Peace.

Because along side John Terry, he is intouchable. And each and every time you dare to criticize him (or one of these players), your love for this club is questioned. Double standard's flying high.

I just want to speak about the refereeing. Yes, on most of the 50-50 challenges, the referee was whistling in favor of Manchester City. Yes, he should have whistled a foul against Savic some seconds before Ivanovic get sent out. It is undeniable that the outcome of the match has been influenced by this red card. Although, we should quit the moaning like if we were cry babies. At times it's getting embarrassing. Sometimes it goes one way, some other times it goes the other way. We must not to look the other way : while the referee had his share in our defeat, the ones we should blame is us and nobody else. Yes, the game should have been stopped before Ivanovic lost his mind. But what on earth was he thinking to when doing this tackle ?! The referee might have get it wrong 30 second beforehand, even though this doesn't justify by any means what Ivanovic done ! It was a deserved red card every day of the week. Had his mind stayed sane for those few seconds, I am pretty sure we could have won the game. The serbian takes a big share of the blame. Then comes our defenders and especially our captain. He was at fault on the two first goals : on the first one he made a bad clearance ; on the second one he stood there looking Tevez run past him. Our wonderful midfield two has also to take his share of the blame. It didn't function. Lampard was of none help in the defensive duties and Mikel was frail and kept losing the ball. When you have an almost non-existent midfield in front of your back 4, you can have the best defenders in the world, they would still have a very bad day. There is also the tactic set by Roberto Di Matteo. Had he decided to put in another defender to balance the team, we would have been more solid in defense. Don't get me wrong, I am not slating him because he chose to keep playing an forward-minded game, not at all ! I am just stating a fact. So, before crying over the refereeing, we should first look at what wasn't good in our side, and draw the right conclusions from it.

Pre-scriptum : this post isn't written out of a knee-jerk reaction. To my honest opinion, Eden isn't being handled in the right way. Indeed, he cost a lot of money and he has snubbed the two clubs of Manchester, the medias' darlings, in our favor. As a consequence, all eyes will be on him and his every moves will be over-analyzed (in the same way it was for Torres). He will have a huge pressure on his shoulders because of that. And, the fact he is yet to be a very good player doesn't help in this sense. I mean, he has a great talent and has an expensive price tag, even though, he remains a talented player who has everything to prove on the big stage. This means he won't perform on a high level that soon, and he won't carry the team by any means. However, medias won't give a single damn about the fact he is a "will be" and will only focus on the fact he doesn't live up to his price tag. Thus he is likely to get a vast amount of abuses from medias and rival teams' fans. To my mind, we shouldn't throw him in the lions' den like this. At the contrary, we should introduce him gradually in the first team. Moreover, as I said above, he is yet to be a top player, and he still has to prove himself in this league. All these facts tend to suggest he shouldn't be included in the starting XI right now. I feel it is unfair to write off Dani. At the moment I believe it's best to play him over the belgian : he has proved that he could be successful in the Premier League and, unlike Eden, he won't have all lights on him. Don't get me wrong. I am happy we signed a talent such as Hazard. However we shouldn't burn steps and we need to make things right.

The fact we won't sign him fill me with relief. His performances at the Olympic Games confirmed my opinion on him and what I saw of him in the last two seasons. This player is vastly overrated and overpriced. He isn't worth more than £25m. Hadn't it been for his fanciful name, I am pretty sure his pricetag wouldn't exceed the £20m. Don't get me wrong, he is a good player, and it would be a good addition if he were to be brought in. But not for the price quoted, it's way too much. Oh and by the way, I think his physical strength is being blown out of proportion because he is nicknamed after some powerful comic character.

No, he was not. It was Kevin Davies :

Thanks !

He definitely deserves to be given a fair shot at CF. As Kerian, I do not think he will be a great CF because he is a Second Striker, into my eyes. Nonetheless, he still deserves to be tried there. He scored 8 goals in 12 games for Bolton, while playing as a Second Striker, and his overall play was impressive. Last season, even if he had a dip in form in the last few months, he still had a good season while playing out of position on the wing : 11 goals in Premier League (and was one of our best players in the first part of the season). In four months at Blackburn, he scored more goal than what our other wonder striker did in 18 months at our club ! Furthermore, in the last 18 months, his overall play was more impressing than what our other striker's. Into my book, he should be rewarded with a significant amount of starts as a striker this season. He cannot be worse than the other option we have, can he ?

