Chelsea FC-True Blue

Chelsea vs Tottenham

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:05:00 +0000

Chelsea 3 Tottenham 0

A massive Derby and a massive win for Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea to maintain the blues 100% start to the season and setting a new club record for straight number of wins. Chelsea were excellent in all areas of the pitch even though there
were some defensive lapses early on in the first half when Cech had to at his best to make saves from current hot-shot of the premier league Jermain Defoe, and Huddlestone. Jenas just missed the target with a good effort. These early chances for Tottenham were the wake up call for the team and Chelsea responded through Jose Bosingwa who saw his superb shot strike the crossbar. Had it gone in, it would have left a red-face Carlo Cudicini, coming back to the bridge after leaving for Tottenham last January having served nearly ten years at the club.

After about half an hour or so there was a shift in the quality of Chelsea's play and passing. The team started to cross more but due to some great defensive work by King and Bassong, Drogba was kept quiet. But they couldn't stop one of the smallest men on the pitch from scoring. Ashley Cole got on the end of a Drogba cross to nod the ball home thus ending Spurs resistance.

The big talking of the match came early in the second half when Robbie Keane was tripped in the area by Carvalho for a clear penalty which was not given by Howard Webb. Even though Spurs can claim injustice in it, they were quite lucky when Corluka pushed Ballack when he was just about to head the ball home before the Keane incident. In face of it, the two incidents even out. Spurs conceded minutes after the penalty incident with Lampard pulling the ball back after a Drogba shot was parried away by Cudicini for Ballack to smother it home. Drogba then scored a lucky third for Chelsea to complete the rout.

The huge negative for Chelsea out of this game must be Drogba's injury. It looked worse as he had to stretchered off with nearly 10 minutes to go. Ancelotti must be hoping that it is not serious as it first looked as with the home game against Liverpool looming a fit Drogba is essential if we are to maintain the 100% start to the season. Next up it is the local derby against QPR in the Carling Cup and Wigan in the premier league followed by the big one against Liverpool on October 4th.

Chelsea 1 Porto 0

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:11:00 +0000

Nicolas Anelka scored the only goal of the game on a rain soaked night at Stamford Bridge against the Portuguese Champions, FC Porto. The game hardly matched the performance shown by the players in our last five straight victories which have taken Chelsea to the top of the table. That could have been probably down to the rain soaked pitch and to a much larger extent, Didier Drogba who was missing due to the suspension awarded by
UEFA for his protests after the Barcelona semi-final last year where Chelsea were subject to much debated injustice.

Even though the game was not beautiful to watch there were plenty of chances created by both the sides and thus requiring Petr Cech to be at his best to keep Porto at bay. The best of the chances for Chelsea fell to Lampard and Kalou with both their headers requiring the error prone Porto goalkeeper, Helton to be at his best. But the most important chance fell to Anelka, who after seeing his shot saved by Helton slotted in the rebound in the tightest of the angles.

In the group stages it is all about winning hence the performance would not have worried Ancelotti too much. But the team has to certainly improve if progression in the latter stages of the competition is a must.

Peter Kenyon is to leave his post as the chief-executive of the Club at the end of October, it has been announced. Though he certainly did great things for Chelsea he will be best remembered for constantly stressing the fact that the club will be self sufficient every year but never really coming close to achieve. His departure from the club was inevitable ever since his diminishing role in the club starting with the sacking of Scolari and Arnesen's promotion to sporting director in the beginning of summer.

There has been constant speculation linking him to Manchester City after the sacking of Scolari. Some of the good things he will be remembered by Chelsea are his involvement in making Chelsea a European force within what seemed a relatively short time as he was the main man behind the signings back in the Mourinho and Ranieri days.

Chelsea Transfer Ban

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Chelsea have been sensationally banned from signing new players until January 2011 after being found guilty of tapping up the reserve team sensation Gael Kakuta from Lens when he was 16 year old player under contract with Lens. Chelsea are the next big club after AS Roma were banned for a transfer window for poaching Mexes
from Auxerre in 2004. But Mexes was over the age of 18 at the time of transfer and therefore deserved to get a one transfer window ban for tapping up. But for the transfer of a 16 year old does a two window or a one year ban makes sense ? Further there are several clubs which sign players in large numbers under the age of 18 for a nominal fee go unpunished. The best cases so far are against Manchester United getting Federico Macheda from Lazio in similar fashion and the biggest of them all, Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona when he was also 16.

What does FIFA does against them ? They pay a fine, in the case of Arsenal or just forget it, in the case of Manchester United. But to get a one year ban for signing who is now basically a reserve team player is just not fair. That was the case with Chelsea when the club paid a fee of £5 million for Leeds United pair, Micheal Woods and Tom Taiwo. Chelsea have released a statement saying that they will mount the highest possible appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), who will freeze the ban while the case is under investigation. So there is still possibility that we will be able to get players in during January.

