BlueLion.

Kez is gonna be happy I am aswell

Oh, you of little faith Full-time... 1-0 to Coventry.

Too late :unsure:

Juve got relegated in 2005-06 - arguably the worst season to go down in, because of the Italian football rights being sold, if I am correct. If they'd have stayed in Serie A, they'd have got somewhere near £30 million in funding, I think.

Might as well sell him then because we all know he isn't going to be getting in the team ahead of Drogba and Anelka.

Its an instant classic

The way he doesn't know if he wants to stay or go would be good evidence to support that theory.

I'm no more confident than I was with Scolari, although Hiddink seems to have united the players. The real test is tomorrow, if we pass than then I think we have good reason for high expectation before the season is done. A month ago I'd have bitten your hand off if you offered me either the FA Cup or CL at the end of the season, I'd do the same still today.

We already have a Vagner Love thread. Merging.

Juventus may not be as strong as we are on paper, but they are a solid team unit. This game could potentially be the toughest of the season. I must be Italian. Been shaving since before my 11th birthday.

I'd offer £44 million for Karim Benzema any day of the week.

I totally agree - we have to progress as a team, not just let one or two players age whilst we improve in other areas.

Ricardo Carvalho may be in contention for a place in the team...

Fucking spot on. Some people need to take off their sentimental-tinted shades and look at the bigger picture.

I think for the neutral it would have been an excellent game to watch between two massive teams. However, for us in the second half, it was like having teeth pulled out. In yesterday's game we saw both sides of Chelsea - the wonderful attacking prowess of Lampard and Anelka and Drogba in particular showed we still have the ability to open teams up, before our defensive display in the second half was typical of the Mourinho Chelsea. I think the team played very well, in all honesty. Petr Cech looked a little nervous early on, his kicking was wayward and he flapped at a cross or two, but really kept us in the game in the second half with two decent stops and a couple of good catches under pressure. He organised his defence well but there were points in the game where he showed his recent lack of form. Jose Bosingwa was average at best - he was a decent attacking outlet but he really should have finished the opportunity he had in the second half. Left the defence exposed on a number of occasions, leaving Alex against Young and Agbonlahor - however he did manage to keep both of those players contained in an improved second half performance. Alex was excellent, and despite being beaten once or twice in the air by Heskey, I think he did very well to contain the big striker as well as Carew when he came on. He was a threat going forward and fashioned a chance or two from set-pieces and from open play. John Terry was exceptional. Defended valiantly throughout and organised the defence effectively. A proper captain's performance, on another day he might have had two goals but for a brilliant save and some very alert defending by Friedel and Petrov respectively. Excellent performance from the skipper. Paulo Ferreira looked really out of sorts, and his lack of football recently was apparent in the first half when his lack of understanding with his teammates almost cost us when Heskey stole the ball from him. However he was much better in the second half and put in a typically solid shift at the back. Made an important tackle of Agbonlahor in the first half which stopped a potential break. Michael Ballack was probably the weak link, although he did put in a very workman-like performance. Did some stellar defending but he was terrible in an attacking sense, choosing the wrong pass at the wrong time. However, Frank Lampard proved why he is not only Chelsea's best player but arguably the best midfielder in world football. A piece of absolute genius for Anelka's goal, the first touch was exquisite, the second delightful, and the pass was wonderfully weighted into Anelka's path. Deserved a goal on that performance. John Mikel Obi frustrates me. He can put in an exceptional tackle one minute and then make a simple but effective pass into the attacking third, before giving away needless freekicks. He's simply in a slump at the minute - I hope he can recapture his early season form sooner or later. Salomon Kalou was decent, but his performance was far from that of the previous weekend against Watford. Made a couple of decent runs and also defended quite well, but he was very quiet in the first half, although his cool head in possession got us out of a couple of tricky situations. Didier Drogba was fantastic, if you ask me. Maybe not the sort of Drogba we are used to, ie. banging away goals and flicking every long ball on, but not only was he effective at causing disarray in the Villa defence, but he was brilliant in defence as well. He made one exceptional block from Milner that could easily have gone in. An excellent performance from the Ivorian. Nicolas Anelka delighted me with his movement, and he was our major attacking outlet - whenever Drogba came back to defend, Anelka would be out wide ready to make a run at the defence. Took his chance beautifully and a deserved 21st goal of the season for the Frenchman may well spark a late charge for the title - although those hopes are fading quickly. Deco came on and was excellent if you ask me - some delightful runs and his passing was excellent also. He kept a cool head going forward and always played the right pass. Juliano Belletti barely touched the ball when coming on the 89th minute so I can't really do much except sing his name whilst dancing around like a lunatic

I highly expect Juventus to throw everything at us early on to get an advantage to take back to Turin. In del Piero they have probably the best striker in world football over the last 10 years, and he is by no distance finished - he can punish us in an instant with his quality. I would imagine Juve would be happy to take a 0-0 back to Italy, but I expect them to look for an away goal at the Bridge and play a more cautious game in the second leg. That's certainly what I would do, because if you don't try and play at Stamford Bridge, and just try and defend, no matter who you are, 9 times in 10 you will be opened up.

We have the academy coaches around to make the youth players better, but I see your point. If we sold Terry for £30 million, we could sign someone such as young Breno from Bayern for around £10 million and then have £20 million go straight into the transfer kitty for a major signing, for example

The last two gameshave shown us glimpses of the old Didier Drogba but he has to warrant a new contract. If he can continue to show the same committment in matches - and by that I mean continuing to come back and defend as well as being our major attacking outlet - and even bang away 10 goals before the close of the season, we should certainly offer him a new deal.

I completely agree with Biru and Tri-Blue. If the right offer comes along, we really need to accept it. Whether Terry would accept it or not is a different matter, but if any club came in with a £20-£30 million bid for any player, you would be mad not to accept it. It would be a step in the right direction for becoming both self-sufficient AND rejuvinating the squad with some youth.

Meh, was to be expected.

I actually though Deco was excellent when he came on. Kept the ball exceptionally well and gave us the attacking outlet we needed in the second half, and he defended valiantly as well.

:lol; It was excellent, in fairness.

Of all the teams to lose your clean sheet record to.... BLACKBURN ROVERS

The current TEAM record is 1337 minutes! LMFAO 1337 ftw! Van der Sar's remains intact.

Haha. 1-1