The BLUES & my world

Clash of Titans

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:18:00 +0000

Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand returns to the team after a four-game absence with a back injury.

Patrice Evra is also back after his four-match ban, so United have only Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown missing.

Chelsea welcome back captain John Terry for the trip to Old Trafford after he served a three-match suspension.

Michael Ballack is also available after a ban and Jose Bosingwa should play despite picking up a knock, but Florent Malouda (hamstring) misses out.

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Park, Berbatov, Rooney, Welbeck, Gibson, Possebon.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Mancienne, A Cole, J Cole, Obi, Lampard, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba, Stoch, Carvalho, Di Santo, Deco, Mineiro, Belletti, Ballack.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson:
"Because Chelsea are one of the top teams in the country, there is more spice to it and more anticipation amongst the players.

"I don't think there's been much change in the Chelsea team other than the swing in terms of home and away form.

"They are still consistent, they are still very difficult to play against and they still have very good players."

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard:
"The errors have been very frustrating for everyone involved because we do work on them in training anyway.

"Sometimes it has been an individual error or a collective one, but it has been very important because we have dominated the last two games and we lost out on a set-piece in the final minute each time.

"We can't afford to let that happen against a team of Manchester United's calibre."

This eagerly awaited heavyweight clash at Old Trafford could be a defining match in the title race, as both clubs bid to make up ground on leaders Liverpool.

Chelsea go into the weekend three points behind the Merseysiders; Manchester United are seven points off the pace, and four points behind the Blues with two games in hand on both.

The top home club faces the top away club, going into this round of top division fixtures. United are unbeaten at Old Trafford; Chelsea unbeaten on the road so far in this Premier League campaign.

Chelsea are the first of the 'Big Four' clubs to visit Old Trafford this season; United have drawn one (at Chelsea) and lost two (v Arsenal and Liverpool).

The Red Devils are the first of the 'Big Four' Chelsea have faced away from home; Scolari's side have already lost to Liverpool and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

The last time Chelsea turned up at Old Trafford for a Premier League match, Jose Mourinho had just left the club, and Avram Grant took charge for the first time. The Blues lost 2-0.

Defeat for the home club will be their 150th league loss under Sir Alex Ferguson, and 300th home defeat in top-flight football; defeat for the Blues will be their 100th Premier League loss away from home.

Chelsea had to rely on a headed goal from Salomon Kalou 10 minutes from time to salvage a point from a pulsating reverse fixture in September. Park Ji-sung had given United the lead in the 1-1 draw.

Manchester United have conceded more goals (43) and dropped more points (58) to Chelsea than to any other club in the Premier League.

The Red Devils were the last club to beat Chelsea in a Premier League game by more than a single goal (23 September 2007); Chelsea were the last club to beat United by more than a single goal (29 April 2006).

Distance between the clubs: 204 miles (328 kilometres)

Key Players:

MANCHESTER UNITED

Cristiano RONALDO is yet to score a Premier League goal against Chelsea.

Edwin VAN DER SAR is leading the race for the Barclays Golden Glove, along with Jose REINA of Liverpool and Chelsea's Petr CECH. All three have kept 11 clean sheets, ahead of this current round of fixtures.

If selected:-

Rio FERDINAND will be making his 200th Premier League appearance for Manchester United.

CHELSEA

Kose BOSINGWA and Frank LAMPARD are the only remaining players to have started all of Chelsea's Premier League matches this season.

Nicolas ANELKA is the top-scoring Premier League player with 16 club goals in all competitions, and is leading the race for the Barclays Golden Boot with 14 Premier League goals.

Petr CECH is level with Liverpool's Jose REINA and Manchester United's Edwin VAN DER SAR, in the race for the Barclays Golden Glove. All three have kept 11 clean sheets (going into this weekend's fixtures).

Chelsea 1 Arsenal 2

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:19:00 +0000

Two goals from Robin Van Persie were enough to hand Chelsea a second home defeat of the season and give the Gunners a title life-line.

Team News - For the fixture Luiz Felipe Scolari had to do without the injured quartet of Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, Franco Di Santo and Joe Cole, whilst Didier Drogba was absent through suspension.

Although Alex was declared fit, Scolari chose to keep his recent centre back partnership of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic intact whilst Deco, who was suspended in midweek, returned at the expense of Joe Cole who picked up an ankle knock in France. Salomon Kalou made the starting eleven ahead of Florent Malouda who had to be content with a place on the bench. Also on the bench was our promising youngster Miroslav Stoch

First Half - Arsenal got the action underway in what was to be a scintillating first forty-five minutes. Chelsea had an early appeal for a penalty turned down when Anelka tumbled after a Fabregas tackle but Mike Dean probably called it right.

Arsenal then went on the attack and Van Persie won a corner that Chelsea were forced to clear at the near post. Chelsea responded with an Anelka shot, after a great Kalou run, that was deflected for a corner but the Arsenal defence easily cleared it.

Ivanovic, playing his fifth consecutive game, then conceded a corner but once again it was cleared at the near post. Cech then produced a save after the ball was played back in but the lurking Gallas couldn`t force the rebound home.

Arsenal, thankfully, were playing football instead of parking the bus and Cech had to react smartly to save from Fabregas from twenty-five yards. Denilson then fired over from a decent position before Bosingwa, on a great forward run, skipped past two defenders but made a hash of his cross.

Chelsea were, by now, matching Arsenal and a great ball from Deco saw Almunia rush out to smother the danger, before another swift attack saw Almunia save smartly after Lampard had headed a great cross from Bosingwa straight at the keeper.

Arsenal were struggling to contain Chelsea and Kalou was fouled on the edge of the box but Balalck saw his shot cannon off the wall. As the half hour mark approached, Chelsea opened the scoring.

Almunia caught a Lampard corner but hastily threw it out and Chelsea regained posession. Some slick passing saw Bosingwa fire in a good low cross and Djourou turned the ball into his own net.

Chelsea pushed on, Deco won a corner but it was cleared before Sagna had to react smartly to cut out a great Deco ball. Arsenal tried to get on level terms and Cech had to react quickly to save a Van Persie effort before denying Fabregas from twenty yards.

Deep into the two minutes of stoppage time Chelsea launched a quick counter attack and Anelka almost glanced a header past Almunia but it went just passed the upright.

Second Half - The second half though didn`t turn out as we planned.

Lampard had the first effort of the half but fired wide after some good approach work from Kalou and Anelka. And then just before the hour mark, the roof fell in.

Van Persie got the better deal from an offside decision that clearly saw Bosingwa play him offside before lashing the ball past Cech. Two minutes later, Chelsea conceded a free kick and when it was played into the box Adeybayor headed it down for Van Persie to spin and drill it past Cech.

The goals stunned Chelsea and, to be honest, we never looked like getting back on level terms. Lampard saw a shot blocked by Nasri before Van Persie`s dreams of a hat trick were quashed when he drilled a free kick over the bar.

Scolari tried to shuffle the pack by introducing Malouda in place of Mikel and the Frenchman showed that he didn`t have his shooting boots on by firing over on a couple of occasions. As time ran out Lampard drifted a shot wide before Deco`s last contribution was to unleash a woeful shot that went high and wide.

Miroslav Stoch came on for the last ten minutes but was never given a chance to show his skills and, in the end, it was left to Cech to deny Denilson with a smart save as Arsenal threatened to turn it into a rout.

One lasting memory on a day when Stamford Bridge showed it`s far from a fortress is the fact that we failed to test Almunia on a single occasion in the second half.

Chelsea Team - Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, A.Cole, Mikel (Malouda - 68), Lampard, Ballack, Deco (Stoch - 81), Anelka, Kalou

Unused Subs - Cudicini, Bridge, Ferreira, Alex, Mineiro,

Chelsea Scorers - Djourou (og)

Chelsea Yellow Cards Terry, Ivanovic

Chelsea Red Cards - None

Chelsea 0-0 Newcastle United

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:29:00 +0000

Chelsea dominated the game but were frustrated by a hardworking Newcastle side who fully deserved their battling point.

Frank Lampard had the best chance of the first half for the home side, but his point-blank header was saved well by Shay Given.

Newcastle worked hard and grew in confidence as the half progressed with decent spells of possession but were unable to create any clear-cut chances.

It was more of the same after the break and Chelsea had a goal ruled out for offside in the 55th minute. Shay Given parried Florent Malouda's powerful effort into the path of Joe Cole who scrambled the ball over the line only to see the flag raised.

The league leaders stepped up the pressure and thought they'd scored seven minutes later when Given appeared to have taken Lampard's free-kick over the line but the appeals were waved away.

Chelsea continued to monopolise possession but the Magpies hung on for a well-earned draw, with Danny Guthrie and Nicky Butt both outstanding for the visitors.

Have you had a look at Betfair? The team's chances this season can now be identified at Betfair. With plenty informed punters backing and laying, the betfair sports markets are a fantastic reflection of opinion and the club's prospects

Blackburn 0-2 Chelsea

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:42:00 +0000

Chelsea ensured it was many happy returns for manager Luiz Felipe Scolari with a confident victory at Blackburn to send them back to the top of the Barclays Premier League table.

