BlueLion.

Del Bosque will win it, I'm quite certain.

I'd actually be surprised if neither Wesley Sneijder or Lucio won it...

Agreed. But I also think there should be a referral system, like in cricket. Each team has two referrals and they can be used by the captain to challenge any decision, ie. penalty kicks being awarded, red cards, etc.

Platini is a fucking idiot, enough said.

He's scored six in nine matches this season... if he keeps up a similar goals-to-games ratio then he'll beat 20 with ease.

It's ten unbeaten at home - and eight straight clean sheets.

Genuinely glad for the club. They have great supporters and ever since they won the FA Cup I've willed them to do well.

Forza Milano! :cfc:

From Sky Sports - http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11668_6465607,00.html

From The Official Site.

They're a different proposition when at Ewood Park, however. We saw that with the two draws there last season. I still think we should win, however.

I'd take any win - we're certainly good enough to beat Blackburn but we'll need Drogba to step it up for this match. Thankfully Alex and Ramires will be back.

Chelsea 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou found the net as Chelsea strolled past Wolves to open up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League. With their title rivals not playing until Sunday - with Manchester City hosting Arsenal in a table-topping humdinger and Manchester United facing Stoke at the Britannia - the Blues were able to apply the pressure with a relatively comfortable victory against Mick McCarthy's spirited Wolves side, though the Blues were made to work for the three points. The visitors were left to woe wayward finishing as substitute Salomon Kalou came off the bench to fire home the second goal for the West London outfit, as Chelsea continued their impressive start to the season. Carlo Ancelotti's charges were not at their best - at times they thrilled the Stamford Bridge crowd with incisive passing and electric movement, whilst at others they were lackadaisical - and Wolves will curse a number of missed opportunities after a battling performance. Truthfully, Chelsea's perfect home record was never really threatened, though McCarthy will feel vindicated in his stubborn support of his players following criticism of their allegedly over-physical approach play as the visitors were equal to the Blues for periods and maintained good possession throughout. The difference in class was best shown by the two goals, with Chelsea racing through the gears to cut their opponents to shreds with ease. Two emphatic moves, both culminating with controlled finishes led to another win for the Chelsea machine - they may not be at their best and Wolves might have given them more of a game than many had predicted, but the Blues had done enough to preserve their strong start to the campaign. Perhaps the greatest satisfaction for Ancelotti will be the performance of the returning José Bosingwa, whose first game in more than twelve months saw the Portuguese put in a trademark performance down the Chelsea right. Ancelotti was full of praise for Bosingwa, calling him 'an important player' and an 'exciting performer.' And it was Bosingwa who had the first clear-cut opportunity of the match after superb work from Didier Drogba and Moscow goal hero Yuri Zhirkov to tee-up the marauding Portuguese full-back. Marcus Hahnemann was called into action to make an inspired save as the dream comeback for Bosingwa looked on. Drogba then drilled one just past the post and a smooth Chelsea breakaway saw Ashley Cole fire just wide of the target. But it didn't go all Chelsea's way - Wolves had forced a number of early corners and were threatening Petr Cech's goal with a number of deliveries from deep. Cech was called into action to save a header from David Edwards before doing well to deny Jelle van Damme. The chances for the visitors brought about a new spark of life within Ancelotti's side, and on twenty three minutes they struck with a simply brilliant move. It started with a Nicolas Anelka break down the left, before the Frenchman played in Zhirkov. The Russian barely broke stride as he perfectly teed up Florent Malouda who finished with aplomb for his seventh goal of the season; Chelsea's number 15 again proving to be the dead-eye in front of goal. The strike was enough to at least momentarily settle down the Blues; Wolves' promising start had perhaps surprised a few of the paying patrons and possibly even the Chelsea eleven themselves. Malouda's goal had given them confidence, and the game was in danger of quickly getting away from the visitors as Anelka found the side-netting after another stunning counter-attack. Ancelotti's side were playing a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the Midlanders; inviting pressure before hoping to score on the counter. Bosingwa was again in the thick of the goalmouth action as he saw a shot go wide, before Drogba saw an effort blocked after he was hacked down cynically by Richard Stearman. A tight first half was finally blossoming into a fruitful Chelsea performance come the interval. The second half saw Wolves attack with renewed vigour; substitute Stephen Hunt troubling Cech (this time in a footballing sense, rather than life-threatening) with a diving header that Michael Essien hacked off the line. Cech's fine form between the posts was again tested when Kevin Doyle produced a superb flying save out of the Czech footballer of the year. Chelsea were looking tired following their midweek European exploits, whilst Wolves were enjoying some possession in the Blues' half. Chelsea could be criticised for defending a little too deep but John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were limiting the visitors to chances from distance thanks to imperious performances at the back. Nenad Milijas peppered Cech's goal with a brace of shots whilst Wolves' set-piece prowess was again demonstrated but Doyle found Cech hard to beat once more. Essien then bent an effort wide of the target and Drogba dallied over a chance, enabling Hahnemann to save his defence's blushes with some alert goalkeeping, whilst Drogba again wasted another opportunity from a free-kick; merely warming the palms of the Wolves' goalkeeper. Knowing his side were in desperate need of inspiration, Ancelotti introduced Salomon Kalou and took off the labouring Malouda, whilst Paulo Ferreira replaced man-of-the-match Bosingwa, who received a standing ovation. The substitutions paid off instantly as Kalou fired home under Hahnemann from 14 yards; Kalou passed to Drogba who combined with Essien to set the young Ivorian through, allowing the Chelsea forward to net his sixth of the season and secure victory for Chelsea - without having played well. ___________________________________________________________________ Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa (Ferreira 78), Ivanovic, Terry ©, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov (McEachran 81); Anelka, Drogba, Malouda (Kalou 71) Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra ©, Ward; Jarvis (Fletcher 86), Edwards, Milijas, Jones, Van Damme (Hunt 46); Doyle (Ebanks-Blake 86) The TalkChelsea.net Man of the Match was Chelsea's number 17, José Bosingwa