So what does the ban actually mean for Chelsea ? The Club failed to bring in any big names during the summer transfer window, even though they have done well to keep the current stars on board. But with Drogba, Lampard , Ballack, Deco , Anelka , Carvalho all above 30, can the current squad cope for a year without fresh faces remains to be seen. The ban though can be regarded in positive manner because it can lead to some players from the academy coming through, the last of which was John Terry. There are quite a good number of players in the reserves such as Sinclair , Di Santo , Hutchinson and not to mention Gael Kakuta himself.

Image Source: The Sun

Chelsea Transfer Talk: Deadline Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:03:00 +0000

John Terry has signed a new five year deal which will run until the end of 2013/2014 season effectively keeping Terry for the rest of his career at Stamford Bridge. This comes after a summer long interest from Manchester City who were willing to pay up to £32 million for the England captain. The new deal makes John Terry the highest paid player at the club earning a reported £160,000 a week which is more than Lampard at £141,000 and Ballack at £120,000 a week respectively.

Andriy Shevchenko, the club's record signing meanwhile has left Chelsea to join Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev on a free transfer. Shevchenko had one year remaining on his contract but after talks with Ancelotti who failed to guarantee him first team football it has seen him return to the club he left to join AC Milan 10 years ago. Shevchenko and the club had agreed to terminate his contract with mutual consent.

While his Chelsea career may have not been that great, he is a player of outstanding quality and was one of Europe's feared strikers at the peak of his career. Some of the goals such as one against Tottenham in the FA cup he scored for Chelsea underline his quality. Instead of saying that he didn't settle at Chelsea properly it can be said that he was not utilized properly. Some of the best games for the club was when he was playing with a strike partner. It is a disappointment to see him go especially knowing that Ancelotti will be losing two of the four strikers for the African Cup of Nations in January which leaves Chelsea short of strike force during a important stage in the season.

Chelsea 3 Burnley 0

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:55:00 +0000

Four wins out of four and a delightful way to head into the international break knowing that Chelsea are on top of the table. In a breathtaking show of attacking football, Carlo Ancelotti's men brushed aside Burnley. Burnley on the back of wins against Manchester United and Everton offered little answer to the crisp passing and movement of the
Chelsea midfield four of Ballack, Lampard, Deco and Essien. The match started in a rather bad way with Lampard conceding possession too easily near the defending third but Burnley forward, Paterson failed to find the net when one on one with Cech. That served as the wake up call for the players and the game never looked back from there. Had it not been for Burnley's goalkeeper, Jensen the game could have produced more goals for Chelsea. Anelka could have scored a hat-trick and Lampard a couple had it not been for Jensen.

Drogba was back to his best and was the creator for the first goal when he passed to Anelka for a tap in just before half time. The breakthrough was crucial as it seemed that Jensen would single handedly save Burnley from defeat. Another early goal by Ballack soon after the start in the second half from a cross by Lampard put the game beyond Burnley. The third goal by a very unlikely source, Ashley Cole was the icing on the cake. After a one two with Lampard, Cole struck in a thunderous volley to seal the three points.

On the negative side, Anelka's lazy game could have caused us losing points against better opposition than this. Anelka could have had a hat trick but his poor touch, lazy play and poor finishing nearly cost us. There were at least three or four times in the match when he was robbed of the ball when not knowing what to do next. There will surely be harder tests than this and if we are to take three points from them as well then there must surely be improvements.

Image Thanks: Skysports.com

Delighted by the start

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:50:00 +0000

Three wins out of three for new boss Carlo Ancelotti signals a perfect start to the 2009/10 season. A new formation and new thoughts have certainly got us going but there has to be a caution to the wind after what happened last season with Scolari. Although it has to be said that under the Brazilian we were good even in the early parts of last season only when we scored first. The team lacked character and ideas. That is not the case now though.
We have already fell behind in three of the four matches we have played including the Community Shield and we have won all (Community shield match counts as a win even though it is on penalties). This shows the incredible character Carlo has managed to instill within the team. Our 3-1 win, away at Sunderland is one of the best matches I have seen Chelsea play. The movements, passing and chances created were absolutely world class. On contrast our away win at Fulham was not the best but we were very effective and did not give anything away. All good signs for the future and long may it continue.

The good start for us is made even better by the losses to Liverpool and Manchester United and it would be made even better if Arsenal lose to United this weekend. Liverpool have already lost two games, the same total number of games that they managed to lose during the whole of last season. But it is too early to write any teams off for the title because in the early weeks of the season it is just about getting points on the board. But it is nice to be leading Liverpool by six points at this stage.

When it comes to putting points on the board our upcoming fixtures are certainly helpful at that. After Burnley this weekend, we face Stoke and Wigan, both of which are winnable. The next four week fixtures are completed by Tottenham at home and the big one with Liverpool on October 4th. Going into the Liverpool match with another four wins in the bag would be great.

