Chelsea Blog

Shorts: Injury crisis; Transfer rumours; Terry 'one hell of a footballer'; Dirtiest players; Sky Sports for £6 a month

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:58:04 -0600

I've recovered sufficiently from a bout of suspected ~~Swine~~ Man Flu to drag my emaciated (yeah right) carcass to the computer to see what I have missed in the last few days.

Here's a lengthy selection of links for your clicking pleasure (if you haven't read them already).

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Injuries. Frank Lampard tore the outside of the thigh muscle on his left leg while training with England in Doha on Thursday and is expected to be out for three weeks. That would rule him out of the Premier League games with Wolves and Arsenal, the Champions League tie at Porto and the Carling Cup quarter-final at Blackburn Rovers in the first week in December.

Also while on England duty, John Terry suffered swelling to his ankle after blocking a shot from Jermaine Jenas in training. He hopes to be fit to play against Wolves on Saturday, "fingers crossed."

Ashley Cole has a depressed fracture of the tibia, which he aggravated in the win over Manchester United. It is unclear how long he will be sidelined for.

Jose Bosingwa has been ruled out for around three months after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

Didier Drogba withdrew from the Ivory Coast's final World Cup qualifier with a chest injury, the result of Jonny Evans' kung fu kick.

I think that's it.

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Following England's 1-0 defeat to Brazil on Saturday, Terry claimed Brazil are nothing for England to fear.

"I don't think Brazil are anything to really worry about. They are a very good side, I am not saying they are not. We have to look at our own strengths and qualities and I think we can mix it with the best sides in the world. Listen, they've got their weaknesses, like we have."

Hmm... I would fear any team if I had the likes of Wes Brown and Jermaine Jenas in my squad.

In the Guardian, a look back through the decades at the past meetings between Engalnd and Brazil.

The ten best England v. Brazil matches.

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After our win against United, Martin Samuel waxed lyrical about Terry in his Daily Mail column.

Here is a man who rises above adversity. Here is a man who overcomes. Here is a man who would have studied a seedy tale about his father selling cheap cocaine in an Essex public house, before going out and doing his job superlatively, winning a crucial match for his team.

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World Cup grass isn't green enough.

"The World Cup is a jamboree which will make money for a few South Africans who are rich already. It serves purely to show the Europeans that the natives are still here to service their playground. Taking our grass away is the biggest insult to date."

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Ashes and World Cup qualifiers should go free-to-air, says review.

A long-awaited independent review has today recommended that Ashes cricket, international football World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches, Wimbledon tennis, the Open golf, the Rugby World Cup and rugby union internationals in Wales be added to the list of events protected for live broadcast on free to air television [in the UK].

TV 'crown jewels' plan draws backlash from governing bodies.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has claimed plans to add Ashes cricket, home and away international football qualifiers, Wimbledon and Open golf to the list of events reserved for live broadcast on free-to-air TV will have a "disastrous impact" on grassroots funding for every sport.

The Guardian's David Donn says the decision to strengthen the crown jewels is a bold one.

Personally, I would love to see the Ashes and every England World Cup qualifier back on terrestrial TV, but losing the Winter Olympics to pay-per-view channels would be disappointing. I rarely get enthused ahead of time about either the summer or winter Olympics but always end up watching every minute of TV coverage that I can.

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Kerching! When sport sold out.

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The Daily Mail reports that the Carling Cup Final, Community Shield and other showpiece matches may be taken abroad.

"I can envisage that a cup game will travel one day - the Community Shield or the Carling Cup Final. The Italian Super Cup [Italy's Community Shield] was played in Beijing this year. It is a better way not to destroy integrity and tradition."

I guess it's better than a "39th game", but still.

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With January approaching, and the transfer ban temporarily lifted, rumours have started in earnest.

Everton turn down £14m Chelsea bid to lure rising star Rodwell.

Manchester United are also reported to be interested in Rodwell.

In the last week, we've also been linked with Wanderson, Franck Ribery, Sergio Aguero, Marouane Chamakh, Pato and Angel di Maria.

Watch the best YouTube moments from Sergio Aguero.

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James Corrigan in the Independent says that Gael Kakuta is an innocent victim of the Lens transfer saga and should not be punished.

Kakuta should never have been punished. In society, we don't punish children in the same manner in which we punish adults, and there's a very good reason for that. Their crimes are unwitting, they are not premeditated, they are not understood. All three apply to Kakuta in one sense, but palpably don't in another. Because Kakuta never signed anything personally. Minor or not, he did nothing at all wrong. But then, someone might have. So go ahead Fifa, make an example of the case, of the agent, of the football club. But do not make an example of the player. He was just a boy who wanted to play football. What are Fifa there for if not to help boys play football? They have acted contrary to the premise for their very existence.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has named Ashley Cole as the toughest opponent he played against in the Premier League.

Who can forget Ashley's "I've got him in my pocket" motion to the Old Trafford crowd a couple of seasons back.

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Didier Drogba is donating the £3m fee he will receive for becoming the new face of Pepsi to charity to help build a hospital in his homeland, the Ivory Coast.

Drogba says his son helped him change his attitude on the pitch.

Michael Essien is setting up a Foundation to help the village where he grew up in Ghana.

What a bunch of mercenaries Premier League footballers are.

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Nicolas Anelka put in a Man of the Match performance and scored the only goal of the game as France dashed Irish hopes of reaching the World Cup.

Anelka was France's guiding light in a roaming role that saw him drift back to the halfway line, around the right flank, and up to the fringes of the box. When he was in possession there was a palpable sense that the Irish defence were on edge. Anelka relished possession, enjoyed teasing anyone who tried to take the ball off him and time and again waltzed into space with an almost invisible dip of the shoulder. It was a sign of his menace that, when Robbie Keane chased him like a puppy and eventually came away with his prize, the crowd were overjoyed.

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Michael Ballack - "Style: Right foot - typically ruthless German engineering" - and Gianfranco Zola - "Style: Right foot - never used explosive power, just relied on unerring accuracy" are listed at numbers 46 and 42 in the Daily Mail's greatest penalty kings top 50. Frank Lampard - "Style: Right foot - four, maybe five steps and then low to the left or right corner - always with real power" - is at number six.

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Carlo Cudicini is making a good recovery following surgery on injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.

The Daily Mail has pictures of the scene of the accident.

I'm sure we all wish Carlo well.

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Jose Mourinho says Chelsea lacked stability and is eyeing a return to the Premier League.

"I always knew Chelsea lacked the normal English culture of stability. I was never under any illusions. I understood the personality of Roman Abramovich and the culture of the people around him. I knew it was not a job for 10 years."

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I'm sure you've all seen the Elizabeth Lambert YouTube video by now. In light of Lambert's own take on the dark arts of defending, the Independent lists the dirtiest players in football. Unsurprisingly, Chopper Harris is included.

Ron Harris: The Chelsea defender's reputation as a dirty player isn't helped by his nickname Ron 'Chopper' Harris. His most notorious display came in the 1970 FA Cup Final, a game that has gone down in legend as one of the most physical of all time. The game went to a replay and Harris' tackle on Eddie Gray after just eight minutes left the Leeds playmaker a virtual passenger for the rest of the match - which Chelsea would go on to win 2-1.

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In Saudi Arabia last weekend, Al Hilal's Nawaf Al Abed scored what is reputed to be the world’s fastest goal - in two seconds.

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Mullery, Dalglish, Ball, Jennings, Lineker... the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the old Home International tournament.

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Alex Ferguson will be forced to speak to the BBC under new Premier League rules.

Something to look forward to.

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Last but not least, the best news of the week - if you're a UK iPhone owner who doesn't subscribe to Sky Sports. Sky launched their Sky Mobile TV News and Sports app for the iPhone at the end of October, which allows you to watch Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra as well as ESPN live on your iPhone for the princely sum of £6 a month. The equivalent Sky TV/Sky Player Online package costs £43.00 a month.

Watching live football on a screen the size of a large matchbox might not appeal to everyone. But if you're like me and refuse to pay the Dirty Digger's extortionate prices to watch a handful of football matches every month, choosing instead to watch them either in the pub or online in applications like SopCast, then the new app is nothing short of brilliant - and it costs less than the price of two pints of lager every month.

I watched Time of Our Lives with Ron Harris, David Webb and Peter Bonetti in the app in bed last week, and the Republic of Ireland v. France World Cup qualifier on Saturday. The quality is great - compared to SopCast it's like watching high definition TV - and if you're one of the first 150,000 people to sign up you get the first three months free. What's not to like?

Premier League: Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester United... Newspaper reaction, Goal video, Match report

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 17:24:18 -0600

Newspaper reports

The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: "The only aspect of this fixture that lived up to expectation was the contentiousness. The Premier League leaders, Chelsea, moved five points clear of Manchester United with a goal of murky origins. Darren Fletcher wrongly had a foul awarded against him in the 76th minute and from Frank Lampard's free-kick John Terry headed home, although Didier Drogba may also have got a touch."

The Times, Oliver Kay: "As the ska sound of Madness reverberated around a joyous Stamford Bridge yesterday, the beat was almost too much for John Terry to resist. Having taken his team not only one step but five points beyond Manchester United, the Chelsea captain looked ready to burst into dance, but instead he settled for a broad grin, a swagger and a couple of kisses blown to someone special in the crowd."

Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: "Terry played well, ignoring the morning’s distressing headlines about his father’s alleged activities to stand firm in the face of the Rooney-inspired storm, again protecting a goal that has now not been breached at the Bridge for 872 minutes. The way Terry shepherded Rooney away from goal midway through the first half was a masterpiece of intelligent defending, echoing Franco Baresi at his very best."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "Nicolas Anelka and John Terry can argue about who is the hero of a tight and toughly-contested match at Stamford Bridge, the captain and the Golden Boot holder both in the frame for a second-half header from a free-kick that divided the teams."

