Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

GavRedKing

I really enjoyeds this weekend, scored 5 goals Saturday and went 5 points clear, went to bed Saturday and we're 5 points clear.

Went to bed Sunday and we're still 5 points clear, life is good.

TBH I'm not to bothered about the Capital 1 cup, it would be nice to win it, get the players some hunger but the big prize should be the league, then the UCL, then the FA cup then the league cup.

City, who have no mid week game this week have flown to a warm weather training camp so they'll be fresher for our game in 2 weeks, theyve only got 1 game before they play us. We have 3, something not to be dismissed, a serious amount of rotation is needed in the Fa cup and league cup.

grumpymunster

All due respect to Bradford but cannot see a strong team out that day. Hopefully the two games against Liverpool will sharpen the axe a bit for us they will be tough enough. A game on the Wednesday and the following Sunday afternoon both at home should be of no real concern, both big games should be real gee up for the team.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

All due respect to Bradford but cannot see a strong team out that day. Hopefully the two games against Liverpool will sharpen the axe a bit for us they will be tough enough. A game on the Wednesday and the following Sunday afternoon both at home should be of no real concern, both big games should be real gee up for the team.

Its 3 home games in 8 days and 4 games in 12 days over all. Even with a decent squad like ours thats going to be tough.

I'd imagine we'll see

Cech
Ivan Cahill JT Luis
Matic Cesc
Willian Oscar Hazard
Costa

Against Liverpool at Anfield, for the Saturday game against Bradford it should be, also a few youngsters on the bench, Solanke, Brown, Boga.

Cech
Ramires Zouma Christensen Luis
Ake Mikel
Salah Baker Schurrle
Remy

For the 2nd leg of the League cup game, 1st leg result depending, the team should be

Cech
Ivan Zouma Cahill Luis
Mikel Ramires
Salah Remy Schurrle
Drogba

Lukker-

GavRedKing wrote: »

I really enjoyeds this weekend, scored 5 goals Saturday and went 5 points clear, went to bed Saturday and we're 5 points clear.

Went to bed Sunday and we're still 5 points clear, life is good.

TBH I'm not to bothered about the Capital 1 cup, it would be nice to win it, get the players some hunger but the big prize should be the league, then the UCL, then the FA cup then the league cup.

City, who have no mid week game this week have flown to a warm weather training camp so they'll be fresher for our game in 2 weeks, theyve only got 1 game before they play us. We have 3, something not to be dismissed, a serious amount of rotation is needed in the Fa cup and league cup.

They are actually playing a friendly while they are over there against Hamburg. Their 'sponsors' are probably paying them 28m for the privilege so they can justify signing Bony for FFP.

It'll actually prove to beneficial for them, they can afford to rest any players who need it while the likes of Aguero and Kompany who looked very rusty against Arsenal can get some gametime to improve their match fitness.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

They are actually playing a friendly while they are over there against Hamburg. Their 'sponsors' are probably paying them 28m for the privilege so they can justify signing Bony for FFP.

It'll actually prove to beneficial for them, they can afford to rest any players who need it while the likes of Aguero and Kompany who looked very rusty against Arsenal can get some gametime to improve their match fitness.

Oh ya, no doubt the coffers will be boosted by some investments.

Makes me wonder though, why doesnt one of Romans companies setup a pre season trophy, like the Emirates cup, invite a few nobody teams to play Chelsea, winner takes hom 50million and the trophy

There might be a cap on how much a team can get from sponsors of these competitions or such law but it would be interesting to see, if we got away with it, no doubt the loophole would be closed by UEFA sharpish.

duploelabs

Looks like Gav's been blue balled again http://www.the42.ie/paul-pogba-juventus-wanted-offers-1890932-Jan2015/?utm_source=twitter_self
#wherespogba

GavRedKing

What a tease. :pac:

He'll be sold in the summer I've no doubt about it so it'll be a race between the biggest teams in Europe, wont be cheap either could easily go for Di Maria money.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Oh ya, no doubt the coffers will be boosted by some investments.

Makes me wonder though, why doesnt one of Romans companies setup a pre season trophy, like the Emirates cup, invite a few nobody teams to play Chelsea, winner takes hom 50million and the trophy

There might be a cap on how much a team can get from sponsors of these competitions or such law but it would be interesting to see, if we got away with it, no doubt the loophole would be closed by UEFA sharpish.

Depends if PSG invited along sure any such tournament would be given the green light.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Depends if PSG invited along sure any such tournament would be given the green light.

Sign um up so :pac:

I'm confiednt enough we'll beat PSG over two legs anyway in the next few weeks.

Lukker-

Anyone else think our defense has looked more organised with Cech playing rather than Courtois?

