Premier League: Chelsea 1 - 2 Arsenal

"I believe that given a fully fit first team squad to choose from Scolari would reveal himself to be more tactically astute than he as so far demonstrated"

As much as I agree with the sentiment, it would be difficult for Scolari to have appeared less tactically astute upto this point. It's all very well blaming injuries, lack of forwards, referees etc but other sides manage to offer something to vary their play up a bit, and they don't all have a billionaire sinking money into their teams.

For the money spent within our squad, they need to be showing more.

Bright spots for me were Terry, Ivanovic, Ballack and Lampard who for an hour completely controlled the game.

Low lights were Deco, the Referee and Linesmen, and our inability to penetrate an Arsenal defence that has recently looked totally inept.

Kalou, at least, had two opportunities to go one v one on Almunia in the first half, and would have done so had the aforementioned overeager linesman not been so eager.

What he would have done with those chances, however, is something else entirely.

|----------------|
|....Ratings.....|
-----------------|
|Ch..........OK..|
|Bos.........KO..|
|Ivan........KO..|
|Ter.........OK..|
|Cas.........KO..|
|OBI.........OK..|
|Bal.........OK..|
|Fra......OKedoKO|
|Dec.......DeKO..|
|Ane......SmOKER.|
|Kal......pOKer..|
|----------------|
|Stoch....StOKe..|
|----------------|
|Sco......JOKer..|
|----------------|

Where to start?

It's hard to take. A draw would have been just about all we deserved, the linesman and referee have combined to create the mother of all shit decisions, yet there's no comeback on officials. Players can be punished retrospectively for their misdemeanours, but we just have to wave good-bye to the point we barely earned.

I'm one who's been blabbering on about no plan B, but at times it was hard to see what the primary plan was. I'm mortified we've played at home, not had a shot on target and had to rely on the opposition scoring for us. Is there no-one in the reserves who is playing up-front? Deco stunk the place out so much, I could smell the shit in Norwich. Awful, truly awful. It's all well and good having one defence splitting pass in your armory every 90 minutes, but that's kind of eradicated when you cant control the ball, make simple 5 yard passes or tackle.

Thought Bosingwa started really well with his telling contribution for the goal, and then seemed to dither for longer every time he had the ball after that, getting caught in possession too much in the second half. Needs to release the ball earlier.

I wont risk the health of my keyboard by typing anything about Kalou or Malouda.

Still top of the league, as it is right now. Pool will go 3 points clear tonight but the real problem we have is we've got to go to Anfield, Emirates and OT and get 9 points if we're going to win the league. Having to do it with the squad we have now is going to be a big ask.

[I] don't know whether to over-react or not. All [I] know is that [I] wasn't overly confident before the game and when we went 1-2 down it wasn't a shock but almost expected.

What [I] do know is that Deco played a stinker and the crowd let him know it when he got substituted.

Is the team entering a recession or is this just a temporary blip in a bull season?

I guess the linesman and Bendtners pink boots (fucking queer) should also be included in the "bad" section. Looking back on the game it was a big dissapointmen but I think the most dissapointing thing is that more and more teams are going to look at our home performences particuarly against Liverpool, Newcastle and Arsenal and they will know if we dont score in the first half then more often that not we let it slip. Things we are lacking right now

- Someone who can cross the ball other than Bosingwa
- Someone to help us remeber how to defend set peices
- Rid of Malouda (Right Now)
- A new winger/playmaker who can turn a game. Arshavin for example
- A plan B to use instead of constantly attacking without much thought and cutting edge. Look at the start of the season. Decos goal against Portsmouth. He wouldnt try that now would he?
- A solution to the Drogba problem. Is he going? Is he staying? If he wants to go then I feel we should let him providing we could replace quality with quality.

"Rid of Malouda (Right Now)"

Ditto Kalou. No apologies for harping on about it. If Kalou is deemed good enough by Popeye to command a team/bench place then why not try Sinclair. Honestly, could he really be worse than Kalou? In posts passim, I have said Kalou should go and I'm even more convinced. I couldn't give a flying fuck whether he's 'well liked' or not. We wouldn't field Stephen Hawking on the basis of being well liked so we shouldn't give Kalou any more chances, at least not without proving himself in the reserves.

Come to think of it, maybe Hawking would be a better option.

Don't even get me started on yesterdays biggest waste of space, Deco. Sorry Nick, I think you've rated those 3 too generously.

Deco- 3/10
Kalou - 4/10
Malouda - 3/10

I think you are harsh on Kalou, Tony.

He is low on confidence and the ball isn't running for him, but until we get another striker, he is the best option we have. On a couple of occasions he provided good drive from midfield, and was twice proven to be onside and incorrectly flagged having beaten the defender (although as radicalevan points out, who knows where the ball might have gone!)

The first hour was good, albeit unproductive once again. To claim we barely deserved a point is complete bollocks, as Arsenal were the better side for exactly 3 minutes... and one of those they needed the benefit of the linesman!

The worst thing for me at the moment is a lack of composure. Players were wildly blasting away from 30 yards, frequently hitting Row X or the corner flag, rather than playing patienly and waiting for the goals to come.

Really disappointing!

Don't moan about the offside goal. Drogba's scored like 5 offside goals against Arsenal in the last 4 years. Last season it cost Arsenal the title. Drogba and Lampard were each as offside as Van P was yesterday last season at Stamford Bridge. Wenger didn't whine about it. Why are you lot moaning about it?

What's gone around for so long has come around finally.

One thing I do remember from watching on TV yesterday, was how many times we were in possession of a set-piece, be it a throw in or free-kick, and once Sky had shown a replay of the incident, Arsenal would be back in possession !!! We seemed to struggle to find Blue shirts at times.

Anyone got any ideas why we're allergic to the long ball with hardly any time left ?? We were winning free-kicks in our half, and still playing it short, then back to Cech, out to JT. Christ, just lump it in there. Djourou proved he's not adverse to sticking one past his own keeper, yet we seemed afraid to play a bit route one. Yes, it's not what you want to see throughout the game, but 2-1 down with minutes left - surely you've got to take a chance?

Where is / was Sinclair? Seems to have been passed by Stoch as the token youth player on the bench.

Happy to see Stoch get on (Arnesen must have breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when he saw him getting ready).

Agree with Tony about Kalou - he's had 2-odd years to prove he's worth a place in the team. And he's not. Why we cotinually persist with him instead of seeing what the others can do is a mystery. If someone's stupid enough to want him in January, I doubt there'd be a shortage of bloggers who'd happily drive him half way round the globe. Fuck me, I'd piggy back him all the way to, then up and down Everest if it meant he never wore the shirt again.

Good point Ole Gunner, because Wenger never moans when he gets beaten. He's famous for it.

Could you please list the five offside goals Drogba has scored against Arsenal?

Otherwise, Greenlight is right. We dominated for an hour, Arsenal for three minutes, and then it all went flat as Arsenal retreated to defend their lead and we caved in. The problem is that our confidence is shot at home. Perhaps it's time the fans got behind the team rather than complaining all the time, or taking the good times for granted?

"I think we were unlucky for the first goal because it was a real offside goal - and it was a foul first from John Terry.'

And here's Wenger 'not whining' about last season's equaliser. Do one sonny.

For those complaining about the offside goal yesterday, isn't it about time we had video refereeing? If each manager had the chance to question two decisions in each half (as tennis players do) we could have had the goal reviewed.

Mind you, Arsenal would have probably questioned Terry's horror tackle on Sagna, which should have been a straight red.

Arsenal fans will also say that Van Persie's first goal was justice for the winner we scored at the Bridge last year, when three of our players were offside.

And in the interests of balance, let's not forget this:
LINK

Jesus, I could sit here all day remembering dodgy goals Arsenal and Chelsea have scored against each other over the years.

Never forgiven Graham Poll for telling Thierry Henry to take a free kick early while Cech was unsighted.

Jesus, I could sit here all day remembering dodgy goals Arsenal and Chelsea have scored against each other over the years.

Never forgiven Graham Poll for telling Thierry Henry to take a free kick early while Cech was unsighted.

Scolari demands an official apology over 'killer' Van Persie call
• Chelsea manager hints at conspiracy behind offside decisions

LINK

I wonder what would have happened if a certain 'ex' Chelsea manager had said the same!

For all the vile targeted at Kalou, last evening he looked more lively than everyone’s blue eyed boy Anelka. This is by no means to suggest that he is a regular Chelsea starter material. However, his record is by no means bad for a player who is by no means a regular starter. He needs to get better but he (along with Mikel) is also the closest thing to youth that we have in our team.

How many of us on this blog would have given Drogba the space we are giving Anelka if he was the one who was not scoring against the big boys? Anelka has proven over and over again that he just does not break down well organized defenses. Yes, he is good on his night, but I am sorry to say that we did not pay for him to perform when he wishes.

The best of teams/players cope when the going gets tough. Our beloved Blues under TSSO just don’t seem to do that! This is Chelsea, we had both our keepers and two central defenders out at the same time. We have played with Essien and Boulharouz in defense and come out on top! Heck, we have even won games with Shevchenko and Pizzaro in the same team!

Don’t tell me that grandpa doesn’t have the players to have a Plan B. Plan B’s don’t necessarily mean different players, it just means applying different tactics with the same set of players. Tactics, what tactics? The only one TSSO seems to be telling the squad is ‘Don’t ever shoot without 25 passes being completed’! Seriously, this needs to end. Scolari needs to sort this mess out.

When Scolari arrived he said he wanted to be different from TSO and he wanted his Chelsea to be different. It looks like he is well on his way to undoing all the good things that TSO did for our club. Now, for once, if only people could appreciate what TSO did for our club. They said he had the money, he had the players. Yes he did, but what most did not see was the passion, the fire, the commitment he had for our club. Now we can only dream of what could have been.

Rant over!

Who scored more goals for us last season and the one before...Kalou or Joe Cole? and whats the margin / difference? I dont think those calling for Kalou to be axed are being fair to him...

Anelka was a 'mess' until Scolari kept faith with him for a long spell of matches...Kalou needs that same treatment. Every team needs players that can round their markers and its a plus when such players have pace also. The only player possessing both attributes for now is Kalou...The guy's confidence needs boosting

As for Malouda...he should be set free to wander wherever he chooses (anywhere other than the bridge as he hasnt earned the right to a chelsea shirt)...He has always been a wasteful, useless forward with no skill and no heart!

If there's one indespensible player in the squad now...it must be Mikel. I hope Scolari has realised that fact and wont mess with the team's 'stabilizer' anymore...

Always Blue!

"For all the vile targeted at Kalou, last evening he looked more lively than everyone’s blue eyed boy Anelka. This is by no means to suggest that he is a regular Chelsea starter material. However, his record is by no means bad for a player who is by no means a regular starter. He needs to get better but he (along with Mikel) is also the closest thing to youth that we have in our team."