There would have been more welcoming places for Scolari to celebrate his 60th birthday than Blackburn on a cold and rain-drenched afternoon but the three points made the perfect present for the Chelsea manager.

Nicolas Anelka scored both goals, one by luck and the other by pure finisher's skill, to make it a scoreline that accurately reflected the balance of the match.

Blackburn, who have now not won in six Premier League matches, had promised to give Chelsea a searching test, and it was one the league leaders passed with some comfort as only Paul Robinson in the Rovers goal kept the score respectable.

Victory was achieved without Didier Drogba even making the trip to the north-west, and question-marks remain over his long-term future at the club, especially now Anelka has established himself as the manager's favourite.

Blackburn must have hoped the pouring rain would be in their favour but Chelsea took to the conditions like ducks to water.

Disaster nearly struck early on for the home side when Keith Andrews' awful back-pass was intercepted by Anelka, who appeared to be felled by the sliding Robinson.

Referee Chris Foy ignored the shouts for a penalty however, due perhaps to Anelka's over-theatrical tumble.

Blackburn put their faith in hard work but again were nearly undone by lapses of concentration. Anelka was completely unmarked when Jose Bosingwa sent over a straightforward cross and Robinson was forced to save his downward header with his feet.

After John Terry had landed a header on the roof of the net, Robinson was forced to save again with his feet to deny John Obi Mikel from close range.

Florent Malouda was the next Chelsea player to be wasteful, slicing wide from 15 yards after a poor clearance, before Robinson was in action again, this time pushing aside a low drive from Frank Lampard.

Blackburn finally put a good passing move together, and what a move it was - only Petr Cech's acrobatics prevented Carlos Villanueva giving Rovers an undeserved lead.
Morten Gamst Pedersen's first-time cross found Villanueva and the Chilean's fierce left-footed shot was brilliantly parried by the Chelsea goalkeeper.

That near-miss seemed to hearten Blackburn and they started to push back Chelsea - and now the conditions were getting really tricky, with the ball being held up by standing water.

It still seemed only a matter of time before Chelsea broke through and Robinson had to be at his very best to keep out Anelka's shot which came through the legs of a defender.

Lampard thumped in another 25-yard effort that the Rovers goalkeeper clubbed away, before - almost as soon as the rain stopped - Chelsea took the lead in freakish circumstances.

Bosingwa's long-range hit-and-hope was heading wide until it struck Anelka and trickled across the line with Robinson wrong-footed and unable to change direction in the slippery conditions.

Rovers began with more purpose in the second half and Jason Roberts had a gilt-edged chance for an equaliser when Pedersen lofted a pass to the edge of the box, and the striker turned away from John Terry to give himself a clear sight of goal but Cech's looming presence blocked out the shot.

The spell of pressure continued as Villanueva hammered a strike over the bar after Roberts had again got the better of Terry.

With less than half an hour remaining, and concerned no doubt by the apparent change in the direction of the game, Scolari stiffened the side by taking off Salomon Kalou and sending on Juliano Belletti.

It certainly had the desired effect as Anelka scored his second to put the game beyond Blackburn's reach.

Malouda and Lampard combined on the edge of the box and the England midfielder stabbed a short pass to put Anelka in the clear and he finished with aplomb, lifting the ball over Robinson to make it 2-0.

Aaron Mokoena sidefooted a half-chance past the post as Rovers tried to find some hope, then Chelsea nearly extended their lead with Robinson tipping Lampard's dipping free-kick onto the crossbar.

Anelka raced through in the closing minutes searching for another hat-trick and the icing on the birthday cake but once more Robinson was heroic.

Chelsea 5 : Sunderland 0

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:51:00 +0000

If the mission was to make Stamford Bridge the fortress it had been for the past four and a half years before Liverpool barged down the gates last week then this was a splendid start.

A short-range effort from Brazilian defender Alex notched up the 1,000th Chelsea goal in the Premier League. A Frank Lampard header gave the Chelsea midfielder the 100th league goal of his career. And a Nicolas Anelka hat-trick completed a rout which had the home jokers chanting sarcastically "Boring, boring Chelsea."

In truth Chelsea hardly required a fortress to repel a Sunderland side who all but waved a white flag in the teeming rain which drenched Stamford Bridge.

The Wearsiders, dismal in defeat against Stoke in midweek, were as woeful as Chelsea's passing and movement was wonderful.
So woeful that manager Roy Keane was sent to the stands by referee Martin Atkinson as his frustration boiled over in the half-time tunnel when he verbally remonstrated with the officials.

Before the match Keane had warned it takes at least four days for him to recover his karma when he loses his temper. After this performance it might take him until Christmas.

Keane had made five changes to the starting line-up, dropping Djibril Cisse and El-Hadji Diouf to the bench and handing striker Kenwyne Jones his first start of the season after recovering from the knee injury which had kept him out for four months.

But not one Sunderland player would have passed the exacting Keane contribution test on an afternoon when the Chelsea fans taunted them with chants of 'Cheerio.'

The tone was set from the kick-off as Chelsea penned Sunderland in their own half, dominating possession, fizzing the ball around the greasy surface with precision.

They signalled their intentions as early as the 16th minute when Deco swivelled sweetly on the edge of the area and sent a swerving angled shot thundering against the Sunderland crossbar. It was the shot of the match, a demonstration of Portuguese quality. But there was more, much more, to come.

And Chelsea confirmed their authority with two goals in two first-half minutes.

The first arrived from Rodrigo Dias de Costa, otherwise known as Alex, who started the move in midfield. The ball was switched to Joe Cole out on the right and when it fizzed across the penalty area it deflected off goalkeeper Marton Fulop into the path of Alex, who had continued his run, and he swept the goal home from three yards.

Not the grandest of strikes but it will still grace the record books as Chelsea's 1,000th Premier League goal.

Number 1,001 was scored by Anelka, but again owed much to the prescience of Alex.

This time it was Lampard who provided the angled cross, which skidded across the penalty area off the rain-drenched surface.

Alex again got the touch as he slid in and although the ball was about to cross the line Anelka made sure, smashing the ball home from no more than 12 inches.

Anelka slotted his second, again from close range, on the stroke of half-time.

It got worse for Sunderland in the 51st minute when Joe Cole supplied the cross for Lampard to head home and two minutes later Anelka completed his hat-trick, again from close-range with the ball looping off the body of goalkeeper Fulop and dropping agonisingly over the line.

Sunderland raids were rare but one did bring the save of the match from Petr Cech, who dived bravely at the feet of Cisse to palm the ball away.

But that was scant consolation for Keane who sat in the stand, hunched into his overcoat, whispering into his mobile phone.

He might well have been telling chairman Niall Quinn how many reinforcements he needs in the January transfer window.

As for Chelsea, they go to Roma in midweek in buoyant mood. The fortress as secure as ever.

Chelsea v Sunderland preview

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:39:00 +0000

Sunderland will have to buck the trend if they are to beat Chelsea in this weekend’s Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge.
There was a startling difference between these two sides in midweek as Chelsea dismantled fifth-placed Hull, while Sunderland were beaten 1-0 by lowly Stoke.

Roy Keane’s side is further hampered by their dreadful recent record against the former Premier League champions with Chelsea having won their last seven league games.

Sunderland find scoring against Saturday’s opponents a difficult task with just two goals in their last eight top-flight encounters against The Blues.

The Black Cats are likely to start with the fit-again Kenwynne Jones who came off the bench at the Britannia Stadium.

This means plenty of aerial combat for the Chelsea rear guard, but one player who will not be locking horns with the Trinidad & Tobago striker is Ricardo Carvalho who is out for a minimum of three weeks with a thigh strain.

Chelsea boss Luis Felipe Scolari may partner captain John Terry with Alex in the heart of the defence and Joe Cole is a doubt with an ankle knock suffered in the midweek game at Hull.

Scolari's team will be looking to banish memories of the Liverpool reverse which ended the 86-match unbeaten home record last Sunday, but the wayward form of Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka, in front of goal, will be a cause of concern for the Brazilian as they chase their 1,000th Premier League goal.

Influential goalkeeper Craig Gordon is struggling with an ankle injury, so Marton Fulop is expected to start his third consecutive game for Sunderland.

Phil Bardsley has a dead leg but should travel to West London, while Teemu Tainio, Nyron Nosworthy and Grant Leadbitter are pushing for places in the starting Xl.

PIVOTAL PLAYER: Frank Lampard. With the continuing absence of Didier Drogba in the Chelsea attack, lampard continues his dual roles of playmaker and goalscorer.

Scolari praise for Lampard goal

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:31:00 +0000

Luiz Felipe Scolari has given Frank Lampard his vote as World Player of the Year after his wonder goal at Hull City.

Lampard is one of five Chelsea players on the 23-man FIFA shortlist for the award.

In total there are 10 Barclays Premier League players nominated and Lampard showed the reason for his inclusion with a superb opener in his side's 3-0 win at the KC Stadium.

