Premier League: Chelsea 1 - 0 West Ham United
Match reports
The Observer, Paul Wilson: “Inevitably this west-east London derby was a bad-tempered bearpit, and inevitably it was won for Chelsea by a goal from a former West Ham player.”
Sunday Times, Joe Lovejoy: “Chelsea are now unbeaten in their last 70 league matches at Stamford Bridge, and Grant has not been on the losing side in his last 14 in all competitions. Now the reality. Grant’s style of play is no better than Mourinho’s was, and he was left trotting out the old cliche that ugly wins are the ones that win you championships. For a long time, Curbishley’s game plan worked, frustrating Chelsea to the crowd’s increasingly vocal displeasure.”
Independent on Sunday, Nick Townsend: “On a day when Didier Drogba, a persistent menace to the Hammers throughout, complained to fourth official Steve Tanner about a “laser light” being shone in his eyes from the West Ham contingent, there was precious little to dazzle the crowd here. Even the West Ham manager, Alan Curbishley, while lamenting not getting a draw “that most people would have felt was a fair result” conceded that “we did not really fashion the chance that was going to hurt Cudicini”. He asserted that West Ham had arrived “to match up, stop them dictating the game – and that’s what we did. But perhaps I didn’t have enough going the other way.” He can say that again.”
Sunday Telegraph, Patrick Barclay: “In fairness to Grant and Chelsea, West Ham did defend very well - it was not just a matter of vigour - for 75 minutes until a foray down Route One broke their resistance. A long clearance by Carlo Cudicini was headed on, first by Didier Drogba and then by Salomon Kalou, leaving the increasingly influential Joe Cole to survive a suspicion of offside, veer wide of the outrushing Robert Green, and smash a rising drive inside the near post. Grant’s team had been threatening, however, only since the resumption, which saw Frank Lampard shoot off target and Green bravely deny both Drogba and John Terry.”
Official Chelsea FC Website, Andy Jone: “Three consecutive wins in a week is music to Chelsea fans’ ears as we enter the busiest period of the season, and although others are still to play, three points from this tricky London derby leaves us in second place just two points from the top.”
The highlights/goal
Chelsea 1 - 0 West Ham United.
The good
A shockingly poor first half from both teams belied the coming of a gripping second half that reminded me of one of those thriller films where someone is trying to strangle someone else in an epic battle but the weaker one simply refuses to succumb until the inevitable happens… Hence anything “good” is based purely on the second half!
- The result and the second half performance – obviously. The definitive game of two halves sums it up. It was hard to believe we were seeing the same teams after the break. However this is 14 games unbeaten and if this had happened under Jose Mourinho none of us would think it unusual. I’m still concerned about reports that it’s the players doing this and not Avram Grant… or maybe he really is much cleverer than we all thought?
- Mikel John Obi or Obi John Mikel or John Obi Mikel… whatever his bloody name is – I still haven’t worked it out, and neither it seems have the press, radio or TV! Incredibly lucky to stay on the pitch after his tackle on Scott Parker but second half his performance was sublime.
- Joe Cole. Again, throughout the first half he looked leggy after his midweek exertions in Norway, but patently the half time orange did the trick because second half he was magnificent. A real playmaker and his goal was world class. I’m just thankful it wasn’t Salomon Kalou who was put through or Row Z might have been under threat!
- Didier Drogba. The Big Friendly Ivorian was yet again magnificent – Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer were almost cooing on Match of the Day. He won headers, turned players, played people in – we are in serious trouble when he goes off to the African Nations Cup because frankly none of our other alleged strikers are anywhere near him.
- The atmosphere. It’s always good when the Pikey Boys come to town. Say what you like about their usually vile fans but they always bring a good sized and very vocal bunch of fans, which seems to lift us to sing even more. I just love the “Where’s your caravan?” (sung to the tune of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep), and “The wheels on your house go round and round”. Puerile? Yes! Childish? Yes! Fun? A very big yes!
- Shaun Wright-Phillips. Only came on as sub when we were hunting the goal but immediately lifted the crowd and for me, at least, is proving to be one of our key players and it shows in his ever growing confidence. It seems that Mourinho’s departure has suited him (and maybe some of the others?).
