Keep the Blue Flag Flying High - A Chelsea Legacy

[MrProLucky]

Can I just say I absolutely love a good Chelsea story as I've done in previous games. brilliant lay out everything mate its perfect. Good Read! Carry on going!!

 

[samillyroy]

Swansea City (BPL) v. Chelsea (BPL)
Capital One Cup, Quarter-Final

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[TD]KEY PLAYER - MICHU
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Impressive again, the Spaniard is scoring and assisting aplenty and has struck up a formidable partnership with striker Wilfried Bony. Chelsea will have to be aware of his quality if they are to make it through to the next round.

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Chelsea have David Luiz out as a long term injury whilst Ivanovic and Oscar are also once again missing.

Swansea have the luxury of a full squad to pick from.

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Chelsea scraped through to these quarter-finals thanks to the heroics of two goal Tomas Kalas. The youngster has featured in a number of games recently for Chelsea and has performed very well. Today their opponents, the holders who knocked Chelsea out at the semi-final stage last season, will prove another tricky test. With defensive injuries and big games still to come this month, the Chelsea manager has much to think about.

It's a great chance to get some silverware so we'll be going into this match with a strong XI. We were impressive against United so I want to keep some of that momentum going this evening.

 

[samillyroy]

Capital One Cup, Quarter-Final
Liberty Stadium, Swansea

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[TD="align: center"]SWANSEA[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Routledge (41)
Bony (51)
Michu (75)
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[TD="align: center"]Ba (26)[/TD]
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Swansea were worthy winners as they marched on to defending their title.

Chelsea crashed out of the League Cup at the Quarter-Final stage at the hands of their conquerers last season, Swansea City. They took the lead but were pegged back and eventually clinically dealt with.

Chelsea were first out of the blocks and were looking dangerous at every attack - the renewed vigour of Willian was particularly noticeable and he set up the first goal with an excellent first time cross which Ba read and poked past Vorm.

But Swansea looked strong throughout. They levelled on half time as Routledge made the most of a goalmouth scramble after De Guzman's free kick to poke home.

Then Chelsea were 2-1 down as Schwarzer failed to close down the run of Bony despite seemingly having an age to deal with the threat and the Ivorian raced through and rounded the Australian.

Chelsea were pushing forward for another but were hit from a set piece as Williams knocked down a corner for Michu to slam home clinically and see the Swans through to the next round.

Chelsea won 4-0 here a couple of months ago but this is the beauty of cup competitions.

Highly dissapointed. We have had a lot of tough games of late so I can understand there was some tiredness but those were cheap goals to give away and we have thrown away a good chance of silverware this season.

 

[samillyroy]

Chelsea (3rd) v. Stoke City (7th)
Barclays Premier League, Matchday 17

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[TD]KEY PLAYER - Ryan Shawcross
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Key for Stoke is the prowess of this man. Ryan Shawcross is a name known across England for his physical style and no nonsense defending. The England international is a force to be reckoned with and has scored 4 goals this season as well as being a permanent fixture in the side.

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Chelsea are without David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic and Brazilian Oscar

Stoke are missing some key players with Jonathan Walters, Charlie Adam, Jack Butland and Geoff Cameronall unavailable for this fixture.

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Chelsea saw off Manchester United in their last Premier League match and will look to build some momentum going into Christmas with three points here against Stoke. But Mark Hughes has done a good job there this season and the Blues will have to be wary of complacency. The Potters have strength across the park but have become a decent footballing side this season to boot. A tough game however you look at it.

Mixed feelings at the moment about our form as although we haven't played awfully we have a lot more to do if we're to reach the level I am hoping for. Today is a good chance to bounce back from the Swansea game and build some momentum.

 

[samillyroy]

Barclays Premier League, Matchday 17
Stamford Bridge, London

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[TD="align: center"]Kalas (22)
Crouch o.g. (77)[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]Shawcross (57)[/TD]
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Chelsea players gleefully celebrate a late stroke of luck that sends them top of the league.

