Super Chelsea

A Chelsea Blog For All Chels

Super Chelsea - A Chelsea Blog For All Chels

Europa League Final: Could Rafa Benitez lead Chelsea to glory?

When the season started, we hoped that we would be able to defend our hard-won Champions League crown. We had spent heavily in the summer on the likes of Eden Hazard, freshened up an ageing squad to some degree and looked forward to having a better chance of winning the Premier League. Sadly, the best we can hope for is the Europa League title as we’ve failed on all other fronts.

Europa League Trophy

Our rainbow after a stormy season?

Our surprising decision to sack Roberto di Matteo despite lying in second place in the league meant that we brought in Rafael Benitez as an interim replacement. After a very shaky start under the Spaniard, we have managed to stabilise and could yet end the season with a major trophy, even if it’s one none of us thought we would be challenging for.

 

A final salute

Before Benitez leaves, he knows that he’s steered us to guaranteed Champions League qualification with a game to go; but to try and make us feel a little bit better about his time at Stamford Bridge, he has to lead us to victory against Benfica. It won’t be easy, as the Portuguese giants have some class players in their squad, yet Chelsea are Europa League Betting Favourites at 7/5.

In the Europa League we’ve excelled, albeit against weak opposition. Having failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, we’ve taken apart the likes of FC Basel, Steaua Bucharest and Sparta Prague without playing at our best. However, we’re likely to be without two key men in the form of John Terry and Eden Hazard.

 

Belief in Jesus?

Under manager Jorge Jesus, Benfica have managed to do the same as Chelsea – keep going in the Europa League after dropping out of the Champions League group stages. A talented squad containing possible future transfer targets like Argentina winger Nicolas Gaitan, Paraguay forward Oscar Cardozo and solid former Real Madrid defender Ezequiel Garay is one not to be taken lightly.

Coming into the final, Benfica could still be left reeling by a dramatic title decider in the league. Up until injury time, they were level at 1-1 against big rivals FC Porto, but a last-gasp winner by opposition striker Kelvin could have cost them the league, having led the table for so long. Picking themselves up for the Europa League final will be tough.

For Chelsea to win, we either have to pray that Fernando Torres does what he’s seldom managed to do since he’s been at the club and find that scoring touch or, more realistically, hope that Juan Mata et al can conjure up some more magic. Mata, along with Oscar and the evergreen Frank Lampard are the most likely scorers.

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KTBFFH

Roman: Put Rafa out of his misery.

Rafa Angry

Rafa Angry

Good morning Blues. I hope you are all coping better than Rafa. Wedneday night went well for Rafa until Rafa decided he had to screw it up.  I will begin with what went well that night for Rafa. Rafa picked an inspired lineup for the Middlesbrough game. The lineup had some fringe players, few regulars and a new starter.  There was a lot skepticism on my twitter time-line about the lineup’s ability to win us the game. Many were concerned that Juan Mata was not on the bench to rescue us should the game not go according to plan. I had my reservations about the lineup too but I always hope for the best.

The lineup did very well. Nathan Ake impressed. The boy has good technique; he was constantly aware of what was happening on pitch. He moved around and positioned himself intelligently. He played as if he was a first team regular. Mikel may soon have real competition. Back to Rafa, Rafa was proactive against Middlesbrough. When Middlesbrough started putting pressure on us, he did not wait till we conceded to perform a substitution. He brought Hazard on and Hazard helped us keep the game in Middlesbrough’s half. We scored a second goal and it helped calm Chelsea nerves. It was good game and result. What is even fantastic is that we achieved it without using all our key players. Wednesday night had gone Rafa’s way.

Then Rafa screwed the night in his post match interview by launching a scathing attack at our management and at us the supporters. Here is Rafa’s statement and my comments:

“A group of fans, they are not doing any favours for the team when they are signing and wasting time preparing banners.

Many supporters don’t like being told what to; you made your situation worse by saying, we are wasting our time.

“It’s because someone made a mistake. They put my title ‘interim manager’, and I will leave at the end of the season, so they don’t need to waste time with me.

Many would prefer you leave before the season ends.

“Why put interim in the title? Why did they need do that? Maybe they thought: “He was at Liverpool”, so put interim in”.

“I have been in charge in football for 26 years. I have won the Champions League, won the FIFA Club World Cup, the FA Cup, the Italian Super Cup, the Spanish league twice, nine trophies, all the trophies you can win at club level.

You have won one out of three FIFA Club World Cup competition you have been in. You seriously damaged an Inter team that had won a treble the previous season. Inter saved your reputation by dismissing you. You took part of Liverpool’s demise. Sometimes I wonder how you won all those trophies.

“The fans have to concentrate on supporting the team, that’s what they have to do.

We support the team. True support is being real and honest when the club is not moving in the right direction.

“In the end, they are not doing any favours to the club, to the rest of the fans and to the players.

If the club wanted favours, they wouldn’t have appointed you. Especially after sacking Di Matteo, a Chelsea legend as a player and manager.

“Every game they continue singing and they continue preparing banners, they are wasting time. What they have to do is support the team.

Again you’re not endearing yourself to your ‘haters’.

“If we cannot achieve what we expect to achieve, that is to be in the top four and be in the Champions League for next year, I will leave; they will stay in the Europa League.

Tells me you really don’t give a damn about us.

“They have to take responsibility too. If they put players under pressure, they don’t create a good atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, they have to realise they are making a big mistake because the rest of the fans would like to see the team in the Champions League next year.