The bad
- The first half. This was as dire a serving of alleged football that I can remember at Stamford Bridge and to my mind there is no doubt that playing Wednesday, flying back the same night, arriving back at the training ground at three in the morning and then having to play at lunchtime two days later had an effect. West Ham were just as bad so what the hell is their excuse then? I gave up my Saturday morning hangover cure on the golf course for this and frankly by half time it was slightly worse. Still the blood pressure increase from the display in the second half dispersed it outright!
- Two of our tackles. One from Mikel on Parker which frankly should have got a red card. He has great potential but he really needs to learn the art of tackling. I think most of us expected a red card when the referee called him over. Kalou then followed into the book with a studs up tackle in front of the East Stand. Having said that he was so poor I’m not sure a red card for him would have been a bad thing anyway.
- Louis Boa Morte. To describe him as being a bit chippy is like calling Morrissey a bit miserable or Graham Norton a bit gay. He kicked Carlo Cudicini blatantly when Carlo had the ball in his hands. He tackled and fouled and sniped until at last in the 40th minute Howard Webb gave him the booking he should have had after 10 minutes. The ref got a standing ovation for that one.
- Salomon Kalou. Oh dear. A very poor showing again. No doubt the “evangelists” will hound me for this but this guy is so frustrating. He was out of sorts all of yesterday with only one notable contribution of worth – the header for Cole to run on to score. Wasn’t Nicolas Anelka like this in his early Arsenal days – erratic, occasionally brilliant but mostly frustrating?
Player ratings
- Carlo Cudicini: Didn’t have a lot to do again, but when called to make a few stops did so with aplomb - 7/10.
- Juliano Belletti: If ever a player made me eat my words it’s him. A great right-back - 7/10.
- Alex: Does the simple things with little fuss and rarely looked troubled yesterday. Good to know he’s back up to John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. His ability makes Jose Mourinho’s decision to leave him at PSV last January even stranger - 7/10.
- Wayne Bridge: Did everything in this game that he failed to do for England. A good “comeback” performance - 7/10.
- John Terry: Looking much better now than prior to his recent break and will no doubt be back to his imperious best in another couple of games. Unlucky not to score - 7/10.
- Frank Lampard: Battled in midfield well and had some shots which he was unlucky to miss or have deflected. Basically a good enough performance to yet again shut the West Ham fans up - 7.5/10.
- Joe Cole: Second half he was a real handful and the West Ham defenders had a problem coping with his darting runs and his ability to glide past players. Fantastically cool take for the goal - 8.5/10.
- Didier Drogba: The best striker, midfielder and combined centre-half in the world. At various parts of the game he played in every one of those positions. Awesome - 8.5/10.
- Steve Sidwell: Anonymous in the first half, but then who wasn’t? Looked one of the most likely to score until being substituted second half but I firmly believe he will be a big player going forward - 7/10.
- John Obi Mikel: Lucky to be on the field but in the second half was absolutely magnificent - 8.5/10.
- Salomon Kalou: He just makes me want to scream. Has undoubted talent but a complete lack of football intelligence and yesterday he might as well have had a Christmas pudding in between his ears rather than a brain - 5/10.
- Shaun Wright-Phillips (sub): Changed the dynamic of the game when we were already in the ascendancy. Always looked as if he could go past people with ease and even managed to get some good crosses in - 7/10.
- Overall team performance: Overall a hard fought and well deserved win against a team that could have been a potential banana skin - 7.5/10.
Man of the Match
Three players in with a shout for this – Mikel, Joe Cole and Drogba. My choice of Joe Cole caused some dissention on this blog last time, but he did score the goal yesterday. Mikel was lucky to even be on the pitch in order to be in line for this prestigious award. So, a tough choice then!
Didier Drogba, for your all round ability to be a pest, a handful and to create chances as well as take them, please accept a virtual bouquet of Chelsea True Blue roses.
Final thoughts
I had the hangover from hell on arrival at the American Café (which logically of course is Cypriot) for my usual pre-match meal and a slight tingling in the stomach caused by the very real worry that West Ham might spring a nasty little surprise. By half time I just wanted to go to sleep, but not because of the hangover but because of the slops that were served up as an excuse for football. But the boys came good straight from the off for the second half and this was a real game of football, with passion and flair on display. After last year’s rollercoaster I think it’s fair to say West Ham will be safely mid-table this year and if we’re honest they could have taken the draw against us but for Joe’s goal and a clever “benefit of the doubt” decision form the linesman.
