DYC.

Happy to see Matic playing CM. His great vision, passing and technique is perfect for that role. Absolutely love the guy and players like him in general. Players like him just ooze class in everything they do.

What happened to Sam Hutch ? Haven't seen him play once and the official website haven't mentioned anything about him ?

And why is Zhirkov playing centre midfield ? Malouda is much much better in that role while Yuri is a real winger. Really weird desicion

Missed the first half but read the comments and it seems we suck. Question I read something on here about us playing the diamond formation but the official website claims we're playing the 4-3-3 formation. So what formation are we playing ? If it is the diamond i know for sure thats the reason the boys are playing bad, as that formation sucks donkeyballs (well for our team).

Cant wait to see our boys back in action. Hopefully their disappointing World Cup campaign wont affect them. It was sad that not a single Chelsea player really performed in South Africa, well except Riccy. But then again, he wants to leave if Real are interested. My starting line up: ...................................Hilario.................................. Iva............Carvalho.................Terry.............Cole ...................................Mikel................................. .............Ess....................................Malouda........... Kalou.........................Anelka........................Zhirkov

Really ? How do you know that ?

Glad Mancienne's going. It looks like he's finally getting a real and fair chance to prove his worth. Kakuta joining the trip is also very good news, he'll be very confident after winning the euro under -19 (important part in winning it). Feel sad for Sturridge though. Really wanted to see him play with our star players. Also feel sad for Bertrand. Thought he made a good impression in the first pre-season game. In the second game he played as a CB so he couldnt really perform. Suprised to see Sinclair in the list. Maybe Ancelotti will use him as our own ''Walcott'', coming of the bench. His amazing speed is a handfull for any defence, especially tired defences. Di Santo and Cork will probably go on a loan spell again.

Always nice to beat Man Utd, even it's only the Community Shield. Great boost for the confidence of our players. My starting line-up with the current and available team ..............................................Hilario............................................... Iva...................Carvalho.........................Terry.......................Cole ..............................................Essien............................................... ...........................Lamps...........................Malouda....................... Kakuta.................................Anelka...................................Zhirkov

The Stephen Ireland of the 2008/2009 would be a great signing. But he really slipped last season and had some some problems on and of the pitch.

Agree Terry, Alex, Ivanovic, Bruma, Mancienne and Hutchinson can all play the CB role. It's about time we give our young players the trust they need. Man Utd and Arsenal do it, why can't we. It's not like their youngsters are better or that much better than ours.

I'm glad it's not true. I would love for him to stay in the squad and finally getting a real chance. For some reason i like this guy and his playing style (as a DM). I hope Ancelotti keeps him this time and he can fill the role Belleti had.

Hahahahhahahahahahhahahahaha

Please let this not be true. The reported 25-27 mil pounds is ridiculous.

I'd rather keep Carvalho and keep the reported 27 mil pounds to spend it on a really needed player (Neymar, Van der Vaart/Mikel Arteta)

Great back-up for Essien if he does come. The fact that he can play every position in midfield is a great plus. 20 mil pounds is a lot of money though. I'm still hoping for a real playmaker to join us, since we dont have one ! An experienced (26-28) one so McEachran can follow him up in four years or so. Van der Vaart or Mikel Arteta would be great buy and not too expensive aswell.

Owwh yeah almost forgot SUB DI SANTO PLEASE ! It's almost painful watching him play in a Chelsea shirt.

The cb situation is more due to bad luck. Terry and Carvalho aren't available. Alex, Mancienne and Hutch (i guess, dont know what happend to him) are injured. And Rajkovic is somewhere ?

I really dont like the 4-1-2-1-2. I've always said it and i will continue saying it. You really lack width and width is so important in the modern game. It's also very predictable. And we dont even have the right players for that formation. Switch to 4-3-3 Carlo !

*extremely hardFor some reason I can't edit my reply.

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yeah he ended up great. Why? Because he bulked up, thats what Neymar will have to do like i said third sentence. And he worked hard on his condition and stamina. Malouda did the same, remember he was a lot weaker when he first joined. Not all players have that will to work extremely to succeed. There are a lot more failure stories than success stories when it comes to those kind of players in the PL. Most would rather go to the Spanish League, where they would have to work a lot less on their physique. And I was more worried about ending up unhappy of being kicked around all time (Robben, Robinho, Ronaldo are a few examples).<br /><br />I'm not saying he wont succeed but for that amount of money you have to keep the big risk in mind.

Neymar is a great great talent. At only 18 its incredible how good he is, but.. He is a real lightweight and he would really need to bulk up for PL football. And most importantly he will probably get tired of getting kicked around all the time, like speedy ballwizards (Robben, Robinho and even Ronaldo said it). They should rather go for Ganso, also a Santos player. Fantastic 'number 10'.

Chelsea got Benayoun to replace Joe Liverpool got Joe to replace Benayoun

Same here

He's baaaacckkkk

The shirts are tighter than the ivory coast kit