The Rising Sun

Bertrand is our 2nd choice left winger.... WTF happened to us?? Sorry but that is pathetic.

I havent really thought the 4-3-3 system properly, but a 4-3-1-2 would be perfect for us IMO..... -------------Cech------------------ Azpi----Iva-----Terry--------cole ---Ramires Lampard Oscar--- Mata BA----TORRES It is similar to a 4-1-2-1-2 formation, where Ba and Torres are responsible for creating play, by collecting , making interplay amongst eachother, then one pass to a midfielder, while both of them make runs into space. One striker is our downfall, we simply need two....

Ryan Bertrand is not a Left Midfielder , and not a Left Winger. That is all. For this game. And forever. I hope we play the right personnel and formations that suit the players and a system..... for some reason we as a club are stuck with a 4-2-3-1, when it is possible our strengths lie in other formations.

Because something happened behind the scenes that we dont know about.... whether its what happened with AVB or something else.... we wont know......

Im not saying Mikel is a bad DM, i just dont think he is the pro-active type of midfielder we need.... Mikel's movements are very mechanised and repetitive, in a very passive sort of way... If i had to be brutal, id say he is the Torres of Midfield.... BUT.... im not saying that..... (PLEASE DONT QUOTE ME ON THIS, ITS AN EXHAGGERATION BEYOND LIMITS) I just dont think he is what our club needs moving forward.... When our game was more direct with drogba and co, he had a functioning role which fit the system to an extent.... His passive sitting back and covering spaces worked..... With our new team style, we need aggression, bullying and a commanding personality in that position, which i dont think Mikel is.... Im not saying Luiz is, or will be that person, but we need a different kind of DM now. Sometimes for a team to excel in a particular style, there are always some quality players that simply dont fit in the way they did before.... I still like the guy and he is not detrimental to our team when he plays, infact he does a decent shift..... But, IMO we need someone who's style is the polar opposite of Mikel. And Meireles was a panic buy imo, not WC by any stretch of the Imagination, and Luiz has played 3-4 games there.... so cant judge....

We need a DM who can bully opponent players, do some dirty work as well as have the vision for intelligent through balls.... Im not saying Luiz is that player, but he has, atleast for me, shown what we have been lacking for a few years now in DM.... Powerful, pushes away opponents, is commanding and can run fast.... Mikel covers spaces, thereby not affecting the opponent play or pressuring the opponent to lose the ball.... David Luiz does the opposite, he starts by covering space, then when a player is around, puts serious pressure.... he doesnt know the right moment to pressure or put in that tackle yet.... but he's almost there... Dont think Mikel is what we need to become WC.... However, he has progressed well and will do well at a upper mid table club... Maybe even a CL club in a weaker league. He is too much of a passive player in my opinion, and lacks command and personality in midfield.... i never liked him before, but over the years have grown to not dislike him, but slowly understand that we need to replace him gracefully, as he has done nothing wrong.... he just isnt the type of player we need in that position.

He wants to be Captain. Nowadays, You can see it in his eyes.... he wants to be the one leading Chelsea. He is starting to build a personality and commitment,connection with the club. He actually CARES and takes it upon himself....... when he gets angry, it means something to him..... I actually cant wait for him to become a Club Legend.... Mata is quickly becoming the Soul of this Chelsea team, and we need someone to start taking over from the legends that will be gone soon..... Someone to speak up for the team, show anger once in a while.... and lead by example.... I really like the way he is progressing, More passion is good for his development and pedigree as our captain one day. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC V2 JUAN MATA.... can imagine a banner like this in a few years, right next to Captain Leader Legend.

Torres starting this game was not ideal, but Making Demba Ba play 3 games in 7 days, with another important game in 2 more days, i.e. 4 games in 9 days, is crazy. I dont think Rafa really had much of a choice, as the only chance of overturning the COC deficit against Swansea, is to have Ba start. And in hindsight, since we won this game, now we will have Ba to start vs Swansea, its good rotation. Yes, the Subtitution could have happened earlier. However, IMO it is wrong to curse him no matter what he does.... If Ba started today and we won , but then torres started against swansea, and we could not go through, RAFA = VILLAIN Torres started today and we won, and Demba will probably start vs Swansea, RAFA IS STILL A VILLAIN He is not what we wanted, but lets try and judge his rotation with some sort of reasoning.

WELCOME TO CHELSEA !! MOVING ON..... To the Mourinho thread, a journalist from Uganda Tweeted some Rubbish! Get IN!!