14 games unbeaten and the home record stretches to 70 games, which is phenomenal by any standards. In yesterday’s Guardian it was alleged that the players have decided to get back to winning because it was a happy place back then. It also alleged that Grant doesn’t take the training sessions, so one can’t help but wonder what is giving us this form. I’m not complaining but something is nagging me about what is going on. I think we’ll find out when we play Arsenal. In the meantime we’ve crept up quietly on the rails and for a short while lie second. Has anyone else also noticed just how little press coverage we warrant these days? Any stories published now seem to be the signs of a desperate press scraping the journalistic barrel of fact in order to stir something up. Could this have been Roman’s plan all along?
If it keeps us where we are then long may it continue.
Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!
Related links
- Reaction: We played our game
- Mikel begins to make his mark
- Drogba wins BBC London Footballer of the Year
- Posted at 04:21 PM · Permalink · Print · 2418 views · Last indexed by Google on the 14th May 2008
- Tags: Alex, Avram Grant, Carlo Cudicini, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Howard Webb, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jon Obi Mikel, Jose Mourinho, Premier League, Roman Abramovich, Salomon Kalou, Scott Parker, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve Sidwell, West Ham United
Nice one Tony.
The low profile is undoubtedly part of the plan I’d say - notable that there has been almost complete radio silence and no ‘target setting’ by the likes of Buck and Kenyon since AG took over which gives him time to settle. Interesting that many of the reports have started to point out the glaringly obvious though - this team and the majority of its performances remain very similar from those delivered under Mourinho.
I remain in the evangelists camp on Kalou, but no denying he drove me to distraction yesterday. Glides past players like very few I’ve seen but is then guaranteed to either a) try it once too often or b) pick the least appropriate pass imaginable. Causes havoc amongst leaden footed defenders though - needs the kind of kick in the @rse that Joe Cole got in terms of getting his head straight and we’d have a tremendous player on our hands, and he’s still young so who knows?
Weekend rounded off with a great 3rd round draw too - a real blast from the past. Come by train, come by car…
Chelsea were slow in mind and body in the first half. Second half they all improved aside from Sidwell who has looked slow in mind and body every time I’ve seen him.
Reminds me of Scott Parker - both good workhorses for average Premiership sides but not quite the quality we need.
Agree with much of Tony’s review; a few further observations.
For me, Cole, for the goal, was man of the match. Neither keeper was busy so we could hardly say our attacking football was penetrative. However, for the 2nd half performance we deserved the win.
Mikel bloody brilliant last 30 mins. Sidwell is a poor version of Parker who also looked nothing more then a decent Championship player yesterday. Boa Morte is a black Robbie Savage. Hetherington had the run of Belletti and I am amazed Curbishley took him off minutes after Bellitti’s yellow card.
We were overun in the middle in the 1st half - their 4-5-1 vs our 4-3-3. JM would have addressed that immediately. I thought Kalou did OK in the 2nd half. Agree Sweep had a great cameo, lifting the players and support, though West Ham were knackered by then.
Does Frank ever play well against that lot and after 8 years isn’t it time they found someone else to hate.
70 games unbeaten is superb, true history (eh Liverpool??).
One more thing. I thought Carlton Cole had a very decent match. Alex would, I think, agree with that.
Ian, agreed about Carlton - looks far better now than when he was with us.
With regards to press coverage, the only thing I’ve heard since Saturday evening is how the Gunners have extended their lead over us to 5 points. Excuse me ?? Didn’t we go from 4th to second ?? Seems any old cheap shot against us is good enough.
Good, if nothing better, performance, which leaves us all commenting on the same things we do every post-match. We’re screwed without DD; is AG actually doing anything himself; scrappy win etc.
Was quite funny watching the build up to the games on Sky where they were assessing what we’ll be like when DD goes in January. Apparently one from Sheva, Pizarro and Kalou needs to pick up the scoring responsibilites. Except Kalou will be there too. Great research from the Murdoch corporation.
