Tortilla9

Those are crazy numbers. Buying English (I know Adam is Scottish) seems to equal overpriced in my mind. But the LFC love affair continues in the media. I saw this somewhere: "Only Liverpool would consider Carroll, Henderson, and Adam an upgrade over Torres, Mascherano, and Alonso."

Formation Played...Maybe - it's the Daily Mail so take it with a grain of salt

I read on twitter (I know) that it was a 4-4-2 but don't hold me to that.

Small correction, its @NikkiBull1 Also said: Off to bed what a day! Rubbed shoulders and played against some of the worlds elite footballers. What an amazing game to start the season off Torres body language looked a lot better than last season in games I watched on tv. He looked happy, his touch was very good Somebody asked about Torres and pace and he saidL @JimmerP Electric! I know it was against lesser opposition but he looked very sharp

Man, this one hurts. As I type this my daughter is sleeping on the couch after having her acl reconstructed this morning (this is her second one). She's doped up (thank God!), bandaged up, thigh to ankle knee brace on. I read this thread with more than a little personal interest. My daughter is a center mid like Essien and like Essien her luck with injuries has been absolute sh*t. If it weren't for bad luck she'd have no luck at all. From personal observance, the mind is willing but the body sometimes isn't. Knee stiffness, over compensation on other body parts to protect the knee resulting in little aggravating injuries of other parts, performance inconsistency, mental block over possible reinjury. For us, it was a year after getting back out on the field (not surgery) before she finally felt 100%. I wish Essien the best of luck. My daughter's surgeon asked this morning if she was ready to give up football. I said not yet. He said "it's hard to have it taken away from you". For Essien's sake I hope it's not taken away from him and I hope to seem him back on the pitch again.

I feel for Essien. Damn knee injuries. My daughter is 16 and scheduled for her second ACL surgery on Monday. Injuries take a toll on the body and mind. Speedy recovery to Essien.

How the hell did Haye get a 50-50 split on the purse? That was ridiculous. HBO announcers after the fight when Haye raised his arm "delusions of grandeur".

The Williams sisters could take a lesson from Federer on how to handle yourself gracefully in defeat. Classy move to wait for Tsonga to walk off together.

TBH they were lucky to be up 2-0 having been outplayed by Mexico even then. Cherundolo's injury substitution was like the Titantic. It just went from bad to worse at that point. The defense was awful and Bornstein, Southern CA boy, was made to look like an amateur. My daughter quoted her favorite movie "Remember the Titans" and said he was getting beat like he stole something. The middle was non-existent. Nepotism is one thing but at least make sure it's working. Dos Santos had a field day and looked like a freakin' superstar out there. The US backline was afraid of Chicharito and didn't know whether to go left or right, stay, move up, etc. Completely disorganized. The positive: welcome back Freddy Adu who put in a good shift. We were at the game and you would have thought the US was the visiting team.

Seriously? WTH....

Player Goal/Assist (PL only) - top 10 - 2010/11 season Malouda 13/4 Drogba 11/13 Kalou 10/3 Lampard 10/2 Anelka 6/4 Branislav 6/4 Ivanovic 4/4 Terry 3/1 Essien 3/2 Ramires 2/0 Player Assists (PL only) - 2010/11 season Drogba 13 Malouda 4 Anelka 4 Branislav 4 Ivanovic 4 Kalou 3 Cole 3 Lampard 2 Essien 2 Torres 2 Ferreira 2 Zhirkov 2

2010/11 all competitions: Anelka 16 Kalou 13

Looking at Torres 07/08 season focusing on PL only, he scored 24 goals and had 3 assists. Gerrard had 11 goals and 11 assists so the big assumption is Gerrard provided most of those assists for Torres. Torres has never been one to provide a lot of assists either. I was looking at Chelsea 2010/11 PL only and I was surprised: Drogba with 13 assists (highest on the team) Torres and Lampard tied with 2 assists each

Now why do you want to go and be reasonable and patient.

@portugoaldotnet on twitter (follows portugual) "For the moment Falcao to Chelsea is just rumour, albeit very widespread & incessant rumour. No agent/club/player quotes on it" "A lot of the players pledged future to Porto on back of AVB's committment to staying" Also says Correia d Manha stupendously unreliable. If they printed today was Thursday he'd double check.

Falcao or any other striker will have the same problem to deal with that current Chelsea strikers have - service, lack of midfield creativity, inability to cross the ball in, slow build up. I hope the club is addressing that issue as a priority otherwise they're throwing money down the drain. AVB came from the left field when most though Hiddink was coming back. I'm hoping Chelsea leadership will continue to surprise us with smart, exciting, moving forward decisions. Or is that too much to ask?

Apologies if this has already been posted on the forum. If it has, mods please delete. AVB's scouting report for Chelsea against Newcastle Interesting comment about N'Zogbia in the report: On the other size N'Zogbia is a pure winger. Gives width, receives the ball when opened and from there attacks our full-back 1vs1 (incredible pace). Dominates all kind of typical winger behaviour......

Can cross the first one off your wish list. Fergie got him first.

There are a lot of morons on the radio today talking about AVB. I'm embarrassed to say a US caller called into Talk Sport to say that 1) Chelsea won't finish top 6 and 2) Fat Sam will do better in the PL than AVB. That was embarrassing to hear some Yank dumbass call in with that.

Thanks for responding and letting us know. The forum is a great place. TBH I think its my piece of junk computer because I experience it on other sites too.

That made me laugh. Too bad I can't rep that more than once.

The thing about being young is the blinders of arrogance. If you achieve success early on in your professional career you tend to think you're bulletproof. Don't know how long it will last but I think AVB will come in with a sense of purpose and determination to prove he's in charge and has a plan. Either you're with him or you're not and hopefully Roman gives him a little time and freedom to prove himself. At least that's what I hope.

I'm glad these Kalou "quotes" were from the Sun which we can all discount because I'd hate to see other blogs, websites, etc take it and run with it.... too late. My favorite headline: Fernando Torres disrupted Chelsea's title push Chelsea need a serious injection of leadership unafraid to kick a little player ass (and that includes Torres if need be). Too many separate player agendas, ego and not enough focus on the ultimate prize as decided by Roman (championships, titles) which keeps getting managers fired. Is it always like this?

I think it needed to be said but I don't think publicly by players, especially Kalou. I don't think Kalou was airing this out for the team's benefit but his own personal interest. That's my opinion. I have no idea about JT's wagon circling capability but I do agree the dysfunction appears to be deep and I don't envy the next manager trying to fix that mess.

I think most agree that changes need to be made if Chelsea wants to not only continue to qualify for CL but also be competitive in CL and fight for the PL title. I personally wonder what changes Roman, Gourlay, Hiddink, whoever else, thinks need to be made. Is Gourlay being honest or giving a spin? Every team with experienced players faces the question of timing regarding moving players out. Do we get rid of an experienced player a season too soon or a season too late? Too few clubs get the timing just right. The shelf life of past glories, however recent, doesn't last forever.