We always cheer the players on. Are Rafa ‘boo boys’ to blame when we lose away like we did at Manchester City?

“I’m the manager and I will be managing the team. I like to manage players and not names, so I will pick my team, and I will make decisions and at the end of the season, I will leave anyway because I am interim like they said.

That’s great. I am sure there will be special send-off parties in your honour.

“Again, they are wasting time, they are wasting time. I have proved in these three months that I want to win every single game.

‘Want’ doesn’t cut it at Chelsea. You need to win every game. Dictating to us how to spend our time won’t help you.

I am a professional and I am sure if we win, I will be the happiest man in the world.

I guess ranting is part of being a professional. I thought you would be happy after we won at Middlesborough. This rant is not coming from the happiest man in the world.

“But if a group of fans continue with their agenda and they continue not supporting the team and wasting time with these things, it’s their decision, but they are not doing any favours to the team, to the club, anyone.

“I have a very good group of players who are working very hard. It’s a top club, so it’s not a problem.

“The problem is a group of people who think they can say what they want instead of supporting the team.

“Again I will say I have won nine titles, all the titles that you can win at club level, in three different countries, so I think I have enough experience and enough quality as a manager to hear a group of people with an agenda carry on.

“They don’t realise that I will leave at the end of the season. They don’t need to be worried about me, but what they have to do is support the team.

“If they don’t do that and we are not in the Champions League at the end, they can blame whatever they want, but we will see the next year the Europa League.

Rafa as manager of Chelsea, you must not flirt with the idea of not qualifying for the Champions League. The thought itself is criminal.

“This group of fans, they have an agenda, they say ‘We are right’. They can be right at the end of the season, it’s simple.

“They put me there with the title ‘interim’, so why do they have to bother about that? Just carry on supporting the team.

Di Matteo had the title ‘interim’ in his job description, it did not bother him. Di Matteo gave his best and won the FA Cup and the Champions league.

“It’s a team in transition – they don’t realise.

“In the past, we had Drogba, Essien, Kalou, these players, it was a very strong squad, players with experience in the Premier League.

Di Matteo’s team was a team in transition too,  he wasn’t blessed with the quality of Hazard, Moses, Ba, Oscar, and Azpilicueta. He faced Napoli, Barcelona, and Bayern with our worst team in a decade and still did the job. This season Di Matteo lost the community shield, super cup and failed to get us out of the champions league group stage. It is a serious ‘crime’ to lose trophies at Chelsea and he was not pardoned for it. He was dismissed. Rafa has also lost two trophies and has done worse than Di Matteo in the league. It amazing how he is still in the job.

“Now we have a group of players with talent, really good players with talent, but they need time.

Rafa you don’t get it. There is no time when it comes to Chelsea. There is no waiting 8 years to get a trophy. Every manager that stays beyond a season must win something. You must deliver.

“It’s a time of transition. But they don’t realise it was a time of transition when I came here.

“The team was not in the Champions League, the team has lost some trophies, so I am trying to do my best and I will try to do my best until the end, until the last minute.

It looks like your best is not doing it for Chelsea because we have lost two more trophies and there is a possibility that we might not make top 4.

“It doesn’t matter what they say. I am a professional, I have experience and I will do my best.

“But if they carry on in the same, they have to take responsibility because they are damaging the image of the club and the rest of the fans because people think all the fans are the same.”

The club damaged their image by sacking a champions league winning manager and by appointing you. I no know not one Chelsea supporter who likes you, it is either indifference or strong dislike.
Rafa was brought to steer the club in the “right direction”. All Chelsea supporters know this is not the right direction. Rafa believes many Blues dislike him because he was successful with Liverpool. This is not the case. Many of us dislike him because he called Drogba “a diver”, he said Lampard was ‘overrated’ and he said Chelsea fans were ‘plastic’ and lacked ‘passion’. If Rafa took one of his initial press conferences to apologize sincerely for those hurtful comments,  he might have gotten a different reception. Instead he further alienated us by stating we dislike him because he was successful at Liverpool against us. Mourinho was successful with Inter against Chelsea but there are many Chelsea fans who will welcome him back in a heart beat. Pep beat Chelsea with Barcelona but Chelsea supporters wouldn’t mind him here. It is called respect; it is something that is earned.
The pressure has gotten to Rafa and I believe he is drowning under the pressure. We might not make top 4 if we do not dismiss him. After all, previous Chelsea managers have gone for much less. When I hear Rafa mention his trophies, it only tells me how bad a manager he has become. All great managers relish pressure and when they do not have pressure, they create it for themselves. The best way to silence your critics is to deliver results. If Rafa had won the Club World Cup or Carling Cup, no matter how much vitriol he receives, his name would be included to the list managers that have won Chelsea a trophy. History would look kindly on him. I think his rant is his way of telling Roman to dismiss him. He won’t resign as it would look bad on his CV and because he won’t walk away with the compensation he would get if he was dismissed.
Roman put Rafa out of his misery. Sack the man.

Give me a follow: @super_chelsea

KTBFFH

Seasonal Preview

The 2012/13 English Premier League season is set to kick off this weekend, many will be expecting to see Drama in the opening fixtures as We will play away against Wigan Athletics on Sunday. And here is a preview on some of the hottest talking points towards this new season togetther with some of International football Experts/Journalists.

