Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

peteeeed

newcastle press conf

Jose Mourinho reports no new injury concerns

he doesn't worry about records or milestones, and just wants to win the next match.

Newcastle is a difficult place to go to, and that everybody wants to beat Chelsea.

Although Nemanja Matic is suspended, Jose says he trusts all of his players in the squad.

the end of Didier Drogba's football career is up to him, and that he is loved by everyone at Chelsea.

we are ready for tomorrow and that the record he wants is to win the Premier League for the third time

costa starting

more here

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/live-newcastle-united-v-chelsea-8233401

Lukker-

Classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hgiChglgJc

TimRiggins

Great feeling about today. Costa fully rested and is due to bag in a couple and piss off 45,000 thousand geordies.

rottie 11

Wont know the result until 4 or 5 today

peteeeed

Mikel starting

peteeeed

Team to face Newcastle: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Mikel, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa.

peteeeed

subs: Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Ramires, Schurrle, Remy, Drogba.

GavRedKing

Wont see this today. Wedding in killarney.

the_monkey

Suryavarman wrote: »

When you do something good in your job do you refuse to celebrate out of respect for your former employer? Lampard did something very important in his new job. He's more than entitled to celebrate.

Just because he celebrates a few times at Man City doesn't mean we should forget all the times he celebrated at Chelsea.

I'm not complaining nor do I expect him not to , it just seems strange for me

Sheepy99

Luis should play these games where teams just sit deep. I'd sacrifice Costa too for Remy who's more likely to do a bit of running. Costa is too easy to mark

weiland79

How we looking lads, any chance of a goal?

BarcodeMuncher

Gary Cahill is really out of form, would consider throwing Zouma into the thick of it for the next game

Montroseee

How can you justify starting Mikel when Ramires is on the bench? Really this game should be 1-0 Chelsea, to put that header wide is actually harder than getting it on target.

the_monkey

Congrats city

hots

Well that was sh/te, hopefully a bit of a kick up the arse that we need, we still have a problem breaking down teams who set out to defend/counter...

Barr

Think this just shows how valuable Matic is to the team

BarcodeMuncher

Maybe a kick up the arse and enough of that unbeaten ****e pressure, matic really is a class above

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Hate saying I told ye but i did say it awhile back we'd lose here.

Mikel is poison by the sounds of it, Cahill too if twitter is right. Its time to drop him for zouma and lose Mikel on the way back to London.

cadaliac

GavRedKing wrote: »

Hate saying I told ye but i did say it awhile back we'd lose here.

Mikel is poison by the sounds of it, Cahill too if twitter is right. Its time to drop him for zouma and lose Mikel on the way back to London.

My stream was a bit flakey / jumpy but even so, from what I saw, Mikel constantly in the wrong place and when the ball fell to him, he lashed it into row z.
Christ.
Well, at least Drogba scored. Proves that he is still a feared asset to have. It wasn't just going to happen fo Costa today.

efb

You're not invincible

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

efb wrote: »

You're not invincible

Its ye're not you're :pac:

Also, nobody in their right minds thought it would happen.

The media need stories. Id still expect us to be in the top 2 easily.

GavRedKing

Well the main thing after the loss is the next game. Sporting is a gimme. We're top regardless so id play some fringe players. The Hull game is massive now, not winning will put huge pressure on us.

City will drop points all year we will too, thats football.

Bridge93

GavRedKing wrote: »

Its ye're not you're :pac:

Also, nobody in their right minds thought it would happen.

The media need stories. Id still expect us to be in the top 2 easily.

Fairly stating the obvious. From this position it would be embarrassing not to come in the Top 2. Strongest team and squad in the league, one defeat doesnt change anything. Even coming 2nd would be a bottle of sorts in my book based on the fixtures played/to come.

GavRedKing

Bridge93 wrote: »

Fairly stating the obvious. From this position it would be embarrassing not to come in the Top 2. Strongest team and squad in the league, one defeat doesnt change anything. Even coming 2nd would be a bottle of sorts in my book based on the fixtures played/to come.

Ya cant bottle it in December with 20odd games to go :pac:

If were clear by april by 6 points and lose it with 3 or 4 games to go then thats bottling it.

City are our biggest threats, then Utd, then arsenal, IMO.

Thatll be the top 4 this year but not sure the order.

Bridge93

GavRedKing wrote: »

Ya cant bottle it in December with 20odd games to go :pac:

If were clear by april by 6 points and lose it with 3 or 4 games to go then thats bottling it.