The goal

76' Anelka

That was the week that was

As ever, it has been another reasonably eventful week down at the [insert dull but expensive blue-chip corporate behemoth name] @ Stamford Bridge (hey, get used to it).

Carlo Ancelotti raised a quizzical eyebrow at news of the temporary suspension of our Kakuta-inspired transfer ban, insisting that there was no rush to dip into the scrap and shopping trolley-strewn waters of the January window. He’s probably right; our January purchase record is hardly inspiring and, in the circumstances, the prices are likely to be more City than CFC.

Meanwhile, over in the boardroom, Ron Gourlay decided it was time to announce his arrival. He slipped perfectly into Peter Kenyon’s recently vacated cashmere codpiece by insisting on a couple of Champions League titles in the next five years or so. Chelsea fans winced, hacks smirked and Carlo Ancelotti puckered. Probably.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Following an entertaining excursion to Madrid which sealed our Big Cup last sixteen spot, Ancelotti faced his first Premiership showdown with Fergie, whose increasingly angry demeanour is becoming more angst-ridden teenage rebel than Machiavellian football manager. I’m certain that if some Sky hack just asked him “What are you upset about, Sir Alex?”, the old goat would turn his collar up and sneer “Whaddya got?”

The game

Being entirely honest, trying to conjure up any kind of flowing prose about a game like that is about as easy as reconstructing a life-size replica of the Bayeux tapestry with dried dog shit and pipecleaners. I’ve been to more exciting health and safety briefings.

United’s approach was a crowded but efficient midfield and a formation that looked fairly 4-6-0 at times, Cole and Ivanovic were kept in check whilst Rooney raced around with the energy of a man who hasn’t yet experienced the joyous and exhausting business of a new baby vomiting over you at some unholy hour of the night. It was neither pretty nor engaging and with only the odd half chance appearing in the gloom of a fairly dour midfield scrap, a stalemate looked likely.

But as David Haye will surely confirm once he emerges from a cloud of party poppers and champagne corks, if you’re faced with a wily old heavyweight bruiser it is wise to keep the dangerous stuff at arms’ length and know that when you are able to land a blow, you make sure it counts. Ancelotti and his side did just that today, leaving at least one Russian happy with the weekend’s results.

The good

Five points clear. United and Liverpool beaten on our own patch, which is a big improvement on last season.
Yes, once again it’s time to use the old “playing poorly and winning is the mark of champions…” cliché.
Christ, help me out here, would you?

The bad

The fixture usually throws up a fairly decent game, but not today. The first half was positively comatose, the second interesting only for the scraps and controversy.
After much brouhaha in the media and fines from the authorities, Guus Hiddink succeeded in taming our sometimes unsightly urge to berate and harass the match officials at every turn. Ancelotti has continued the good work, but having watched United this season – today in particular – one wonders why we bothered. The officials were shocking today (more later), but the snarling, whining and incessant petulance from the likes of Giggs, Fletcher, Evra and Rooney today was more than worthy of stern words and a slapped wrist from the authorities. Will it happen? Breath – not being held.

The really quite bloody bizarre

Martin Atkinson. I could type until tomorrow morning about some of the decisions he made during the game – from the, ahem, unusual, to the unfeasibly piss-poor – and still not cover everything.

Both sides suffered; Fergie would of course argue that United’s loss was the greater, but he is obviously no stranger to a quirky home performance from the man in black. Probably wasn’t a free kick that led to our goal, granted, but how Johnny Evans remained on the pitch after his Jet Li style assault on Drogba will remain a mystery, as will the recipient’s booking for the same. Carry on with your own personal favourites in the comments section – you certainly won’t be short on choice.

Individual incidents aside, in summary it is reasonable to say that at no point did he give the impression that he was in control of an increasingly tetchy game and, at times, especially in the closing stages, he looked little more than a nervous amateur.

The player ratings

Don’t be bloody daft.

Man of the Match

John Terry.

Final thoughts

It is always pleasant (again) to arrive at an international break on top of the pile with a close rival beaten. Arsene is probably quite happy this evening; his wee boys are starting to purr and frankly, it will need a considerable improvement on our part before we visit the Emirates at the end of the month.

Related links

Transfer ban is suspended

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 05:45:35 -0600

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have granted Chelsea's request to suspend the Fifa-imposed transfer ban until a final decision is made in the case of the signing of Gael Kakuta.

The club released this statement on the official website: "In light of numerous media enquiries, Chelsea can confirm that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has informed us that it has agreed to a stay of the two-window transfer ban and the playing ban on Gael Kakuta imposed by Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber until the appeal has been heard and completed.

"There will be no further comment."

Champions League: Atletico Madrid 2 - 2 Chelsea... Newspaper reaction, Goal videos, Match report

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 19:36:17 -0600

Newspaper reports

The Guardian, Dominic Fifield: "Didier Drogba's scriptwriter should take a bow. The Ivorian set about restoring his reputation in European competition after the infamous histrionics against Barcelona after the semi-final back in May, and he did so with the goals that thrust Chelsea into the knockout phase. The forward's form this season has been impressive. His timing last night was just as impeccable."

Daily Telegraph, Jason Burt: "Maybe a glimpse of Chelsea's future? Or what might have been? Two goals from Sergio Aguero and two from Didier Drogba left this contest balanced as a draw with Chelsea progressing to the knock-out stages of the Champions League. They considered signing Aguero in the summer but decided not to — a decision that may be revisited after his stunning goals — while the decision to retain Drogba has been vindicated."

The Times, Oliver Butler: "Didier Drogba made a scoring return to European action to help Chelsea through to the last 16 of the Champions League, even though his brace could not help his side continue their 100 per cent record against Atletico Madrid tonight."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "The first draw of the season is enough for Chelsea to make the next stage of the Champions League, Didier Drogba scoring twice on the night. It was a game that exploded late on, the Blues coming from behind to take the lead with less than five minute remaining, only for substitute Sergio Aguero to equalise in stoppage time."

Goals

66' Aguero 1-0
81' Drogba 1-1
86' Drogba 1-2
90' Aguero 2-2

Background

We went into this game looking in great form, with Ancelotti masterminding some of the best football we have played for ages. Whilst not ignoring the small problems we may still have at the back, personally I have been completely won over by The Eyebrow after initially having my doubts. Twenty-eight league goals in only eleven games probably has something to do with that, and in fact our games this season currently involve on average 0.9 more goals than the matches in our two championship winning seasons recently (3.3 compared to 2.4).

After the experience with Scolari my biggest worry for a side playing the 'diamond' formation is that they will fail to score enough goals against well organized teams due to the midfield becoming congested, but Ancelotti has injected enough fluidity into the side to make sure this hasn't been a problem so far. It says a lot about a team when the only doubts being mooted in the press are focused on a back five who haven't conceded a goal in over 400 minutes of football in all competitions, and are yet to concede in the Champions League this season. Saying that, there are some question marks about this area – is Branners a better right-back than Bosingwa? Who should be picked at centre-back – will Carlo keep faith with an increasingly capricious Riccy or give Alex another chance to force his way into the team?

Formations

With sky-high expectations of another blitz similar to the game a fortnight ago it was inevitable we would pick a slightly weakened side. After all we are in a very strong position in our group and apparently we have a big match at the weekend against someone called Manchester Rovers or Manchester Athletic or something like that. Anyway, they are one of these clubs from up North with 'history' that are owned by rich Americans (the one managed by the anxious Scottish alcoholic rather than the anxious Spanish waiter). All this meant that we started with Carvalho, Ballack, Deco and Anelka on the bench, though there was a welcome return for Ashley Cole.

Notable players on Atletico's teamsheet included Sinama Pongolle (if only because he is rubbish and was thankfully replacing the infinitely more dangerous Sergio Aguero), Diego Forlan, and Antonio Reyes who had missed the previous clash.

Chelsea: Cech, A. Cole, Terry (c), Alex, Belletti, Essien, Lampard, J. Cole, Malouda, Drogba, Kalou.

Atletico Madrid: Asenjo, Lopez, Juanito, Pablo, Assuncao (c), Simao, Santana, Forlan, Pongolle, Reyes.

First half

The game started in quite a cagey fashion with Atletico enjoying a bit more of the play while we were happy to keep it tight and try to play our way into the game. Madrid managed a couple of long shots on goal without really causing a threat and after ten minutes I was ready for us to step it up a gear after it looked like we had begun to figure out the opposition. I was still waiting for us to really get a grip on the game when Reyes let rip after twenty minutes and forced Cech into a smart save.

That shot combined with a lively crowd helped galvanize the home team into upping their game slightly. It was still pretty even, and we produced a nice move ourselves around the half hour. It started in the back with Terry and Alex patiently passing it about until Terry could find Ashley Cole on the left with a lovely left-footed pass swept across the pitch, who then fed Malouda. Unfortunately like most of our play in the first half the ball into the final third wasn't good enough and ended up being too high for Kalou. In general I felt like Madrid were the team more likely to score throughout the first half as they seemed more purposeful, though the final chance of the half ended up falling to Lampard who drove his shot narrowly wide. Overall it wasn't a half to remember, and I took comfort knowing that we still had plenty of gears to move up.

Second half

After a period of reflection at half-time I had adjusted my expectations from Chelsea 'blitzing' Madrid to being ready to settle for any sort of win. I had decided that playing a match away at Atletico with a weakened side was going to be tricky, and as I was formulating this thought we nearly took the lead through a Drogba free kick which was well saved by Asenjo.

