Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

Andersonisgod

GavRedKing wrote: »

Hazard is our trump card, and hes only 22.

/Drools

I agree with that 100%

He's the star man at Chelsea. Not an easy task, replacing Drogba, who had been the star man of the team for the better part of 8 years and I can't think of many players who could effectively replace him as the talisman of the Chelsea side, they are two very different players but Hazard has stepped up well and there's more to come. I can't think of a player I enjoy watching play more than him.

MaroonAndGreen

Lads, what positions do ye think this Chelsea team is lacking in, to make us league winners?

DazMarz

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Lads, what positions do ye think this Chelsea team is lacking in, to make us league winners?

Centre forward

Central midfield

Central defence

One cracking signing in each of those positions (and in that order of importance) and Chelsea are back in black. And that said, at Centre Forward, Chelsea have Romelu Lukaku waiting in the wings, patiently waiting until the curtain comes down on Torres and Ba.

Andersonisgod

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Lads, what positions do ye think this Chelsea team is lacking in, to make us league winners?

A striker. A prolific striker is the big one. Whether it be Falcao, Lewandowski, Rooney ect. I'm not too fussed, they all have their positives and negatives and they all score goals freely. Once we sign a striker in the Summer who guarantees goals, ala RVP to Man Utd, then I will be happy. I do have to mention Lukaku, a more than worthy back up striker who will surely be first choice at some point.

A midfielder is huge and has been for a while. A central midfielder who can dictate the tempo of a game. I would have loved Modric but that ship has sailed. We were linked recently with Xabi Alonso and I think he would be the perfect signing, that kind of player is what we need.

Another centre back and a back up goalkeeper wouldn't go astray.

I would also say a quick winger who can go past people and run in behind is a priority but since that Schurrle deal looks like it's going to happen I think that's that sorted.

And as important as all of those, a manager with a winning mentality. For too many seasons we've been inconsistent in the league. We are very close to having a squad capable of winning the league, we just need the right manager to give us that little bit extra to get over the line, that's Mourinho.

Soby

Once we get José back we can play anyone . 11 winston bogarde's even

blue-army

As much as I want the Special One back at The Bridge, I can't help but think that it's almost bound to end in tears.
His appointment will almost certainly mean a good season or 2, but you just know we'll be back to square one in 2-3 years, when he get's fed up and goes in search of another challenge. Really can't see him ever being a long term appointment.

justshane

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I agree with that 100%

He's the star man at Chelsea. Not an easy task, replacing Drogba, who had been the star man of the team for the better part of 8 years and I can't think of many players who could effectively replace him as the talisman of the Chelsea side, they are two very different players but Hazard has stepped up well and there's more to come. I can't think of a player I enjoy watching play more than him.

Same as, really really exciting.

GavRedKing

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Lads, what positions do ye think this Chelsea team is lacking in, to make us league winners?

Manager.

Technical Director.

CF

CB

In that order.

duploelabs

GavRedKing wrote: »

Manager.

Technical Director.

CF

CB

In that order.

Manager
Tech
CM
CB

podge79

DazMarz wrote: »

Why? Give me one good, goddamn reason why Chelsea won't beat a Villa team that were dispatched 8-0 in December and that were fighting relegation for ages but are now "safe", giving them less reason to be scrambling for points. You seriously don't think Chelsea can beat Villa? Give me one reason.

And Everton. Beat them already this season in Goodison, a place nobody likes going to. Add to that, they have NOTHING to play for. Absolutely nothing. Can't get Top 4, are safe as a house in the League and will probably finish above Liverpool. Chelsea are playing at home, final game of the season, possibly parading the Europa League trophy for the fans. If (big "if" too) Chelsea do not get a win against Villa, then a win against Everton becomes a must, and Chelsea will do it. They will know what to do.

I seriously cannot see Chelsea getting less than 3 points from those 2 games. Not a hope.

And I say again; give me one good goddamn reason why Chelsea will draw/lose both games. And not the usual hyperbolic crap about "WE'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH" that is so common, but good, sensible, coherent reasons.