The England star picked up the ball on the left edge of the area and carefully flighted a delicate chip over Boaz Myhill and just inside the far post after just two and a half minutes.
It left Scolari purring: "It was one of the best goals I have seen in my life. It was fantastic.

"Maybe only Frank Lampard could have scored that! It was very intelligent play to watch the keeper and put the ball where he did.

"My vote goes to Frank Lampard for World Footballer of the Year. He is one of the best goalscorers in the world and very clever.

"He played well all game and never tired, he is fantastic. It was an important goal because it was hard for Hull going behind inside three minutes."

Chelsea had plenty of chances to stretch their lead but still led only 1-0 at the break with Florent Malouda missing four great opportunities.

Nicolas Anelka saw a powerful drive across goal turned away by Myhill to his right and was also just off target with another effort.

Geovanni struck the base of a post for Hull City whose hopes of a second-half revival were dashed just four minutes after the re-start when Anelka nicked the ball away from Myhill and slotted into the empty net.

Malouda added a third 16 minutes from time with a simple tap-in but Scolari added: "The second goal killed them.

"After that we played with more freedom and confidence. They offered us a lot more of the pitch to counter-attack.

"At 2-0 the game opens up and it becomes easier to score three or four."

The Chelsea manager though was full of praise for the newly-promoted club who have made such an impressive start to their first ever campaign in the top flight.

He said: "I like Hull. They are very difficult to beat. Their players jump well and fight well and they have quality.

"I like this team. They want to show people that Hull are a good team. And I like Geovanni.

"I know him very well from Brazil. He is a big friend and I know his family. He is one of the best players for Hull."

Hull 0 Chelsea 3

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:28:00 +0000

Chelsea were brisk and business-like, with Lampard the brainchild behind this systematic demolition of Phil Brown's ambitious team. Lampard's drifted effort, clipped off the laces of his left boot after just three minutes, was exhilarating as well as exquisite, stunning in its execution and a statement of intent from a team beaten at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 86 attempts last weekend.

They were hurting, stung by the way Xabi Alonso's deflected effort for Liverpool knocked them off their perch at the top of the Barclays Premier League. What a response. Lampard is 99 league goals not out, scored during spells with Swansea (on loan), West Ham and Chelsea. The century could well be secured against Sunderland on Saturday.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari said: 'It is the best goal I have seen in my football career. Only Lampard could score that goal. He is an intelligent player. Every game you know how he will play. He is never tired. 'I don't see any player as good as Frank. It is fantastic for a coach to have a player like him. My vote for world player is for Frank.'

Scolari has warmed to Lampard, but the team scored two more, when Nicolas Anelka pounced on a defensive mistake in the 50th minute and then a third, ultimately dispatched with embarrassing ease by the outstretched leg of Florent Malouda.

This was a different Chelsea, relying on resilience and some of the more praiseworthy habits this team picked up under Jose Mourinho to match Hull for commitment and courage.

They returned to London with casualties, notably Ricardo Carvalho after he left the field with a thigh strain after a gritty battle with Marlon King and Daniel Cousin. Scolari's side set about them, getting in their faces and preparing for hand-to-hand combat against a team with top order ambitions of their own.

They were ruthless. It had to be that way, especially whenever Cousin or Geovanni were involved. Cousin's shot beat Petr Cech for pace, rebounding off the base of the post and then Geovanni teed up a free kick from 35 yards that forced Cech to fist the ball away for a corner.

It was cup-tie stuff, back to the good, old days when Lampard and Terry would tear off their shirts at the final whistle and thump their chests in front of the travelling supporters. They were prepared for the onslaught, with Hull piling bodies forward in search of an equaliser. Cavalier perhaps, but captivating all the same.

'There was a gulf at times,' admitted Tigers boss Phil Brown. 'It might look like a drubbing, but we have two days now to prepare for Old Trafford and I have told the lads that if anyone doesn't think we can get anything there they should not bother coming in.'

Great stuff from the Hull manager, clearly irritable after the team's first defeat since August. Chelsea came prepared, with lessons learned from last Sunday's defeat against Liverpool. Perhaps they needed some steel, a spine to complement the unquestionable skill that is found in every area of this super-strength team.

They finished them off when Anelka took advantage of an uncharacteristic mistake between Michael Turner and Kamil Zayatte, Hull's central defensive pairing, to score a second in the 50th minute.

They hesitated, allowing Anelka to dispossess Boaz Myhill on the edge of the area to make certain of all three points for Chelsea when he clipped the ball into an empty net. 'The second goal was Myhill's mistake,' added Brown. 'He has made his apologies in the dressing room, but that is too late for me.'

Brown wants qualification for Europe in their first season and a top eight finish to underline his burgeoning reputation. Instead, they fell apart after Anelka's strike. Hull encouraged Chelsea to attack, allowing Carvalho to play a neat pass down the left, sending a curved ball into the path of Malouda and the Chelsea winger scored from close range.

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:47:00 +0000

The top of the table clash saw Liverpool emerge 1-0 victors on a day that Benitez side registered their intent to put in a real title challenge.

Chelsea, on the other hand, will reflect on a day when chances they created were few and far between and Luiz Felipe Scolari may realise that winning this league isn`t as easy as he`d anticipated after eight Premier League games unbeaten.

Team News - Luiz Felipe Scolari welcomed back Ashley Cole for he top of the table clash with Liverpool. Cole took over from Wayne Bridge at left back but Chelsea were still missing Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Jose Cole and Didier Drogba.

First Half - Chelsea got the action underway attacking the Matthew Harding end and it was the home side that created the first chance. Nicolas Anelka broke forward and his ball to Deco saw the Portuguese star`s shot deflected for a corner.

However, the home crowd were shocked when Liverpool took the lead in the tenth minute. Some lacklustre defending saw a failure to clear the ball and when Alonso tried his luck from twenty odd yards the ball took a deflection off Jose Bosingwa to leave Petr Cech wrong footed.

The goal was the first Rafa Benitez had seen his side score at Stamford Bridge in the league and it was also Alonso`s first of the season.

Chelsea tried to respond but Salomon Kalou could only unleash a weak shot after Howard Webb played the advantage rule after Frank Lampard had been fouled.

Riera then hit the side netting with a shot from an acute angle before Kalou unsuccessfully stooped low to try and direct a header from a Bosingwa cross, into the net.

Just past the half way mark in the half Cech was forced to tip over a dipping Steven Gerrard shot from twenty-five yards. Lampard then saw a shot deflected for a corner and as Chelsea seemed to be getting the upper hand, Deco unleashed a couple of shots from outside the area that were both deflected for corners.

Hopefully the second half would see a turn in fortune for Chelsea. Pepe Reina must be made to work more!

Second Half - Neither manager made any changes for the second half and the half was to start slowly. Reina collected a Lampard cross before an Aurelio free kick, after a rash challenge from Malouda, flies high and wide.

Malouda was then clattered in the box by Reina but had already fallen victim to an offside flag, moments earlier. Ashley Cole was then booked for a rash kick-out at Carragher before Kuyt fired an effort wide form twenty yards.

Just before the hour mark Scolari rang the changes bringing on Juiliano Belletti and Franco Di Santo for the ineffective Kalou and Malouda. Ashley Cole, in the next attack, appeared to be infringed by Kuyt but the referee was having none of it.

On sixty-one minutes Belletti was penalised for a high boot and from the resulting free kick, Alonso crashed his shot against the foot of the post with Cech beaten.

Di Santo was slowly beginning to have an impact on the game and one knock down presented the advancing Ashley Cole with a great chance but he sliced it horribly wide.

Minutes later Deco was deprived at the last moment by a great tackle before Babel tried to repeat his goal of the Champions League semi-final, last April, but sent his shot a yard wide.

Time was running out and Lampard tried to get Chelsea on level terms with a header but Reina easily clasped it and when first Belletti and then Mikel, fired tamely wide with long distance chances you knew it wasn`t going to be our day.

Scolari`s last throw of the dice was to throw Scott Sinclair into the fray but in the five minutes he was on, I doubt whether he got a kick at all.

So it`s Liverpool that march on unbeaten and fair play to them, overall I 'd say they just about deserved it today.

Team- Cech, Bosingwa (Sinclair - 85), Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Deco, Malouda (Di Santo - 58), Anelka, Kalou (Belletti - 58)

Unused Subs - Cudicini, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Alex,

Chelsea Scorers - Nil (ouch)

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Malouda, Mikel, A.Cole

Chelsea Red Cards - Nil

Chelsea 1 Roma 0

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:42:00 +0000

John Terry heads Chelsea's winner against Roma

John Terry will be feeling his back this morning, for sure. It will be sore and stiff, a
product of carrying this team across the finishing line against Roma.

For 78 minutes at Stamford Bridge last night, Luciano Spalletti’s team threatened to stop Chelsea scoring on home soil for the first time this season.

Enter Terry the Gladiator. Come on, dust off those cliches. Captain Colossus. Captain Courageous. Captain Marvel. Pick your personal favourite.