Madrid may not be having the best season but they can still play, and after Drogba's effort they were again looking the more likely team to score. Maybe as a response to this home-team pressure Ballack was introduced at the expense of Essien after an hour, a decision I welcomed for two reasons - we always look better with Ze German on the pitch and also Ancelotti made the change early enough for it to hopefully change the game, something he hasn't always done. So naturally Aguero had to then score and fuck up my theory that Ballack was about to turn the game in our favour. The ball was crossed into our area and as Terry headed it under pressure he could only clear it out to the diminutive Argentine at the far post, who volleyed home. If I was being harsh I could criticise Ashley for leaving Aguero free and challenging for a ball that Terry was already competing for, but in truth it was a good finish for the striker who had replaced Pongolle ten minutes earlier.

We began to look more interested after conceding and just as I was wondering how much better we would be with Deco and Anelka on the pitch they were brought on for Joe Cole and Kalou. Deco quickly had a chance to equalize when the ball fell to him after a cross was partially cleared, but his snatched shot skidded across the goal and wide. I think at this stage last season Deco would now have done the miraculous trick of disappearing from the game completely, but thankfully this season he has shown a lot more grit, determination, ability... frankly he looks a different player. Dribbling towards his own goal on the right of the pitch, he suddenly dropped a shoulder and turned his man, beat another, and sparked us into life. A corner resulted from Deco's clever play which Madrid could only half clear before Malouda swung in a cross for Drogba to head and make it 1-1. It looked like we had finally got going 80 minutes in.

A few minutes later Ashley Cole fed the ball to Drogba who was momentarily caught between two defenders, but with some quick feet and bags of strength the Ivorian beat both players to go through on goal. If Didier has a weakness then it is that his finishing isn't always very clinical, and his shot here was straight at Asenjo. Luckily the ball bounced kindly for him and he put away the rebound to give us a 2-1 lead.

So, after naming a weakened line-up and going a goal down we were ahead thanks to a Drogba brace and the introduction of three world class substitutes. Job done. Until Aguero scores a twenty-five yard free kick in injury time, spoiling the scoreline completely.

Roundup

So we have qualified for the next stage anyway, even though we only drew tonight. I went into the game hoping that we would keep up the momentum for the United clash at the weekend but on balance I think Ancelotti did the right thing. This match was always likely to be difficult: the opposition had just got a new manager and his players are keen to impress, we had to avoid complacency after thrashing the opposition only 13 days ago, they didn't even have to win the game after already collecting nine points in their group, and most of the team would have had half their thoughts on Sunday. A 2-2 draw was respectable, and the fact that we needed our best players on the pitch for the last twenty minutes to achieve this result is balanced by the fact that it was only twenty minutes that we needed them for. Saying that is still infuriates me how we often have to concede before we really start trying to score ourselves.

And what about those possible defensive frailties I mentioned earlier? I think the first goal we conceded was unfortunate in the way it fell to Aguero, and he also finished it well, so I can't see much blame to attach there. The second was a very well taken free kick after a needless foul, which maybe shows a lack of concentration giving away a free kick that late - perhaps the players were already thinking of the next game, but again it wasn't a goal symptomatic of a dodgy defence. I am confident that with Branners and Carvalho coming in at the weekend we should be OK.

Overall – 7/10 – not a great performance by our standards but we showed in the last twenty minutes that we have real underlying quality and almost won the game. It would be a 6 for performance alone but taking into account the result given that performance pushes it up to a 7.

Related links

Premier League: Bolton Wanderers 0 - 4 Chelsea... Newspaper reaction, Goal videos, Match report, Player ratings

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:48:54 -0500

Newspaper reports

The Observer, Paul Wilson: "After two successive away league defeats, Chelsea can now boast two clean sheets and plenty of goals against Bolton, whose dead-ball repertoire can cause even the best defences problems, though the home side were handicapped by having to play with 10 men for the whole of the second half after Jlloyd Samuel's dismissal."

Sunday Telegraph, Graham Chase: "Just about doing enough on a regular basis and still scoring four goals is what wins titles and that is exactly what Chelsea did against Bolton to maintain their advantage at the top of the Premier League."

Sunday Times, Duncan Castles: "Concerns about set-piece defending have given way to clean sheets; queries about the narrowness of Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield have ceded to an admiration of its effectiveness when Chelsea open the scoring. If an opposition comprised of an Atletico Madrid on the point of sacking their manager, Blackburn and two variants of Bolton has not been elite level, Chelsea’s reply has been."

Independent on Sunday, Myles Hodgson: "Following the 4-0 Carling Cup victory over the same opponents in midweek, Ancelotti's biggest problem was to prevent complacency against a committed Bolton side used to upsetting the big four on home territory. Then again, after offering his grandmother's remedy of red wine and hot milk as a cure for a potential swine flu outbreak at the club, he is unlikely to be unsettled by anything a football match presents."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "Bolton ... has been a happy hunting ground for Chelsea in recent years, with wins recorded here, without conceding, in the last six seasons."

The goals

45' Lampard (pen) 0-1
61' Deco 0-2
82' Knight (og) 0-3
90' Drogba 0-4

The preamble

Hopefully I won’t let you guys down with the review but I’ve been ill all week and so it’s taken me a while to send over my copy to Nick tonight. But a soldier must never let the side down and therefore when I got the call from our Great Leader to sit down and watch our trip up to the snowy wastes of the North, i.e. the Reebok Stadium, I was only too happy to oblige.

The build up to this game has been relatively quiet, mainly due to our recent run of comfortable wins and the small matter of the North London derby but despite the absence of any Chelsea bombshells in the past week, there have been a couple of interesting stories which caught the eye including a potential swine flu scare, a worrying increase in the number of injuries at the club and the crowning of Joe Cole as a genius. Of most interest though was the announcement of the World Player of the Year shortlist. Predictably, Barcelona have dominated the list and this year’s race appears to be a tussle for second behind the genius of Lionel Messi but despite that, Chelsea have been very well represented. The extremely classy, extremely powerful and extremely German Mr. Ballack may have been the surprise inclusion but alongside our number 13 was the core of our side: JT, Essien, Lamps and Didier. My tip is for Lamps to get closest to the top three but I’m not sure anyone can beat Barcelona’s trio of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta or a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.

Anyway, back to the game. We were given the rather daunting challenge, if you believed the press, of following up our perfect run of victories over Atletico Madrid, Blackburn and Bolton with a trip to the Reebok. Some have been saying that we look weak and scared of the high ball away from home, an argument which is reminiscent of the Southern Softies up North argument of old, after two consecutive defeats on our travels. But apart from those of you who are prone to overreacting, most have moved on from an off day at Wigan and some awful defending against Villa to see that on the whole we’ve been playing some brilliant stuff, look threatening and confident in every match we play and are rightly leading the way at the top of the table. Some of us are saying that the title is ours for the taking with United looking poor and only Wenger’s kids looking like posing any sort of threat to us and a win today would go along way to silencing the critics. I firmly believe that Carlo will lead us to glory this year and today’s performance was worthy of potential Champions.

The tactics

Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, Ferreira; Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Deco; Anelka, Drogba.

Subs: Turnbull, Joe Cole, Malouda, Sturridge, Alex, Belletti, Borini.

Basically the big guns were back and the diamond was still firmly in place despite some ill informed hacks questioning its effectiveness away from home. Idiots.

The match

Bolton responded predictably to their 4-0 thrashing on Wednesday by sprinting around like headless chickens for the first ten minutes to show that they “meant business”. Personally I thought they looked clueless and were simply attempting to appease the few home fans who bothered to turn up by getting at ‘em as ‘Arry would say. But soon we settled down and took control of the game. Our midfield was full of movement, creativity and class. It’s a word I’ve used many times lately but I feel that it best describes our team at the moment. We’re a classy team who play beautiful football and today was no different. Anelka and Ivanovic were competing for the Man of the Match award after the first twenty minutes thanks to their brilliant movement, running and passing. Ivanovic was raiding down the right wing to great effect and Anelka was superbly playing the role of the support striker. His movement, pace and work-rate overwhelmed Bolton and after 20 minutes he linked up brilliantly with Didier to latch onto a through ball but his shot was well saved at the near post by Jasskelainen. Our midfield was controlling proceedings but our final ball and finishing was relatively poor and it looked like we would need a moment of brilliance to break Bolton’s resistance. On the 25 minute mark it looked like we would get just that. Didier chipped over a lovely cross which found Ivanovic on the penalty spot whose first effort was blocked but from the subsequent rebound he struck home a wonderful left footed volley into the top corner. It was a stunning finish but the officials decided to ruin it all by ruling it out for offside against Ballack. Personally, I thought he was nowhere near the ball but it didn’t matter in the end as our quality was just too much for plucky Bolton. They offered nothing apart from some hopeless long balls up to Davies and deserved the battering we would give them in the second half.

As the first half continued, Deco and Frank began to get more involved in the game and their link up play with Anelka and strangely Ivanovic was sublime. Anelka, Didier, Ballack and Deco all had shots blocked on the edge of the box after more beautiful build up play and on most days, I would start to get worried that we would never find that elusive first goal. But today was different. The Chelsea pressure was incessant and as the second half eventually showed, we were unstoppable. It didn’t quite reach those levels until the 45th minute when we sprung the first of numerous devastating counter-attacks. Paulo was defending in the left-back position but he cleverly found Essien and within seconds Didier was bearing down on goal after brilliant passing between Essien, Deco and Ballack. Samuel cynically tripped him and was rightly sent-off and thankfully Frank converted yet another penalty to make it 1-0 at half-time. That was his eighth goal against Bolton and was the least we deserved from our lovely first half play.