Thanks.

if rafa starts yossi ... which he will

but I would hope to beat villa on saturday and not leave it until last day with the Europa league final next week especially if that goes to extra-time

podge79

the_monkey wrote: »

I said on Sunday I'd be happy with 4 pts from United and Spurs game, we got 4 but I'm not happy.

Looking at the next 2 fixtures I'm not confident at all, I think we can get max 2 pts out of them - Villa away we never win and we always draw with Everton.

Spurs and Arsenal have easy 6 points each, so 2 pts for us and 6 for them leaves us 5th.

Bye Bye CL .

And Benitez bringing on Yossi ???? WTF???

More and more I'm convinced he's f*cking it up for us with 4th spot,
he has nothing to gain from finishing 4th - NOTHING.

He won't be here next season so why should he care?

Wait till you see next week at the EC final, he won't make any silly
decisions then - of course not, cos he wants that cup for his CV.


When I think now of those 2 pts dropped at Anfield.

Sickened.

Not to mention the 5 from QPR ... but this is un-thinkable.

was just looking at the fixtures again and am more optimistic... arsenal play wigan and if wigan win that buts major pressure on newcastle who on the last day of the season play... arsenal...

beat villa saturday and we're done .. and I'm confident we will...

GavRedKing

podge79 wrote: »

was just looking at the fixtures again and am more optimistic... arsenal play wigan and if wigan win that buts major pressure on newcastle who on the last day of the season play... arsenal...

beat villa saturday and we're done .. and I'm confident we will...

Spurs play Stoke before Wigan play Arsenal, anything from Stoke in this game and their safe so I expect the bus to be out parked and ready to steam roll Spurs, will attempt to steam roll Spurs.

I wont even cheer on Stoke, despise the club and Pulis, if we get our job done early agasint Villa the flight to Amsterdam will be a lot more enjoyable for those travelling.

GavRedKing

Effectively the Villa game is as important as the EL final IMO, its a game that can guarntee us a top 4 place and should be treated as important to win and get the job done, we're stumbling over the line and we're looking leggy, can Villa exploit it, i hope not.

Which is why an early blitz maybe important to put some distance between us.

podge79

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Lads, what positions do ye think this Chelsea team is lacking in, to make us league winners?

priority 1) centre back: dear god it's like keystone cops stuff at times; most types of crosses causes panic to ensue

priority 2) Manager: experienced manager capable of making the tough calls and who is tactically sound (not the tactical genius rafa type though)

then - central/holding midfielder: have plenty of flair but just need that guy who is the pivot between defence and attack, breaks up the opposition imposes himself and runs the game

consistent/confident striker - the guy who will get you 30+ goals a season, I think lukaku can turn into that player he just needs to be given the chance in the first team

GavRedKing

Pretty much spot on Podge.

peteeeed

i would like alonso as the defensive midfielder as we have loftus cheek and Chalobah coming through who should be ready in 2 seasons to play premiership football, all we need is someone with 2 or 3 seasons in them

podge79

GavRedKing wrote: »

Spurs play Stoke before Wigan play Arsenal, anything from Stoke in this game and their safe so I expect the bus to be out parked and ready to steam roll Spurs, will attempt to steam roll Spurs.

I wont even cheer on Stoke, despise the club and Pulis, if we get our job done early agasint Villa the flight to Amsterdam will be a lot more enjoyable for those travelling.

keep forgetting wigan are in the cup final this weekend! would have been some fixture headache for us if we had beaten city

GavRedKing

podge79 wrote: »

keep forgetting wigan are in the cup final this weekend! would have been some fixture headache for us if we had beaten city

If it wasnt for some poor calls from the ref we would have been in the final IMO.

Vinny red card and penalty on Torres.
Aguero red card.

Would have potentially been 11 vs 9.

the_monkey

So Villa are "safe" so they'll just lay down ??

GavRedKing

the_monkey wrote: »

So Villa are "safe" so they'll just lay down ??

There is no certainty in football, look at our record against Reading and QPR this season for that.

Its just not unreasonable to suggest the better team, us, would be able to go and beat Villa when it mattered.

GavRedKing

Rafas team talk Saturday morning :

" Win and finish top 4 and you get Jose, lose out on top 4 and you're stuck with me. "

:pac:

Crann na Beatha

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GavRedKing

I'd say just give Lukaku a go and keep Ba and Torres.