I don't know how the outcome of this loan deal will be, but on the paper it's a wise deal from the board and I believe they got it right to send him in the Championship. Premier League teams don't play a lot of youngsters from their academy. There is too much competition in this league to afford to play a lot the young players. There is always a battle to avoid the relegation, a battle to be in the Europa League, a battle to be in the Champions League. As a matter of fact, coaches opt to go for a safe bet and thus play experienced players ahead of young ones. So... Why would they bother to develop youngsters from other teams ? This is why our loanees have been to many times overlooked in the PL (McEachran, Kakuta, Van Aaholt, etc...). Due to a less high level, the Championship is a league more suited to give youth a try. Between, let's say, 18-21, this is a pivotal momemt of your career, these are ages where you need to have playing time, in order to improve yourself and to envolve into a finished product. If you cannot have playing time, then you won't fulfil your potential. Josh is 19 years-old. He needs a lot of playing time. This is better to get more than 30 games under your belt in a season in the Championship than 10 games in the Premiership. Therefore it makes sense to send him to Middlesbrough, where he will be most likely to participate to plenty of games. Furthermore, he has yet to have his adult body. He has a frail physic and will suffer from it in the PL. He will face a less physical game - I guess - and it will give him time to bulk up his body in order to be ready for the English Premier League next season.

I think it would be a mistake to play him in the double pivot. First of all, the fact he drops deep with Brazil, when they have the ball passession, doesn't mean he could play in the double pivot. Just as the fact he sometimes drops deep to help the defense, neither does mean he has what it takes to play in a midfield-two. To my eyes, to say he will be good in the double pivot role, because of the facts mentionned above, amounts to say that David Luiz should be playing as a Defensive Midfielder ! This is a misconception. To be good in some area of the pitch, while playing there momentarily during a game, and, to play continuously in this same position while being good... Are two different things ! Indeed, when you leave your position during a game to play at another place, you do not have the same restraints. For instance, when you are a defender and make runs forward, he will look good because you will go unmarked, you will have space, etc... Furthermore, to play Oscar that deep, would be to cast pearls before swine. The double-pivot role, whether you're the "defensive" player or the "offensive", is a role which is very restrictive for players (on a tactical level, i.e. they can't leave their position). And this role implies a significant amount of defensive duties. To my mind, it would be just wrong to restrain him with these defensive duties and to limit his playing area. When you have a player with a genuine and natural flair to build the game, why play him in an area and a position which will mute his main assets ? And finally, I can't see him succeed in this position. In my opinion this is way to deep for him. I cannot see how you can convert an offensive midfielder, coming from the brazilian league, to a midfielder playing before the defenders in the Premier League. I neither don't think he has the physical, tactical and technical attributes to succeed in a role implying defensive tasks (the defensive tasks given to a man of the midfield two, of course). I really don't see where this idea to play him this way comes. To my honest opinion, the position which would suit him the most - considering the other players we have and his own traits - would be in the middle of the park, sitting in front of two defensive-minded midfielders, and with the licence to roam all over the pitch.

This is exactly what I am speaking about. Id Est the time when Drogba saved our life in CL against Valencia, while Torres was missing sitters against Manchester United and Blackurn and going 24 hours without scoring. Great minds think alike