What utter tosh. Anelka yesterday won header after header, tackled well and hheld the ball confidently. I might not be the Oracle of everything football, but I know a shit player when I see one. I called it for Pizzaro, Del Horno , Jokanovic (anyone remember him) and am now doing the same for Kalou and Malouda. As Fiftee said is he really the best option. Would he have even got a sniff had Joey been fit? Anelak has 13 goals this season, Kalou has....how many?How many starts does he want before he repays some of the faith?

@ Greenlight - "He is low on confidence and the ball isn't running for him"

So what are you sayiong? Play someone low on confidence? Play someone who's confidence is so brittle it shatters after one bad game? Or in kalou's case case several piss poor games? If thats the argument then we should have kept SWP, another 'confidence' player. In fact the whole phrase is a crock. Ballack - a 'confidence'player or just someone who KNOWS he's good and strives to show it. Have you ever seen him, or Frank, or JT, or Ashely Cole or any of them drop their heads like Kalou because they are lacking in confidence?

Sorry but that is a school playground argument with Kalou crying like a baby because things didn't go his way and therefore instead of upping his game he carries on as before. he is no better now than he was when he joined. Like Fiftee, I'll gladly drive him and Malouda to their next clubs, and Deco to the nearest MacDonalds whwre he might just earn 4 stars.

Well, I believe substituting Deco with Stoch shows how desperate we are. The blatant mistakes by referee, in Calou and in Van Persi cases, show how hated we are. Our inability to have one shot on target, not only in this game, shows how tactically inept we are. I do not know who is to blame, but I know that we are doing something wrong and we better fix it as soon as possible.

@ Alexis - we'll disagree on Kalou but

"If there's one indespensible player in the squad now...it must be Mikel. I hope Scolari has realised that fact and wont mess with the team's 'stabilizer' anymore..."

Agreed. Obi was having a great game yesterday and the decision to remove him for that fuckwit Malouda was Ranieri-esque. Despite Nicks view I couldn't see what was trying to be achieved there.

4 Offside Drogba goals against Arsenal.

1. Stamford Bridge Last season. Equaliser. He and Lampard were well offside.
2. League Cup Final 2007. Equaliser. He was well offside when Ballack passed the ball.
3. 2005 at Stamford Bridge. Only goal of the game. He's offside when Lampard plays him the ball which comes off his shin and past Lehman.
4. August 2005. Second goal. Drogba is offside when he receives the header that sets him off to a one-on-on with Lehman.

As I remember it, virtually anytime Chelsea's beaten Arsenal since 2004 there was an offside goal.

@ 22 - idiot.

Might try and have a ramble about the wider picture of our current situation on here later in the week if time allows, but my overall perception is that we're rapidly forgetting the basics of what made this team so imperious at the Bridge over the last few years, namely defending and possession - our skills at both are looking a little ragged around the edges right now.

Do have some sympathy for Scolari; options on the bench are few and far between so I suppose there is little choice in terms of proven subs to bring on to change things, but if you're not doing the simple stuff right, all the changes in the world won't make a lot of difference (and he isn't showing much by way of nous in that department either). A fully fit Joe Cole would be handy, and Kalou has always been better off the bench than starting (though his performance yesterday was pretty much indefensible) and Malouda, whilst improved this season just isn't cutting it. Deco also needs to get himself fully fit.

Offside decisions were rank to say the least, but it doesn't alter the fact that once they equalised we looked deflated and very short on ideas (Mikel taken off - why?) Sod's law that Drogba and Essien, two of our most effective players against Arsenal in recent years, were both unavailable.

One question - are we dabbling with zonal marking from set pieces nowadays? Couldn't see properly but before their second goal Scolari was bellowing and pointing at (I think) Lampard on the edge of the box and seemed to be indicating that he wanted him in space rather than on a particular player (that's my take anyhow); Lamps - if it was him - didn't seem to understand what the boss was getting at but pretty much where Phil was pointing was where RVP popped up to score from. It's that kind of uncertainty that will cause us big problems if it isn't sorted out sharpish.

* As I remember it, virtually anytime Chelsea's beaten Arsenal since 2004 there was an offside goal.

Good grief...

oh well, it's still early on in the season of course, and who knows what may happen tonight for West Ham. But I think Scholari's excuse about the ref may be justified if we had three/four off the post, were'nt given stone cold penalties etc. The reality is this is the guy who had Greece at home in Portugal in the Euro final and lost. I think considering what has gone on this season and what many posters on here as well as many outside of the club and it's supporters are saying is true. that Scholari cannot win the very big important games when it really matters simply because his is not one of the top tacticians. he plays full backs in the oppositions' penalty area and has no clue how to defend. In Europe as Arsenal know well over the last five years it is not good enough to play to the circus mases if you want to win. Still, lets hope eh...but with all the big three to play away second half of the season, i'm sorry to say that it does not look good...it really does'nt!! i think alot of the blame as last season must be on the the board and owner. Everyone knows how Scholari plays so as Chelseatony said I feel sorry for him to be honest. the board once again think that a talented squad by itself can manage to win....ah well, here we go again....But hey guys look on the bright side, Jose is now six points clear in Serie A.. another title in his third country in his first year beckoning....funny that eh? keyon...F*&uck off!!!!

What rot. Your manager has taught you well!

Here are two of those 'offside' goals, both clearly onside, one easily, one level. I can't find the 1-0 at the Bridge, but recall it was from a free kick from the Chelsea half. As you know, you can't be offside from that. If you have the video, please post it and we can see for ourselves.

LINK

Have Arsenal ever lost a much unfairly?

Is it even worth reminding some people that so far the useless and hated Kalou is responsible for the sole point we have garnered against top four opposition? (The sainted Anelka and Cole having missed four open goals between them in that fixture before he came off the bench.)

Never mind, though, let's keep hurling abuse at him! That'll make everything better.

Ole Gunner,

In you role as preacher of all 'that is fair and unjust against the mighty Gooners' could I ask for your take on the Denilson triple pike with half turn in the penalty box after Cole lost, then won, the ball ????

Now I'm not for one minute casting aspersions on the good nature of such an honest bunch of upstanding blokes as those from the Emirates, but it looked to me as if there might have been a delay of what, minutes, between Cole clearing the ball and Denilson 'looking' for a penalty.

I'm guessing, much like Arsehole Whinger, you didn't see it.

"Is it even worth reminding some people that so far the useless and hated Kalou is responsible for the sole point we have garnered against top four opposition? (The sainted Anelka and Cole having missed four open goals between them in that fixture before he came off the bench.)

Never mind, though, let's keep hurling abuse at him! That'll make everything better. "

As opposed to what? Cheering his name from the rafters because of that great contribution to the season thus far? Yeah, lets reward him for being crap, and maybe we could give the captaincy to Malouda for his inspirational form and Deco.......assistant playing coach?

Sorry Pete, he's abig boy now and if he can't cope with ther fans frustration then he shouldn't be on the pitch. Deco was crap as well but I can't see him giving a fuck. Like I say...the phrase 'confidence player' is loose stool water.

Using Kalou in a wrong time and wrong position affects his performance. I think this is a fault from the 'Big Phil', together with one pattern of playing he is using. About the time, there has been no time Kalou was a subtitute that he didn't perform. Secondly, I know Kalou for playing from left wing, cutting/dribbling into the box. I have missed this from Kalou. Every player has his way of playing but it is the coach that will study him and place him in a wright place at the wright time. Remember Babel in Liverpool and Wacot in Arsenal.

I think we can all accept to a point decisions that go against your team, but that lino really was taking the piss. As Pete has pointed out Kalou was onside for both of his, and who knows what would have happened had he been allowed to go one on one with Aluminium (yeah probably would have hit someone in the crowd) but they were close so understandable that sometimes you don't get them in your favour.

But to allow a goal where Van Persil was standing a yard or so offside when the the lino was dead in line with our back four just beggars belief. It was the offside rule (without the confusion of active or inactive crap that you sometimes get)in it's simplest form that even my 14 yr old daughter could understand it.

As that famous optician ad so proudly states.. should have gone to etc etc...

Van Pieceofpoo's first goal should have been ruled out offisde -- but then our defenders should have been playing to the whistle instead of waiting for the foul against Ivanovic to be given.

Even Ole Gunner is just about compos mentis enough to notice that offside goal sometimes get given. (Though he doesn't seem to be able to tell which ones are offside and which ones aren't -- oh wait, all the ones scored against Arsenal are offside, all the ones scored by Arsenal aren't -- that's it, simple really, how could we have missed it?). Can't complain too much really.

We all know Kalou is second choice to Joe in that position. None of us think he's a top-notch Premiership centre forward. But from what I've seen of him this season he's a good squad player and a decent attacking option. I agree that the big question about him is whether he's going to get better, now that he's had a run in the side. But his Groan-o-meter rating yesterday wasn't bad (Groan-o-meter measures frequency and volume of crowd noise per f*ckup -- Deco yesterday gets a 10). Contrast Malouda who made the team peformance visibly worse the moment he appeared on the pitch. And I don't see any comparison with SWP either. SWP could only beat his man by knocking the ball on miles and hoping to win the subsequent sprint. Kalou can at least *sometimes* go past a couple of markers, with the ball still at his feet.

Not that I'm against the idea of seeing what Sinclair can do. I suspect we're going to get a chance to find out at some stage in the season. Obviously no one's going to come in in January. The squad will be under pressure and people like Stoch/Di Santo/Woods, who've been on the bench, will turn out to be the only options.

Interesting that Ivanovic has got in ahead of Alex, clearly. So much for the Brazilian bias...

Tony,

For me, it's simple.

a) Kalou isn't that bad. Not even close to that bad. He's not world class, but he's a great player to have in the squad, especially coming off the bench.

b) Even if he was that bad, he's all we've got at the moment, so let's try and get behind him like we do the VERY similar Joe Cole.

Deco, for me, is much more of a problem as he's supposed to be our key creative player but is still struggling with the pace of the Premier League. Also, Ballack has been very poor since his injury. Our midfield isn't gelling, our forwards are under-supplied.

But I should also say that the logic of bringing on Stoch for his debut in a vital game when we're losing at home to a rival rather than when we're 5-0 up and coasting against inferior opposition, defeats me entirely. Still, nice to see him make his bow. I reckon we'll see a couple more make their debuts before May.

Further to LTB, it was bizarre to see Kalou start ahead of Malouda since
a) Malouda tends to start well and fade in the second half.
b) Kalou is better off the bench than as a starter.

But these are the fault of the manager, not the players.

PETEW,

Check out your own videos. Go to 0:04 in the first video. Drogba is offside when the ball is headed to him. LINK

Just watch your own videos.

FIFTEE,

In all the Drogba offside goals, not once did Wenger cry and blame the ref or claim there was a conspiracy like some of you folks are doing.

Maybe now you'll respect Wenger for creating an invincible team that was also a joy to watch. Obviously you lot are learning now that your team just isn't capable of it.

£600M spent on players in 5-6 years and all you can bring on is Stoch. Ha ha ha.

I did mate, he's onside on both. Behind both Arsenal players at the moment of contact in the first, level on the second, perhaps with one toe marginally ahead but impossible to tell from the angle - the even freeze it and you can tell by the cut grass line of the pitch.