Its a season where we will have to defend our UEFA Champions League title, and also the FA Cup as we also eye to win other Silverwares, something which has never been easy for any club as far as European football is concerned. Chelsea will play in six different tournaments, and over 60 games.

The Squad and the Transfer Activity

The transfer activity so far has been impressive, bringing new and young talents to the squad – transforming the squad from an aged to a youthful side, adding more pace and creativity.

Eden Hazard, Oscar, Marko Marin are the big names to have been signed so far and many others rumored and may arrive soon with the likes of Hulk, Neymar, Azpilicueta, Edinson Cavani, Victor Mosses to mention a few.

Creativity needs such attacking players, and with a creative squad more goals will be produced, and we will be able to win games.

When it comes to new signings for Chelsea, Eden Hazard comes first. Young, creative, he has got the speed and the technical ability. He is a player who is expected to make a difference in the team, and help the team to reach its goals. Having scored 20 goals and 15 assists in 35 starts appearances for Lille last season in the French Ligue 1 and his performances have been improving now and then.

Fernando Torres
Torres had a very difficult beginning with Chelsea, after his lost his form. But now he has been very impressive scoring braces, crucial goals and even a hat-trick. According to the statistics, there is a huge improvement on his performances compared to the first season when he was under intense pressure from the fans and media, but now we are talking of a confident Fernando Torres whose formed has been brilliant from last season to the Euro 2012 for Spain, and this season he is the man to look after to produces more goals and win games for Chelsea.

John Chapman (Belgian Football Journalist – www.belgofoot.be) gave his thoughts on Eden Hazard’s move and future at Chelsea.

John Chapman: I think Eden Hazard has great potential. He’s quick, clever and explosive. He can make and take goals and should succeed at the very highest level. He’ll probably develop into a central midfield playmaker but may have to play on the wing initially; and fans will need to be patient as it does take time to settle in the Premier League.

Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard

And also John Chapman shared his views on Chelsea’s Belgians youngsters Thribaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, and Kevin De Bruyne.

John Chapman: Courtois has great skill that he has shown in a very short career at Genk (champions) and Atletico Madrid (Europa League winners). He’s maturing rapidly, on and off the field, and has the ability to be a top five (in the world) keeper within the next 3-5 years.

With Romelu Lukaku, I have doubts. He lacks the technical ability to
reach the top; his main strength is his strength (very powerful) and that’s
not enough at the very top.

Kevin De Bruyne is another player with a lot of potential. I think the
move to the Bundesliga will be great for him. Like Hazard, he’s spent most
of his career on the wing but he should develop into a central playmaker. I saw him in that role for Genk vs. Anderlecht and he was excellent: good vision, passing ability, speed, enthusiasm.

ESPN Football Analyst and Commentator Janusz Michallik and Daily Telegraph’s Correspondent Henry Winter gave their views on some talking points.

Is there a realistic chance of winning the league or Six trophies?

Janusz Michallik: Winning 6 trophies is an impossible task even for Barca. They did it once but these things don’t happen too often. I would say that Chelsea will have a shot but they still need to add players in key areas.

Henry Winter: Manchester City and Manchester United are too powerful so I can’t see Chelsea winning the league. They may win the Super Cup or the Fifa gong in
Tokyo but it’s not going to be like last season’s successes.

Is there a need for another Striker?

Janusz Michallik: I would say that Chelsea need at least two quality strikers. Losing Drogba does not only mean goals and the fear factor but a target man that can hold the ball with back to the goal and bring others into the game. That is especially important with the technical player like Mata, Marin, Hazard, Oscar. Torres does not offer that. The question of a quality right back is obvious. Need a player that understands the position and will provide pace and width to otherwise very narrow Chelsea team.

What other areas do you think Chelsea need to Strengthen at the moment?

Henry Winter: They need another Makelele, somebody to anchor midfield. They need a right-back as Ivanovic has become slightly indisciplined. They need another centre-forward to ease load on Torres.

Thoughts on Chelsea’s current Squad depth, Creativity and strengths?

Janusz Michallik: We knew that Chelsea needed to get younger and more creative. I think they have addressed these issues very quickly but as we said still have some work to do. Overall very impressive so far.

Henry Winter: Creativity obvious with Oscar, Mata and Hazard. Oscar will need time to get used to pace and pressing of English football. Torres looks in the mood.

 

Tactics and Chalkboards

Janusz’s Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1).

Janusz Michallik’s XI

Henry’s Chelsea XI: (4-2-3-1) I’d have Ramires deep as not going to get in ahead of new stars and more reliable than Mikel.

Henry Winter’s XI

 

Follow on Twitter: @makivic08 @JanuszESPN
@HenryWinter
@Belgofoot
KTBFFH

 

Why Chelsea should sign Seydou Doumbia

Morning beautiful people! I woke up on the right side of the bed today and I’m buzzing with excitement for no apparent reason. I have to admit there’s been a lot of quiet around the club as regards summer signings.


We have been linked with many attackers this summer, the top names being Lille’s Eden Hazard, Porto’s Hulk and quite recently Wigan’s Moses. We got Eden as you already know, so Hulk was expected to follow suit. As I write, he is nowhere close to being a Chelsea player.


I won’t say I’m surprised Hulk has not signed for Chelsea. I mean…the relationship between Chelsea and Porto does not exactly rival Romeo and Juliet’s. The Porto management must still hold grudges given how we took Mourinho, Carvalho, Ferreira, and Villas-Boas away from them.


