BlueLion.

Against Germany later this month That's just my goalie attributes, if you saw the outfield ones they would all be 1s and 2s and 3s

Here, here! Not gonna happen, but I'd love it if Guddy came back.

Do you mean in the corresponding fixtures, ie. the 2-1 home win against United this season and the 1-1 draw against them this year? If so, thats an interesting fact, but we've obtained more points at this stage than the last two seasons so I am confident.

Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Chelsea F.C. November 9 2008, Premier League, Ewood Park, Blackburn Nicolas Anelka scored twice to ensure Chelsea remained top of the Premier League. With Liverpool crushing West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at Anfield the previous day, the Blues knew nothing but a victory would be sufficient at they headed for a rain-soaked Ewood Park. Thunder storms throughout the day had saturated the pitch and conditions had gradually worsened, but Chelsea did not let the elements get the better of them as they powered past Paul Ince's side. They would have had the chance to take the lead early on, but the Blues were not awarded a penalty when Anelka was apparently taken down by a late challenge from Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson. However they went into the break with a one-goal lead thanks to Anelka's thigh, as he steered home a Bosingwa effort that crept over the goal line. Chelsea had found Robinson in stunning form and it took a special chip from Anelka to wrap up the victory in the second half. Midfielder Frank Lampard was delighted with his side's display, saying that the Blues put in a 'professional performance,' a sentiment echoed by assistant manager Ray Wilkins, who insisted that 'despite the conditions, both sides performed really well.' With Michael Essien, Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack all long-term absentees, Wayne Bridge retained his place in the starting eleven and Nicolas Anelka started up front despite the return to fitness of Didier Drogba; a sign of faith in the Frenchman from the Chelsea staff. Blackburn were without both Benedict McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz, so Jason Roberts began as the lone frontman in what would be an exciting and tense affair. With the rain coming down heavily, it was Chelsea's attacking play that benefitted more from the atrocious conditions than the hosts. They had a penalty shout inside of 4 minutes when Anelka latched onto a poor back-pass and burst into the Blackburn box, only to be hacked down by Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson. No penalty was awarded, and Luiz Felipe Scolari - on his birthday - was denied the perfect opportunity for his side to bounce back from a mid week performance to forget in Rome. The decision infuriated Chelsea even more moments later and Robinson pulled off a decent save to deny Anelka. The Frenchman had been lively throughout the opening exchanges and his downwards header from a Bosingwa cross from the right was blocked by the legs of Robinson at the near post. Two minutes later, he again denied Chelsea with his legs; this time blocking John Mikel Obi's back post effort. Frank Lampard troubled the England goalkeeper again with a drive from long-range, but Robinson was well-positioned and tipped the ball around the post. Robinson's face said it all - it was covered in muddy water and his lime green shirt was filthy with only 19 minutes on the clock. However, despite Chelsea's early dominance, the best chance of the first 30 minutes fell to Blackburn. Breaking in a flash, it took a magnificent one-handed save from Petr Cech to deny Carlos Villanueva’s well-struck shot from 10 yards. It was a stunning piece of play from both teams, and Cech's stop is certainly a contender for save of the season come May. Petr Cech was in dominating form at Ewood Park, making stunning saves from Villanueva and Roberts. Robinson continued to frustrate Chelsea with a great diving save to deny Anelka, who cleverly jinxed his way into a scoring position with a smart turn in the area. Robinson pushed the ball beyond the post as both goalkeepers demonstrated their worth in a matter of seconds. It was going to take something completely brilliant to breach the Blackburn goal, and it took something ridiculously fortunate from a Chelsea perspective to break the deadlock. Bosingwa's effort from all of 40 yards brushed off the knee of Anelka and trickled over the line, but with Robinson and company all appealing for hand ball, it appeared for a moment that the goal would not be given, but Anelka's persistence was not to be denied and he was awarded the goal. Replays initially proved inconclusive, however Anelka's hands were at his side and any contact with the ball would have been accidental. Aaron Mokoena came on before the end of the half as Chelsea went into the interval with a lead that their first half performance had warranted. Despite tricky conditions and a saturated pitch, the Blues were performing brilliantly and showing their ability to pull their sleeves up and get down and dirty - quite literally. Paul Ince knew his side needed to play more positively and brought on Matt Derbyshire up front in place of Keith Andrews. The home side had been limited to just one clear chance in the first half, but their overall play had left a lot to be desired in an attacking sense, and their display in the second half was much-improved. The rain had eased off, but areas of the Ewood Park pitch were absolutely drenched and the ball was becoming bogged down, but despite the conditions both sides showed commitment to attack. It was the home side who had the best chance of the first passages of play. Jason Roberts left John Terry for dead with a deft touch inside the penalty area, but Cech had read the striker's ploy brilliantly and by the time the former Wigan man had the opportunity to set his sights on goal, the orange-jerseyed goalkeeper was at the striker's feet and brilliantly parried away. Chelsea killed the game off on 67 minutes when Anelka netted his 10th goal in 12 Premier League games. Lampard burst into the box before feeding the ball into the path of the Frenchman who sublimely chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to ensure the three points headed back to Stamford Bridge. It was Anelka's sixth goal in his last three league matches and underlined his importance to the Chelsea system. Lampard rattled the crossbar with a 35 yard free kick that Robinson did well to tip onto the bar, and Mokoena wasted a great chance for a grandstand finish when he fluffed his volleyed effort. Anelka spurned a chance for consecutive league hat tricks after being put through brilliantly by Lampard; shooting straight at Robinson, but it was a good day for the Blues as Arsenal defeated Manchester United 2-1 at the Emirates - a result that means Chelsea are now eight points ahead of the defending Champions. ___________________________________________________________________ Blackburn: Robinson, Simpson, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Olsson, Grella (Mokoena), Warnock, Villanueva, Andrews (Derbyshire), Pedersen, Roberts (Fowler) Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Bridge, Lampard, Mikel, Deco (Ferreira), Kalou (Belletti), Anelka, Malouda. Attendance: 20,670 Star Men: Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard

