hjperdeath

I think he did say the truth. PSG, Barcelona have both helped with their respective partnerships with Qatar Foundation, Oredoo, Qatar Airways QIA, QNB, and so on. PSG also played a game with Real over here . Even if the promotion is minute, Qatar needs it. They did have an analysis on it with numbers thrown and stuff. It's worse in the newspapers over here Since PSG's got drawn with Chels, all I've heard is propaganda that makes Chelsea look like the devil's offspring. They don't care about their own national league when it comes to Barcelona and PSG..

Considering I do live in Qatar, I will agree with the fact that PSG is being used like Barcelona had been to improve Qatar's stature in the footballing world. However Khelaifi (the man is brilliant btw, hi5'ed me once during a QTF game ) helped QIA take over PSG completely, the reason why two hundred million euro's are present as a sponsorship deal. It's kinda nonsensical to have your owners sponsor you. If UEFA did have an external enquiry , then PSG would most definitely be in trouble along with City. Chelsea should escape even after having Gazprom as their sponsors.

Yeah, cause Stoke City can actually afford to have Messi in their team... If anything we should be happy to have someone who top teams want, even though they aren't going to get them. I don't get how he's disrespecting Chelsea. Kinda awkward cause there are more Nigerians that speak English than Britishers.

yes. Lucas > Lionel Messi.

Isn't Porsche what he wears all the time? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ScB98QAh2w

Agreed. Sherwood has a number of reasons to be pissed from their game against them. I really did feel Arsenal would drop points. All this resilient defensive performance was mainly due to Tottenham being ineptitude upfront.

*bump*

While Hazard and his opposite winger have to work twice as hard than they normally would.

I meant in the final third.

Submitted scouting report.

On Saturday, two teams who have ambitious dreams of lifting the title come May, face each other at Stamford Bridge. When Chelsea visited The Emirates, they came away with a modest draw. The West London outfit’s aim has often been to clinch at least a draw away from home and grab all the three points in the home tie (United, City, Arsenal) . Arsenal have varied their tactics since we last met them, and these variations have often had a direct impact on the result they have achieved.. (Rosicky and Chamberlain can be switched, but I’ve not done it to avoid confusion) The game against Tottenham would be one of the many examples in which a neutral or rival fan could clearly see Arsenal not playing the ‘Arsenal’ way. They preferred to sit deep and counter by exploiting Tim Sherwood’s high line, which he inherited from Andre Villas Boas. Arsenal ended up with just 41% possession and completed just 75% of their passes. To stress on that point even further, Tottenham exchanged 109 passes compared to Arsenal’s 43 in the final third. Rosicky, Cazorla, Chamberlain and Podolski did well to work the channels. Regularly exploiting it as Tottenham looked clue-less when it came to the basic principles of uniform pressing. The full-backs pushed up, while the midfield stayed still. Just another day in the office for Cazorla and co. After Rosicky gave them an early lead, Arsenal looked resilient at the back. A good sign for Arsene as his side prepared for Chelsea. Here is Arsenal’s action areas at White Hart Lane - To understand how Arsenal work , I’ll not be dissecting the club into attacking and defensive transitions like usual, but instead sum up the main principles of their philosophy. Firstly, is Arsenal’s fluidity , The 5 behind the back can really work well together, and did so against Tottenham. Their intelligent movement is a strong attribute, which did give Vertonghen and Kaboul quite a few problems. Second is their engine. The one who sits ahead of the back four. Arteta had a really good game against Everton [even though Roberto did pin-point him out in his strategy] and Spurs. He receives the ball, when Koscielny isn’t spraying diagonal balls, and picks out passes. Chelsea effectively did nullify his contribution by playing a 4-3-3 at The Emirates. By doing so Mourinho made sure that no matter which situation arose, someone was always pressing at Arteta and out-numbering the midfielders. Press tangentially across the half-way line, force the ball towards the sides and win the ball back by creating 3v2 situations. That’s what happened and it can be seen using this graph sent to me by a friend of mine. A brilliant depiction of ball-winning using core principles. There were a lot of ball recoveries in the middle and on the sides, which helped Chelsea a great deal in asserting themselves. Tottenham went wrong by doing only a part of it. If each player did their duties they could have gone on to score as the Arsenal side we faced was much stronger than the one that played against Spurs. Rosicky and Podolski were not afraid to roam high up the pitch and often forgot their defensive duties. This is where I feel Chelsea can capitalize with their attack. I wanted to talk more about my Arteta point. Roberto Martinez used Barkley to shut him down in December, and it worked really well for them in a game Chelsea fans were scouting Lukaku. Chelsea should aim to shutdown Arteta and press out the system of rotation employed by the #10 and the second midfielder. Maybe not 4-3-3 again because I reckon Arsenal will sit deep at the Bridge, but just press efficiently until you score one goal. Then hit them on the counter, because once they open up, the Chelsea attackers will be having a field day. Keep the pressing uniform and directional. In doing so you not only mess up the organization Arteta takes care of but also increase the chances of ball retention. Chelsea should also look into dragging center-backs. With Hazard in their ranks, exploitable space could open up in between the volatile full-backs and central defenders. Tottenham did plan to do that on quite a few occasions but were their usual self’s when it came to converting chances. Click here to view article

Wait till he gets a new contract.

My standards are too high for mere previews.

arsenal report on its way.

Salah's cup tied..

I could try.

and this is why everyone likes Steve.

How is he not banned yet...

Doha, Qatar.

Absolutely pathetic when you realize that most of the Belgians here have supported the club long before any of them signed. You and the other guy are as much as a glory hunter as you think others are. Pathetic that you have to label respectful people around you, who support the same club as you do. Especially a club that is so multicultural, from a Russian owner and a Portoguesee manager to a Serbian player and Scottish masseur.

no one's said he's naive. I certainly do think we can grab a win without Hazard. That sort of mentality could deflate us in the long run. When I said something about this fixture I meant that we will be able to carry on our run and I don't expect us to struggle like I expected us to struggle away to WBA, Sunderland, Stoke, etc. Other teams have to catch up with us, and Mourinho will make sure we aren't dropping points. I expect a really poor first half and a really good second half.

More of a gut feeling than anything with logical explanation. I guess Salah will start to give Hazard enough rest to come out good against Gala. I do agree with the fact that PL is more important but there's something about this fixture. Schurrle, Salah, Willian and Eto'o for me.

Think Hazard might be rested.

You have really precise dreams....