They are the second biggest club in Portugal and do not want to be seen as a feeder club for Europe’s top teams. They want to challenge for European honors and as a result, they tag outrageous prices to their players just to keep bidders off. Last season, Porto informed Chelsea to pay ₤26 million to sign Álvaro Pereira. Pereira is decent at best shouldn’t cost more than ₤12m. Hulk is worth ₤20m in my estimation but given he is a Porto player I expect them to demand close to ₤40m. I’d be gutted if we caved into their demands. Last season, we spent ₤18m on Lukaku and there are little signs to show that it was a good investment.


If there is anyone I think will be good value for money, it is Seydou Doumbia. I honestly believe we should be chasing Seydou Doumbia and I have my reasons.

Seydou Doumbia vs. Lokomotiv defence

 

He scores lots of goals. He was top scorer in the Ivorian league in 2005, he was top scorer in the Swiss super league in 2008–09 and 2009–10 and Russian premier league top scorer in 2010/2011. Seydou has been top scorer in three different leagues and top scorer for three consecutive seasons.


Seydou is African (d’oh). Drogba contract has expired and he chosen to move to China to promote the Chinese game. Salomon Kalou has been released by the club. This leaves us with only two Africans, Mikel and Essien in the first team. We have three Brazilians in Piazon, Ramires and Luiz; three Portuguese in Meireles, Hilário, and Ferreira; four Belgians and many English men. If we add another African to keep Mikel and Essien company, it wouldn’t be bad at all. Especially an African with great talent like Doumbia.


Samsung will be happy. Samsung sells tons of electronics in Africa and they use Chelsea players in almost all their adverts. Samsung uses Drogba the most in their adverts followed Essien and then Mikel.  Samsung loses a great marketing tool with Drogba gone to China because the Chinese league is not popular in Africa. If we signed Seydou Doumbia, Doumbia could be the new face of Samsung in Africa.


Samsung: It’s Drogba’s Choice


Seydou will give Torres and Sturridge competition. Many Blues want Torres to automatically be our main striker next season. I have to say I disagree; competition for places is good for any team. Torres scored many goals for Liverpool but won nothing with them. Van Persie fired le Arse to third place last season but his prolific scoring couldn’t earn them a trophy.


It takes more than one good striker to earn a trophy. I doubt we would have won anything if we did not have Kalou, Torres and Sturridge to rotate with Drogba (and also the many goals from our midfielders).


Man United despite not winning the league ended the league with the same points as Man City. They wouldn’t have gotten there without goals from Rooney, Welbeck, Chicarito and Berbatov. Man City won on goal difference because they had four quality strikers in Tevez, Aguero, Balotelli, and Dzeko. They even want to add Van Persie. Le Arse has signed two strikers in Giroud and Podolski because they know one striker is not enough to win titles. Adding a proven goal scorer in Seydou Doumbia increases our chances of winning the league.


It’s been a couple of years since we won the Premier League title, and I would extremely happy if we make it our priority next season. I mean…now that we have secured the Holy Grail, we can go back to being champions of England again.


Finally if we sign Doumbia, we would have a player with a different playing style to Sturridge and Torres. This will give Di Matteo the chance to change our tactics occasionally to prevent us from being predictable. In our double winning season with Ancelotti, we scored the most goals that season because Ancelotti had the players to prevent us from being predictable.


That’s all I have for you today. Thanks for taking your time to read. Have an amazing day wherever this post meets you.


You can follow me on Twitter: @super_chelsea

Keep the blue flag flying high

Cheers!

Preview: Bayern Munich v Chelsea

Bayern v Chelsea - Munich

Bayern v Chelsea – Munich

A preview of the UEFA Champions League final 2012 between Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

Road to the Final
The moment that we have been waiting for has finally come, now we are counting hours and minutes to the finale in Munich.

Didier Drogba says: “Nobody expected us to be there at the beginning of the season, but I think we did everything to reach the finals”

Comparing our start to this season, no one can believe that we are in UEFA Champions league and by eliminating such top class clubs like Barcelona, Benfica and Napoli in the Journey.

There is always a room for a change, and it always happen when we make the right choices. Chelsea made the right choice to give the job to Roberto Di Matteo, and now we are one hand on a historic Champions League victory. To win trophies of such top level, you have to defeat the best teams and Chelsea have managed to do it, so we deserve to win it and we are going for it.

Di Matteo talks on the final: “I do believe our players have all the
qualities you need to win this
competition those qualities have taken us to this event here and I am very positive and very confident.”

Head to Head Stats
-Chelsea is undefeated in the last five matches in UEFA Champions League.
-Chelsea have scored first in all 11 previous Champions League games.
-Chelsea have won one and drawn two of our seven away European matches against German teams.
-Chelsea have now join the list of English clubs to have made 2 or more European Cup/Champions League finals appearances. Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest together with Chelsea are only teams to make the most appearances.
-Bayern have won seven consecutive home matches en route to the final.
-Bayern have won one and lost two
of three previous finals against
English clubs.
-Bayern win would make Jupp
Heynckes the 19th coach to have won the Cup twice, after his 1998
success with Real Madrid.
-Bayern have won 13 of their
last 14 European home games.

Match Facts
- This is the sixth European Cup
final between German and
English teams. And only once have the Germans won.

-The last four European Cup finals between English and German teams
have been won by the English club. The most recent was in 1999, Man Utd 2-1 Bayern Munich.

-Five Champions League finals have
gone to penalties – the most recent
being the painful one in Moscow in
2008.