Image Source: Skysports.com

Chelsea Transfer talk: July 17, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:23:00 +0000

Losing a club's talisman can never be good for any club, especially in the case of John Terry when he still has plenty of years ahead of him. Hence the decision of the club to come out and say that selling John Terry was out of the question is good for everybody. Tevez has come out and said that he wants Terry to join him at City. Hughes has
said that Terry needs a new challenge and to fulfil that he needs to join Manchester City. So what will be Terry's new challenge that Mark Hughes has been speaking about. Well, it is about finishing in the top half of the table and if possible get a Europa League place by qualifying through the Fair Play system like they did two years ago or maybe winning the Champions League or the Premier League with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm. Anyone who is not motivated by money will clearly choose the latter, especially with the world cup coming next year. You don't want to be in a mid table side when it comes to making the squad.

Robinho has said that Tevez was correct in choosing City instead of Chelsea because he did it so. This is the guy who actually did not know what club he signed for when he said that he was delighted to be signing for Chelsea when he had actually joined City last summer. So should Chelsea fans be worried aboutTevez not joining Chelsea ? We did not actually need him and even if he had signed there will be doubts over whether he is actually worth the £26 million fee and huge wages of £150,000 per week.

Nemanja Matic is close to joining the blues for around £5 million. A giant at nearly 6'5 and at 20 years of age he is someone who on paper can settle quite well in the Premier League. Whether he is a long term signing or just a stop gap just to fill in during the African Cup of Nations remains to be seen because he is not a player who has been linked with Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan but with Spurs,Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

The situation around Deco and Carvalho seems to have cooled off a bit with Inter Milan saying that the price was too much for them. So it seems they will be staying at the bridge for sometime at the least.

Transfer Talk: Carvalho wants to leave Chelsea

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:14:00 +0000

Carvalho is regarded as one of the finest centre half's in the world. No wonder when we signed him from FC Porto back in 2004 for a huge fee of £19 million. He has re payed that fee over the years by his awesome performances which have led some to say that he makes John Terry look much better than he actually is, although I do not buy into that.
But a time comes when all good things must come to an end. And in Carvalho's case it certainly has come true. He is a great professional who always gives a hundred percent every time he plays. But last season has to one of his worst having made only 18 appearances altogether and after recovering from one injury he stumbles over blades of grass and then falls injured again. This has been the case throughout last season.

Now, he could have worked on his fitness and come back stronger to get a place in the team. But instead of doing that he has been moaning all through the summer break about how he was treated badly by the club. Now what does he expect the club to do ? Play him while he is injured ? NO. Seriously what can you do with a injured player ? Except from providing medical experts and fitness coach they cannot do more than that. He should know that. Ok, Maybe he wants to leave. In that case why don't you just hand in a transfer request and go. Only players who want to play for the club should stay. I would sell him in any case. He is 31 and selling him would represent a good business decision. There is always Alex, Ivanovic and young Micheal Mancienne ready to step up.

Chairman Bruce Buck has come out and said that he expects to sign at least one marquee signing this summer. He has also stated that we won't be spending unrealistic prices on them. As of now there are very limited options in that niche market even if you have the money. That is partly due to the entry of Real Madrid into the market. Star names such as Kaka, Ronaldo and Benzema have all moved to the bernabeau. Very few such a Messi (who won't leave Barcelona), Ribery (Seems like Bayern won't sell him) and Villa (Nobody knows what is the situation with him) and Pato who seems to be the best possibility. Not much options in it. Hope we sign somebody in that list.

Yuri Zhirkov Signs

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:09:00 +0000

Chelsea FC have completed the signing of Russian Yuri Zhirkov for a fee of £18million today. He is our third signing after Daniel Sturridge and Ross Turnbull. I saw him at the Euro's and he looked very good playing for Russia. Ancelotti in today's press conference
where he was unveiled to the press said that he can play either in midfield or in defence. I am happy that we have finally spent some cash for this summer. I am expecting Zhirkov to be a good signing as he is mid-way through the Russian season now, so he probably doesn't require pre-season that much. If he is as good as thought of then we can probably offload players like Kalou who simply have not turned into what we expected when he joined as a 20 year old.

Ancelotti was today unveiled to the press today as I mentioned above. I have to say that his English is no better if not worse than Scolari's English. I just hope that everything goes well because even though language was a problem for Scolari it was not the only problem he had. For example, not having men at the posts while taking corners does not require knowledge of English. I simply requires some tactical knowledge like Guus Hiddink.

Coming back to Ancelotti, his first job has to be convincing Terry to stay because according to some reports Terry has his head turned towards City now after it was revealed in THE SUN that Terry and Manchester City manager Mark Hughes were staying and dining in the same hotel. That is one news I did not want to hear. Terry has not come out and said that he does not want to leave. Maybe he is actually encouraging the interest to get himself a pay rise from the £130,000 a week he already is on ! Or he must be actually interested. Either way he will not be handing a transfer request which will mean losing the loyalty fees that he will be due having stayed for such a long time at the club. The only way he will be leaving the club in a dignified manner is if the club accept a bid, which I hope they don't.