He is certainly the fans’ favourite at Stamford Bridge, with cries of ‘there’s only one England captain’ swirling around the stadium after his headed goal separated the two sides.

A ringing endorsement from the supporters and then another from his manager.

'When I was coach of Portugal, I warned my players when we played England that he was dangerous at set-pieces,’ said Luiz Felipe Scolari.

‘We saw just how dangerous he can be.’

Unless he counts the goals he scores when he nutmegs his two children in his frequent post-match kickabouts, Terry had not appeared on the scoresheet at Stamford Bridge since Manchester City were thrown to the lions in August 2006. Some wait.

There was no sign of the back injury that prevented him playing in England’s World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus last week. Instead the big man is
back.

He scored his first goal of the season, rising unannounced at the far post to meet Frank Lampard’s corner and steering it past Roma keeper Doni.

England’s general manager, Franco Baldini, the former technical director at Roma, was in the stands to witness the renaissance.

A glowing report will land on Fabio Capello’s desk at Soho Square this morning.

Chelsea needed this rescue act against the Italians, waiting until the final phase of the game before they finally wore down their resolute defence to put the second stage
within touching distance.

They are nearly there after two victories (against Bordeaux and Roma) and a draw in Romania against CFR Cluj. Three down, three to play, Chelsea are on the charge.

They controlled this game, playing Continental football at the back and stretching Roma to the limits whenever their full backs were released down the wings.

Whatever confronts this team, they find a way to combat it.

Middlesbrough’s chocolate soldiers were melted at the Riverside last Saturday, throwing in the towel the moment Salomon Kalou put them in front.

Roma, arriving at Stamford Bridge off the back of a 4-0 defeat against Inter Milan in the Olympic Stadium on Sunday, adjusted accordingly. They flooded the midfield.Spalletti’s team are a shadow of the side who were 18 minutes away from clinching the league title on the final day of last season, living proof of the fine line between success and failure.

Manchester United stuck two past them in Rome in the quarter final last season and Chelsea will have little to fear against this fading force of European football in Italy on November 4.

Scolari will demand the point that will almost certainly be enough for his team to qualify for the knockout stages, squeezing their way through a tricky group and into the bear pit that is the second stage.

Roma’s confidence is shot. They are 14th in Serie A, scratching around for a win under Spalletti and still haunted by memories of last season’s near miss when Inter Milan snatched the championship.

It is seven years since Roma were champions, when Capello made his mark in a dressing room with characters such as Franceso Totti, Gabriel Batistuta and Vicenzo Montella.

They have been longing for another success story ever since.Totti’s return - he started only his second game last night since he picked up a knee injury last April - will help with the revival but this Trojan cannot carry this team on his own.

His movement allowed Matteo Brighi to home in on goal just before the break but Terry’s superbly timed tackle on the edge of the area prevented the unthinkable.

Chelsea were brisk and to the point, with every man jack in the team getting a touch, from Petr Cech to Terry to Mikel John Obi to Nicolas Anelka.

Mikel, in particular, had an impressive game sitting in front of the back four. Most improved player at Chelsea?

Don’t speak too soon, but he made the game look easy as he showed by intercepting a through ball on his chest and twisting his way past Totti. It was cheeky, audacious and classy rolled into one.

Chelsea are teasing the opposition with their touches, trapping the ball with one foot and then sending it effortlessly on to a team-mate with the other.

Blue shirts buzz in every direction, demanding the ball and then sending it Special Delivery into the path of another. Little wonder Scolari is happy.

So, too, are Chelsea’s supporters, lapping up their progressive football with sell out stadiums for the group games.

Scolari had promised to serve up beautiful football for starters. Typically, Terry applied the finishing touch.

Chelsea 2 : Aston Villa 0

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:49:00 +0000

Nic nets: Anelka puts away Chelsea's second

Billboards boldly claimed it was The Brazilian against The Great Briton. First v Fourth. The Unbeatables against the New Beginning. In the end, it was Men against Boys.

Chelsea's League of Nations, pulled together from seven different countries, played with ingenuity and inspiration against Aston Villa by binding together into one tight, title-winning unit.

It was electrifying. It could have been five by half-time and 10 by the final whistle. In the end, Luiz Felipe Scolari's irrepressible side settled for two.

More like too easy. Martin O'Neill's team are a red herring in this title race, an also-ran after just seven games. 'Chelsea were brilliant,' conceded the Villa manager.

'That's probably the best they've played this season, but I really thought we would beat them. It shows how daft I am.'

Deluded more like. Try to stop this Chelsea team, just try. Liverpool will fancy their chances, especially after Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt stirred into action at Eastlands, but Chelsea are flying.

Rafa Benitez can bring them back down to earth in two weeks when his Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge hoping to become the first team since Arsenal, as distant as February 2004, to beat them on their own ground in the Barclays Premier League.

Good luck. Pick a player, any player, from this Chelsea team. John Terry? Colossus. Joe Cole? Captivating. Frank Lampard? Imperious.

'Lampard was outstanding, ' admitted O'Neill. 'He was very, very good,' added Scolari.

The best player on the pitch is playing the best football of his career. Three Englishmen, head and shoulders above any of their seven countrymen representing Villa, ran this show.

Joe Cole scored the opening goal, a strike that Stamford Bridge had to wait all of 21 minutes for, latching on to Lampard's pass and burying his effort beyond Brad Friedel.

Pity the Aston Villa keeper, the one-man human blockade who prevented Chelsea threatening to eclipse their record league victory, a 9-2 annihilation of Glossop in 1906. Seriously, it would have been close.

O'Neill will be alarmed, surprised just how easily his defence - if you can call it that - buckled under the relentless pressure.

Chelsea have added another threat to their football this season, releasing Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa down the wings at every opportunity and giving them licence to drop their bombs.

Villa had no answer, dragging off Luke Young (abysmal) and Curtis Davies (ditto) at the break.

It may be some time before O'Neill has the confidence to play them in the same team again. 'I'm very satisfied,' declared Scolari. 'For me, this was the most important game of the season because it means we go into the international break first in the Premier League, first in the group in the Champions League and in the next round of the Carling Cup.

'It also means our players will have an extra 10 days to recover before we next play, at Middlesbrough.'

Just look at what this team have in reserve: Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and Didier Drogba are all recovering from medium-term injuries.

Chelsea mesmerised 41,593 spectators (five more if you include their own defence) with a heady brew of fabulous football.

They scored their second just before the break when Anelka, substituted at half-time with a leg injury, followed up Michael Ballack's close-range shot. Anelka is quietly but regularly knocking in goals in the Premier League (four so far) and reminding the doubters that he is a world-class talent.

They are liberally sprinkled throughout this side, the partnerships all over the pitch that can tear teams apart: Ballack and Lampard, Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda, Bosingwa and Joe Cole.

Heavy artillery is everywhere. 'Scolari has inherited a great team, but he has also put his own stamp on them and that is remarkable,' added O'Neill.

'You have to remember what he has achieved in the game. He won a World Cup with Brazil, where the expectations are always high. Scolari is a brilliant manager, right at the very top.

'This was a harsh lesson, but there is no point in us playing if we're not going to aspire to be at Chelsea's level. We caught them at a bad time.' No kidding. This was Chelsea at their very best.

CFR 1907 Cluj 0 Chelsea 0

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:37:00 +0000

Group 'A` continued tonight with a difficult trip for last season`s runners-up, Chelsea, to Transylvania to face a Romanian side that had beaten Roma in the Olympic Stadium in their first match. It was to prove a far from memorable match.

Team News - Luiz Felipe Scolari knew his options were reduced for the fixture tonight. He knew he`d be without the experienced quartet of Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and Joe Cole. Therefore, it was no surprise when he went for an experienced looking starting eleven.

The only surprise was the absence of Ashley Cole, however Wayne Bridge would prove to be a more than able deputy. Apart from the Bridge for Cole situation, the team was the same one that started against Stoke City with Salomon Kalou having made a recovery from the ankle knock picked up at the Britannia Stadium. We were later to learn that Cole had withdrawn due to a pain in his lower back!

On the bench were two promising youngsters in the form of Franco Di Santo and Miraslav Stoch as injuries cut back Scolari`s squad to the bare bones.

First Half - John Terry won the toss and chose to change ends. Cluj got the action underway and the first half was to prove a disappointing one. Chelsea were lacklustre and struggled to create a genuine chance whereas Cluj were content to deny us space and hope for a lightning counter attack.

Their tactics seemed to work fine and but for some wayward shooting we could have been in serious trouble at half time. Chelsea, much to Scolari`s disgust, were conceding possession too easily with some loose passing and any chances we did create were only half chances and that`s being kind.

In the fifth minute Kalou produced a tame shot after a neat back flick from Drogba and a corner we won in the fifteenth minute was easily cleared by the home defence. On twenty-two minutes Droga fired wide after a great first touch had created a chance before Mikel saw his low shot easily saved by the keeper. Hopefully, the second half would prove to be more productive.