-The last time Chelsea and Bayern met in the Champions League was back in 2005 quarter finals when Chelsea won it 6-5 on Aggregate, Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba all featured.

Team News
A defensive boost for us towards the final, as our defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill took part in all training sessions this week and they are available for selection after the recovering from injuries. Meanwhile, Malouda is also expected to make a return after he was assessed in the team’s final training session in Munich on friday.

Chelsea will be without Captain John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Meireles who all are suspended.
And options for Di Matteo on who to put in front today, both Drogba and Torres available. Also Michael Essien and Mikel could start on the defensive midfield role with Frank
Lampard, Juan Mata Kalou on the attacking role.

Bayern will be without Holger Badstuber, Luiz Gustavo, David Alaba who are all Suspended.

Bayern’s Diego Contento is likely to play at left-back with Lahm on the right. While their attack will be lead by Mario Gomez, Ribery and Arjen Robben with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Muller on midfield.

Probable Line-Ups
Chelsea team: Cech, Cole, Cahill, Luiz, Bosingwa, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Mata, Kalou and Drogba.

Bayern team: Neuer, Contento, Tymoshchuk, Boateng, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Ribery, Muller, Robben and Gomez.

The game will be played today on 19 May 2012 (kick off at 20:45 local time, 18:45 GMT) at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. And the referee is Pedro Proença (Portugal).

Keep believing wherever you are. Up the Chels!

Twitter: @makivic08

Munich 2012

Munich 2012

Is RDM the right man?

Is Di Matteo the Right Man?

After sacking of Portuguese Andre Villa-Boas as the Chelsea manager, interim coach Roberto Di Matteo has brought that lost belief back to the hearts of the blues.

 

Since his take over, Roberto Di Matteo has managed 6 wins, 1 defeat and 1 draw in 8 games in all competitions. Having a 75 winning percentage, taking us UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and one step close to the Semis, also in FA Cup Semi-final at Wembley. All this has just been a great achievement to what has proved to be a disappointing season so far for Chelsea.

 

Di Matteo’s tactics;

Squad Rotation Tactic
Now they call him “The Rotatovator” due to the tactic he uses of rotating players, so far the tactic has proved to be working and bringing good results. The importance of this tactic is that it helps to keep each player on form hence it improves team performances week in and week out.

 

Di Matteo says: “I just talk to the players, give them my opinions and explain the reasons behind my team selections”

 

Maybe the reason for AvB’s failure at Chelsea was that, when he tries to give out his opinions and explanations – the elder players don’t even listen to him due to the fact of Age difference, no one knows exactly.

 

Players Torres, Kalou and Mikel, are now on-form players and most important players in the team, playing week in and week out.

 

Fernando Torres – I say he is back, the El Nino is back!!! 3 goals and 4 assists in the last 5 games. He has now developed the belief and he more of a confident player, his perfomances get higher and higher each week. With such a form, we expect goals to rain from our big man.

 

Di Matteo on Torres: “I have always said it does not matter who scores, and Fernando has been providing goals for his team-mates, its great that he is scoring as well”

 

He is likely to be in Spain’s squad for Euro 2012 tournament and as Spain coach Del Bosque said: “If Fernando improves his form, I will select him for the Euros”.

 

Kalou and Mikel among the players whose futures at chelsea have been a concern, still they have been improving on daily basis. They have both find their places in the first team playing match to match, included in overall Chelsea’s top performers so far.

 

Kalou is out of contract at the moment, the rumors say “Kalou wants to play in the central role, or else he will be forced not to renew his current contract”.


The central role is occupied by on form Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba, in order for Kalou to get his place on the team and keep on his brilliant form, he has to hang on as Wing forward to secure his place in the first team. Ac Milan and Galatasaray reportedly to be linked with Kalou, who could be available on a free-transfer in the summer.

 

Mikel has completed 833 of 910 attempted passes (91.54%), his best at the club. He lost his place in the first team but now he is enjoying playing match to match, Mikel has been a solid player in our midfield and his presence makes it more stable. Rumored to join russian side Anzhi managed by Guus Hiddink (Former Chelsea Coach), but at the moment he is not going anywhere.

 

Back to the question, Is Roberto Di Matteo the right man?
1. Coach to Player Relations.
A good coach is the one who has good relationship with his players, the one who speaks and his players listen a respond positively.

 

2. Manager tactics.
His tactics are working at the moment, rotating the players and keeping them in firing form. And bringing good results.

 

3. Objectives.
His objective is to put the team in a Champions league qualification position, currently seems difficult. But as we continue to win our games, it will be secured. On the other hand, he is in a position to lead the team in Fa cup and Champions league glory. Something that may look impossible, but all he needs is to give the team maximum belief and every thing will be possible.

 

Have a productive day and always be carefree.

Twitter: makivic08

NO MEN WENT TO MOW, STILL HOPE FOR TOMORROW

First Team
One person said I was delusional to think we would get anything in Naples. I would agree, if I didn’t make my predictions based on numerous assumptions. Lineup, formation, strategy and certain players like Didier turning up in the flesh that can actually make a difference.

Football is midfield, defence and attack. I don’t think we should sack AVB but I’m afraid he makes tactical errors, albeit errors related to the players we have. Some managers are good at building a team that suits their plans (right positions, right styles), some are good at shuffling and making the best of what they have, some others are good motivating a team regardless of these factors.The first needs a bit of time if you don’t splash cash, and is much easier if you actually choose to reward the investment put into your youth system. Yesterday the Chelsea youth team came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in the FA youth cup. A day after the first team lost 3-1 in Naples.

