Chelsea FC

LOOKING BACK: NO 10

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:54:00 +0000

Posted on: Sun 24 Jun 2012 To say it was a memorable debut season at Stamford Bridge for the diminutive playmaker would be something of an understatement. Juan Mata announced his arrival at the club by scoring with almost his first touch after coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 win against Norwich City, and from that point onwards, he never looked back. Under the stewardship of Andre Villas-Boas, Mata started his Blues career playing out wide on the left, although he was moved into a more central role at times, more often than not following substitutions. However, as a wide man, when the side were struggling for confidence in the middle of the campaign, he was all too often a peripheral figure, sparking the decision, ultimately taken by Roberto Di Matteo, to play him in a more central role on a more permanent basis.. Twelve goals in his first campaign at the club was a credible return, with a stunning volley in the 3-3 draw against Manchester United undoubtedly the standout strike. Bought more as a creator of chances than a converter, however, Mata certainly met his remit, with 26 assists to his name and a number of big performances when it really mattered. Instrumental in the 5-1 FA Cup semi-final victory against Tottenham Hotspur, when he scored one -albeit controversially - and made two, he was a central figure once more during the final against Liverpool when he supplied the pass from which Ramires scored the opening goal of the game. His performances had done enough to earn the Spaniard the club's Player of the Year award, and while he missed our first penalty in the shoot-out against Bayern Munich, it would take far more than that to put a dampener on his first season in England. Appearances: 47+7 Goals: 12 Assists: 26 Minutes on pitch: 4,276

LOOKING BACK: NO 9

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Posted on: Sat 23 Jun 2012 Highs, lows and pretty much everything in between, Fernando Torres's season seemingly had it all. Having impressed during the opening day draw at Stoke City, Andre Villas-Boas persisted with the Spaniard as the focal point of a front-three alongside Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge. He scored with an exquisite flick of the right boot away at Manchester United, before missing a fantastic opportunity to double his tally, and while he netted the opener a week later at home to Swansea, he picked up a three-game ban for what was a needless red card soon after. A Champions League brace in the 5-0 win over Genk soon followed, but with Didier Drogba now playing as the lone frontman, Torres's opportunities were somewhat limited, and more often than not he had to be content with coming off the bench. The 5-2 FA Cup quarter-final win against Leicester City saw Torres rediscover his goalscoring touch when he found the net twice in quick succession midway through the second half, while an impressive strike late on away at Aston Villa appeared to strengthen the widely held opinion that he was back to his best. After teeing up Salomon Kalou to score in Benfica, Torres himself was the hero in the Champions League semi-final as he scored the equaliser in our 2-2 draw in Barcelona, while he almost single-handedly secured the three points when Queens Park Rangers made the short trip across west London, scoring a memorable hat-trick in the 6-1 mauling of Mark Hughes's side. Drogba was chosen to lead the line in the Champions League Final in Munich, but Torres came on as a late substitute, and after stating his intentions to win trophies when he made the switch from Liverpool, he ended his first full season at the club with two medals. Appearances: 32+17 Goals: 11 Assists: 18 Minutes on pitch: 3,241

LOOKING BACK: NO 8

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:51:00 +0000

Posted on: Fri 22 Jun 2012 After enduring a frustrating first half of the season, Frank Lampard, as he's done so often in the past, rose to the fore when his team needed him most of all. Lampard started the first four league games of the season under the new man at the helm, Andre Villas-Boas, but after being substituted at half-time in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester United and subsequently dropped to the bench for the home game against Swansea, he returned to the starting line-up at Bolton and scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win. He came off the bench to score the winner from the penalty spot against Manchester City, while also netting the decisive goal at Wolverhampton Wanderers early in the new year, but with the Portuguese manager using him only sparingly, he struggled to produce his best football, and after being left out for the Champions League defeat in Napoli his long-term future at the club became a source of constant speculation. After taking over at the beginning of March, Roberto Di Matteo quickly restored Lampard to the side, recognising the value of his experience and abilities at a time when the team were struggling for confidence. Regular football brought the best out of the midfielder and, as well as scoring a crucial penalty in the return leg against the Italian side, he scored a stunning free-kick in the 5-1 FA Cup win against Tottenham. Rather than playing in his more familiar role as an attacking midfielder, Di Matteo's favoured 4-2-3-1 formation saw Lampard adopt one of the deeper positions alongside John Mikel Obi, although he was given license to support the frontmen when necessary. It wasn't just scoring goals, however, where Lampard was proving his importance to the side. After starting the move which led to Didier Drogba's strike in the first leg against Barcelona, he also teed up Ramires for that stunning goal in the Camp Nou, before once again linking up with Drogba as the Ivorian scored the winner in the FA Cup Final. With John Terry suspended for the Champions League Final in Munich, Lampard skippered the side, and after turning in a marvellous display and scoring a penalty in the shoot-out, he held the trophy aloft at the final whistle to cap a truly remarkable season. Appearances: 38+11 Goals: 16 Assists: 11 Minutes on pitch: 3,745

LOOKING BACK: NO 7

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:49:00 +0000

Posted on: Thu 21 Jun 2012 After finishing his debut season in England strongly following a difficult first few months, Ramires continued where he left off during the 2011/12 campaign, becoming a key member of the squad and scoring vital goals along the way. The first half of the season saw the Brazilian used on the right of a midfield trio, and he netted a brace in the 4-1 win against Swansea, while also registering an important strike in the must-win Champions League game against Valencia at Stamford Bridge. After scoring in the FA Cup third round win against Portsmouth, he sustained a knee injury away at Queens Park Rangers in the following round. However, with supporters initially fearing the worst, Ramires returned to the side after missing only three matches. Andre Villas-Boas's departure, coupled with Roberto Di Matteo's preference for a 4-2-3-1 formation saw Ramires used more often on the right of the three supporting attackers in the second half of the season, and it was a move which was rewarded handsomely. After scoring the crucial third goal in the FA Cup semi-final win against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, three days later he set up Didier Drogba for the only goal of the home game against Barcelona, while in the return against the Spanish side, he scored a sublime chip to get us back in the game after Pep Guardiola's side had raced into a 2-0 lead. The strike, quite rightly, won the club's Goal of the Season award, and it was made all the more impressive by the fact Ramires had been booked moments earlier, ruling him out of the final in Munich. His impressive season, however, was still far from over, and after scoring in the semi-final, he bagged the opener in the FA Cup Final against Liverpool when he raced on to a Juan Mata pass before finishing well. Ramires was also awarded the Players' Player of the Season award. Appearances: 44+3 Goals: 12 Assists: 9 Minutes on pitch: 4,081

