Blueboy

Come on dude, do you support Chelsea or what? We are definitely going to lose if all fans are going to act like this tonight -.-. You are going to jinx it this way.

Tension grows!!! Come on Chelsea!!!! KTBFFH Chelsea are expected to line up in the following 4-3-2-1 formation: 22 Ross Turnbull 2 Branislav Ivanovic 33 Alex 26 John Terry © 18 Yury Zhirkov 13 Michael Ballack 12 John Mikel Obi 8 Frank Lampard 39 Nicolas Anelka 15 Florent Malouda 11 Didier Drogba chelseafc.com Alex starts:D!

Great stuff, the long awaited own site!

Yeah well, he seems to have restored some of his game against West Ham & Stoke, but against Inter he was absolute crap imo. We can't afford him to don't play at his best tomorrow night, not only because we need to score a goal (or a few), but also because mistakes against opponents like Inter on nights like that, are lethal! I am convinced Joe Cole can fit into that gap perfectly for the Inter game, but hey, don't expect too much of it because Ancelotti gives much credit to the greater names like Anelka. Matic is amazing, he is so calm, so mature and has marvellous passing, besides, he also has quick feet at times in the reserves. Already better than Mikel on that point, and i think he can reacht the level of Ballack at ease, even surpass it in the future!

I feel sorry for you! I have to experience it pretty often myself, one of my friends (a gooner lol) updates me on the Chelsea games when i'm not able to watch via text:whistling:. It's not much, but at least you have something...

Let's hope he scores his first goal against Inter, that would be a good first goal

Wtf dude, Mikel? I know he has developed into a better and more mature and consistent player, but wouldnt place him third in the ranking...

I can imagine that as a player you don't pass to Anelka because he wastes the ball every now and then. Ancelotti should show some balls, throw Joe Cole in! Same for Ballack, i reallly don't see why he is still on the pitch, most of the time he is invisible and doesn't seem to add something to the play/team imo. Time for Matic!

Still the problem stays; we only use one part of the field!

Okay, i shall have a look at it then . What it's called again?

'He did very well, worked for the team, did fantastic assists for goals and I hope that he will play like today on Tuesday. He won't play left-back,' Ancelotti smiled. From the post-match reaction against west ham, so you guys don't need to worry about Malouda at Left-back .

Though it's great to have Malouda in such form, i also see a weakness in it. Pretty much all of our (productive) play went over the left wing yesterday, so if Malouda gets injured or is off his game, what to do?

Don't know about Ivanovic, he has been great for us, but still has a lot to improve. His positioning is rather bad at times, but it doesn't affect his game because of his strong physical play with wich he can correct his mistakes. If we need a very good defensive RB, Ivanovic is our man, if we want to have the best attacking RB in the league, Bosingwa has got to be the man. Drogba has been great for us, people here mainly talk about his goal threat, don't forget how many assists he made! Looking at the fact he never won it, he deserves it this time in my opinion. Malouda is the third choice, who has been absolutely outstanding this season, and just as for Drogs, our main attacking threat, also in games we'd play bad.

'He deserved to play this game because he has trained very well.I think he will play on Tuesday.' Ancelotti in the post-match reaction of West Ham, seems like Hilario isn't going to make it, i'm not sad about it though:whistling:

Nice to see how Malouda got himself on that list with his assist & goals . The Kalou thing also stands out, surprisingy, but still with the little time he gets on the pitch a pretty impressive goal tally. Wonder how much goals he would have notched this season if he put more chances away (because boy, he needs a couple of chances before he is going to score xD)

Somebody should really make a compilation/video of him this season! Unfortunately my PC isn't strong enough for Sony Vegas or Adobe After Effects, otherwise i would have started with it a long time ago!

Got to agree, he proved me wrong! Amazing player, really one of the best wingers around in Europe. Maybe not the level of Messi or Ronaldo, nor such good technique. But he is very strong on the ball, has an amazing cross at times and is a very productive player in terms of assists and goals. Flo for the win! Didn't dare to dream of him becoming such a good player in the PL as he is now!!!

Lol, he´ll always be like this xD.

Inter lost 3-1, we won 4-1. Turnbull was decent, but didnt had much to do, so we can judge him on this game. I don´t know about the Inter game, experience could come in handy with Hilario. Althoug Ross also isn´t a youngster anymore with his 25 years of age...

What springs to eye that this 'great saves' from him are for a big part from (deflected) shots out of the box. So i wonder how his reflexes are with corners/shots/combo's from close range etc. Nevertheless he looks pretty solid, hope he can keep his nerve.