He's certainly not standing a yard offside on either.

I think you should just be pleased with your win and stop being such a pathetic whingebucket.

Ole, I posted Wenger's moan from last year's game upthread. He complained about the goal being offside and even imagined a foul from John Terry. So, yes, he did blame the ref. He always does. A bit like you, it seems.

Now if you have nothing to contribute beyond whinging and lying, please run along.

I would you agree that you dominated the game for the majority of those first 60 minutes. We looked nervous in the opening ten in particular, confidence clearly not at an all time high but grew into the game as it went on. Chelsea may have dominated but they failed to make their domination count and I thought we defended well (Almunia at fault though for the opener) when we had to.

The first RVP goal was indeed offside and I can see why you lot and Scolari may be upset about that but we do feel we were due some luck. I think despite that decision you should have done more to answer the two goals, particularly at the Bridge and against ourselves, a team renowned for struggling to hold onto a lead this season. Swapping Malouda for Mikel didn't help.

You missed Drogba yesterday, do doubt, he's a player who always gives us a serious problem or two but then again, I was worried about an in form Anelka who likes to score against us too. I had him down as giving us more problems than he did.

As I said, ref was wrong to allow our equaliser but wasn't pro Arsenal. Ivanovic I thought should really have been handed two yellows and Terry might have counted himself lucky to be on the pitch for a two footed tackle born out of frustration.

You guys must be a little worried about your record so far this season against the 'big four' but I still think Chelsea will win the league.

28 - Fair enough. Denilson dived and that's something no one likes to see, including us Arsenal fans.

Up The Arse - we've absolutely no confidence at home at the moment, but that was textbook smash and grab from Arsenal. We've seen it so many times from you lot over the years.

Just make sure you do it to Liverpool and claim the top four hat-trick.

PETEW,

Typical Chelsea fan. Drop the blue-tinted glasses and actually look. In both cases he's behind Senderos who in each case is the last man. The header is the clearest and I am ashamed for you that it's not clear to you.

As to Wenger's comments: He didn't claim there was a conspiracy, even at a time it actually cost us the league as it did last season. A clear offside goal.

Hello Pete, we'll obviously disagree on Kalou, but an interesting point about him and Malouda playing different halves. There was a time when you'd see Joey, Duff or Robben warming up on the bench and your heart warmed, and the opposition hearts sunk. In neither Malouda or Kalou's case do I feel the same. I guess quite a few other Chelsea fans feel the same.

For me Joey can deliver the ball for someone else, something K&M consistently fail to do. Stoch for Deco? I'd have taken Popeye himself for Deco yesterday such was the paucity of the display. Its not injury related, he's been back a while now, as the Guardian siad today he looks more like the player Barcelona rejected than the one we astutely bought as a playmaker. We were already losing, and sometime I think a youngplayer with sod all to lose dfeserves a chance to make an impact. In fact give me an 'impact player' over a confidence player' any day of the week.

As for Ze German, he was fantastic until Ranieiri....sorry Scolari pulled Obi and Ze German had to sit in front of the defence in the 'Makalele role' so again I think you're a bit harsh there. But hey, maybe we can debate this over a pint in the White Horse before the West Spam game.

And is just me or have Franks free kicks become shite, shite and thrice shite?

Up the arse,

Fair point, thank you for your honesty. It wasn't meant to sound like an Arsenal bashing comment, more one to see if 'Ole Gunner' was actually grown up enough to admit it was a dive and, well, cheating.

As he/she proves in post 42, the response has little to do with the question I posed. Ho hum.

And, as PeteW posts in 38, there is a comment from Wenger. Alas, we all have to deal with the short sightedness of Ole's sort - God knows there's a fair few who 'grace' the pages of this fine blog wheeling out incesant dribble at every opportunity.

I wish, as a Chelsea fan, I had your confidence about the outcome of the league. I still think Man USA are the most serious threat, but I may actually have to believe the Scousers have a chance soon. Unfortunately, with the dismal showing we've had against you 3, we're already looking for others to do us a favour, which is never really a good thing. Still, if we win all our remaining games, we're champions ;-).

You're not out of it, and there's certainly healthy competition when, like us, all your injured players return. I think maybe it's the battering ram type striker that would really help Arsenal at times - games like the Stoke one were crying our for a Drogba-type bully, rather than the craft and guile of the Adebayors and Van Persies.

It's certainly going to be an interesting season. Beat the scousers for us, then come undone against a West Brom / Newcastle please.......

For all the talk of us not beating any off the other big three so far this season, Utd are also in a similar position, yes I know they've had three away games, but it still doesn't guarantee that they can win at home.
I know it's a cliche` but there's a long way to go, so lets pretend our away record is actually our home one so far this season, perhaps that should keep most of us happy :-)

It's nice to see we have one sensible gooner post on the site.

Guys, lets not over-react. OK we havent been great against the big teams but we lack the firepower of the other top teams, Liverpool aside (but they have the Mourinho esque solidarity).

I think we need to offload Drogs (he clearly wants to go) and then buy ourselves a monster ala David Villa, Adriano (if he wants to get back to his best, Ronnie seems re-found at Milan!).

We also need a left winger.

Aside from that i have faith in Big Phil and the new "total football" regime. We just need a bit of luck and we will be back on track. As Wenger said when his side lost their 46 game unbeaten streak - "its like climbing everest and being at the top only to then be at the bottom and realising you need to do it all over again, except this time you havent quite got the energy". Arse lost 5 on the bounce here.

We need Riccy back and Essien and if we can purchase a non cup tied star to play left wing and centre forward we will be fine.

Can we take time out from yesterday's post-mortem; we haven't had a good chuckle at Leeds yet - the old adage that there is always someone worse off than you has rarely been more apt...

Chelsea needs to bring the kids through. There's a bunch of quite talented kids you guys have coming through.

Now Santa's wallet's been hit you guys had better work that out.

But I'd still rather be in your position. 7 points ahead of us and 5 ahead of the Mancs.

Ole Gunner. You are ignorant beyond belief. Ive watched 3 of those "offside" goals and they are all CLEARLY onside. So you ought to shut up. You make fun of our youngsters? LOL take a look at Djourou and gay boy Bentner. Maybe you also remember that a Chelsea reject became Arsenal captain? LOL

JD,

Indeed, Gary Macs face at the final whistle was a picture.

Rivalled that lovely description of Gary Neville when he applauded us guys at OT when we'd already won the league. Something along the lines of 'licking piss from a nettle'.

Before he got to Histon, one of the forwards used to play in our sub-standard amateur Saturday team. How times have changed.....

At last, Ole has got the jist of this blog. This isn't a normal troll and flame place.

I had a meeting with a Leeds fan this morning. On a day when every corner I turn appears to have a gloating gooner laying in wait, this meeting was like an oasis in the sahara. Oddly enough the Spuds fans have been quiet today as well, with just pained nodded acknowledgements between us with no wish to further discuss Black Sunday.

As for Riccy, well he is a great player, but Ivanovic has also been pretty damn good and isn't getting the credit he deserves.

No offside goal was as unfair and classless as what Henry did against us

13JOE13,

Some wise man once said that our illusions are often what we cling on to the most. I won't separate you boys from yours.

But as a matter of clear fact, all those goals were offside goals with varying degrees of obviousness.

The one in Dec 05 was quite clear. Senderos is the last man who's contested the header with the Chelsea player. Drogba is behind him when the Chelsea player wins the header. Even the blind would call that one offside.

The League Cup final one was more marginal bust still quite offside as the blade of grass will show. I watched that game on ESPN in China, and they analysed it with a line. Drogba was quite offside. The BBC called is a "split decision" but the neutral foreigners actually analysed it.

The ball that came off Drogba's knee in 2005 was same. He was offside when Lampard played the ball.

You lot are in denial.

Hmmmmmmm....

Stats:
Kalou
08/09 season - starts(10) subs(2) goals (3)
07/08 season - starts(33) subs(15) goals (11)
06/07 season - starts(25) subs(32) goals (9)

Joe Cole
08/09 season - starts(12) subs(0) goals (3)
07/08 season - starts(44) subs(10) goals (10)
06/07 season - starts(9) subs(15) goals (2)

Goal ratio is the key parameter for assessing forwards and very few players in the team deliver more goals than Kalou!

Think we should support the lad rather than putting unnecessary pressure on him (he is still young)...As evident from above, some of the players we pine & root for are not much better in the final analysis!

Always Blue!

You will disappear from here very quickly, Ole Gunner, if you don't stop banging on. Enough on the offside thing already - it's been done to death now.

52

LINK

Open you eyes and carefully stop at 0:04. You can apolagise to me for you childish behavior later.

Kenyon: Chelsea have enough talent and we won't be buying any players in January window

What a complete fucking idiot.

45, I agree about Didier. He just doesnt seem to have the motivation and passion of 2005/2007. If he wants to go to Inter then let him as long as we can get Adriano. He would be fearsome in the EPL. He has enough pace to succeed and his skill with the ball will make the EPL's defenders look like Sunday League players. He is about as strong as Adebayor and Drogba yet he is way more skillful with the ball. Look at how Robinho, who doesn't have the stature and strength of Adriano is giving EPL defenses fits. Under Scolari, he would be a machine.

56, Sums up PK really. Complete and utter FOOL. I almost feel that this idiot doesnt want us to succeed. Scolari is the manager. He knows the team. Right now we are severely lacking cutting edge and pace. Malouda has pace and the occassional bit of cutting edge but he is horribly inconsistent. Why the fuck did we hire Kenyon? Geez

Struggling to find any positives about yesterday. I almost wished for some of that fog which seemed to shroud many of Saturday's games to hide our miserable efforts to create a worthwhile effort on goal in the entire game.

I think our increasing inability to move up a gear to turn a game around or overcome stubborn resistance is what worries me most.

Ok thought of something - I'll settle for Ivanovic's impressive performance upto the equaliser at least - and what did Adebayor do to him that left him in a writhing heap holding his back in that move? And perhaps our financial cutbacks won't be so bad after all - those West Stand heaters were on from just after kick-off yesterday - I promise not to mention these again, honest...

We have a serious lack of bite and pace up front. I don't think it's any surprise we were at our most dominate with Robben, Duff, J.Cole and SWP as our wide men. Kalou is OK but raw, J Cole has stuggled with injuries and Malouda is average. Even with Cole fit ideally we need someone with crazy speed pegging it down the other side. I just thought about it maybe we should buy Downing......oh god what's the world coming to?

Jesus fucking wept, I despair of some of the utter cuntery on here at times.

Because Kenyon is really likely to come out and say "Actually, we've got that 30 million we didn't spend on Robinho burning a hole in our pockets and as soon as I've taken my finger out of the wife's arsehole on New Year's Day, I'll be on the phone trying to spend it", isn't he?

I appreciate that PK is something of a hate figure, and often with good reason, but learning to read ACTUAL QUOTES as opposed to HEADLINES might benefit one or two of you.

