The Rising Sun

I agree. Its not that there is anything wrong with a team playing the Double Pivot, but if you dont have the correct players for that setup, then forcing the Double Pivot formation just to accomodate players is not right, and will affect the team negatively. We really only need 1 holding midfielder if we want to move on as a club and change our style. The problem lies with Lampard, and that cant be ignored. In terms of starting 11, he cannot be accomodated as a AM anymore( in every game i.e.), therefore the double pivot is the only place where he can be accomodated with the hope that he can take on that role. Sadly, I feel we are only playing the DP to include Lampard.....subsequently somehow Ramires is now being treated as A RW, instead of being in Midfield. Everyone is saying that he provides defensive cover, thats why his positioning at RW works.... well if Our double Pivot was good enough, then you wouldnt have to deploy a RW for his defensive abilities, to cover for a 2 man double pivot. Really anxious to know if RDM knows the best way to change our style of play, as nothing of what he has said or done in preseason has pointed in that direction. Wigan will be our first test. Also, im not slating Lampard, Mikel's Gandhi Like approach to being a DM also hinders Lampards ability to truly take on that role.

Maybe we should buy Hulk or Cavani,,,, After United have bought Van persie , and now have a rooney van persie attack, City already have a plethora of big name forwards.... Maybe it wont be such a bad thing for us to buy a top quality forward? I know it wont be easy to fill another World Class forward into our Line Up, but while we have strengthened in midfield, as have other teams around us, we have been left behind by ALL our rivals in terms of their striking arsenals. We shouldnt get left behind.

The site is much more interactive now, and has much more information packed into the front page, unlike before where you had to go around finding info.... Good Job.

I really think we should make Luiz into a DM, He is good at breaking up play, is lightning fast, strong and makes some good passes, and can dribble. I know we WONT do that, but i fail to understand why,,,, he could become one of the best DM's in the world. 5-1 chelsea.

Hazard has now got a taste of English football and will slowly start figuring out the patterns, pace of play, how and when people tackle.... the moment he gets that... he will murder defences..... I really think against Wigan will be his breakout performance, as the quality difference between Mancity and Wigan is Huge.... wigan and Reading should give him the perfect start to believe he can beat this league.

Not aimed at anyone in specific, but there are three things: Being Positive Putting a positive spin on everything the end of the world negativity Now there are people on here who are positive and the other extreme of negative, but sometimes, the "being positive" category of people try and put a positive spin on everything and attack anyone who says something that is not positive towards a player or team or formation etc. While in some cases, it might be warranted, but in most, it becomes personal and really escalates from there on. We as a forum fight too often over the smallest of things! We as a community should figure out a way to keep threads and posts free of pages full of personal attacks, as it takes away from the quality and diversity we have on here.... The only reason TC would not win the Best Forum on the Internet would be because of this stuff! In the end, we can only give our views, its RDM that will either be here next season or not.... We wont go anywhere.

My views: Not a bad performance, not a good performamce either.... but there was no consistency.... our play was either really good at times, and then extremely poor at times. Ivanovic's tackle was idiotic, and he only had to make it cuz he was out of position and was well beaten by kolarov on the wing. Some people on here are saying that it only happened because Savic wasnt sent off..... NO ... it only happened because he was out of position, got beaten and made a desperate dive,,,,he did not know there was someone in behind him. Mikel was NOT good today, and in general, he doesnt have great attributes for a DM. He has talent, and therefore has a few really good games every season, and thats what some people keep referring to, but on a macro level, he makes too many errors, is not commanding, not fast either and is not the sort of personality that would command the role of DM..... he is too soft and too comfortable at chelsea. And too slow. Other players also dont perform at times, and are slated maybe a little less, Mikel is slated more often as he is tiring to watch, atleast for me.... everytime he gets the ball , i dont expect anything special from him, and he has delivered on that front. Last season we all saw Romeu... And OMG.... i suddenly realised thats exactly what we need.... I dont care if he is dispossesed a few times( Romeu), but his contribution to the game is far greater when compared to sideways and back passes after wasting time.... Torres looked good and will do well this season. Ramires was best today when he drifted into the middle, and the goal also came from there. He isnt a RW and it eats me from inside why a manager who i want to see succeed always plays him there.... I was frustrated by Sturridge last season for his selfishness on the right, but he deserves the RW more than ramires. Romeu.... he is a mystery. Why is he not playing? Lastly, as a club we need to ask ourselves.... Are we playing Lampard in the Double pivot as a semi DM simply because he is Lampard and a club legend? Why not play him as an AM and have him play lesser games or be a super sub at times? Instead play Romeu or Ramires in that position.... it will definitely strengthen that area. Our defending was bad. There is no other way to say it.... the 2 goals from outside the box should NOT have been allowed to happen, and the Nasri goal too caught the entire defense standing around asking eachother how did he score that so easily and without any challenge whatsoever? So ... to sum up.... Atleast now RDM knows what he should concentrate on for the next 7 days... and then make the necessary alterations and tactical changes.... Now its up to him. Ps,,,, not a mikel hater.... but i really had a laugh during the game when once mikel passed the ball to ramires on the right and made a run on the right wing.... ahead of ramires...leaving no one in the middle.

Havent checked, but PIX usually broadcasts it every year....

This is NOT a friendly. Yes, dont get hurt or injured. Take precautions. But play the game with style and passion every time you competetively put on the Chelsea Shirt.

we need our youth setup to have direction. If they want to buy from south america or wherever else for that matter, buy the oscars and neymars of this world when they are 15 for 5-7 mill and develop them. As a club, if we keep buying 20-30 mill players from all over the world , once these current legends that have been here all this while, Terry Lampard drogba etc are gone.....Once they retire or are sold, i fear we might not have a soul. We have to bring Youth players through. None of these newer bunch of players we have acquired over the last 3-4 years will become legends.

