EskWeston

Well at least they have the sense to return him after breaking him.....

Seriously bad news!!! I wonder if this may promt us to dip into the transfer market earlier than we would have liked to?

Well Anelka has played with Drogs in the Christmas tree formation, Anelka seems to really like the free role behind Drogba too, so i don't see it as a problem. Yes agree, it is a nice formation and works well because we don't have any out and out wingers anyway. Malouda, J.Cole and Kalou are all converted to wingers.

Always good to hear reports like this, having a close group is very important. And Ancelotti seems to be able to have the right blend with the players, the perfect blend between boss and friend. Lets hope it continues for a long long time.

Technically it wasn't a 4-3-3. It was a 4-3-2-1 we are led to believe. The difference being the 2 behind the forwards are not out and out wingers and will move around more over the pitch. I take your point though that it certainly has seemed more effective in recent games, but the diamond was equally effective at the start of the season. It is hard, was December just a bad patch we needed to get out of or did we NEED to tweak our formation to get out of it? The most important thing is that we have both available (also the 4-3-3 if ever needed) which means we can mix it up to win a game. I agree Carlo is a clever man, tactically he is usually spot on and i have no concerns about how he is taking us forward. The question with him is, is how he is going to build his own team over the next few seasons with a lot of our top players getting older.

Great to see Frank pick this up, and fully deserved. Frank gets a lot of credit but not as much as he deserves.

Actually just got into these, listened to the last 2 and enjoyed them, will download the latest one tonight. Heard TalkChelsea get a mention at the end which was nice, does anyone have any involvement from here?

It is a very tough question actually. I think i actually prefer the 2004 team. Who would win up against each other. Well with Robben and Duff on the wings and Maka, Lamps and Eidur in midfield i think the 2004 team may well come out on top. I think i prefer the 4-3-3 especially with Wingers like Robben and duff. The question is, where would you replace in the 2004 team with a 2010 player? Definately Ash at left back, probably Bosingwa at right back - The only other would be Essien for Eidur. Although they are probably pretty even in most respects because the other way around i would only replace Maka for Mikel, Robben for Malouda and Duff in for Anelka - but that is debateable Lol, gone around in circles. I think they are pretty even just with different styles.

Yeah i really hope he can be as good as Darren Bent lol Sturridge has a lot of ability to be a top striker. Time will tell and he will need to take his chances.

Thats a bit harsh, especially considering you would give it to either Borini or Kakuta who have done less here.

Fair outcome as it was always bound to be. A fair price for current ability and future fees depending on his progress. Even the end will be well worth it in the end i am sure....

It is not easy for a player like Deco who doesn't deal too well with the physical side of things, and even harder when you are at his age. Can't teach an old dog new tricks and all that

It won't bother JT too much i am sure. But it is funny how whenever we are top of the league and doing well the stories come out of the woodwork to try and sestabalise us.

Hopefully there will not be any risk of this game getting called off because we could really do with getting back into the swing of things. Would like to see us stick with the wingers and i like the idea of Sturridge playing the left side of the front 3.

Deco has been very hit and miss, but if we can get him back in some sort of form he will be very useful to us.

He shouldn't have to make these statements!! How many of the papers that printed the twisted version will print this statement? My guess would be none, so as far as most people are concerned Terry still made those comments.....

Agree, it terms of value for money Cech was a fantastic buy.

Vanilla Ice tribute page?

Leading by example doesn't come into it in these circumstances im afraid. These are only footballers, if their is any real threat to their safety then they should come back. Should it really take a player to be killed to do something? These are not soliders, the terrorists winning or not shouldn't come into it, the players saftey should be the only concern.

Not sure than Mancienne would be what we need at our level in that role. Especially with more natural options in Mikel, Matic and Cork.

Clubs like Madrid, Arsenal and United will be fine, because this is all based on profit and not debt. Madrid, Arsenal and United have massive debts but still run at a profit. Whereas we have no debt but do not yet run a profit. Thats why he wants to bring this rule in because it protects the established clubs and effectively stops anyone ever breaking into the elite in European competition.

It doesn't mean that at all. First priority was to get Stoch regular first team competitive games. Stoch is playing at a high level. He will cope physically with the Premier League, and he will be given that test when the time comes, probably next season.

Lol, Mirolsav Stoch is already better than Wright-Phillips ever was....

Bosingwa has been a massive loss in my opinion. I think you will see us cracking into another gear when he is back. If we could find another right back like him as back up we would be laughing, Ivanovic does a great job but just doesn't offer us the same going forward.

Matic is a lot more mobile than he looks, he is seen as a Ballack type player by a lot of people and i can certainly see why. But he could be very good in the holding role, Mikel was never taylor made for the holding role he was more attack minded. McEachran and Kaby would be completely wasted in the DM role, the only times they have played there it is to give them experience and more to their game, there will be zero intention of ever playing them in that position for real.. Yes for Jack Cork should definately get a crack at it, a player i like a lot and i think can grow into that role. Hopefully while he is back Ancelotti will see he is a worth a crack.