I digressed, back to midfield, defence and attack. 4-2-3-1. Three attacking midfielders, lone striker, the ever critical holding midfield pivot and a regular back four. I’ll start from the back. Having to lose Bosingwa and put in a half-fit Ashley Cole is just part of the unexpected you expect in football. My problem however was the positioning. We had a slower,calmer right side of defence (Brana and Cahill) and a faster but more erratic left side (Luiz + Cole/Jose). I’m not a real manager, but surely you want to balance the speed of your back four, most especially when you go against a pacey front three. You see, Lavezzi will attack the space  between RCB and RB, Hamsik will attack that between LB and LCB and try to playing in Maggio (a right midfielder that makes byline runs), while the potent Cavani picks either of those pockets or the main one between both center backs. Lavezzi scored 2 goals and Cavani scored one by losing Brana. Right side of defence? YES. Might have been slightly better with JT around cause he will always play LCB. To digress, some of the best defence we played this season was when we had Brana-Luiz-JT-Cole. I know Brana loses his left winger/ left back a lot but its better when he has a fast defender like Luiz right next to him.

The midfield pivot of Ramires and Meireles is, simple, stupid. Ramires is a runner, Meireles is a … floater (i really cant find a word to describe him, thinking about it makes my head hurt). Better combinations would have been Essien-Meireles, Mikel-Lampard, Romeu-Ramires, anything with a DM. The more attacking the second MID is, the deeper the DM you want to play. Even though its a pivot(meaning both players share responsibilities in attacking and defensive transitions), you have to play with what you have. Secondly, Ramires and Meireles are relatively bad passers, possibly the worst amongst all our midfielders. On Tuesday, Meireles was unsurprisingly as bad as he has been in recent weeks, Ramires was shockingly abysmal maybe due to the fact that he’s just back from injury. Together, they conceded the 1st goal.

The attack. I said in my match preview that there are 2 Drogba’s which we all know. The bad one turned up, and I don’t know why he finished the game. Firstly, he’s more suited to 4-3-3. Secondly, any manager should be able to see when Drogba is having a horrible game. It never changes. He just gets worse,and worse and we hardly ever win. The fact that he had a poor game just made our attack impotent as a unit. Mata didn’t receive the ball enough cause the poor pivot weren’t making the right transitions and passes to draw Napoli’s midfielders out to free him. Sturridge was occasionally selfish but he made things happen despite hardly having runs to pick out. Malouda was Malouda, no explanation needed. Mata was decent and might have been more effective if he had a Torres in front of him. No Didier/Nando debate here, I’m only saying Drogba had an off-day you can spot from miles away and the 4-2-3-1 is El Niño’s forte.

I can complain about schoolboy errors we made on each goal even though that’s how we got our goal. But the main problems right now are confidence, and managerial decisions. AVB doesn’t seem to know his best team and keeps trying experiments. Confident and motivated players can still manage to win games in a bad tactical setup, but two things are working against us right now and it’s sad. We just have so many players out of position and they aren’t even happy. So much pressure from the media and things are looking blue for the fans, the players and the manager. But there is the future to look forward to, more on that later. Way out of this slump? A couple of lucky wins (even though you create your own luck), improved confidence and a small streak can return us to winning ways, and help AVB determine his first team.

 

The Youth Team
For the last 2-3 years, I’ve been following our youth team actively and there is one thing that shines through them. Spirit. When you talk about playing for pride of the badge and the club, they know what it’s about. Not to mention a bunch of real quality players we ignore to sign hyped players (e.g. signing Lukaku instead of keeping Borini). Practically every great win I’ve seen in the FA youth cup have been comebacks. The 2010 final, every round last year and the last 2 rounds this year have been proud moments for me as a Chelsea fan. But what they did yesterday was even more awesome than the last minute comeback from the previous round.

Feruz is a real gem, looks even better than Borini was at the same age. Piazon has acclimatized and is performing at such a high level. Amin Affane is so good for his age you wonder where we found him. I could go on and on. I don’t buy into this bullsh** that you shouldn’t put young players under pressure by playing them in high profile games. Why? Because they are young players and you have to invest into their future, with games. They have to make mistakes at the highest level to get to that level. It’s the club’s duty to have faith in some of these lads and not just dish them 4/5 year contracts for reserve games and random loans to Vitesse Arnehem and championship clubs. We don’t have a Pep Guardiola nor a La Masia, but this needs to be soaked into the roots of the club, regardless of the manager in charge. It helps, having a long-term coach but when a club has a proper plan, it flows through the whole club.

If we didn’t have quality young players, that would be another discussion but we’ve clearly invested a lot into these young lads, scouting them, signing them and training them. Just to think Brendan Rodgers worked with Josh McEachran at youth level should put into perspective the quality down there. We have some players that have been here since ages less than 10 that are quality on the pitch and have desire to play for this club, the kind of desire you can’t just fake or find elsewhere. Play them. Throw them in the deep end. What you sow is what you reap. Some might fall off, but some will definitely make it. The reward is the sweetest and it’s a cycle that will continue. There’s nothing fans love more than committed players and watching our very own wear the first-team shirt. I continue to watch the Youth Cup in hope that someday our very own, will remain our very own.

PS: 10 Men went to mow (the song behind the title)

Win or Lose, Up the Blues
Over land and sea, Chelsea chelsea carefree.