How can we say he is finished even if the season has not started ? Maybe Because we have watched Chelsea during these 18 last months. Maybe because we have followed Football during these two past years. Maybe because we don't need to see the testicles to work out whether it's a male or female. We dare to say he is finished because there have been evidences of it during these two last years. First of all, the most obvious evidence : he has been average at best during the last two seasons. When a footballer is playing way below his standard for two years, then you can genuinly wonder whether or not he will recapture his old form. Let alone when this footballer is supposed to be world-class. When a striker goes into a 14 games path without scoring a goal, and then beats his "record", i.e. to fail to score during 29 games in row, and all that in more or less 12 months, you can rightfully wonder if he will be ever good again. When a footballer suffer from an knee injury, and that his level drops significantly after he undergoing the surgery, you can have genuine concerns (i.e. Essien). When a footballer loses one of his best abilities (the pace, in this case), you can question his aptitude to bounce back. When an higly rated footballer fails to do the basics (i.e. to score easy goals... or at least hit the target ! To have a good first touch, to not push the ball too far), and look like a U21 (i.e. getting pushed easely off the ball, being woned by half good defenders, having no mental strength), then it isn't being unfair to wonder "what the hell happens ?". I am deeply sorry to say this, but when you have all these questions I mentionned, about only one footballer, and that all happened in the same time... I presume it's safe to say he won't ever again be at the level he once was.

You've summed perfectly his situation. I couldn't even put it better myself. Well done

I am astonished when I see people bad-mouthing on Sturridge because he had 5 bad months at the end of the season, but on the other hand saying the Wonder Horse is a hard worker because he had a decent work rate during four months, at best, at the end of the season. Do I need to remind you the shit he did from January 2011 to January 2012 ?! Do I need to remind you that he was sulking on the bench, like a 8 years-old girl scolded by his mother, whenever Ancelotti and Villas-Boas played Drogba instead of him ? Did I need to remember you he wasn't even bothered to run, in order to show he wasn't happy, whenever he was coming off the bench ? Did I need to remember you he was often puting heartless performance under André and Carlo ?

If he can play a role in bringing Edinson Cavani here, then we should definitely offload him to Napoli. He excels in nothing. He has a decent vision, but nothing out of this world. He is a poor passer ; he is too careless when he passes the ball, and it leads us to get caught into counters. He is a bad tackler. He isn't physical. He hasn't a good aerial game. He can't play in a double pivot role, because he is neither good at defensives duties, nor is good enough to build the game. He cannot be our CAM. He can't be our CDM in a 4-3-3. All in all, he ain't really useful, to say the least. All he is good at, it's to make silly 30-yards shots, and to chase opposition players like a mad dog. He should be, at best, an utility player. Then, he also is 29 years-old. Next year, we will only be able to sell him for peanuts, since he is pretty average and is about to enter his thirties. So, considering he is valuated at 8 millions, and could be a part of the Cavani deal, then yes, it would be a good deal. Of course, it would lightened our central midfield, which is already lightweighted in term of quality. But he is a poor footballer, and we can find a million of average players, who we can buy for cheap and who are actually good at something (good at defensive duties, etc...). Therefore, the ideal thing to do - if reports suggesting Napoli are interested in him and willing to sell Cavani - is to sell him to Napoli, in order to get the uruguayan, and find someone else to play in midfield if we feel we are short in this department (which shouldn't be a hard task to accomplish).

Yes, it is time to face the reality and move on from the "he doesn't score because he doesn't get any service / because our playing style doesn't suit him" myth. This isn't true and we know it. If Fernando I-need-world-class-players-to-feed-me-in-order-to-look-half-good Torres doesn't score more goals, nor is a good player, it is entirely his own fault. Indeed, as Spike said it, he has no more the instinct to score goals. Because, let's not kid ourselves, if he did these out-of-this-world goal-attempt failures against Manchester United, Blackburn and Norwich, it isn't because our midfield didn't feed him, no, it is because he lacked the technic and the flair to put the ball in the back of the net. Furthermore, when you look at him playing, it's plain and clear that he tries his best to avoid to shoot on goal. If he comes deep to ask for the ball, if he goes out-wide, if he is never seen in the box, well, he doesn't do this in order to participate more in the game ; he deserts his striker position on purpose : to avoid to get humiliated for another failed tap-in. Half-good defenders manage to put him in their pocket ; he gets pushed off the ball by players who are smaller and less strong than him. He has also a dreadful first touch (the ball bounce at five yards..). He struggles to beat his defender. All these facts are due to anybody but him. The fact is that at Loserpool he was the big fish in the small pond. All the resources of the team were set in order to make him shine. Players around him were playing for him. This is a small team mentality, we cannot afford to play to the strength of one player. Even if we were to play this way, he wouldn't shine the way he did at Loserpool because he is finished. His pace is gone, just as his striker instinct. He doesn't have the technical attributes to compensate the abilities he has lost. Plus, he is a one-dimensional striker, he doesn't know how to play a different football than what he played up-north. Whether he will be good again or not, it's up to him. The players we bought will do only little change on his performances. Of course, he will probably score two or three more goals, due to the fact we will have more creativity. Even though, as long as he doesn't improve his first touch, his finishing, etc... He won't ever be good again. And I am pretty convinced he will never be good enough to be the striker of one of the best teams in the world, i.e. be world-class (or not far from it).