Image Source: Skysports.com

Transfer Talk: July 5th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:37:00 +0000

Seems like Kenyon and others at Chelsea FC have read my post a few days earlier where I was groaning about the lack of transfers and quite a large number of other blog's as well. So now we make two signings within a matter of days. Daniel Sturridge becomes our second signing of the summer. He comes in on a bosman free transfer although we will be
paying a fee of around £5m as he is under 24. This is a signing which won't raise eyebrows although he is talented and young. I would prefer Di Santo over him because he is a player who can be moulded into another Drogba if he bulks up. I do not know where Sturridge is going to fit in personally. I am just hoping that they won't put him in the reserves and waste his talent.

And regarding other news, it is reported that Manchester City have offered John Terry £300,000 a week which is double the wages that he currently earns with that. My confidence in John staying with us is decreasing everyday. Last January I thought that it would be impossible for him to leave. Now though there is every increasing probability that he will leave. If he does leave then it is important that we get the best value for him. A transfer fee of £30 million is a joke for a player like Terry. Given his importance to the club and team it would be appropriate to demand at least £60 million. Although I would hate to see him go, £60 million is quite a sum of money to ignore.

Yuri Zhirkov the Russian playmaker who plays for CSKA Moscow looks to be our next signing. It is reported that he will come to London next week. Good player who can replace Ashley Cole in the left back spot. That is because Ashley Cole seems to have rejected a new deal at the club and is being targeted by Real Madrid. He is demanding £130,000 a week and he is a left back. The meaning for greed in the dictionary has to be Ashley Cole. Has the world gone mad ? I know that he is one of the best left backs in the world but if a left back is demanding that much money what would it take to sign a top quality striker ? £1 million a week ? No chance. I'd say that we sell him, get the cash, buy Aly Cissokho from Porto.

Chelsea Transfer Talk: July 3rd, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:39:00 +0000

In the latest transfer news of today, it seems that Manchester city won't sleep without signing our captain John Terry. A Chelsea statement has confirmed that we have rejected a formal bid for Terry. This is actually the second time they are bidding for our captain after an approach was rejected in January. So are you worried ? I am not. That is simply
because Terry will never leave the club he has grown into. A true legend who simply puts his body to help the team's cause. But the simply fact that we are spending less and less every season and that so far we had not made a summer signing until we wrapped up the free transfer of Ross Turnbull recently will make Terry to sit up and just take a look at the offer even though he will not actually be thinking of leaving.

To see the likes of Real Madrid blow out £150 millions just like that in a matter of few weeks and City signing Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry and being further linked with Tevez, Eto'o must have been frustrating for him as it is for us. Loyalty has decreased so much in football that sometimes you wonder if there is any left. Just take the example of Kaka'. Both him and AC Milan often give interviews stating as how they love each other and that Kaka' would finish his career there. But Milan consider an offer from Manchester City in January and suddenly the bond is broken and Kaka leaves for Madrid after less than six months. Hence I am confident but certainly not hundred percent.
Ross Turnbull has become our first summer signing of 2009 and the first of the Ancelotti reign. I have to say that I am pretty happy with the business we have made as Turnbull comes on a free transfer. And at 24 years of age he still has lots to offer to us. May well become another Cudicini and spend a decade like him. His 6'4 frame is just short of our own giant Petr Cech. I have seen him playing for Middlesbrough and he looks to be a very good shot stopper although I have to admit that I am not a fan of his judgement in coming for crosses. But he'll benefit from having one of the 'Best goalkeepers in the world' beside him to help him.

Latest Transfer News

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:19:00 +0000

During the end of last season (more precisely during the end of the Scolari reign) everybody was saying that the squad had become too old, which in truth it has and that we needed some fresh faces. Then after Hiddink's arrival it suddenly seemed that Roman Abramovich had fallen back in love with Chelsea with big name stars being reported as targets for this summer. But things
have not gone quite the way that I hoped to. Lets look back at some of the players mentioned to be coming this summer. Kaka, Ribery, Villa, Pato and some others. Quite an impressive target list that. But who did we get so far ? NONE.

Obviously Roman and Kenyon have nothing to do with Perez taking over the presidency at Real Madrid and buying all the attacking players in the world for huge prices. But they should have atleast worked in getting some other targets like Johnson who will be signing with Liverpool. I do not know what they are doing with the transfer of Zhirkov. He comes out daily and says that he prefers Barcelona over us. Fine, if he wants that then so be it. We should start looking at other options.

All the targets that are being linked with us now are either turning us down or choosing other clubs. Kenyon should have done something before the summer like signing secret pre-contract agreements like Perez instead of going on holidays in the Caribbean.