It seems like an odd thing to point out but I think the referee had an excellent game, and needed to have one. If he’d started waving yellows around for all those early tackles he’d have got himself in a lot of trouble very early and probably ended up having to send more than one player off. Obi [it is John Mikel Obi, in fact it's John Michael Obi but some kitperson in Norway messed up and got confused and the confusion stuck: Obi is his surname] certainly could have been sent off and would have been if we’d been away to a big team, but yellow was right for that game. The rush of yellows in the latter part of the first half made the line fairly clear.
I also think that credit should go to the defence, especially Alex, even during the barren misery of the first half. We were losing midfield but they still never really looked like scoring.
Great report though. No doubt that we are b*ggered when Drogba goes off next year. I still think that a top three finish will be a good return for this season, given everything that’s been going on.
I also stand by Kalou. He looks a bit nervous since he gets extra booing when he gives up posession (as opposed to the strangled “argh” that goes through the crowd when Frank or Maka do). But he keeps attacking his man and getting into the box. Okay, he can’t always (often?) figure out what to do next, but watching defenders backpedal as he slaloms towards them from the left reminds me more of the Robben effect than anything else. He helps make chances. Give the fellow some time. Promising youngsters, surely this is the way we need to go?
Limetreeblower - I am not anti-Kalou really - like i said I do see talent there but a lack of intelligence football wise. I guess that will come with experience as will a degree of calmness. For that alone we should persevere with him but I question the policy of continually making him a starter as I don’t think he’s up to the full 90 minute heat of a Prem game. That’s why I drew the analogy with Anelka whom I seem to remember frustrated the hell out of Gooners until he finally came good and then decided to leave. I still think Kalou can make the grade but am worried we might burn him out confidence wise by chucking him in the deep end.
Anyone else think Robben would have been in his element under the new free flowing Chelsea (which despite the press I thought was on show in the second half)?
BTW - I forgot Makalele as a sub in my player rating…such was the low key nature of his entry. 7/10 for his 10 minutes or so, and this is exactly the role I see him playing…coming on to shore things up when we have a 1 goal lead in a tough encounter.
Could be right about Kalou TG - don’t want to see his confidence completely shot to bits. It was interesting to watch Franco in the Centenary game yesterday; still a class act and just reminded me how he had that uncanny knack of making the right call so often - not something you can really ‘teach’, but young SK could do with watching a video or two of the great man for a tip or two…
And true - Robben might have been OK until one of the Spammers kicked him off the park and put him out for 3 months… ;-)
Isn’t Robben injured?
I like Kalou, but as a sub. Unfortunately, we don’t have a huge number of options in that position, what with Sinclair being on loan, Malouda being injured and Shevchenko being shit.
Solid enough win, but Arsenal could be eight points clear by Saturday and they look VERY good.
Mikel is a fantastic player - and showed a bit more creativity on Saturday - but can be so easily wound up, as West Ham did on Saturday.
Anyone who left early will not have seen the one sublime moment as it was not featured on MOD.
After the final whistle, as normal, the players acknowleged the fans and Frank Lampard did an entire circuit finishing “near” the Pikeys section. Just before he made his exit he gave an exhuberant fist punching celebration to the assembled Pikeys. It was a moment to savour and in my opinion its what local rivalry is all about. He hates West Ham probably more than even we do. Priceless!!
> Isn’t Robben injured?
Insert your preferred Pope / Catholic - bears / woods type analogy here…
We’re being linked with Drenthe again I see.
Drenthe’s been a bit part player most of the season for Real from what I’ve seen. Interesting one, but not one that will fill the hole left by DD and therefore, not as high priority as a striker.
Valencia, on the other hand, are plunging to new lows each week (lost 2 - 0 to Bilbao last night). Let’s put David Villa out of his misery and snap him up in January. Pretty please.
I agree with Fifty except I’d offer Sheva to Valencia as part-ex for Villa. It seems to me that the further Valencia fall the cheaper he will likely be and the quicker they’ll want to recoup something, buy-out clause or not. Kenyon, if he’s got any brains, should be on the blower right now negotiating this one because I reckon Villa would be so happy to be in a top team he’d hit the ground running and the Scousers at work wouldn’t keep crowing about Torres being the best Spanish striker.