The HEADLINES say "Kenyon rules out January spending" etc. Here's the actual quote - some subtle differences that may be lost on the dedicated non-thinkers, but there you go.

"Traditionally we have never done a lot in January**. This January is no exception. We have not finalised whether we will do anything or not.

"It is all about what we want to do and whether those players are available. Short-term fixes are not really what would work for a club like Chelsea.

"I think we will see little or no activity because the players we probably would want to bring for the long-term are not available."

He added: "We have had six of our squad not readily available through injuries. We have still got those players to come back.

"(From) January onwards I think we will see a slightly strengthened Chelsea from within."

Still, I've no doubt that when City bid £100m / 300k a week for Kaka there will be those demanding Kenyon's head on a plate for not matching the bid.

** I think similar noises were made around this time last year. We spent £40m odd on Anelka, Di Santo and Ivanovic.

Well done JD for being one of the voices of reason on here, I felt the same yesterday on the other blog prior to Nick's match report. Some of the hysterical knee jerk reaction left me looking for someones cat to kick (I'll have to get one for Xmas)

@ JD - "utter cuntery"

One of the most delicious phrases I've heard. I must make it my mission to use it more.

... someones cat to kick (I'll have to get one for Xmas)

You can't beat a nice new pussy at Christmas, Clive.

Or so I'm told. Ahem...

"Jesus fucking wept, I despair of some of the utter cuntery on here at times."

That is, to put it mildly, sheer genius Sir, if I may say so.

Although I think Jeff Stelling would have to refer to Giles Brandreth in dictionary corner over 'cuntery'. Such a great word. Never heard it before mind, but close to my new favourite.

13JOE13,

Mate, you'd need to relearn the rules. Once you freeze that video at 0:04 it just shows exactly what I have been saying. The Arsenal defender (Lauren) is the last man who has gone and contested the ball with the Chelsea player who wins the header. At that point; Drogba is behind the last Arsenal defender (Lauren). OFFSIDE by Association Football rules. View it in Full screen mode. It's not even a "marginal" call.

I can't believe there isn't one of you West London boys honest enough to admit something so obvious.

Ignore the video for a minute and rely only on logic; If the last defender's contested the ball, and the attacker is behind him, it's just obvious that the attacker was offside.

You can't beat a nice new pussy at Christmas, Clive.

Yes I quite fancy one of those oriental ones, Siamese I think they're called. Does anyone have a link to Santas blog? so I can pen my request.

@66 Ole Gunner
Fuck Off! you're really getting on my nerves

And they're STILL banging on about a marginal offside decision from about 3 years ago.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!

(bangs head against wall repeatedly)

@ Clive

so I can pen my request

I can see the response now - "Sod off, pervert".

I can see the response now - "Sod off, pervert".

:-))

i had a tenner on the gunners, and i thought he was spot on allowing that goal.

btw..is it true the Intertoto cup has a new name?

I read Hnrey and that phrase just springs to mind.

Ok, calm down boys. Put the nerves in check. God luck to yous, and best of luck.

Table vs. Big 4
----------------
Team-Pl--GF--Pts
----------------
Ars---2--4----6
Liv---2--3----6
Tot---3--7----5
Vil---4--2----5
Sto---2--2----4
Cit---4--6----3
Hul---4--6----3
===---=--=-----
===---=--=-----
===---=--=-----
CFC--*3--1----1
*home games

Hnery / Henry,

If 'GF' is 'goals for', then we've actually got 2.

But more importantly, if you just look at the Premiership table, we're top. So what are you implying?

i dont count own goals

i dont count own goals

I knew it - you're Frank Sinclair, aren't you?

F. sinclair was one of my fav. players. i know whos dunne worse than that.

@fiftee
answer to 76.

"In fact, by the time Santa squeezes his(Frank) fat ass down your chimney Manchester United will have played ALL the teams in "

LINK

@ 61. KaiserJonny_II

as soon as I've (Peter Kenynon) taken my finger out of the wife's arsehole on New Year's Day ...

Well if proof were needed that PK is not a true blue this is it because surely any self respecting blue would use a stick of celery?

Anyhow JD I don't know whether your reference to PK's finger is meant to be a compliment or slight?

This is not a good sign at all for winning trophies. We simply cannot beat the top 4 big sides in England and resilient defensive teams at home (in England) and away (in Europe). Anelka has not scored a goal for Chelsea against high-class opposition. He is nowhere to be seen in the big games.

We need 2 things to turn it around: getting back the rugged and ugly ruthlessness that everyone hated us for and a couple of new strikers (getting Drogba back is paramount, as well as signing a 20+ "ugly" goalscorer - esp someone who plays well in big matches - in the Michael Owen [in England] or David Villa [in the continent] mould). In the big matches during Jose's (and Avram's) years it was Drogba most often than not who won us these games - Champions League SF v Liverpool, FA Cup Final v Man U, Carling Cup Final v Arsenal, last year's home match v Arsenal when he scored 2 to get us 3 points after we went 1-0 down at home, are just a few examples. We need Drogs in attack, Essien in midfield & Riccy in defence back ASAP.

I couldn't give a f*** about playing "beautiful" football and beating Boro 5 or 6-nil + Deco getting Goal of the Year award if we lose against Liverpool & Arsenal at home and finish trophyless. We need our Old Chelsea back...

Henry
On the basis of your imaginative table of the four big boys we should be finishing 3rd or 4th and Liverpool and Arsenal should be first or second, thats worth a bet,I shall be wagering my house on it tomorrow (probably only worth a tenner in todays economic climate anyway)

@TrueBlue

Totally agree. Who gives a fuck that we controlled the game for an hour, playing pretty football but not actually creating a chance or even more than one shot on goal. Scolari's team plays at such a slow tempo that we're so easy to defend against. Our only tactic yesterday was to pass to Bosingwa, hope he gets a good cross in and then hope for the best. I'm not at all surprised we're starting to leak goals from set pieces, after all that was Phil's failings with Portugal.

What i'm more surprised at is how Scolari is rapidly turning into a Ranieri type manager rather than a Jose type. In times of adversity under Jose, we had the siege mentality and battling spririt to always come back. We fought right up until the last minute, partly because of the attitude of the players and partly because we were the fittest side in Europe. Whether it's Essien's equaliser against Arsenal, Didier's last minute equaliser against Barca, Robben's winner against Wigan, Didier's winner at Everton... you always had the sense that the team would do something special in the last few minutes. But yesterday, the team looked lazy, unfit, slow and as if they didn't care we were going to lose, again. Scolari's subs this season have also had the stench of the Tinkerman rather than the genius of TSO. Taking off Mikel was idiotic, his disasterous move to a 4-4-2 in Rome with Deco and Belletti on the wings resulted in disaster and worse than that his tactics have been rumbled within a couple of months. We may not have the players to change things some might say, but this injury 'crisis' isn't any worse than 2 or 3 years ago and we still won the big games then.

The real question that should be asked is whether Phil knows how to win the big games. He has to realise we aren't the Brazil side of 2002 with magical players able to score at any time. We have to rely on direction from the bench and judging by what he's achieved with Portugal, he'll direct us to failure.

Real Madrid, another side facing problems like us have made a bold move to solve their attacking shortfalls:

LINK

"As promised by Ramón Calderón, Real Madrid have made their first winter signing and it will be Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar."

A young, pacy, not cup-tied striker. I wonder if we were even in the running or still sticking by the no spending policy?

@habs

I don't think Huntelaar is necessarily the answer.

"The only negative point is that he is injured until January and has never played for a top European side in the past, despite his age."

- He has no experience playing in big games for a big team, and he will only just be getting back into playing shape in the transfer window. Nevermind spending time with his teammates. Half of whom, incidentally, are Dutch, most of which are injured.

"The Ajax striker has scored an impressive 75 goals in 90 games for the Dutch side and will be eligible to play in the Champions League for the defending La Liga champions."

-Kalou scored 35 goals in 67 league appearances, and in 2005 he won the Johan Cruyff Award for young talent playing in the Netherlands. Look at him now.

At least the damage from yesterday has been kept to a point. Well done Mr Zola and Clarke!

If our form is bad, then the Scousers home form ain't much better.... Home draws with Foolham and Spammers won't win you the title either!

And this from the minute by minute Guardian blog...

"68 min: Steven Gerrard gives a masterclass in how to look like a clown! Riera picks the ball up on the left wing and does brilliantly to skin Neill and pull the ball back to Gerrard on the edge of the box. He controls the ball on his thigh and swings at the ball with his left foot... but, instead of connecting with the ball his left leg flies into the air and sends Gerrard crashing onto his backside, much to the collective glee of the 'Appy 'Ammers fans in the Anfield Road. All that lacked was a comedy PARP!"

Given the tricky games that the Mancs have had to start the season, they would have to be favourites for the title now, if I was having a punt.

Well, first of all thanks goes to magnificent pair: Zola and Steve who minimized the damage inflicted by Arse-Anal. Thank you guys you were always good for Chelsea.

Now back to our herd of ships. I can see that my fellow bloggers already throwing arrows of accusations and spears of blame in Big Phil's direction. Love is volatile and light-headed, if you are Chelsea couch. I believe all the same people were throwing accusations in the TSO direction accusing him of playing boring football and being very controversial. Well, what should I say you have to choose what you like my friends and stick to it!!! It is either stiff upper lip defensive football, or frivolous passing sexy game.

It is pretty much the same as financial investment you may have steady fixed income guilt with low, but stable interest rate, or volatile exotic derivative, which can either bring you lot of money or leave you with empty pockets.
C'est la vie as French say.....

[raises a glass to Franco and Stevie]

Now, let's see if we can get three points off the Hammaz on Dec 13/14/whichever ...

I'm not proud of finding this in the Sun Online but:

LINK

"PHIL SCOLARI is under mounting pressure — as our stats prove he has easily made the worst start of any Red Rom boss.
The Chelsea manager has a meagre win record of just 59.1 per cent after the home defeat to Arsenal.

That is compared to the 78.2 per cent effort Jose Mourinho put together in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

The statistics are based on performances after 15 Premier League games and take in results in the Champions League and Carling Cup.

Next best after Mourinho is Tinkerman Claudio Ranieri with 77.3 per cent of games won in Roman Abramovich’s first year. And he got the chop at the end of the season.

Even flop Avram Grant managed a combined win percentage of 63.6 last term. Scolari copped another blow yesterday when he was told not to expect a rouble of Red Rom’s billions in January."

@ Habs

Also of note to the we're not strong enough and need to add players...

“I think we’ll be pretty busy in the summer but that’s the right time for Chelsea to be busy.”

While all the things that have been said here are true, there is one main point that nobody has bothered to mention,

1. In the game against the scousers, those boys played like theY were heavily sedated.
2. Also in the game against Arse-Anal, once we were a goal down the ghost nurse quickly went round and gave those sedative shots to everybody.

I dare say that Phil does not seem Like a good motivator and while he might be good coach he needs to be able to motivate the boys to win games even when they aint playing so well. We have been always able to do that and sheer determination has always helped. example: Inter aint so pretty with the ball but they'll be damned if they dont get the results. Emperor "special one" always has them on their toes.

