Premier League: Manchester City 1 - 3 Chelsea

I was delighted with the way we brushed them aside. What will their owners do now? Maybe they need more than 18 new players in January lol.

THE GOOD

1. The performence, Against a team that are aiming for the top 4 this season which may sound laughable to some but they are still a good team capable of beating sides like United on their day. Lamps and co responded brilliantly to going behind and after we got the second goal only 1 team was going to win.
2. Joe Cole, I was certain he would miss out after the horrible injury he suffered in mid week so its good to see he is still back and looking sharp and will only get better from here
3. Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka, None of us seem to want Malouda and Anelka isnt Mr Popular either but the signs are there that Scolari is re-building their confidence.
4. Robinho, Hes a great player but I think he might he slow in the head or something. When he arrived at City he said he wanted the Premier League. That free kick was a fluke. Welcome to the big leagues kid!

THE BAD

The Referee. JTs red card was a joke. What was he thinking? From what I saw there was minimum contact and Jo was still on his feet for at least a couple of seconds after JT tugged him. I havent even mentioned that he wasnt even the last man. Some Referees need to get a grip and not sway towards a team. Like Lamps says I just hope that they sort out the situation it wouldnt have happened if we were on the receiving end. He also denied us a stone wall penalty. Anelka was denied a goalscoring oppurtunity and what did he do? He BOTTLED IT!

The referee was terrible. Mark Halsey is a useless c***.

MOTD didn't give this near perfect performance justice. You needed to see the full 90 mins to realise how well we really played to put City in their place:

GOOD
1. Performance - This was the best football we've played in years. It was even better than against Pompey as City were up for this game and we were able to show them who was boss. Some of our attacking play was brilliant and we seemed to be playing a 3-7 formation. Ricky, JT and Mikel at the back whilst the rest could go forward. Our second goal was beautiful and if Arsenal had scored it, people would be drooling over it. As it was us and Lamps, it's just another goal. Great football and Roman must be happy.
2. Ashley Cole - One of his best games for us. Was constantly running up and down the line. Able to shut out SWP and proved a regular threat up front. Back to becoming the best LB in the world.
3. Deco/Lamps - These 2 are forming a great midfield. Some of Deco's touches were brilliant, like how he lifted the ball over 3 player's heads when in the RB position. An absolute magician worthy of being called the new Zola. As for Lamps. A great goal and a great performance. Seemed to enjoy his more advanced role.
4. Anelka - Actually finished a chance.
5. Marking of Robinho - Apart from his free kick, Mikel and the rest seemed determined to show him what it's like to reject us. I enjoyed a few of Mikel's 'mistimed' kicks. He'll be anonymous away from home in December.

BAD:
1. Anelka - Still needs 3/4 chances to score and his ducking in the wall for the free kick was unforgivable. He was the only one not to jump and the ball went where is head should have been. No wonder Cech was so angry.
2. Ref - It wasn't just the red card fiasco. We'll win that appeal if you listened to Lamps' analysis. But every foul he gave to both sides were dubious and every foul he didn't give were nailed on. An idiot worthy of Uriah Renny levels.

Continued...

3. Tactics - It was a very attacking away performance and a very open game. Scolari's football will certainly entertain but at times we were left 3 on 3 at the back with Bosingwa and Cole up field. If we continue to win then great but i fear another possible 4-4 like last year if we play like this against better teams.
4. Belletti - Seems to be picked ahead of Ivanovic just because he's Brazilian. Made one impression on the game when he was asleep for Deco's pass which led to JT's red.
5. Liverpool won - Damn scousers now think they can win the league.
6. No Steve Clarke - I hope we don't suffer like Utd are without Quieroz. Quieroz introduced Fergie to the Tevez/Rooney/Ronaldo strikeforce tactic and without him, Fergie looks lost. I know Clarke didn't influence tactics but his relationship with the players was very important. I hope we keep the British element and promote Brendan Rodgers or Paul Clement.

Overall it was a great performance. What made it even more sweet was that it was against City. They won't make the top 4 just because they've bought Robinho and then Sparky will be sacked. It was great to show them that we're still the best billionaires in England. This side has won the league before and will do so again this season because we've built a great team and not brought in 11 galacticos. It's going to be hilarious in January when reality hits their new owners. This game confirmed to the world's best players that City is not a club to join if you have any ambition to win things. We're head and shoulders above them and come January when Scolari wants 2 new players, expect us to sign a great player and not them.

KTBFFH

This is a great article on how Deco can be the new Zola:

LINK

it was an awesome victory. we basically just shove the game to Citeh and Robinho's face. top 4? yea sure, make that at least 5 years from now.
its really exciting watching Deco and Lamps play. they played like they've been playing together for the past decade or so. oh and Alex Ferguson to call us an ageing team? hah.
its good seeing Anelka score, but its terrible watching him miss. its like a fan's worst nightmare, watching your striker miss easy shots at goal(referring to the chance Zabaleta gave Anelka). Scolari will need to work with him more.
oh, and although i've stated that i'm not that much a fan of Malouda, after yesterday, i say give the lad another chance. its obvious from this game that he's trying his best(i hope), even though it all seem to go to waste. but who knows, maybe Scolari can help him rediscover his lethal touch again.

for now, i'm just gonna seek out those Citeh fans or Citeh hopefuls and laugh in their face. its worth it.

Really feels as though Scolari is giving me the Chelsea I love back...all of a sudden I find myself loving the team in a way that years of pragmatic Mourinho football (unchanged by AG) had made seem distant memory. It really seems as if Scolari is succeeding in removing the shackles of brutal risk-free efficiency previously imposed on this great group of players.