So who should we buy now ? According to me we need a winger for which I would prefer Adam Johnson because he is cheap as he is out of contract, he is English and he needs to be in the squad for the quota of domestic players in the Champions League. A good goalkeeper as a backup for Cech in Ross Turnbull who is also available on a free and is English. Aly Cissokho of FC Porto as a backup for Ashley Cole and a midfielder who is happy on the bench because of the African Nations Cup which comes around in January due to which we will be losing Drogba, Kalou, Mikel, Essien.

So that is four positions which needs to be strengthened. Sturridge seems to be arriving from Manchester City so it should strengthen our striking options.

Image Source: Skysports.com

Deco slams Roman

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:44:00 +0000

Sorry guys, I have been away for a while and have since not been able to update the blog. But now I am back and lets get on with what is going on in the latest transfer market news. Signed by the Scolari as one of his untouchables for £8 million from Barcelona, his first two games were outstanding for us but ever since he got injured in the warm-up during the Manchester United
match he has been absolutely been rubbish. After Hidding took over from Scolari he has been a regular bench warmer. So it would not be a complete shock to us if he left the club after such a miserable season. Jose Mourinho now at Inter has recently revealed that he would like to take Deco to Inter. Deco also revealed that he wanted to leave the club.

Now Deco has come out and said, "Chelsea are kind of his toy. Sometimes Abramovich makes decisions that go over the head of the director of football."

Everybody knows that Abramovich sacks managers pretty quickly when things don't go properly. But come on, should Scolari be given more time in the situation we were in during february. We could have finished out the Champions League qualification places, we could have had a second consequtive season without a trophy if Scolari continued. The FA cup victory clearly would not have been achieved if not for Hiddink.

So Deco we don't need you to tell us how good Roman is. So instead why don't you pack your bags and leave.

Image source: skysports.com

Makelele leaves Chelsea FC

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:12:00 +0000

Claude Makelele leaves Chelsea FC after five years and 217 games to Paris St Germain on a free transfer. The news was widely expected as there were reports of him taking medicals at PSG. He becomes the first player to leave Stamford Bridge after Scolari's arrival. He joined us for £16.8m in 2003 from Real Madrid and helped us achieve huge success in many trophies, the most important of which were the two league titles. He should have also won the Champions League for the second time in his career had it been not for the penalty miss by John Terry. But he can leave the club with his head held high after what he has achieved in his five years.

There is now a reason to overcome this sadness because of the fact that Petr Cech has now signed a new five year contract which will keep him with the club till 2013. He is one of the best keepers in the world, if not the best and its a real delight that he has chosen to sign the contract because he had only two years remaining on his previous contract. He was linked with major clubs in May but now he seems to be staying for years to come.

Micheal Essien look to be the next person to be awarded a new contract. Even though he signed a five year contract only 15 months ago the club are refusing to lose him to Inter Milan. Jose Mourinho is a huge admirer of Essien and was thought to be interested in the player. Though Essien has not signed any papers yet, he has agreed on a new five year contract worth £20 m. He has been one of the best consistent performers since his £24 m move from Lyon and it is also nice to know that he is staying for many more years.

Bridge signs new contract

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:36:00 +0000

Wayne Bridge has stunned everyone by signing a new four year deal which runs until 2012 just days after reports that he was on the verge of joining Portsmouth for £7 million, the same fee for which he joined the club. He has always been the second guy and the signing of Ashley Cole from Arsenal in 2006 pushed more on the sidelines. But he has always been a great professional and has done a wonderful job when always called upon. It is difficult to pick him ahead of Cole even though many believe that Cole is not the same player he once used to be when at Arsenal, because Cole is defensively better than Bridge. Had Cole started ahead of Bridge in the Carling Cup final, I think that we could have won it. Bridge lacks the big game experience and hence played in only 22 games.

Didier Drogba who was widely expected to surely leave Chelsea now looks set to stay till the end of his career. During the first press conference,Scolari said that Drogba is 200% in his plans. Now he has followed up the statement by giving a new contract to him worth £130,000-a-week which is equal to the amount earned by Captain, John Terry. He is the best striker in the world and with this wages offered he surely should not think about Milan and Madrid now, a thought which made him inconsistent and poor last season. I am hoping that now that theDROG comes back to his spectacular best which he is capable of.

Meanwhile his former Club, Marseille have said that their fans have staged an online petition to raise £22 million required to get Drogba. So far £1.5 million has been raised. But their Chief Executive said that even if they raised the money they won't be able to afford his wages.

Thanks for the image to magpieszone.com.

Latest transfer dealings

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:10:00 +0000

1) Chelsea have now rejected two official bids for England International, Frank Lampard. Both the bids are from Inter Milan and the first bid of around £6.5 million was rejected before Scolari's first press conference. The second bid of £8 million was put up by Inter after the press conference. It was also rejected.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon and Chairman Bruce Buck are both expecting Lampard to see out the remaining one year of his contract, during which the new contract offer of £140,000 per week, four year deal would always remain on the table. Lampard has said that he would love to stay at Chelsea but prefers a five year contract. Inter are offering four years and an option of the fifth.