So even though I do appreciate phil's gentle disposition, let him save the soft talk for church and kindergarten and realise its a fucking battle out there. Then let him motivate the boys accordingly.

I REST MY CASE

oh I JUST SAW IT. @haberdashers he made a similar point.I'm tipping my hat drink to you mate

@RadicalEvan 91,

Where is that quote from, hadn't seen PK say anything like that in what I read yesterday.

Radical,

It's o.k, found it, in the Mail : LINK

Alongside Spurs wanting Cudicini and Man Citeh apparently after Bridge, this bit caught my eye :

"Other high-profile players facing a potential exit are likely to include Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou and Paulo Ferreira."

Can't say I'd be shedding too many tears if that foursome were to depart.

As long as it was reinvested on suitable replacements. And not past it Portugese 'best mates' of TSSO like Figo or Nuno Gomes.

@HABS
Amigo, if you are going to experience soul discomfort each time Sun, or any other paper, writes something bad about Chelsea you might end up in Bedlam very soon.

Wow, stumbled on here accidentally, and was expecting a fully biased view, completely ignoring Terry, etc., but fair play to you, a good post!

Is this the first sign of someone heading towards the divorce courts....
LINK

@Clive - I'm sure the sheer mediocrity of his team mates has truly sunk in now with Robinho - and even his Brazilian mates aren't getting regular starts anymore from Sparky - but he's all that gives Abu Dhabi FC any credibility in attracting more quality players so I think there's little chance of him getting his [ and LGF's ] wish to escape.

Speaking of mediocrity am I right in starting to think the EPL seems to be levelling out into a huge bunch of sides well skilled in the art of defending even against the supposed Big Four, despite out occasional thrashing of teams.

Lots of 0-0 results recently and a mere 5 points covering 7th to 18th after 15 games suggests so to me.

Slightly more pragmatic viewpoint for the good old Grauniad. Kenyon sounds quite bullsih...

LINK

@BBD
That's quite an astute observation with regard the nil nils and may be indicative of the way season is going, perhaps we're turning into Italians and our games will become more like chess matches rather than the 100 mile an hour mayhem we're used to.

@Tony
Quite a sensible and measured article, but I fear it won't calm the nerves of some of our supporters, where every point dropped is a disaster.

And having a quick sneak around some Liverpool blogs, the general consensus appears to be from their fans...

Whats the point of us beating our main rivals if we can't go out and put teams to the sword like West Ham etc etc.... sounds all too familiar.

@Clive
Yesssss that is what I call technocratic football, football is back to be sport rather then entertainment. In sport as we all know the result is more important than the way.
The first technocratic manager in UK was without doubts the TSO. He has shown to all others that clean sheet and one goal win the game. Managers have learned it pretty well. The average supporters and other newspaper readers were really upset with Chelsea style and while some Chelsea supporters had become a members of "the sexy, but not winning anything" religious sect and went around blaming the TSO, others learned from him.
At the day when the TSO has parted his ways with Chelsea Red Rom have had to pay to the most hated by herd manager, a lot of money in order to prevent him from working in England. All of a sudden it appeared that everybody except of Chelsea supporters wanted the TSO to be their manager. Strange isn't it?
So the TSO has gone, but not his followers, which are the majority of UK clubs right now.

@Tony - A good example of why I read the Guardian.

---

"Had it been Grant's side that lost to Arsenal, the reaction might have been one of hysteria."

Plenty of the reaction to the defeat was close to hysteria.

"Next summer's investment in the team will be reliant upon Scolari generating funds through sales. It is as if Chelsea have been dragged back into the real world, with the current set-up wiser and more mature for the experience."

I'm glad things are returning to some kind of normality, if there is such a thing in football. Selling players in order to generate funds to buy players seems like a perfectly acceptable policy to me. Wasn't it like this back in the day?

Agreed Nick about why I also read The Guardian. It seems happier with facts than sensation. I can't bring myself to touch a Daily Mail. But I found his comments almost refreshing and seems to fit as part of a longer term plan that is sustained on generating revenue from sales and marketing, like .....er.....a good business perhaps? The comments on SB on a linked article were interesting, still examining options so staying put for at least 2 years.

Errr.........doesn't this seem similar to how he put Man Utd where they are? He can seem smarmy, but when it came to choosing a CEO I think RA knew what he was doing.

What Tony said. PK may not be at the top of many fans' Xmas card lists, but he does have a fair bit of experience in running a (very) successful football club; something that Buck, Tenenbaum and Roman simply don't have.

@BBD (99)

Speaking of mediocrity am I right in starting to think the EPL seems to be levelling out into a huge bunch of sides well skilled in the art of defending even against the supposed Big Four, despite out occasional thrashing of teams.

Think that sums it up quite nicely. Given that staying in the Premiership is the only realistic goal once you're there, it's no surprise that as time goes on more and more clubs are simply doing whatever they can to do just that; terribly easy to be snobbish about sides that come solely to defend, or Stoke and Rory Delap launching hand grenades into the opposition box at every opportunity - attractive it ain't, but if it does the job and helps keep them up it makes perfect sense.

A quick glance at some of names in the bottom half of the Championship tells you all you need to know about how important Premiership survival is.

An interesting insight into the mood of the Chelsea camp after an awful run of form:

LINK

Senior Chelsea players have pointed the finger at Florent Malouda as one of the team's major underperforming stars and there is a feeling in the club that Luiz Felipe Scolari should pick Wayne Bridge on the left wing instead.

The defeat has left Chelsea players frustrated at their inability to turn the game around in the closing stages and while there have been no dressing-room disputes, the consensus is that Malouda (below), who joined from Lyons for £16.5m last year, and Didier Drogba, injured then suspended, have failed to pull their weight of late. It is understood that the club are secretly planning to buy a striker in January despite pledges to the contrary.

It is expected that Chelsea will have to sell before they buy. Among the names mentioned as potential new centre-forwards are the Egyptian striker Amr Zaki, who has not signed a permanent deal at Wigan. The club have an option to sign the 25-year-old, currently injured, on a permanent deal next summer. Another possibility is Karim Benzema, the France international at Lyons who would be expensive after signing a new contract there until 2013 last year."

Now i know it says that the dressing room is fine, but these rumours only add to the sense that we've got a re-run of last year's disasterous Avram reign on our hands. A manager who rapidly appears more and more tactically inept and a team who don't really know which direction to turn to. Strangely, last year i saw a greater fighting spirit and determination to come back from adversity.

It'll be interesting to see the side at the Reebok. Doesn't appear to be a Deco type game and he should but probably won't be dropped. If Bridge does come in then maybe the players are beginning to run the dressing room.

I'm going to regret doing this, but here goes :

LINK

The chump who didn't flag for the first Van Persie goal isn't being a linesman this weekend. No real surprise.

What I find bizarre is the caption under the photo. "Margin for error: Van Persie looks to be in an offside position as he takes the ball to score his first goal "

Yes, he looks to be in an offside position BECAUSE HE RUDDY WELL IS. I understand journalists need to cover their backs with most of the libellous drivel they invariably spout, but when stating the truth, why is there any need to include a caveat such as "looks to be in an offside position". Simply, he is offside.

If this was pointed out, I guess it would mean that TSSO was right and would prove we, Chelsea, as a club have been wronged.

And we can't have that can we. Jeez.

Next up - Pope 'looks to be a bit Catholic'...

Next up - Pope 'looks to be a bit Catholic'...

Bloody hell you learn something new every day!! ;-)

"Scolari is understood to be a long-term admirer of fellow Brazilian and AC Milan playmaker Kaka, and German strikers Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez are also thought to be on the radar.

Standard Liege starlet Axel Witsel has become the latest player to be mentioned as Chelsea go in search of Premier League and UEFA Champions League glory, but Cech insists Scolari's team are not aware of potential new faces."

Its funny that every year when things go bad we just talk about transfers. However I feel that some changes must be made. Here are a list of people I feel should face the axe.

1. Florent Malouda (If hes still worth anything)
2. Peter Kenyon (Hell one of us could do better)
3. Michael Mancienne (Promising player but lets face it he has no future here)
4. Claudio Pizarro (No comment)

I do feel that keeping Ferreira is a must because he is our best defensive full back and on a five year deal being the player he is we would waste more money selling him for a low fee. The situation regarding Didier is interesting. Judging how things are going right now we need him but if he wants to go and we can get another skillfull target man in then maybe it would to the right time for him to leave.

Getting rid of Mancienne? That would be idiotic. He's an up and coming defender, with pace, is English and most importantly a Chelsea boy. Why would you get rid of him and keep a lump like Alex instead?

And we all know Kenyon's a c*nt but he's got loads of contacts across Europe and his obsession with building the Chelsea 'brand' has been successful in Asia and the USA. After all we are now officially the No. 1 ranked team in Europe and have progressively climbed the table for clubs with the highest revenue.

Yes Mancienne is up and coming but is he any better than Cork? We have Ivanovic, Riccy, JT. You may not like Alex but he is still top class defensively and offensively. Most of our goals from defence have came from him. Mancienne would be our 5th choice CB at best and yes PK has made us a bigger and bigger club but his failings in the transfer market cannot be ignored.
Remember Boulahrouz. I dont need to remind anyone of what happened in the summer with Robinho. 30 Million for Shevchenko, 13 million for Malouda, 20 million for SWP. This guy is throwing our money away.

I remember Boulahrouz and that summer's transfers. Jose asked for Micah Richards yet Arnesen overruled him and because of his 'close' relationship with Roman, he got his way. What a disaster that was. And Kenyon isn't the scout, he's just our negotiator. To complain at the transfers you have to point the finger at Arnesen.

I like it. "Crisis? What crisis?"

Kenyon's comments make a lot of sense. I'm sure we'll move for someone in the transfer window and we are trying to keep prices down. While normally it seems rash, in this case we have one striker providing goals (Anelka); one who could become the Imperator he has been again, or be perpetually injured, or exit stage left (Drogba); one who I feel is perpetually overrated (although I'm not screaming for him to be shipped) and can't seem to catch a break in Joe Cole; and two wingers who are deadweight (let them remain nameless).

Normally it seems like we are misfiring- but here we just don't have strikers with class. Who here wouldn't take Babel or Eduardo over Malouda right now? We'll get someone.

On Alex/Mancienne- the obvious move is to sell Alex, regardless of quality. Mancienne will be cheaper for us, will be with the club longer and is Chelsea through and through. Alex is proven at the highest level, can score on set pieces (wait... we need that...) and would have many clubs bidding for him.

Perhaps we should do what teams with a real youth policy do- sell our mercenaries to make way for our talented youngsters. I'm completely with Habs on this one.

As to who we should bring in...
Sure- everyone wants Kaka. Gomez is crap. Podolski could be hit or miss... I expect him to either have Nationalelf or Bayern form, but nothing in between. But having Ballack on the side might help him a lot. Don't know anything about this Axel kid.