CHELSEA 2012: FRANK LAMPARD

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:46:00 +0000

With a gold medal of his own to cherish, Frank Lampard believes the 2012 Olympics can provide a huge boost to London this summer. Yesterday's birthday boy answers the official Chelsea website's questionnaire on the Games... Frank, what are your thoughts on football in the Olympics? It's very new to us in Great Britain. The South Americans and Africans have been much more brought up on it than we have, but that shouldn't take away from us trying our best to do well in the tournament. I am sure the players involved in it will do, but the World Cup is the very best in football. What are your earliest Olympic memories? Can I say the Winter Olympics? That would be Eddie the Eagle. I also remember the Seoul Olympics in 1988, getting up early and watching it before school, because of the time difference. What will you be looking out for in 2012? Obviously I'm looking forward to the British athletes doing well, the 100 metres final is an obvious one but I am looking forward to the whole spectacle, and if I can manage to get some tickets I would love to be able to take my kids to see some of it. Lord Coe has done an amazing job to get it running so smoothly and I think he deserves more credit for it. Who is your favourite Olympian of all time? As I know him I had better say Seb Coe. The era of him and Steve Ovett and Steve Cram was a great time for British athletics.

DROGBA CONFIRMS CHINA MOVE

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:44:00 +0000

Didier Drogba, whom it was announced last month would be leaving Chelsea when his contract expires at the end of June, has today (Wednesday) named Shanghai Shenhua as his next club. He will be reunited with Nicolas Anelka who left Chelsea for Shanghai Shenhua in January. 'Today I can confirm that I have signed with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua FC. I will join up with the team next month,' Drogba announced. 'I have considered all offers I have received in the past few weeks, but feel that Shanghai Shenhua FC is the right move for me at this time. I am looking forward to a new challenge, to experiencing a new culture, and excited about the new developments in the Chinese Super League.' Didier leaves Chelsea having scored 157 goals in 341 appearances. He is the club's fourth all-time highest scorer and memorably brought the curtain down on his eight years with us by converting the decisive penalty in the shoot-out at the end of the Champions League Final.

Man City 2-1 CHELSEA: Chelsea Make City Look Good

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:50:00 +0000

You get some results, like the mid-week game against Blackburn where you can just about live with defeat because you know the players have given it their all – and then there’s games like yesterday that are just too much to stomach.

Not the defeat itself because whilst losing never comes easy, as long as you can still hold your head up and say we gave it our best shot, then it’s at least more acceptable. No, I’m on about the way we lost. Not the poor refereeing decisions because at least Webb (as bad as he was) showed up, which is more than can be said for us.

Seriously, we can moan as much as we like but whilst Richards without a doubt handled in the area and got away with it, Adebayor’s own goal might never have happened if the officials had seen the ball come off Cole and not given the corner. Maybe if Citeh had responded to that by concentrating more on the ref than the rest of the game, Adebayor wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make it a goal per side but to be fair to them, they just got on with it and deservedly went in all square at the break.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand Citeh and I was as gutted as the next man to see Carlos Tevez put his free-kick past the wall and Petr Cech but if Carvalho hadn’t needlessly had a second kick-out at the Argie midget’s back then we wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place.

Then came some more iffy reffing, with first Lescott wrestling John Terry to the floor in front of goal and getting away with it, then Toure with his hands all over Didier Drogba from the subsequent corner and still nothing given. In fact, it seemed the more they got away with, the more tactile they thought they’d be – and why not? – they were getting away with it all day anyway. But then, we were allowing them to get away with it as much as the officials were, we could and should have put a much better fight but Lampard’s missed (yes missed) penalty just about summed our performance.

Overall then, it’s fair to sat the mid-week exit has obviously pissed them right off, but instead of the ‘wounded animal’ you’d have expected to come out fighting after we at least battled our arses off mid-week, we turned up whingeing and whining like toothless little bitches. Ok, so Webb’s a cock of the highest order but bad decisions happen week-in-week-out in the Premier League and a side is either big enough to take it on the chin and get their heads together, or they’ll act like petulant, arrogant fuckers, and lose in the manner we did.

Both Ashley Cole and particularly Didier Drogba showed shades of their former selves most of us would rather not be reminded of - mouthing and bitching at every opportunity, Cole’s back turned to the ref, Drogba standing over an injured Bridge moaning about a nothing brush of the shoulder he’d somehow been ‘injured’ by earlier. Just embarrassing to watch really.

Fair enough, Citeh got away with fouls time and again whilst we were getting booked for some nothing challenges (oh and Carvalho’s a total dick for that needless kick on the Argie midget) but if we’re going to challenge for the title rather than fall apart like we did at exactly the same stage as last season, then our players need to drop the ‘victim’ attitude and fucking earn it.

TEAMS

CITY: Given, Richards (Onuoha 69), Toure, Lescott, Bridge (Kompany 76), De Jong, Barry, Wright-Phillips, Tevez, Robinho (Zabaleta 90), Adebayor.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Johnson, Santa Cruz, Petrov.

Booked: Barry.

Goals: Adebayor 37, Tevez 56.

CHELSEA: Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho (Belletti 63), Terry (Malouda 88), Ashley Cole, Essien, Ballack (Mikel 64), Lampard, Deco, Drogba, Anelka.

Subs Not Used: Hilario, Joe Cole, Zhirkov, Paulo Ferreira.

Booked: Terry, Carvalho, Belletti, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Deco.

Goals: Adebayor 8 og.

Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).

Man City vs CHELSEA: Preview

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Venue: City of Manchester Stadium

Date: Saturday, 5 December 2009
Kick-off: 1730

A trip to Manchester’s second side for us this evening and a chance to get the disappointment of our mid-week exit from the Carling Cup out of our systems.