If you stop certain players from being tackled, you ruin the entire aspect of defending, in my opinion. A player cannot help if they are built strong like Adebayor and Drogba, or are small and physically challenged in comparison, like Fabregas and Nani. It works the same for defenders - they can't choose who to tackle, as its the main part of their game. You won't see a defender go in hard on Luca Toni but then let Ronaldo run straight past them. A tackle is a tackle, at the end of the day, and 'flair' players shouldn't be protected from tackling.

I'm shite outfield, so I'll compile some goalkeeping attributes Intelligence - 8 (Its quite a mental challenge to play in goals - its a position where you need to use your wits and I'd like to think I was quite clever in my reading of the game) Positioning - 9 (I know where my posts are and I'm always on my toes; one of my stronger qualities) Reflexes - 9 (Probably my strongest asset, I'm very alert) Shot-stopping - 9 (Its very good, but I have a bad habit that sees me always use my right hand even when I dive left) Catching - 6 (I'm not the tallest, unfortunately, and am therefore very short for a goalkeeper) Decision-making - 7 (Fairly good Distribution - 7 (Its not perfect - it is fairly accurate, but I usually always throw to a defender than go long) Strength - 7 (I don't have too much trouble coming for crosses) Speed - 8 (I'm quite quick off my line) Agility - 7 (I throw myself around quite a lot but because I'm small I can have trouble in the air)

What would I possibly want with a PL winner's medal? I'm hardly gonna say to the grandkids -'This is one I one at the Battle of Stamford Bridge'

In my opinion, we can't leave the Bridge. It has been our home for 103 years and I hope it shall be for many more. If you want my opinion, I say we should knock down the hotel at the back of the Shed - that way we can increase the Shed to have a third tier, which would add another 5,000 seats, roughly.

I don't think Mineiro is on our Champions League roster, however.

From what little I have seen of him in the past, he is certainly a solid player and a decent option. I don't think we should drop Mikel, he is in a development stage and his confidence is sky-high at the moment. Every player has the off day - his was against Roma but has been otherwise faultless this year.

I listened to the game intently on the radio yesterday afternoon, before watching the highlights. Watched the full 90 minutes this morning and I was very impressed by the team. Robinson was brilliant yesterday and without him - as Blackburn should have been - we could easily be celebrating another 5-0 away win. As it happens, I'm very content with 2-0 as it was a difficult game in tough conditions but the Blues were excellent, especially Anelka, Terry, Lampard and Cech My match report - http://www.talkchelsea.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=3006

Aguero would cost us an absolute fortunate. So would Benzema. Should have gone for them 3 years ago.

Don't want him, to be honest. I can't judge him on his first season because he has yet to settle, but with that being said, he hasn't made the impact a lot of people expected. Can stay at Citeh.

The fact is we don't have a world class winger. Joe Cole is absolutely brilliant in my eyes but his name isn't flashing in lights like Ronaldo, Messi, Ribery or even Robinho. We need someone with that spark, but we've had this conversation at least 10 times this season alone.

Its true. On SSN yesterday. offering them crime prevention advice LMFAO

And this will be the 1000th time we see him face a 20 pence fine as well.

I'd either keep it, or return it to the club. I don't think I'd sell it though. Unless I REALLY needed to.