Toye

NO APOLOGIES IN SAN PAOLO

Prelim
Here we go again. We’ve been here before, not too long ago. Sometime in December, after losing to the red scousers twice in 2 weeks, and capitulating to an away loss at Leverkusen. Despite handing 3-0 drubbings to both Wolves and Newcastle, (a lucky result according to the media who ignored five Studge one-on-ones and focused on the fact that they managed to hit the woodwork about 3 times compared to us doing that once, 4-3 win for us, no? I digress) we were the underdogs, in a Champions League ‘win or go home’ home tie. The outcome? Another 3-0 drubbing. This time there was no doubt we deserved the win. But what did the media do? They said it was vintage Chelsea, AVB had ditched the high-line and gone back to Mou’s framework with his job on the line. Bollocks. Anyone can decide to play counter attacking football, and it worked – on the day.
That was a different Chelsea. You could identify the strengths (possession, control, chance creation, attacking gung-ho football, energy), and the weaknesses (the ‘mythical’ high-line, Torres issues, Drogba’s fitness, conceding late goals etc). This Chelsea, facing Napoli tomorrow – I don’t get them. I can’t see their style of play, cause there’s no clear style of play! They hardly create any clear chances and just appear so dour every time. They don’t even have any recent 3-0 drubbings, plus it’s an away game. I still feel as deeply confident as I did before Valencia. To quote Walter Mazzarri:

but their team is one of champions, who are all used to the atmosphere of great international events. I’m sure that they will regroup for the occasion

I expect no less from this team.

Naples

The one link we have with this team is the legenda that is Zola who came as close  as anyone ever did to recreating his mentor, El Diego’s exploits in the great Italian city.

So I did some quick research and I could hardly find any trends. They seem to do well in big games in the league, but their form is too mixed. Home or away, big team or small fry, no streaks. Is that a good or a bad thing, considering they’ve won their last 2 games without conceding? I wouldn’t know because a team can always continue in form, but I certainly do hope some of that inconsistency kicks in today.
Its all about the Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani trinity. Also worth noting that Lavezzi and Pandev have the same no of league goals (5), so the latter could be dangerous off the bench. They defend pretty well at home and will be solid at the back despite Campagnaro being out. Can his replacement, Grava, handle the Drog?
They shouldn’t change much in shape, expect to see a similar lineup to what we’ve seen recently

Chels
JT is doubtful. Ash is back. Lamps is back. Drogs is back? ‘Spine minus John Terry’, is back. Add Ramires to that.
Formation
4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1?
Need all 3 midfielders to match Napoli’s hard midfield and cut off supply to the attacking 3.
With Mata drifting in, and Sturridge naturally running into the box, it might look like a 4-4-2 diamond in some attacking transitions, but by default a 4-3-3 would match itself, if that’s what they go with.
Another alternative is a 4-5-1 with either Ramires on the right, or Malouda on the left. That would surprise signor Mazzarri, and give us more control of the midfield, possibly leaving Edinson et al lost upfront.

Drogba or Torres?
 Didier. Why? Because we’re better off playing to his strengths in an away Champions League knockout game. Meaning: Targetman, Studge and Rami counter attacks, Mata drifting into middle occasionally but primarily creating from the left. And also because we are not playing any crisp football nowadays and nino has nothing to feed on.
But we all know there are 2 Didiers. The up-for-it-unplayable one(a la Valencia) and the give-fuck-all one. Doesn’t take you 10mins to spot which one is playing. If the latter turns up I won’t mind him being taken off early cause its all about the team.
Defence
I would say the strongest back four we have available is Brana-Luiz-Cahill-Ash. AVB would go with either that or Bosingwa in for Cahill with Brana at center back. Doesn’t really matter to me that Cahill has never played in the Champions league, I’m not ready to see ‘How Ezequiel raped Jose part 1’.
If JT passes a late fitness test, then I’d like to see him play where I put Cahill. We’re just so much better in games like these with JT in defence, even when he’s 70% fit. You can’t recreate the leadership and organization he brings to the defence, and the team as a whole.

Midfield
Remember one thing those 3-0 drubbings had in common? Oriol. Naturally I should go for Romeu-Lamps/Raul-Ramires. But I haven’t seen him perform recently and would like to see Essien-Lamps-Ramires in the mix of things.

The rest of the team picks itself: Cech, Sturridge and Mata.

We have no excuses not to turn up for this game. The boys need to stand up and be counted, not underestimate our opponents, and play for that shirt. Great nights in Italy like ‘Dennis Wise at the San Siro’ spring to mind, hoping we can add to that.

Prediction

2-2. Cavani(1-0), Drogba(1-1), Lampard(1-2), Cavani(2-2).

I’d take a score draw, but if i know my Chelsea – which I certainly do – It’s not farfetched for them to follow up a loss at Everton plus a draw at home to Birmingham with a resounding, critic-bashing drubbing.

WOLUTB and KTBFFH

‘Toye
(Twitter page)

188BET offers Chelsea FC fans the chance to quiz Ramires.

Hello Blues,

The club’s official betting partner, 188BET, is offering all Chels the chance to chat live with Ramires.

Ramires will be taking over 188BET’s Twitter account to answer fans’ questions during a special live interview on Thursday 2nd February 2012.