Citeh come into the game on a high, having set up a Carling Cup semi-final tie against United courtesy of a 3-0 win over Arsenal mid-week and with a pretty unimpressive seven straight draws in the league, they’ll no doubt be pushing for the points today. Our league form, on the other hand, has seen us beat our other ‘big four’ rivals, with our last league game also seeing us hand Arsenal a 3-0 defeat.

MANAGERS’ VIEWS

Going into this game, Mark Hughes has been full of praise for his opponents, claiming “If they continue to play in the same vein as they are doing then they are absolutely (the favourites for the title). They’ve been the stand-out team up to this point. Defensively, physically and in an attacking sense, they have ticked every box. They look the real deal this season. I think they are close to being the best in Europe. That’s the size of our challenge. It’s been shown this year that you can come unstuck very quickly against them and find yourself behind in a game you haven’t really given yourself a chance to win. We don’t anticipate that happening, we will run them close, but our best might not be good enough because they’re playing as well as I’ve ever seen them play. We need to keep at that level we showed against Arsenal now, we don’t want to drop. If we get our noses in front (against Chelsea), let’s see what happens.”

Going into this game off the back of our mid-week disappointment, Carlo Ancelotti says “Every defeat normally is not good, but the priority of that game was to give minutes to the players that didn’t play against Arsenal and to give experience to young players. Our priority was that, and also a chance to give recovery to the other players. The League Cup was not so important, if we thought it was more important I would put in a different line-up. We are not disappointed, we showed good spirit, playing 60 minutes with 10 against 11, and drew in the last minute. This means we have a very good spirit, and this is important. We kept a lot of players in the training ground and they trained well, so we have a fresh team. If we continue to play like against Arsenal we have a very good possibility to arrive in first place but we have to pay attention because every game is difficult to play. There are a lot of teams in England with very good quality.” And turning his attention back to matters in hand, says “We have to play against a dangerous team, because Manchester City has a lot of players with very good technical quality, top players. They didn’t win the last seven games and they want to win against Chelsea because we are top of the list. They will have very good motivation to play against us and we have to pay attention to this.”

SQUAD NEWS

Bellamy, Ireland and Petrov (all knee) are all apparently doubtful, Weiss (tonsillitis) misses out and Shaun Wright-Phillips faces a late fitness test after a knock against Arsenal.

For Chelsea, Salomon Kalou (thigh) joins Bosingwa and Alex (hip) on the missing list.

TEAMS

MAN CITY: (from): Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Bridge, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Kompany, Johnson, Ireland, Barry, Robinho, Bellamy, Petrov, Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Benjani

CHELSEA: (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, A Cole, Zhirkov, Carvalho, Terry, Essien, Lampard, Belletti, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Kakuta, Deco, J Cole, Anelka, Drogba

LAST MEETING

Chelsea 1-0 Man City (15 March 2009)

PREDICTION

There’s worse sides we could face following our mid-week defeat, particularly if you look at our record against today’s opponents: 10 wins from our last 12 trips there (8 straight) and 12 clean sheets in our last 14 league meetings. City also seem to be struggling for wins of late, with seven straight draws, although having said that, they have only lost once in 17 games in all competitions this season, so they won’t necessarily be an easy side to beat. And whilst the fact that we’ve scored 17 goals without reply in our last five games in the league is pretty impressive, our vulnerability could still be around set-pieces. Draw looking likely?

REFEREE

Howard Webb

Blackburn 3-3 CHELSEA: Dreaded Penalties End Chelsea’s Fight

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Didn’t expect that last night to be honest, either in terms of the result or the choice of squad but then it was always going to be an interesting night with Hilarious in goal three right-backs and a left-back.

Despite all the pre-match talk about fielding a strong first team, Ancelotti had made wholesale changes, with no Terry, Carvalho, Lampard, Essien, Anelka and Didier Drogba the only senior player on the bench.

A bit hard to go into too much detail about the game seeing as there seemed to be an almost complete blanket ban on anyone having access to it unless they were prepared to get up to Ewood Park for it.

Still, from how it sounded, our defence was the sort of confused backline you’d have expected seeing as the four of them have probably said little more than a casual hello to each other in terms of preparation and it wasn’t long before we were a goal behind. Kalou missed the obligatory sitter, so we went into the break a goal behind.

Cue Didier Drogba after the break to add a bit of attack to our game and he duly obliged within about two minutes to level the score. Just four minutes later, the Ivorian turned provider for Salomon Kalou and we found ourselves on top. Unfortunately, it all sounded a bit physical with our players going down all over the place. First Kakuta took a bang on the head and went off temporarily, Kalou wasn’t so lucky and went off with about twenty minutes remain. This time, our player didn’t re-emerge and having made 3 subs already, Carlo Ancelotti had nowhere to go in terms of a replacement.

Hilarious did his worst with what sounded like a complete nightmare to concede the equaliser and how we ever hung on for extra time is anyone’s guess. But, hang on we did and despite conceding a penalty right at the start of that, with Hilario sent the wrong way by McCarthy, we still managed to hold on right until the dying minutes before Paulo Ferreira took it to penalties with his equaliser.

I hate penalty shoot-outs, I hate going out of a game on penalties but last night was different. I think it had to be said that whatever the outcome, our players had given it everything they had – and Ancelotti will have learnt some valuable lessons.

So anyway, onto the penalties – and sadly they went like this:

McCarthy – in

Ballack – saved

Emerton – in

Drogba – in

Grella – in

Malouda – in

Kalinic – saved

Zhirkov – in

Hoilett – in

Kakuta – saved

TEAMS

BLACKBURN: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Chimbonda, Emerton, Nzonzi, Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts, Kalinic
Subs: Brown, Givet, Grella, Diouf, Van Heerden, Hoilett, Jones.
CHELSEA: Hilario, Belletti, Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira, Zhirkov, Mikel, Ballack,Deco, Joe Cole, Kalou, Malouda.
Subs: Turnbull, Drogba, Matic,Hutchinson, Bruma, Kakuta, Borini.