Not that Courtois has done anything wrong really, it's just I think Cech known the players a little better and is more vocal.

Almost wouldn't mind seeing Cech play vs City.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Anyone else think our defense has looked more organised with Cech playing rather than Courtois?

Not that Courtois has done anything wrong really, it's just I think Cech known the players a little better and is more vocal.

Almost wouldn't mind seeing Cech play vs City.

Nah, I think against Newcastle we were a shambles at the back and apart from 2 good saves and Newcastle hitting the post before we scored, we were really lucky in the game.

Swansea wasnt a test either.

Cech will be playing tonight and as we know, we're not exactly dropping a level or 2 by replacing Courtois with Cech or vice versa, thats a luxury in world football only we have.

grumpymunster

So TSHO turned down Di Maria and Falcao last summer, citing the effect their wages would have on the dressing room (and also that he did not want them which in Falcao's case was a good idea I do like Di Maria though). We really seem to be playing the FFP card an awful lot these days can we expect the anti to be upped mainly against PSG and Man City by our people. At the moment United, Real and Bayern are in a league of their own and Barca not too far behind but after that we should be able to compete with anybody.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2917940/Jose-Mourinho-Signing-Radamel-Falcao-Angel-di-Maria-caused-explosion-Chelsea.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

I always thought this FFP thing was going to be interesting and it will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I would have little doubt that we were initially in the cross-hairs regarding this measure, but we seem to have our ship in order now so what happens next. Will City and PSG really be brought to book? Will our academy model be outlawed as this has the potential to be a huge money spinner for us? What will happen when Germany becomes a 1 team league as Spain are basically a 2 team league, won't count France at the moment their league is so far behind. How attractive will the champions league be when it gets to a stage where realistically only 6 or 7 teams stand any chance of winning it in any given season?

As Sherlock would say I think the game may well be afoot now.

Lukker-

grumpymunster wrote: »

So TSHO turned down Di Maria and Falcao last summer, citing the effect their wages would have on the dressing room (and also that he did not want them which in Falcao's case was a good idea I do like Di Maria though). We really seem to be playing the FFP card an awful lot these days can we expect the anti to be upped mainly against PSG and Man City by our people. At the moment United, Real and Bayern are in a league of their own and Barca not too far behind but after that we should be able to compete with anybody.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2917940/Jose-Mourinho-Signing-Radamel-Falcao-Angel-di-Maria-caused-explosion-Chelsea.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

I always thought this FFP thing was going to be interesting and it will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I would have little doubt that we were initially in the cross-hairs regarding this measure, but we seem to have our ship in order now so what happens next. Will City and PSG really be brought to book? Will our academy model be outlawed as this has the potential to be a huge money spinner for us? What will happen when Germany becomes a 1 team league as Spain are basically a 2 team league, won't count France at the moment their league is so far behind. How attractive will the champions league be when it gets to a stage where realistically only 6 or 7 teams stand any chance of winning it in any given season?

As Sherlock would say I think the game may well be afoot now.

Germany is already a 1 league team and FFP only cements it. Bayerns commercial turn over is 2 to 3 times bigger than their competitors.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

So TSHO turned down Di Maria and Falcao last summer, citing the effect their wages would have on the dressing room (and also that he did not want them which in Falcao's case was a good idea I do like Di Maria though). We really seem to be playing the FFP card an awful lot these days can we expect the anti to be upped mainly against PSG and Man City by our people. At the moment United, Real and Bayern are in a league of their own and Barca not too far behind but after that we should be able to compete with anybody.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2917940/Jose-Mourinho-Signing-Radamel-Falcao-Angel-di-Maria-caused-explosion-Chelsea.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

I always thought this FFP thing was going to be interesting and it will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I would have little doubt that we were initially in the cross-hairs regarding this measure, but we seem to have our ship in order now so what happens next. Will City and PSG really be brought to book? Will our academy model be outlawed as this has the potential to be a huge money spinner for us? What will happen when Germany becomes a 1 team league as Spain are basically a 2 team league, won't count France at the moment their league is so far behind. How attractive will the champions league be when it gets to a stage where realistically only 6 or 7 teams stand any chance of winning it in any given season?

As Sherlock would say I think the game may well be afoot now.

When you look at what sanchez went for, di maria cost double it. Di MAria isnt twice the player Sanchez is, TBH, hes not as good as Sanchez IMO so either Utd over paid or Barca undervalued Sanchez.

The truth is somewhere in between, Sanchez was a bargain and Di Maria was over priced. I'd have liked Di Maria but between 35-40million max.

Regaridng FFP, I dont think PSG will get done, too many shady deals are being allowed, same goes for City but not on the scale that PSG seem to be getting away with.