I dont know why everyone is writing BA in their Line-ups for this game, in terms of fantasy formation , it makes sense, but with 100% certainty i can be sure that Torres will start this one, and Ba the next game..... Thats just the way Rafa sets up his teams. A luiz Lampard Midfield should suit us Play Hazard Mata Oscar for this one If these three are getting too passy among eachother without end product, then we atleast have Luiz and Lamps behind them to make the risky pass. And then No choice Upfront. it is going to be Torres , so lets hope he has a better game, some luck. Back 4 can be Cole Terry Ivanovic and Azpi. Azpi is no doubt our first choice right back now, so its between Iva and Cahill for CB this game. I dont want a Ramires Lampard Deep Midfield, as they dont work well together at all. Mikel isnt here, Romeu injured.... So unless Rafa plays Oscar and Lampard, which is too open, Luiz and Lamps are our best partnership right now. Should win this by 3 goals.

Real play proper attacking football, with pace and skill, so i dont know what the fuss is about.... Last season they were fantastic.... Why cant Mourinho take over at Chelsea next year and make us stronger..... A strong World Class Commanding DM and a World Class Striker are all we need, the rest Mourinho will do..... I dont want our team to attempt to play sexy football every minute of every game, I'd rather we win titles by playing sexy football for 45 minutes a game.... that is good enough.... He was our last relatively stable manager, and is our best bet at setting up our team spine for the next decade.... He adds something to our club that NO ONE else can. In my View Pep will not come to Chelsea, so if we are going to gamble on another coach, id rather it be Mourinho than someone else. Sign Him Up! He will Sign Lamps Up! All Hypothetical. But seriously. Get him back. Since he left we have gone from one crisis to another and have made mistakes, public spats what not.... We need him more than you can imagine.

Great win today.... beating stoke well has a feeling of its own.... Football vs Rugby... BTW today when Torres came on at 75 minutes..... how can he manage to be invisible when the entire stoke team is tiring and he is full of energy? It is really sad to see him play for us... I am not even angry at him.... just sorry for him.... Something happened mentally to him when he was injured at Liverpool and now he is just not good enough, intelligent enough, confident enough..... And he knows it.... Anyhow, Hazard is becoming a beast of late.... He is finally taking on players at will instead of finding the close pass.... what a player!! Mata hasnt been on top form of late, but hoping he finds his fluency against southampton... I earlier used to think it is Ok to let Lampard go for our club to move on, but he is simply so freakin consistent it is unreal.... So i join the choir : SIGN HIM UP!!

That was the most ironic game to watch. They did a Chelsea ON Chelsea. As said before, Torres really is a Cancer for us and there is really no way out, atleast till the summer. He simply doesnt have the skill,pace,or mental intelligence to play for a big club. Sadly, we are carrying this fucking bag of shit and he is weighing us down bit by bit. The only way to make our feelings clear, is for fans to start booing him. Sad, but there is no other alternative. The guy has some 3 years left on his contract of 175000 p/w, no one will buy him even if we heavily subsidize the deal. Its the same case with Schneider, but he is a top quality player still, yet even if he is let out on a free, no club is willing to pay him his 200k p/w. IMO, Oscar needs to up his game, become stronger and more assertive. He has good moments, but is never able to impose himself on the game. Just like Ramires is not a right winger, neither is oscar and the trio should not be played together unless oscar is playing in the DP. Oscar and Luiz DP? Sounds interesting. So..... AVB and Di Matteo had balls. AVB started his days by giving Torres a chance, and it didnt take him long to realise that he is the cancer....benched him.... Di Matteo also benched him,,,,, Now lets see if Benitez has balls. It is still very possible to overturn this deficit. Not as gloomy as people are making it out to be.... an early Chelsea Goal at the Liberty will change the game bigtime,.... To summarise, They tried to do a Chelsea on Chelsea, and succeeded. We tried to do a Swansea on Swansea, and failed.