Hansen claims Drogba is Premier League’s best – surely he means world’s best?

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon was a very good point to be a Chelsea fan. The Blues moved 8 points clear at the top of the Premier League after hammering Arsenal 3-0 on their own patch. It was a performance that showed why Chelsea’s Premier League title odds are at the level they are and why Chelsea are the team to beat this season.

Arsenal played their usual pretty football and came out fighting at the start of each half with pace and purpose. The reality though, is that Chelsea were far too strong for them in so many ways. Carlo Ancelotti’s team are physically stronger, mentally stronger and have more big-game players.

One of these being the incredible Didier Drogba. I am starting to run out of superlatives for the man this season. He is, quite simply, on a different planet. He has a history of terrorising Arsenal and Sunday was no different. The Ivory Coast striker got on the end of an Ashley Cole cross to put Chelsea ahead and then secured the win with an exquisite free-kick to seal the victory in the last ten minutes. The Arsenal defence didn’t know how to handle him in his current form and he got his rewards.

In the aftermath of the game, there has been much praise for Drogba. Not least from Alan Hansen. The Match of the Day pundit has said that the player’s performance Sunday showed by he is the best striker in the Premier League. Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres are other candidates for this accolade, but Hansen is of the opinion that Drogba’s strength, goals and ability to lead the line make him the best striker in England. I would go a step further than that though and say that he is probably the best striker in the world at the moment. The influence he has on Chelsea is phenomenal and I don’t think there is anyone else out there like him. He strikes fear into opposition defences constantly and most importantly, he ALWAYS turns it on in the big games.

Just think, under Luiz Felipe Scolari last season, Drogba looked unhappy and as though his Chelsea career was coming to an end. Now though, he is arguably performing better than ever before. I guess Chelsea fans can thank Ancelotti for that. The Italian has clearly been good for Drogba.

The most worrying thing about all of this is that Chelsea lose the 31-year-old to the African Cup of Nations next month. I’m sure Drogba won’t take it personally if Chelsea fans hope they don’t make it too far in the competition….

Blackburn vs CHELSEA: Carling Cup Preview

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Carling Cup quarter-final

Venue: Ewood Park

Date: Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Kick-off: 2000 GMT

Whilst we’ve won our last four games without conceding, Blackburn go into tonight’s Carling Cup quarter-final game having failed to score in their previous two games. So, having conceded five to us in our last meeting, they’ll have to tighten up defensively if they’re seriously after a place in the semis.

MANAGERS’ VIEWS

Sam Allardyce is still recovering from heart surgery but assistant boss Neil McDonald seems confident enough for the both of them, insisting “They (Chelsea) are very strong and have a fantastic squad, but they are not unbeatable. Wigan have beaten them, Aston Villa have beaten them and we have to draw strength from that. They were all away from home, and our home form has been fantastic, so we must continue that against Chelsea. We have worked extremely hard to get to this point. Why should we say ‘just because we are playing Chelsea that’s us out?’ We have to remain positive. It is a game of football, 11 versus 11. They (Chelsea) have some fantastic players but it is a long way for them to come on a cold Lancashire night and we have to try and use that to our advantage if we possibly can. With the crowd right behind us, it will spur us on to give a good performance. Our home form is good and we are going to have a right go at them. It will be fantastic if the crowd is bigger than what it normally is for the Carling Cup, knowing that we are playing a very good team in Chelsea. That will inspire the players to run even further and try even harder.”

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t seem have been particularly vocal ahead of tonight’s game, although assistant Ray Wilkins wonders whether the absence of Allardyce will have an effect tonight, stating “I think he would have been in touch with the guys, albeit not there, and we all wish him a speedy recovery. When you have a massive personality like Sam around the players, when he is not there you might have a slight wobble, but I am sure at home they will be an extremely tough side to beat for us. We certainly approach every game to win it and we’ll be doing the same here. We would love to be in the Final of the Carling Cup, it’s the first trophy of the season and one we want to win so we’ll be going all out to do that. Most certainly the side will be mixed up but it will be a very strong side, no question.”

SQUAD NEWS

For Blackburn, Franco di Santo is ineligible to play and David Dunn is a doubt with a calf injury. For us meanwhile, Daniel Sturridge (knee) and Jose Bosingwa (knee) remain out and Alex (hip) could also be out of action. Ashley Cole, on the other hand, is expected to be fit and Gael Kakuta could make his first start.

TEAMS

BLACKBURN (from): Robinson, Olsson, Chimbonda, Givet, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Diouf, Pedersen, Grella, Jacobsen, Nzonzi, Emerton, Hoilett, Kalinic, McCarthy, Roberts, Brown.

CHELSEA (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, A Cole, Zhirkov, Carvalho, Terry, Essien, Lampard, Belletti, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Kakuta, Deco, J Cole, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba.

LAST MEETING

Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn (24th October 2009)

PREDICTION

This will be Blackburn’s first real test of the competition, having met Gillingham, Forest and Peterborough to get to this stage. It’s worth bearing in mind they haven’t lost in the last seven at Ewood Park and they know what they’re up against having failed to beat us in our last nine league and cup meetings. Having said that though, we won’t be putting a soft side out and current form doesn’t really point to anything but a Chelsea win.

Arsenal 0-3 CHELSEA: Easy Afternoon at The Slowly Abandoned Emirates

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Shame about the weather for this one, especially after Cesc had clearly taken so much time over his hair – pretty boy.

Arsenal had the better start and plenty of possession in the first twent minutes, whilst Mikel was found wanting in the concentration department and was pushed off the ball a little too easily. There seemed to be a bit too much space down left to start with and all, so we clearly weren’t getting a few things right. An Eduardo and Essien clash, sees Essien up on his feet pretty much straight away while Eduardo took a bit more pampering before he could rise. But altogether, a pretty lively start from the gunners even if they’re preference was to try to walk the ball into our area. Our passing game in the early stages left a lot to be desired and it all felt a bit frustrating. Our best move doing those early stages came from Joe Cole’s quick feet which saw him feed in Drogba who must’ve been offside by all of a blade of grass.