Is this a good strategy by the club ? If they hold out a little more Lampard can fetch around £10 million. That is for a player who is 30. But on the other hand £10 million is not a big amount for owner, Roman Abramovich. Its the kind of amount, which I think he carries around in his pocket. Consider the fact that £30 million was spent of someone like Shevchenko, even though I think that he has not been that bad, spending £10 million on Lampard would not be that bad as there is 20 more goals in bag for this season, guaranteed.

2) Steve Sidwell, the first one of the mass exodus to follow has left Chelsea to join Aston Villa for £5 million. The guy never made it while at Chelsea and he leaves after only one season at the Bridge. He joined on the free transfer from Reading. He played only a few times, most as a substitute in the dying moments and has scored one goal. He was made to look worst of the worst in a midfield that consisted of Ballack, Lampard, Essien, Mikel and Makelele. Good luck to him for the future.

3) Scolari has said that there will be quite a few players leaving the bridge as the squad size is too large for him to work with. There are currently 32 members which is huge in any club. Scolari is looking to trim it to 25 which means 22 outfield players and 3 goalkeepers. So expect nearly seven players to depart the bridge. The top the pile would be Ben Haim, Malouda, Pizarro, Shaun Wright Phillips.

Thanks for the image to Dailymail.

Scolari Unveiled as Chelsea manager

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:14:00 +0000

Scolari was unveiled amid huge flashes from cameras yesterday as a new era for Chelsea FC dawned. Scolari has already interacted with the players when the pre-season training began at Cobham training ground on July 1st, 2008. Scolari answered to the reporters question in very good English much to the surprise of many. He answered questions regarding the futures of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard and also whether there will be any more new signings at Chelsea this summer. About Lampard's situation he said

"I was very happy because I asked if he wants to stay and he said 'yes, I will stay at Chelsea',"

This is after Chelsea FC confirmed days before that it has had an OFFICIAL offer for Frank and that it had rejected it. Lampard is holding out for wages of nearly £150,000 per week which to be FRANK is quite huge. Whether Lampard stays or not does not depend on Scolari or Inter Milan but on Chelsea FC whether they are willing to offer such a huge to a man who is 30.

Regarding Drogba, he said that he expects Drogba to stay at Chelsea and that he is one of the best players in the world and features no 100% but 200% in his plans.

Regarding new arrivals in addition to Deco and Bosingwa he kept his cards close to his chest and mentioned that he wants to see the players more before deciding on who should be brought in and who should be allowed to leave.

And what Chelsea press conference would be complete without the phrase 'Beautiful Football', one which started when Grant was appointed back in September.Scolari mentioned that too and said that he would try his best to bring beautiful football to Stamford Bridge but also mentioned that winning is more important to him than beautiful football.

Scolari joked a lot and even called him the 'special one' but that was only to his family and friends. He had the unmistakable aura and arrogance of JoseMourinho but at the same time had the silent and understated character of Avram Grant.

Whether he'll be successful or not is a question the future will answer, but for now he seems to be one heck of a character who will certainly make the Premier League and Chelsea colorful.

Thanks for image to BBC.

AC Milan reject Kaka bid

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:59:00 +0000

AC Milan last night rejected a massive offer for European footballer of the year, Kaka. Chelsea have been interested in bringing Kaka to Stamford bridge for sometime now and they moved officially for the first time with a bid believed to be in the range of £50 million. This would make Kaka the biggest transfer in the history of football had the deal gone through. But strangely AC Milan choose to reject the bid in spite of their financial difficulties caused due to their failure to qualify for the Champions League this season.

"For Kaka, an astronomical offer has arrived from Chelsea."

Galliani said. The big reason for Chelsea's enormous interest seems to be now down to the new manager, Scolari. The Brazilian desperately wants to bring his fellow countrymen. But Kaka has mentioned several times that he intends to stay at Milan for a long time but the prospect of playing in the UEFA Cup next season and coupled with the huge wages that Roman Abramovich can provide it will surely be very tempting for him.

Latest transfer news

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:44:00 +0000

1) The rumours about Drogba leaving has started again with Drogba's agent claiming that he would consider a move to Real Madrid. Whether Real Madrid do really want to sign him when there is already Raul, VanNistelrooy and Robinho in their squads. One possibility could be a straight swap with Robinho. There is also the possibility of reuniting with Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan. This news comes after Scolari had reportedly told that he doesn't Drogba but wants Samuel Eto'o. Drogba could be sold to fund a move for Eto'o.

2) I discussed previously in one of my previous posts if we needed Arshavin for the squad. Well, Roman Abramovich certainly thinks that way. Reports in Russia have emerged that both Chelsea and Barcelona, a club which Arshavin supports have had their bids accepted. But Chelsea are believed to be in pole position to sign the play maker for £12million.

