dodojojo

Well his lemons aren't going to change for the next 6-10 weeks, so he needs to adjust the flavoring in order to stay within sight of the CL (god, that's so depressing to write). That's his job. Stop whinging about officials and your damn football principles. I see shades of Liverpool of 2009-10 here. Chelsea simply can not drop out of the top 4.

He wanted to be manager, he needs to step up and make better lemonade with the lemons he's been given.

Name one top four team in the PL starting 7 players from 2004. And for all those wanting Higiuan in January, yeah, that's the answer. He'll solve the problems of creativity, non-existent wing play, terrible defending and slow players. Should have spent the money on Modric and Perreria this summer.

So Chelsea have had more managers than changed players since 2004 in today's starting lineup. Mind boggling. AVB, Carlo, Hiddink, Grant and Scolari > Luiz, Mata, Ramires and Brana.

But for today, don't you think AVB is responsible for starting players like Lampard, Malouda and Drogba in that attacking approach? The reality is that some of those of players have to start because we have to rotate. But while play them all together against Liverpool? How about spacing it out? Or in a lesser match? Fuck me if we start that lineup against City. Why was Torres, Meireles and Sturridge on all the bench? If he brought them on as subs, perhaps he should have started 1-3 of them.

How many LFC players from 2004 started today? I bet the answer is freaking zero. And we make fun of them... Freaking 2004, I can't remember what my life was like then it was so damn long ago.

Chelsea isn't going to win any titles this season. So let's truly transition the team. AVB basically played the old Chelsea spine today with a sprinkling of Mata and Luiz and asked the old legs to play an uptempo game today. Why? Go forward, stop fucking around. Build around Torres/Mata/Meireles/Ramires. I would even say Sturridge but he really needs to sort his team play out. This new spine won't win the league this season but let's move forward. I would even think about throwing Romeu on as he's not as ponderous as Mikel though I'm sure he'll make youthful mistakes. Terry and Cole are done. Once magnificent players now prone to costly mistakes because their bodies simply will not allow them to play at a high level anymore. They will continue to start games because we simply do not have replacements right now. The alternative is to batten down the hatches and focus the game on Lampard/Drogba once again and just batter teams into submission. It won't win anything but hey, at least we'll play to their strengths. Me? I'd rather we go forward seriously with the transition now that the title is a long shot.

Torres should now know that if AVB talks about him to the press, he won't start the next game. Didn't this happen for Sunderland also? AVB knows his players but Drogba's last game was QPR and red card aside, he was awful the 40 minutes he was on the pitch. Lampard, Malouda and Drogba--maybe AVB is chucking beautiful football aside today and asking Chelsea to get it done with the old system. Maybe it'll work.

I don't even know what to say anymore...loon.... http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/12890070471/1/tumblr_lupmx05EWk1qk15xk

Pass from Gerrard?

Think it's best to keep a level head--three points is everything. Torres goal(s) is a bonus. If he doesn't score but provides 2 assists, I would be happy to take that. Can't have LFC catch up to us.

If Kalou starts, Torres will probably go emo and cut himself on the pitch. Remember how little Kalou connected with Torres for the Stoke and WBA games?

Pepe Reina better watch his back after having offered an alternative view of Torres' departure from LFC. Reina paints a far more balanced and human picture of what went down. Since they're not directly about Chelsea, I'll only leave the links rather than pasting the interviews here. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-Real-reason-Fernando-Torres-joined-Chelsea-revealed-by-Pepe-Reina-article831961.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/nov/18/pepe-reina-fernando-torres-liverpool?newsfeed=true

Can see Liverpool parking the bus like they did in the last game and counter-attacking with Suarez. They'll mark Torres tightly which may result in everyone moaning about him "not trying." Hopefully he and the teammate will play it smart. If Torres gets double-teamed in the box, he should take his defenders for a run-about and it's up to Mata, Lampard, Sturridge and others to take advantage of that space.

Exactly. It's like last season, "oh my god, play Anelka, Drogba and Torres together, we'll totally kick ass!" Then it turns out playing three center forwards with poor supply isn't really a good idea. Especially against teams who park the bus. Chelsea's priorities this winter should be a deep lying playmaker (and we all know who that player is) and a right winger/forward.

I'm not even asking for special treatment. But as a functioning adult in a multi-cultural society like England or the US, you may want to understand why calling a black person a monkey is insensitive at best and potentially an explosive situation at worst. Understand that and act accordingly. Yes, it makes life a little harder, a little bit more of a hassle, but that's life and with a little effort, we can handle it.