Chelsea moved top of the Barclays Premier League with a hard fought victory against high-flying Stoke City, thanks to a calamitous own goal from towering striker Peter Crouch.

Chelsea were the better team throughout the game but with just one goal they were always leaving the opposition with a chance to come back in the game. Tomas Kalas scored his third Chelsea goal to give them the lead after overlapping Willian to slam past Sorensen.

Chelsea then made a number of openings including a contentious disallowed goal for Samuel Eto'o but they were then pegged back after the hour by none other than Ryan Shawcross, rising to head home Chris Solly's excellent free-kick.

Chelsea fans were rightfully dissapointed and Chelsea were really struggling to break down their opponents but got a break of luck with quarter of an hour to go as Peter Crouch beat Kalas in the air only to head home Hazard's corner himself.

The Chelsea bench couldn't contain their delight at a hard fought victory and Chelsea must now surely be taken as serious title contenders.

This is a great result off the back of that victory against Manchester United and it puts us right into the mix at the moment but no one has as yet broken away. There is still lots of football to play.

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[samillyroy]

Can I just say I absolutely love a good Chelsea story as I've done in previous games. brilliant lay out everything mate its perfect. Good Read! Carry on going!!

thanks a lot buddy! good to have you on board

 

[samillyroy]

Everton (2nd) v. Chelsea (1st)
Barclays Premier League, Matchday 18

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[TD]KEY PLAYER - Jose Sosa
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This probably would have been on loan striker Romelu Lukaku but with him being unavailable to play against his parent club, Jose Sosa, their player with the most assists takes the mantle. Has played at the highest levels and is having a great start to his time in the Premier League

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Chelsea are without long term absentees David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic whilst this game also comes too soon for Oscar.

Romelu Lukaku is ineligible whilst Steven Pienaar and Gareth Barry are on the injury list.

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This has all the makings of a top contest. Martinez has done a wonderful job since joining Everton and sees his side just a point behind the leaders late into December which is a remarkable achievement. The Toffees haven't spent big money but they have bought very wisely and are incredibly tough opponents with skill, physicality and endurance in equal measure. This match will test their mettle though with Chelsea in ominous form in the league despite a blip against West Brom.

This is an early title clash in my opinion. Everton have to be taken seriously with their form and this will really be a test of where we both are at this stage in the season. Things have progressed nicely for us so I'm hoping we can show our full qualities today.

 

[samillyroy]

Barclays Premier League, Matchday 18
Goodison Park, Liverpool

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[TD="align: center"]Jelavic (39)
Delofeu (55)[/TD]
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Jelavic's opener set Everton on the way to a victory which sends them top of the league.

Everton truly announced themselves on the scene of the title race with an emphatic victory against a toothless Chelsea side. Lukaku's understudy Jelavic kept calm to slot home before half time and a sending off for Kalas eased the pressure in the second half.

Chelsea started the better of the two teams, opening up a number of chances through the lively Willian and Torres but the Spaniard was predictably wasteful with his shooting, twice coming into good positions before skying waywardly.

His profligacy was to cost Chelsea before half time as Jelavic broke the offside trap before slotting home past the onrushing Petr Cech to give the Toffee's what was a bit of a lucky advantage.

The second half Chelsea tried to come at Everton but no sooner had they started to re-assert their authority than everything went wrong. On the counter Jose Sosa pulled into the box from the right and was tripped clumsily by young Tomas Kalas who received a second yellow and was off for an early bath.

Jelavic went on to miss the resulting penalty but he then set up Delefeu minutes later for the Spaniard's third goal of the season, chipping over Cech for the Spaniard to head into an empty net.

The Blues were then pinned back for the rest of the game, unable to assert their authority without leaving themselves far too open at the back and the match was lost.

A lot of things went wrong today, and I won't be naming names. We have to be far more clinical when we are dominating and we cannot give away the kinds of goals we conceded here. But credit to Everton who are definitely title contenders.