City are our biggest threats, then Utd, then arsenal, IMO.

Thatll be the top 4 this year but not sure the order.

Chelsea have been to OT, Anfield, Emirates and Goodison. None of the other top teams have had such tough fixtures. If Chelsea don't win the league I feel it will be themselves blowing up rather than somebody else (only City really) winning it. As you said nobody else is gojng to win 16/17 of their last 20 so it will require Chelsea dropping more points than they have been.
And that is with easier games.

Essien

We will win the league.

Going the season unbeaten is still as irrelevant now as it was yesterday.

GavRedKing

Games are easy on paper but a run of injuries can kill any team , as Arsenal well know and liverpool , Utd this year too.

GavRedKing

Could be worse.....3 down at HT Arsenal are to stoke

Essien

GavRedKing wrote: »

Could be worse.....3 down at HT Arsenal are to stoke

To be fair, they did go unbeaten 10 years ago :pac:

GavRedKing

Essien wrote: »

To be fair, they did go unbeaten 10 years ago :pac:

Our league side winning in 04 was better than theyre invincibiles. More points and wins.

GavRedKing

Sone positives...

Cesc got another assist.

Drogba got another goal.

Mikel may never play for us again.

Some games i think we need to start with 2 cfs and be brave.

rottie 11

Lets just hope city drop points this evening , dont want them goin on a big win streak

GavRedKing

rottie 11 wrote: »

Lets just hope city drop points this evening , dont want them goin on a big win streak

Ah theyll win.

Theyve huge incentive to be only 3 pts behind they wont cock up.

GavRedKing

Arsenal lose, liverpool and spurs draw......and we lose. What a weekend for City and Utd if they win.

Johner

GavRedKing wrote: »

Arsenal lose, liverpool and spurs draw......and we lose. What a weekend for City and Utd if they win.

Wouldn't be worried about what United do, they won't be challenging, it's between us and City.

Poor performance today, Costa was very poor. I actually thought Mikel did okay, well apart from the sitter he missed, but we really did miss Matic, he brings a lot more to the team. We'll get back on track against Hull, Luis really should be starting, he adds a whole lot more going forward.

Hopefully Everton get something at City today.

GavRedKing

Johner wrote: »

Wouldn't be worried about what United do, they won't be challenging, it's between us and City.

Poor performance today, Costa was very poor. I actually thought Mikel did okay, well apart from the sitter he missed, but we really did miss Matic, he brings a lot more to the team. We'll get back on track against Hull, Luis really should be starting, he adds a whole lot more going forward.

Hopefully Everton get something at City today.

missing a sitter that matic or ramires would have probably scored isnt good enough though.

Cesc is missing the hull game too Im sure.

anyway, if we beat Hull it wont be to bad i suppose. Nobody expected us to win anything at a canter.

GavRedKing

Also....everton wont get anything other than a beating.

Johner

GavRedKing wrote: »

missing a sitter that matic or ramires would have probably scored isnt good enough though.

Cesc is missing the hull game too Im sure.

anyway, if we beat Hull it wont be to bad i suppose. Nobody expected us to win anything at a canter.

Yeah Cesc out for the Hull game, hopefully won't be too much of a loss, our home form is brilliant.

I think Everton will get something today with Kompany and Silva out. Come on Lukuku and Eto'o.

GavRedKing

Johner wrote: »

Yeah Cesc out for the Hull game, hopefully won't be too much of a loss, our home form is brilliant.

I think Everton will get something today with Kompany and Silva out. Come on Lukuku and Eto'o.

3 - 1 Aguero :pac:

the_monkey

I think Chelsea losing at Newcastle is as sure as spurs losing at the bridge at this stage - at least it's done and out of the way - have we played away to villa yet ?
That and away to QPR are the bogey ones left

GavRedKing

the_monkey wrote: »

I think Chelsea losing at Newcastle is as sure as spurs losing at the bridge at this stage - at least it's done and out of the way - have we played away to villa yet ?
That and away to QPR are the bogey ones left

We've yet to play both of those away.

the_monkey

GavRedKing wrote: »

We've yet to play both of those away.

Great ! That's a fat 0/6 pts from them 2

SEPT 23 1989

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

hullaballoo

hullaballoo wrote: »

Has anyone ever watched Mikel play for Nigeria? He plays a very attacking role in the midfield for them, nothing like what he does at Chelsea. Makes me think he's being told to do what he does here rather than being poor in attack. We saw a glimpse of his Nigeria style of play with that class back-heal against Everton.