The second half was simply more of the same. Bolton gave it a good go for a couple of minutes but soon we were breaking forward and exploiting the extra space to devastating effect. Anelka was finding space in the channels and was combining brilliantly with Didier but the big man’s finishing was horribly similar to the Barcelona game last season. We know he’s not the best finisher but on two one-on-ones he simply blasted the ball into the stomach of Jasskelainen and spoilt yet more great midfield play. A David Villa or Pato would thrive in this side and despite the power of Didier and movement of Anelka working really well at the moment, a world class finisher looks like the missing piece in our title chasing jigsaw. Anyway, there would be no stopping us. Frankly, we were battering them. Anelka’s shot was blocked from a Deco cut-back, Lamps smashed a stunning drive against the bar from a Deco corner and Ballack had another long range effort blocked. In the end it fell to Deco to end this game. From a Bolton corner, Ricky went on another of his crazy runs and found Anelka on the halfway line. He turned and beat two men before feeding Deco in the inside-right channel. He beautifully feigned to shoot, cut back onto his left foot and curled the ball into the bottom corner. It was a beautiful finish to a beautiful move but that wouldn’t be the end to the stunning football. After a lull in proceedings as we had a nice little siesta before our trip to Madrid on Tuesday, Frank awoke me from my slumber. An amazing (starting to run out of adjectives now) first time volleyed pass to the left wing found Ricky who cut inside Davies and crossed brilliantly (I know, too many brilliantlies but we really were, well, brilliant) to Ivanovic who forced the ball home via Knight’s shoulder. I know Knight got the final touch but Ivanovic deserved a goal and so I’m giving it to him. But the best was still to come in the 90th minute. Paulo fed Anelka and he crossed to Deco on the edge of the box. Deco then chested the ball to Frank who back-hell volleyed (is that a move?) it to Didier who then volleyed the ball home. It was the goal of the season thus far and was the perfect end to a rather perfect performance.

The good

Midfield – I love this midfield four and feel a little bit guilty about saying that after Joe’s recent performances. But it’s overflowing with power, experience, creativity, vision, goals and any other attribute you can think of. Essien’s departure will hurt us and I wouldn’t be surprised if we brought in someone like Daniele De Rossi but at the moment our midfield is simply unstoppable.
Performance/goals – Our build-up play, movement and goals were stunning at times. We’re full of confidence and people only need to see our fourth goal to see how well we’re playing at the moment. United should start worrying.
Players – There were so many good performances that it would be wrong of me to only pick out one. But Anelka, Ivanovic, Didier, Deco and Frank were all in brilliant form.
Liverpool defeat – Rafa conceded defeat in the title race after an hour by taking off Torres and if they lose on Wednesday, then it’s all over in Europe as well. But they were shocking at Fulham and all these defeats are getting rather embarrassing.

The bad

Match of the Day highlights – We deserved more than a pathetic eight or nine minutes.
Avram – Just caught a glimpse of him on Match of the Day but his haunting appearance still gives me the shivers.

Player ratings

Cech – 6/10 – A spectator frankly but claimed Bolton’s long punts up field very nicely indeed.
Ivanovic – 9/10 – The Match of the Day highlights didn’t do his performance justice. Was full of running but more than that his defending, crossing and link-up play was brilliant. At times he can look clumsy when attacking but today confirmed my belief that he should be our first choice right-back.
Carvalho – 8/10 – Many thought that Carlo should have chosen Alex to combat the aerial threat of Davies and Elmander but Carlo was vindicated in his decision to choose Carvalho. His nudges, trips and shirt pulls were all there but his interceptions, calmness in the tackle and counter-attacking were hugely impressive. Not sure he can sustain it but he can still look world-class at times.
Terry – 7/10 – A very solid performance from our captain and he kept Davies quiet all game.
Ferreira – 7/10 – Personally, I love Paulo. As Jose said, he’ll never let you down and will always put in a 7/10 performance. Is certainly not a direct replacement for Ashley but his defending was exemplary and that’s all you can ask from him. Welcome back.
Essien – 7/10 – Another all-action performance and as I’ve said on numerous occasions, he is revolutionising the Makelele role. Everyone thought that he would be wasted there but he has adapted his game and now looks perfectly suited to the... Essien role. It’s certainly not a regulation holding role anymore.
Ballack – 7/10 – Everyone in our midfield was brilliant and even though he was overshadowed by others, his class, experience and general presence are crucial to the side.
Lampard – 8.5/10 – Deserved more goals but his passing and movement were devastating. The bullet from Deco’s corner almost broke the crossbar but it was his back heel volley for the fourth that was simply stunning.
Deco – 8/10 – Early on he was hustled off the ball but as he found space he showed everyone how perfectly he can play the number 10 role. Joe may have rightly grabbed the headlines this week but Deco can still show more than just a couple of flashes of genius. He may not have the pace but his vision, creativity and shooting are a rival for most in that position.
Drogba – 8/10 – A minus point for his awful finishing in the second half but apart from that he was again unstoppable. That sums it up really.
Anelka – 9/10 – Another brilliant display and he really deserved a goal but his movement and running tore apart Bolton on their own.

Man of the Match

It could have been anyone really but I’m going to give it to Ivanovic. Anelka, and Frank were brilliant but Ivanovic played the right-back role to perfection and after his first half volley was struck off his goal (yes he did score) his second half goal was enough to cap a lovely performance from our Serbian powerhouse.

The conclusion

I make no apologies for saying that we look unstoppable at the moment. The title is surely ours if we can get past a tricky run up to Christmas and bring in some fresh talent to cover for the African Nations’ Cup and our summer transfer ban. Our build up play and movement are Barcelona-esque and the United game next Sunday should cement our position at the top of the league. I can’t wait.

Now, off to bed to rest my throbbing head.

Related links

Reaction: Seeing double

Carling Cup: Chelsea 4 - 0 Bolton Wanderers... Newspaper reports, Goal videos and Managers' reaction

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:35:29 -0500

Newspaper reports

The Guardian, Dominic Fifield: "The competition may change, the advertising hoardings spinning to proclaim Champions League or Premier League or Carling Cup, but Chelsea's swashbuckling home form remains a constant. A tenth consecutive win here, achieved gracefully and impressively last night, has propelled Carlo Ancelotti's team into the quarter-finals. This side feels untouchable in these environs."

Daily Telegraph, John Ley: "If Chelsea were to follow the in-vogue trend for seeking stadium naming rights, they should simply change their stadium to Fortress Stamford Bridge after claiming a 10th straight home win and ninth of the season. They also extended their run without conceding a goal at home to an impressive 13 hours and two minutes."

The Times, Patrick Barclay: "Maybe Bolton Wanderers were trying to lull Carlo Ancelotti, relatively new as he is to English football, into a false sense of security before the Barclays Premier League fixture between these clubs at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "The team may have been much changed, but the result remains the same. A tenth successive victory at Stamford Bridge in all competitions has put Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup."

The goals

14' Kalou 1-0
25' Malouda 2-0
67' Deco 3-0
89' Drogba 4-0

Managers' reaction

Carlo Ancelotti: "The most important thing is to play well and win a game. Now it happened that we won with large results but that is not so important for us because the last three matches we have played very well.

"On the pitch the team maintains good control, good position defensively and offensively, and the most important thing for a team is to have a balance."

Gary Megson: "We were nowhere near what we can and have produced. The fans gave us their backing all the way through, they sang and cheered, and we didn't give them a performance, which was disappointing because they deserve better.

"We will face Chelsea again on Saturday and we will make our changes. We now have two days to make sure that the work on the training ground won't go to waste."

Shorts: Spitting swine flu risk; Joe Cole ready to sign contract; Aguero a January target; The most open title race ever?; Who would be a referee?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:55:25 -0500

It's all quiet on the western front. I'm in Cornwall for a couple of weeks, house- and cat-sitting. I don't know what it is about being down here but I feel cut off from all things Chelsea and football. I'm several miles from a pub with a big screen and Sky Sports. The house I'm staying in has a flakey net connection at best and no PCs - Macs only - so I struggle to watch internet streams of games. It's good to escape though, these are the reasons why I enjoy coming here so much.

Anyway, I've just waded through my RSS feeds to see if I've missed anything important since Saturday's emphatic defeat of disease-ridden Blackburn at Stamford Bridge.

Here are just a few links worth clicking on.

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Let's start with swine flu. Rovers manager Sam Allardyce revealed yesterday that several members of his squad had contracted H1N1 and others were showing symptoms prior to the trip to the Bridge. Allardyce fears that the virus could have spread to Chelsea players, although the club are confident that none of the squad has shown any signs of the illness since the weekend.

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While we're on the subject of Big Sam, tonight we take on his former club Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round of the Carling Cup. Current Wanderers manager Gary Megson revealed that members of his own squad have also suffered with swine flu, but isn't worried about it spreading between players on the pitch.

However, the Health Protection Agency has said that the habit of spitting on the pitch "could increase the risk of passing on infections".

You can read a preview of the game on the BBC Football website and the official club site.

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In the Guardian: Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

Chelsea are not dependent on attacking full-backs: The oversimplified reading of a diamond formation suggests that any success is significantly dependent on the excellence of attacking full-backs. Yet Chelsea were without Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa when they obliterated Blackburn at the weekend. Juliano Belletti played within himself at left-back, while Branislav Ivanovic was largely useless going forward. It did not affect Chelsea at all.

With players of such ability and will there are so many ways to skin the cat: the unstoppable power of Didier Drogba, the craft of Michael Ballack, the subtlety of Frank Lampard, the force of Michael Essien, the pace of Nicolas Anelka, the mischief of Joe Cole – and the long-range shooting of all of them, with the Blackburn keeper Paul Robinson apparently trapped in a coconut shy. Like Don Revie's Leeds, with whom this Chelsea side share so much – from frightening physical and mental toughness to inexplicably frequent second-place finishes – their collective strength has the capacity to transcend everything else, be it context, opposition, or even tactics.

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John Terry has revealed that he talked to Carlo Ancelotti about Paolo Maldini in an effort to improve himself as a player.

“I have spoken to the manager a few times about Paolo Maldini and what he did, the way he worked, his relationship with the other players.

“I’m always looking to learn and improve, and when a manager comes in like Ancelotti, I think I can learn an awful lot from him – he’s played and managed at the highest level."

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The Daily Mirror reports that Joe Cole is ready to sign a new contract before the transfer window opens - and tie himself to the Bridge for the rest of his top-flight career.