Mikel Lampard and Deco gave a masterclass today in feeling the nuances of football - no fancy tricks just a sublime understanding of the movements of ball and players. Mikel's pass to start the move for Frank's goal is my favorite example.

One Question to throw out...anyone know why Hilario has been on the bench instead of Carlo almost every game this season?

Excellent midfield, as everyone has said. I really enjoyed watching Lampard and Deco and anyone else 1-2 around everyone.

I think Anelka was pretty good. He was searching for the ball a bit in the first half, but he stayed forward a bit more in the second and had more opportunities. Chested that ball down really nicely and was denied a clear penalty.

Malouda was good too. Seemed more energetic and enthusiastic at any rate. Hope he has a good game on tuesday.

Cech's shirt has to be the most awkward color I have ever seen. None of my tvs (3) could render it correctly.

I don't think Robinho will be that impressive, let alone worth 32 million pounds. A bit like Mutu or Kezman, methinks.

Great performance from both sides, I thought, and a very entertaining game. Only downside was the total incompetence of Halsey, who got just about every decision incorrect.

I think I am pleased we missed out on Robinho....maybe a bit harsh to judge so early, but he seems to be a show pony and the number of passes that he mis-placed was nourmous.

Frank dominated the midfield and the relationship with Deco was back on track after the last couple of misfiring starts.

Still not sold on Anelka, and I can't believe the positives for Malouda, who despite trying hard, still failedto give any end product.

Finally, I thought SWP looked great.... shame it didn't work out for him at Chelsea, but I think with so many stars in the side, he was never given the 'starring role' he seems to play so well for City.

Mikel was outstanding today. Smooth on the ball, gives us a lot more assurannce defending than Essien in the same position, even managed an impressive surge into the box in the 2nd half.

Fantastic Lamps goal. Good move nice little feint and a sweet left foot finish.
Show those England boo boys what you're made of!

Although we did play well, this was a game where City (as usual) left big spaces for us and never realy kept up the early pressuring.

Malouda positives? was poor again.

I think it had the element of the victories that we generally have in the latter half of the season. Going one goal behind and coming back strongly. Only difference is we didnt have to throw 4 forwards like Pizzaro, Sheva etc and did it in a more refined way, so to speak.
Malouda was trying, definitely - no doubts. So i guess his ineffectiveness is generally down to his lack of ability. Cashif made an interesting point sometime back abt Malouda being a leftback turned to Winger. Ashley Cole was brilliant today. I think we should give Malouda and Kalou a game of halves every time around and I think it would bring the best of both of them.
What I am excited about most this season is the way we start our games. we were perennial cold starters with Jose and Avram and now with Scolari we suddenly seem to go off the blocks right from the word go.
The Scousers are bound to lose the tough away games and they've got a nice little group in CL. If we just keep the Arse at bay - you know what this season holds for us.
Common on you blues!

Not happy about J.T's sending off. Did you see his facial expression when he got a red card?! Totally unbelievable decision..that's bad refereeing!!! Ever likely Chelsea are considering an appeal..Can't believe he'll miss next Sunday's crucial match.

Agree that Robinho was a bit of a let down but all said and done, it was only his first game..Berbatosser was just as bad-if not worse-for Man Usa..He was crap at best!!

Lovely performance - we may not have the forwards, but with a midfield like ours I suspect it won't matter in 90% of games. Mikel is clearly one of the keys to our season - no coincidence that our two best performances have come when he has been on the pitch. Robinho looked OK but somewhat overpriced as many of us suspected he was and Citeh were pretty shambolic overall - it'll take far more than big pots of cash to put that right.

It is truly amazing that Halsey is still officiating at this level; he isn't biased, he is just a bad referee - the Melchiot / Hasselbaink mistaken identity farce, the sending off of Cudicini when he was bundled over the line by Dean "Union Jack" Windass and yesterday, where he got pretty much every big decision wrong - are just the examples of his poor judgement and lack of concentration involving us. I'm sure that other fans have similar tales of woe. Graham Poll was an egotist, no question, but overall he wasn't actually a bad referee despite some fairly high profile shockers. Halsey is basically Poll same egocentric character traits but with far less ability - a very dangerous cocktail for a top-flight referee.

I think we're back to the consistency of decisions JD, having watched the two red scum teams yesterday Vidic was only yellow carded for a similar offence. And to be honest I thought it should have been a red as Keane was in on goal and the nearest defender was behind Vidic.
Still you're correct, he is totally incompetent, and was to happy to blow his whistle against both teams for fairly borderline infringements.

Pretty much nails it Clive; not sure how the appeal will go - not sure of the interpretation, but if it is serious foul play rather than denying a goalscoring opportunity then we might struggle (be happy to hear from anyone who has a more authoritative voice on the subject though). If it is the latter, then Habs' point about Lampard's reading of the situation is spot on.

Great, 3 points and we are ahead of Man U ...!!!

Just to say my opinion about Zola : I read that some fans are maybe furios with him and that his great reputation will be ruined...Let him learn to be manager at West Ham and then for 4-5 years when Scolari retires and Zola learns some stuff, he could come to us!Don't blame him,please...

WKTBFFH

i agree. let Zola get the hang of managing in the BPL, and by the time Scolari retires, he'll be perfect.
and Halsey's bad, plain bad. he should've been demoted just like the Uriah Rennies and Andy d'Ursos. thats a pretty stupid and ridiculous refereeing howler. damn. at least we know for sure that the red scum will definitely miss one of their key defenders.

