Kostas

*Very* interesting pick by Ancelotti. A solid defense protected by the experienced and reliable Mikel-Essien duo and some experimenting upfront.As DavidEU pointed out this is a golden chance for Sturridge to show his quality on the biggest stage,I only hope he does not wear his sitter-missing boots.If things go well we might see Bruma getting gametime,Kakuta may feature as well. However I'm a bit bugged about Anelka's absence and Walker's inclusion over Turnbull and Hilario,it could either mean that one of them is injured or that maybe there has been a change in the pecking order.Although it's possible that Ancelotti sees Zilina as an easy opponent(and rightly so) and I'm just making too much out of it. I was positively surprised by McEachran's inclusion,having a 17year old on the bench during an away European game is so unlike us.

Of course no fricking Arse,that's just common sense.

I don't really keep track of such things but it should be in one of the Carling Cup games like the draw with Blackburn last year.

I concur with all the praise about Mikel,it will be interesting to see how he will fare against bigger boys but he was already good enough last year(bar the Inter games). The fact that he managed to establish himself in a team with so many outstanding midfielders proves his quality. If we're lucky he may develop into the next Pirlo,his passing range has been impressive for a while now. Experience will only make him better.

Nice to see most of us Chelsea fans being so positive,I personally can't see us winning it as I've given up on it after the Farcelona crime.IMHO we're not good enough,but even if we were something would stop us.

The thing is neither Kalou or Sturridge are proven European quality and Ancelotti might want to play it safe.I know how terrible Anelka has been as a lone striker for France but maybe he'll somehow get himself to play like he did less than a year ago.It's hard to believe that a player can just forget how to play at a position that he had been playing for over a decade.I think Ancelotti may succeed at what Domenech failed.

What's wrong with a "kid" saying that he wants to be like his idol? Besides his style is closer to Drogba more than Danny's or Kalou's will ever be. This should be moved to the Football Banter.

So we'll be playing without Drogba,Lampard and Cole maybe even JT,clearly some rotation kicking in. Zhirkov is obviously going to play 90 minutes unless he gets himself injured again.Benayoun may also play instead of Ramires. I wonder who's going to be our striker though,is Anelka even capable of playing upfront on his own anymore?I doubt it,either Kalou or Sturridge will replace Drogba.

Drogba got 2 yellows in the home match against Internazionale,I think he's suspended for 2 or 3 games.

LOL I see where you're coming from but that's an overstatement. Anyway,I'm not getting involved in this.

Ok it looks like Drogba is our 3rd choice captain but did I see Ashley Cole turning the armband down during the game?!

Press MultiQuote at every post you want to quote and then press Add Reply instead of using the Fast Reply.

I can't possibly see how some measly 15 minutes is going to help him.You can barely get in the game within 10 minutes.That's definitely not how young promising players should be used.

It's Europe,I can't see Ancelotti taking any risks.Expect our strongest line-up against Zilina.

Ferreira is solid offensively,possibly better than Bran but boy he can't defend to save his life.

Carlo Anceloti says John Terry has an injury to his rib, but says it is not broken. Will decide later whether he can play against Zilina.

Looks like Ancelotti agrees

An ugly win is a win but it looked like even Ancelotti wasn't satisfied. Our midfield support was non-existent and I'm not sure if we can blame Ramires' inexperience.Our defense had a lot of work to do but stood up to the challenge every single time,they created few genuine chances and we conceded a goal only when JT got subbed. I can't believe they got away with just 2 yellow cards,they were playing out of their skins and tried to bully most of our players.Parker was a tool as usual. Our front 3 didn't really have a good game,Drogba had many glimpses of brilliance but he rarely did what he does best. Kakuta didn't get enough minutes to impress but he wasn't bad.

3 points and thrashing a bunch of tools,can't complain.

Is there a single argument against him now?

Hhahahhaahahha What's there to say about this goal?!

Decent flash based stream http://atdhe.net/23801/watch-west-ham-vs-chelsea

This one is great sop://broker.sopcast.com:3912/98700 if you have SopCast

Well that didn't take long

Feck,try this one http://www.tvoo.eu/ch4.html