“We’re talking at the moment about the future and we all agree what we want.

“I love it here. The club want me to stay, so there should be no problems. I feel like this is my home.”

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With the January transfer window fast approaching, and the club's request to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have the transfer ban suspended until a decision on the appeal is made, the rumours have started in earnest.

The Sun, Telegraph and Daily Mail carry the same report that Atletico Madrid are ready to listen to offers for Sergio Aguero.

"There were two bids in the summer," [Atletico's director general Miguel Angel Gil Marin] told Spanish newspaper Marca.

"Chelsea wanted Aguero and Real Madrid wanted Diego Forlan.

"Chelsea offered 50m euros (£46m) for "Kun" and Madrid offered 36m euros (£33m) for the Uruguayan.

"If they want to make a better offer, Atletico will assess it.

"If we have to correct something in the winter market we will."

See this post for more info on Aguero: Marquees for hire: Pato, Villa, Aguero, Ribery.

The Daily Mail also links us with Napoli's 22-year-old Slovakia midfielder Marek Hamsik.

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The Daily Mail recaps the Champions League group stage so far.

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Jeremy Wilson in the Daily Telegraph asks: Is this the most open Premier League title race ever?

Does anyone really want to win the Premier League? If so, they are in no hurry to identify themselves amid the enticing prospect of a title race that, according to Arsene Wenger, will involve up to six teams and last until the end of the season.

The Guardian's Kevin McCarra says that the vulnerability of the Premier League's elite teams makes for engrossing entertainment.

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Also in the Guardian, Jonathan Wilson asks: Why are teams so tentative about false nines?

When one team does it, it's happenstance. When Barcelona follow Manchester United in doing it, it's coincidence. Add in Roma as well, and it starts to become a pattern. Teams who use a "false nine" – that is, a player who appears to be playing centre-forward, but drops deep – seem, however successful they have been, not to trust the system.

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Routinely vilified, verbally and physically abused, their decisions and fitness scrutinised by millions – why would anyone want to be a football referee? The Daily Telegraph's Jim White meets the whistle-blowers.

Every season the grassroots of our national game are spattered with the blood of match officials. Young and old referees get head butted, punched and chased to their cars in fear for their wellbeing. While it is unlikely to happen in the Premier League, in Saturday and Sunday leagues (where referees often have no linesmen to support them), assaults on match officials currently run at more than 300 a year; the Manchester County FA alone recorded 42 attacks on referees last season. That is just the physical assaults, the ones that get reported. The verbal abuse is so commonplace as to be not worth documenting, but is sufficiently morale-sapping to provoke as many as 7,000 referees in the past couple of seasons to give up. Referees often describe themselves as a breed apart. But the current circumstances are testing even their resolve.

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The Premier League and Barclays have agreed a new three-year sponsorship deal worth £82.25m.

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Tickets and safety may be scarce at next year's World Cup, according to the New York Times Soccer Blog.

If you’re attending the tournament ... be advised: Only 12 percent of the total capacity of a stadium is reserved for fans of each team. So if England happens to get drawn against Honduras at the newly reconstructed, 94,700-seat Soccer City Stadium in Soweto, each team will receive around 11,300 tickets.

For some, like English fans, that hardly seems fair. About 50,000 fans from England are expected to travel to South Africa.

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The Daily Mail lists the top 50 football kits of all time. Nos 40-31.

Chelsea away 1970: Yellow peril - brilliant under floodlights; bright, daring and the embroidered FA Cup is a touch of class. Could be mistaken for a keeper's jersey.

What are your favourite kits?

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The FA Cup will be broadcast live on the internet for the first time next month when the Football Association streams the first-round tie between Oldham Athletic and Leeds United on its own website.

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Finally, a great find by regular Chelsea Blog commenter PeteW. Damn United: The Official 2009/10 Sport Is A TV Show Premier League Preview.

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If somebody would be kind enough to let me know the final score tonight, I'd be very grateful. (Just kidding, we do have radio down here in wilds of the West Country you know.)

Time to get some sleep. I'm having to share a bed with a large black and white cat called Murphy who wakes me at an ungodly hour every morning by tapping me on the head with his paw. The git continues to do this until I get up.

Premier League: Chelsea 5 - 0 Blackburn Rovers... Newspaper reaction, Goal videos, Match report, Player ratings

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:37:44 -0500

Newspaper reports

The Observer, Amy Lawrence: "Scoring nine goals in four days seems like a more than reasonable way to get a defeat out of the system. During the second-half tornado a blue force ripped through Blackburn, inhabitants of the Shed End jumped with enough vigour to test the stand's foundations, and there was a buzz in the air that made you wonder if Carlo Ancelotti had found the X-factor Roman Abramovich has long been after."

Sunday Telegraph, Gerry Cox: "Joe Cole was back –and back to his best – as Chelsea moved back to the top of the Premier League by destoying a weakened Blackburn Rovers side. Cole made his first league start since January and showed no adverse effects from the knee injury that had kept him out of action for so long. The England midfielder was full of inventiveness, always looking to play in team-mates with his trademark tricks and flicks, and fitted smoothly into a well-oiled Chelsea machine that got back to winning ways in the league after their defeat at Aston Villa last week."

Sunday Times, Jonathan Northcroft: "Chelsea, in their past two away games in the Premier League, lost at Wigan and Aston Villa, but for the team and their manager there is succour to be found at Stamford Bridge. Blackburn were dismissed even more emphatically than Atletico Madrid were in Europe on Wednesday. Chelsea, having now scored 21 times in their own stadium this season and conceded just once, went back to the top of the Premier League and preserved the competition’s only perfect home record."

Independent on Sunday, Steve Tongue: "Pilloried last weekend after losing a second successive away game at Aston Villa, Chelsea soared back to the top of the Premier League with another emphatic victory to follow the 4-0 demolition of Atletico Madrid three days earlier."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "Nine goals in two games has been some response to the defeat at Aston Villa and this latest victory, with Michael Ballack pulling the strings and the movement of the forward running players terrific, must have delighted Carlo Ancelotti who returned from visiting his sick father on Friday."

The goals

19' Givet (og) 1-0
47' Lampard 2-0
51' Essien 3-0
58' Lampard 4-0
63' Drogba 5-0

The preamble

Good grief. I actually got called to match duty by Our Dear Leader, and got a thumpingly great game to write about. So very different from last week and sufficient to say that Nick has possibly lost his mantle as Descartes' Evil Genius, because asking (ordering more like) that I write about today was in retrospect an act of pure altruism. This could be one of the most sycophantic match reports ever.

Still, today would be interesting to see. Blackburn can be an occasional thorn in the side, and Big Sam’s Bolton were quite often party poopers at Stamford Bridge. To be honest I rather like Big Sam. He’s honest and passionate and was treated shabbily by the clowns running the Newcastle circus. I often smile wryly when conversing with a member of the Best Fans in The World (© The Deluded of Newcastle) as I tell them that had Allardyce stayed, they’d still be the Premier League, but no, they knew best. They had to have a Geordie in charge, and it had to be the spent force of Keggy Keegle. Anyway, that’s enough Allardyce praise, we needed a good reaction to the loss at Villa last week and despite a good showing against Atletico Madrid, the Premiership is what counts most dearly to the hardcore fans. I rarely see any half full glasses on initial viewing, but even my cynical jaded old eyes couldn’t foresee a failure against a Blackburn side depleted in strength and not very good on the road. I’m still recovering from the op and therefore still in some pain. A 1-0 cruise would have done me as I was confident I could remain calm for one goal.

So, of course, with me being fragile we had to go and score five. Bastards.

The game

The first bit of good news was the inclusion of Ballack. I described him as a Marmite player last week and still I hear the barbs aimed at him. I’ll say this much. If you can’t see the value that Ballack adds then you simply do not understand football and should retire from watching the game until you’ve passed Level 1 of Understanding The Beautiful Game (© Chelsea Tony’s Football for Dummies College). The second bit of good news was the long overdue return of Joe Cole, and boy what a return... more of that later. Of course in every silver lining there is a cloud, and the absence of Ashley Cole was a bit of a shock, as was the choice of Belletti to cover him. Oddly it worked though, and one can’t help but think The Eyebrow may well have worked out just how good this squad can be.

Anyway, the match started brightly with Lampard chipping a delightful cross into Joe’s path only for him to miss what was really a banker. In fact I’d go as far as saying it was harder to miss than score, but hey, he’s been out for nine months and the chance just came too soon. I don’t normally discuss formations (Red Arrows aside) as frankly they bore the shit out of me, but it appeared we were still on the diamond ruby thingy. Anelka seemed to the left sided player, Joe Cole at the tip bit, Frank on the right and Essien at the bottom*.

* Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... oh sorry bored myself to sleep there.

Anyway it was fairly obvious that Allardyce's game plan was to park the bus and hope his under strength side could hold out for a grim scoreless draw. Oh dear. Just what plan do you put in place when that last resort one fails so dismally? After pretty much controlling the game the inevitable happened on 20 minutes and a superb defence cutting pass from Ballack found the lightning fast Anelka who put in the sort of cross that strikers love so much... well he’d know wouldn’t he? Drogba was there for the tap in and the unfortunate Givet had no option but to intercept, more in hope than anything else, that his intervention might luckily save the goal. Oh dear. It didn’t and the ball was safely ensconced in the net and we were on our way. Or so it seemed.