What a signing Villa would be, although I’m pretty sure I said that when Sheva made his move from Milan.
Villa on the other hand is just reaching his peak and an offer of around £17 million plus Andriy should be enough to force Valencia’s hand.
It should prove to make a great strike-partnership too, both Drogba and Villa are strong but Villa could bring that little bit of flair that we’re really lacking up-front.
One minus point to all this though is that Kenyon doesn’t appear to have any brains unless it involves pricing Chelsea fans further out the club and will probably leave it too late before making an approach.
My god, what I would give for a Frenchman who doesn’t whinge.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo.....sea104.xml
kalou is just not the right thing..He is not just cut out for the current chelsea breed of stars he unfortunately lacks the intelligence of a good ball passer and finisher compared to his agemates.rooney ,christiano agbonlahor messi aguero etc ..if we had a better replacement in his position then I’d rather we just sell him.such small differences demacate the fine line btwn defeats draws and victories in the premiership cl fa carling .. kalou and sheva were part bit to blame for TSO firing and complacent performance early this season… not withstanding his goal to attempt ratio and the dribbles he makes per game arent in propotion with the goals he should have scored.. TALENT IS JUST TALENT, you need a cristiano to compete with a cristiano and not a kalou!!! for us to win we need brilliant chaps who can change a game with a stroke of genius i firmly dont believe we are a team quite reliant on teamwork but rather individual brilliance particularly on attacking midfielders and fc..our undoing is having this “average players sidwell pizza sheva in any case if drog et al leave midseason then we are reduced to an average team that lacks that killer instinct ” can we just sell them and buy a match winner
Peter
Same here …….in fact Malouda has got the worst player rating I’ve ever given - a big fat 0/10 for the Fulham game if I remember. I’ll watch out for the greenberg “taken out of context” statement appearing on the web site and in the press soon, but frankly Malouda would be on my list to be shipped out asap.
January “outs”
Sheva
Malouda
Pizzaro
January “ins”
Villa
Anelka
Drenthe
In the summer I reckon we’ll see Frank Rijkaard shipped in and AG back as Director of Football and then an audacious bid for Messi and Kaka, with Drogba and Ballack also leaving..
Seriously…if you take enough of them the drugs do actually work!
Peter - sounds like Malouda’s enjoying himself.
Reminds me of when Leboeuf said he was scared of the physicality of English attackers.
Got a feeling Malouda might get a good kicking by whichever fullback he faces next.
Interestig… junk food …brainless football… players flat during match… frightening training regimes…
What happened to all that brotherly love with Drogba then?
@ Dickson
Agbonlahor?
You actually mentioned him in the same bracket as Messi and Christiano Ronaldo….
I do nt know why so much dislike for Kalou but I think he tries and trying helps players improve.
I do not know why you pick on kalou when obviously Sidwell does not match up to the Chelsea grade…
Joe Lovejoy had this to say about your highly rated Sidwell…”In midfield, Parker and the unsung Hayden Mullins were more effective than Lampard and Steve Sidwell, who continues to look more like a Reading player than a Chelsea one,”…
I think that we need to be objective as objective can be… Kalou has a future in Chelsea I see him becoming a “Thierry Henry” like player with the pace and ability to take on defenders I see Obi become a player better than”Viera” with the ability to dictate the pace of the game… as for sidwell we should sell him asap! or give him away free… He has heart but very low skill…
Lets be honest, Agbonlahor isn’t even close to the same bracket of Messi, Ronaldo et al. Gonzalo Higuain, Segio Agureo, Carlos Vela, Micah Richards
i have a bone to pick with these guys(max and company) who view football in one dimension..let me just ask who is better as footballer lionel messi or didier drogba ?yes ! each of these players has his strong point .. .dribbling (messi definately)
it does not really mean that if messi is a good dribbler then he should be rated higher than others, which nowadays is the case all over the world there are so many aspects of football that we overlook …eg when it comes to heading the ball i cant find any player in the most competitive leagues better than our own didier.. not forgetting he is excellent defensively … agbonlahor might not be a very good dribbler but his sheer pace and running into space more than compensates for his dribbling ability(1 dimension)…you cant imagine messi defending he would be a liability if eg placed in a wall during a freekick ad just chip the ball past him on the other hand didier would be more than useful. take another aspect physical presence and there you go again….so many bloggers look at these aspects in a shallow manner . in the real football world drogba can adapt to any league but i dont think messi would, EPL to start with ..he just lacks the versatility
in my view a scoring aspect should be developed analysing each useful technical aspect of the player and this is what fifa should be using to judge who is the best player on the planet and for heavens sake u cant have just attacking midfilders dominating these stupid nominations
“Benni McCarthy could be on his way out of Blackburn after throwing a tantrum and then driving home when he was taken off against Newcastle. (Mirror)”
Maybe we should bid for him?
