stage of the season.

The Davestator

Good result with a lot of squad players used so very happy we're through.

I'd rather be in the Europa semis than not (once it doesn't affect our push for fourth)

Duck Soup

peteeeed wrote: »

Chelsea took the foot off the pedal after Moses goal

That's been a feature of a lot of the games under Rafa. It never happened under Jose or Carlo. Carlo told them to go for another goal and then another; Jose nailed the game to the floor and made the lead unassailable.

WTF is Benitez telling them? Listen lads, snatch an early goal and then sit back and enjoy yourselves for 80 minutes. Surely the players themselves don't need to be told to keep the pressure on.

bullpost

In fairness there's a fair bit of fatigue in that team and we were missing the creative hub of the team.

Job done in my book but I still break out in a sweat every-time Mikel passes the ball

Duck Soup wrote: »

That's been a feature of a lot of the games under Rafa. It never happened under Jose or Carlo. Carlo told them to go for another goal and then another; Jose nailed the game to the floor and made the lead unassailable.

WTF is Benitez telling them? Listen lads, snatch an early goal and then sit back and enjoy yourselves for 80 minutes. Surely the players themselves don't need to be told to keep the pressure on.

McDave

peteeeed wrote: »

Got home with 10 mins gone , missed the torres goal which setanta never showed at ht or ft , amateurs .
Chelsea took the foot off the pedal after Moses goal , some sloppy play but we are through with some important players rested , the 18th semi final of the roman abramovich era

We were OK in parts. Moses played well and together with Torres made the most effort. Mikel not really paying attention. Terry seems increasingly off the pace.

All in all, we've negotiated a tricky tie with no damage done. The squad can have no complaints about being tired. Should be able to approach the next few ties with a real hope of picking up maximum points, pulling well clear in *third*, and getting to the FA Cup final.

Wouldn't like to be Spurs. Tonight going to extra time won't help their condition, and if they get through to the next round will IMO face a more tiring run-in than Chelsea. Arsenal look a bigger threat at this stage.

DazMarz

McDave wrote: »

We were OK in parts. Moses played well and together with Torres made the most effort. Mikel not really paying attention. Terry seems increasingly off the pace.

All in all, we've negotiated a tricky tie with no damage done. The squad can have no complaints about being tired. Should be able to approach the next few ties with a real hope of picking up maximum points, pulling well clear in *third*, and getting to the FA Cup final.

Wouldn't like to be Spurs. Tonight going to extra time won't help their condition, and if they get through to the next round will IMO face a more tiring run-in than Chelsea. Arsenal look a bigger threat at this stage.

I agree. Spurs are starting to implode, slowly but surely. Tonight's game will not help their cause at all, regardless of whether or not they progress.

Arsenal are finding a rich vein of form and have no other "distractions", unlike Spurs (Europa League; although that is hanging in the balance at the moment) and Chelsea (Europa League semi-final upcoming AND FA Cup). But I think that Chelsea just have enough in the tank and have enough of a squad to get through it, just about.

Also, if Spurs go out (which is looking quite likely with the way Basel are hammering at them at the moment; although if it goes to penos, it's anyone's), I'd REALLY fancy the Europa league; Fenerbache (hardly world-beaters, and we've beaten them before in European competition over two legs), Benfica (beat them last season in the Champions League and they're no great shakes at all) and the aforementioned Basel (doing well against Spurs, but again, no world beaters and over two legs I'd fancy Chelsea to beat them; bear in mind also that Spurs are without Bale and Defoe, so that might have just a little something to do with the current scoreline of the game).

We could do a Porto in reverse: win the CL one season, the EL the next.

Mars Bar

The pass to Torres was class!

the_monkey

Penos in Basle !

McDave

Mars Bar wrote: »

The pass to Torres was class!

In terms of vision, it was another version of Lampard's inspired pass to Ramires which cut open Barca in last year's semi.

McDave

the_monkey wrote: »

Penos in Basle !

Oo'er! Sickener for Spurs!

DazMarz

Basel win it 4-1 on penalties. Adebayor makes an absolute tart of himself, little shuffle, little feint... AND STRAIGHT INTO ROW Z. Love it.

So the semi-final line up for the Europa League is: Basel, Benfica, Chelsea and Fenerbache. You would really have to fancy it now. But not at the expense of slipping out of the Top 4.

That will knock the stuffing out of Spurs; after having played so well and for 120 minutes to go out in such an ignominous fashion will not do their morale any good. Fingers crossed anyway.

McDave

Spurs can now concentrate on fourth. Which will make our tie a real six-pointer, with the pressure on us.

McDave

DazMarz wrote: »

Basel win it 4-1 on penalties. Adebayor makes an absolute tart of himself, little shuffle, little feint... AND STRAIGHT INTO ROW Z. Love it.

So the semi-final line up for the Europa League is: Basel, Benfica, Chelsea and Fenerbache. You would really have to fancy it now. But not at the expense of slipping out of the Top 4.

