Talk Chelsea Forums

Lampard fit for West Ham

Steve — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:12:44 +0000

Frank Lampard has been declared fit to play against West Ham on Saturday afternoon, less then two weeks after undergoing a hernia operation.

Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti said “For sure, Frank will be fit for the West Ham game”. Frank was expected to be out for two to three weeks and is recovering well from the operation. He pulled out of the International squad for the games against Bulgaria and Switzerland, to focus on getting fit for Chelsea.

Carlo also stated “No, we didn’t decide at the start of the season to do this now,”. “After the Stoke game, Frank was in a lot of pain. “So he decided, after talking to the club doctor, to resolve and remove the problem immediately.”

He was also asked about Frank’s recent penalties “If Frank is okay then I want to give him another opportunity to take penalties for us.”

That’s why we’re Champions!

Steve — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:27:48 +0000

The Chelsea Football FanCast #128

The boys discuss the 2-0 defeat of a typically attritional Stoke, applaud some top performances by Ashley Cole, Florent Malouda, Mikel, John Terry and Alex, and ponder the forthcoming challenges of the Carling Cup and Champions League.

No 6-0 this week, so we’ll just have to be satisfied with 32 league goals without reply in our last 7 games. The salient point being no goals conceded…seven clean sheets!

As always it was a battle against Stoke, but even with Super Frank missing a penalty and then limping off, we ran out comfortable winners to leave us the only unbeaten team in the league with the small matter of a plus 14 goal difference. That’s why we’re champions!!

Chelsea’s passing and movement gets glowing praise from the FanCast crew. It’s just like watching Playstation football!! Thankfully, Super Frank and JT seem to have got injured just at the right time with international week coming up so will be better for the rest.

We have our usual awards for the Man of the Match; Chant of the Match; Celery and Guinness moments. Also as it’s the end of the month we’ll be nominating our Goal of the month and player of the month.

The boys also have a look at the forthcoming Carling Cup and Champions League where we will be reacquainted with the delights of Slovakia, the bad trip of the Luzhniky stadium and Didier Deschamps at Marseille.

A song for Obi in “We’re out to show the World the way to Sing” is followed, as ever, by the Dr donning his white coat and stethoscope to answer your questions in Dear Mart and a very grumpy Chidge reading out the best posts from the website and facebook group in “You’re on CFFC”…

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Bruma signs extension

Steve — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:51:23 +0000

The club has confirmed that Jeffery Bruma has signed a four year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2014.

The young 18 year old has been at Chelsea since 2007 and is quickly working himself through the ranks. Jeffery has made four substitute appearances for the club and just received his first International cap for Holland.

After signing his extension Jeffery had these words to say: ”I am very happy to stay here. I have been working to improve all the time I have been here and a next step is getting your next contract, and now it is time to improve again.

“I often speak to [assistant first team coach] Paul Clement because when I came over here as a 15-year-old and was in the youth team, he was the youth team manager. We sit down and lay out a sheet of targets. We did this when we were away in the Champions League in Milan last season.

“I have made my international debut already and that was the aim for two or three years’ time. It has come so early and when you reach your targets you obviously have to set new ones, so my new targets are to play as much as I can at Chelsea in the first team and get in the Dutch full squad again as soon as I am fit.”

Jeffery finished off last season with a few appearances for the first team under his belt and also won the FA Youth Cup. We hope for more of the same from the young center back this season!

Carlo finalises squad selection

Steve — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:29:23 +0000

Carlo Ancelotti had submitted his squad for the 2010/11 season. Premier League clubs must register a minimum of eight players who have trained for three years with any English or Welsh team before the age of 21 if the full 25-man squad is filled.

But Carlo has instead submitted a smaller squad with only four home grown players, consisting of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Ross Turnbull. Premier League clubs had to make their squad selections by 5pm on Wednesday following the closure of the summer transfer window.

Submitted squad of 25

1. Petr Cech
2. Branislav Ivanovic
3. Ashley Cole
5. Michael Essien
7. Ramires
8. Frank Lampard
10. Yossi Benayoun
11. Didier Drogba
12. John Mikel Obi
15. Florent Malouda
17. Jose Bosingwa
18. Yury Zhirkov
19. Paulo Ferreira
21. Salomon Kalou
22. Ross Turnbull
26. John Terry
33. Alex
39. Nicolas Anelka
40. Henrique Hilario

Under-21 players (with a squad number)

23. Daniel Sturridge
38. Patrick van Aanholt
43. Jeffrey Bruma
44. Gael Kakuta
45. Fabio Borini
46. Josh McEachran

Only in exceptional circumstances can the squad be changed before the January transfer window, apart from the addition of players not under contract to another club.