I had managed to celebrate the goal very calmly, confident that this game would cause me no further grief and we’d probably waste more chances but it wouldn’t be an issue because it was obvious Blackburn were in shock and awe. After the goal we had chance after chance and it seemed that maybe we would be hoisted on our own petard of profligate finishing. Other teams may have had the wherewithal to capitalise on this but Blackburn were bereft of the required talent or guile to craft any sort of meaningful assault on our goal. Robinson had an inspired session between the sticks, blocking an Anelka chance, just managing to deflect a stinging Drogba drive round the post, be in the right position to collect a Drogba goal bound header from a corner and pulling out an inspired save from a Terry goal bound volley. I was beginning to wonder if were going to be struck down again by the heroic goalkeeper of a visiting team. Still at half time we looked good value for the lead and could count ourselves unfortunate we weren’t four or five goals up. As good as we’d been it still wasn’t an indication of the utter brilliance to follow in the second half. As pulses fell for the half time oranges, one player had started to look like the missing link though. Joe Cole had run and run and tricked and flicked and hassled and tackled and passed like a man with a big point to prove. Which to be fair, is exactly what he is. A man who has to prove to a new coach his value to the team and a man desperate to be on the plane to South Africa driving England onto what could just be its finest footballing hour. Even the most ignorant spectator would have noticed how he made the front players link up well and how he was bringing them into the game. Someone commented on this august blog previously that he was never going to provide what Deco does. Well, he did today and more, plus he has something Deco doesn’t... explosive speed over a short distance. The sort that Rooney has, and today he used it superbly.

The second half began much like the first and after a mere two minutes Essien had played Drogba in, who turned his man, slid the ball across the goal where it was only half cleared and fell to Frank. Two weeks ago I reckon this would have ballooned over or wide, but confidence is an odd thing and after his goal on Wednesday, it seems to have come back and he duly buried it. 2-0, and comfortable. My celebration had caused a bit of unnecessary pain, but I’d probably not have to worry again. Still we came forward in waves, reminiscent of last week against Villa where we played some great stuff. And then on 52 minutes Essien, The Bison, picked the ball up and smashed a 35 yard curling strike into the right of Robinson’s goal. At that point I forgot the doctor's orders about resting and leapt into the air. The pain was immediate and excruciating, so much so that within a nano-second of the leap I was sat back down gingerly feeling the wound to ensure a gaping hole hadn’t suddenly appeared. I was safe and after that I knew we were hosed and home so any further goals cold be met by warm applause and no forgetful leaping. Chances arrived and the football was breathtaking, Ballack supreme, Anelka world class, yes world class, playing the Sparky role plus, Joe playing some of the most delightful stuff I’ve seen him play, Frankie confident and surging, Ivanovic looking superb in the tackle, Essien being awesome. In fact every player looked good today although Drogba wasn’t at his hustling best; he still made a major contribution with his goal, and won the penalty as well. At 5-0 down with 25 minutes left Blackburn fans must have feared a rout. Every attack from us cut through them like my warm spoon through Haagen Daaz ice cream. Sublime. Superb. Mesmerising. Spellbinding. Awesome. Every adjective perfectly apt. As good as it gets. Eventually Carvalho went off for Bruma. Belletti made way for Ferreira and Joe took a standing ovation as he was replaced by Sturridge. With 10 minutes left, feet left pedals and we went into cruise control passing the ball around and letting Blackburn chase it. They had a couple of goes to be fair to them, but at 5-0 it’s got to be impossible to be anything other than depressed and demoralised.

A great performance was needed to erase the memory of defeat last week in the competition we all want more than any other. And we got it in spades today.

The good

Joe Cole. Hungry, hard working, cheeky, tricky and brilliant. Fabio Capello should have been here to see this.
Anelka. I know a fellow contributor of this parish doesn’t rate him but today he continued to show how much more of a rounded player he is, smiling and enjoying his game. He plays the Mark Hughes role better than Hughes did; his ball control is a joy to watch. Magnificent and generous.
Alan Wiley. Fit and sensible. Good decisions, allowed the game to flow. Showed Fergie up for the ignorant arse that he truly is.
Lampard. Back with a bang. Just like the old days...
Spurs losing to Stoke at home. It just never stops making me smile.
Ballack. Seriously serene and steely. It’s no coincidence that the games we’ve lost this season have not featured him in the side.
The Eyebrow. Good to see some early-ish subs, especially the use of Sturridge and Bruma.
No set piece disasters. Mind you Blackburn only had one or two at most and they didn’t have a single corner.

The bad

Blackburn. No doubt the critics will say we won because they were so poor, and to a degree they were. But they were poor because we were so good. They’ll survive the season because Allardyce is a wise and experienced man, but as he alluded in his post match interview, after the first goal they abandoned the game plan and replaced it with... nothing.
We should have had six at least. But maybe I’m being picky.

The ugly

Or maybe just the bizarre. Drogba unleashed a 30 yard bullet that Robinson struggled to deflect round the post. At the resultant corner, inexplicably Drogba decides to change his boots AS the corner was being taken. So our key striker is at the halfway line putting new boots on whilst Frank takes a corner (a very poor one). Why not wait a minute. How desperately did they need changing for him to do it when we had a corner?

Player ratings

Cech – 6/10 – Didn’t have a lot to do but still looks amazingly suspect in the air. Please Pete, get some old Manchester United videos and watch Peter Schmeichel. If you want to be the world's best then learn to be the boss in your own box like Schmeichel was. His defence were bloody scared of him such was his commanding style and persona.
Belletti – 7/10 – Did a decent job. Lovely feet at times.
Terry – 8/10 – Back to his commanding best.
Ivanovic – 8/10 – Better than Gallas and more reliable than a Swiss train timetable.
Carvalho – 7/10 – Much much better this week. Obviously used his midweek break to get some good thinking done.
Lampard – 8.5/10 – Yep, that good today. Welcome back sir.
Joe Cole – 9.25/10 – Utterly magnificent. Tired by the time he was subbed but a wonderful return. Carlo’s hug as he left the field of play said it all. That hug was from all of us Joe. All of us.
Ballack – 8.5/10 – Wonderful and virtually flawless. Took the corner for Drogba’s goal. And what a great corner it was. Drogba headed straight to him for the celebration because he knew just how good it was.
Essien – 8.5/10 - Awesome game and awesome strike.
Anelka – 9/10 – So very close to being Man of the Match. Truly superb today and deserved a goal.
Drogba – 8/10 – A bit quiet at times but still nearly scored twice in the first half, got the penalty and scored from Ballack's corner. So, not bad then.
Ferreira (sub for Belletti) – 7/10 – A good option to have on the bench and to be fair despite dropping down the pecking order he hasn’t whinged about it.
Sturridge (sub for Joe Cole) – Didn’t get the chance to do much.
Bruma (sub for Carvalho) – 7/10 – A sterling and sound performance and good to see another youngster given a chance on the big stage. Shouldn’t he be the sweeper? (I’ll get my coat.)

Overall Team Performance – 9/10 – It could have been higher but they lose half a point overall because of how poor the opposition were. Still marvellous to watch and at times I was reminded of Kenneth Wolstenholme’s other fine piece of commentary and one which is less well known.

“Oh, that was sheer delightful football. They seem to be taking it in turns to give an exhibition.”

He was commentating on the 1970 World Cup Final between Brazil and Italy and was just overwhelmed, like me, by just how fabulous Brazil were that day. I’m not saying we were that good, it just seemed like it at times today and that for me is worth celebrating.

Man of the Match

It could have been any from Lampard, Ballack, Anelka, Essien or Ivanovic. I was really struggling with these thoughts during the game, but then Ancelotti made my mind up for me. His hug for Joe Cole as he left the pitch was heart-warming and must have made Joe feel like a king. Deservedly so because today he played like one. Well done Joe, here’s the Chelsea Blog flowers and Champagne son. He’s here, he’s there, he’s every-fucking-where... Joey Cole... Joey Cole...

Final thoughts

Don’t let the shine be diminished by the inevitable critics decrying the opposition as it is disingenuous to Chelsea, who went out to prove a point and did so with style. A great performance that showed if we get the consistency then few teams will live with us this year. It was good to see the cobwebs brushed away by the introduction of Bruma (sorry... couldn’t resist that one either) and Sturridge as well as seeing old faces Joey Cole and Ferreira back in the side. If we can keep all of them fit then this could be a very good season. I was able to watch Match of the Day with a smile tonight, will watch the ESPN HD repeat again tomorrow, fitting it in with Goals On Sunday and then watch with objective interest as Liverpool take on United... Rafa’s Last Stand maybe? An afternoon of West Ham and in-form Arsenal completes a weekend to sate the desires of all real football fans.

These days are rare folks and we should allow ourselves a wallow in the swamp of Blue smug self satisfaction.

Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!

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Champions League: Chelsea 4 - 0 Atletico Madrid... Newspaper reaction, Goal videos, Match report, Player ratings

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:01:11 -0500

Newspaper reports

The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: "Chelsea wrung every advantage out of a victory that preserves their perfect record of wins and clean sheets after three fixtures in Group D of the Champions League. Salmon Kalou scored twice and, as a fringe benefit, Frank Lampard, with the third here, now has his first goal in open play for the club this season. In stoppage time, Luis Perea nodded a free-kick by the substitute Florent Malouda into his own net."

Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: "Another good night in Europe for Carlo Ancelotti, another stride taken by Chelsea towards the knock-out stages courtesy of Salomon Kalou’s double, Frank Lampard’s fine low strike and Luis Perea’s own goal. Early on, Kalou was more Clouseau in his approach to finding a lead but he grew in confidence and Ancelotti could soon relax."

The Times, Matt Hughes: "When Salomon Kalou signed a new three-year contract last week, some Chelsea fans asked in jest whether he was able to put pen to paper at the first attempt. Applying such finishing touches in a neat and orderly fashion does not come naturally to the Ivory Coast striker, but he cast off his nature last night to begin a rout that all but guarantees Chelsea a place in the knockout stages."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "It was a comfortable win against a side low on morale rather than a classic display, and Petr Cech had to work for his third clean sheet out of three in Group D. But a shut out was most welcome after events at the weekend, as was seeing Lampard back on the score sheet and pulling the strings. He also had a big hand in the first and second goals."