That will knock the stuffing out of Spurs; after having played so well and for 120 minutes to go out in such an ignominous fashion will not do their morale any good. Fingers crossed anyway.

Basel are a decent side. They've delivered against Man U. Wouldn't fancy them in the semis, where we'll have to play very well in both legs. We'd probably do them on experience alone in a final scenario.

It's definitely winnable now. But I certainly wouldn't be complacent.

And finally, Chelsea the only Premiership team left in either European competition.

DazMarz

McDave wrote: »

Spurs can now concentrate on fourth. Which will make our tie a real six-pointer, with the pressure on us.

It's in the Bridge, which is a huge advantage. Chelsea also beat Spurs 2-4 in WHL earlier in the season. Spurs are on a bit of a slide downwards and tonight's result is a huge blow to their morale. I'd be feeling pretty good going into the game. The strongest starting-11 is needed though, goes without saying.

The dream for the end of this season: 3rd in the League, FA Cup Winners, Europa League winners.

What I'd take: 3rd/4th in the League.:o (That's all that matters, really. Anything else is a nice bonus)

DazMarz

McDave wrote: »

Basel are a decent side. They've delivered against Man U. Wouldn't fancy them in the semis, where we'll have to play very well in both legs. We'd probably do them on experience alone in a final scenario.

It's definitely winnable now. But I certainly wouldn't be complacent.

And finally, Chelsea the only Premiership team left in either European competition.

I wouldn't get complacent, not a bit. But Chelsea are undoubtedly the best team left in it. Just a question of which Chelsea side turn up in the semi-finals and the finals. But I would genuinely fear nobody, but I would respect them.

Johner

Spurs will be deflated after that game. I'm glad they got knocked out.

We would beat anyone at home, wouldn't be too confident about the away game though.

Here Precious2

Spurs fan here. We're lucky we not playing ye on Sunday ..we Defo would have been on a hiding to nothing against ye after tonight's game and having half our first team out injured.

DazMarz

Here Precious2 wrote: »

Spurs fan here. We're lucky we not playing ye on Sunday ..we Defo would have been on a hiding to nothing against ye after tonight's game and having half our first team out injured.

Pity we're not playing ye on Sunday so...

Here Precious2

DazMarz wrote: »

Pity we're not playing ye on Sunday so...

Hopefully we wil get our big hitters back for showdown in may and hopefully ye get seriously tired from all these extra games. What do people on here think about the idea that rafa wants to win both cups to look great on his cv. Lets face rafa couldn't give a toss about top 4 seeing as he won't be around next season. Top 4 should be the priority but I fear it's not with the current interim manager.

KingdomYid

Two Europa League final tickets for sale at face value. Anyone interested please PM.

grumpymunster

Saw a (what I thought was) funny tweet last night

"Spurs have lost their last six penalty shootouts. Seven if you count Chelsea v Bayern"

You just gotta love that

GavRedKing

I'm much more comfortable facing European opposition then English teams in the Semi and possibily the Final itself.

Real chance for a trophy now we're in the Semi's.

~Rebel~

Here Precious2 wrote: »

Hopefully we wil get our big hitters back for showdown in may and hopefully ye get seriously tired from all these extra games. What do people on here think about the idea that rafa wants to win both cups to look great on his cv. Lets face rafa couldn't give a toss about top 4 seeing as he won't be around next season. Top 4 should be the priority but I fear it's not with the current interim manager.

I'm confident Rafa will be going out to win every remaining game.

GavRedKing

~Rebel~ wrote: »

I'm confident Rafa will be going out to win every remaining game.

As he should, he wont get the Chelsea job in the summer but if he finishes well his stock will rise.

GavRedKing

So how do we feel about the new Finacial rules coming into the EPL?

The key points of the plans promise two major regulations which will limit players’ wage bills from next season and set a club loss limit of €123 million over three years.

The wage cap will start at €61m and increase by £4m each year to €70m in 2015-16, and only seven of the 20 current Premier League clubs are under that total at the moment

the_monkey

We could be 5th this weekend .... depressing .. , any chance of Jose coming back all rests on qualifying for UCL next season.

grumpymunster

I think the FFP rules are rules for the status quo really designed to keep the big clubs big and the small clubs small. If a person such as Roman wants to spend his money on his hobby then fine that is for the good of football in many ways as he would invest huge amounts in players and also our academy. Now not everyone in the academy will make it (in Chelsea's case very very few) which means well trained young players are then available to be picked up by "poorer" clubs.

Technically there are grey areas about where money is spent and what is allowable outside of normal expenditure from P&L but to me it seems like a croc. I also think they will have a lot of problems quantifying what is legitimate sponsorship contracts and where they would perceive to be dubious such as some of the figures quoted for PSG.

The maximum wage is an interesting one is that legal?