I'm just happy we've got our house in order but thats largely down to selling a few players who were surplus to requirement, we'll probably do the same in the summer with some of the loanees and fringe players.

Marin, Salah, Moses, Schurrle, could all be on the way out, unless we increase sponsorships or revenue we wont be able to spend mad money without selling. City and PSG have already been fined, TBH another breach should be a year out of the UCL but UEFA wont have the balls to do it.

GavRedKing

We really need to crack on with an expansion of the Bridge unless we want to be left behind.

West Ham and Spurs moving to bigger ground, LFC expanding Anfield.

Weirdly City are expanding the Etihad even though they cant fill it, probably another way for the owners to finance a scheme of selling tickets that arent used, all speculation though. :P

DaveSuarez

Do you guys expect to play a full strength team tonight?

grumpymunster

Lukker- wrote: »

Germany is already a 1 league team and FFP only cements it. Bayerns commercial turn over is 2 to 3 times bigger than their competitors.

Oh it is without a doubt, the days when Laverkusen, Hamburg or even Dortmund going for the Bundesliga are gone. All the more amazing when you see the support the likes of Dortmund and Hamburg have. You can see why Bayern were such strong advocates of FFP, they are ruthless.

GavRedKing

DaveSuarez wrote: »

Do you guys expect to play a full strength team tonight?

No idea TBH.

I'd say it will be very close to full strength and we'll rotate for the Bradford game on Saturday at the Bridge.

The only changes may include Ramires or Mikel coming into CM, Zouma may be included in the back line.

Drogba could start also and rest Costa.

Hard to tell really, only Azpilicueta is injured and hes nearly ready, Courtois has an issue with his thumb so he shouldnt be played either.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

When you look at what sanchez went for, di maria cost double it. Di MAria isnt twice the player Sanchez is, TBH, hes not as good as Sanchez IMO so either Utd over paid or Barca undervalued Sanchez.

The truth is somewhere in between, Sanchez was a bargain and Di Maria was over priced. I'd have liked Di Maria but between 35-40million max.

Regaridng FFP, I dont think PSG will get done, too many shady deals are being allowed, same goes for City but not on the scale that PSG seem to be getting away with.

I'm just happy we've got our house in order but thats largely down to selling a few players who were surplus to requirement, we'll probably do the same in the summer with some of the loanees and fringe players.

Marin, Salah, Moses, Schurrle, could all be on the way out, unless we increase sponsorships or revenue we wont be able to spend mad money without selling. City and PSG have already been fined, TBH another breach should be a year out of the UCL but UEFA wont have the balls to do it.

Yea I think United over paid to be honest but still a fine player.

I think that is why Chelsea have been making so much noise about FFP I am fairly certain if there is no action against teams who break the guidelines then lawyers will start making a lot of money pretty quickly.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Yea I think United over paid to be honest but still a fine player.

I think that is why Chelsea have been making so much noise about FFP I am fairly certain if there is no action against teams who break the guidelines then lawyers will start making a lot of money pretty quickly.

I think FFP is a load of bo**ocks anyway, I'd sooner see wage caps than FFP TBH.

Its going to protect the very elite level clubs, you're not going to see another Chelsea pop up anytime soon.

MaroonAndGreen

Tonight I'd like to see 9/10 of our strongest 11 out from the start...

Then big changes for Bradford at the weekend, and again have 9/10 of the best 11 out for the second leg against Liverpool as there is a 5-day break to the City game so to be fair the lads should be well able to perform to their best levels in each fixture.

Liverpool have done well recently and its actually strangely kind of gone under the radar... only defeat in the last ten was the 3-0 against United. It wont be easy, and it never is at Anfield, especially when this is now their biggest game of the season yet (and even bigger because its Gerrard's best chance of winning a trophy this season).

A win for us tonight would be huge, and I'd expect we'll get enough chances to win it, its just whether we take them or not. Its hard not to be confident with the way we have played since the Spurs game.... but considering how big this is for Liverpool then I'm going to guess at a score draw!

GavRedKing

Its a great chance to get to a final but if anyone isnt 100% they shouldnt be risked.

It'll be a tough game, even a loss isnt the worst result in the world as we have the ability to turn around the game at the Bridge next week regardless.

Johner

Strong team with Mikel starting I'd imagine, at the start of our game at Anfield this season Fabregas wasn't doing his job defensively and Liverpool got a lot of space.

Courtois
Ivanovic Terry Cahill Luis
Mikel Matic
Willian Fabregas Hazard
Costa

Possibly Zouma for Cahill or Oscar for Willian but Willian will do more work without the ball which Jose will like for this type of games.

GavRedKing

Oscars recent form should mean he starts but I can see Mikel being deployed alright.