Second Half - Scolari chose to revert to 4-4-2 for the second half introducing Anelka in place of Kalou and initially the plan looked to be working. An early Bosingwa cross caused problems before Lampard rove wide after neat work from Anelka.

However, just before the hour mark Chelsea suffered a major setback when Drogba went down injured trying to reach a Malouda cross. The sight of Drogba being carried off on a stretcher was not a good sign. The incident knocked Chelsea off their stride and with Belletti replacing the stricken Drogba we reverted back to 4-3-3.

But we still pushed forward trying to net the goal that would win the game. Cluj were less threatening going forward and Lampard saw another effort saved. With just over fifteen minutes to go Scolari sent on Franco Di Santo and the youngster nearly scored with his first touch, a header at the near post.

However, Cluj were resilient and with time running out Trica saw a shot o wide off the outside of the post. Belletti then fired wide as he tried to latch onto a great Lampard pass before Anelka screwed an effort wide after a poor first touch. Deep into stoppage time Lampard drilled one wide and it was honours even, not the worst result but definitely not what we`d hoped for.

Chelsea - Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, Bridge, Mikel, Lampard, Ballack, Kalou (Anelka - 46), Drogba (Belletti - 58), Malouda (Di Santo - 74)

Unused Subs - Hilario, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Stoch,

Chelsea Scorers - We Should Be So Lucky!

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Alex, Anelka

Chelsea Red Cards - Nil

Stoke City 0 : Chelsea 2

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:46:00 +0000

Chelsea scored either side of half-time to underline their title credentials with a deserved victory over a battling Stoke side.

The away side ran the show from the start with Frank Lampard the architect of most of their positive play. They weren't ahead however until the 37th minute when Lampard's pass found Jose Bosingwa who controlled the ball on his chest and fired past Sorenson from a tight angle for his first Chelsea goal.Chelsea lead by one goal. Stoke had only just begun to settle into the match before the goal and it knocked the stuffing out of them.

Chelsea began the second half as they had finished the first and made it 2-0 in the 76th minute. Stoke failed to deal with a Bosingwa cross and Nicolas Anelka gratefully accepted the gift, firing the ball under Thomas Sorenson. Lampard and Michael Ballack should have increased the visitors' advantage but put their shots wide.

Stoke never gave up the game and chased every ball but their only real chance came from a Salif Diao header which was cleared off the line. They missed their throw-in specialist Rory Delap who was out with a hamstring injury, and the result was never really in doubt.

Carling Cup: Portsmouth 0-4 Chelsea

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:27:00 +0000

In a similar scoreline to the one at Stamford Bridge at the start of the season Chelsea once again wiped the floor with a substandard Portsmouth side.

Chelsea playing in yellow kits their third kit yes the same kit on which Robinho name was written by a PR disaster & cost Chelsea the transfer.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari selected close to a full-strength starting line-up for his side's visit of Fratton Park this evening.

The only notable tinkerings were the inclusion Serbian international Branislav Ivanovic in the place of Jose Bosingwa, Juliano Bellitti displaced John Obi Mikel, and Salomon Kalou was also fielded.

Ahead of tonight's clash Harry Redknapp noted that Arsenal loanee Armand Traore was in need of a rest from first team affairs after witnessing him "running on empty in the second half on Saturday [against Manchester City]," so the French wing-back is named among the seven options for the bench, together with England international Jermain Defoe.

This is a reverse fixture of the Premier League tie at the beginning of the season but Pompey still suffered a similar fate as they were outclassed once again by an efficient and emphatic Chelsea side.

Two goals in the first half virtually sealed the match as there are not too many teams who could net three times in 45 minutes, least of all Portsmouth, who are having problems with their positional sense and overall defending, as highlighted during their 6-0 mauling at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday.

Frank Lampard scored the first, a powerfully converted penalty kick, after Michael Ballack was fouled by Nadir Belhadj in the box.

Just before half-time Florent Malouda, who also scored Chelsea's third goal in their opening Champions League match against Girondins de Bordeaux last week, doubled the Blues' lead when he took advantage of a Kalou pass and sent a shot centred down the goal from the 12-yard line.

After the break it didn't take long for the visitors to inflict more misery on the south-coast club as Kalou provided another assist and Frank Lampard recorded his first brace of the season.

Kalou completed the rout fifteen minutes later when he sent a low left-footed drive from the centre of the penalty area.

Line-Ups:

Portsmouth: James - Johnson; Pamarot; Distin; Hreidarsson - Utaka; Mvuemba; Kaboul; Hughes; Belhadj - Crouch.

Chelsea: Cech - Ivanovic; Terry; Alex; Bridge - Belletti; Ballack(Ferreira); Lampard(Sinclair); Kalou; Malouda; - Drogba(Di Santo)

CHELSEA SIGN MINEIRO

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:08:00 +0000

Chelsea Football Club can confirm the signing of Mineiro who was released by Hertha Berlin as a free agent at the end of last season.

The deal, the details of which will remain confidential, will see him remain at the club until the end of the season.

Mineiro becomes the third Brazilian in the squad, linking up with manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and his backroom staff alongside Juliano Belletti and Alex.

A defensive midfielder, he has 24 caps for Brazil, and was a member of the 2006 World Cup squad, as well as appearing against England at Wembley in 2007.

Mineiro was released by Hertha at the end of last season, and has since been unattached.

Upon announcing the imminent arrival, Scolari explained the decision to sign the 33-year-old.

'He is a player that I need because I lost Michael Essien for six months. I have one midfielder like him, Mikel.

'So this week he will not play but maybe after 15 days to two weeks, he is ready to play normal games. He needs to play some games in the reserve team, and for me it is very good because I have one more player in this position. If not I have to put in Belletti or Ferreira, or Ballack, and they are not for this position.

'I say to fans of Chelsea, if they remember Makelele, Mineiro is the same. Good positionally, a very good marker. He is a man that works for the other players and he is also a good man outside of the pitch.'

ineiro spent 18 months in the German capital, scoring twice in 36 league appearances, including a debut strike against Hamburg.

Prior to that the player, whose full name is Carlos Luciano da Silva, had played his entire career in his homeland, representing Sao Paulo and Sao Caetano after beginning his career with Ponte Preta.

While at Sao Paulo, he scored the goal that defeated Liverpool in the 2005 Fifa Club World Championship.

We are delighted to welcome him to Stamford Bridge, and wish him well in his time here.

CHELSEA 1 : MANU 1

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:54:00 +0000

SALOMON KALOU was the late hero as Chelsea denied title rivals Manchester United a memorable victory.

Park Ji-sung had fired the champions ahead in the first-half at Stamford Bridge.

United looked set to end the Blues' 84-match unbeaten home record in the Premier League before Kalou nodded home with 10 minutes remaining.

The draw puts Chelsea up to second, one point behind leaders Arsenal. United remain in the bottom half of the table.

Chelsea suffered a blow in the warm-up when Deco was forced to pull out through injury, with Michael Ballack handed a start.

United opted to leave Carlos Tevez and the returning Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, with Dimitar Berbatov starting up front with Wayne Rooney.

The game started at a frantic pace and Darren Fletcher was first to threaten when he poked over from Owen Hargreaves' cross.

Rooney capitalised on Petr Cech’s wayward clearance to hook the ball towards the empty net but it sailed inches wide.

Joe Cole then pounced on an error by United keeper Edwin van der Sar but his shot ended in the side-netting.

Chelsea were then hit Ricardo Carvalho's injury, as the defender limped off with suspected knee ligament damage.

United should have gone in front when Rooney fed the unmarked Rio Ferdinand inside the area but Cech pulled off a good save low down.

But the opener eventually arrived when Patrice Evra outmuscled Jose Bosingwa to reach Rooney’s superb pass.

The left-back crossed for Berbatov and although Cech blocked the striker's shot, Park was on hand to slot home the rebound.

Florent Malouda had a good shout for a penalty turned down when he collided with Van der Sar in the area. The United keeper was eventually forced off with a leg injury to be replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak.

Chelsea brought on Didier Drogba to spearhead their second-half fightback, while Ronaldo was soon on for the away side.

Joe Cole had a fantastic opportunity to level but he drove his shot straight at Kuszczak and Ferdinand cleared.

The Blues' best chance was spurned by Nicolas Anelka with 15 minutes remaining.

Joe Cole drilled the ball across the six-yard box but, with the goal gaping, the Frenchman somehow failed to poke home.

Yet, he was let off the hook when Kalou grabbed the equaliser.

The sub rose highest to head home John Obi Mikel's free-kick past the helpless Kuszczak.

Now Stamford Bridge was alive and demanding a winner. It took a diving block from Evans to prevent the super sub from scoring it as Kalou's goalbound shot was deflected over. Alex bravely and painfully threw himself in the way of a Fletcher rocket to keep the scores level.

Evra and Ronaldo, the latter for wagging his finger at the ref, made it a mammoth seven bookings for the visitors.