No doubt someone sometime will want to invest a lot of money in a club and the issue will end up in front of the courts, it will be interesting to see if it stands or falls.

kev1.3s

grumpymunster wrote: »

Saw a (what I thought was) funny tweet last night

"Spurs have lost their last six penalty shootouts. Seven if you count Chelsea v Bayern"

You just gotta love that

One I seen was " switch over to the golf now to see adebayour's penalty land on the farway"

grumpymunster

the_monkey wrote: »

We could be 5th this weekend .... depressing .. , any chance of Jose coming back all rests on qualifying for UCL next season.

Can only drop to 4th this weekend with strange results could drop to 5th midweek if Everton give QPR & Arsenal a real tonking which is unlikely.

It is a shame we are not playing Spurs on Sunday I really think they would have been ripe for the picking, I wonder how soon Bale will be back for them as their season most likely rests on that. It was interesting that Alan (Lord) Sugar was calling for AVB to be sacked on twitter last night.

GavRedKing

I think the wages thing is a guidline.

Like lets say our wages are 170 million, what its saying is it can only go up 4 million year on year, so next year if its 175 million we'll breach the rules.

There is no way we'd be able to trim 2/3 of the wages to fit the figure the EPL have quoted, and as the report says, only about 9 teams are under that figure.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Can only drop to 4th this weekend with strange results could drop to 5th midweek if Everton give QPR & Arsenal a real tonking which is unlikely.

It is a shame we are not playing Spurs on Sunday I really think they would have been ripe for the picking, I wonder how soon Bale will be back for them as their season most likely rests on that. It was interesting that Alan (Lord) Sugar was calling for AVB to be sacked on twitter last night.

I think when we play Spurs at the Bridge its really going to be a huge game for both of us, this should play into our hands really and I'd hope we could win this game, it could really put a huge dent in Spurs chances of getting 3rd or 4th.

Sugar is a clown on Twotter when hes talking about Soccer, not as bad as Piers Morgan but he aint far off it.

getuponthis

I think we should try our best to go on and win the Europa league now, does anybody know what sort of money the winner recieves overall? I assume its minute compared to the CL!

getuponthis

Here's it is:

A group stage participation in the Europa League awards a base fee of €1.3 million. A victory in the group pays €200,000 and a draw €100,000. Also, each group winner earns €400,000 and each runner-up €200,000. Reaching the knock-out stage triggers additional bonuses: €200,000 for the round of 32, €350,000 for the round of 16, €450,000 for the quarter-finals and €1 million for the semi-finals. The losing finalists receive €2.5 million and the champions get €5 million.

grumpymunster

10 mins to the draw hopefully we get Basel and Barca get Munich with the second leg in Germany.

Crann na Beatha

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Crann na Beatha

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GavRedKing

Happy with it, whos at home 1st?

Duck Soup

Fenerbahce vs Benfica.

Basel vs Chelsea.

Basel at home in the first leg.

grumpymunster

Not too bad Basel away first leg

GavRedKing

getuponthis wrote: »

Here's it is:

A group stage participation in the Europa League awards a base fee of €1.3 million. A victory in the group pays €200,000 and a draw €100,000. Also, each group winner earns €400,000 and each runner-up €200,000. Reaching the knock-out stage triggers additional bonuses: €200,000 for the round of 32, €350,000 for the round of 16, €450,000 for the quarter-finals and €1 million for the semi-finals. The losing finalists receive €2.5 million and the champions get €5 million.

Nothing compared to the UCL winnings.

Johner

GavRedKing wrote: »

Happy with it, whos at home 1st?

Basel. 25th April. Return leg 2nd May at the Bridge.

GavRedKing

Excellent, the 2nd leg at home is a big advantage.

Anybody PM KingdomYid for his EL final tickets?

Duck Soup

Basel looked good going forward yesterday, but ropey defending and a goalkeeper who looks prone to errors. You'd hope that Rafa would be going for the jugular in Basel, but I don't think that's his style.

GavRedKing

Duck Soup wrote: »

Basel looked good going forward yesterday, but ropey defending and a goalkeeper who looks prone to errors. You'd hope that Rafa would be going for the jugular in Basel, but I don't think that's his style.

spurs got 2 goals their,if we can manage something similar and keep a clean sheet at the Bridge we'll be sorted.

We'll ship a goal or two but I'm hoping its only in Switzerland and not at home becasue thats what killed Spurs.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Going forward though,we really need to sort out the defense,its been one of the major weaknesses the past while

Hopefully for the games it will read :

Azp Luiz JT Cole

Duck Soup

The updated fixture train wreck.

14 April, 16:00 Chelsea v Manchester City FA Cup

17 April, 20:00 Fulham v Chelsea Premier League

21 April, 16:00 Liverpool v Chelsea Premier League

25 April, 20:05 FC Basel v Chelsea Europa League

27 April, 15:00 Chelsea v Swansea City Premier League

2 May, 20:05 Chelsea v FC Basel Europa League

5 May, 16:00 Manchester United v Chelsea Premier League

12 May, 15:00 Aston Villa v Chelsea Premier League

19 May, 16:00 Chelsea v Everton Premier League

Johner

And Spurs at home has to be thrown in there somewhere.