Lol, can't edit that webadress in my post...<br>

Lol, can't edit that webadress in my post...<br>

Let's keep the faith, haven't been to enthusiastic about him myself. He only got signed because he's English i suspect <img class="bbc_emoticon" alt=":eyebrows:" src="http://forum.talkchelsea.net/public/style_emoticons/default/eyebrows.gif">. But i'm slightly more worried about the Inter game, hope our players have their minds right this afternoon!<br>

A Trojan horse for Chelsea youth? A focus on John Obi Mikel John Obi Mikel is a divisive figure: half the Chelsea fans I speak to appreciate the young Nigerian, others don’t. Fans of other clubs (who don’t watch Chelsea games in full) invariably don’t rate him. The truth is however that he’s a rapidly improving player with talent beyond his years. For the benefit of both his and the club’s long-term future, it’s crucial that he now receives the backing his talent deserves. It’s not been the smoothest of rides for Obi Mikel (or is it Mikel Obi? Those I sit with at the Bridge often call him Obi Wan) since he joined Chelsea back in 2006. His transfer itself was controversial of course, but in his first three years at the club he was sent off four times and collected more yellow cards than the Special One had press conferences. His discipline was clearly an issue, and not just on the pitch – three fines came for arriving late for training – and he seemed to be suffering from over-confidence. Last season things worked better for Mikel however. Relied upon first by Scolari and then Hiddink – in no small part due to Essien’s horrendous injury – the Chelsea number 12 looked set to properly take the reins from Claude Makelele in the holding role, who had left the club the previous summer. Strings of games followed and, to many at least, he was improving. Unfortunately a tendency towards inconsistency and the odd concentration lapse – from memory a couple of the goals in the 1-3 away defeat to Roma were down to his errors – came to characterise his ability for many looking to judge his progress. He was often – and is still – accused of being too negative, only able to pass sideways and a defensive liability. It’s not hard to see why some Chelsea fans don’t rate Mikel. If the figures are to believed, Chelsea may have paid up to £16m for him (although the club’s recent exoneration in the deal to sign him might see some of that recouped), and such a high transfer fee brings greater expectation. He has been prone to lingering too long on the ball and he has had concentration lapses. Perhaps more than anything else, following the exemplary Makelele is very tall order indeed. To judge Mikel by such standards however is neither fair nor realistic. He is just 22 years of age (he’s 23 next month), exceptionally young for a holding player, and actually shows uncommon discipline, reading of the game and awareness for someone of his age. How many players aged 22 have played 153 games in that position for such a high-profile club, all in just three and a half seasons? Not many. And – it seems to me at least – parts of his game are starting to improve dramatically. Again because of an Essien injury, Ancelotti has given Mikel a sustained run in the first team and it is paying dividends. One or two errors aside (the header to Tevez in the Man City game, for example), he has been exceptionally consistent over the last couple of months, having a 94% pass completion rate over the four consecutive Premier League games he has played. A swashbuckling Essien he is not of course, but he has been more adventurous with his passing and is moving the ball far quicker. Perhaps this is Ancelotti’s influence – after all, we know that the Italian likes his deep-lying midfielders to operate as playmakers, hence his attempts to sign Pirlo last summer. Above all, Mikel is starting to demonstrate an Essien-like self confidence in his own strength on the ball. Repeatedly over the past month we have seen him time and again receive the ball in close quarters in his own half, hold off two opposition players, emerge with the ball and move it forwards on to a blue shirt. Taking responsibility in such dangerous areas of the pitch certainly suggests a player growing in maturity. Unfortunately, with that responsibility comes greater risk. Ultimately that greater risk will, occasionally, bring mistakes. And here lies the issue: are Chelsea – and not just the manager, but also the fans – ready to accept players, especially young players, making mistakes? If we aren’t able have a little more patience to understand that young players need game time to improve, and if we can't accept that giving them time means mistakes might be made, the club will need to stick with its existing one-dimensional, limiting and expensive ‘off the shelf’ transfer strategy if it wants to stay competitive. That will cost Chelsea not only money – money it probably doesn’t have - but also youthful drive and enthusiasm. For Chelsea’s management (and its fans), now is the time to recognise Mikel’s improvement and forgive his mistakes – the success of one young player could lead to the success of others. If they don’t though, it could reinforce the awkward precedent that youth doesn’t get a chance at the club, and present an almost insuperable barrier to rebuilding the squad for the future. ---------- bridgeviews.co.uk Really good article about Mikel!

So what? He doesn't seem to score less because of his age... Congrats Didier . We love you!