The Chelsea Thread

[Alcaraz]

Di Matteo is certainly having a lotta luck, bound to run out to be honest, could be embarassing against Barca, getting pulled around by Wigan and fluking a win

We are due some luck this season. Its not as if Wigan was just plain unlucky, the referee missed Caldwell's handball int he box and he called Torres offside when he was 1 vs 1 with the keeper despite the fact that he was onside.

Out of the all the teams in the Premiereship, we have probably had the most gruelling fixture list in the second half of the season particuarly as we are involved in more competitions than anyone else. So it was not a great performance but glad we got the win

 

[zzeezzy]

We are due some luck this season. Its not as if Wigan was just plain unlucky, the referee missed Caldwell's handball int he box and he called Torres offside when he was 1 vs 1 with the keeper despite the fact that he was onside.

Out of the all the teams in the Premiereship, we have probably had the most gruelling fixture list in the second half of the season particuarly as we are involved in more competitions than anyone else. So it was not a great performance but glad we got the win

Both of your goals were offside, Wigan were the better team on the day, Benfica were better last Wednesday, i guess it is a good thing you winning when not playing well but I wonder if you can step it up to even compete with Barca at the moment considering your performances.

 

[zzeezzy]

Loads of rumours flying around that we have made contact with Valencia regarding Jordi Alba. This is a signing that makes sense. Ashley Cole has been poor this season and Betrand is not yet ready to be a first-team regular for us just yet. PVA was **** on his loan to Wigan and has not done very well for Vitesse either.

At only 23, Alba is the sort of signing Chelsea's new transfer policy is shaped to. Young, rucksack of potential and will not cost way over the odds either due to Valencia's financial trouble.

Word is still going around that we are looking at Willian and Jovetic for the summer. Again the sort of signings that make sense for us, both players can play across the 3 in a 4-2-3-1. Again they are young and will not command a astronomical transfer fee.

Were were quite close to getting Willian in January and I was sure we were going to get him in the summer although AVB's sacking has changed all that. Still I am hoping we do bring in either one of these players.

Some quotes out of Lucas Moura's agent that we are still interested. To be fair, Lucas is a signing I will want to stay well away from unless the price is significantly reduced. 40m is too much for him particularly as we can get better value by signing players like Willian and Jovetic.

I am suprised there has been no concrete links with a RB so far. There was some word going around that we were interested in Azipicuelta, Inkoon and VDW. Surpising really considering that RB is one of the positions we definitely have to reinforce this summer.

Also Malouda's shockingly ineffective performance vs Wigan just highlights the importance of him leaving this summer along with Kalou. Cant overstate how important this is.

Looking at our squad, our lack of depth in the attacking front has really cost us this season. Mata's performances have diminished somewhat in the second half of the season and its probably because he has played too many games. Its totally our fault as we just do not have a suitable replacement for him and we cant hope of winning important games without him.

Its really a miracle he has not got injured so far and I am praying it stays that way but this is another problem we must look at this summer. We really need to reinforce our depth along with getting high-calibre players capable of winning us the title without paying over the odds. It will be a delicate summer for us.

Looking on the bright side though, our squad is not as bad as everyone makes out. We got players such as Torres, Mata, Sturridge, Cahill, Ivanovic and Luiz who are well capable of being part of a Premiereship winning squad. Our future looks exceedinly bright with the likes of Romeu, Betrand, Courtois, Piazon and Feruz.

We probably need to add missing jigsaw pieces to the puzzle like a couple of attacking players, RB and possibly a CM but I think we are well capable of challenging for the title next season if these things are done over the summer.

Shame that you do not put some faith in Bertrand, I honestly thought he was Chelsea's best player yesterday and I think with time on the pitch he could become really good, not denying Jordi Alba is a good player but why not put faith in Bertrand, the potential is there Not to mention you have Ashley Cole as well, but buying Jordi Alba would just be like throwing Bertrand away, shame really as he seems a good English talent.

 

[BlueHeart26]

I like Ryan. Never disappointed me when I watched him play, and he is still very young so no need to rush, if he keeps getting game time, he will improve and I'd love him to be our long-term LB.

To be honest, I dont like any of them Willian/Jovetic.


I would not make anything of any stories that fly around because it depends on our new manager, and what he wants. Although, 9/10 times Roman buys whoever he wants. So..

 

[Alcaraz]

Both of your goals were offside, Wigan were the better team on the day, Benfica were better last Wednesday, i guess it is a good thing you winning when not playing well but I wonder if you can step it up to even compete with Barca at the moment considering your performances.

Enough. You act as if Barcelona will surely be coming to the match on top form. You do realise that Barcelona have put in bad performances and judging by their position in the league, more so than last season. They are not as strong as they were a couple of seasons ago.

Pique has been poor by his standards. Puyol has been troubled by injuries. Villa is injured. Yes Chelsea still have a very slim chance of beating Barcelona over two legs but everybody seems to be acting like we are going to get blown out of the water.