Torres is the most intelligent of the 3 and would suit the system perfectly if he could score more goals for us, his battling and movement was good last night but the goal never came.

GavRedKing

If we go away and buy another striker its likely Lukaku will fall down the pecking order.

Crann na Beatha

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GavRedKing

Thats part of the problem having a squad with Mata/Oscar and especially Hazard they all love to play with the ball and keep it.

I think a CF who just stands there between the goals would work wonders as the 3 ladslove to beat a man, if we ahd a Cf who didnt engage with them outside the box, ala Torres we'd probably score a few more but Ba has been trying that and he hasnt exactly set the world on fire.

Crann na Beatha

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grumpymunster

Phoenix wrote: »

The Yossi sub was very .
The poor finishign cost us in the end,where was the 50 million striker?its all well and god helping the rest of the team but why isnt he making runs into the box to go for it?
Thank christ Lukaku is coming back next year and hopefully we sign someone like Lewandowski too

Einstein (a real genius) described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Well our genius (tactical allegedly) repeats Anfield and gets the same result.

OK maybe Monkey is being a little pessimistic regarding our chances of champions league football but I really cannot understand the optimism being shown by some. Who have we beaten of late in the league Swans and ManU were on the beach Fulham are in free fall only beating QPR 7 games (mind you that is better than we managed), we lost at the saints and struggled to beat Sunderland.

I would love to be optimistic regarding our chances but we threw it away at Liverpool and we threw it away again last night due to ridiculous substitutions, there are many grounds for concern.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

I'd say just give Lukaku a go and keep Ba and Torres.

Torres is the most intelligent of the 3 and would suit the system perfectly if he could score more goals for us, his battling and movement was good last night but the goal never came.

In fairness Gav in our bread and butter it is a long time since a goal did come for Torres.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

In fairness Gav in our bread and butter it is a long time since a goal did come for Torres.

Thats only in the league really, Ba has played the majority of the games since we signed him in the league, Torres playing in the cups.

We need another striker but if we kept Lukaku and had Torres ba as back up we'd have better options.

Sure a Falcao or Lewandoski would be brilliant but it would get in Lukaku's way for game time which hes more then good enough for now hes played for WBA.

the_doctor199

Here's a scary mockup from the Daily Mail

GavRedKing

Somebody posted in one of the threads that Moyes sued Rooney for libel damages following remarks in Rooneys book.

Now its also suggested Rooney wanted out since a few weeks back and the Moyes hiring is just bad timing with that regard, I still cant see Utd selling to Us or City and why he'd want to join either.

New country, new challenge, new lifestyle for Wazza I reckon.

duploelabs

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Here's a scary mockup from the Daily Mail

Well they got the.... Ahem... Weight right on the body swap

GavRedKing

Is it Lamps or Ivanovic's body they've put his head on?

dfx-

Looks like Mata's celebration from the weekend.

GavRedKing

dfx- wrote: »

Looks like Mata's celebration from the weekend.

Fat Mata.......Fata. :pac:

You could be right though, anyway I dont think Roman will splash the big bucks need for the wages and transfer fee to bring Rooney to London anyway.

dfx-

It was bugging me where I saw it..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84478529&postcount=3997

GavRedKing

Luiz laughing gets me every time.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Thats only in the league really, Ba has played the majority of the games since we signed him in the league, Torres playing in the cups.

We need another striker but if we kept Lukaku and had Torres ba as back up we'd have better options.

Sure a Falcao or Lewandoski would be brilliant but it would get in Lukaku's way for game time which hes more then good enough for now hes played for WBA.

Not true, in 19 league matches since Torres last scored he has started 10 matches came on as a sub in 7 matches (in 2 games he played 45 minutes or more) and did not figure in only 2. Of those games only 3 was played before Ba arrived.

His record for a striker is appalling, the interim one is facilitating Torres. RDM, in my opinion, got sacked because he was doing what was best for Chelsea Football Club and its fans and dropped him, even when there was no other striker to play (a la Juve away).

peteeeed

grumpymunster wrote: »

Not true, in 19 league matches since Torres last scored he has started 10 matches came on as a sub in 7 matches (in 2 games he played 45 minutes or more) and did not figure in only 2. Of those games only 3 was played before Ba arrived.