For the last time- lets have Drogs get a few games in before we give him the axe. I know there are bad feelings, I know he hasn't performed since the CL final, but I think he should be given time. He's never not been petulant- he will continue to be a pain. But he's great for us, he'll be great to add power in the box, and he'll help with set pieces. I'm glad Kenyon agrees.

Habs, OK add Arnesen to that list then. Great seeing Burnley KO Arse-Anal tonight. Of course it was terrible losing to them but good luck to them anyway.
As usual Arsehole Whinger didnt have any excuses. His kiddies cant win the cup on their own. It shows a total lack of respect for the other teams which is why im glad that Burnley beat them 2-0. This brings me to think exactly what is Wengers priority? Despite beating us they lack the consistency to win the league.

I dont think I have ever agreed with Mr Kenyon. Granted we arent in crisis but we have already had some awful results this early in the season. Losing to Liverpool, Burnley, Arsenal and drawing with Spuds. We have became predictable and need to stop trying the same thing every game. Our midfield has little or no pace and our full backs seem to attack at every oppurtunity when they should pick the right moment because otherwise more often than not we will get punished and we have been punished. I feel to beat the best teams we have to have our very best playing such as Drogba, Cole, Ballack and Carvalho. We are still top of thwe league but that wont continue if we dont start playing with more width and flair than we have recently.

Chelsea is now the usual and very predictable. every attack goes to ashely/malouda or bosingwa so all other teams have to do is stand in front of them and our attack grinds to a halt. Lets get creative.

Chaps,

January transfer window, which do we agree with? Nice article from the Guardian today

LINK

I do think we lack 2 players - striker, left winger. However i guess the real questions are, Does DD still want to play and has he got the motivation to work hard and get back to his best? and Is the underlying issue with Malouda one that can be solved or is it so deep routed that we have to let him go?

Sorry to disappoint, but the reality is that no-one of any note ever moves anywhere in the transfer window, because the big clubs do notwant to sell their best players.....

We will have to make do with the strikers we have untl the Summer....unless of course you fancy Emile Heskey, who I believe has been made available by Wigan!.....Any Takers?

Changing the subject, but I do agree with Dunphy here. Keane would never have got a top management job if he wasn't who he was, and like all the much talked about former Fergie players who have gone into management, bar Steve Bruce, he clearly isn't good enough. When will football learn? Be fascinating to see if the likes of Brendan Rodgers can show there is another route to the top.

LINK

Green light - I part agree with you. Whilst the option to take from another champs league team would be impossible as they are cup tied. To take from any number of the uefa cup sides would be great.

David Villa - not cup tied and pure quality.
Luis Fabiano - Seville
Pato - AC
Kaka - AC
Cassano - Sampdoria
Di Natale - udinese

I am sure those of you on here with far better footy knowledge will pitch in other names as well as stats on assists etc.

I guess the only Q is who will go to earn the money we would need to prize one of these away!

Come on Roman - sod the credit crunch and flex those financial muscles again!

Pete

Surely much of the problem is over-promotion too early on with the likes of Keane? He worked wonders to get them promoted, kept them up but looks to have struggled with the bigger money signings he's made and that he won't be given too much more time to sort things out - understandable given the financial implications, but he's overcome various managerial obstacles in the past so why can't he do it again (inherent personality disorders notwithstanding)?

Part of me wonders if 'names' are seen as critical by chairmen if they are to secure the financial backing they need - don't know the intimate history of his takeover of Sunderland, but if Niall Quinn had been chatting to merchant banks when he was looking for the cash with the "I've got Joe Bloggs willing to be manager..." line, how far would he have got?

Be interesting to see how Brendan Rodgers fares - expectation is still reasonably high at Watford; would he have been better off in the lower leagues for a while (like Dunphy mentions with Keane)? Only time will tell, I suppose. But you'd hope that he gets backing and time to prove his worth (a rare occurence these days).

Benitez's career is a good example of a bloke who took some time to learn his trade. Did well with Real in their youth / reserve set up, but after he left there he had stints at various smaller clubs, got relegated, sacked, promoted and even left the game for a while until he really cracked it at Valencia. Sure there are numerous other examples in world football; it is amusing to hear club owners and chairmen saying "he's the right man" one minute and sacking the bloke after half a dozen bad results the next - can't help thinking that potentially good managers are being missed by following this route.

How can i view archive before nov 2006 ? The good times.. anyone?

@13JOE13
Sell Alex, but not Mancienne!!!

JD - over-promotion of himself, or over-promotion of Sunderland, or both?

But I think we're talking about the same thing here. Keane appears to have got his job on the basis of who he knows (which is common in football, as it is everywhere) but also because he played under two of the greatest managers of all time, Clough and Ferguson (Jack Charlton, if you include internationals). But, as you say, both Clough and Ferguson started at the very bottom. Even Clough, precocious as he was, served time in the lower leagues before stepping up.

Be interesting to see how many managers who walked straight into a job at a top flight club (which is what Sunderland are, even when they're in the First Division) have been successful over the long term. I'm not sure I can think of any.

I think Watford are about the right fit for Rodgers, but then again I have no idea what the expectation is there.

For our part, both Vialli and Gullit have been massive failures away from the Bridge.

@ JD and Pete

Great article on Brendan Rodgers in todays super, soaraway, sensational, sizzling......Grauniad

LINK

I like his attitude and he pays rich testament to TSO's way of dealing with stuff.It seems to be that they have similar footballing backgrounds, neither having gone through the footballing superstar route. In normal corporate business the path to senior management is rarely vertical within the same organization these days and you have to work at various levels and functions within the company to move up, but in a similar way to football the path to 'success' is often by moving between organizations and gaining breadth of knowledge that way. Arguably two of the best coaches , Wenger and Ferguson were never anything more than journeymen players, so perhaps football management success is gleaned from a lack of superstar ego and the hunger for something you couldn't achieve as a player. Just a theory.

As for other article, I tend to take Spackers viewpoint. At the moment this could be our seasons blip, and if we don't have another from now until May then we'll be PL champions. I don't think we'll win the CL simply because history seems to indicate that beaten finalists rarely make the final the next year and win. Plus Drogba, Anelka would be a fearsome force if both players are physicaly and mentally up for the fight. All this talk of new strikers is fine and I'd love Villa to come, but if we fancied him he'd be here by now. Perhasp Di Santo is our plan B to cover the big two?

This is slightly embarrassing. 100k!

LINK&

TG, I agree about BR. Hopefully he and Watford can KO spuds tonight in the cup.
About our form. We have been terrible at home and if we get a settled team preferebly 4-4-2 with Didier and Anelka up front and Ballack and Lamps through the middle or a 4-4-2 diamond with Mikel, Ballack, Lamps and Cole then we should be able to get into a settled rythm. Bolton is proberbly the worst game for us right now.

This is the sort of dive you have to have a grudging respect for.

LINK

Good luck to Brendan. He seems like the heir apparent to Jose and perhaps he has a greater chance of managing Chelsea than Zola. He may not be a big name yet, but his schooling has come from the best. The article also says he followed Jose's route of taking apprenticeships at some of the biggest clubs in the world. Watching the reserves on ChelseaTV you can see a lot of TSO's methodology and tactics in Brendan's sides with one big striker and two tricky wingers supporting him. Hope he comes back to the Bridge in a few years time.

@Petew

That dive was up there with the best. Worthy of standing alongside Gerrard's against Atletico, Rooney's against Sol Campbell and our very own JFH, when Jimmy kicked the floor then tumbled to the floor. I can't remember who it was against but it was a great dive.

It's also nice to see that our lawyers have done a good job in squeezing every last penny out of Lyn Oslo! I mean in a time of cutting back, 100k will be plenty for Phil to find a top quality striker in January.

@ 130 - petew - I dunno where you got that from but it made my afternoon. Absolute quality...and to get the pen as well! Fabulous!

So what right has Frank to say Malouda is the reason for the recent rot?

Malouda;
5 assists, 2 goals, ****(=7 goals)
Frank:
2 assists, 4 goals, (200 25 yard shots, 300 freekicks,
111 corner kicks)-that-resulted-in-0-goals ****(=6 goals),
while leaving Obi exposed to counters

Ok, i get it .
1)its malouda's fault he and deco have problems playing together.
2)its malouda's fault his 200 25-yard shots haven't been going in.
3)its malouda's fault his corner-kicks safely drop into goalkeepr's hands.
4)its malouda's fault he and steveg. cunt play together.
5)its malouda's fault Obi hasn't been getting any help defending
wait a min..
its malouda's fault milage on his Burger van sucks.
its malouda's fault he cant fit into a phone booth.
its malouda's fault they don't make any elegant XL underwear.
its malouda's fault all the fat-free yoghurt tests like schmeissen.
its malouda's fault burgers have less lard nowadays.
its malouda's fault climate is changing.
....

:-/

Utter cuntery.

Hey Henry, did you read that stat last weekend that said that so far this season Lampard had created the second most goal-scoring opportunities in the Prem (45)? Any opinions?

Where's the quote of Lampard blaming Malouda by the way?

Also Henry, I'd love to know why you support Chelsea. What's your connection with the club? How often do you get to the Bridge?

Because you never actually seem to enjoy the club or what it achieves, you only ever come on here to whinge. It used to be Mourinho, now it's Lampard. You'd actually make a very good Arsenal fan.

"Where's the quote of Lampard blaming Malouda by the way?"

who else could do that?
1. Obi, Drogba, Bosing, Alex, Ivano, Kalou?-No chance, these are his
best mates.
2. Bridge? They link up well down the left flank, so why would he?
3. Ballack&Deco?
4.Joey? Joey is mates with everybody?
5. Terry? No way our captain is going to screw up the team spirit like
that.
6...Do you see the trend?

@Henry

Lamps has actually scored 8 goals in 17 appearances this season which isn't too shabby is it. And Frank has all the right to say Malouda isn't pulling his weight for 2 reasons:

1. He's right. Malouda has been shit whilst Frank has been carrying the midfield in terms of goal threat.
2. Frank has had 5 seasons of amazing form, making him one of the two leaders of the dressing room along with JT. They run the dressing room and as one of the leaders of the side he has every right to comment when players aren't contributing enough to the side.

So you're wrong about Frank. He's the best goal scoring midfielder in the world, a fan's favourite and a Chelsea legend. Malouda meanwhile has had 6 weeks of good form in his Chelsea career and is so useless so members of the squad want a defender (Bridge) to replace him on the left wing.

So let's see who gets sold this summer. I bet it won't be Frank. Instead, a certain Frenchman looks to be at the top of the list.

Where's the quote Henry. Simple question. Link me the quote from an unnamed player blaming Malouda and then we can decide where it should be attributed.

Incidentally, do you genuinely think Malouda has contributed more to Chelsea than Lampard over the past 18 months?

Perhaps its ...Thierry Henry writing under the worst pseudonym devised!

Cheers TNOY

Also please answer the other question. I'd really love to know how long you've been a fan and how many games you get to.

I don;t have a problem with new or overseas fans, by the way, but I'm very interested in what motivates you to support a club you appear to have so little affection or connection with. What do you get out of it?