You're seriously skirting the line of blaming a potential victim of racist abuse and death threats. Seriously. I'm not going to get into a debate about what racism is. There is information you can research that would do a far more adequate job that I could do on a football board. But simply telling a black person to essentially "get over it" doesn't make racism go away. I understand that sometimes there are some situations do seem trivial but telling back people to not act like victims doesn't mean racism will go away. Educate yourself and learn about context. I'm sorry but you know what, history does matter. Society doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Liverpool boards have game threads for both the Sunday and CC games. Funny that they're ticked off about having to play the CC game 2 days after Man City and are completely buggered about how they'll play their first team twice in 3 days. Should someone tell them Chelsea like any self-respecting big club are playing the kids for the CC?

Amen. Nothing can be done about the past and LFC, with their numbers, are always going to win the propaganda war. Best thing is for Torres to get on with it and help Chelsea win titles. Hope AVB and RA have a winter transfer plan to bolster the club for the rest of the season. Stay close to City, do well in the cup tournaments. Think next season is the one to really aim for the big silverware. Crossing fingers, toes and eyes that Torres will regain his form so he can be an important contributor to Chelsea's success. That would be the best possible outcome.

Until Chelsea get a RW or RF in the winter window maybe AVB can stray from the 4-3-3 and play 4-2-3-1. It's the best formation for Torres and at this point, let's try to play the best formation for the personnel and we can play the ideal 4-3-3 after a couple of new players come in. Cech Brana, Luiz JT Cole Meireles Mikel/Romeu Ramires Anelka Mata Torres I would prefer Anelka over Lampard but we know Nico doesn't always show up for every game. Lampard can slot in for Meireles/Anelka. Anelka and Mata to swap positions throughout the game. But AVB won't play 4-2-3-1 apparently....

Don't think the LFC fans felt the same righteous indignity when he left his boyhood club Atletico to play CL football. Funny, the sentiment was more like 'yeah, he's a great player, he can't be expected to stay with a mediocre team, he can only do so much for them, etc...' Maybe, but I generally get the feeling that Chelsea fans are much more level-headed and do not have the enormous sense of entitlement that LFC fans have. I think if Torres performs well and helps win titles, Chelsea fans can bid him farewell with grace when the time comes. Whereas LFC fans can't believe he didn't fall on his sword for them. They just can't comprehend that LFC isn't the be all and end all for Torres. That in his world, his life club is Atletico and if he could leave them for CL football, why would LFC have a stronger sway over him? If he wanted to be adored and not compete for titles, he would have stayed in Madrid. Speaking of betrayal, Torres took a huge leap by leaving his boyhood club and risked damaging his relationship with those fans to go to LFC. He did so because he thought he was joining a world class team. Instead he won nothing in 3 1/2 years, endured a farcical ownership situation and injuries that may plague the rest of his career. So yeah, betrayal is a 2 way street scousers. You don't have a right to ask Torres to sacrifice his career because of a fucked club situation that was out of his control.

Like I said, don't bother. Even when he is gracious about them, they follow up with 'fucking wanker'. They just want to live in their own little Liverpool world where the Torres transfer happened with the cartoon villains--Torres, RA and Chelsea conspiring to bring down heroic Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool. Every game they play brings light to our dark universe.

I vaguely remember having this discussion post-Arsenal so I'm not going to rehash it except to say Torres was in position for a couple of easy opportunities early on but the ball never got to him. I'll just let you recall why. Sturridge was so abysmal that day Arsenal pretty much stopped marking him and Torres was left with two CBs on him and without his right side partner providing much help.

Problem with Sturridge is in action and now in media reports, he clearly wants to be CF and he quite often doesn't provide any width, doesn't cross particularly well and apparently can't use his right foot to pass the ball--which is a problem since he plays on the right. AVB may as well play 4-3-1-2 because Sturridge isn't and won't play like a RF. Sturridge is a natural goalscorer but he's inexperienced and immature (as a footballer) and it shows in his team play. But I agree, picking either Anelka or Sturridge results in major pluses and minuses. On his day, I would go with Anelka because he's a much more accomplished and skilled footballer than DS. Problem is when is that day exactly.

From Marca, translated: Torres, don't bother, the haters are going to keep hating. Hope the Bridge doesn't let LFC supporters abuse Torres too much. His form has been so inconsistent it's hard to predict what he will do. I hope to be pleasantly surprised and he brings back his form against Man United/Swansea (without the misses and red cards of course).