His record for a striker is appalling, the interim one is facilitating Torres. RDM, in my opinion, got sacked because he was doing what was best for Chelsea Football Club and its fans and dropped him, even when there was no other striker to play (a la Juve away).

but yet i thought he played well last night but not as a striker, good link up play and worked his socks off when spurs had the ball , but we badly need a 30 goal a season glory hole that the 3 muskateers can pass to

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Not true, in 19 league matches since Torres last scored he has started 10 matches came on as a sub in 7 matches (in 2 games he played 45 minutes or more) and did not figure in only 2. Of those games only 3 was played before Ba arrived.

His record for a striker is appalling, the interim one is facilitating Torres. RDM, in my opinion, got sacked because he was doing what was best for Chelsea Football Club and its fans and dropped him, even when there was no other striker to play (a la Juve away).

Thats a crazy theory, RDM was sacked because the results in Europe were terrible and he cost us a chance to defend the UCL, he didnt help himself, Roman was always going to sack him this season granted, but his downfall in the UCL and league didnt help his case at all.

When you have 2 recognised strikers at the club you have to rotate them, Torres is scoring in Europe and without his goals we wouldnt be in the Final.

Had RDM stayed incharge until now I think we'd be in a worse position as he wouldnt have made the changes that Rafa is forced to make every week and thats the problem, we'll finish the season playing 69 games and the consequence of that with our thin squad is dropping points and losing goals in the last 15-20 mins of games, it doesnt matter if Jose was in charge, this curernt squad would struggle to cope with the demands of 69 games when most are playing 50-55.

Look you dont have to like Rafa or Torres but blaming them collectively as the reason we are where we are in the league is a cop out.

I'd give ya a choice, you're the chairmen of a club with no bias towards Rafa, you've the option to hire Rafa or RDM who do you pick?

GavRedKing

peteeeed wrote: »

but yet i thought he played well last night but not as a striker, good link up play and worked his socks off when spurs had the ball , but we badly need a 30 goal a season glory hole that the 3 muskateers can pass to

They dont pass enough though thats the problem, whoever does get the nod upfront will ahve to have exceptional movement, good on the ball (as more then likely he'll be dropping to deep to get it we dont throw balls into the box) clinicla finishing and good link up.

All signs of that point towards a Falcao/Higauin/Rooney option who can do it all to a degree, Lewandoski is the man you want in there just to tuck them away.

Lukaku, while years awayfrom raching his best could be groomed to suit our play if hes given a game and another 50 million isnt wasted.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Falcao/Higuain/Lewandowski/Rooney take your pick
Lukaku
Ba
Feruz
Piazon

My preference would be

1. Higauin
2. Lukaku
3. Torres/Ba
4. Feruz
5. Piazon

Higauin would be a huge hit in the EPL IMO.

But first I want the manager sorted out then we can play the Football Manager signing game.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Aye,hopefully Jose but christ knows,Torres i dont know if he will be here next season

The thing with this club is we never know who will be here next season. :rolleyes:

We need some stability,is Jose that option? Time will tell, would he have stayed longer if he wasnt sacked, we'll never know.

It will take a bigger man to go back to a club that sacked you and a big owner willing to admit he shouldnt have pushed Jose out the door.

duploelabs

GavRedKing wrote: »

My preference would be

1. Higauin
2. Lukaku
3. Torres/Ba
4. Feruz
5. Piazon

Higauin would be a huge hit in the EPL IMO.

But first I want the manager sorted out then we can play the Football Manager signing game.

Did higauin sign for juve recently, like yesterday or summit

GavRedKing

duploelabs wrote: »

Did higauin sign for juve recently, like yesterday or summit

Did he?

Not 100% I know they're signing Llorente alright.

GavRedKing

Moyes is in at Utd for 6 years starting July 1st.

Jose, do the good thing and return to The Bridge please.

duploelabs

GavRedKing wrote: »

Did he?

Not 100% I know they're signing Llorente alright.

misread it, a deal in principle
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/liga-higuain-yes-juventus-154409038.html