Dickson, with I’m not sure ‘who is a better footballer?’ is really a useful question to ask yourself…
Cant really compare the two. I’d say you look at what a player gives to a team and then decide how valuable he is — but that’s a question to ask if your’re looking to buy the guy.
All other points aside though, i’d be interested to see a pole of which players chelsea fans would like to see bought in, and who they’d like to see kicked out.
Personally, I reckon Kalou wouldn’t be too high up in the list of those to be kicked out — at least I hope not!
If it’s sheer pace and running into space you want why dont we go for…
… Djibreel Cisse?
Agbonlahor has pace and and he might find good positions on the picth, and i’d say he even holds the ball better than a lot of players, but seriously, that cant put him in the same league as those guys mentioned.
BTW everyone knocking Malouda for how he’s played… of the four Players we have playing wide he is probably the only one you could trust to make the right pass at the right moment.
THIS IS HIS FIRST SEASON… Please, lay off the guy a little.
Forgot to add, he gets kicked all over the pitch, so in a way those comments are understandable.
Hoew many times has he been fouled?
He’s one who tries to stay on his feet most of the time but gets a lot of nasty treatment, similar to Joe Cole.
Schalke match was the last one he played in and that would be a perfect example of the kind of stuff he’s prabably pissed about
Sorry for overposting.. but this is for Tony…
http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=67722
It’s about time our French contingent were told to watch what they say when talking to the French media…
When you look back Diarra, Gallas, Drogba (yes , I know he isn’t really French) and now Malouda have all had problems when they speak to their national press.
Either that, or we should stop buying Frenchmen because they simply whinge too much about how life in London is so terrible.
As for my thoughts on Kalou…..
He has now had almost 2 years in the squad and is no closer to looking composed than he did when he arrived.
He is undoubtedly a talented player and is worthy of a place in most European squads. However, if we are looking for the best players in the world for the Chelsea squad, he does not meet the criteria.
Reluctantly, its time for him to move on, I feel.
If you look at Kalou’s record - a goal every three starts - it’s not actually all that bad. I’d be reluctant to get rid of him yet. He’s still our second best option as a striker, which is a bit of a problem, especially as DD looks like he might be injured on Saturday.
In the window I’d happily take McCarthy, Villa or Anelka. Not sure about Abonglahor. He’s a good player, but very raw and not entirely sure he has the potential to be any better than, say, SWP or Kalou.
Really not sure about Bendtnar either, and these Ronaldinho rumours won’t go away…
We don’t want Roni anyways.
We want another winger and a striker or two.
Blue Revolution was on last night on Sky Three. I haven’t seen it before, TSO was all happy and in to the club. I’d still prefer to have him at the helm then grant any day of the week.
K/T/B/F/F/H
Cashif, thanks for the tip! Weird how the wrong middle name stuck?
His name will be ‘John Mikel Obi (sent off)’ if he carries on the way he is…
I’d love Ronaldinho or Villa, but I still want to see a reason for signing Sidwell. He’s mediocre. Not even close to the rest of the midfield. Even (shock horror) Ballack is better than him.
Lets be honest, in anuary, Grant will have the oportunity to make the team his own, and he will do so in style, I believe.
Ronaldinho would be a class addition, but to be honest, he’s never going to leave Barca, they simpply won’t accept a bid for him.