Bridge as a left winger. Sounds like a good move to me. Might not be the paciest but he knows how to cross - the idea of him overlapping with Ashley is rather attractive and lets face it - he's already better than Malouda.

Words fail me, they really do. We're back to the old bollocks again, aren't we Hnrey? If you can't prove your point by fact and reason, just make some old crap up and lie through your teeth.

Fuck off. Seriously, just fuck off and die in a barrel of elephant spunk or something.

petew
read post 106

England tried Bridge and Cole together and it was a disaster. I'd rather see Stoch get a go.

Henry, please answer the following:

Do you genuinely think Malouda has contributed more to Chelsea than Lampard over the past 18 months?

How long have you been a Chelsea fan?
How many games do you get to?
Why are you a Chelsea fan?

Don't bother commenting on anything until you've answered those four questions.

@138

"...Do you see the trend?"

Henry can you please explain the trend to me. All i can see is some rambling from a crazy fan trying to justify an irrational hatred of the best player at the club. That story in the Independent said senior players were unhappy at Malouda. Now who are the two senior players at the club? Frank and a certain Mr. Terry. Both of them are obviously unhappy at the way he's been performing and i for one agree wholeheartedly with them.

"Both of them are obviously unhappy at the way he's been performing and i for one agree wholeheartedly with them. "

As do approximately 38,000 or so fans at the Bridge.

Do you genuinely think Malouda has contributed more to Chelsea than Lampard over the past 18 months?=He is contributing more now..That's what matters most!

How long have you been a Chelsea fan?=I've ALWAYS been.
How many games do you get to? about 10/season!
Why are you a Chelsea fan?=Why is the sky blue?

It's actually laughable that anyone could mention Malouda as being in anyway comparable to Frank. In my mind Frank is in the top 10 players in the world along with Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo, Villa, Torres, Aguero, Xavi, Buffon and JT. Not a bad bunch is it. I wonder how highly Malouda would rank compared to Frank? Top 100? Top 500? I'd say about 734th in the world judging by his recent form.

'Why are you a Chelsea fan?=Why is the sky blue?'

Well, you're obviously not from England.... Blue sky indeed.

So is Malouda the only 'underperforming' player?

Going to the media and uttering crap about a team-mate isn't going to solve
anything.

Won't be surprised if it starts affecting his performances.

petew
i am from england and i happen to be teaching computer science in scandin...
i've been to school unlike most of you, but whats the point?

"Won't be surprised if it starts affecting his performances."

Well the only way is up for him. I mean he can't get much worse after his abysmal showing on Sunday. Two pirouettes and dozens of missed placed passes made it the worse showing from any Chelsea sub in recent times. Hopefully Frank ans JT's words will give him a kick up the arse. If not he can fuck off. The £6m we could get for him would come in handy in January.

And if you're wondering who else is underperforming, i'll give you a hint. One of them likes to run down blind alleys a lot and is so shit most fans would like to see Sinclair given a chance ahead of him, whilst the other had a great start to his Chelsea career but since then his laziness and poor attitude have made him luxury. Can you guess who it is yet?

I think it's fair to say that Malouda has been a big disappointment since signing. He isn't the only underperforming player, but he's rarely bothered performing at all during his time at the club. I'm personally more concerned with the form of Deco than either Malouda, who I don't have much expectation over, and Lampard, who has proved his value time and again to the point where he was easily the best midfielder on display in the CL final.

I tend to trust the Indie, where this quote comes from, but was not aware they had any decent contacts at the club. Leaks from Lampard tend to appear in one tabloid under one specific byline.

Lampard, though, 45 goalscoring opportunities this season so far according to the Guardian. Not bad at all. Just imagine what he would have achieved if he wasn't 'underperforming', eh Henry?

"Can you guess who it is yet?"

So are you going to replace Brazilian internationals with Conference players (just because they are english)?

petew

as regards frank we need his goals(all of them including the deflected ones),
but there are aspects of his game that disheartens me.
Its not without reason that he's the most debatable(if not hated) in the league.

"So are you going to replace Brazilian internationals with Conference players (just because they are english)?"

What does that mean? Since you went to that elite institution called 'school' and since the rest of us are all so dumb, can you please tell me what you're on about. If it's your round about way of saying we should replace Alex with Mancienne, then yep, i'm totally behind that. But i can't really tell what you're harping on about.

And the most hated player in the league is a certain Cristiano up at Old Trafford, not Frank.

Actually John Terry is probably the most hated player in the league at the moment, but it's not something that should really trouble anybody. I mean really, who gives a shit.

Yes Henry, Lampard has his faults. So do all players. What's your point?

"replace Alex with Mancienne"

Perhaps you need this. LINK

let me know your score!

Oh how clever of you. So let's start comparing our education. What school did you go to? And what uni did you go to? I mean if it's a question of intelligence i'm pretty sure my education will trump yours.

And just to say it again. A lot of us real Chelsea fans would support the promotion of Mancienne if it meant shipping Alex off to Greece with Henk. It's because we realise how important loyalty is and the fact Mancienne's a Chelsea boy means he'll always trump Alex.

"So is Malouda the only 'underperforming' player?

Going to the media and uttering crap about a team-mate isn't going to solve
anything.

Won't be surprised if it starts affecting his performances."

That could hardly be a bad things. His performences could hardly be worse

Perhaps you need this Henry:

LINK

Let me know your score

(coughing politely and interrupting the debate on the ever more gnomic pronouncements of our Hnery and directing the assembled multitude back to Roy Keane)

God knows but you've got to love the interweb as a research tool. With my roots in the south west of Gods Own Country there was something Roy Keane once said in an interview that reminded me of the sort of thing men of my father's generation (born 1921) would say. They saw fresh air as being above almost everything apart from copious quantities of stout.

I googled "Roy Keane fresh air" and stone me I found it.

LINK

'I was in Portugal with the family. I'd really enjoyed the coaching course. After Celtic, I fell out of love with the game a little bit, but the course gave me a love back for it. It's a good life out in the fresh air.'

There's a man talking about a high pressure career in football management the same way he might be talking about doing a bit of farming back on the ould sod.

I wonder whether Mr Dunphy was one of these....

"Those who have watched him at close quarters swear that Keane, 35, made himself into a great footballer, but that he was born to manage."

Sorry to have distracted you, carry on........

The Habs/Henry/Petew debate is almost as pointless as when the spuds fans came over after the CC final. Just ignore him. The fact that he thinks Malouda contributes more than Lampard tells you everything you need to know about his knowledge of our club

The most hated player in the league should be Ronaldo. In order the players that I hate most. 1. Ronaldo 2. Eboue 3. Robbie Keane 4. Stevie Me 5. Jenas

There are some things we could learn from Wenger.
Why did he sack Gallas btw?

Henry you're just a fucking Troll, most internet forums have them, and you happen to be ours.

@Clive - Maybe that's why Henry supports Chelsea; because we have a Bridge. :) We used to have a Billy too.

I think this covers everything with regard Henry LINK

i am still laughing at the "die in a barrel of elephant spunk" comment, genius. Where does it come from?

I would like us to take a chance on the youngsters, maybe if roman would see this as a transitional year, scolari would be under less pressure and could do a Wenger and blood a few like sinclair, stoch etc.

Bring back Jose Musumba - all is forgiven

Interesting that the issue with Malouda may be a dressing room/personality one. At the risk of exposing myself to Avram Grantworthy levels of ridicule, I can't help thinking that he must at some level be a decent player -- held his place in a pretty good France team, rated by very competent managers, etc. So the fact that he's only ever shown about 400 minutes worth of it for Chelsea does seem confusing, and maybe these leaks are fingering one of the reasons: he doesn't like it here and can't really be arsed.

The Deco situation reminds me more of Ballack's first year. Howls of derision from the stands, a sense that he'd never get to grips with the Premiership, etc. Of course Ballack's game is more naturally suited to Bolton in December than Deco's is. But I'd be surprised if anyone gave up on Deco quite yet. He may turn out to be like Sheva, i.e. an undoubted superstar who arrived at the Bridge a year too late. I think it's too early to tell.

I genuinely don't expect to see anyone come in in January. But it's interesting that Pat Nevin agrees with the many here who think Kenyon is bluffing.

And I think we're going to see the youngsters whether we want to or not. If changes are needed in the last 20 mins of a game, the attackers on the bench will be Di Santo and Stoch and Kalou. We don't have the kind of choices we used to have.

i am still laughing at the "die in a barrel of elephant spunk" comment, genius. Where does it come from?

Err.... Elephants I think!

Quite - a daddy elephant who loves a mummy elephant very much has a funny feeling and then...

Enough already.

What LTB said about Deco above (175); agreed. Whilst Barcelona don't generally sell us their best players (known as the Bogarde-Zenden protocol), if we do see him fit and up for it he could make a great deal of difference.

Was always slightly suspicious of Malouda - a relatively unremarkable career until one superb season with Lyon who didn't really kick up much of a fuss considering their record (Essien) when he wanted to come to us. Would probably be very good for Bolton / Fulham, but he isn't good enough for us.

Come on Brendan Rodgers and Watford...

I could go with the Deco thing even though he was dreadful on Sunday. After all I was happy to give Sheva another go and would have let kezman have another season. Rarely do they adapt straight out. Bit Malouda has had a season and doesn't seem to be improving. He sounds a good guy in interviews, but its no secret he wanted out through homesickness when he first came

....bloody return key!

Anyway, I think he's another that just won't cut it with us, along with kalou. Sad, but a fact of life and football. Look at how many new 'maradona's' Argentian have had that have all been false dawns. Look at how many next big things have been at United , Poo and Arse that have been quietly shelved. Teams evolve and ours is no different. If we keep this current squad then we've accepted its perfect and I don't think for one minute Popeye believes that.

At the risk of opening myself up to complete ridicule, although he is comparing apples with, well er....'elephant spunk', Hnrey does have a point about the quality of our set-piece work.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of our play at the moment (Malouda and Kalou aside) is our inability to create anything from free-kicks and corners. I don't remember the last time Frank got a free kick to go over the wall AND on target at the same time.

It's disappointing, because one of our great strengths used to be scoring from set plays.

What's up with Sahar? We need a striker and we have one. Seems like a better option than bringing Malouda on. He is probably making a fortune stealing toilet fittings.

@Hnery

LINK

Deco will come good. He's a proven world class player and just needs a bit of time to adapt.

Malouda's had a couple of excellent games this season - Sunderland and WBA especially - but like Kalou, he doesn't cut it at the top level. But unlike Kalou, Malouda gives the impression he can't stomach the fight, whereas Kalou at least takes the battle to the enemy (as his crucial goal v Man Utd proves). He's not in the Zenden category of bottlers, but he's not somebody I'd be sad to see move on.

And I agree with Habs (and I don't think I need to Aske where you went to school): sell Alex, promote Mancienne. It makes financial sense. Maybe also Bridge- Bertrand because we can always have Ferreira as cover if it doesn't work out.

What's happened to Belleti?