Congratulations Manpe.

This is exactly where the manager's coaching skills intervene, bro. If our manager cannot manage to give them the right instructions, and fails to be respected by them, then yes, these three players will end up walking in each other's way. Though, if our manager tells them the right things to do on the pitch, and if they respect what Di Matteo told them to do, there shouldn't be any problems. Oscar, Hazard and Mata seem to be three clever players. The belgian and spaniard have the abilities to play in various positions on the pitch, as it seems to be also the case for Oscar. Oscar said he was ready to play wherever the coach was asking him to play. Mata doesn't come across as a man who doesn't go against his coach's instructions. As for Hazard, I don't know enough of his temper. But all in all, there neither shouldn't be any problem regarding their willingness to play 'out of position'. The bottom line is : if Roberto Di Matteo gets his job right, we shouldn't be worried about your concern.

I won't be kiding anyone. I don't know much of him. But from the little I know and from what I have read about him, I understand he has pace, he has directness in his play and has a good physical strength. I don't know whether he will be a very good player, or just good for a squad role. But even if it's the later case, this is a good signing in my honest opinion. He will bring diversity to our squad, and would give us more options. Indeed, we don't have a player with those traits in our set of wingers. Hence, this is a good option on a tactical aspect. Furthermore, he is homegrown and he isn't really expensive. All in all, it's a good signing to my eyes. He surely will be a good squad player, and, if by chance he develops into a very good player, then it will nothing but bonus ! P.S. And we also need players who aren't dubbed as the next thing / world-class players.

I am fully agree with you. The opportunity to be the world Champion doesn't come at you every day. We don't even know if one day we will get the occasion to play in this competition again. Winning this trophy would get us to another level. It would extend our reputation in the whole world. It seems (I am not sure) south americans rate a lot more this competition than what we europeans do. Thus, I presume, we would extend our fan-base, and our reputation as well, in continents such as South America and Asia. No need to tell the good effects it would have on the marketing and to attract players. That's why I hope we win it and don't overlook this trophy.

http://www.thefirstrow.eu/watch/134480/1/watch-fc-barcelona-vs-manchester-united.html People, mark first row into your favorites...

Why "ironocally" ? Hipsters love vintage stuff. Thus Liverpool is the perfect choice.

First off, I didn't mention where he should play... And even if I did say he should be playing as a Right Winger, I don't understand why you question his eventual contribution in defensive duties. Drogba, despite being our striker, was one of our best defenders in our encounters against Barcelona and Munich. Actually, it doesn't matter where a player is played : wherever he plays, if he has defensive abilities, then he will bring a defensive value to the team (unless if he counts how many spectator there is in the stands). Once again, I did not say that to not play Ramires as a winger was suicidal. I only said that to not include two defensive-minded midfielders in our team would be suicidal. Because as I said, if Ramires doesn't play this game, the only remaining midfielder with some defensive abilities is Mikel. It's just an impossible mission to ask him to do the defensive job all on his own. When I said "phase out", I was only speaking of this game. Since I am not an english speaker, I don't know if it was the best suited term to use. But never mind. You tell there's also Romeu. But I don't know what business it has with Ramires ? Romeu is a DM. If he plays, then that means Mikel doesn't. So that doesn't solve the defensive problem in midfield. Manchester City might had a bad pre-season. Honestly, I don't know their results, and I couldn't care less. However, this strictly means nothing, nothing at all. Each game is a different one. Otherwise, we would never ever beat Barcelona and Munich last year... And you say that Ramires not playing on the wing means a player more adept is playing there. But, it doesn't mean that the player more suited to play there will bring a better defensive impact than what Ramires does ! I can't see one of our wingers/CAM being better in defensive duties than Ramires. Though, don't get me wrong, I am not pleading for Ramires as a right winger. I'd frankly rather in midfield, hence I want us to revert to 4-3-3, in order to keep a balance between attack and defense...

