BlueNote

K, so I'm over here in the states, and just finished watching the match which comes on ESPN around 7:30 in the AM for us. I wanted to start my weekend off great thinking, "well it's Man City, they're a solid team, but we're at home and we should be able to secure 3 points today." After watching that performance, I'm now in a pretty terrible mood going into my weekend. From the first half I felt most of the starters looked tired, flat footed, and just all around unmotivated. The normal sharp, crisp play we're accustomed to simply wasn't there. There were a few exceptions, most notably Lamps, Joey Cole, and JT, but that was about it. Ballack played terribly, Drogz looked off, Anelka was invisible, Mikel, Ivanovic, I could go all the way down the line. That first goal from Tevez was entirely too easy, and showed me the first signs that Hilario was going to have a rocky day. Based on what I saw during the replays, I could crawl faster than the shot that Tevez delivered OFF BALANCE as the football just gingerly slipped right past our keeper. How do you get caught out of position here with two defenders already cutting off a shot at the near post? This would prove to be the precursor to what was to come in the second half. At the end of the first with the score level I'm thinking, this match is not lost, we certainly are capable of pulling out a few more goals before the game is over. Again, I was let down. On that second City goal, I'll admit it was a great ball from Tevez, great run from Bellamy, but what in the WORLD OF FOOTBALL was Hilario doing so far over to the near post? Is that even goalkeeping? Dude, wtf. What was Ancelotti thinking subbing out Joe Cole? Seriously sir? The only player at the front half who ever looked like he wanted to win? And you're taking him out? Why not bring Sturridge in for Anelka who didn't even make his presence aware to the opposing team until 70 minutes into the match. Belletti's red was unjustified in my opinion; I think Barry goes down without any contact and SOMEHOW, the official is able to note this foul and award a penalty AND send our player off. Ballack playing like an 8 year old, sent off. Thanks Mike! Now we have 9 men on the pitch! Yay! Maybe it was the Champs league match in Italy a few days ago. Maybe we are really missing Essien, Ashley Cole and Cech more than we think. I dunno. Whatever it was it was borderline embarrassing to watch that match. Bad day for Blues fans around the world. That's my American take on the match anyway... /rant

One more day.

^ Agreed. Torres will certainly be fired up after coming off a pretty impressive hat trick vs. Hull. We'll need Terry, Cole, Carvalho, everyone to step up and let this kid know we won't go down so easily. Not a big fan of Liverpool either. As a matter of fact, just this past Saturday, I was at a car show wearing my CFC jersey(still showing pride even in defeat), when I hear some guys shouting at me from behind. Sure enough, I turn 'round and there they are, in their red and white Liverpool, Anfield, "Never Walk Alone" glory. Holding up 3 fingers on one hand and 1 on the other reminding me of the score in our defeat, I did what any Chelsea fan would do; I starting singing, "Liverpool Slums" towards them and walked off. :blue scalf: Can't wait til gametime!

Thanks bro. Yeah, the WFC match was a blast. I'll sort through some of the photos I took at the game and post them over in the Media Section! There were so many CFC fans there! There was a row of guys sitting behind me who were singing all the CFC chants and songs the entire game like a regular match in Europe. They were all from London, life long Chelsea fans. I wish I could sing along, but unfortunately I only know a few.

By accident really. When I went to the WFC match this past summer, there was a guy handing out cards outside the stadium for the "Chelsea in America" club, and I went to that website and joined, but I also wanted to be a member of a Chelsea support club outside the U.S., where, let's face it, the true fans are. Nothing against us in the U.S., we support the club as much as you guys, but it's a bit different with the Blues supporters in the club's home England and the whole of Europe. So I did some research online and found the site. I immediately loved what I saw and decided to join. Now I've got means staying in touch with club fans over there in the U.K.! Thanks again for the welcome everyone! And Terminator X, I'm loving that photo you have there of Franky! Man's a pimp on and off the pitch! Lol!

Hello all, Wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself after joining this board today. It's a great resource and fan site for this awesome club, and I'm glad to be a part of it. As you've probably already seen, I live in Washington, D.C. in the U.S., wishing I was living in West London so I could attend more matches during the season. I've supported Chelsea here in the states for a while now. I had the opportunity to finally see them live when they came here to play in the World Football Challenge earlier this summer. I attended the match vs. AC Milan in Baltimore, Maryland for my birthday in July, and enjoyed every minute of it. It wasn't a Premier League match, but what a game that was. Wish I could see them in person more often, but I do catch every match Live on Fox Soccer Television over here. Best fans, best club, I'm proud to be a member of this forum. -Jon *Edit: All, Posted before I could change the spelling on the topic title from Grettings to Greetings. Not sure what "grettings" means, lol. I can't change it! Mods plz clean-up. Thanks!