!!! yikes, i thought the site was dead the last few days, i had chelseablog bookmarked rather than the oleole url, and it just recently started sending you to an old front page of before the move to oleole! Didn't know what was going on :(

great game is was on saturday

Well done, plucky little Chelsea. Isn't it nice not to be the richest kid on the block any more? I dunno, maybe it isn't.

Anyway, I enjoyed the highlights last night.

Hello SedentaryDave,

Cheers - think we're pretty much happy for someone else to be the big bad guy buying success; interesting to see how Citeh (who do have a superb track record for ballsing things up - even more so than ours pre-Roman) handle it...

What's the general Hammers opinion on the appointment of our little legend as your new boss then?

It couldn't possibly happen, could it?

LINK

I would definitely prefer him to Mineiro, some 33 year old Brazilian reject. And he won't be cup tied and we would get to anger Liverpool, which is always a bonus.

Will Barry want to come to Stamford Bridge in the knowledge that he would a stopgap while Essien's out injured? He's no Sidwell. And January's a long way off.

Appiah's a better bet if we're desperate for a short-term replacement. He's only 27 too. (Anybody know why Fenerbahce released him?)

---

I still haven't seen all of yesterday's game, but a friend told me earlier that Malouda took a free kick and managed to play the ball to himself. Really? Says it all.

Hahahahahahahahahaha at Barry. We have no chance on getting him. If we are going to sign a new midfielder then it will be a free agent not someone who will cost at least £18m. Dont knock Mineiro, If you had seen him play then you would know hes a very solid player. Mikel has done a fine job against Portsmouth and again vs Cit-Eh. But I still think we need a new midfielder. If Obi gets injured then we are f*cked. So getting Mineiro or Appiah would be ideal.

Cheers Kaiser J.

I think I've mentioned before that I follow the Hammers from afar, which has been much the best way for a while now, but I have a source in the true believers. I'll ask him what the word on the street is.

it is very stupid to buy a replacement for essien and then sell him for 6 months.
we already have to many men in the middle it is idiotic to buy more midfielders...suicide.

Just let Mikel play instead of Essien and things will be fine.Everything else is total wasting of money.

*I still haven't seen all of yesterday's game, but a friend told me earlier that Malouda took a free kick and managed to play the ball to himself. Really? Says it all.*

Hi Nick, yes, It was embarassing. Frank ran over the ball but didn't touch it, Malouda then tapped the ball presumably confused , it ran about 2 meteres and then he hit it at goal. Comical.

Other than that, we were very impressive, although I'd have preferred the mancs to have drawn of beaten Liverpoll, because next week at Sb, they'll be right up for that game.

Little suspicious about Appiah - players that decent don't generally get released unless there is a problem and virtually every story I've read about him mentions the words "long term knee injury" which doesn't inspire confidence.

Barry - why would we bother? Really not that great a player and once you've added the inevitable Chelsea premium on top of the £18m or so Liverpool wouldn't pay, he'd be possibly more ridiculously priced than SWP. And as Nick says, why would he come here anyway?

Tony - you up for a beer before the United game? Will drop you a text.

Agree with JD..Barry is totally over-rated as a player..
Don't need him at Chelsea.
Don't want him either thanks..

This doesn't seem like good news:

LINK

"Halsey deemed Terry's foul on Jo to be serious foul play rather than a professional foul and he will have little hope of escaping a three game ban."

Serious foul play! For what. A shirt pull on the halfway line with Jo taking a few more steps forward before collapsing to the ground? Halsey's even more stupid than i thought.

The standard of refereeing seems to have got worse, and with the new 'respect' campaign, no-one can tell the refs that they've got something wrong. Just like David Moyes being sent to the stands for shouting at Alan Whiley, despite the ref making a total cockup of the penalty, or non-penalty. Gettng rid of TV screens in the dugout is one of the most ridiculous decisions those idiots at the FA ever made. They're just admitting that whenever they make a huge mistake, they don't want anyone else to see it on the screen. Imagine if Scolari had seen JT's sending off again in the dugout, he would have brought out another classic left-hook. What the FA are forgetting is that this new respect campaign and no TV screens enables refs to get away with making error after error, just like Halsey. They're also forgetting that for everyone in the stands, we've still got the giant screens to show up the stupid decisions of the refs. I can't wait for the return of Chelsea players surrounding the ref. It's one of our trademarks and i support the side wholeheartedly when they do it, especially when the refs have made a mistake. What's wrong with players arguing a wrong decision?

Ok, that's rant over. But if JT DOES get a 3 game ban, it'll be another example of the stupidity of those running football.

JD - yes, a beer sounds good. We've (the family) had a very narrow escape this weekend and I'm feeling rather subdued.

what is shaun wright phillips photo doing in this web page
(ballack swp ashley cole)
plz remove it

@Tony
That sounds rather serious mate, whatever it was I'm sure everyone on this blog will hope everything is OK now.

O.k, so I can only base my opinion on what MOTD and Skys 'Goals on Sunday' showed me, but - shock horror - Malouda looked, um, o.k.

Looks like we played some excellent stuff, had Lamps goal (in which Malouda managed to pass it to his feet no less !!!) been scored by Scholes or Stevie Me or Fabregas, we literally never would hear the end of it. As it is, it was a decent strike as Chelsea scored it.

