Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

Johner

4-1 now.

GavRedKing

Johner wrote: »

4-1 now.

Scorer?

Johner

GavRedKing wrote: »

Scorer?

Aina after Izzy Brown hit the post.

GavRedKing

Niiiice.

A similar win for the 1st team tonight would be excellent.

Remy with a goal, Drogba too and a clean sheet would be nice.

duploelabs

Gabriele Marcotti's riposte to Matthew Syed's article

My colleague, Matthew Syed, wrote about Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, yesterday in The Times and, predictably, attracted plenty of attention.

Matthew is annoyed that not enough is made of the origins of Abramovich's fortune. He quotes Abramovich's own lawyer, Jonathan Sumption QC, describing in court how, some 20 years ago, the Chelsea owner gained control of state-owned companies in an auction that was "easy to rig and was in fact rigged."

He calls the "rehabilitation of Abramovich... one of the most sordid episodes in recent sporting history" and expresses surprise that commentators dont "offer a word" about where his money comes from. I presume here he refers to football commentators (though I'm not sure Sky's Martin Tyler ought to be discussing early 90s Russian history the next time Chelsea play Arsenal on TV), because, in fact, the story of Abramovich's first big break with Sibneft, the Russian oil group which was taken over by Gazprom, is well known.

You can draw your own conclusion about Matthews arguments and whether they hold water, particularly when he deconstructs the reaction of Chelsea fans. Some, he says, "regret the identity of the owner" while others point to the fact that other owners also have dubious histories. There are those who still say that football is a form of escapism and they don't want to think about politics while they enjoy their weekly dose of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.

These are the folks who annoy him the most because, Matthew says, they reflect the idea that "football is subject to a different set of rules to everything else." But, thats where hes wrong.

The rules really aren't that different elsewhere. There are folks who push the boundaries as far as they can. If they're caught and they can be prosecuted, they are prosecuted. If they cant, its remarked upon, but either way we still do business with them.

My bank - one of the biggest British banks - agreed to pay some £1.2 billion in fines in 2012 because it helped bad guys to launder money. Indeed, a US senate investigation said, according to the BBC, that it had been a conduit for "drug kingpins and rogue nations." The company is still here. It still does business. Its top executives are still paid handsomely. And yet the money it helped to launder might - for all we know - have funded a terrorist cell or helped a crazed drug overlord assemble a phalanx of gun-toting *********.

Or how about BP? You want to discuss its environmental record? In 2005, one of its refineries exploded, killing 15 workers and injuring another 180. The company was fined, over the years, some £120 million. In 2006, one of its pipelines leaked oil in Alaska: in this case, the total fine was some £28 million. Then came the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Forbes, theyve paid out some £22 billion, but, from what I can make out, there's more to come.

I could cite others, but I think you get the picture. In both cases the companies were accused of doing something many would find morally reprehensible - laundering money and not meeting safety standards - in the pursuit of profit. And somebody - mostly shareholders and top executives - did profit from this malfeasance.

Why are they still allowed to operate? Because - consciously or not - we run our own cost-benefit analysis. We - or, at least a majority of those in power - figure that its in our interest to keep them around because they contribute more than they take. They pay loads in taxes and employ hundreds of thousands of people so we dont mind that some of their money may have been ill-begotten at some point in the past.

What would happen if we tried to forensically track down the source of everyone's wealth? We - as in Western Europeans - would probably not enjoy our findings, given the way colonialism, imperialism and assorted other "isms" for centuries raped much of the rest of the planet.

This isn't to say that everyone who makes money should be viewed with suspicion. Many achieve wealth through ingenuity and creativity. And they genuinely do add value to society, because contrary to what some believe progress is not a zero-sum game.

But some push the boundaries of acceptable behaviour or bend the rules. And we tend not to feel the need to remind ourselves of the fact every few minutes. At least as long as we believe that the good they do outweighs the bad.

That's why most people are less fussed about Abramovich than Matthew is. And its not because football "is subject to a different set of rules". In fact, its quite the opposite. Its because football is no different in that sense than the rest of society.

Johner

Here's the goal from earlier with commentary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1yV2Zfsro

peteeeed

Johner wrote: »

Aina after Izzy Brown hit the post.

The u-19's look the business , some great performances

Lukker-

duploelabs wrote: »

Gabriele Marcotti's riposte to Matthew Syed's article

Matthew Syed picks and chooses when to apply his moral views. The quotes he uses are often tiny snippets that are taken out of context to black up his point. He than implies fairly speculative claims without any evidence. Mind you his articles don't really garner much attention, except for reddit.

GavRedKing

To be fair to Matthew Syed hes a gunner, I'm sure all their money was got through doing paper rounds and selling milk.

GavRedKing

Some jerseys I've got today :

As promised

















All player fit jerseys so theyre a bit tight but theyre a lovely fit.

Lukker-

GavRedKing wrote: »

Some jerseys I've got today :

As promised

















All player fit jerseys so theyre a bit tight but theyre a lovely fit.

Are they legit or did you get them off a jersey site?

MaroonAndGreen

Would be good to see Cech playing tonight too... although I don't think we should weaken too much...

Id go with

GK Cech
RB Azpilicueta
CB Cahill
CB Ivanovic
LB Luis
CM Mikel
CM Ramires
LM Willian
RM Salah
CAM Oscar
CF Remy

So that'd be 7 personnel changes from the weekend and 9 positional changes... I wouldn't be too upset to see Matic or Fabregas playing as well to be honest though... slightly fearing we might not be giving Schalke enough respect!