3) Frank Lampard may not move to Inter this season according to Jose Mourinho. The former blues manager has said that he does not expect Lampard to be reunited with him this season but is pretty confident that he'll surely join them next season. Lampard is currently on a holiday in Italy.

Image thanks to Sky News.

Chelsea sign Deco

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:36:00 +0000

This rumour has been around for sometime and finally it is announced officially. Chelsea FC have signed Portuguese midfielder Deco from FC Barcelona for a fee of £8 million. He has signed a two year worth around £100,000 per week. This was one news that I was hoping that it would not come out as it now means that Frank Lampard, my favourite player will surely leave to Inter Milan. I don't know the reason behind the replacement of Lampard. Has he not performed well recently ? No, the last three seasons he has scored over 20 goals a season from midfield. Does he cause any problems within club ? No, he is seen as one of the legends at Chelsea FC, why would he create any problems. I am truly disappointed.

Coming on to Deco, he is a classy midfielder. Any team would like to have him. He is a very good player and some of his vision for passing are exceptional. He can create loads of chances for the strikers if he is able to play at the same level he did for Barcelona a few years ago. He has plenty of experience in both Champions League and International level and so it will help us move closer to realizing the dream of winning the Champions League. And £8 million is not a huge amount for a player of his quality.

But at 30 he is not getting any younger. We already have Ballack, Lampard, Makelele who are over 30. What is the necessity to buy another player who is over 30. What happens to Micheal Essien then. Essien is miles better than Deco in my opinion. He may not have the class and trickery of Deco but his power and stamina are irreplaceable. In reality even if Lampard goes, I would have Mikel, Essien and Ballack in the central midfield of a 4-3-3. That is it. No more new signings. Youth and experience are in abundance. Scolari has his untouchables and so expect Deco to play every game. Very tough to see Essien staying at the club if it continues.

So, I think that Deco is a hasty and unnecessary signing. But he is a Chelsea player from now on and I welcome him with open arms. If he succeeds then we can surely get the Premier League back from Manchester United.

Thanks for image to UEFA.

Euro 2008 Final: Spain defeats Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:08:00 +0000

Euro 2008 is over and Spain have been crowned the Champions of Europe after 44 years. They defeated Germany 1-0 to claim the trophy which I think they deserved more than Germany, not for their football on the night alone but over the entire tournament. Germany have been very inconsistent throughout the championships.

Except Ballack they don't seem to have a world class player. Yet they have reached the finals, which is a remarkable achievement in itself. Spain were breathtaking against the Germans and the centre back duo of Metzelder and Mertesacker did not seem to have an answer for Torres's pace and strength. Spain created chance after chance and they should have probably scored five or six if not for some brilliant goal keeping by Jens Lehmann. He spent the entire night diving left and right.

The only other player who was doing fairly well was Ballack, even though he was missing in the first half. I do feel for Ballack. Going to three finals in a season is a incredible achievement. But losing all three is an even bigger disappointment. Ballack now has played in the Carling Cup, Champions League and Euro 2008 finals and has ended up on the losing side on all the occasions.

The one big thing that the German team lacks right now is outright pace. In the present side only Lahm has good pace while in Spain there is Torres, Silva, Ramos, Villa, Puyol and so on. This caused the Germans counter attack to be ineffective. Casillas had nothing to do all night except saving a few shots from Ballack.

No one will doubt whether Spain have been the worthy winners. They have been the most consistent, scored most goals, have remained undefeated. My Player of the tournament is Marcos Senna. He has been the most consistent player, shielding the defence from attacks and also getting himself into attacks now and then. Maybe if Germany had won it then it would have gone to Ballack.

My team of Euro 2008:

Casillas

Ramos Pepe Puyol Zhirkov

Senna

Ballack Sneijder

Silva David Villa Podolski

Euro 2008 Semifinal Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:20:00 +0000

The semi finals of Euro 2008 are over and its Germany and Spain who fight it out in the final this Sunday. Germany overcame Turkey with a dose of their own medicine. A late goal. But Turkey would have to consider themselves very unlucky after having the best chances and possession in the match. With Turkey having only fourteen players available for the match, the Germans looked over confident and relaxed. They didn't press the opponent as much as they should have. They rode their luck and finally with 30 seconds to go before the final whistle Lahm scored the winner. The Turks were broken and you could see it in their faces.

Meanwhile Spain overcame Guus Hiddink's Russia to enter the finals. They deserved it on the night because for some reason or the other Russia were incredibly poor compared to their recent performances. They had one shot on goal all night and that was too off target. Spain on the other hand enjoyed everything, possession, chances and so on. Xavi, Guiza and Silva scored for them.

And on the final, I think that if Germany played like they did against Turkey then they have not got a single chance against a very good attacking side like Spain. But if they manage to raise their game like Ballack does for Chelsea then they have got a good chance. Germany to win the final 2-1 after extra time.

And over at Chelsea FC, there are only a few days remaining before Scolari takes over at Stamford Bridge. I am waiting to see the signings he makes. Will he keep hold of Lampard and Drogba ? Will Deco come on massive wages and fail miserable ?