Can someone please shed some light on what the Head 2 Head league is? Played Classic league last season, so have no idea what H2H league is.... Thanks in advance.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-in-talks-with-napoli-striker-edinson-cavani-8030689.html http://www.ibtimes.com/sportsnet/soccer/chelsea-transfer-news-napoli-want-raul-meireles_743.htm

Was just going through the Man City Forums to check for their views on this match and Chelsea, but for some reason, no CS match thread has more than 5 posts and about 100 views, while all sites are saying 500 or so people online in the last 5 minutes. Ive checked Bluemoon and many more. Am i missing some big forum or are their fans generally so inactive?

FA CUP : WIN COMMUNITY SHIELD : 2nd PLACE CAPITAL ONE CUP : QUARTERS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : SEMI FINAL PREMIER LEAGUE : 2ND PLACE We should have enough in the tank to challenge for all these trophies, and maybe could bag another one of them. Check this Analysis out..... very good Analytical blog this is : http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1255705-predicting-how-the-20-premier-league-sides-will-finish-next-season

I think you should insert a clause wherein atleast 30 posts are required or so to register for the league. Just a suggestion!

The thing is, that Oscar actually doesnt keep the ball for too long, and whenever he does, he is running at pace, and if his movement is slower, he is simply too skilfull and intelligent. Dont think he will find it as hard as Luiz(indisciplined) and Ramires(technically deficient). He moves the ball fast and continues his runs to recieve the return pass.... His pace fits within the PL style and he is technically really good. True : Not to be jizzed upon, but he is the biggest talent apart from Neymar in that Age bracket. And now he is ours.

One of the Best Articles i have read on Talkchelsea so far! Well written and spot on. Couldnt agree more. What i fear is that what you have spoken about has kind of become a club culture, mainly due to managers being fired all the time. That already means that the chances of success of any new player coming to chelsea are lower than if they were going to another team.... not talking trophies here, but footballing wise. Mata was flashy and fast with his passing when he came, and with the playing style of chelsea, has also slowed down. How David Luiz can become messi whenever he wants is also kind of funny, as SAF wouldve hair dryed the shit out of him and kept him disciplined. However, the old guard have started being moved on, and that paves the way for a new philosophy, it all really comes down to the coach now. We also have a decent amount of depth in every position, except ST where we have 2 options, and Lukaku later on. So he has to be a no nonsense guy. Anyways, Good stuff!

Scott Sinclair for 12-15 mill?

Ramires as a DM works, because while the guy isnt too big, he is fast, makes alot of effort, chases down people and throws down tackles fearlessly. However, as a RW, it will be a failure in tactics that us chelsea fans have talked about over the past many seasons. i.e. playing players out of position. He is NOT a RW. Simple as that, and as a RW he will not offer enough defensively to discard the effectiveness a REAL RW will have while going forward. If we have an effective RW, that itself will reduce the amount of defending we will have to do, this nulling the argument that Ramires as a RW will defensively sort us out. What is his position anyways? I like him as a DM, but a RW? No.

i am expecting a 3-1 loss here. We simply havent shown enough this pre season to suggest we will do anything other than lose. We really need mata and Oscar back fast and need to get a Pacy RW. While Mata will probably get some game time , he will not have an understanding with Marin and Hazard, so he wont be as effective. While Parking the Bus is Embarrasing, i agree with some others here that even if we wont intend to do that in this game, City will be so strong that we will be forced to do a lot of defending and then the odd counter attack. Whether its the double pivot, lack of speed on wings, style of play, or whatever else..... Something is wrong i feel, as we have played pretty shit football over pre season, not really improving game on game. All we can do is hope that Mata and Oscar are the solution.

We are simply too slow.... That is the ONLY problem. In the entire pre season, i cannot remember even 1 clearcut situation where our player ran at the opposition at pace, except marin, who ATM is the only good thing that came out of pre season. Hazard looks out of sorts and will not hit the field running, He will take time to adapt to the PL pace and style and workrate, which he hasnt exhibited this pre season. He doesnt know the language so that doesnt help. What bothered me during the Brighton game was to see him walking on the pitch for the majority of the match. WTF? anyways, dismissed as pre season, but unfortunately, i havent learnt too much about what we will be like this season from our pre season performances, Right now, its just knowing that we have made big signings..... I just hope this Jigsaw comes together sooner rather than later. there hasnt been much passion and endeavour in this pre season, and that is scary. RDM has a very different job this year than what he had last season, i hope he can get the lads motivated and can command his players this time around, as we are starting fresh. I wouldve said BRING ON MAN CITY. But ill lie if i say i am confident going into the season. We have one player Mata coming back who might be completely burnt out, but will still have enough quality. A new player in Oscar, who will take time to settle in. And Sturridge, who no one knows where he will play, If he gets the striker position then he is on the bench. Man City will be a true indicator of exactly what we should expect this season.

7 pm on this side of the pond

Oscar on the bench.....waited the whole day for this game.....

Thats why I'm excited.... His performances in the Olympics have been nothing short of Outstanding. He has immense talent and maturity in his play. His calmness on the ball and vision is spectacular. The fact that he hasnt played for us yet doesnt mean i should be any less excited.

More excited about him than Hazard. hazard hasnt been brilliant so far, and will probably get better hopefully, but oscar looks to be sooooo good.... probably will become chelseas most skillful midfielder in the years to come.... What a Player!