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Are they legit or did you get them off a jersey site?

Jersey site mate. Paoi about €80 including postage for jerseys that would cost upwards of €240 over the counter.

GavRedKing

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Would be good to see Cech playing tonight too... although I don't think we should weaken too much...

Id go with

GK Cech
RB Azpilicueta
CB Cahill
CB Ivanovic
LB Luis
CM Mikel
CM Ramires
LM Willian
RM Salah
CAM Oscar
CF Remy

So that'd be 7 personnel changes from the weekend and 9 positional changes... I wouldn't be too upset to see Matic or Fabregas playing as well to be honest though... slightly fearing we might not be giving Schalke enough respect!

Pretty much spot on, maybe Drogba will start as CF and Remy out wide and Schurrle might get a call too otherwise that starting XI is pretty much what I want.

Schalke could come and upset us but its pretty unlikely.

MaroonAndGreen

GavRedKing wrote: »

Pretty much spot on, maybe Drogba will start as CF and Remy out wide and Schurrle might get a call too otherwise that starting XI is pretty much what I want.

Schalke could come and upset us but its pretty unlikely.

Can Remy play wide?

The main thing for me tonight in terms of team is that I want to see Costa getting a rest, id get over any other selection

GavRedKing

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Can Remy play wide?

The main thing for me tonight in terms of team is that I want to see Costa getting a rest, id get over any other selection

He has done for Newcastle in the past and he said hes comfortable there but knows theres huge competition for the support roles.

Remy as CF would be better than Drogba and more of a threat in behind so it remains to be seen what we do or who plays.

GavRedKing

Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis, Matic, Fabregas, Ramires, Willian, Hazard, Drogba #CFC

Very strong team.

Weird.

GavRedKing

Chelsea subs: Cech, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Oscar, Mikel, Remy, Diego Costa. #CFC

peteeeed

GavRedKing wrote: »

Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis, Matic, Fabregas, Ramires, Willian, Hazard, Drogba #CFC

Very strong team.

Weird.

glad that luis is getting a run

RichT

GavRedKing wrote: »

Some jerseys I've got today :

That quilt cover :eek:

GavRedKing

Its a throwback to the go-go 80's

Hope Luis plays well, deserves a run in the team.

GavRedKing

Schalke are fairly strong in their starting XI this will be a decent test for us and one I hope we can pass.

hots

Gonna miss the start of the game because of poxy work, surprised to see drog playing and thought terry might get a rest too... Hope willian puts in a decent shift to keep up the competition in those positions too

GavRedKing

Was hoping Salah would start instead of ramires as he needs these big games to improve himself hopefully he'll see action with remy.

hots

In the door as we score, happy days, great assist.

Crackle

Clear foul, Schalke right to feel aggrieved. Good start though.

Johner

Drogba is shite, he should not be starting games. Hazard has looked good, also Filipe Luis has been very good. Defensively we look like we can be got at easily though, worrying.

cadaliac

Drogba missed a sitter, too rusty, needs more games

GavRedKing

Ya weve been pretty poor really. Schalkes had 1 huge chance too

Kirby

Predictable.

kev1.3s

Fug

kev1.3s

Still, might make a game out of it.

Crackle

Bollocks anyway. There's been plenty chances to put this away but not taken. Might be time for Remy.

GavRedKing

Terrible from us. Nothing less than they deserve to be honest

McDave

Yep. 1:1 is not much more than Chelsea deserve. And it could get worse. Not working for Drogba tonight. Not ineffective at all, but missing that bit of sharpness. They'll need to bring on Costa. But they shouldn't have to rely on him every game.

I'm beyond tired of that birdbrain Ramires.

We need to buck up, or we could drop needless points.

kev1.3s

GavRedKing wrote: »

Terrible from us. Nothing less than they deserve to be honest

Would have been a story if drogba had scored that chance before the equaliser.

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

Would have been a story if drogba had scored that chance before the equaliser.

Costa would have buried it. Thats the difference.

McDave

Schalke ratcheting up the pressure now. Chelsea not responding. Far too complacent, especially with time running out.

kev1.3s

GavRedKing wrote: »

Costa would have buried it. Thats the difference.

Costa wouldn't have let it run so much either, we're second best at the minute.

kev1.3s

Remy and costa now

McDave

Bad misses from Cesc, Ramires and Drogba. Playing at 70%. Hope we haven't underestimated Schalke. Full attack force now on.

McDave

Have to say although Hazard has been bright, he's lost a few balls needlessly. And not got stuck in to regain possession.

GavRedKing

F**k sake thats another gilt edge chance. Thats 3 now today for 3 different players.

Such a waste of 3pts

GavRedKing

Again...hazard with a miss

GavRedKing

Should really be winning your home games aswell

McDave

Tournament attitude. Do the minimum for the points. But it can backfire too. As it seems to be tonight. Why not bring on Costa for at least 30 mins? Jose has to take the rap for this.

cadaliac

Well, at least we can't blame Torres for missing anymore

GavRedKing

2pts dropped

McDave

Mourinho hoping to conserve players and energy for City. Still not much consolation.

GavRedKing

McDave wrote: »

Tournament attitude. Do the minimum for the points. But it can backfire too. As it seems to be tonight. Why not bring on Costa for at least 30 mins? Jose has to take the rap for this.

Ya one eye on city has cost us. Strong team started but it should have been remy from the start.