I strongly believe that to park the bus in this game is the best tactic to adopt. I am not really fond of this style of play, but I don't think we have much of a choice.

 Admittedly, the Community Shield isn't the biggest silverware we will be competing for this season. But, a silverware is a silverware, and winning one is a good way to start the season. Furthermore, we play this game against Manchester City, the team which is dubbed the best one in England. Thus, if we manage to defeat the best team in the Kingdom and win this trophy, it can boost our confidence after the poor pre-season we had. We can also build a good dynamic around this success, a winning dynamic. Furthermore, last season we were arguably one the most negative, unproductive, toothless and boring teams in Europe. We can't turn out the be a team playing a sexy football in a matter of days, despite the fact we bought some technically gifted talent (Oscar, Hazard, Marin). It will be a long process. It will take time to play a beautiful football. And I deeply believe that to ditch overnight our defensive approach of the game isn't a wise thing to do. Indeed, to make our transformation of playing style, it isn't as simple as to tell to defensive players to play an offensive football. At some extend, André Villas-Boas tried to do it last year... No need to recall the major failure it was. We also gotta keep in mind we don't have what it takes to play our way regardless of our opponents. As Cap stated, there are certain teams against which we shouldn't adopt an attacking approach. It's suicidal to think we can suddenly play an attacking football against a team with the firepower that Manchester City has in attack. It's still too early. We aren't used to play this way, and neither our new attacking-minded players are settled in the team. As a start, we should only play the offensive football against average sides. It is a big utopia to think that, because we have purchased some talented attacking players, we should right away play in a Barcelona-esq fashion. No. The fact we bought these kind of players doesn't mean we have to play right now a sexy style of football. It does mean that our aim is to go from an defensive football to an attacking football. That's a subtle difference. We can't change our playing style by leaps and bounce ; that doesn't work like this in reality, each and every change needs time. And to my honest opinion, it's better to gradually adopt an attacking style, because this way, we will establish solid basis for the years to come. There's also a psychological factor we need to think about. What will happen, if for our first competitive game, we try to play an attacking football and get trashed 3-0 ? Do you think it will do any good to the squad's moral ? No, not at all. As the saying goes "once bitten twice shy" : we might lose our faith toward the sexy football and thus be recalcitrant to adopt anew an attacking approach of the game. 

Of course, to park the bus is an embarrassing thing to do. But come on ! We won one the biggest trophy in Football by parking the bus. The whole world has seen us doing so. It doesn't make that much of a difference to park the bus in this more or less petty trophy. We are already famous for our 9-0-1. One more game won't make a difference.

Hazard isn't a playmaker. His best attributes are not building the game and make the game ticking. Yes, undeniably he has a good eye for the pass. But, he is more the kind of player who try to beat his opponent. In my honest opinion, he (still ?) hasn't what it takes to be our n°10. I see Mata and Oscar being significantly better in this domain. The bottom line is that he should play where it's the best for the team. Oscar and Mata are more suited to be our playmaker than him. Therefore, even if the wing isn't his prefered position and/or where he is the best, he should play there, for the team's sack.

I gotta be agree with him. Once you phase out Ramires from the starting line-up, which player (except defenders), with defensive abilities, remains ? Only Mikel. And there's not even need to start a "Mikel great / Mikel poor" debate to see that only one player to make the defensive duties isn't enough. Furthermore, against a team with the firepower in attack which ManCity has, you don't act like a kamikaze. We aren't good enough when we are in possession to afford ourselves to play with only one defensive player. We will need time to be an attacking team. Hence, to ditch our defensive style of play overnight isn't a wise decision to make. If we don't want to be riped a new one, both Ramires and Mikel are needed on the pitch.