Will Arshavin come to Chelsea ?

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:49:00 +0000

Who is the best player of Euro 2008 so far ? Wesley Sneijder, David Villa, Micheal Ballack, Podolski ? No, none of those. Its Andrei Arshavin, Russia's No. 10. He has played only in two games so far and already he has skyrocketed in terms of popularity. So who is Arshavin ? Why is he linked with all the top clubs in Europe ? For that you just need to look at his last two games for Russia. We were the first ones to be interested in him back when Avram Grant was in charge.
are that we are indeed going to sign him.

Reasons why must we sign him immediately
1. He is a fantastic player.
2. Has lots of pace and trickery which is handful to any defence.
3. Will cost only £10m due to a release clause in his contract.
4. Abramovich wants to bring a fellow countrymen to the club

Reasons why he shouldn't be signed
1. In the same built as Luka Modric so it will be difficult to predict if he can cope with the physical nature of the premier league
2. At 27 already he is not going to get any younger.
3. He is the highest paid player in Russia at nearly £60,000 per week so will expect wages of nearly £100,000 per week which isn't cheap.
4. Doesn't really fit into Scolari's 4-2-3-1 formation.

So do I think Chelsea should sign him ? No, He is good but we don't really need him.

Spain defeat Italy on penalties

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:46:00 +0000

Italy are slow starters, but I always felt that they would find form at the right time to defeat Spain. But that wasn't the case yesterday as Italy missed Pirlo and Gattuso due to suspension. It was like Chelsea FC missing both Lampard and Makelele for a important match. It showed throughout the game as Italy were struggling to create and major chances apart from the few scattered ones. If there is going to be any award for the best diving performances then most probably the team would be full of Spanish players and Iniesta would be the captain. Villa tried to outshine him in that department but ended up getting booked for the dive..!! It was a pretty boring match to be honest and there is nothing to write about except the result in which Spain beat Italy 4-2 on penalties to meet Russia in the semi's.

Coming to Russia, it is really surprising the fact that the arrival of one player back to the team can totally change it. That player is Ashravin. He produced a superb display against the Swedes in the group stage and an even better one against the Dutch to beat them 3-1. Nobody expected the Dutch to go out in the Quarterfinals after their superb performances in the group stages.

Turkey again rode the luck to beat Croatia 3-1 on penalties. Croatia looked to have won the game in 119th minute, but Turkey came back for the second time in the tournament to score in the last kick off the match to take it into penalties.

Micheal Ballack is the only Chelsea player left in the tournament and I am going to support Germany from here on in. Surely the Turks must be out of luck and late goals now. So I expect a Germany, Russia final. Yes, I think that Russia will beat Spain.

Ballack's Germany defeat Portugal

noreply@blogger.com (Bharath) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:21:00 +0000

Euro 2008 is really heating up. In the first quarterfinal match Germany defeated Portugal 3-2 in a very exciting match. The Germans gained a immediate advantage not when Schweinsteiger scored but when the team line up was announced, because Mario Gomez wasn't playing. So you are now already sure that no one in your team is not going to be there just to add numbers up. I haven't seen a worse player than him in European Championships. So Schweinsteiger came in for him and produced a superb display by scoring one and setting up two. Ballack was controlling the game from the centre as ever and would have surely pleased our new manager, Scolari who was obviously frustrated by Ronaldo. He should know by now that Ronaldo isn't the player who everybody hype up to and that he will probably score wonderful goals against Derby, Reading and so on

He has always gone missing from the big games and yesterday was yet another example. For the definition of a truly great player, one needs to look no further than Ballack, Zidane, Ronadinho in his prime and so on, but for God's sake its definitely not Ronaldo.

Portugal were defending like Derby and it showed when they let a free header to Klose. For statistics, Klose has scored 11 goals in his previous major tournaments including this one and all of them have been HEADERS !!! Anyway ever since Ballack came back from injury back into the Chelsea side and started to play with his heart out, I have become a fan of him and I wanted him to win the title to overcome this season's disappointments. They are certainly back on the right course now.

And in the roundup of other results, Spain defeated Greece 2-1 to send the defending Champions back home in a humiliating way. Russia were the ones who certainly caught every one's eyes. They thrashed Sweden 2-0. Alright, 2-0 doesn't sound like a thrashing scoreline but if you had watched the game then you would know that they could have easily scored 6 or 7 based on the quality of chances they created. Guus Hiddink, the coach of Russia whom we tried to lure to Chelsea FC has kept is record of getting all the teams he has managed past the Group stages of a competition. He did it with the Dutch, then spectacularly took minnows South Korea to semi's or World cup 2002 and Australia to the last 16 in the last world cup.

Quarterfinal Lineup

Germany vs Portugal 3-2
Croatia vs Turkey
Netherlands vs Russia
Spain vs Italy

Image Courtesy: BBC Sport