Penalty shout for them a minute or so later, but there really hadn’t been much of a shout to try for. We on the othet hand, had a Stonewall penalty not given when on 18 minutes, Sagna’s arm round Anelka’s waist clearly brought him down in front of goal – and United feel they’re the only side hard done by?!
Mikel was beginning to irritate with his far too casual approach which saw him caught in possession way too often. And then after the half hour it was Didier Drogba guilty of poor decision making – pushing forward, Anelka went on a blistering run and was unmarked yet Drogba makes the pass to Joe Cole who had two men on him. Argh!

Still, in the 41st minute, a beautiful ball to Drogba in the box from none other than Arsenal’s favourite Chelsea man, Ashley Cole. Drogba’s lovely finish saw it come off both bar and post – cracking goal. Then in the 44th min, another quality ball in from Ashley Cole and Vermaelen pops it in the back of the net for us, sending us into the break two goals up.

Arsenal again started the better side in the second half and thought they’d scored in the 48th – fortunately the whistle had already blown before the shot had left Arshavin’s foot courtesy of a slightly stray boot attempting to dislodge Cech’s trachea. Walcott on for them second half saw Ashley Cole less keen to get forward. Then a period of stop-start football disrupted play on the hour, with one free-kick after the other. Whilst the corner was being prepared, JT was noted to have a word with the ref about a previous corner where Vermaelen was apparently trying to see how many times he could wrap himself around the Chelsea captain with no foul given – so to all those who slate the Chelsea captain for getting into the same sought of scuffles in the box it just goes to show he clearly isn’t the only one the refs fail to see.

Just after the hour, Drogba puts ball in Lamps deflects it off his chest and it was only saved by the fingertips of Almunia, so we clearly weren’t sitting back on our lead.

You’d have to say from this game though, you could see why we have the tightest defence in the league. Deco on for Joe Cole (68 mins) to a chorus of ‘twat’ in my house. Mikel gives away a free-kick in dangerous area a minute later and managed to get himself a yellow into the bargain. Paulo Ferreira on for A Cole (71 min) – plenty of boos but then he did set up both goals in the first half, lol.

To pretty much round it all off, Cesc Fabregas brings Essien down, whinging his arse off when the foul is given, although had more reason to whinge when Didier Drogba stepped up to take the free-kick in the 85th min, banging it into the net. 3-0 and empty home seats all round, bloody lightweights.

Overall then I don’t think Arsenal necessarily did badly, they certainly pressed us hard enough and had the better of us for twenty minutes, their trouble though, apart from missing the odd big name player in their squad is that they want to walk the ball into the area and they just ain’t going to get that opportunity in games like this. Our defence isn’t the tightest in the league for nothing and JT put in an outstanding performance yesterday. Talking of outstanding performances though, Anelka and Drogba yet again made such a difference, with Anelka having another really good game – and Ashley Cole’s contribution was irony in the extreme.

Arsenal vs CHELSEA: Preview

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Venue: Emirates Stadium

Date: Sunday, 29 November

Kick-off 1600 GMT

A win for United yesterday put them just two points behind us so we need a result today to make that gap a little bit more respectable again – and it’s Arsenal at the Emirates.

We go into the game eight points ahead of Arsenal, although they have a game in hand to reassure them the gap between us this season isn’t quite so big. Ancelotti hasn’t done a bad job with our ‘pensioners’ since he took over and although some might point to the fact that neither did Scolari to start with last season, our wins against both Liverpool and Manchester United so far this campaign suggest the latest Chelsea boss isn’t quite as sloppy as his predecessor. Wenger meanwhile continues to put his faith in a much younger side although is yet to have his faith repaid in the absence of any silverware.

MANAGERS’ VIEWS

Going into this game, Wenger reiterates his belief in his ‘young guns’, stating “There is a period for any team to come out and show its strength. For my team, this moment has come. We have the strength and we want to show we’re strong enough to beat them. We are not anymore a team that has to be considered to be young. I believe for us the most important thing is to stick to our game, do not focus on any special individual on the other side, because you win these kind of games by dominating the game. If we focus too much on Chelsea it won’t help us.”

Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t seem to see today’s game in the same way as his opposing manager, saying “This is not a decisive match for Chelsea or for Arsenal. It’s an important match. Arsenal will want to win the game, and Chelsea also, but it’s not decisive for the title. It would be 11 points if we won, but Arsenal would have a game in hand. It’s not so important for the title. It is a very important game because Arsenal are one of the most important teams in England and Europe. They’re playing very well. I like their style - they try to play and attack to create difficulties for the other teams. It will be a very good test for us.”

SQUAD NEWS

Arsenal will be without Gibbs (metatarsal), Bendtner (groin), Djourou (knee), Van Persie (ankle) and Wilshere (ankle), with Clichy (back), Diaby (calf) and Fabianski (thigh) said to be doubtful. William Gallas is likely to return after an eye injury in the Champions League.

For us, Jose Bosingwa (knee) remains out although Frank Lampard is fit again.

TEAMS

ARSENAL: (from): Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Traore, Song, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott, Mannone, Eduardo, Eboue, Vela, Senderos, Wilshere, Silvestre, Ramsey, Rosicky.

CHELSEA: (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, A Cole, Zhirkov, Carvalho, Terry, Alex, Essien, Lampard, Belletti, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Kakuta, Deco, J Cole, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba

LAST MEETING

Arsenal 1-4 Chelsea (May 10th 2009)

PREDICTION

Arsenal have lost just one of their last 10 London derbies, although they’ve failed to beat any of the ‘Big Four’ in their last 5 attempts. We, on the other hand, have won our last five London derbies in the league and our last three against ‘Big Four’ sides, so from recent records at least, it looks favourable for us. Having said that, this time last season we sat top of the table, 8 points clear of Manchester United – and it was pretty much downhill between then and Scolari’s departure, so let’s not get too carried away with ourselves. I’m thinking the fact that today sees the strongest attack in the Premier League (Arsenal have scored 36 from 12 games) against the tightest defence (we’ve conceded 8 in 13) points to us coming away with no more than a draw although Van Persie’s absence might just shift the odds back in our favour.