Drogba takes a Break from Cote D’Ivoire

Steve — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:31:07 +0000

Didier Drogba has told new coach Francois Zahoui that he wishes to focus on his fitness and pull out of the squad. Francois traveled to London to meet Didier personally.

“I truly met Drogba in London. He told me he was so tired that he wanted to withdraw from the national team for a while. Drogba is a world class player who is indispensable for the Elephants, but I had to respect his decision. We will let him rest to recover his mental and physical strength and pray he comes back some day to the national team.”

Drogba missed the first international game since the World Cup, after having a Hernia Operation. He has since returned for Chelsea scoring four goals.

There has been no words mentioned from Didier himself and it is unknown on when he is expected to return for his country.

Di Santo completes Wigan move

Steve — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:06:25 +0000

Franco Di Santo has completed a permanent move to Wigan Athletic on a 3 year contract for an undisclosed fee.

He joined Chelsea in January 2008 from Chilean side Audux Italiano La Florida. Franco started his life at Chelsea in the reserves scoring seven goals in eight games and helped the reserves go on a run of six games undefeated.

The Argentinean scored some very important goals for the reserves including a volley which earned him a hat-trick against Spurs, also a goal against Arsenal.

Di Santo got his first taste of first team football when he traveled with the squad to China for pre-season two years ago. That season he went on to appear 8 times in the Premiere League and also featured in the FA Cup and Champions League.

The 21-year-old, then went on loan to Blackburn Rovers for a season long loan. He scored himself his first premiere league goal against Burnley in a 3-2 win. Franco was originally meant to return to Blackburn but had opted to join Wigan instead.

“I am just happy that my future has been sorted out now. I can’t wait to start training, meet all my new team-mates and start fighting for my place in the team,” said the Argentinean.

“Roberto Martinez has big ambitions for the club and he made it clear how much he wanted me to be here.

“When a manager is so positive about you, then it is an easy decision to make.”

Chelsea fans would like to send out a thank you to Franco for all his hard work while at the club. We wish you all the best while at Wigan Athletic.

The Chelsea Identity

EskWeston — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:53:07 +0000

In the summer of 2009 Carlo Ancelotti came in as Chelsea’s new manager with the task to turn Chelsea’s fortunes around following a period of relative turmoil at the club since the departure of Jose Mourinho. Things had not gone so well and three managers since Jose departed showed how things had gone downhill, even though Guus Hiddink managed to steady the ship and bring us the FA Cup. It was not an easy task and Ancelotti was not every Chelsea fans ideal choice of manager.

When Carlo was presented to the world’s media he made it very clear what his goal as new Chelsea manager was to be:

“This is what I was told should be my goal. To find a clear identity for the team. That is not about buying certain players for a lot of money. It is about getting players who want to play the right way.”

Identity, this was to be the key for bringing stability back to the club. During the Mourinho era Chelsea was a winning team and they were a team that could ground out results and the success came. Chelsea fans clearly loved Jose for what he brought and that is still very clear to this day. However, the club were still criticised in the media for being a boring team and playing negative football even with the success. It has been said numerous times that Roman Abramovic wants his team to play attractive football, to be the entertainers.

Up stepped Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti came in and gradually over the season worked at the team, trying out different formations and variations. There were sticky patches throughout but we were still winning the games and staying competitive. Then came the moment that things started to click, after being knocked out of the Champions League it all started to come together. The team were working like a well oiled machine, the passing and movement was slick and Chelsea started to win games with style.

In the run into the end of the season things really took off and the demolition of teams started to happen, goals were flying in left, right and centre and people really started to take notice of this team and ask the question: “are Chelsea now entertainers?” the answer to that was yes. Chelsea won the league and the FA cup and people could see that the way we were playing was a way that was pleasing. That has carried over to the new season where we have scored 14 goals without reply and played some really good stuff.

So what has happened? The first thing that has happened is that Ancelotti has brought back the unity to the squad. When you see this team play together you can see that they play for each other. Never was this clearer than when Nicolas Anelka scored against Wigan and the whole team went over to not congratulate Anelka but Mikel who had made an incredible pass for Anelka. Mikel comes in for a lot of criticism and the players obviously see that and took the opportunity to show how much he is valued by his team mates. Also in the same game Didier Drogba’s unselfish pass for Kalou to finish, a chance Drogba could have easily put away himself. These are only a few stand out moments but you can watch this team and see them playing for each other.