I was full of pessimism before the game so am well pleased at the result. Robinhood scoring was always a given, but nice that we continued to play football and showed them they've got a long way to go before they can truly challenge us.

The JT decision was a farce, but by all accounts he'll be lucky to get off it. He faces a 3 match ban for serious foul play, and the appeal would only be successful if it was downgraded from a red to no booking at all. It warranted a yellow IMO, so no JT against ManUSA and 2 further league games.

I did see an interview with TSSO over the weekend where he says he's spoken to Kenyon and something should happen this week regarding an Essien replacement, so it's either the ageing Miniero, or Steven 'my knees fine, honest' Appiah. I guess you can't be picky as they're free agents but dont we have any reserves / youth team players we can play in some of the less difficult games ???

Has to be said on the JT saga, despite the inconsistency Halsey had displayed all game it was also poor judgement from JT himself - 3-1 up, on the halfway line, Carvalho covering (think Cole was making his way back too); had it been Richards on Anelka we'd have all been howling for a red. Jo looked like he might have stayed on his feet, but it was a cynical (and unneccessary) challenge at best.

Tony - hope all is OK - catch up with you later.

Missed the game cos of a weddning, but just got this from a very impressed City friend of mine:


'Went to the game on Saturday: I thought Chelsea were frighteningly good.
Movement, ball retention/circulation fantastic. It was a pleasure to see
Deco in the flesh, though he was upstaged by Lampard, who was magisterial
and took his goal beautifully. Oh, and Carvalho is the best centre half in
the world. We played well in patches and should be good enough for 5th or
6th. You'll win the title this season if Deco and Carvalho stay fit.'

Regarding Terry: it looks like he's going to have adjust his game. People always criticise his pace, but it has never really been important before because Chelsea tend to defend so deep. These days it looks like we're going to be playing a lot further up the pitch so he's going to be exposed like that a lot more.

Think Vidic is going to be a bigger miss for United, because we have decent cover in Alex and they've got, well, who exactly?

Check this out!

Mourinho told West Ham to poach Clarke from Chelsea

LINK

Fair point KJII, it seems to be a weakness that teams are exploiting if they can isolate JT upfield.

However Halsey is setting the bar bar quite high if he deems that to be serious foul play. Particularly when his colleague in the Poo v U game gave Vidic a yellow when last man only 10 yards outside the box and another yellow for leading with his elbow.

The FA will completely ignore this of course, Halsey will be backed to the hilt and in 3 weeks time when, as some poor bastard is left wandering around on bleeding stumps while the ground staff hoover up what used to be his knees, out will come out a yellow on the grounds that he didn't consider it serious foul play.

Once more we are about to be treated to the unseemly spectacle of the FA and their Match Officials all trying to back into the same corner like the National Homophobic Alliance inadvertently wandering into a gay bar on a night out.

It does bring to mind the thought that certain players (and I don't mean Chlesea players) for whatever reason, seem to attract attention from officials.

It also knocks on the head the theory that the England captain can get away with murder, as was the thought when Lennon (I think it was he) had the cheek to try and see if Alan Shearer really had smelly feet and was accidentally studded in the head.....if I recollect the incident correctly.

Still musn't let this overshadow a good away performance.

I do agree that JT's attempted rugby tackle was totally unnecessary, but have to say that it was probably just as much instinctive as it was cynical, much like some hand balls in certain situations. I do agree with BB; the bar has now been set quite high, but we all know that there will be similar tackles and scenarios over the course of the season that will only get a yellow card.
Dermot Gallagher on SSN sports news this morning said the decision was harsh, and if Halsey reviews it from the different angles that replays will give, he will see he probably made a mistake and only should have issued a yellow.

I loved the report.
Just a suggestion: If in addition to redirection from the old page their can be a text message on the old site home page "Blog moved to ole ole......." it will be good for many. currently the previos url does not redirectnor do any posts open. If some one comes after a gap its difficult to figure out what happened to the blog.

cheers

@ Mark

Should have said earlier that I enjoyed the report and I assume you will give us an overview of the Lehman Bros/Merril Lynch/AIG situation shortly.

I believe AIG are looking for an injection of £40 billion...seems rather an overreaction to any early season reversal at Anfield...I suppose they could ask them herbets from Abu Dhabi......

2 items that caught the eye today....

"Even if the industry whispers linking Manchester City with a move for Peter Kenyon lead to nothing, there is much informal advice that the Chelsea chief executive could pass on to the club he supported as a boy."

The Times

I thought he was a Manure fan. Could it really happn? I suppose that garden of his could do with a bit more attention..its been a while..


And this rather confusing piece of journalism....

"Even the silky skills of superstars Kaka, Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko were unable to prevent a 2-0 loss at Genoa as Milan recorded their worst start to a league season since 1986." :-?

The Telegraph

Kenyon to Man City. Interesting. You can (almost) imagine his interview for the job......

[In a Troy McClure from The Simpsons stylee]

"Hi, I'm Peter Kenyon.

You may remember me from such elongated and drawn-out transfer sagas such as Ronaldinho to Manchester United and Robinho to Chelsea.

So if you have a player you REALLY want, I'll happy get the deal almost done, say 95%, then get all cocky and go on holiday / start selling his new shirt before the deal is actually signed.

Hire me. I dare you."

@43 BlueBayou - not sure what confused you in the Milan article - possibly the use of "silky skills" in the same sentence as slow, has-been mercenaries like Ronaldinho and Sheva?