REFEREE

Andre Marriner

Wenger Gets His Handbag Out Ahead Of Chelsea Game

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:42:00 +0000

You have to laugh at Wenger really, he always tries to give mind games a go before big games and never quite gets it right.

Bearing in mind we haven’t done much wrong in terms of our football so far this season, the sour-faced Arsenal manager has had a scrabble round and come up with some half-cocked notion that our transfer ban isn’t a punishment.

The whinging Frenchman says “It is no punishment. I believe that FIFA never stopped anybody from moving, no matter what you do. They just can suspend the player after or the club. I didn’t know that the appeal was working but maybe Chelsea has appealed and until the appeal court comes forward they can buy.”

So the fact we’ll be able to buy in the January window – where we’d be lucky to buy any players of substance and anyone we did bring is likely to be cup-tied yet by the summer, when clubs generally look to bring in the real quality, we won’t be able to – means we won’t suffer from the ban according to Wenger.
He has to concede Chelsea are perfectly entitled to use the loophole and goes on “I believe also that it’s not for us to dream that Chelsea is handicapped [when it comes to] buying players. It’s more about us turning up with proper performances. At the end of the day they will always have 11 good players.”

We’ll look out for that ‘proper performance’ tomorrow then eh?

Porto 0-1 CHELSEA: Top Spot Secure With A Game To Spare

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:22:00 +0000

Well, it weren’t pretty but seeing as we’ve clinched top spot in the group, you’d have to say it was effective.

I suppose with us both having qualified for the knockout stages already, the sort of game we got was the sort of game we expected. We started off ok with efforts from Malouda, Drogba and Ballack, but to be fair, Porto had the better first half with Petr Cech at fault for giving away second chances before redeeming himself. It was just one of those nights where our attacking edge went walkabouts and appeared to have taken our passing ability with it.

In terms of tempo, if the first half was a stroll, we upped it to a brisk walk in the second, with Deco shooting just wide in the 52nd minute. Michael Essien came off the bench for Ballack – who really wasn’t having one of his better nights – in the 67th minute and just two minutes later Nicolas Anelka headed us in front. Florent Malouda, whose crosses seemed to have been more miss than hit all night, picked up a Yuri Zhirkov pass and finally put in a cross the stooping Anelka could get on the end of - and that turned out to be enough to secure the win.

Overall though, a pretty even game that we just about deserved to win and were pretty lucky to get out of without adding to our injury list bearing in mind Porto weren’t exactly genteel.

Bring on Arsenal.

TEAMS

PORTO: Beto, Sapunaru, Rolando, Bruno Alves, Pereira, Belluschi, Fernando, Raul Meireles, Varela, Falcao, Rodriguez.

Subs: Nuno, Guarin, Valeri, Hulk, Maicon, Farias, Costa.

CHELSEA: Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, Zhirkov, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Deco, Anelka, Drogba.

Subs: Turnbull, Ashley Cole, Essien, Joe Cole, Kalou, Alex, Belletti.

Chelsea To Miss Usual Liverpool Fixture

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:16:00 +0000

What we won’t see this season:

What we will see this season:

Yep, that’s right, ickle Stevie Me could spend the rest of this season burying his head and pretending Liverpool’s failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League isn’t such a bad thing.

After the game, the Liverpool captain tried to dress it up a bit, insisting “Of course it’s disappointing, we played fantastically well tonight and despite getting three points we don’t progress. Hopefully now we’ll be in the Europa League so we’ll try to win that. The main prize has gone and to be playing in the Europa League is disappointing but we have to accept that, move on and try to win that competition. The only consolation in this is if we go on and win the secondary one.” Wrap it up and put as many bows on it as you like Gerrard – you didn’t qualify because you’re just not good enough!

Obviously it’s devastating news for us though. Going into the knockout stages knowing we won’t be the team to knock them out this year. Knowing they won’t be scoring any of our goals for us this season. Then again, if it means we won’t be ‘conceding’ any ghost goals either, maybe it isn’t such a bad thing after all?

Getttttt Innnn!!!

Are Chelsea Champions League favourites?

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:13:00 +0000

Very often during football, there is an opinion that seems to be mutually accepted regardless of how valid it is. The view Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can’t play together for England is one example and the view that the Serie A is boring is another.

Stretching this to beyond football, in this year’s X Factor it was mentioned once that contestant Danyl Johnson wasn’t likeable and suddenly everyone believed it. Word spreads as they say.

Why is this relevant to Chelsea this season I hear you ask?! Well, for one reason or another everyone seems to have decided that this is ‘Chelsea’s year’ to win the Champions League. Everyone has been tipping The Blues for success in Europe and this includes Wolves boss Mick McCarthy - and he should know after the battering they took this weekend. McCarthy was talking up the impact of Carlo Ancelotti and claims that the playing squad look as good as they did ‘under Jose Mourinho’. He describes the Chelsea team as a ‘happy bunch’ who are clearly high on confidence right now.

How valid is this opinion that it is Chelsea’s year for the Champions League then? Well, they certainly have a superb chance. A lot of the talk may be because they have come so close before. It must only be a matter of time before they go all of the way?

Another reason for this view could be the slight decline of Manchester United. They haven’t been at their best this season and have missed Cristiano Ronaldo a great deal. As for England’s other teams, Liverpool might not even qualify for the knock-out stages and question marks still remain over Arsenal’s credentials to go all the way.

So, in theory, that leaves Chelsea as the English team with the best odds to win the Champions League. Considering the Premier League is arguably the best league in the world, Chelsea are the front-runners for Champions League success, right?

Ancelotti certainly knows how to win the competition and several Chelsea players are at the peak of their career. The likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Nicolas Anelka will be determined to win a Champions League medal for Chelsea and this year may well be the time to do it.

Overall, there are many reasons why Chelsea are being hotly tipped for conquering Europe this season. Fans of the club will just be hoping that they manage to live up to their favourites tag and are celebrating in Madrid next May.

CHELSEA vs Wolves: Preview

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Venue: Stamford Bridge

Date: Saturday, 21 November 2009

Kick-off: 1500

It’s been a while since we played Wolves in the Premier League and the last time we did do that at Stamford Bridge, we battered them 5-2 courtesy of a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink hat-trick.

