BlueLion.

7-0 full-time Anelka, Kalou, Lampard, Joe Cole [2], di Santo and SWP with the goals.

Very impressive first half display. Nicolas Anelka has been absolutely brilliant; a goal and an assist, and some fantastic touches and efforts from range. Looks a different player to the guy we saw last season, but this opposition is very poor. Good run out for the lads, though, nice confidence boost to be scoring lots of goals as well. Tri-Blue, heard of the edit button?

Team News: Cech Ferreira Alex Terry Ash Lamps Essien Deco SWP Anelka Kalou

Not at all. Totally gutted by it, he looked dangerous even for the short time he was on the field. Full-backs could be the key to our success this season.

Well, on paper, we do have the strongest squad in the Premier League, in my opinion. Comments, such as those made by Ferguson, have a nasty habit of backfiring, and I sure as hell do hope that we end up with the league title. The club holds the Champions League as a priority, and after coming so close last season I expect we will give it our all as well. Furthermore, Chelsea has developed a nice little habit of doing well in the Carling Cup, so a League and League Cup double, as well as a few magic European nights, like back in 04/05, would do nicely

As Elliott says, no-one will replace Makelele, for two reasons. The first is that Claude Makelele's defensive discipline means that he can never be replaced in such a sense. Furthermore, Scolari has shown he will use a different system, and the Makelele role will most likely be shared between two, deeper midfielders, who will still go forward and attack with the team. As previously mentioned, Mikel and Essien are similar to Maka, but don't possess the same ability to 'replace' him in the side.

Bosingwa has been diagnosed as having a slight tear in this thigh. He has flown back to Cobham to begin his treatment immediately. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0...1351662,00.html

Bollocks to trying it on cats, I want some.

I saw it yesterday as well. Genuinely impressed, possibly the best film of the last five years.

Those of you outside the UK should subscribe to Chelsea TV Online (Chelsea Plus) for the next month. Only a few quid, but gives you a live feed for all our pre-season matches.

Not sure what to make of this, but it is most likely Scolari wishing to bring in his own team.

But its Robinho who has the higher ground. Madrid were very adament on getting Ronaldo, and were offering Robinho to United in a swap plus money deal, apparently. If these stories have some truth to them, and now Madrid are saying they want to keep Robinho, then the player holds all the cards.

He probably realised Scolari has too much decorum to get involved in his bullshit.

No way can we let ManUre win the title for a third time in a row. Not when we have a better squad than them.

Agreed. Was worth nothing near the £21 million we paid for him in the end, but as GZ said, he put in a lot of effort; just a huge shame it never worked out.

I don't think he was such a flop. Nowhere near as consistent as I'd have liked, but he was good in some games.

I'll be happy with the Premier League alone.

I'm sure Fergie will be delighted when the Chelsea Pensioners lift the trophy in May

Essien is the better defensively out of he and Mikel, but he's also the better going forward, and his runs going forward will be key to our attacking success. However we will just have to change our formation to cater for the players, which may see Mikel AND Essien shielding the backline.

Yes.

Nice work mate, cheers for that.

He didn't look overawed by playing alongside Lampard and co, and linked up very well with the team.

Aye. He's a quality player, he needed a season to settle. Just like Drogba, just like Ballack, just like Essien. He'll be top notch.

David, you're doing a me and getting the sub-titles mixed up Must be a side effect of making these posts Fancy another strong win. Apparently Guangzhou are one of the stronger teams in the Chinese league!