DYC.

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

Game has been delayed for 15 minutes

Daniel Sturridge and Franco Di Santo will lead the attack in the first pre-season friendly of 2009/10. Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi both start in a diamond midfield which has 17-year-old Josh McEachran at the front of it. Nemanja Matic will play on the left. In central defence Patrick van Aanholt will partner Alex with Jeffrey Bruma and Ryan Bertrand the full-backs. Former Chelsea reserve team player Liam Bridcutt is on the bench for Palace. He is on trial. Chelsea are expected to line up in the following 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Petr Cech (capt) Jeffrey Bruma Alex Patrick van Aanholt Ryan Bertrand John Mikel Obi Michael Essien Nemanja Matic Josh McEachran Franco Di Santo Daniel Sturridge Subs: Hilario, Ross Turnbull, Ben Gordon, Nathaniel Chalobah, Jack Cork, Conor Clifford, Daniel Philliskirk, Michael Woods, Kaby Djalo, Milan Lalkovic, Scott Sinclair. Palace: Speroni, Wright, Radosavcjevic, McCarthy ©, Barrett, Danns, Dorman, Lee, Ambrose, Ouasfane, Baiollo. Subs: Price, N'Diaye, Cadogan , Bridcutt, Morgan, Davis, Zaha, Scannell. The game is live on Chelsea TV DavidEU you almost had it right Not excited about the formation though.. I really dislike the diamond formation. Hopefully this is just because of the available squad and Carlo isnt trying to use his formation again. Dont understand why Van Aanholt is in centre defence while Bruma is at right back. Hutchinson is probably injured..again

Add two asissts from McEachran to that

Yeah i can agree with you on that.. but i'd still prefer to see a 4-3-3 line-up

I see where you're coming from and you're right about the fact that he deserves a chance. Since Ancelotti already said nobody's playing 90 min, he would play the second half in my formation. But i have to say that i hate that 4-4-2 (diamond) formation, I dont think it fits our squad at all.