In stoppage time, despite a corner won and Drogba felled on the edge of the area as the final whistle blew with some seconds left on the clock, the complete turnaround proved elusive. However few in blue leaving the stadium will complain about a point won from this game.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho (Alex 11), Terry (c); A Cole; Mikel; J Cole, Ballack (Kalou 73), Lampard, Malouda (Drogba 46); Anelka.
Scorer Kalou 79.
Booked Mikel 67.

Man United 4-4-2: Van der Sar (Kuszczak 31); Neville, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Hargreaves, Fletcher, Scholes (Ronaldo 54), Park (O'Shea 73); Rooney, Berbatov.
Scorer Park 18.
Booked Scholes 34, Ferdinand 40, Neville 57, Berbatov 58., Rooney 78, Evra 85, Ronaldo 91+1.

Chelsea v Manchester United preview

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:22:00 +0000

Manchester United face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge knowing they must deliver if they are to keep pace at the top of the table.

United have only beaten Portsmouth so far this season and, after the 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday, have plenty of ground to make up.

Sir Alex Ferguson will hope the return of Cristiano Ronaldo will provide the spark to reignite his team’s form, but Chelsea do not appear fazed: “We are strong enough to deal with him,” Deco said, while Frank Lampard claimed he was “not too concerned, really”.

However, the stats suggest they may be underestimating his powers: United have scored only five goals in the last eight games without him. With him, they looked like the best team in the world.

Whatever the benefits of Ronaldo’s return, Ferguson still has plenty to think about for the game.

For one thing, Dimitar Berbatov is struggling with the knee injury he picked up at Anfield and, while he is expected to play, he may not be fully fit; for another, that game saw Nemanja Vidic sent off and hit with an automatic suspension.

As a result, the United boss is deciding whether to bring Northern Ireland centre back in as a direct replacement or shift Wes Brown into the centre and give Gary Neville another game as he comes back from long-term injury.

"I need to work out whether I go with Evans' ability but lack of experience or whether I opt for Wes' experience and Gary at full-back," Ferguson said.

Either way, the Rio Ferdinand and Vidic partnership has been hugely important for United and it is little wonder that Ferguson was frustrated to see Chelsea centre back John Terry let off the hook for his red card against Manchester City on the same day.

But, on the whole, Chelsea would have to start the game as favourites with or without the England captain.

Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men have looked ready to reclaim the title from the outset and have little reason to fear anyone – but this will be their first real test of the season, and the draw at home to Tottenham suggested frailties that must not be allowed to resurface.

Didier Drogba came on against City last weekend and, although he was suspended for the 4-0 win over Bordeaux on Wednesday, he could be back in the side and will no doubt feel he has a point to prove – he was sent off against United in the Champions League final in May.

In midfield, Michael Essien is out until around March next year after surgery but Michael Ballack should be back among the substitutes after playing the final 30 minutes against Bordeaux.

Regardless, Scolari has enough options in every position and – as such – he seems less likely to gamble on unfit players for the match.

In the Chelsea camp, the talk before the game has been all about winning the game and sending a message out to United that they want their title back and you would not bet against them.

But Scolari will be aware that his team can still afford to draw or even lose the game and stay in the title race. For United, defeat – and all that would bring – could well cause terminal damage to their hopes of retaining the league for a third successive season.

Player To watch:

DIDIER DROGBA:
If he plays then he will no doubt feel he has a point to prove – he was sent off against United in the Champions League final in May.

Cristiano Ronaldo:
There are any number of players capable of stealing the show at Stamford Bridge and Ronaldo has not always risen to the big occasion. But – the departure Carlos Queiroz aside – his absence has been the big difference for United this season and, after a promising showing against Villarreal on Wednesday, Ronaldo may be responsible for keeping the title dream alive on

THE NEXT CHELSEA COACH

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:08:00 +0000

Don’t get me wrong. I am as happy as u all are at this moment and really feeling good. Well of course it was not the same couple of days ago. After losing Robinho, losing Essien for such a long time was a big blow for all of us. Essien is one of my most favourite players. I always keep him in the same line with Ballack and Lampard. He may be getting much less salary comparing to other two but on the field he is as good as both of them and sometimes better then them. Then we lost Clarke, a decision I myself can’t get it right why Clarke did leave us for a similar role in another team? If he left for managerial post it was ok. Look like this is ZOLA EFFECT.

Any how now come to the topic. I am also really proud to see many our legends doing managerial jobs and others as experts - in fact there are so many. Roberto Di Matteo at MK Dons , Dennis Wise from the Carry On Dreaming series! "Sid James Park", Gus Poyet from our beloved S**rs, Zola and Clarke in WestHam , Marcel Desailey from the BBC, Mr. Hughes at City and last but not the least Ray Wilkins who is our new assistant first team Coach.

At this moment Scolari is doing everything right & I am really praying and hoping to win some silverwares this season plus the next level which we all have been talking for so long I think Scolari is the right man to take us at that level. But we all know already he cleared that he wants to retire within couple of years. So maximum 3-4 years I guess. Now who will be next one? I want a CHELSEA LEGEND.I don’t want Jose Mourinho despite what he had achieved at Chelsea in his times. I want an OLD CHELSEA boy to lead us from up front. It will be perfect time I believe if everything goes right and luck doesn’t betray us then the train will be on the rail by Mr. Scolari. What our legends need to do is to run the CHELSEA TRAIN smoothly.

So now guys whom u want?? Will u all go for our all time Fan Favourite Zola or any other legends or Jose Mourinho. I know its too early to judge many of them but just imagine we are 4-5 years ahead and all mentioned legends are successful in their respective posts. So who will be? Or u will go for Jose again? There is no harm in imaging is it- after all its an imaginative world for sake of Modern Science and Technologies.CAREFREE.

Chelsea 4 Bordeaux 0

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:08:00 +0000

Group A in the Champions League got underway tonight with Chelsea, last seasons beaten finalists, playing host to the French League runners-up, Bordeaux.

With the Italian giants of Roma also lurking in Group A, Luiz Felipe Scolari would have been keen to see his team get off to a good start and to get those crucial first three points in the bag.

And that was exactly how it turned out.

Team News - After having selected his two listings for UEFA, Scolari would have been hugely disappointed to lose the very influential Michel Essien to a knee ligament injury. Also not available for selection was Didier Drogba, serving a one game ban after getting sent off in the final in Moscow last season for an act of petulance. Apart from that, Scolari had a full squad to choose from and could even welcome back Michael Ballack after the German international recovered from his foot injury. In the end Scoalri chose to go with the same starting eleven that served him so well on Saturday against Manchester City

First Half - Chelsea got the half underway but it was a cagey start by both sides. Indeed, the first attempt at a shot on target wasn`t until the 10th minute and it came from the visitors when Wendell blasted over form distance after a Mikel error.

Four minutes later Chelsea took the lead through Frank Lampard. Jose Bosingwa, always dangerous pushing forward down the right flank, delivered a superb ball for Lampard to beat the keeper, Rame, with a downward header.

Bordeaux were not offering much going forward and their next chance came when a Wendell free kick hit the wall. Chelsea, showing intricate skills allied with patience, started to carve out further chances.

An Anelka shot had to be turned behind swiftly by Rame before the keeper, from the resulting corner and subsequent build-up, reacted smartly to keep out a near Joe Cole flick. On twenty-one minutes John Terry headed narrowly wide from a Lampard free kick as Chelsea searched for that second goal.

Thankfully, that second goal came on the half hour mark when Joe Cole rose to deftly head home a Lampard cross after Malouda had won a corner. At 2-0 Chelsea were in control.

Indeed, as half time approached we were treated to the rare sight of Lampard driving a good chance wide from a great position. Bordeaux were still struggling to make an impression and when Deco lost possession and Ricardo Carvalho Gourcoff could only drive the free over the bar.

2-0 at half time and looking comfortable, let`s hope the second half produces more of the same!

Second Half - Bordeaux got the action underway and started the half better than they had done in the first half. Laurent Blanc had obviously told his team to play higher up and Fernando was the first to test our defence with a drive from twenty-two yards that went wide.

Up front their striker Chamakh looked dangerous as Chelsea struggled to reproduce the swift passing play of the first half. However, as the half progressed and Chelsea weathered the brief storm, Bordeaux were put to the sword.

Anelka, after a neat Joe Cole pass, hit the side netting before, with eighty-three minutes played, Malouda made it 3-0. The goal came after Mikel had marauded through midfield to slip a great ball to Lampard who, with a back heel gave Malouda the chance to drive his shot past the keeper.

With seconds left, Belletti picked the ball up thirty yards out and with the crowd urging him to do so, shot. The keeper turned his effort onto the bar only for Anelka to turn the rebound home.

It was a comfortable win against a team that, to be honest, looked a little over-awed about coming to SW6

Team - Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole. Mikel, Lampard, Malouda (Kalou - 84), Deco (Ballack- 61), Anelka, J.Cole (Belletti - 73)

Unused Subs - Hilario, Di Santo, Ferreira, Alex,

Chelsea Scorers - Lampard, J.Cole, Malouda, Anelka

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Deco

Chelsea Red Cards - Nil

Referee - P. Vink (Holland)

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 3

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:16:00 +0000

The clash of the cash as Mark Hughes named it, took place this evening as Chelsea (formerly known as the richest club in the Premier League) took on Manchester City (now known as the richest club in the Premier League). In the end it was he old kids on the block who comfortably took the honours.