I'm not saying he'll ever be deployed like he is for Nigeria but I just wonder could he be told to be more attack-minded on Saturday vs. Newcastle to any great effect? I suppose on the other hand, he is prone to losing the ball if he tries too much with it. Matic really has him trumped in most aspects of his play.

I'd assume that we'll be starting Mikel on Saturday anyway because I wouldn't trust a combo of Fab/Ram or even Fab/Oscar to protect the back four. Fabregas cannot tackle, it is the weakest part of his game. Oscar can tackle but he often mis-times them and could end up picking up an early yellow, effectively removing him from playing a meaningful protective role. Rambo is Rambo. A sure-fire red card when he slides in. Despite his athleticism, he gets pushed around too easily as well so he'd be nothing more than a slight annoyance to Newcastle's attack if they get going.

I suspect quite a boring keep-ball show on Saturday from our perspective. (That said, if Newcastle defend the way they have done so far this season, Costa could still bag a couple.)

This is total bollocks, you spa.

pistolpetes11

Great little write up from Dan Leven

@BluesChronicle

Unbeatables no more: a good thing for Chelsea
Dan Levene5 hours ago
Defeat at Newcastle means the 'unbeatables' tag has finally been shifted from Chelsea – and it is no bad thing.

It was a monicker Jose Mourinho has been adamant all season the club didn't want, and was entirely a fabrication of a media keen to set up an impossible target, only to knock down the league's top side when they failed to attain it.

It would be ludicrous to suggest Chelsea didn't want the three points on offer at St James' Park, but a defeat at a place where they always seem to struggle, which leaves the side still with breathing space at the top of the table is not the disaster some have ludicrously painted it.

In fact, the wrapping up of that particular piece of paper talk has a good chance of being of benefit to the Blues in the long run this season.

We've been here before.

The Mourinho unbeaten home run was a thing of wonder. (Even if you conveniently ignore the penalties defeat to Charlton in the League Cup – hey, Mouronho did).

As managerial achievements go, it ranks among the greatest ever, and will surely never be matched.

But, towards the end, it had become something of an albatross.

Cast your mind back to the 2006-07 season, and the seven out of 19 home Premier League games that ended in draws for Chelsea.

There were undoubtedly matches among them where the point counted as a good result.

But there were also games where the Blues seemed to sit back in winnable games – happy with the draw, but fearful of defeat. Chelsea lost the title to Manchester United by six points – and that it where they were principally lacking.

Mourinho, when he returned, was asked about the record – and he was immediately adamant that it would go. It was almost as if he was willing it do so.

There was a close call last November, when Steve Clarke's West Brom ony just failed to take the Stamford Bridge scalp – thanks to a soft, and some might say somewhat contrived Ramires-procured penalty.

When it finally did fall it was to another ex-Blue, and confidant of Mourinho's, in Gus Poyet.

But for all of the defeated boss' complaints about ref Mike Dean, something of a weeping sore, he didn't seem to rue the full stop applied to his place in the record books.

Chelsea this season, without the burden of the home record have played with more freedom at home.

Much of that is undoubtedly because they are a better, more balanced team, who are not being constantly told by their manager that the league title is unlikely.

But there is also a caginess that has gone when scores are level – a win at all costs attitude that doesn't seem to be burdened with the fear of defeat occasioned by that ditched baggage.

Now the 'unbeatlables' tag is ditched, a number of things are certain.

Firstly, those prolonging this non-story will need to find another question to ask at Mourinho's press conferences.

But secondly, as with the Mourinho home record, Chelsea's players find themselves released from what was only ever a distraction, to chase the real goal – the Premier League trophy.

Chelsea never had aspirations to emulate Arsenal's 'invincibles' – not least because a league season in which this side drew 12 games would probably not be enough to win the league in 2015.

Mourinho's job now is to take that defeat, and to use it to make his team stronger.

Andersonisgod

If the rumors are true and if Aguero is out for the season I'll be genuinely disgusted if we don't win this league, and I don't say that lightly.

GavRedKing

Nothing has changed, its a very long season for us and City and the chasing pack.

We're not even half way through it and only silly rags were and PR bookies were saying we're champions.

Anyone with half a brain knows its going go all the way, at the best youd hope to win it with a game to spare but its not that easy