Ramires joined Chelsea FC in 2010 from Benfica and has already clocked up almost 50 appearances for our club, forming a strong midfield partnership with the likes of Meireles and Lampard. He has scored six goals for Chelsea, including the club’s goal of the season award last year for his beautiful strike against Manchester City at Stamford bridge, and also has 27 international caps with his native Brazil to his name.

He will be online at 1:30pm on Thursday 2nd February and will answer a selection of fans’ questions live via 188BET’s Twitter feed. To take part, all Blues fans have to do is log on to Twitter, follow ‘@188BET’ and submit their questions by tweeting ‘@188BET’ along with the hashtag: #askRamires.

So whether you want to know how Ramires occupies himself outside football, who the best dancer in the squad is or perhaps even if he has any quirks, get online on Thursday and ask him your questions!

KTBFFH

Twitter: @super_chelsea

Facebook: fb.me/superchelsea

 

KEEP CALM, AND STAY CAREFREE

Carefree. Means much more than nonchalant to a proper Chelsea fan aka one who is ‘proper chels’. The pride you feel whenever a fellow blue says to you “You are proper chels” cannot be faked, assuming you actually are ‘proper chels’ of course. Sorry to digress there, but back to the word carefree; a major chelsea chant, synonymous with ‘proper chels’ and the best word to describe Fernando Torres now that the Drogs has gone off to the AFCON and given him some breathing space.
With Drogba gone, Torres starts, plays 90mins, and is the main striker upfront. Its a bit of responsibility on his shoulders as he was the only striker when Sturridge was injured, (not counting Lukaku who will hardly play) but its a responsibility that is more welcome to him than either sitting on the bench, or coming off at the 60th minute when things aren’t going too well. Three man of the match performances later – that included 3 nino assists (including a match-winning assist’s assist vs Wolves) and ultimately 3 wins – journalists, fans, coaches and players are talking about Torres returning to his best form. I honestly felt this way back in October when he scored against Utd, then against Swansea cause he was looking sharper than he has ever looked since his move to West London. Even without scoring in the last 2 games I can honestly say he is playing his best football in a Chelsea shirt and he seems to have improved his all-round game. Even the cliched ‘yard of pace’ that he seemed to have lost is back. We’ve been quite poor with Sturridge out and Ramires playing the RW role but Fernando has been a bright spot in these last few games, playing a huge role in the goals, and consequently goals. A consistent run of games, with this current form, and the goals will come.

Fernando vs Sunderland

Enough of our disappointing 50m striker from last January, lets talk about this current transfer window.

Kakuta to Dijon
Rating: 4/5

Some of us still believe in the 2009 UEFA u-19 golden ball winner to make it big, either at Chelsea or somewhere else. So he’s had a few bad loans, some have survived such to become starts, some have had their career die from the same. The talent is there, and just needs to be honed. Back in his home country, in a team that has guaranteed him first-team football, I fully expect him to impress in the league where his one-time mate Eden Hazard is attracting worldwide interest from.

I have nothing to prove. When it is my time, I will show what I am capable of. – Gael

Pat Van Aanholt to Vitesse
Rating: 3/5

And another Arnhem acquisition. I’m not really looking forward to this for 3 reasons. 1. Only Rajkovic appeared to be decent of all the players we’ve sent here. 2. Matej Delac didn’t get games, likewise Ulises this season. 3. They’re a poor side and I doubt they’ll do more than give him some games.

Josh McEachran to Swansea
Rating: 4.5/5

The most important of them all. Joshy’s chances me this season have been severely limited and it was all too important that he moved to a Premier League side to gain quality experience. Swansea is the team we wanted, and we hope it turns out to be right one.

There was interest from a number of other Premier League clubs, but I wanted to come to Swansea because of the style of football they play. I think it will suit me. – Josh

Eden Hazard

At the mention of the name I just picture a 4-2-3-1 with him on the left, Studge on the right, Mata in the hole behind the main striker. That picture is obviously a snapshot of a dream. The rumors fuelled by twitter and journos about we landing him for 28m euros may very well be false.
AVB has been very honest about players we go for from day 1, and I believe he will confirm if we indeed have a genuine interest in Eden.
We’ve also been linked to Jovetic, and previously Di Maria. Its good to see the club being linked with wingers, whether that is a result of the general belief that we need wingers or the club actually going for players in that position, we won’t know until the manager says so or one of them signs.

Gary Cahill

Finally we have our man. I wasn’t too pleased with how long this dragged, almost like a saga. Anyone who follows me on twitter would know I don’t really like Cahill but I will focus on the positives and ignore my negative bias. We need a replacement for Alex. He’s a good defender. He partners John Terry for England. He’s used to the premiership. He’s English. He cost 7m. That settles it and we shouldn’t see Bosingwa at center back again, maybe even at all.

…Carrow Road

The squad is boosted as Brana, Cahill, Ess and Studge are all available to start. I can guarantee Studge back in the XI, and either one of Brana or Cahill. Our proper 4-3-3 shape should return, with a better defence and attack. Norwich have been pretty decent of recent, but shouldn’t pose too much of a problem after the first goes in. I predict a 3-1 win to the Chels. Lampard and Sturridge the only goalscorers. El nino with a triple assist man of the match performance. Bosingwa with an own goal that concedes him to the bench for the rest of the season (tongue-in-cheek). That’s a joke by the way, please don’t rape my twitter mentions.

That’s it. I will be watching Chelsea, Swansea and Dijon this weekend, and updating you all on twitter. Do have a lovely weekend, keep it carefree and keep it proper chels.

‘Toye
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ToyeCFC/