EskWeston

The last couple of days has seen a turnaround from the press and us receiving a lot of praise from the media. I think a lot of that has to do with the constant moaning from the Barca camp. But they are right, we set out to do a job in Barca and did it! Now all we have to do is win a game over 90 minutes at home..... I have a feeling it is going to be another amazing match where it will be end to end stuff. We HAVE to get at their defence and we will do, at the same time we have to stay tight at the back. I think we will see Anelka Drogba and Malouda as the front 3 with Mikel Essien and Lampard in midfield. Essien and Mikel both sitting deeper allowing lamps to support Didier.

Lol, bloody hell. Not suprised that Platini and his cronies have managed to give Barca exactly what they wanted..... looks like their whinging paid off. We need to get at them straight away and get a quick goal and put them under real pressure.

Madrids defending at the weekend was woeful! They played such a high line and allowed Barca behind them far too easily. We will not do that, but we will hold strong at the back and attack them to exploit their weakness. We most certainly can win this game and i would love to see us stick a few past them and shut them up good and proper.

Welcome to Talk Chelsea Troy. The Blog is looking very nice.... By the way the next set of Youth and Reserves vids will be up soon, my PC at home has packed up at the moment so i can't do them yet!

Hello there and welcome to Talk Chelsea.... Please join in all the discussions, we like to have as many views as possible

Feel a little bit sorry for Sahar. He was rushed up level after level in a very short space of time and then sent straight out on loan. In my opinion he was given too much pressure too soon. No idea what the futire holds for him now, but i would be suprised if it is at Chelsea.

Just like the bloody scousers, re-writing History to suit their agenda!

Why would he? Jack Cork is now a Defensive Midfielder. He would play the deep role in a 4-3-3. Raijkovic is a centre back who can play left back.....

I doubt it, a 22 year old does not need a rest! I just think that Hiddink fancied a midfield 3 of Essien, Ballack and Lampard. But as i have said already, i think that was the wrong choice, i would have dropped Ballack and kept Mikel. Especially considering Ballacks form this season....

At the end of the day, all we have to do is score 1 more goal than them. We HAVE to be a massive ammount more adventurous than we was in Barca, and we will be. Defensively they are weak. We need to harrass them, win the ball and break in numbers and we will get the goals we need. If we start worrying too much about stopping them again we will end up in the same situation we was in on Tuesday! We need to let them worry about stopping US this time.

Jack Cork has done brilliantly at every loan spell he has made, becomming one of their most valuable and best players. Personally next season i would bring him into the squad as back up in the defensive midfield role! But it could be equally as likely that a loan move in the premiership will happen.

Completely agree. Mikel is improving all the time and making himself un-droppable. I think it has been very harsh that he has been put aside since Essien has been back. Mikel though is still one of those players that not all fans have taken to. I am not sure if it is a case of lack of appreciation to what he actually contributes or if they see his youth as a liability....

Yup your right, it never does happen, even when playing the smaller clubs in the cups.... Quaresma surely has to start this game!!!!! I would absolutely love to see Quaresma and Stoch start on the wings, it would be like going back to the days of Robben and Duff, fast players who like to take their man on.

It is incredibly hard to try and guess who the next manager is going to be. One thing i think is certain and that is whoever it is will be in place pretty quickly so to make sure that we have the best possible start for next season.

To be honest, if we can't start Di Santo in this match then we may as well let him leave now....

It's certainly a fine line, but the CL has to be the most important thing to us right now. We have to make the final. Guus may suprise us and play a full strength team. But i doubt it. And also i would be a little dissapointed for us not to take the oppertunity to play Mancienne, Stoch and Di Santo - it would hardly be a massive risk.

Even playing a depleted side on Saturday and having the play Arsenal, i would not expect us at all to lose 2 games out of 4. It is tough to know just how many players are going to get rested for next week, but i am sure that plenty will be.

I agree and that was what i was saying. People use age as an excuse for not giving people a chance, but if given the chances they will improve leaps and bounds if they have the quality. Mikel has 3 years of premiership experience. Which shows 2 things: 1) Just how good Mikel is and how underestimated he is. 2) That it isn't always a risk playing younger players, as long as they have the talent. For example, Stoch is now 19 with bundles of talent. Where would he be at this point of the season if he had been given the minutes Mikel got in his first season? My guess would be that he would be a fan favorite right now. It is also incredible because if we go back to before Mikel joined us he played very little football indeed, which at that age is something that can severely stunt the development of a young footballer.

Arsenal are 6 points behind us with 4 games to play. Yes we could catch Liverpoo who are only 3 points ahead, but at this point in the season what is more important? finishing second or making the final of the Champions League? Also it is a fine oppertunity for players who are looking to break through next season to show what they can do in 90 mins.

John Obi Mikel is set to agree a new contract at Chelsea, according to the player's agent. The 22-year-old has been a regular this season and, despite reports linking him with a move to Inter Milan, John Shittu claims the player is close to agreeing a new contract. "We are discussing the renewal of the contract," Shittu said. "There has been interest from different clubs in Spain and Italy, not forgetting some big teams in England, but John will remain at Chelsea. For the time being his only concern is to ensure his position with the Blues and until he has done that he will go nowhere." Source: Timesonline Mikel is one player we really need to be looking at keeping as long as possible. He is a quality player and come on leaps and bounds this season and massively matured his game. It has been very harsh on him that the return of Essien has meant he has missed out on games. Personally i would have kept Mikel in the holding role and dropped Ballack to get Essien in the team going forward. It is easy to forget his age a lot of the time, if he was at Arsenal he would be lauded as a sensational young talent, but here it is forgotten. To put in a little perspective, Mikel is 1 year older than Mancienne and yet we are so reluctant to play Mancienne because of his age

Blimey, hard to believe just how long ago that was, remember it like it was yesterday! Just an amazing feeling seeing those goals going in knowing we have won the league....

Alves was a bloody discrace last night. He spent more time on the floor than on his feet. We need to prove now that we can at home basically outscore them and come out with a win. Can we keep them out while trying to go for goals ourself?

The reaction to this game has been quite incredible. Like we should have let them play their wonderful football and conceeded 5 goals!!! It was risky and it was defensive, but Guus set out to do a job and did it. I don't remember all this fuss when Man you did the same thing last year........

A lot depends on the team Hiddink intends to play in the second leg against Barcelona. I would like to see: ..................................Cech............................ Ivanovic............Alex............Mancienne.....Cole ..................................Mikel............................ ......................Essien............Belletti/Mellis....... Stoch.......................Di Santo............Quaresma Certainly we should start with Mancienne, Stoch and Di Santo

Keeping Guus would be ideal, but there doesn't look like any possible way that is going to happen. Same can be said of getting Jose back, that would be the biggest shock of all. Do you mean an ex Chelsea player? If that is the case then to me the only possible option is Zola, who i feel it is still a little early for. Ancellotti for me is not the right man for the job. It is extremely hard to pick someone out who you would think would be ideal. I think at the moment i would have to pick Rijkaard, with Guus coming back as DOF....