Mind you, that was back in 2004 and Jimmy Floyd won’t be up front for us this time, unfortunately though neither will Didier Drogba because his is one of the names on our ever-increasing injury list. Mind you, the one positive to come from today’s injury-enforced changes could be opportunities for some of our younger players, with the likes Fabio Borini, Nemanja Matic and Gael Kakuta making today’s bench.

MANAGERS’ THOUGHTS

With our midfield and first choice striker missing, Carlo Ancelotti has concentrated on boosting our defence’s confidence ahead of today’s game, stating “From the start of the season the defensive line did very well. With Alex, Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho, I think Chelsea has the best central defence in the world at the moment. It is the same level as I had at Milan. I was very happy with [Alessandro] Nesta and [Paolo] Maldini there in the past and also I am happy to train the Chelsea defenders. No-one has four central defenders with this quality. They can play in any team in the world.” Not that he’s suggesting Wolves will be a doddle though, insisting “I know them and they have played a lot of games with very good play. They have good strikers and I think Kevin Doyle tomorrow will be hungry because of what happened Wednesday with Ireland. We have to pay attention.”

Mick McCarthy appears full of praise for his opposing number ahead of the game, stating “I have been impressed, but he wasn’t a rookie manager was he? He has won the Champions League twice so I am not surprised with what he has done. He has got a good group of players and they look to me like they were under Jose Mourinho when he first arrived. They look a really happy bunch together and there is no tittle tattle coming out of there anymore. If they end up being the best team in the Premier League they will not be far away from being one of the winners in Europe.” And as for how he plans to ‘stop’ us today, says “It is a hugely enviable task as everyone wants to be doing it. All those teams in the Championship would like to be doing exactly the same. How do we stop them? We go and play against them. I always take the view that they will lose a game. I said the same thing before we played Arsenal and I still say if we had scored when we were on top at the start of the game who knows what would have happened. We would have been 1-0 up and that would have changed the course of the game and changed the way that it is played. We are second bottom, we are playing the best team and we are not fancied. They may be the best team in the world with the best players, with the best manager against a whole load of rookies that have just come up with a manager who has been in the Premier League once, gone down and got the sack. All those things are against us but this is a game of football and you know what, we might just get a handball and win it. That is football. I can’t give anyone a game plan about how I am going to beat Chelsea so don’t even ask me. Don’t be so barmy to ask me how are we going to stop them, how are we going to do this and that because they can come up with something brilliant out of nothing against far better teams than us. But it is a game of football and Hull weren’t fancied to beat Tottenham or Arsenal last season.”

SQUAD NEWS

Thanks largely to the international break and Johny Evans’ studs, Chelsea will be missing Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Deco and Didier Drogba through injury. John Terry is a doubt although could play a part if he comes through a late fitness test. Ashley Cole should be fit to return although Jose Bosingwa remains out long-term.

For Wolves, Iwelumo, Jones and Ward miss out. Kevin Foley could feature although Michael Mancienne is ineligible and Ronald Zubar is a doubt.

TEAMS

CHELSEA (from): Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, Alex, A Cole, Essien, J Cole, Anelka, Kalou, Borini, Matic, Kakuta, Hilario, Ferreira, Mikel Obi, Malouda.

WOLVES (from): Hennessey, Hahnemann, Zubar, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Craddock, Elokobi, Kightly, Halford, Henry, Milijas, Castillo, Edwards, Jarvis, Ebanks-Blake, Keogh, Maierhofer, Doyle.

LAST MEETING

Chelsea 5-2 Wolves (27 March 2004)

PREDICTION

Wolves have struggled for goals this season and that might not bode well against the best defence in the Premier League. Having said that, with our midfield depleted and Didier Drogba missing up front, the Wolves defence might not exactly be overrun either.

NOW IT’S OUR TURN

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:59:00 +0000

The support staff at Cobham are not only workers in football, but football lovers as well, as is shown in a weekly ritual. Old Blue Eyes has been known to be among them.

Walking through a park on a Sunday morning, or along the beach on a summer's afternoon, there can be few football fans who can see a game of football going on and not want to be at least in some way involved.

The sights and sounds of that ball flying back and forth make it very hard to resist, so spare a thought for the staff at Cobham, who have to endure day after endless day of witnessing some of the finest footballers of their generation strutting their stuff merely yards away.

It all breeds just a little bit of envy in the various offices, corridors and groundsmen's sheds of the training ground, so every now and then when the pros have departed, everybody else dons a pair of boots and gathers together what kit they can to try and replicate what they see on the training field.

Of course the coaching staff like to be involved too, and while Carlo Ancelotti is yet to be seen in action, his assistants Ray Wilkins and Paul Clement are often keen to show that their years of studying the game have not gone to waste.

There is talent too in the lesser-known participants. Reserve coach Steve Holland has a bag of tricks you would pay to watch, while video analysts James Melbourne and Christy Fenwick were YTS players at Grimsby and Cheltenham respectively, not forgetting chief scout Michael Emenalo played in a World Cup for Nigeria.

Not everyone has such impressive credentials, but as in any group, there are declarations of trials here or there among other staff, while others claim serious injury robbed them of a real shot at the pro game. Said injuries appear to have healed by the time the weekly staff match comes around.

Clement, who never actually played professionally, often takes the role of player-ref, allowing him to rein in the competitive edge of some individuals, while also bending the rules for his own side's benefit, gaining advantage wherever it can be harnessed.

As with all impromptu matches, numbers vary from game to game, but the will to win never wavers.

There are of course odd flashes of brilliance and occasional interest from players who are still hanging around, yet youngster Fabio Borini perhaps best summed up the all-round appeal of the spectacle on offer.

Sat at the side one day after treatment on an injury and offered the whistle-blowing opportunity of a lifetime, he simply said: 'I am not sitting through this!' and promptly left.

As anyone in the game, professional or otherwise will tell you though, it's not the performances but the three points that count.

Ancelotti denies Italy claim

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has denied media reports in Italy which claimed he could become the next manager of the national team.