Team News - With Michael Essien out injured, Scolari was forced to shuffle his pack. Mikel returned after injury to anchor the midfield whilst Malouda was picked to play out wide and hopefully shuffle back to thwart any City attacks. Belletti, after scoring against Spurs in our last Premier League game, was perhaps a little unlucky to be left out. However, Chelsea fans will have been cheered to see Didier Drogba making a return from injury, albeit on the bench. Michael Ballack, who had trained hard in the latter half of the week, wasn`t risked probably with the Champions League fixture against Bordeaux fast looming.

For Manchester City, Mark Hughes selected his Brazilian duo of Robinho and Jo up front whilst Shaun Wright-Phillips would have been looking forward to playing against the team he only left a couple of weeks ago.

First Half - An expectant, and full to capacity Eastlands greeted the shrill blast of Mark Halsey`s whistle with an enormous roar as City started a new era in their history. Unfortunately, Chelsea seemed a little fazed by it and started poorly.

You just knew it was going to happen didn`t you? The buzz that whirled around the stadium every time Robinho got the ball gave you that uneasy feeling that when he stood preparing to take a free kick after a Carvalho foul, that it was going to, somehow, go in. The fact that it took a glance of Mikel to shoot past Cech won`t detract from the fact that he`d scored. Damn a goal down after 11 minutes.!

Thankfully, we were only behind for a couple of minutes. A corner was won and when it was initially cleared Carvalho produced a great volley to put us on level terms. It was almost as if the Robinho goal had woke us up after a lacklustre start.

Chelsea, pushing forward with Bosingwa playing a prominent part, saw Anelka not quite able to capitalise on two chances created. Down at the other end Stephen Ireland shot wide after a good flick on as the game continued to be entertaining.

As the game switched from end to end Malouda rattled the bar when it was easier to score as Chelsea started to string together a few good passing moves. Our movement seemed to be causing City problems they couldn`t cope with.

However, City were still looking dangerous and only a deflection stopped Jo opening his City scoring account. Thankfully, Wright-Phillip`s corner was reminiscent of those we`re used to seeing him deliver at Chelsea. With half time approaching Malouda wasted a chance to head home a decent cross and you began to wonder if we`d be later ruing these missed chances. There was even time for Anelka to waste yet another opportunity and also for Ashley Cole to hit a screamer just over the bar as Scolari must have wondered how, at half time, it was still level.

But Deco and Robinho swapping shirts as they walked off, what is that all about?

Second Half - No substitutions were made by Scolari or Hughes at half time. Robinho showed how flashiness doesn`t always work with a series of step-overs that resulted in a poor pass being delivered.

The first chance of the second half came to Chelsea but sadly Lampard couldn`t take the opportunity after neat work from Joe Cole. However, we didn`t have to wait long for the first goal of the half (52 minutes) and it was Chelsea that scored it with a great break that saw the ball moved from box-to-box, in a five man movement, in a matter of seconds for Lampard to slip a cross shot past Hart and into the net.

City responded with Ireland forcing a corner of Ashley Cole but it came to nothing. Strangely, the raucous noise of the early moments had been replaced by silence from the City supporters. Anelka had a penalty claim turned down before minutes later Anelka flicked a header a yard wide.

City tried to get back on level terms but Zabaleta could only loft an effort over the bar when in a good position. Carvalho then produced a great challenge to deny Ireland before the same player volleyed the resulting corner high over the bar.

Chelsea tried to force a third but Lampard, after being set up by Anelka, fired straight at Hart in the City goal. With Belletti and Drogba waiting to come on Joe Cole found Anelka with a lovely weighted pass for Anelka to score. With a two goal lead Drogba replaced Malouda and Belletti replaced Joe Cole.

Barring a disaster the game was now all but won. Sadly, there was still time for John Terry to receive a straight red card for a cynical tackle on Jo but Carvalho was covering - poor decision. The red card looked to slightly unsettle us and Scolari reacted by replacing Anelka with Alex. Chelsea had ten minutes, plus stoppage time, to last out.

In the end they coped quite comfortably inviting City to come at them and soaking up the pressure whilst looking for a quick counter attack. Once again the only noise you could hear was from the travelling support. A splendid result at a place where many teams will come unstuck!

Chelsea - Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole, Mikel, J.Cole (Belletti-70), Deco, Lampard, Malouda (Drogba-70), Anelka (Alex-79)

Unused Subs - Hilario, Ivanovic, Bridge, Kalou,

Chelsea Scorers - Carvalho, Lampard, Anelka

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Mikel

Chelsea Red Cards - Terry

The pressure is off Chelsea, thanks to Man City!

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:24:00 +0000

This is not an article written by me.It was copied as a message for all the Blue fans.As it pointed out later spread this message!So plz don't feel offense all credit goes to Blue Champions site.Thank you.

The big spending evil club that is Chelsea, has been outspent this season too. In fact the money raised by Chelsea in player sales was sufficient to fund the player purchases. Of the players that we used last season, Chelsea bought only Malouda and Anelka and the rest were all free transfers. The season in which we bought a certain expensive striker, Roman said that the high spending days are over and I think he stuck by his words.

In his first couple of seasons he did sanction some expensive transfers to set up a league-winning team. If you’re looking for instant success, it is quite necessary to spend that money. Once Chelsea is established as a European footballing power and also after confirming that Chelsea is here to stay in the top four, the money is not flowing as it used to. For two seasons running, Chelsea is not even in the top three spenders in premier league, leave alone Europe.

The deadline day events are quite significant for Chelsea. May be, it even marks a new milestone in Roman’s Chelsea. As far as I can remember this is the first time Chelsea has been out bid. There were occasions like the one with Dani Alves, where Chelsea pulled out due to exorbitant pricing but has never been outbid in a bidding battle such as the one for Robinho. Roman’s ego could be hit. He may not like what happened yesterday. His new manager wanted only two players, and he could get only one of them.

I’m not trying to say that we should have kept bidding until the Sheikhs walked out. I guess even if Chelsea had offer 40m or more, the Sheikhs would have still got Robinho. The whole bidding battle would only have benefited the sneaky bastards of Real Madrid. It is a prudent decision that we pulled out. Chelsea pulled out of the deal not because of the Arabian blitzkreig, but because we’d then be overpaying now or at the end of the bidding war. If you’re asking what’s the big deal in overpaying, haven’t we done before, that’s where my very point comes in. Chelsea has become quite different from what is being propagated. The first season we did overpay, after that I don’t think we overpaid for anyone (barring SWP). The purchases of Essien and Drogba are all value for money.

You can infer two things from the withdrawal. The other thing I infer is that Kenyon & Co were a bit over-confident that we would sign Robinho. It’s fair that he could not have expected this sheikh from Abu Dhabi to appear on the last day and swoop our month long target. For us, it could be a surprise, but in Kenyon’s circle, surely I don’t think it may have been a complete surprise. Anyway, let’s say it was a surprise for Kenyon too. Isn’t it common sense to have a back-up plan especially when the transfer goes down the wire? Shouldn’t we have gone after an alternative winger, if we don’t end up getting Robinho? The back up may not be as good as Robinho. It could be anyone who can find a place in the starting eleven at Chelsea.

Unfortunately, like all of us, Kenyon must have thought that Robinho’s transfer to Chelsea will be over in a matter of hours. Could Real Madrid have known about the man City take over and that’s why probably they waited so long after rejecting good Chelsea offers and waited even after Robinho’s outburst at his press conference? Perhaps, Scolari said that he just needs Robinho and if we don’t get him that’s it he doesn’t need anyone else. Sounds unlikely? I guess it could be Kenyon telling Scolari ‘worry not phil, we’re getting Robinho’. I still stand by my ground that we can win the league without Robinho.

The other important thing we need to understand is that Chelsea is not the top dog anymore. It’s not after the Man City takeover happened. It is since much before. And I’m delighted about this. Citeh have an ambitious project and truly have a bottomless pit of money to support the ambition. The Sheikh is 10 times wealthier than Roman and that also means Man City is now quite big, in money terms. Good thing is, if we win the league, it won’t be undermined as having ‘bought the league’. The Sheikh bought City only on the last day of the transfer window but still they ended up spending about 80m on transfers this summer. If they had bought the club sometime in May or June, they would have broken the british transfer record over and over again. For our own good, let’s accept that City is the top dog now, and we should not try to compete with them in their game.

Roman has been with us for 5 seasons. I guess we’ve come a full circle with respect to transfer spendings. We started big, got the good players (not greats, mind you), got a world class manager, won back-to-back titles and now have even become the top seed in Europe. We’ve stopped spending big on player transfers and on the contrary, we are spending big on the youth academy and training facilities. Now the club looks to be in a mode to settle down and consolidate without losing focus on the ultimate ambition. That’s we won’t or we shouldn’t try to be the top dog anymore. Let Man City have their time of glory, press harassment or public ridiculing as we step aside for some organic growth.