Shame that you do not put some faith in Bertrand, I honestly thought he was Chelsea's best player yesterday and I think with time on the pitch he could become really good, not denying Jordi Alba is a good player but why not put faith in Bertrand, the potential is there Not to mention you have Ashley Cole as well, but buying Jordi Alba would just be like throwing Bertrand away, shame really as he seems a good English talent.

As I mentioned, Ashley Cole's performances have been on the downward spiral since last season. It makes sense to offload him in the summer while he still has some value. Problem is that Betrand who has not even played 10 full PLM games is still not ready to be a first-team regular.

More sense to buy Jordi Alba who can be rotated with Betrand and Alba is someone who can provide cover anywhere down the left. Its not that I am not putting faith in Betrand, its just that as a club we need 2 LBs at any point in time and if we were to sell Ashley Cole, Alba would be a excellent addition.

 

[zzeezzy]

Enough. You act as if Barcelona will surely be coming to the match on top form. You do realise that Barcelona have put in bad performances and judging by their position in the league, more so than last season. They are not as strong as they were a couple of seasons ago.

Pique has been poor by his standards. Puyol has been troubled by injuries. Villa is injured. Yes Chelsea still have a very slim chance of beating Barcelona over two legs but everybody seems to be acting like we are going to get blown out of the water.



As I mentioned, Ashley Cole's performances have been on the downward spiral since last season. It makes sense to offload him in the summer while he still has some value. Problem is that Betrand who has not even played 10 full PLM games is still not ready to be a first-team regular.

More sense to buy Jordi Alba who can be rotated with Betrand and Alba is someone who can provide cover anywhere down the left. Its not that I am not putting faith in Betrand, its just that as a club we need 2 LBs at any point in time and if we were to sell Ashley Cole, Alba would be a excellent addition.

Chelsea will not sell Cole, Lampard or Terry in the summer, especially with Di Matteo in charge.

 

[Alcaraz]

Chelsea will not sell Cole, Lampard or Terry in the summer, especially with Di Matteo in charge.

An absolute assumption there. I recall you saying that Di Matteo will suck up to them since he wanted the job full-time. But the very next match, Lampard was dropped. Cole is only playing because of a lack of a better option. Betrand is not good enough yet.

And despite conventional wisdom. Terry is still a very good defender. Brilliant in the air, no-nonsense and a leader. The sort of defender all big clubs have in their backline. Eg. Kompany, Vidic, Puyol etc.

He is still someone who can play at the highest level for 2-3 more seasons and continue to earn his place in the side

 

[zzeezzy]

An absolute assumption there. I recall you saying that Di Matteo will suck up to them since he wanted the job full-time. But the very next match, Lampard was dropped. Cole is only playing because of a lack of a better option. Betrand is not good enough yet.

And despite conventional wisdom. Terry is still a very good defender. Brilliant in the air, no-nonsense and a leader. The sort of defender all big clubs have in their backline. Eg. Kompany, Vidic, Puyol etc.

He is still someone who can play at the highest level for 2-3 more seasons and continue to earn his place in the side

Why when Bertrand was your best player on the pitch yesterday do you not have faith in him to be in the starting line up ahead of Cole? Cole has not exactly been good this season.

 

[Alcaraz]

Why when Bertrand was your best player on the pitch yesterday do you not have faith in him to be in the starting line up ahead of Cole? Cole has not exactly been good this season.

Betrand was the best player on the pitch against Wigan. The only reason he was the best player on the pitch is because that was like his 4th PLM appearance in the whole season and he had not been forced to play CL Game mid-week like many of our other starting players.

I do not see how you can justify playing a 21 y/old with little experience as a starting LB for a team that has title aspirations next season. We all know what happened the last time Chelsea introduced youngsters too early to the first-team.

 

[CFC CALLUM]

Why when Bertrand was your best player on the pitch yesterday do you not have faith in him to be in the starting line up ahead of Cole? Cole has not exactly been good this season.

But cole hasn't exactly been bad, he can be a game saver at times. Bertrand isn't yet that player that will relish in big games unlike Cole who will.

 

[CFC CALLUM]

Chelsea HAVE to go into the Barcelona game with the right mentality otherwise its game-over already, you can't go into that game thinking you're going to lose otherwise you will.

 

[zzeezzy]

But cole hasn't exactly been bad, he can be a game saver at times. Bertrand isn't yet that player that will relish in big games unlike Cole who will.

Betrand was the best player on the pitch against Wigan. The only reason he was the best player on the pitch is because that was like his 4th PLM appearance in the whole season and he had not been forced to play CL Game mid-week like many of our other starting players.

I do not see how you can justify playing a 21 y/old with little experience as a starting LB for a team that has title aspirations next season. We all know what happened the last time Chelsea introduced youngsters too early to the first-team.

The same reason how Fergie plays De Gea and Welbeck, he gives the youngsters a go, now they are in the starting eleven virtually every game, you have to take the risk that they may not perform at first, but they need experience and games to reach the level, if you never play them regularly then how do you know what they will be like on a consistent basis? This is why you are stuck with the old guard, AVB started to work on the issue but obviously the old guard did not like it.