The 50-year-old former Reggiana, Parma and Juventus coach is reported to be the preferred candidate of officials in Italy to replace current international boss Marcello Lippi when his contract with the Azzurri expires at the end of next summer's World Cup Finals.

But after ending his eight-year reign at AC Milan to take over at Chelsea last summer, Ancelotti is in no rush to return to Italy.

He explained: "I won't be Azzurri coach next year.

"I'm Chelsea coach and we I want to see how this beautiful adventure will end."

Meanwhile, Ancelotti expects the reigning world champions to again be a prominent force in South Africa next summer, but stopped short of declaring them favourites for a second successive World Cup triumph.

"The World Cup is a fantastic spectacle and I'll see it live," he continued.

"It will be a balanced competition. I don't see a team that could stand out over the others.
Top headlines, outrageous puns and crazy stories. It's all here in What the Papers Say...

"In South Africa the climate will be fresh, and theoretically, it's an advantage for the game."

Ghana launch investigation after Chelsea's Michael Essien and former Portsmouth star Sulley Muntari go AWOL

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:39:00 +0000

The Ghana Football Association will investigate the absence of Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, Inter Milan's ex-Portsmouth ace Sulley Muntari and Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan from the squad which travelled to Luanda for Wednesday's friendly against Angola.

The trio were not part of the group which left Accra on Monday for the game at the Coqueiros Stadium, but did not have the consent of head coach Milovan Rajevac to leave the squad.

A statement on the GFA website from general secretary Kofi Nsiah read: 'In accordance with prescribed FIFA regulations for the release of players for national team matches, the FA wrote to and secured the release of 20 players to honour the World Cup qualifying match against Mali on November 15 and the international friendly against Angola on November 18.

'Unfortunately, three players, namely Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan, did not travel with the team to Angola on Monday night.

'The players stayed out without the permission of the head coach, Mr Milovan Rajevac.

'The FA views this act with great concern and will investigate the matter further to inform its next course of action.'

Ghana launch investigation after Chelsea's Michael Essien and former Portsmouth star Sulley Muntari go AWOL

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Zhirkov risks injury for Russia and blames pain on London climate

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:27:00 +0000

Chelsea new boy Yuri Zhirkov is ready to risk aggravating his unexplained knee injuries by playing in discomfort for Russia tonight.
The £18m summer signing from CSKA Moscow has been told a change in climate or even diet could be the reason for swelling that has limited him to about 90 minutes of football for the Blues this season.
Injury to left-back Ashley Cole could give Zhirkov the chance to make his mark at Stamford Bridge, but the 25-year-old must first come through the second-leg of Russia's World Cup qualification play-off in Slovenia.
Mind the knee: Yuri Zhirkov rides a challenge when lining up for Russia against Slovenia at the weekend
'I will not hide that my right knee continues to bother me,' said Zhirkov in the run-up to the game in Maribor, for which Russia hold a 2-1 lead.
'The pain goes away and then reappears. Hopefully I will be all right.
'I am always happy to help the (national) team. Before the match at the Luzhniki I said that I was ready. Fortunately, the coaches trusted me with a place in the team.
'Of course, I want very much to play as soon as possible for Chelsea. I'll do everything I can.'
Zhirkov hurt his right knee in pre-season against AC Milan, though it is thought the problem may have been the result of playing for years on the artificial pitch at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
He has since felt pain in both knees and suffered swelling after playing for less than 20 minutes as a substitute against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last month.
Frustration: Zhirkov has struggled to be fit for Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti (right)
Chelsea doctors have been so baffled that they have consulted experts in France and Germany while working on a number of theories as to the source of the problem.
Out of action: Ashley Cole is set for a spell on the sidelines
'The English doctors see my problems as a reaction of the body to drastic changes: in the climate, lifestyle, training work and in everything else,' he said.
'And no one can tell me what the medical predictions of my rehabilitation are.
'The British physicians even consulted with German specialists regarding me.
'They sent them my X-rays together with the detailed description of the problem but, as far as I understand, they failed to diagnose the problem.
'I try to remain optimistic: many players have had such difficulties. I am not the first, not the last. It is a pity that the problems coincided with my move to a new club.
'But if I keep being distressed the situation will not change. I must work and believe that everything is going to straighten out soon.
'In Chelsea the team is very good, all of them understand my situation. My case is not the first one, many newcomers of Chelsea were sidelined in the first months at the club.'
Chelsea in sight of record £50m deal for Atletico Madrid star Sergio AgueroFerguson predicts two-horse race for title between Man United and ChelseaKalou disciplined by Ivory Coast after Chelsea star kicks team-mate MeiteIrish are out to make France midfielder Diarra pay for World Cup insultCHELSEA FC

Chelsea’s Latest Casualty

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Michael Ballack is the latest international casualty, with the German midfielder pulling out of tomorrow’s game against Ivory Coast.
It seems Ballack has a knee injury and the Germany coach confirms “We can definitely say that Michael Ballack will not play on Wednesday. He has an infection in the back of the knee and there has been a reaction. After consultation with the doctors - I also spoke to Michael Ballack - I have decided that he will not play. He needs two or three days of rest. It makes no sense to take risks, also in terms of Chelsea as they have quite a few games leading up to Christmas and afterwards.”

The rate we’re going we’ll be fielding our backroom staff against Wolves.

Petr Cech Offers Carlo Support

noreply@blogger.com (ajibchelsea) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:26:00 +0000

As I’m sure we all know by now, our ex-keeper Carlo Cudicini had a right nasty accident last week that left him in a pretty bad way.

Initial reports suggested he’d broken both wrists and his pelvis, so it really wasn’t sounding too good for the Italian. Well, the good news is he didn’t break his pelvis – although it seems he needed surgery on it anyway – unfortunately though, he did break both wrists, with one much worse than the other.

Anyway, our current keeper – who knows all about career-threatening injuries, thanks to the thug who cracked his skull – has been to visit Cudicini already and says “It is very sad but sometimes life brings unfortunate situations. Carlo has always been a great character and you can see he is coping. He is doing well and I think everybody should keep their fingers crossed for him to get well soon.”

TheChelseaBlog wishes him a speedy recovery.