Wierdly enough, even the most average footballers look great in Youtube Compilations.., but from the clips i have seen of this guy, its all very normal stuff, nothing exciting.... I really hope he has some hidden abilities such as reading of the game or something.... I really thing Piazon can make it, and while this is as premature as it gets, from watching piazon and then seeing Taison's youtube clips, i actually think Piazon has more quality.... But.... its a youtube clip.... Yet,.... a youtube clip should have anyone sold, but this guys supposed highlights of his career in the clips arent even close to good/awesome. Wierd.

i Might be the only one here who wanted Drogba and Lampard to leave, not JT though. Them along with the Malouda Ferreira gang as well..... Felt that we needed drogba to move on in order for our natural game to change..... But we didnt sign a replacement, ...still, he left a legend and at the right time. Lampard too needs to move on, for his last few years as a pro to remain happy ones, where he is central to the team.... while he doesnt show it like that, i think he as a player needs to be a focal point of any team..... And yes, sometimes, Lampard is such a big player that it causes more harm than good, he will never truly be happy sitting on the bench IMO, and will be taking up a spot that players with different skills and younger legs can take over. Not that him coming off the bench is bad, but why not Have a 25 year old Lampard come off the bench. ( i.e. 25 year old with legs and qualities as good or better at that age) We are a forward looking club, and since we do not have a stable manager, i feel it is important to let players go at some age , as familiarity breeds power/ego etc, and as seen last season, it can end in disaster. Lampard staying on as an ambassador or coach sounds good, but he can go to america and come back and do that later too. I think all those media stories of taking a big pay cut are false.... He is off to america with a big contract bekham esque. Regardless, i think every coin has 2 sides, but for me, It will be best if Lamps moves at the end of the season, and we can finally start a new philosophy with a new spine. He is a legend. We are not Utd and just because they have done something does not necessarily make it right.

Hutchinson was nice to see as well... had forgotten about that one.... IMO Ryan bertrand was not a chance, rather he had been tested before for certain qualities in the games last season that gave that extra defensive assurance while attacking.... he was a surprise choice, but was kind of well into the team picture before the Final..... Im talking more on a holistic perspective, have a read of some of my posts after the one you quoted.... If we are soon 4-5 nil up, and Rafa gets these guys on again, that will be fantastic man management as well as a sign of a good manager.

I am not minimizing what RDM did here at all, i was just appreciating what Benitez has done since he was appointed. My point was not that RDM or Avb NEVER gave our youngsters runouts, but that far too many times in their tenures when we had a game already won, and had a sub or two left, both RDM and AVB either did not use those subs, or at times brought ferriera on, or someone who did not really need that vital few minutes of experience and gametime. That was my point.... I hope if we have more games won by the 60-70th minute, these talents get more chances. If we can even get one of these academy players to become quality,even if they are subs, it will make my decade. (For entertainment purposes, defenders dont count! )

That still counts as a debut, and a few minutes on the pitch, something he will have a greater hunger to achieve again....he will probably work even harder now.... i think thats good management.

You know what i meant!! Bertand had been getting playing time before that.... in terms of debuts, it was nice to see,.,,,

True, but Piazon and Ake got a run out, something i would have never expected Di Matteo to do/ Not that they were pulled up though him, but he gave them a chance....and that was heartwarming, considering the last few years where none of our managers even gave youngsters bench positions.

Benitez has really been the remedy we needed as a club, for the last 2 years or so..... Because of his current arrangement with us, he isnt talking in the air about the future, or playing fantasy football hoping everything works perfectly, FIFA style, He is getting our basics correct first, then making players make an effort, then solidifying the team formations, then the last thing is attack.... Such methodical and well drilled work is shining through and he deserves acknowledgement for it from everyone, Chelsea or not. Some people i guess are too stubborn to change their views, and then some of us can see beyond trivial things in the past. Its the present that matters and how it is affecting our future. I hope our fans soon let go of the 16th minute Di Matteo song. He won us the CL, and in many people's views, was dismissed wrongly, but he isnt dead, or has a life threatening illness. The song has been sung for long enough now IMO, i think it will only be beneficial for the club and team as a whole to finally let it go and move on.

I Have not checked yet, but on countless occasions, ESPN and ESPN HD have the same game written in the description, while star sports has a different game. However, when the games are starting, ESPN has a different game than ESPN HD, and star sports has a different game as well. So dont be surprised if they broadcast the Chelsea game. As long as there are feeds coming from UK, there is a good chance the match will be broadcast. If not, then it simply doesnt make sense. I expect it to be Live though, regardless of TV Listings.

Check your PM.

There's nothing to do. Hopefully the increasing no. of fights, arguments and personal attacks are just a phase we as fans are going through as a result of what our club has gone through over the past few months. Gotta give benefit of the doubt here..... and hope!

Choulo : "I am as entitled to my opinion as much as you are. And have some respect to the person you are discussing, you're already one slip away from a ban." This forum seems to be losing it's humanity.