LDN Blue

I sympathise with him hear. If what he's saying is true, then all credit to him because we might not have Anelka & Ashley Cole in the form they're in now.

Ah okay, because I was going to refer to the Mikel Arteta for England senario but having re-read into that.. So I guess as long as Noble has an Irish passport, he'll be alright?

Is that why things didn’t work out at Chelsea, because you weren’t given enough time? The board were worried because we hadn’t beaten any of the big teams. I can understand that but we were only two or three points off the lead. And there were all these questions about the atmosphere, because there were one or two issues with some of the top players. That’s because I took a stance that other coaches wouldn’t have taken. I didn’t have total control. There was this resistance to me, mainly because there were two or three players who tried to impose their authority in a way that wasn’t right. The only thing is that I made them an important part of my plans, and that hadn’t been the case before. I wanted them to get back to their best, not just for Chelsea but for the rest of their careers, and they couldn’t see that. They wanted to play every game and that was one of the problems I had. Whenever European clubs appoint South American coaches they always have doubts about how they work. My working methods were not the kind you’d usually associate with English football. In South America we do a lot of work on the basics. When we have a whole week of training sessions, for example, we get the first-team players and the reserves together, and that doesn’t really happen over there. That was another of the reasons why I didn’t stay. I just carried on with my job though, and I know that some of the players improved as a result. Look at [Nicolas] Anelka. He wasn’t getting a game and then all of a sudden he was Chelsea’s top scorer. Ashley Cole couldn’t use his right foot and later he even scored with it, and all [salomon] Kalou could do was run fast. He couldn’t dribble very well, so we taught him to dribble round poles. Ok, I know they were only poles in the ground but it helped him to start dribbling round opponents, which is something he does now without any problem. And then there’s [Didier] Drogba, who had a serious knee injury but is fine now thanks to the work I did, not just the club’s doctors. I refused to let him play with an injury and I had problems with him because of that. But in 20 or 30 years' time, there’ll be two or three of them who’ll still be walking absolutely fine. They’ll remember me then, for sure. I’ve never spoken about this before and I’m not bringing it up now to justify myself. I understood the reasons and I accepted them. I was sad because I was enjoying the job and I wanted to stay on. I think English football’s great, but I had to go and I did. Do you think things would have been different had it not been for the language barrier? It would have been much easier for me, because I would have used normal words as well as the others you often hear on a football pitch. They’re a bit stronger and sometimes players understand that kind of language better than if you talk to them like a friend. Yes, it would have been different. You have to think hard about which words to use and that stops your thought processes. And even then it often comes out wrong. If I’m talking in Portuguese though, I’ll say what I want to say and add a bit more if I feel like it. Then I’m done. FIFA

Really? Thierry Henry for me personally.

I really think we need an experienced midfielder.

Why is Bosingwa out again?!

I don't think that's allowed? He's represented England at u21 level so I don't think he'd qualify for Ireland?

LOL as much as we love Carlo, we know he tends to tell the media one thing & do another. I think we'll bring in 1 or 2 midfielders at least

SkySports

BlueLion said it all with his first post! Nice work Max! I'm expecting one every month now yeah?

Taking Esk's job there are you?

How odd it is that he played a whole season last year with a hernia injury and had one of the best seasons in his career. Upon fixing that he's been struggling.. Just some food for thought there

Agreed Max, but I'm sure once the lead is established we'll see Kakuta, McEachran, PvA or Sturridge get a run out.. Giving our stars a rest for Sunday

I see your point, but don't forget Essien & Ramires can both play as a DM. So giving Mikel a rest shouldn't really be a problem. I can imagine something like: ..................Ramires ............Kakuta - Zhirkov Sturridge - Drogba - Malouda

Ahahahaha, gotta give you a +1 for that!!

Surely out of anyone we should rest Mikel?

that & I like to laugh at their b/s stories. Tribal Football always gives me the biggest laugh though

Agreed. Especially at the Bridge

Got these off Goal.com (comes in use for once.)

Looks like Joe Cole's set to miss this game, he went of injured today. Good thing, I really don't want to see him play against us.

Yep exactly, that's the only down side to if this happens, he's 28. Ah Paulo, good point. I think he may retire at the end of the season and if not we'll keep him around as long as he wants because he's a good substitute.

Thinking about this.. It may be good for us.. Good competition for positions Bosingwa vs Srna Ivanovic vs Alex Bruma vs Terry Cole vs PvA 2 specialised per position..

I like the idea of the "loan with an option to sign". That way we get to see if he's any good. It worries me we're chasing a 28-year old for a position we don't need filling. But, ICWT :cfc:

Very good point from Carlo. If we progress now we can stroll through the 2 remaining ones, perhaps give our reserves a run out. Give people like Ferriera & Hilario 90mins

that's one way to avoid being subbed.