Blackburn vs Chelsea 30 October 2010, 1500 KO - EPL, Ewood Park MATCH CHAT HERE

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has praised his team for their professionalism following their win over Wolves. The champions extended their lead to five points after goals from Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou saw them past Mick McCarthy's spirited side. 'We weren't 100%,' the Italian frankly admitted at full-time; his left eyebrow nonchalantly raised as he spoke. 'We won without being 100% - we are happy to get a result.' 'Today, we had a lot of chances before the second goal. We didn't play as well as we normally have done this season.' Nevertheless, the Italian was pleased with his team's professional if not their performance. 'It was a difficult week because of the travel to Moscow for the Champions League game against Spartak,' Ancelotti said. 'For that reason it was a difficult but good result.' However Ancelotti's feet are firmly planted despite Chelsea's fine early season form, which has seen them take an impressive twenty-two points from their first nine matches, scoring 25 goals in the process. 'We have made a good start but there will be a time when we come across a tough patch. For now, we are winning and doing well because of injuries.' Ancelotti was also keen to praise flying full back José Bosingwa as he made his first start for the Blues since October 2009. 'Bosingwa is a very good player for us. He is an important player for us as we can use his ability, speed and persistence to be better in our attacking play.' 'He put a lot of pressure on them in the second-half. He was one of the best players on the pitch today and we are happy for Bosingwa to be back,' Ancelotti added with a smile. The Chelsea boss was also coy over the fitness of star player Frank Lampard, who hasn't played since September because of complications following hernia surgery. 'We are not so sure with Lampard, and we want to be careful with him. He will return to training next week but we must be patient.'

The proper fans are being 'priced out' whilst the tourists who can afford £60 seats in the West Stand will pay every time. A sad reality, unfortunately. Good result, I'm quite happy with the performance to be honest. I think some people are forgetting we played a game in Moscow on Tuesday! With a depleted squad due to injuries and having played in the week we were never going to put in a 6-0 victory or an Arsenal-style performance, we did what we needed to and played professionally. Bosingwa was excellent in my view, but Mikel was once again masterful.

Afternoon! Just a polite reminder for all members - old and new. If you wish to advertise on the forum, you must PM an Administrator (preferably myself) and ask permission! It's a little tedious seeing people sign up just to post a link to their own site and then never come back on, so if you do post your link up, at least have the courtesy to stay on TalkChelsea and post every now and again! If anyone does post links without permission, they will be removed and repeat offences will lead to posting rights being removed indefinitely. Also, if you're interesting in link-sharing or even becoming a partner of the site, please PM me with a link and a brief description of why each site should mutually promote the other. Cheers all, AH. P.S. - we have absolutely no problem with established members posting links to their sites. Its simply seeing people sign up, post and then not contribute anything else which is annoying and rude!

Haha Sam! Clever

He and The Eyebrow should be knighted. Ancelotti has had an incredible amount of success in his first 14 months in charge - earning grater recognition than even Mourinho! For me, Ancelotti shared characteristics of many former Chelsea coaches who have managed us in recent years. It is evident that he is loved by the fans as much as José or Guus Hiddink were, and he has a similar degree of tactical nous (although I'd day Guus and Mourinho probably just about pip him in that department). He rotates often, but not to the same extent as Claudio Ranieri, mantains the dignity of Avram Grant, the charm and wit of Scolari but also the charisma and personality Vialli had. Great man.

You'll see a different Anelka now Bosingwa is back. Ivanovic is superb but Bosingwa is naturally a right-sided player and is more comfortable and confident going forward. Whilst Ivanovic only comes forward every now and again, Bosingwa is hardly ever in his own half (thankfully Mikel's disciplined and covers ) and will make so many runs that Anelka will be given much more time and space to be creative. I think for now, we have a splendid right winger.

Great move if you ask me. He'll play there every week for the next five or six games; what's wrong with that?

Don't think you can say anyone other than City at the moment, but if Ferguson or Wenger decide to spend big what's to stop either United or Arsenal knocking us off our perch?

Adidas have probably only made one or two kits for us I've not really liked, so I'm happy with this.

Realised this earlier. RIP to a great man.

Well, glad this one's over.