The goals

40' Kalou 1-0
51' Kalou 2-0
68' Lampard 3-0
90' Luis Perea (og) 4-0

The preamble

Some may have thought that doing the report of another potentially coma inducing, Chelsea scramble in the Champions League would be the worst way to spend a Wednesday evening. And early on it seemed like you would be right.

Unconsciousness was only averted by the ridiculously loud and frequent nature of ITV's adverts, which they allude to within two seconds of the broadcast beginning. Squint hard enough and you could probably see that 30 second advert cue throughout the whole match but despite only having 15 minutes to fill before the main event began, ITV somehow contrived to lose my attention as soon as the programme began. I don't know what it is about ITV's football and now I'm thinking about it, general coverage but everything seems to be, and how do I put this tastefully, shit. Everything has that Amstrad stink of plasticky cheapness, as if the producers had been shopping in Tesco's past-their-sell-by-date aisle, looking for items with which they could cobble together a barely passable, let alone professional, TV programme. At this point I should probably apologise to all you Tesco fans out there, but to me, they're the Katie Price of the shopping world. Cheap, nasty and just far too big, they should be avoided at all times.

But back to ITV. They're such a pathetic and broke broadcaster that despite having hidden gems such as X-Factor, they've had to scale back virtually every other part of their output in order to survive. They're now down to only one live game a week and even that seems too much for them. I don't know if Champions League football counts as one of TV's 'crown jewels' but if it doesn't, then surely it's time for the BBC to enter the competition or for Sky to hoover up the one remaining Champions League contract. Everything about their coverage is poor; from their 'pundits', i.e. Andy "anyone remember my tactics truck" Townsend, to Steve Rider and his suspiciously blonde hair, the frankly embarrassing commentators and finally Gabriel Clarke who loves to ambush any unsuspecting manager at half time with some inane and pointless questioning. ITV appear to have watched a Sky Sports broadcast and wondered how they could copy it except on a budget about a tenth as big as Murdoch's. So as you've probably guessed, things hadn't started well.

But then I flicked back over to Sky Sports 2. Luckily they had started at five in the afternoon to accommodate United's visit to CSKA's plastic pitch but their early start also gave me the chance to revel in Lyon's glorious victory last night. I had predicted that Lyon could spring a surprise against a Torres and now Gerrard-less Liverpool and in the end Lyon got the result their flair, pace and adventure deserved. Pjanic and Lisandro Lopez may have been relatively quiet and those of you who warned me that Lyon's patched-up back four would prove leakier than a defence including Ricky Carvalho were inevitably proved right but Källström and Govou were great and Liverpool's fourth consecutive defeat was eventually confirmed in the 92nd minute. Some have now described another Liverpool defeat as being more entertaining than a rather dull and predictable Chelsea win and despite not yet reaching that level of schadenfreude, I wasn't exactly looking forward with much delight to another European tie without Didier.

The tactics

After another defeat without the experienced and classy German Captain, the most interesting debate regarding the team would be how Carlo would line up our midfield. The midfield five could have been made up by any of our 10, yes 10, midfielders or support strikers: Mikel, Essien, Belletti, Lampard, Ballack, Malouda, Zhirkov, Cole, Deco and Kalou. In the end Carlo did spring a surprise by dropping Ricky and bringing in Belletti at right-back. Apart from that it was pretty normal:

Cech; Belletti, Ivanovic, Terry, Ashley Cole; Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Deco; Kalou, Anelka.

Subs: Hilario, Carvalho, Joe Cole, Malouda, Zhirkov, Sturridge, Bruma.

Sturridge Watch: Still stuck on six minutes for the season but he has made the bench.

As for Atletico, well they have without doubt the best strike partnership in Europe in Aguero and Forlan and any mistakes from us will be severely punished.

The match

A bright start from both sides with Belletti providing a couple of neat openings down the right wing but as usual our final ball was poor. Then Atletico sprung into action. Simao brilliantly beat Essien down their left hand side and his low cross was diverted towards goal by Forlan’s header only for Cech to make a good save. And that bright opening continued with Aguero firing into the side netting from a distinctly offside position yet no flag appeared. We begin to get into the game with two or three free-kicks but the delivery is awful as usual. And then Frank scores! A wonderful 40 yard mishit flies over their keeper into the net. But then Kalou has to go and fuck it up with his dozy run into the keeper. There may only have been the slightest bit of contact but if he had run away from the ball as Ballack did then we would be 1-0 up. A few seconds later though we see the genius of Deco. Frank starts a brilliant one touch move by finding Essien on the right wing. He fires it into Deco who turns it around the corner into Ballack. The German’s first time roll across the box leaves the whole goal, yes the whole goal open for Kalou to surely score. But guess what, he misses the fucking target. What a dick.

I may be biased but Frank and Deco made a great start to the game with brilliant movement and passing whereas Anelka looked rather casual and Kalou has just been, well Kalou. Not only in terms of movement and finishing but also in terms of hold up play and passing. So a mixed bag after 25 minutes. After a small lull in the game, I was suddenly awoken by some ITV idiocy. The commentators are talking of how Frank looked so much better tonight in our 4-3-3! Yep, they couldn’t even tell what formation we were playing. That’s how awful they were. We were playing some lovely stuff but again without Didier we were missing that killer touch to get the breakthrough. Although if you can’t score an open goal then I’m not sure you deserve to be winning. And after 35 minutes Stamford Bridge had fallen deathly silent due to the lack of goals. It’s rather embarrassing that no-one sings when we’re not winning at home in my opinion but soon the crowd were on their feet. Frank’s brilliant through ball “with the eyes” (see Ronaldinho’s note book) to Ashley beat Atletico’s defence and his cross found Kalou three yards out with another open goal and this time he just about managed to stick it in. The half finished with some more brilliant interplay between Frank and Deco on the edge of the box but the play fizzled out, much like the first half.

The second half started slowly with both sides giving the ball away cheaply. But just to wake us all from our half-time slumber is a classic Essien leg breaker. Personally, I love them but others seem to think they’re wild and rash. How strange. Anelka then went up the other end and fired a bullet towards the top corner but Asenjo pulled off a great save. The keeper did it again, but this time from a Belletti throw. From the resulting corner however, Kalou powers in a lovely header from Frank’s cross and it’s 2-0. We were cruising but then Aguero scampered away after a sloppy Chelsea free-kick. Terry however found some Walcott-esque pace and caught up to help block his shot along with Cech’s legs. Frank shows some more dancing feet to win a free-kick on the left wing and we were continuing to play some lovely stuff but every time we looked like fashioning a chance either Anelka or Kalou were flagged offside. Nothing much was happening apart from a rash of fouls and then suddenly Frank turned on the edge of the box and fired in a brilliant low drive for 3-0. Goal number 133 takes him past a certain Jimmy Greaves no less. His drought is officially over and the goal was an almost carbon copy of the strike which broke another Lampard duck in Jose’s first season at West Brom (I’m sure you Chelsea nerds will know what I’m talking about). The third goal’s celebrations were then stopped with Ashley and Kalou being replaced by Malouda and Zhirkov to freshen up the left wing. But then we saw something startling... Daniel Sturridge! Yes, we do still own him and his arrival got the biggest cheer of the night. Absolutely nothing else happens in the next 10 minutes apart from a few random yellow cards and yet more offsides until Malouda curls in a beautiful free-kick after Sturridge is fouled after some great skills on the right-wing and an Atletico defender heads home into his own net. A lovely end to a rather lovely performance.

The good

The performance – A professional yet attractive display from us and seeing Chelsea score more than once in this competition was also rather nice. We again played some beautiful football at times and Carlo looks to have settled on his favoured midfield four of Essien, Ballack, Frank and Deco. Where that leaves Joe Cole and Zhirkov I don’t know but for now it’s working.
Lampard – He’s back. Even without a goal to round off a brilliant display, his passing, probing and dovetailing with Deco was brilliant.
Clean sheet – We looked secure at the back for most of the match and kept their deadly strike pairing relatively quiet. Even Belletti looked alright so things must really have been quite comfortable.
Singing – We heard the crowd sing Carlo’s name for the first time. Yes, it may only have been for 10 seconds but that’s still 10 seconds more than Avram or Phil received so well done Carlo on a successful opening few months.
Alexandre Pato – I know, not our game but seeing him tear apart Real Madrid tonight only increases the hope that soon we’ll be seeing him in a Chelsea shirt. A world-class talent.

The bad

Atmosphere – Stamford Bridge was silent for large parts of the game and it is strange how virtually no-one makes a noise on these early Champions League nights.
Offsides – Just a small problem but we were constantly offside in the second half and it regularly ruined the good work of Frank and Deco.