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[samillyroy]

Crystal Palace (13th) v. Chelsea (5th)
Barclays Premier League, Matchday 19


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[TD]KEY PLAYER - Marouane Chamakh
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This loan move has breathed new life into Marouane Chamakh, so often maligned at Arsenal. The Morrocan has class, proved by his Golden Boot in Ligue 1 when Bordeaux were champions of France, and he has shown his qualities this season for the Eagles, playing a big role in lifting them into the middle of the table.

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Chelsea are without Ivanovic and David Luiz but Oscar is a possibility to feature. Kalas is suspended following his red card against Everton.

Mariappa, Dikgacoi and Jimmy Kebe are all missing for the hosts.

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The season reaches it's halfway stage as Chelsea face Crystal Palace this Boxing Day. Palace have acquitted themselves surprisingly well to the challenges of the Premier League playing a methodical but pragmatic style of football. The Eagles host Chelsea fully in the knowledge that if things go their way, Chelsea still have weaknesses that can be exposed. The Blues meanwhile will be keen to bounce back from that defeat against Everton, especially after the Toffees have beaten Manchester City earlier today to go 5 points clear of them.

That was a damaging loss against Everton but we can minimise it's effects by winning our next two games. We cannot lose sight of the top of the table so to drop anything more than 2 points behind at this stage will be dissapointing.

 

[samillyroy]

Barclays Premier League, Matchday 19
Selhurst Park, London

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Torres' goal drought continues and his time appears to be up at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea were unfathomably held to a draw at Selhurst Park after not just dominating but making numerous clear cut chances, in the end ruing their finishing abilites for not being able to see this game off.

With no clear first choice striker still this season, Eto'o started the game up front and made some nice runs but was guilty of missing two fantastic first half one-on-ones before Willian then had a double shot saved by Speroni.

Ramires then missed an open goal before Andre Schurrle raced in to slam narrowly wide from the angle. Things got worse as Eden Hazard was stretchered off with a suspected toe break before Cahill slammed a free header wide of the post.

Things just weren't going Chelsea's way and could have been even worse as Chamakh's excellent hold up play saw Jon Williams through on goal but he lost his composure and saw his shot saved by the dominant Petr Cech.

Cahill had another free header in injury time which should have hit the back of the net but it didn't and the story of Chelsea's season continues. Will they bring in a striker in January?

It's simply not good enough and inexplicable to make that amount of chances and not score. We have the best defensive record in the league and we make a stupid amount of clear opportunities but we are not lethal enough. Maybe it's to do with complacency. Needless to say I will be clamping down in the next month or so as we cannot afford this to continue.

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[samillyroy]

Norwich City (15th) v. Chelsea (3rd)
Barclays Premier League, Matchday 20

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[TD="align: left"]KEY PLAYER - ROBERT SNODGRASS
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The Scottish international is a real threat from set pieces but also provides real width and aggression on the flanks. Has been key for Norwich this season and will cause at least some problems for the Chelsea back four today.

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Chelsea lost Hazard to a long term injury, with Ivanovic and David Luiz still also out for the foreseeable future.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel is a doubt and is Norwich's only injury concern.

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[TD="align: left"]MATCH PREVIEW
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Chelsea have stumbled once more in December, a sticky month in almost every campaign for one of the title challengers. They are 4 points behind leaders Everton, and 2 points behind second placed United but a win here could help close that gap. It is still a very open title race at this point so Chelsea will need to get back to winning ways soon. The manager also spoke of the loss of Eden Hazard.

Losing your top goalscorer is never easy, especially when we don't currently have a striker who is consistently on the scoresheet so we are looking at ways we can make goalscoring opportunities but the fact is we just have to be a little more clinical in front of goal and we'd be flying at the moment because our approach play is generally excellent.

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[AayushCFC]

Good to see this story up again! I was thinking of starting a Chelsea story myself, as Jose Mourinho