GavRedKing

I'd like to see a few changes

Cech
Ivan Zouma JT Luis
Mikel Ramires
Willian Oscar Schurrle
Drogba

Courtois
Cahill
Cesc Matic
Hazard
Remy Costa

duploelabs

Cech
ivan zouma JT luis
Mikel Oscar
shirley willian hazard
Remi

GavRedKing

Pool are going to line out 3-4-3

I reckon we'll see the double DM's tonight in Mikel and Matic.

GavRedKing

Although their leaked team is mean to be as follows

Mignolet – Emre Can, Škrtel, Sakho – Marković, Henderson, Lucas, Moreno – Gerrard, Coutinho – Sterling

It'll probably be something like

---

mig

---

---

can

---

skrtel

---

sakho

---

markovic

---

hendo

---

lucas

---

moreno

---

cout

---

gerrard

---

---

sterling

---

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Pool are going to line out 3-4-3

I reckon we'll see the double DM's tonight in Mikel and Matic.

Do they often play 343? What would their 11 even look like with that? Should give us room to exploit the wings at least, a night for Schurrle perhaps?

*nvm, didn't see the post above.

GavRedKing

:pac:

It'll be wing backs.

Could even be a 3-5-2 with Gerrard playing closer to Sterling and Coutinho droping into midfield although between them they can switch it up.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Although their leaked team is mean to be as follows

Mignolet – Emre Can, Škrtel, Sakho – Marković, Henderson, Lucas, Moreno – Gerrard, Coutinho – Sterling

It'll probably be something like

---

mig

---

---

can

---

skrtel

---

sakho

---

markovic

---

hendo

---

lucas

---

moreno

---

cout

---

gerrard

---

---

sterling

---

If that's the 11 it could be something like


Mignolet – Emre Can, Škrtel, Sakho – Marković, Henderson, Lucas, Moreno – Gerrard, Coutinho – Sterling

---

Mig

---

---

Sakho--Skrtel--Moreno

---

---

Henderson

---

Lucas

---

Markovic---Gerrard----Coutinho

---

Sterling

---

GavRedKing

They're hardly going to start with 10 :pac:



Emre Can has bene playing CB recently I'm sure.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

They're hardly going to start with 10 :pac:



Emre Can has bene playing CB recently I'm sure.

*sigh* Is it 5pm yet?

Meant to put him in with Lucas and Henderson... making the classic 3-3-3-1 formation -_- Far too tired for figuring out Rodgers' weird selections!

GavRedKing

I'm in work until 9.30 :mad:

But I reckon it'll be 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 which will be interchangable.

Away goals arent really important here per-se so even a 2-1/3-1 loss isnt bad really.

GavRedKing

This is still one of my favourite quotes from the day of beating Liverpool

“It’s not difficult to coach to just get 10 players right on your 18-yard box”

GavRedKing

Team is :

Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Filipe Luis; Matic, Mikel; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa

Subs
Cech
Zouma Azp
Ramires Oscar
Remy Drogba

Johner

Johner wrote: »

Strong team with Mikel starting I'd imagine, at the start of our game at Anfield this season Fabregas wasn't doing his job defensively and Liverpool got a lot of space.

Courtois
Ivanovic Terry Cahill Luis
Mikel Matic
Willian Fabregas Hazard
Costa

As expected. :pac:

GavRedKing

Somehow I dont expect us to win tonight. Good tough game though to get us up for the City game, as long as we have no injuries or suspensions I'll be happy no matter what the result.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

hots

Great to see a strong team out and azpi make the bench too, love cup games against Liverpool!

grumpymunster

Great to see Dave back for sure

peteeeed

Nial Quinn is f*cking painful to listen to

GavRedKing

About time we got a penalty

phobia2011

do away goals count?

GavRedKing

phobia2011 wrote: »

do away goals count?

Yes but not like youd imagine.

For away goals to count the game has to go to extra time in the 2nd leg and after 120mins then they count.

So if it finishes 1-1 in Anfield and 0-0 at the bridge after 120mins we go through, no penalties.

Its a stupid rule

McDave

phobia2011 wrote: »

do away goals count?

It's a weird one. They don't count if teams are level after 90 minutes of the second leg. They do if the teams are still level after 120 minutes.

See 13.5 at http://www.capitalonecup.co.uk/competition/rules/

GavRedKing

Its a stupid rule IMO.

McDave

GavRedKing wrote: »

Its a stupid rule IMO.

It's funny, but I've always felt extra time is intrinsically unfair. The host team has an additional 30 minutes home advantage. Depending on how you calculate it, that's a 1/7th or 14% tie advantage.

IMO second legs should go straight to penalties if level after 90 minutes, even if penos are seen as a lottery.

Johner

We have been awful tonight.

GavRedKing

Glad I've missed it TBH.