Speaking of "slow, has-been mercenaries" - I see Citeh are finding their true level of realistic January recruits already:

LINK

@BBD #45

yes I was thrown by the silky skills/sheva interface

West Ham have appointed Steve Clarke as first-team coach after a compensation package was agreed with Chelsea

Kaiser J said "What's the general Hammers opinion on the appointment of our little legend as your new boss then?"

Having consulted my source, and generalising wildly, we seem to be caught somewhere between massive affection for the man himself - which seems to be something that transcends the usual rivalries - and uncertainty about his qualities as a coach. AND a lot of scepticism about the qualities of the players he'll have to work with. Here's a pithy quote:

"Zola needs to hit the ground running (I wonder if he realised how extraordinarily mediocre and/or injury prone some of our squad actually are ?)"

So there you go. I just hope he doesn't regret it.

I have to admit I'm somewhat perplexed (which isn't unusual for me as most of you will know) as to why he has taken a backward step in his career. I think Sendentarydave has hit the nail on the head with regard the quality at Wet Spam, and he's only going there to basically do what he was doing at Chelsea.

If he had taken the job as manager then you could understand, well I wish him good luck and only hope he doesn't live to regret it if things go pear shaped

@Clive
I have been thinking about Clarke's move the same thing. I do not see this move as move forward, so why? Very strange.

According to this Stevie C will be getting less than half his current £800k at West Ham:

LINK

I guess he really must have felt completely sidelined by LGF and his assistants -and dents the mean, money-obsessed Scotsman cliche.... though I guess we could all stagger through somehow on say £300k a year ;-)

though I guess we could all stagger through somehow on say £300k a year ;-)

@BBD
I could barely make ends meet on that pittance! Greed is good!! Money is good!!:-)

Perhaps it's just that Franco is so adorable, everyone wants to work with him.

Or maybe he's actually Jesus. He phoned up Clarkey and said "Come-a widda-da me, an' I gonna make-a you fisher of-a-da men", and Clarkey just dropped what he was doing and went to be his disciple.

Ideally I think we want him to do ok, but not so well that he develops some sort of bond with the Spammers. Then when Large Phil is banned for life for throttling Mark Halsey with a tracksuit top, he and Clarkey can return in glory.

I read that Antonio Pintus, our old fitness trainer from the Guillt/Vialli days, has also gone Spamwards.

Look for them to sign Michael Duberry in the January window. Maybe Jody Morris too, wherever he is now. They'll probably win a cup this season by beating Middlesboro 2-0 as well.

Look for them to sign Michael Duberry in the January window. Maybe Jody Morris too, wherever he is now. They'll probably win a cup this season by beating Middlesboro 2-0 as well.

Thats the secret plan that Wet Spam have, they're going to use the old Chelsea as a template, but they need Master Bates there to make it work properly. They run up massive debts, and then get bought out by some rich oligarch and go onto world footballing domination, it's all making sense now.

@43 BlueBayou - Rumours are that AIG will declare bankruptcy later today. United better get the needle and thread out, sew some patches on their shirts a la West Ham.

Nice to see Spurs looking up at us from the bottom of the table..... Long may it continue!

Can somebody please post the lnik to the Chelseablog 'Ole Ole' Fantasy Football page, as I can't seem to find it and it has gone from the top of the blogpage...Cheers!

Been off the internet radar for a while but did get to see the game live on Sunday morning and have to agree our best performance so far at least for first 70 minutes or so until JT got red-carded. My immediate reaction to the incident was shock and haven't changed my mind since. I know its a tough job at times for refs but Halsey got that decision badly wrong and he somehow missed an obvious push on Anelka.

Despite those decisions we beat Citeh at a canter with some slick passing and solid defence. It will be interesting to see how Ballack fits in when he gets back because the midfield of Mikel, Lampard, Deco and Cole appear to have the ideal balance of defensive and attacking midfield qualities.

Malouda certainly was trying... very trying... was very surprised to see him have 2 headers and clearly.. so was he judging by his efforts. Anelka took his goal well but definitely should have done better in the first half, but all in all I thought this was Anelka's best game and clearly he is benefiting from a run in the team.

Last word is for Lampard. All those having a go at the beginning of the season about the worth and length of his contract... His display makes all those concerns irrelevant. If he can stay fit for the majority of the next 5 years then there is no player in the EPL at the moment who deserves it more. His ability to read the game both defensively and as an attacking midfielder is priceless and his partnership with Deco and Mikel in this game showed the value of a balanced midfield. With either Ballack or Essien added then we have the strongest midfield in the world at the moment.

Interesting article on the aforementioned super Frank...nice comment about Stevie Me's priorities...

LINK

Greenlight,

"Nice to see Spurs looking up at us from the bottom of the table..... Long may it continue!"

Just a shame their solitary point was gained against us.

I've kind of been oblivious to the fact the Champs League is back tonight. I'm predicting a 2 - 1 win, but we'll go 1 - 0 down and then come back to win.

I like this quote from Laurent Blanc about chelsea on soccernet...

"On their weaknesses we have not spent much time because there are very few, on their strengths we had to stop looking at them or we would never have got to bed at night..." he said.

Did I see correctly that Robinho swapped his shirt with Deco at half time ? If so maybe he realised that his Man city shirt was too big and he felt Deco's would be a better fit... or did he believe he was going to be subbed at half time because he had run out of puff...

@ Nick 55

Forget the needle and thread. I think a Velcro shirt would be a great idea. This would allow detachable sponsor logos and indeed players names on the back. Thus if Deco leaves us I only need to purchase the "L" and I've got a shirt suitable for Joe or Ashley.