Player ratings

Cech – 7/10 – A steady and calm display. Displayed perfect handling from crosses and was brilliant at shutting down any potential Atletico chances.
Belletti – 7/10 – I know, 7 for Belletti at right-back. Didn’t put a foot wrong until his late yellow card for an idiotic kicking away of the ball.
Ivanovic – 7.5/10 – A rock at the back who complements JT better than Alex and is certainly a better bet than Ricky at the moment. Has a surprising burst of pace for a centre back and will be a future Chelsea great in my eyes.
Terry – 7.5/10 – Rock solid from our Captain Fantastic and this time no set-piece tantrums were required
Cole – 6.5/10 – Looked a little jaded after not yet having a rest this season and seemed glad to come off.
Essien – 8/10 – His leg breaking lunge aside, it was an energetic and powerful performance from the beast. Is wasted there but he’s still the best we’ve got and is slowly changing the role from simply an ultra-defensive holding player to a more creative and forward thinking all-round midfielder.
Ballack – 6.5/10 – Couldn’t really tell what he did but his class, experience and probably just his presence brought calm and quality to our midfield.
Lampard – 8.5/10 – A beautiful through ball for the first goal and despite not getting a goal until late-on he was full of creativity and was the best player on the pitch tonight. All he needed was that first goal and I’m sure he’ll now start scoring freely.
Deco – 7.5/10 – Personally, I think he’s great as a number 10. Some of his tricks and flicks were a little too clever for the likes of Anelka and Kalou but at times he was still able to show off the genius he still possesses. His through ball to Ballack was brilliant and the move was only spoilt by Kalou’s shocker of a finish.
Kalou – 7/10 - Prior to his goal he was probably on a 4 or 5 as his finishing, hold-up play and passing was awful. But with more confidence and after tucking away a couple of nice finishes he looked like quite a good player. Infuriating at times yet quite good at others. Same old Kalou then.
Anelka – 6/10 – A nothing performance in my eyes. At times he showed good movement in the channels but he was rarely in the game and I have a sneaking suspicion that this could be his last season at Chelsea. He hasn’t done anything wrong for us but he’s plainly not world class and I’m sure the club will not be offering him a new deal.
Ancelotti – 9/10 – Set the team up perfectly and his decision to drop Carvalho and Malouda was entirely correct. He even used all three substitutes tonight so a bonus point for Carlo.
Subs: Zhirkov and Sturridge – 6.5/10 – It’s just nice to see them on the pitch so half a bonus point to the pair of them.

The Man of the Match

It could only be Frank. Special mention goes to Belletti tonight who looked sort of like a defender at times but he still couldn’t match Frank’s brilliant display of passing, tackling and eventually scoring.

The conclusion

This was a near perfect response to any doubters after a poor result, although quite an encouraging performance at Villa Park. As I said earlier in the week, Carlo is one of the best managers in Europe and any calls for his head after one defeat were ridiculous. His Christmas tree is working brilliantly in Europe and I have no doubts that he will lead us to glory this season in either the Premiership or Champions League. Book those tickets to Madrid now.

Related links

Reaction: Credit to Kalou

Shorts: Drogba, Lampard, Terry nominated for Ballon D'Or; Ancelotti doesn't feel pressure; Di Santo thanks Allardyce; Terry to play till he's 40; Atletico previews

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:45:58 -0500

Last updated Wednesday, 21 October 09, 11:55 AM

Briefest of brief Shorts. I will add more links and previews of tomorrow's Champions League group game against Atletico Madrid as they are published, so keep checking back.

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Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry have been nominated for the Ballon D'Or, aka the European Footballer of the Year award. The three are on a 2009 shortlist of 30 players. Lionel Messi is the favourite to take the award.

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Following Saturday's loss to Aston Villa at Villa Park, which was our second successive away defeat, Carlo Ancelotti says pressure does not exist in his vocabulary.

Even as a manager who served 14 years in the madhouse of Italian football, eight of them at Silvio Berlusconi's Milan, Carlo Ancelotti looked taken aback to be asked whether losing two of his first 13 matches at Chelsea – having won the other 11 – has put him under pressure.

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Petr Cech says we must rely on deeper concentration at the back.

"The last two away games we've conceded three goals from set plays so we need to get our discipline with marking and avoid these goals, because they can be costly. At the moment we are a little bit unlucky as well, but we know we have to pay more attention and have better concentration next time."

You don't say.

Michael Ballack has revealed the players conducted an inquest into their defensive difficulties in the aftermath of the defeat.

"We have no problem to criticise each other in the dressing room. A good team and strong players have to do this. We have done this. After that we shake hands and go back on the training pitch."

Pat Nevin dissects what when wrong at set plays on Saturday.

If you do not mark your man and he scores there is rarely ever a need for the manager to tell you, you know already before the ball is in the back of the net that it is your fault and you have let everyone down. Having said that the manager usually feels it is necessary to mention it afterwards anyway, usually with some colourful adjectives thrown in for good measure.

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Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

Set pieces: Only Liverpool have conceded more goals from set pieces than Chelsea this season. Liverpool have struggled with both the theory and practice of marking people at dead balls. Chelsea have two problems: Ricardo Carvalho looks a shadow of the player he was and Petr Cech has a kind of compulsive wander-and-flap reflex whenever the ball is punted into his area. But at least Chelsea can always go out in January and buy ... ah.

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Ancelotti says John Terry can emulate Paolo Maldini by playing until he is "39 or 40", with the help of the Milan Lab techniques.

Terry has been hampered by back problems in recent seasons but is now benefiting from the input of Ancelotti's assistant first-team coach, Bruno Demichelis, at Stamford Bridge. The 61-year-old spent 22 years at Milan where he was the visionary behind the Milan Lab concept, a proactive, holistic approach to work on injury prevention, which cured David Beckham of a back problem through dentistry work and extended the careers of Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta until they were 41.

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Franco Di Santo has thanked Sam Allardyce for making him a more complete Premier League striker and hopes Blackburn beat us on Saturday.

"Sam Allardyce is helping me to become a more complete player. I am very happy at Blackburn. I need to improve and gain experience. I need to play games and score goals. If I go back to Chelsea I will try my best but if I stay here I will continue my education. I hope to get back to Chelsea and play. If I go back and don't play, it is less good for me. It depends on the situation. If I play for Chelsea, I will be happy because they were my first team in England and I always hoped to play in a top team. But if I stay here, I will be happy. I won't have a problem."

I don't get to see much of Di Santo, about 10 minutes every weekend on Match of the Day, but what I have seen of him has impressed me. He looks to have improved with playing time.

Allardyce meanwhile is resigned to returning Di Santo to Stamford Bridge in January when his loan move ends.

"I do not think that there is any real chance of [Di Santo staying]. There is a transfer ban on Chelsea and with the African Nations coming up they will probably need him."

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That's it for Chelsea links. Now the rest.

Krafty Ken Bates has banned the Guardian from Elland Road over the paper's coverage of the club's ownership issue.

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Liverpool's title chances were dented by a beach ball on Saturday. The Independent has 10 more of the strangest ever goals. Includes YouTube links.

The Guardian reports that Liverpool will search Manchester United fans for beach balls before Sunday's match at Anfield.

Liverpool have sold out of the £10 "Beach Set" that diverted the team's title prospects at Sunderland and will search Manchester United supporters for any offending items, including beach balls, before Sunday's Premier League clash at Anfield.

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Will Buckley in the Observer at the weekend: 235 days to go and England have already won the World Cup.

England will do well to reach the quarter-finals. The fact they are third favourites, at less than half the price available on Holland and Italy, is an aberration. Even the Sun at its most bombastic in a piece headlined "Yes We Can: 72% per cent give England the World Cup nod" felt moved, in the interests of balance, to include a small box entitled "3 Lions: Five Big Worries". These being, to paraphrase: can't pass; light on keepers; can't deal with pressure, no killer instinct; rubbish without Rooney. Not really what you want from 11-2 shots.

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The Guardian's 'The Gallery' series features some fine Photoshop work, this week England's internet adventures.

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UPDATE: The Independent lists the greatest playboys in sport.

George Best: Manchester United hero George Best was known as much for his off-field antics as his moves on it. He once told interviewer Michael Parkinson that he had sex at half time whilst his heavy partying is considered the reason for his career tailing off. Best is also only one of two men known to have slept with at least two Miss Worlds. The glamour of this fact is somewhat tarnished when you realise the other man to have achieved this is Bruce Forsyth.

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Alex Ferguson says that Manchester City and Chelsea are at risk of financial disintegration in the future.

"That is exactly what was happening in the business world two years ago. There were warning signs and everyone knew there were, yet they carried on because it was so easy to access loans. In the football world you say to yourself the warning signs are there, but nobody seems to be bothering about it. You wonder where it's going to go and what is going to happen if one major club are to go, to collapse."

This from the manager of a club that is £700m in debt.

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Finally, FIFA President Sepp Blatter will seek to stay in charge of world soccer's governing body after 2011 because of the raft of new initiatives he wants to push through.

"I have not finished my mission in soccer, I need more time. I hope that in 2011 the FIFA Congress has further faith in me, otherwise I'll go back to my village."

For the good of the game, let's hope he's sent back to his village.

That's it for now. Check back for updates.

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UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph's preview of tonight's Champions League game against Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid have endured a torrid start to the season both in Europe and La Liga.

With only one win in all competitions they are currently 15th in the league, with only six points from seven games and are bottom of Group D after a disappointing home draw to APOEL Nicosia and a loss away to Porto.

UPDATE: See also BBC Football's preview. Both include video of Ancelotti's press conference.

UPDATE: Dominic Fifield in the Guardian says Atletico lack the aerial power to trouble our suspect defence.

Atlético Madrid were supposed to be the side to challenge Chelsea's supremacy in this Champions League qualification group, though it says much about these teams' recent toils that the Spaniards' visit to Stamford Bridge actually offers Carlo Ancelotti's side some relief. Defeat by Aston Villa at the weekend exposed familiar frailties at the heart of Chelsea's line-up and fatigue has already seeped into this team's preparations. "It's not easy," said the Italian. "But I think it's even more difficult for Atlético at the moment."

UPDATE: Giles Smith appraises Premier League keepers.

Pepe Reina? I don't think so. He looks like Corporal Jones when he's under pressure and has very little presence in general. Plus his inability to respond flexibly to stray beach balls is a real worry. (Cech, one feels, in that unfortunate circumstance last Saturday, would have saved both balls - the match ball and the cheap plastic one. Then he would have returned the cheap plastic one to its rightful owner, before converting defence into attack by using the match ball to pick out Didier Drogba on a swift counter. That's the difference between Cech and Reina.)

UPDATE: Martin Samuel says the ghost of Guus Hiddink will haunt Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea.

Hiddink unattached is a dangerous guy. He is a threat to Ancelotti, although he probably does not mean to be. It is fair to assume that, right now, he is focused solely on steering Russia to the World Cup in South Africa and fulfilling his obligations there until his contract ends in 2010.