LDN Blue

LOOOL indeed.

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/4236/0/chelsea-close-brazilian-teen-dubbed-new-kaka

£2million for a 28-year old. Might as well give him his shot, if it's true. I fear of Sturridge's reaction though.

in light of recent downturns at the club, I thought I'd bring some humour to TC. Found this on ESPN today, it's brilliant

Haha I was screaming at my TV, even before Albirghton got his cross in, I was shouting "PAY ATTENTION. DON'T CONCEDE. SEE IT OUT!!" And what do you know, kaboom I have to admit though, what a ball by Albrighton & what a clam header by Clarke. 2 young guys had amazing composure in a game which looked like they had lost! We should sign them up, they'd fit right in with Josh

£20million for Cahill or £26million for Luiz..

As for these 2. I think we gave them enough chances. Di Santo didn't impress anyone, even when he was on loan, he didn't get many goals at all. In pre-season he looked weak, didn't take his chances. Same with Sinclair to be honest. Didn't impress when given his chances, now he's doing better at Swansea but it's unfair to say he didn't get a look in.

In our defence though, it's much easier for Barcelona. They've got world class players, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Puyol, Pique & Valdes all there when players like Pedro and Bojan are given their chances. So it's much easier for them to settle in and keep up the pace, because they know the pressure is not that big on them to out perform, they can just take 10-20minutes to settle (knowing there's goal threats from all players) and then try and get in. We don't have such luxuries with our squad. As we've seen, when we bring on youngsters, it's more because we're hoping they'll change the game for us. We put them under such pressure to win the game that, in our eyes, they look like flops. When Pedro first came on, he was chosen ahead of players like Henry, Eto'o (I think at that time) & Yaya Toure. It was an honour, it showed Pep trusted him over such players and he believed in him. When Sturridge comes on it's because our bench is so weak that he has no choice. Also it's got to be noted. Pep plays the players in their correct positions. Pedro is a winger, Sturridge is not. Edit: I forgot to mention. The Barcelona/La Liga system is a lot better for the development on young players. The Barcelona B team is largely responsible for the success stories at that club. The B team is the reserves who play in lower league (so The Championship alternative). They're not allowed to be in La Liga at the same time as the A team, obviously. This structure is much more effective in the youth production & experience. It means they don't have to loan out players and it allows them to keep a good eye on the development. How I've wished the Premier League would adopt a similar method.

I have no doubt, this summer will see quite a few transfers for us. In the mean time we've just got to keep the pace and go as far as we can..

^ what he said. The claim he looks depressed is a bit far-fetched. He looks lively on the pitch, he's determined to prove wrong the people who have already written him off. The Stamford Bridge faithful cheered for him yesterday.. That would've helped his confidence a lot. He knows most fans will not pass judgement until next season at least, he will appreciate this. Just ask Drogba & Malouda.

Yeah! Exactly what I've recommended. It just can not work having Anelka play wide any more, he used be good there but things have changed. Until we invest in a proper winger, who can play primarily on the right, Malouda should take up that flank.

If you're talking about 2 holding midfield players, then you have to slot in Mikel for Ramires/Essien. Mikel's been the most solid player this season, everyone was singing his praises in October, everyone saying how brilliant he was, and now everyone's writing him off? Mikel is a better defensive midfielder than Ramires is. Essien is looking shaky back there, he's making rash tackles and give away reckless free kicks (which cost us), he's ill disciplined as of late. Also I'd say take out Anelka, because he doesn't know a thing about sticking to his position. I'd say switch Malouda to the right flank and bring in Zhirkov on the left. Or even play Kakuta instead of Anelka.

But the point is, it was 3-2 to us and the players let it slip by over-celebrating before full time.

So you'd rather have passion, and then lose a game over finishing the job and then showing passion? Our complaints are not of passion, but of them reserving that celebration till the final whistle when it would've been 100% theirs. Instead they got complacent.. "play to the whistle" the first rule of football. Imagine they done that in the Champions League and that goal would knock us out.. Would you be this calm then?

Probably why the rumours of him wanting a Liverpool move are true..