Extending this concept further the seams could also be Velcro so if a players shirt is grabbed by an opponent it would tear off, Full Monty style, hence not impeding progress.

Cracking stuff here, but Limestreetblowers impression of Zola has to be the winner.

Scolari was on good form in the press conference:

Scolari on the Champions League: 'But it is not only this competition I want to win and the players will say the same.'

With a nod towards midfielder John Mikel Obi alongside him, the Chelsea boss added: 'Ask John which competition he wants to win and he will say, "All of them". Yes or no?'

Grinning, Obi hastily agreed with his manager, and Scolari added: 'That's good, because I'd kill him if he didn't say that.'

"but we'll go 1 - 0 down and then come back to win."

@Fiftee
I think you should be the new advertising voice of Prozac, they could do a before and after on your mental state when the course of drugs have finished, they have the benchmark template of your downbeat mood from your posts.

And I am joking, but your pessimism with a little bit of optimism does makes me smile. :-)

Afternoon all,

Appears that the Euro fun and games starts again tonight - liked the comment from Laurent Blanc on our strengths and weaknesses... 3-0 tonight, don't see us having too much trouble with Bordeaux, reasonably decent side that they are.

The Steve Clarke thing is all very odd - totally overblown by the media in my opinion; just sounded like a standard football / contract story which followed the usual script. He resigned, we didn't want to accept, bit of haggling and it all got sorted for an amount roughly equivalent to the remainder of his contract. Lots of 'quotes' and 'a source said' (i.e. absolutely nothing direct or verifiable) stating that we'd asked for silly money etc., but was there really anything in this other than another Chelsea / money related story inflated way beyond the reality? Nothing to see here...?

He's obviously keen to a) work with Franco and b) possibly to manage himself one day. Maybe somewhere along the line he thought that if Zola doesn't work out, I'm ideally placed to step into the hot seat?

Finally, amusing but ultimately meaningless stat of the day:

Hamburg (managed by Martin Jol, sacked by Spurs); top of the Bundesliga, 3 wins, 1 draw, no defeats.

Spurs (managed by Jol’s replacement, Juande Ramos); bottom of the Premier League, 0 wins, 1 draw, 3 defeats.

*chuckle*

Clive,

I'm not sure it would work, my temporary state of pessimism extends even further when we're winning games.

If we're 1 - 0 up with 10 minutes left, then I tell anyone listening (and those that aren't) that we'll definitely concede; if we're chasing a game I'm convinced we'll only draw etc.

Of course, with Chelsea being so utterly magnificent all the time, they invariably hold on; score equalizers or even winners and thus it makes me feel better. It's a negativity thing - if I maintain everything will end in failure and it doesn't, I'm cheered up. But only after the final whistle.

On the Clarke front, I'd like to extend my thanks to him for his valuable - and it has been valuable - input in his time as coach. Was a great servant to the club both as a player and in his coaching role.

It seems to me the press are blowing it out of proportion quite a bit. CFC were well within their rights to demand a fair settlement in order that he could leave, and why anyone is surprised he's taken a pay cut is a mystery.

Here's a genuine guy who's clearly made a decision of where he wants his career to go and is proving that money isn't everything.

So Clarkey - good luck. Until we play you. Then you're going daaahhhhnnnn.

Can't let the day pass without noting the JFH announced his retirement yesterday (cue jokes about Jimmy having looked retired throughout his career). I liked him, I know he could drive us mad, but he did score some goals.

In my personal 'what if?' file is that moment when he headed wide just after coming on in the way leg at Monaco. I think Claudio feels the same.

Thanks Jimmy and Good Luck.

@ KJ_II

'don't see us having too much trouble with Bordeaux'

I agree provided you keep it at the right temperature, give it a quarter turn every half a century and don't cork it...

Commentators Corner

Expecting lots of references to vintage performances and they will be hoping that someone has a head wound tonight so they can talk about "the claret"... ho ho

and finally

I heard the first mention of "putting a shift in" for this season when Phil Brown did a post match interview at the weekend. I feel the season is now truly underway.

CHELSEA WIN JT APPEAL!

We must have the best lawyers in the world. To get it demoted from a red to no card, not even a yellow was a great achievement.

Fergie must be pissed. No Vidic or Carrick for them on Sunday, whilst we have a full squad, apart from Essien.

Watching Villa last night, they were very impressive. Wouldn't mind poaching Ashley Young in January to help on the wings.

JT's ban overturned, my sources say...

Glad to see common sense has prevailed, I suppose if this respect initiative is going to work then officials have to make sure it's given back to players when mistakes are made.

And just to echo BlueBayou's point above about Jimmy F-H, all the best to him in his retirement (or whatever he's going to get up to).

Hat-trick against Spurs - heavenly stuff...

JFH is definitely one of my all-time favourite Chelsea players.

The partnership of JFH and Gudjohnsen was simply magnificent at times.

JFH scored 87 goals in 177 games in total, 70 in 136 domestic league games, according to Wikipedia.

A few YouTube videos featuring JFH:

Montage LINK

JT's got off !!!!!

LINK

Let the flood-gates open.

"He only got let off 'cos he's England captain".

"Chelsea get away with everything"

"He's a thug who should be banned for life"

Etc. etc. Repeat to fade.

I was thinking this morning about those times when a player just clicks, can't stop scoring. Ronaldo had it last season; Drogba had it the season before; but when Eidur and Jimmy had that season together... bloody brilliant.

Also refused to celebrate when he scored against us for Charlton. And absolute proper Chelsea legend.