My list for the summer would have to be:
To Leave:
Kalou
Sidwell
Boularouz (Permanently)
Makalele (No longer up to the job)
Shevchenko
To Come In:
A new starting striker (Klose, Villa, Anelka)
A backup striker (Youth, but class enough to start occasionaly - Bendtner, Agbonlahor, Ashley Young)
Central Midfielder - Modric
The squad looks good in cover with tose additions and losses.
However another thing recently rumoured is Cech’s unhappiness, and the interest of Barcelona in him. I’d say, should the right offer come in (say a la Buffon-20 to 30 million), and a replacement (Remy Riou of Bordeaux, the Russian No.1) was lined up, let him go. Hes an amazing keeper, but you can’t refuse that kind of money, for a player that, to be honest, could styill be replaced.
Your welcome Tony, keep up the top reporting…
@Max Edwards, slow down there!
That Cech story has been rubbished by him as being years old. Apparently quotes from when he was back in Renne.
Couple of poles - I’m not sure if this is okay ppl, but I’ve set up a poll:
WHO WOULD YOU LET GO?
http://www.chelsea.vitalfootba.....s=3#M20854 [Registration required]
WHO WOULD YOU BRING IN?
http://www.chelsea.vitalfootba.....s=3#M20856 [Registration required]
Now we should get an idea of what everyone really thinks of Kalou, and Mr unreliable, SWP…
Why should we sell Pizza??? He has impressed me when he started! The problem is he hasnt really had a chance! AG should play him as soon as possible! With Drogba having got injured (again) now would be the perfect time! PLEASE PLAY PIZARRO!
Jan Transfer Activity!!!!
I am very excited about what might happen as I feel that Roman believes he owes it to the fans to make up for sacking King Jose.
Perhaps his spending will spill over into the summer - but I am hoping he goes for young talent like Vela, Aguero or Messi. I don’t want Ronnie although he is a great player i just don’t think he will gel at Chelsea.
Kalou will stay - he has the talent. Remeber it took Henry 3 seasons to become the lethal player he is now (or was before his flop move to Barca).
Sidwell is British - and is decent. He is composed and solid in midfield. He is no Lampard - but if we continue with a 4-3-3 system he is a great utility player against lower teams.
I am happy with Alex, Ben Haim, Riccy and JT - we just need a new RB as Belliti is pretty old and Paulo is crap. Alves would be great and I can see him coming in soon.
So in addition - I expect to see Villa coming in Jan. Anelka is not a good buy as he will cause probs in the dressing room and is just another french whiner and is past his prime. Drenthe is also not Chelsea standard. Berbatov though I think would be a great foil for the Drog.
Modric however is a fantastic player and would fit into our 4-3-3 very well. Van der Vart is also a great target as a Lampard replacement.
Finally - the Youth. Spend the £20m for Aguero - he is worth it and will put Rooney to shame. Vela as well is pure class.
Come on Roman - pump in another £100m over Jan and the summer and let’s look foward to dominating the league again.
As for Avram - well still not sure about him but I really like Ten Cate. He is a typical Dutch manager that focuses on total football. I actually do think that we should not get rid of Avram for 2 reasons. 1) We appear a softer target then under Jose hence why teams like Man City tried open football at the bridge.
2) He is not that bad a manager. His results so far have been great - apart from the everton game but shit like that happens in football. I think after we play Arsenal and Liverpool in the Carling cup - then we will really now what kind of mettle he is made off. If we beat those 2 - then it’s time we start singing his name from the stands.
Forever Blue - fucking love you Chelsea!!
Morning all,
A few technical gremlins prevented comments from being posted yesterday, but Nick has shown them the door so we’re open for business again…
If Drogba can’t play tomorrow and v arsenal we have to go 4-4-2, surely.
Shevchenko in a 4-3-3 means he won’t get a sniff.
Would Avram have the bottle to go for a 442 against the Arse if he doesn’t do it against the smaller sides, even when Drogba isn’t playing?
Hope something happens to shock him into changing.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pag.....to=newsnow
‘The Power Of Thought’ eh?
Maybe if he says it often enough, we’ll all start to believe we are playing brilliant, attractive, attacking football…
I’m just not dealing with the Drogba being injured thing.