Over the course of last season as Ancelotti and his team worked on things in training and the fluidity of the team started to come together. The quick passing and the patient build up play started to become more and more solid. However, this is not the total basis of what is making this Chelsea team so good. We have seen from Arsenal that you can pass the ball all day but it does not win games. What stands us out in my opinion is the fact that not only can we pass the ball around teams and cut them open but when it comes down to teams wanting to get into a physical fight we are more than capable of matching them. Players like Drogba, Essien and Mikel can mix it with the best of them and still play good football, they are not there as just enforcers. John Terry, Alex and Ivanovic are also a formidable wall for any team to come up against.

Another feature of this team is the full backs, Ashley Cole in particular is able to run up and down the pitch all day long affecting the game in the attacking part as well in the defensive part. This is key to the way we play and Ivanovic, Ferreira and Zhirkov play the same way also. These things on their own in isolation are not unique to Chelsea but there is no other team at the moment that combine all these things to make such a strong free playing, free scoring team that enjoy what they do in every game they play.

The final thing which is to bring identity for Chelsea is to develop their own players, this is very clearly a key part in the future of Chelsea. To go into detail on this is another article for another day, and time will tell if this comes to pass, but again we can see very much so what Ancelotti is planning to do, allowing five Chelsea youngsters to be part of our 25 man squad is evidence of that.

But to follow on from that point the final act of this building process is to filter down this Chelsea way of playing through all levels. Last season we saw this Chelsea style be incredibly dominant in the FA Youth Cup. Unity, quick, clever football and a steely edge swept every opposition aside to win the cup. It was exactly the way the first team were playing, 4-3-3 being the choice formation and working it to the max. All down the age groups this is being bred into the young players, this is how Chelsea play.

Already this season we have seen the Reserve team go out and play some amazing passing football and totally cut through Everton. What they lacked from the first team was the clinical finishing which has seen the first team bang in goal after goal. But the football is there and on another day could of scored a hatful themselves.

So Chelsea have under Carlo Ancelotti bred a way to play football, a way that is very easy on the eye and pleasing to Chelsea fans because it is winning football. They are filtering this style of football down to Reserve level, Youth level and all through the academy. This is who Chelsea are and this is how we play, stop us if you can.

Chelsea having an identity crisis? No Chance………

Premier League Review – 28/29 August

Alex Hinsley — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:29:50 +0000

Goals from Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda maintained Chelsea’s flawless start to the season whilst Darren Bent’s 94th-minute penalty earned Sunderland a shock victory over Manchester City.

But the result of the weekend no doubt belongs to Wigan Athletic; shock victors in their clash with Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday. The Latics – amongst the early relegation favourites – had been thrashed by Blackburn and Chelsea 4-0 and 6-0 respectively, but pulled off a monumental smash-and-grab against Harry Redknapp’s high-flyers. The goalscorer was Hugo Rodallega, but Wigan’s match-winner was goalkeeper Ali al Habsi who pulled off a string a magnificent saves to preserve the Latics’ cleansheet and ensure a massive victory that might just have saved Roberto Martinez’ job at the DW Stadium, for the time-being at least.

Nevertheless, Manchester City‘s defeat at the hands of Sunderland will no doubt raise a few eyebrows, with Roberto Mancini’s side looking lethargic considering their lethal performance against Liverpool on Monday night. Carlos Tevez was guilty of a shockingly-bad miss before Darren Bent’s last-minute penalty gave the Black Cats their first victory of the season.

Elsewhere, Bolton came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Alex McCleish’s Birmingham City. The Blues had opened the scoring through Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner’s third of the season seemed to have won the game for the second city team, especially with Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen sent off. But the Trotters pulled off a stunning recovery when Kevin Davies scored a penalty and Robbie Blake’s inch-perfect free-kick beat Ben Foster to rescue a point in the most dramatic of fashions.

Arsenal beat Blackburn at Ewood Park 2-1 after Andrei Arshavin’s second half strike. Theo Walcott had continued his good form after his hat-trick against Blackpool but Mame Diouf equalised after a superb run by El Hadji Diouf. Nevertheless, Arsene Wenger’s side were not to be denied and Arshavin’s composed finish earned the Gunners a deserved win.