Oh, and great result on the appeal. Isn't that the third time Halsey has had a red card against Chelsea overturned? Very suspicious pattern of behaviour, surely?

And to continue on the Spurs theme, if you like pretty colours and graphs then this along with any hat trick makes pleasant viewing. LINK

I bet there aren't so many smug Spurs fans around at the moment, after the gloating we endured from their draw against us, long may it continue.

Glass Half Full - Well done to the FA for showing common sense perhaps its a new dawn of fairer treatment for players in these situations.

Glass Half Empty - They were going to struggle to uphold a straight red and 3 matches when the same punishment was meted out to Newcastle's Guthrie for what amounted to assault and left the Hull player with a broken leg. I'm sure the legal eagles would have had that up their sleeve.

(it goes without saying that the glass has a good wine from the Bordeaux region in it)

On JFH - those numbers are impressive. I always remember everyone saying 'we need someone who'll score over 20 a season' JFH turns up bags over 20 but we're still not happy - thats us fans for you

Hello Pete

Interesting about Halsey - doubt there are many clubs that have that bad a relationship with one referee. Think he's more rubbish than biased, but I always remember his post match interview after the Windass / Carlo incident. Windass was referred to as "Dean" whereas Carlo was "the Chelsea keeper".

Wasn't he also the ref at the (infamous) City v Gillingham play-off?

Jimmy & Eidur partnership was a corker - their season together was unbelievable - also interesting in terms of how strike partnerships can affect the balance of the team; did check the stats once and I think that the rest of the team combined scored less than 10 goals in the league that season. When it worked (more often than not) it was brilliant, but when it didn't we were a bit short of options overall.

Jonny, if three United players had had their red cards rescinded from the same ref, I think we'd all know about it... Given that cards are rarely overturned, this has to be a record. The Boro one in particular was a diabolical decision and almost provoked a riot.

Very true... Ferguson would have had it raised in Parliament by now. I do remember the atmosphere at that Boro game become a little heated, to say the least.

Am loving the match report!

And JT's rightly had the red rescinded. I'm glad; he's got a point to prove to the Manchester Utd fans (ie the londoners) and I'm so sick of hearing my friends sing "Viva John Terry" ironically. Fools.

Just glanced at the BBC to see what the latest on the JT situation was and it appears that it came down to Halsey's classification of the incident as serious foul play, which is apparently (according to the Beeb report) defined in the rules as

when a player "uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is play".

Now whatever the incident was it was not the above. The problem for the FA was that they could not possibly classify the incident as that and therefore had to rescind the red. They couldn't downgrade the card as there is no yellow for that offence.

Hasley well and truly f**ked up by not knowing his rules rather than making an error of judgement (e.g. believing JT was last man), which while it might be wrong is in some way understandable. He left the FA with nowhere to go.

You do wonder if he had something against JT as it seems that in his mind he was nailing him with something for which there was nothing but a red. Or perhaps having realised he'd cocked up went for that option in the hope of covering his arse. Who knows?

Amusingly there are over 500 comments on the Beeb's website in less than 2 hours. I sampled the ranting, foaming madness briefly and it is obvious that no-one has read the FA's decision properly or has made an effort to think it through. I in common with great swathes of the football watching public don't really know the fine detail of the rules and it is cases like this that really show that.

Seconded on all that BlueBayou - have to say I thought we'd struggle to get it overturned but when you read the reasoning it makes perfect sense. Halsey's error (for which he clearly had no justification) was the downfall of the whole thing.

Despite the ranting, foaming madness (as you eloquently described it!) from the masses about lots of preconceived nonsense which has no basis in fact, whilst I'm not clear on all the rules, I do know for a fact that the FA do have a series of strict procedures to follow in disciplinary cases which are very much grounded in law and the legal system - if they can't justify a referee's actions against the established principles, it will be challenged by the club and their lawyers very quickly.

I've just noticed the ITV scheduling for tonights CL games. I'm baffled as to why our game is relegated to ITV4 while those bin dippers are getting star billing on ITV1
I thought it was us who were playing at home, and were the current favourites to win it. Or perhaps ITV are looking for the fairystory and love fest of yet another historic night from those loveable rogues.

Good see they've done the right thing with the JT red card.
CL has sort of crept up on me like it has for some others on here, but will be interested to see Bordeaux for the first time.
Gabriel Obertan and Cavenaghi - two in particular.


JFH partnership was world class... scored plenty of crackers. Good luck to him in his post football life - let's hope though he doesn't pop up on tv too often playing the role of a 'pundit'.

Well done to J.T for winning his appeal..it should never of gone this far in the first place. The decision was scandalous and Halsey deserves to be hung up by his undercrackers!! Providing anyone could find them first!!

Also, all the best to Jimmy Floyd in his retirement, i've always had a soft spot for him and always will..

I foresee a 2-0 Chels win tonight..

Good luck boys x x

Also, all the best to Jimmy Floyd in his retirement, i've always had a soft spot for him and always will..

Would your soft spot be in the region where Halseys undercrackers might be Lolli?

I'll get my tin hat and coat

@ CLIVE

You have such a one track mind!!!! :)

Good reault for the boys tonight, even though Bordeux didn't bother to turn up. Great passing & communication, we held on to the ball well and didn't give them a chance..Poor Petr must've been bored rigid with nothing to do all night!

Good to see Herr Ballack back at last..also great to see Anelka on the scoresheet again..fab goals also from Frank (MOTM), Joey & MALOUDA!!??!!! His goal was awesome, i'm still in a state of shock to be quite honest!

