Blue Armour

Depends on how bad it is...we won't know for sure until the next few days... But if its a recurrence of the same injury, then that's pretty much it....end-of... Damn...now I'm taking that curse his father supposedly placed on him seriously...

No player deserves to get injured... But to be honest if he could pick a time to be injured, this would be the best..unlike the end-of-season run-in or the middle of it.....

You have to wonder, what this could mean for the club... I mean how will it affect our transfer targets...will it affect our chase for an attacking CM? I thought we were well covered regarding defensive CM's, with Ramires, Mikel, Essien and Josh(if you can count him as one)...but Mikel doesn't exactly have the history of being fit throughout the season, and Ramires can't really be used in a "holding" role...neither can you say the same for Josh...

I'm a bit concerned..if this is the recurrence of the same injury, this could be the end of Essien's road not just with Chelsea but with top-flight football as well... Let's all hope for the best...

I say wait till pre-season starts...If AVB can get Bosingwa playing to his top level, then our problems are solved...

Just a reminder that our actual fitness coach is Jose Mario Rocha (who came with AVB)....Ortega maybe nothing more than an add-on

Lol...I feel the word "playmaker" is thrown around too often these days... If you call someone a "playmaker" a lot of people instantly think the guy can single-handedly win the match for them....

Fully agree with this post...There was a time when we could rely on Lampard for any deficiency we had in midfield, but we absolutely need an extra attacking/creative mid to play along side him. Also, its too early to decide who we've lost out on...so we can't rule out anything at this stage....As far as I'm concerned, all our potential targets remain as such..

Also food for thought: Just because Drogba and Lampard seem to be playing well into their 30's, doesn't mean everyone can...

I can see where you're headed...While I agree the squad doesn't need an overhaul, I think that to bring in 2-3 new players into the squad we will need to remove 1 or 2 to create room, unless one or two of the incoming players is/are very young...However young players with the qualities we're looking for are in short supply and mostly overpriced, so its highly unlikely we will sign one that's suitable... For me we just need 2 players essentially: Winger and creative mid attacking mid, the latter being the most important.,,In that case it should be sufficient to remove one existing player... In Porto, AVB removed Bruno Alves(former captain) and one other guy,....so wouldn't be surprised if someone left this time, just don't think the casualties will rise above 2... However, for the two to leave, I can think of people who can be compared more to dead wood than either Flo, Anelka and Kalou

To add more creativity, flair and speed to our team yes there will be a reduction in average height, because you need smaller, more agile players that can move in tight spaces and have good close control... If we were playing 4-3-3(the most likely formation) I would prefer: 1.Two attacking mids and one holding. Of the two attacking mids, I would prefer at least one to be a short, quick and pacy player of the Modric/Iniesta mould who can play quick, accurate passes to set up good attacks. As for the second one its most likely Lampard, and that's great because he can still deliver the goals needed from midfield and play the crucial final pass. The holding mid as Ldn_blue said should be strong irregardless of height. There should always be some steel in midfield. he should be able to good tackles, read the game well and launch the ball forward from defense as quickly as possible.,,either by quick long passes or charging forward fast 2. For the front three I would like one quick, pacy winger and the other winger to have decent physical strength (ideally we could have a winger who has both these qualities), to tackle any kind of defense. One of these has to be a good goalscorer as well. The striker can be physical or not (I prefer someone with height), but he should be good in the air and have a good eye for goal. Speed is definitely a must, and Torres and Drogba both have these qualities. 3. Defence: The two centre halves, should obviously have a fair amount of height, and for the EPL, yes they need to be physical. For the full-backs, I'm okay if only one of them is good in attack(there's rarely any use in both full-backs charging forward at the same time), but should be solid in defense.. Thus, I would like a combination of flair and physicality, and of course speed.

The Juventus name is used in every transfer rumor just too show that it still exists....

Any chance he'll favour United over us so as not to "upset" Arse fans?

Sounds more like he doesn't think he's a top player...

We needed an "overhaul" in 2004 because the squad was only half-built...We just need a few(2-3) more young energetic additions to the squad to facilitate rotation to keep playing consistently throughout the season Our matches against Man Utd could've easily gone either way...Like Kostas said we just need additions to keep up with them next season...and hopefully better tactics...

Like the article itself stated, the author is making an assumption based on that one game against Man Utd. Cole has had problems with Valencia even during the FA community shield clash last year, but I always put it down to Valencia's physicality allowing him to gain an edge over Cole... For me that's not a clear enough indicator that his powers are rapidly on the decline....you also have to remember that he played almost every game(including every single PL game) last season, so it might have had its toll..Proper rotation of the squad members will do fine for Cole this season...

I won't believe anything about players leaving until after Jul 6'th...

Glad to see the site up and running again... Didn't Jim say that you guys were going to update the forum software?

Coentrao looks good going front, but his defending seems worse than Evra's....

I don't quite agree with everything that was said about Torres in your post... Yes, his first touch was heavy, his shooting seemed nervy and he seemed to lack that burst of acceleration needed in the final third. BUT, his movement was far from average, it was actually very good...He was always seemed to be present in the right position for a goal scoring opportunity... And like Pat Nevin said himself, that's the best sign that he can pick himself up from this slump.. However, he does seem to lack motivation at times, especially when the team is facing difficulty (similar to Malouda)...but I think a good manager should easily inspire the players... As for why Torres never improved with the rest of the team in Feb-May...well that was largely due to the fact Drogba returned to form in that period..He played so well it seemed to bring out the best in the rest of the attack (notably Malouda and Kalou), and Torres never got many chances after that. Even if he did get a chance to start, it was rarely with Drogba.....

More like the Stamford Arena

If its true..its the next best thing to having Zola as assistant manager...good times...

Maybe or maybe not...Just saying that the club will almost certainly won't sign a player like that during these times....

Its not about fulfilling the homegrown quota...it was about bringing in a new player without using slots from the foreign player quota... Leaves room for more, right?

I'm not exactly saying he doesn't have class....just saying there's little chance that our club will pick up something that was thrown in the trash...