Champions and early pace-setters Chelsea disposed of a resolute Stoke City 2-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from the in-form duo of Drogba and Malouda, though the West London outfit were given a tough time by the Potters. Frank Lampard had missed an early penalty and will require a hernia operation, whilst skipper John Terry limped off at full-time with a groin strain – both will miss England’s Euro 2012 qualifiers during the international break.

Blackpool‘s first home fixture of the campaign was a thriller at Bloomfield Road as Dickson Etuhu’s late leveller earned Fulham a deserved draw. The Cottagers had gone ahead when Bobby Zamora headed home from close range, but a John Painstil own goal and a Luke Varney strike had given the Tangerines the lead following a quick-fire turnaround. But Etuhu’s composed finish was enough for Mark Hughes’ side to continue their unbeaten start to the new campaign.

Andy Carroll’s good form in front of goal continued as he levelled for Newcastle against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a competitive match at Molineux. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake had superbly fired home before half-time by Carroll’s magnificent header – the English forward’s fourth of the season – meant the spoils were rightfully shared.

After a disappointing Europa League exit, Aston Villa recorded a much-needed win over Everton at Villa Park thanks to Luke Young’s early goal – but the Villa were indebted to their superb goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who pulled off a string of top-class saves to deny the Toffees an equalising goal.

Liverpool were similarly in need of a victory after suffering a 3-0 reverse at Manchester City, but they made tough work of a determined West Bromwich Albion side who had midfielder James Morrison sent off late on. Fernando Torres was the match-winner for the Merseyside outfit, who will look to build on their return to form after ensuring Europa League qualification on Thursday evening.

Avram Grant’s nightmare start as West Ham manager looks set to go on as his side were totally outclassed by Manchester United. Wayne Rooney ended his 18-game goal drout with a clinically-dispatched penalty, whilst Luis Nani and Dimitar Berbatov both scored in emphatic fashion to continue the Red Devil’s unbeaten start.

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Player of the weekend – Ali al Habsi. Theo Walcott’s performance at Blackburn was once again superb and the masterly veteran duo of Paul Scholes and Brad Friedel deserve honourable mentions, but Wigan’s goalkeeper was exceptional. Replacing the under-fire Chris Kirkland, al Habsi pulled off a number of brilliant saves, and recorded a fantastic clean sheet after the Latics had conceded 18 goals in their last three Premier League matches.

Team of the weekend – Wigan. An obvious choice, Wigan were collectively brilliant. Althought ultimately indebted to goalscorer Rodallega and the superb al Habsi, they defended superbly and in fairness created as many chances as their opponents. Wigan have established themselves as the enigma of the Premier League – after two morale-crushing losses, they go to play a team that were unbeaten at home in six months and pull off a victory no-one gave them a hope of achieving. Absolutely superb!

Moan of the weekend – Wayward finishing. Frank Lampard’s poor penalty, Antolin Alcaraz’s shocker from two yards, Sylvain Ebanks-Blake’s header against the post from two yards and Carlos Tevez’s Ronnie Rosenthal impression were just some of the embarrassing blunders from an incredible weekend of football – but unlike at the World Cup, the players can’t blame the ball! Shooting practice, anyone?

Goal of the weekend – Luis Nani. The Portuguese winger was instrumental in United’s win over West Ham and his goal was brilliantly crafted and emphatically finished. Wayne Rooney’s instinctive flick still left Nani which much to do, but a fabulous dribble and rifled finish saw him ensure the points for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.

Game of the weekend – Blackpool 2-2 Fulham. A second successive 2-2 draw for Fulham will no doubt delight Mark Hughes as much as it did the watching supporters at Bloomfield Road and those watching on the television at home. Full of goals and excitement – including two disallowed Blackpool strikes – the magnificent atmosphere, brilliant goalkeeping by Messrs Stockdale and Gilks, and superb finishes courtesy of Etuhu and Varney made for a highly entertaining clash.

Terry & Lamps To Miss England Internationals

Alex Hinsley — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:27:50 +0000

Chelsea duo John Terry and Frank Lampard will miss England’s EURO 2012 Qualifiers due to injury, Carlo Ancelotti has revealed.

Lampard, who has been suffering from a hernia, will undergo and operation in mid-week after a below-par performance from the England star led to a frank admission from Ancelotti.

‘Lampard felt pain and will have hernia surgery next week. He won’t play for England,’ the manager explained after the Blues had continued their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Stoke City.

Missing a penalty, Lampard had seemed under the weather with an unusually-poor performance, but goals from Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda had ensured the Blues continued their good form.