Well done Chels..x
Bring on Man Usa...

Yep, well put Lolli -- "passing & communication". This is what shines through for me, even in a routine win against a poor team. I keep having this weird recurring nightmare that we were once managed by an unqualified bumbling fool, under whose direction the team never seemed sure of its shape and its basic procedures. It's good to know that all that was just a dream, and we do actually play with visible organisation. Everyone's always where they're supposed to be, everyone knows what they're doing.

The only problems I could see were --

Deco: had an off night. A couple of nearly perfect passes, but quite a lot of ragged ones, and far too much losing possession.

Anelka. I just don't think he has enough to trouble a competent pair of centre halves. His movement isn't clever enough to make space for himself or others, he tends to stop dead when he comes deep to receive the ball, and he's not strong enough to stay where he is and be target man. He tries, and he can shoot, but I don't think he's going to be a force for us. On the other hand, it looks like His Bigness admires him, or is at least willing to keep trying him until Drogba's fit (rather than having a look at Di Santo). And His Bigness clearly knows what he's doing, 'cuz he's sticking with Malouda, who was, let's face it, excellent tonight.

Other big plusses --

Ballack: instantly cured the sluggishness of the first 15 mins of the second half. If he and Deco are competing for one place, as I suspect they are, it's going to be very interesting. They'll both have to play really really well to keep the other out.

The New Frank: not sure I can put my finger on it but there's something different about the way he's playing in His Bigness's team. Not always looking for the diagonal ball over the top, or the straight pass forward through the middle. He seems to be pulling strings a bit more subtly.

Riccy: Riccy is God. And oh, the stuff he gets away with. Perhaps because he looks so unassuming and monastic.

Anelka seems best in a counterattacking offense - good for the late goals or the ones against the run of play - but not as the focus of a controlling attack. Perhaps this is why he always seems so good at the lesser teams.

@LTB

One assumes your observation on Riccy's monasticism is driven by his emerging tonsure as those once abundant locks are disappearing?

Yes I thought Malouda was good tonight. He and Cole seem to be developing an understanding.

The Teutonic One certainly added something on his return. The word imperious always seems to come to mind.


And finally from the "They certainly do things differently over there" and "Why don't you just say whats on your mind" corner

LINK

Happy with this strong performance against a poor French team
Our two goals from Lamps and Joe headers just show their awful defending !
Good practice for sunday ...
Hope Drogs will be ready to start and Ballack too
We need those big guys against United although Malouda improved so far
Lime, I don't think Ballack and Deco compete as Scolari
can put both in midfield with success, he already did it recently

I was generally happy with the performance but pleased to see that Big Phil was unhappy with the second half performance, which until the last 10 minutes was a bit lethargic.

Malouda and Anelka seem to be gaining confidence from their extended run in the team. Another week for Drogs to get back to full fitness, I would bring him on as an impact sub against the mancs, if needed, however, I don't think he will be needed.

One thing I don't understand is Scolari giving Belletti a run around every game for 20 minutes or so. What is the point? He should only be brought on if Bosingwa can't play and even then I'd prefer Ferreira who is more solid defensively. Why is Ivanovic never used?

I disagree. Under Scolari, Belletti is being used more often* as a defensive replacement at wing/central midfielder under what seems to be a diamond 4-4-2, and it seems to be a position at which he's doing very well.


* aside from the one time he was deployed at holding defensive midfielder and kept Modric fairly well in check

beletti seems like a perfect utility player, when we bought him he could already play on the right wing and right back, now he is is a defensive midfielder too, and he can strike the ball as well as anyone in our team so i'm sure he could play more forward too if needed! seems a shame a younger player like ivanovic doesn't get to play though, we know he can cross it too so the wing wouldn't be a problem.

Haven't seen the game yet but a solid start against a second rate team. The impressive part is scoring late goals when the game was won. Clearly Scolari is instilling the desire to bury teams which is something the TSO did not seem to aspire too.

It would also be ironic after the lashing Malouda has received on this blog, that he should come good and be a useful member of the team. I will be interested to see his movement in this game but I did notice in the Citeh game he was much more mobile rather than sticking to the left wing. The headers in the penalty box are an example of him looking to get more in the action. Clearly this has been Scolari's advice and it can only mean good things for him and the team.

I am more convinced now that Scolari's main game plan is to play a central striker with 3 mobile attacking 'midfielders' such as Cole, Malouda, Kalou and Deco supported by 2 central midfielders such as Lampard and Mikel and flying fallbacks to add extra width. This means 3-2-4-1 formation with either fallback supporting the attack and then when we loose the ball and have to defend we revert back to 4-5-1. Crisp passing, movement and communication is what is required to make this transition from defence to attack work quickly.

Hope this continues... !

KTBFFH

On Ivanovic, I guess he hasn't played yet because he hasn't shown enough in training to impress TSSO to get a start or even a place on the bench. Kalou also appears to be down the pecking order for now. Up to these players plus the other younger team members to put their heads down and show the boss in training they deserve a spot in the team ahead of the current players who have played so far this season.

chelsea shud look for Matias Fernandez of Villareal. He is better than robinho... He can play any midfield position and also gud as a support striker. his composure, passing, technique, pace, shooting, creativity, dribbling skills, crossing, vision... just awsome! he's also like to defend, very smart dan tough tackling. When the ball on his feet, its like the combination of christiano ronaldo and roberto carlos. He's still at age 22...

a great additional for chelsea.