Agreed about the atmosphere. I just hate how highly priced the Premier League games are.. £50 per ticket. It's awful, if I was there today I would've sang all 90minutes.. I've done it before and I'd do it again. I'm never quiet when I go, I'm always coming home out of breath. You just don't hear that lately :\ Yeah I know what you mean. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Carlo's off the hook, my reservations still remain. However the reason for us conceding so late was the players switching off. There was no reason why they could not see it out at 3-2, all they had to do was watch the Villa players and keep possession in their half. You're completely right about your points though, especially the 4th one, which really annoyed me. I just did not understand why Ferreira was on the team sheet today. Bosingwa is our best right back at the club, so against a dangerous team like Aston Villa why on earth did he select Ferreira?!

For once, I'm glad

Exactly, that's why it's so embarrassing of them.. Would've been a huge day for the fans and the club if we'd seen it out..

Well at least with the FA Cup we're guaranteed a Europa League place, which in turn would lead to a Champions League place if won LOL

Surely we can't put the finger at Wilkin's departure as the sole reason for this pathetic form still can we? It's been 10 games since he was sacked, since then our form has been... P10 W2 D4 L3. Wilkins was not the manager, his effect in the squad was not so huge that the players have stopped giving it their all and become almost tactically inept. You could say maybe the immediate effect was down to it (the 3-0 loss to Sunderland).. But from then on it's just the players not producing.

I noticed it too. Carlo doesn't even talk to him, Paul Celement is more used. Carlo will use the excuse that Elemano hasn't got his coaching badges yet, and that's why.. But it's rubbish, you can just tell Carlo has no interest in talking to him. Let him try and bring in Maldini as an assistant if he wants, at least he'll contribute something bloody useful

Oh I see. Well in that respect, I still believe you are wrong. We don't have a strong squad, our bench is weak, and our players need competition. Successful teams, have big numbers, full of players who are brilliant and young but also have experience. There is no doubt we need a central defender and a right back. Ivanovic doesn't like playing right-back so we should listen to that view. We've been linked with Srna at right-back, if he's good and cheap, let's invest. At centre back we've been linked with Gary Cahill & David Luiz, both young and great, let's get one of them.. Alex could be out longer than January and Bruma is only used when absolutely necessary, if John Terry is not playing the partnership of Bruma-Ivanovic would not work (see Sunderland defeat). Kalou is a hopeless case. He's been here 6-seasons and has hardly improved. His time in a Chelsea shirt should've been over this summer, but I'm not going to go on about this because I'm tired of trying to explain this point. A goal keeper must be found to be a 2nd choice keeper. Cech has a potential 12 more years left in him, but we still need a Cudicini-type keeper to occupy the bench if Cech gets injured (which he's likely to in the next 12 years). Hopefully not sooner rather than later.

He is, but he's not finished imo. He's still a goal threat for the opposition, he just needs to free himself from some psychological shackles he's placed on himself.

You're contradicting yourself now. You're saying that Drobga, Anelka, Lampard and Ferriera will be finished by summer but you still say we don't need players? Kalou will make no difference being pushed up next to Drogba, because Kalou is not a good footballer, he's got some pace but defenders find him easy to play because one-on-one he's rubbish, he's a bit like Joe Cole was, a few neat tricks but no end product. The main point is. We have no players to cover when the likes of Lampard, Terry, Drogba and Malouda get injured. This old fable about using the likes of Josh McEachran, Daniel Sturridge and even Patrick Van Aanholt was a nice fantasy when we believed, but we see now they're only really brought in, in dead-rubber games or when players get injured. The confidence in these players are next-to-none. I actually feel sorry for them.. Sturridge is now 21, we're turning him into a Carlton Cole, a player who's 28 and only just managed to score more than 1 goal in a game last week. The Chelsea way, in the early Abramovich years was simple. If players aren't good enough, we'll buy some more, and when those guys aren't good, we'll buy more again. This policy was good for the short term and now we realise it's rubbish in the long term. For us pure fans, we long to see academy talent come through and our views were recognised this season, or so we thought. You can't just throw a 17 year old on the pitch and expect he'll save the match, it's simply too much to ask from a boy. The transition should come from guidance through the elder players. For me, Benayoun was a good signing. If he was fit he'd be a stepping stone for players like Kakuta to come on. As his appearances would go down, Kakuta's (or someone like his) would go up. That should be how youth is integrated in the squad, not all at once, like we have this season.