 

[CFC CALLUM]

The same reason how Fergie plays De Gea and Welbeck, he gives the youngsters a go, now they are in the starting eleven virtually every game, you have to take the risk that they may not perform at first, but they need experience and games to reach the level, if you never play them regularly then how do you know what they will be like on a consistent basis? This is why you are stuck with the old guard, AVB started to work on the issue but obviously the old guard did not like it.

Playing the youngsters here and there is fine but when its a big game like Barcelona the seniors need to play 100%.

 

[Alcaraz]

The same reason how Fergie plays De Gea and Welbeck, he gives the youngsters a go, now they are in the starting eleven virtually every game, you have to take the risk that they may not perform at first, but they need experience and games to reach the level, if you never play them regularly then how do you know what they will be like on a consistent basis? This is why you are stuck with the old guard, AVB started to work on the issue but obviously the old guard did not like it.

De Gea was a proven player in a top league before he came to United. Welbeck had already made sufficient PLM appeareances for both Sunderland and Manchester United before Fergie actually made him play regular first-team football. This is Betrands first season in the PLM and he has not been fantastic either when called upon.

As I mentioned, we all know what happened the last time Chelsea took a gamble on youngsters like that. Your issue can easily be negated by sending Betrand on loan to a PLM club which is what Chelsea should do next season so that he can get regular first-team football.

And please do not jump onto the media bandwagon that the old guard did not like being pushed out. Lampard mentioned it himself that he did not mind sitting on the bench. Its just that their was a massive break-down in communication between the senior players and AVB.

 

[zzeezzy]

De Gea was a proven player in a top league before he came to United. Welbeck had already made sufficient PLM appeareances for both Sunderland and Manchester United before Fergie actually made him play regular first-team football. This is Betrands first season in the PLM and he has not been fantastic either when called upon.

As I mentioned, we all know what happened the last time Chelsea took a gamble on youngsters like that. Your issue can easily be negated by sending Betrand on loan to a PLM club which is what Chelsea should do next season so that he can get regular first-team football.

And please do not jump onto the media bandwagon that the old guard did not like being pushed out. Lampard mentioned it himself that he did not mind sitting on the bench. Its just that their was a massive break-down in communication between the senior players and AVB.

Break down in communication because they threw their toys out of the pram when AVB was looking to the younger players in the squad, that old guard has a few seasons left at very maximum. What Lampard says in public and what happens behind closed doors is completely different, why would AVB had to of signed a non disclosure agreement? Just tells you really the ego's of the old guard at the club.

 

[Alcaraz]

Break down in communication because they threw their toys out of the pram when AVB was looking to the younger players in the squad, that old guard has a few seasons left at very maximum. What Lampard says in public and what happens behind closed doors is completely different, why would AVB had to of signed a non disclosure agreement? Just tells you really the ego's of the old guard at the club.

I am not going into all that. It has been discussed to death in the past few weeks.

 

[zzeezzy]

I am not going into all that. It has been discussed to death in the past few weeks.

I just think Chelsea fans are naive thinking you can keep with the old guard and then just buy a new squad and not put through any youngsters until they are like 24? Why would you sign Jordi Alba when you have Bertrand, he is 22, Bertrand is 21, Cole could backup Bertrand for a few seasons and tutor him (not even sure if Cole would be willing to do that).

This is probably why you have gone from a Title challenging side to a 4th spot Champions league team, because the team has not evolved.

 

[Alcaraz]

I just think Chelsea fans are naive thinking you can keep with the old guard and then just buy a new squad and not put through any youngsters until they are like 24? Why would you sign Jordi Alba when you have Bertrand, he is 22, Bertrand is 21, Cole could backup Bertrand for a few seasons and tutor him (not even sure if Cole would be willing to do that).

This is probably why you have gone from a Title challenging side to a 4th spot Champions league team, because the team has not evolved.

I never said that we should keep with the old guard. Have I not been saying all along that it makes sense to buy Jordi Alba and sell Cole while he still has value.

Our depth this season has been shocking. Betrand would get enough games alongisde Alba particularly as Alba is someone who can be used anywhere down the left. Hence its probable that there will be games where Alba would be deployed in a left wing role in games allowing Betrand to start as LB.

And its obvious that the team has not evolved. Its largely due to the fact that we have not had a stable manager for a while. But as I mentioned earlier, the situation is not at bad as people make out. We have a fantastic array of Youth Players. We just have to go out there this summer and invest in the right places and we should be challenging for the title next season.

 

[ajt09]

Watching the Chelsea v Wigan match from last night. What an amazing strike from Cahill-strikers shot never mind CB lol.

And that first goal was just...no. It wasn't.

 

[Alcaraz]

Ivanovic has been excellent since RDM took over. Playing some of his best football currently to help us maintain our challenge on all 3 fronts. Fantastic player

Also Cahill has proving his critics wrong. Been very good since he joined Chelsea baring that horrific performance vs Napoli in the first leg.