So will this be the season Chelsea loses its official title of being a richman’s plaything? Compared to the Sheikh, Roman doesn’t seem very rich after all and he is not certainly treating us like a plaything. I would count Grant’s appointment as a mistake rather than anything else. The multi-million bench that people loved to talk about, is slowly disappearing.

We offloaded a 50m worth bench places in Shevchenko and SWP. The total cost of our team would be in the region of 150m which is in fact profitable considering the money that’s earned in premier league and champions league in the last four seasons. The cost of our 7-member bench should be in the region of 40 - 50 million, which is again reasonable if you want truly compete in all competitions. In other words, in terms of player transfers, Chelsea is back on level terms with the other big clubs. In terms of salaries, Chelsea still has an edge though. Except John Terry and Michael Ballack (who came on a free), the salaries of the other players are not really as high as it’s made out to be. In fact clubs in Spain and Italy pay more salaries to their players.

Let’s look at this season’s stats. I’m looking at the transfer details for some clubs this season.

Man Utd has spent about £63m (£32m Tevez + £31m Berbatov). Man City has spent about £80m (£19m Jo + £5m Tal Ben Haim + £6m Kompany + £10m SWP + £6.5m Zabaleta + £32.5m Robinho). Tottenham has spent about £40m (Modric £16.5m + £4.7 Dos Santos + £14m Pavlyuchenko) plus an undisclosed fee on Bentley. Arsenal spent about £16m plus undisclosed fees (£5m Ramsey + £11m Nasri + undisclosed fee for Bischoff). Aston Villa spent in the region of £34.5m plus undisclosed fees (£5m Sidwell + £3m Shorey + £6m Young + £8m Cuellar + £12.5m Milner + undisclosed fee for Freidel and Davies). AC Milan spent about £35m (£7m Zambrotta + £8m Boriello + £20m Ronaldinho). Inter spent about £39 million (£10.5m Mancini + £13m Muntari + £15m Quaresma). Barcelona spent about £63m (£11.5m Keita + £26m Alves + £13.5m Caceres + £12m Hleb). Madrid spent about £26m (£8m Garay + £3.5m Javi Garcia + £10.5m van der Vaart + £4m Ruben de la Red). Lierpool had a lot of undisclosed transfers so that the scouser fans can keep saying that they didn’t have money to spend. They bought £20m Robbie Keane and the transfer fee is undisclosed for Dossena, Lucas Weijl, Cavalieri, Ngog and Riera.

Some of these clubs have also sold players to fund their purchases but most have clearly spent more than what they have earned. There are lots of other clubs as well (non-champions league clubs) which have also spent more than £20m this season but I’ve not included them here. Just a snapshot now. Man Utd - £63m. Man City - £80m, Spurs £40m plus undisclosed fees, Arsenal £16m plus undisclosed fees, Villa £35m plus undisclosed fees, Milan £35m, Inter £39m, Barca £63m, Madrid £26m and Liverpool £20m plus lots and lots of undisclosed fees.

And now the outspending evil richman’s club Chelsea has spent £26m (£7m Deco + £16m Bosingwa + £3m Franco) and you know what, Chelsea also earned £25m through sales - £5m Sidwell, £5m Ben Haim, £5m Boulahrouz and £10m SWP. And we could earn upto £8m on Sheva’s loan this year. Even Arsene Wenger who takes more pride in lesser spending than in winning trophies, did spend more than what he earned from transfers this season. There are more than a dozen clubs that spend more money on transfers than Chelsea.

Chelsea should no longer be the most hated club for money reasons. We are back on level terms with the rest of the top clubs with respect to spending or to be exact we are way below the spending levels of our European rivals. Chelsitos! Go back and spread this message! I’m not taking any shite from anyone on this topic again

Ultimate Twist - What`s Next?

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Well what a night it was!

After anxiously waiting for hours and hours I was really shocked to see what happened during the last hours. We missed our target for which we had been in the market for a long, long time.

I was only shocked. Asking myself am I really devastated? No not at all. We might have missed one of the best players in the world but that certainly doesn't mean that we lost our capability of winning silverware. Yes we lack width players at this moment and I think we can cope because it`s a marathon 38 match game. We may draw or lose some matches but that's very much possible. No one expecting us for a repeat of that Arsenal season.

I don't remember when a Real Madrid player requests a transfer request in this way in past plus Real is not used to it that's for sure. Real Madrid was also severely frustrated because of failure of getting C. Ronaldo For Robinho I knew he had no other options. The way he conducted there was no way back and after the relations between the two clubs severely deteriorated I knew Real would try every possible way to hit back at us and Robinho. And they certainly had success in it. I am sure they knew there will be an offer from Man City and they willingly made it as lengthy as possible so that we don't have any time to rethink and same also for Robinho. Plus Kenyon failed to realise that that's the mistake he did and as I said earlier I believed even we did bid higher or equal to Man City, REAL would sell him to City simply because of their egos. The shirt issue was just an excuse to not let him go to us.

But what's the positive? If we feel we had enough time to re bid then I guess we made the right decision. He is certainly not worth £32 to £34 million! Plus we have a new investor and now I really want to see what clubs will say about paying too much, spending hugely, sugar money bla bla bla. The fans from different clubs as usual felt some strange kind of happiness. They taunted us which was expected. Some one outbid us made them feel happy. The reason of that happiness is the simply dreams which we made them to see by setting our own standards and ultimately that turns into failure and jealousy.

We should feel proud of ourselves!

And Man City's owner clearly stated his ambition to make MAN CITY just like CHELSEA and he wants the same impact that Chelsea made in the last 5 years. He said all these in an interview to THE TIMES.

As for Robinho it will be interesting to see what he will do if MAN CITY don't qualify for UCL.I don't see a player of Robinho's calibre playing in the UEFA CUP in back to back seasons. And I guess there is every possibility we will again make bid for him in January window or the next season. There will be definitely another bid for Kaka may be if Scolari wants. But if Robinho again requests a transfer we can certainly melt MAN CITY no matter how rich they are. Because UCL will be an issue plus REAL was also not a poor club. In fact they are way ahead in every term than MAN CITY.

So GUYS JUST CHEER UP & CAREFREE....

Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:50:00 +0000

Darren Bent's late first half strike earned Tottenham a surprise point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.Chelsea had the edge in the opening half and were rewarded when Juliano Belletti fired them in front. However Spurs got a lucky break to level in first half stoppage time through Bent.

Juande Ramos' side defended well in the second half to keep Chelsea at bay as they failed to engineer any clear-cut chances to win it and maintain their 100% start to the season.

In a lively opening few minutes Frank Lampard very nearly opened the scoring with a fantastic chip on six minutes which had Heurelho Gomes at full stretch to tip over his own crossbar.

Following a lull in the action the game burst into life midway through the half when Belletti found Nicolas Anelka with a great cross and the French striker got between two defenders before uncharacteristically firing over the bar from close range when he should really have scored.

A minute later Michael Essien smashed the crossbar with a fierce 30-yard drive which Jonathan Woodgate cleared behind for a corner. From Deco's flag-kick Bent made a complete mess of trying to clear and just diverted it towards his own goal where Belletti was on hand to convert from close range.

Chelsea looked comfortable in the lead but were stunned right on half time when Lamprd inadvertently diverted an attempted pass from Luka Modric straight into the path of Bent who coolly finished past Blues keeper Petr Cech.

Spurs defended deeply after the break and never really looked like being denied their first point of the campaign, while Chelsea's failure to score a winner means only Liverpool have a chance to make it three victories from three at Aston Villa later on Sunday.

Chelsea expect to sign Robinho in next 48 hours

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:17:00 +0000

Chelsea expect to sign Brazilian forward Robinho from Real Madrid in the next 48 hours, Sky Sports News quoted chief executive Peter Kenyon as saying on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old has been a target for Premier League Chelsea and their new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari for much of the close season.
Robinho said last week that he was determined to join Chelsea and asked Real directors to negotiate with the London club.
British newspapers have put a fee of up to 36 million euros ($52.95 million) on the deal.
The Guardian also quoted Robinho's agent Wagner Ribeiro as saying an agreement was in sight.
"A deal is about to be reached," he said. "Robinho's time in Spain has come to an end. He is looking forward to being part of a new project."

Chelsea target Fabiano

noreply@blogger.com (Saimon) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:58:00 +0000

It has been reported that Chelsea are targeting Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano.

Chelsea have sold Claudio Pizarro to Werder Bremen and Andriy Shevchenko to AC Milan while Didier Drogba has not fully recovered from his injury which has sparked renewed interest in another quality striker.

The Brazilian striker has also been targeted by Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester United.

The fact that fellow – Brazilian players such as Juliano Belletti, Alex and Deco are already at Stamford Bridge may persuade him to move to the London club. That is not to mention the Brazilian manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Another Brazilian striker Robinho could be signed for ₤28 million from Real Madrid within the next few days.