As for Sahar, he's failed at SheffWed, Palace and Pompey. Doesn't look like he's up to scratch. Flog him to Wigan. Or pretend he's Irish and sell him to Sunderland.

Interesting piece on Henry's last hate figure. Italians were always going to respect Mourinho for his tactical brilliance. Stupid English didn't see it.

LINK

Petew - i totally agree. Mourinho was the one who got away. If we could morph Mourinho and Scolari we would be laughing. Anyone up for a trip to milan to take some DNA?

I can see it now - "chelsea blog creates the first test tube manager Scorinho"

I think Sahar is weak as well - lets trim the fat from our team in a ruthless way and bring in some quality.

What are peoples thoughts on Vagner Love? apparently we will have him on loan and if all goes well a perm deal at £12m in the summer. 20 in 26 in Russia. At least he is used to the cold!

I don't usually speculate or hope we buy certain players, but I'm surprised no one has looked at the possibility of Tevez. United don't own him so they couldn't block any proposed transfer, he's a proven goal scorer, and can play behind a sole striker.

>>petew

jose was forced into dropping his £40m wingers due to bad results.
credit to the italian media for hussling him, otherwise he's
still the same Terry-as-a-center-forward-in-CL-semi manager; who
btw replaced Duff&Robben with Kalouda; who after scoring an early goal
against west bromwich would shift to a 9-1 formation; who ...

He's not going to be there for long, half the dressing room is already unhappy.

The only person we really miss is Henk Kent, what-was-his-name?, (sorry i'm not in the googling mood). I can't stand players running dressing rooms and
making team selections. It explains why Malouda was dropped.

Definitely sell Sahar if someone will take him - clearly not quite PL (or possibly even Championship) standard. Thought he looked a bit Vialli-esque when I first saw him - probably why I'm not scouting players I suppose...

Sounds like the strategy for backing Scolari will be sell before you buy, promote the kids kind of thing. Fair enough in principle. Don't know about Wagner Love but his record is decent enough. Not sure about Tevez though - is it just the quality of the players in front of him at United or something more? Scored some crucial goals for them last season but always looks like he straddles the fine line between covering every blade of grass with a degree of intelligence and running around like a headless chicken.

And we don't want to be anywhere near the law suit when Sheffield United get round to sueing him personally...

@ Habs - played your lot at cricket once; I think we lost but your grounds were very pleasant as I recall...

Going back to the Keane discussion. It seems he has decided to part company with Sunderland. I doubt Niall Quinn asked him to leave, although with Allardyce or O'Leary in the market it might be a possibility. I'm more inclined to think Keane has decided to jump and maybe the pressure told and like Keggy Keegle he's decided to seek a quieter life.

Either way, another North east 'giant' could be rudderless because their 'passionate' fans have hounded the coach out of the club, or hounded the Chairman into firing him. Perhaps its a North east thing(Middlesbrough apart, which at least seems to be run by one of the sanest men in football), but I seem to remember Sunderland have been down this route before (Peter Reid, Mick McCarthy)and it led to relegation, so no doubt will again. If Keane has gone after a potentially temporary dip in form and results then I think the fans calling for his head will get exactly what they deserve. A man who took them from the foot of the Championship and possible League 1 footie to the Premiership, can be hounded out/sacked after a poor run of results just seems crazy to me.

What a god forsaken role premiership manager must be.

Cretin.

Not you Tony!

LOL, Pete...I gathered that. i think you've showed remarkable restraint by just using that C-word!

He's talking about the same bloke sitting stop Serie A and already in the knockout of the CL. A bloke who sold the injury prone Duff just before the downward slide in his career, after all he no longer skins like he used to and Bosingwa made him look like he had the speed and turning circle of an oil tanker. The same man also sold the balsa-wood Robben who in 18 months with Real Madrid has made 7 appearances and is......injured again. Malouda is shite, we all seem to agree on that so JM bought a duffer there, and Kalou despite my dislike of him, does have talent, but lacks the footballing intelligence truly great players like Ronaldo and even Rooney have.

I just don't get the anti-Mourinho bit at all.

It's Championship Manager mentality - that life is as simple as a computer game and a couple of mistakes negate half a decade of success. Pathetic, small-minded and embarrassing.

LINK

fan the flames - i guess with all this going on he will be the first big name axed so that scolari can remove the love and hold that Jose has over the club!

To be controversial - i am in the get rid of him camp - whilst on his day he is nigh on unplayable i dislike his arrogance and his unwillingness to be a team player. That article whilst being from the sun makes a valid point - why can no one play with him, why do they all happily move on!

I worked with a saleman like that once and whilst when we moved him on we lost his considerable revenue - the whole team increased and we had a happier ship.

"Keane has spent nearly £70m on 33 permanent signings since his arrival in August 2006"

...and he's walking away free. there's too much religion in footbal!

Not surprising that the Italians 'get' Mourinho; he's actually had some interesting things to say about Serie A and why it isn't quite the box office draw it used to be. Suffice to say it hasn't been reported here much.

I do recall having a letter published on F365 some years back after one of their tired, inaccurate digs about him; made the point that if he was in Italy he'd probably end up with a piazza named after him and that England could do worse than employing a 'boring' coach who actually understands the value of a decent defence and what can built upon it.

Might have to dig that out - not often I can claim crystal ball rights...!

JD,

"Might have to dig that out - not often I can claim crystal ball rights...!"

If you could add to it 6 numbers between 1 and 49 before 7 p.m. on Saturday I'd be grateful.......

I shall post up my numbers, Clive - it sure as hell won't be any of them so it only leaves you with 43 to choose from...!

Very impressed by Niall Quinn, from the excerpts shown on Georgie Thompson Neckline News. In fact he seems oddly like The Gibson bloke at 'Boro. I suspect he'd have hung on to Keane despite the usual fan idiocy, if he'd had his way. Which in turn suggests that Keane really did go crazy and give up on the job. One of the few times where maybe the manager really is to blame, not because he's a bad manager but because he's a total loon.

The best fan idiocy is the reports coming out of Newcy that Ashley "might be welcomed back if he shows proper contrition, and oh yes, if he makes pots of cash available in January." Smug self-righteous deluded idiots. One minute it's all "They divven' knaa nowt about wor club", "Cockney mafia out", "Geordie Pride" bullshit -- then results pick up a bit and it's "Ok we'll take your cash after all since no one else is offering to pay, oh but you have to apologise to us [for what??]" It's the "big Club" mentality in a nutshell. "We may be useless money-grubbing short-termist fantasists like everyone else, but we're *proud* of our stupid fantasies because we're a Big Club." Morons.

"It's the "big Club" mentality in a nutshell. "We may be useless money-grubbing short-termist fantasists like everyone else, but we're *proud* of our stupid fantasies because we're a Big Club." Morons"

Isn't that statement an oxymoron?

I do admire Gibson because he's stuck by his coaches in general and he knows things have to be built over time. Frankly, 'Boro will never be a 'big club' which by their attitude and less hysterical fans mean they'll win more than the alleged North East big two, Keystone Kops United and AFC Goodies

LINK

Do we still own Crespo, or was he allowed to leave? In our current striking predicament, we could do worse than get him back.

Scolari is one of the best coaches i've known. He uses players very wisely.
Too bad his tactics didn't pay off against Arsenal.

From the Times :

Scolari revealed that Essien, who had been expected to be out for most of the season, is working overtime to be fit by the new year.

"Michael Essien is good news for me everyday. He is recovering quicker than we thought," Scolari said.

"He comes here at 10.30 in the morning and doesn't go until four in the afternoon. He tries to come back early. It is good for us. He is a fantastic example for other players. I don't want to put pressure on him but I think we will have good news sooner than we expected."

And people say modern-day footballers are overpaid.

Just read the above again. That's right Michael Essien is working 'overtime' by putting in punishing 5 and a half hour days. Jesus wept.

When I'm on sick leave I don't work at all, but hey, I guess that's just me..

To be fair that is hard work.

I tore my ACL in the right knee, and to go through the rehab (6 months' worth) is a big task to say the least. Anything more than two hours a day takes it's toll on you, specially in the early days!!

Give the lad a break Fifty! ;-)

This can only help team morale ahead of the biggest week in Phil's Chelsea career:

LINK

John Terry and Frank Lampard have had talks with the Brazilian about his coaching techniques. Lampard has called publicly for Chelsea to be less predictable and skipper JT has questioned the desire of his team-mates.

Terry, whose side go to Bolton today, admitted: “Two wins in seven isn’t good enough for a team like us. We need to put a string of results together now and over the Christmas period.

“We’ve been doing a lot better away this year which is strange because we had a great home record for so long.”

Terry and midfielder Lampard went to see Scolari on Thursday to ask him to increase the intensity in training.

Both stars feel the coaching has become too laid back and repetitive and that it is transmitting itself on to the field.

SunSport can also reveal there have been a series of team meetings this week in which players have vented their frustrations.

Terry has been banging the drum and questioned the squad’s desire.

Lampard is worried the Blues could become too predictable but boss Scolari insists his men must carry on passing.

Lamps said: “We might have to try to adapt to playing against defensive sides because people will see that other teams have got results doing that. It is important to mix things up if you are trying to play through a team and it is not quite working.

“Sometimes you can play a bit more of a direct style, sometimes you can try and get the ball wide so the team can put more balls in the box.”

Anyone else feeling a sense of deja vu? This does seem to be a repeat of last year's Avram nightmare. We should win at the Reebok but more important is the game against Cluj. With the first signs of dressing room rumblings, can you imagine the reaction if we got dumped out of the CL by Cluj? That's why a win is crucial against Bolton to gain some confidence.

I suppose the difference is that Grant came in replacing a manager for whom the team would have walked through hell, and with absolutely no qualifications of his own to earn the players' respect. Whereas if there really have been meetings between JT/Frank and Mr Big -- and given the way the Sun spins JT's perfectly innocuous quotes, we should perhaps be sceptical of their version of whatever happened -- then at least it would have been on the basis of mutual respect. It could not have been more obvious in August and September that Mr Big had transmitted a new and distinctive style of play to the team, so we know that they listen to him and understand him and do what he says. That was never clear with Avram (to put it mildly).

I'm actually pretty optimistic about Cluj. Facing elimination, I think we'll have the intensity we've been missing. But I'm a bit nervous about today. Bolton will have scented a weakness and you can bet they'll muscle Deco around and bang long balls toward Ivanovic, if we give them a chance.

What a goal from from deco. Watching that first half we've been great and what an overhead kick. I thought Bolton away would not be a Deco game but he's looked good. MOTM though has been Anelka.

If only we could play like this against good opposition.

A gret performance to set another new record of 11 straight away wins. You could see the side getting nervous in the second half due to our poor run of form. But great performances from Cech, JT, Lamps, Anelka and surprisingly Deco.

What a great game, Deco, Ballack were so impressive! What a goal!

Another great positive today was having 3 youngsters on the bench: Woods, Sinclair and Stoch. Nice to see some Chelsea youth team boys getting closer to the first team.