[sticks fingers in ears] La la la la la la
True Blue, you may just get your wish this January. As earlier mentioned by a few in this post it looks like David Villa could well be on his way to the Bridge for a cut-price fee next month and Dani Alves was angry that his Summer move was blocked by the Sevilla Chairman although the club have now given Alves captaincy which could hinder a move, both are players I would love to see at Chelsea.
With regards to rumours that Ronaldo may be making his way South I hope they are wrong as a playe of his temperament would surely unsettle the unit of players we have at the minute and if we do sign Alves he can always be pushed up on the right of midfield if need be.
I’m unsure about Ben Haim, I just don’t think he’s good enough, not even as cover for Riccy but Belleti has shown signs he can get forward and cover back well, unfortunately just not as consistently as I’d like.
Two players I think we should aim to sign who shouldn’t pose much of a struggle to prize away at too much of a cost would be Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sporting’s Jao Mountinho, both still young and class players.
I mentioned some months ago that the repetitive ‘attacking/attractive football’ slogan is something AG is trying to get everyone to beleive. By saying at every post match interview and having papers print it gives people in general a different opinion on our style of football.
Going from the article Cashif kindly posted i would say it’s a good idea, but changing peoples trains of though isn’t easy. Let alone when them are footballing stars on megabucks and a winning mental anyway. This may work better if it’s emoployed in the youth system for future years but i fail to see it making ‘the next level’ step we need right now with the first team. Maybe some breathing space of a season will help.
I would prefer to see Grant suceed rather then fail as he manages our beloved Chelsea, but i don’t trust the man, there’s something about him which isn’t right.
K/T/B/F/F/H
“David Villa could well be on his way to the Bridge for a cut-price fee next month…”
If there is any substance in this then HALLELOOJALA!!!
Under AG we have scored 31 and conceded 7 (in all comps)… that’s 15 games. Seems pretty good..but…
Just over 2 goals a game… make of that what you will.
http://www.goal.com/en/Articol.....oId=506652
Looks like the first of our signings might be nearing a conclusion.
I have been on goal.com many times and very few of their stories are true! I hope we get Villa and Lulinha and possibly Angel Di Maria from Benfica!
This is Tim Vickery’s opinion:
“Lulinha and Dentinho are nowhere near yet, nowhere near. Lulinha, to his own credit, responded to the speculation by saying that he’d only recently tunred pro and hadn’t exactly set the world on fire - he knows he’s nowhere near ready and has just signed a new contract.
Dentinho also - like Lulinho was a kid pitched into Corinthians’ unsuccessful battle against relegation - like Lulinha he is not ready for the Brazilian first division, so foget about the premiership for a while (if there’s any sense on all sides) - might have scored 1 goal, certainly not more. Way, way too early.”
To Cashif:
I don’t know what you make of it but two goals a game is not particularly bad, especially when we are conceding - on average - less than a goal a game, but I still feel we need to invest in a striker, or at least a goalscoring winger in January just to sure up our goal tally come the end of the season and with the news that Drog’s could be out for a few month’s a signature is even more so vital.
In th econtext of our rivals it’s higher than Man U and and lower than Arsenal (2.25)
comrades. i just finished watching Arsenal lose 1-2 to Middlesborough! just yesterday i watched Liverpool get a thumping 1-3 by Reading!!!!!!!! emh emh, what can i say? the table looks just right for us.
its one of the best weekends i have ever had. glass of cheap wine in my hand. slippers in my feet. just watching the Arse get hit by a passionate and attacking mob from Middlesborough. nice. Borough did not even try to defend, it went out and showed Arsenal how to attack and beat a team like Arsenal.
excellent weekend. oh, could be even better if Manure lost. but then again, you do with what you have. and what we have right now is a campaign that looks as open as ever.
i hope we go about our business in that quiet manner again. let the media mob keep away from us until we spring up at the end and grab that title from under Manure’s nose.
great weekend comrades. have a great week.
I hope the media keep there noses out of our business full stop but that is never going to happen is it?
If we keep winning that’s all that matters, a good couple of months hopefully through till feb and we’ll be on course for that title again, I’m just praying under Avram we can make the step in the Champs League too, how sweet and slightly ironic would that be, searching for the perfect manager to win us the Champions League only to have a relatively unknown guy from Israel bring it home?