You been watching the same Chelsea as me this season? Malouda has been more productive than Joe Cole in my eyes. Scored more goals and has more assists.

Malouda's been inconsistent to say the least, but he's been much better than last year. Joe's been nothing special either, although he has been injured just when he starts showing form.

Allez les Lyonnais Del Piero was amazing last night, as ever.

Michael Essien won't be playing as a DM again unless Mikel is unfit. He's made that position his own.

The media have manipulated his words and anchored a different meaning to the story, as ever.

AS Roma 3 - 1 Chelsea F.C. November 4 2008, UEFA Champions League, Stadio Olimpico, Rome Mirko Vucinic scored a brilliant brace as an under-pressure Roma side toppled Chelsea. The Blues, buoyed by a 3-0 victory at Hull and then a 5-0 demolition of Sunderland at Stamford Bridge, were outclassed by a passionate performance from the hosts, who had endured a terrible start to the season. An early goal scored by former Chelsea defender Christian Panucci put Roma ahead at the interval, before a quick fire brace at the start of the second period from Vucinic effectively sealed the win. John Terry netted a late consolation for the Blues, but a second yellow card for midfield maestro Deco meant that Chelsea's lead at the top of Group A is reduced to just a single point - but a win against Bordeaux will still see them qualify. With Ashley Cole out for up to two weeks, Wayne Bridge stepped in at full-back in what was an otherwise-unchanged starting eleven for Scolari's in-form side. Roma welcomed back inspirational captain Francesco Totti from injury, as John Arne Riise was relegated to the bench as Cicinho was restored to a defence that conceded two goals to Juventus at the weekend. And the opening exchanges echoed the form demonstrated by the two teams, as Chelsea were the dominant side; enjoying the lion's share of possession. They signalled their intent on nine minutes as a fierce drive from Deco tested Brazilian goalkeeper Doni, who palmed the ball away sensibly. The heavens had unleashed a hail of water on the Stadio Olimpico turf and long-range shooting appeared to be Chelsea's preferred way of testing the Roma stopper, as Malouda's pull back a few minutes later saw Deco have another attempt from range, but his effort was well-blocked by a Roma defender. Roma were on the back foot, and another effort from distance - this time from Frank Lampard - forced a smart save from Doni, as the ball zipped off the wet surface. The goalkeeper punched away another effort from the England midfielder, but it was Roma who took the lead of 34 minutes, against the run of play. After Mikel had given the ball away, Deco's late challenge led to a Roma free kick, which was cleverly taken wide to Cicinho, whose cross evaded the Chelsea defence and was tapped in by Panucci. It was a sloppy goal to concede, but it was brilliantly worked by the Italian side that had defended resolutely throughout. And they doubled their lead minutes after the restart with a phenomenal strike from Vucinic. Collecting a Brighi pass from the left, he took no hesitation in smashing the ball into the net beyond a diving Petr Cech, who was beaten by the sheer brilliance of the strike. Whilst not a deserved lead, Roma were demonstrating their fight and underlined their lethality in front of goal, as well as their ability to create clear-cut chances - something the visitors had failed to do. The goal shocked Chelsea, who had been unlucky to go behind, but individual mistakes were being apparent and a hint of complacency was about the away side. And as they went forward looking for a goal that would get them back into the game, they conceded a third that dashed their hopes of qualifying at such an early stage. Vucinic again broke down the left, and a sliding tackle from Mikel that was mistimed allowed the big striker a free run at goal, and the Roma forward finished past Cech with aplomb. Didier Drogba, a half-time substitute, attempted to lead a Chelsea rally but his reply was a weak free kick that was straight into the arms of Doni. Chelsea did find a possible route back into the game on 75 minutes when John Terry finished after Doni had spilled an effort Deco, but the ridiculous sending off of the later four minutes later added further woe to a fruitless performance from Scolari's side, but the Blues will be confident of progression with a home tie with Cluj to follow a trip to France to play Bordeaux. ___________________________________________________________________ Roma: Doni, Cicinho, Mexes, Juan, Panucci, Perrotta (Taddei), De Rossi, Brighi, Pizarro, Totti (Julio Baptista), Vucinic (Riise) Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa (Kalou), Terry, Alex, Bridge, Deco, Mikel, Lampard, Joe Cole (Belletti), Anelka, Malouda (Drogba) Attendance: 38,425 Star Man : Mirko Vucinic

'It will be bitter sweet for me to sell.' But the sod does it anyway

Chelsea FC vs Burnley Chelsea face Burnley in the Carling Cup with a place in the Quarter Finals up for grabs. Match chat here! I know its a bit early, but I'm not here over the weekend and you lot will only complain