Suffering a groin strain in that fixture, club captain John Terry will also miss the England games after Ancelotti revealed the Chelsea number 26 played through pain to complete the 90 minutes.

Both will definitely take no part in England’s bid to be at EURO 2012, though Ancelotti will be quietly hopeful his captain will be able to return for the game at West Ham in September – Lampard’s return should be around one to two weeks later.

Blues Maintain Perfect Start

Alex Hinsley — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:00:21 +0000

Chelsea 2-0 Stoke City

Goals from Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba handed Chelsea a deserved victory over a resolute Stoke City, despite a Frank Lampard penalty miss.

The Blues were not quite at their imperious best but Carlo Ancelotti’s side were able to dispose of a Stoke side who had been widely written off before a ball had even been kicked. And though ultimately the Midlanders were soundly beaten, Tony Pulis and his players will be proud of a resilient performance that limited the free-scoring champions to just the two goals.

Although it could have been more but for a combination of Thomas Sorensen and the Stoke crossbar; the Dane first saving a tamely-struck Lampard penalty before denying Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge with good saves in the second half, whilst a superb Ashley Cole volley rebounded off the woodwork with the Blues in the lead.

But Stoke offered more than both Wigan and West Bromwich Albion combined, with Petr Cech making a good save from Dean Whitehead’s low effort, whilst Glen Whelan’s deflected effort hit the crossbar with the Czech custodian well-beaten.

The team that started was the same as the one that demolished the Baggies 6-0 at Stamford Bridge a fortnight earlier and they would have had a similarly early breakthrough had Lampard’s tame penalty been struck with more conviction. The England star’s shot was easily saved by Sorenson and when Stoke peppered Cech’s goal with a number of half-chances, there was evidence that the visitors were willing to at least have a go.

Ashley Cole had earlier fired wide wastefully after an excellent passing move, whilst Drogba stung Sorenson’s fists with a fiercely-hit freekick. Essien then headed over from a Lampard corner, but the Blues were finally beginning to exert their influence over matters.

Their efforts were rewarded when Malouda clipped the ball around the advancing Sorenson after a breath-taking run by John Terry, who had done well to steal the ball from Stoke’s record signing Kenwyne Jones. The Chelsea captain had played the perfect through-ball to the French star, and Malouda made no mistake in scoring his fourth goal of the season, and his third in three games against today’s opposition.

Cole then hit the bar with a superb volley after being played in by Drogba, whilst Lampard hooked a volley well wide. It had been an unusually poor showing from the Blues vice-captain, having made a number of loose passes in addition to his penalty miss.

Drogba then produced the best out of Sorenson after the interval when his powerful header from close range was kept out by the well-position Dane. But whilst he was lacking his typical incisive presence up front, he was up to his usual tricks in a defensive sense and made a smart block from an Etherington effort that had evaded the stranded Cech.

But whilst the Blues were dominating possession, they were struggling to open up a determined Stoke rearguard. A warning came when substitute Whelan’s effort was deflected on to the bar by the challenge of Terry. Cech had been wrong-footed and was grateful to claim the loose ball.

Moments later Chelsea had a penalty after a foul on Anelka by Sorenson. The Frenchman had been hacked down after trying to round the keeper, and with Lampard having been taken off, Drogba stepped up to comfortably score the second goal for the hosts and his fourth in three games.

There was time for the Blues’ Brazilian contingent to have their say on matters – Alex made an excellent tackle inside the box to maintain the clean sheet whilst new signing Ramires made his Stamford Bridge bow as a substitute for the excellent Essien.

At the other end, there were a number of chances for a third goal – Sturridge found Sorenson’s midriff with a long-range strike and then rolled an effort wide, whilst Kalou failed to capitalise on a golden opportunity when he was denied by Sorenson.

Three games; three wins – 14 goals scored and none conceded. The Blues head in to an international break top of the pile by two points, ahead of second-placed Arsenal who struggled to victory at Blackburn earlier in the day.

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Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira , Alex, Terry ©, Cole; Essien (Ramires 83), Mikel, Lampard (Kalou 71); Anelka (Sturridge 80), Drogba, Malouda

Stoke (4-4-2): Sorensen; Huth, Shawcross ©, Faye, Collins; Wilkinson, Delap (Pugh 83), Whitehead, (Whelan 50), Etherington; Walters, Jones (Fuller 67)

The TalkChelsea.net Man of the Match was Chelsea’s number 15, Florent Malouda