Tortilla9

It's like teaching an old dog new tricks - it's not working for some of them. Some players just don't seem to grasp the concept. Either they can't or won't pass and move, play quicker, press, etc. Winning is definitely the goal but this relatively early start to the schedule is showing that Chelsea still need some work.

After the flight from hell yesterday, I finally made it home. Watched the DVR of the Chelsea game, watched City, watched United today. Compared to the latter two, Chelsea's offense is slow moving, ponderous, and about as exciting as watching paint dry. The offense is painful to watch: receive the ball, turn, pass sideways or backwards, repeat, finally go forward. Watch City and United and the speed of play and attack is night and day compared to Chelsea. I don't think teams need to park the bus against Chelsea because by the time the attack starts moving, they have time to settle and its all so predictable and boring.

Or TX would say its 3x10. lol

Torres said to self: If nobody on this team wants to give me the ball, I'll go find somebody who will. A week later...Mata. I kid but I think once he got wind of Mata he took the bull by the horns (no pun intended) and sold Chelsea to Mata. The service to Torres is an issue but every forward on this team should demand quality service and every player on this team should want to provide it to Torres, Drobga, Lukaku, Sturridge, Kalou, etc. It's a team game and if you can't get one player involved, especially your spearhead, something needs to be corrected. And it appears AVB is trying to do that not just for Torres but for the team.

Just starting? I've asked multiple times why there appears to be no media impartiality at times. I thought be unbiased was Journo 101. Guess not when it comes to Chelsea.

How does that work and I'd be more than glad to do it. I'm good at googling and searching but uploading etc kicks my ass.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/TV/NewsAndInterviewsDetail/0,,10268~2432107,00.html Torres on Mata on Chelsea TV. Great news for Torres. As soon as Chelsea interested, Torres texted and called everyday. Tried to help him (Mata) once he said he was interested in Chelsea. Mentions Sturridge and Mata as players who can play quickly and vertically.

Others say Trabzonpor. Others have no clue. UEFA statement at 730 pm to clear up the confusion (or add to it).

Experts say Kobenhavn/Bate/Haifa. Then you have the scouse delusional fans who say Liverpool.

We went to about a dozen matches during the 2003 season and it was a fantastic experience. We didn't know much Spanish (I still don't) and we knew even less football. We wanted to experience Spain's culture and kind of fell into tickets for a game. An older gentleman who'd been following Atleti FOREVER would point and gesture during the matches to my daughter. She was like a sponge learning football and Spanish. He loved Atleti and Torres and hated Real Madrid. Our last game we gave him a new Torres home shirt as a small thank you gift. He was a true gentleman and proved that football is universal. To this day I still don't understand how more Americans don't get it and love it.

lol!!! She's 17 and loves football. She's played since she was 6 and she usually "educates" me during games. Her love of the game started with two events: 1. Spent a year in Spain for work and we were "exposed" to Spanish football. Atletico Madrid was easier to access than RM and that's where we fell in love with Torres and football. 2. "Bend it Like Beckham" the movie. She is still a fan of Becks to this day. He may be slow as dirt but his dead ball delivery and crosses are still pin point accurate.

My daughter saw the little message from him to the fans and she said "awwww he is soooo cute, I want his jersey". I have to admit to a little crush myself on the little guy. Really excited to have him here.

Or maybe Malouda gets sold, Yossi takes the 15 which is his father's #, and Mata gets #10.

Romelu's portion of the presser seemed a little more light hearted compared to Oriol's. Speaking English and that laugh of his were great for Romelu. Felt like they were grilling Oriol "what about Barca, what about Cesc, what about your buyback, what about Barca". Liked how both players faces lit up when their compatriots were mentioned - Hazard and Mata.

He played in the reserves game today and scored the winning goal.

I was watching the game alone and like most I was muttering about Kalou. My resident expert/daughter sat down later in the afternoon and watched the game by herself. I came in the room a few minutes before Kalou got subbed and she knew he was going to be subbed. I asked her if she thought he should have been subbed and she said "he wasn't the only one playing like sh*t". I was thinking back to one of her youth coaches who was a raving lunatic. During one game he started pulling girls out because they were playing horribly. They ended up playing 8 v 11 (and they had 8 girls sitting on the bench) because he was so pissed off. I know you can't do that at this level but can you imagine who would have been left playing after the first half. Back to Kalou, she said "what the hell is on his head, he should be subbed for that stupid thing".

I haven't seen the video yet. Did he speak in English?

Adidas must be loving that Oriol photo.

Mata is going to need to take a page from Torres on his personal website - needs an English and Spanish version now that he's in the PL. When Torres transfer saga was going on, he (his people) updated his website frequently with the initial bid, the rejection, Torres handing in his request, the second bid, the acceptance. He/his people used his website as a tool. I remember it hit me that he was official at Chelsea when the background changed on his website from red to blue. Can't wait to see Mata's website change with Chelsea photos.

Where did the Sun comments come from? I ask because somebody said usually players do their first interview with ChelseaFC and then the media. Did I miss something?

Harry, please STFU! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2028969/Redknapp-blasts-Mata-midfielder-verge-completing-29m-Chelsea-switch.html

He looks like a mini Federer to me.

Every club goes through a time when they look at their more experienced players and ask the question of can they still contribute at the same level? are they still a starter? are they a bench player? who can we replace them with? do we need to move them on? do we need to take a different approach? Chelsea seems to be at a crossroads with a few of these players. Do you keep starting them because they're club legends who have contributed to trophies and past success? Is that reason enough? Do you keep starting them because what you have on the bench isn't better? How do you get your bench better unless you give them experience? Is it status quo because a lot of players are comfortable? Chelsea fans/supporters have been begging for youth, fresh new faces. They're here. What do you do with them? The big question for AVB in my mind is how he continues to drive toward winning while incorporating the new faces. How slow is the bedding in process? Chelsea need to make some tough decisions or it may be more of the same from last season.

My computer at work is crap. Hopefully somebody else has found it and posted it. It was from Sky Sports.

Juan is in London. http://yfrog.com/kkr4wsuj