manpe

If Di Matteo leaves, then Ray Wilkins should come back.. or ZOLA :eyebrows:

I hope he plays Bertrand, McEachran and Romeu from the start.. and give Lukaku some minutes towards the end, and start Torres being flanked by Studge and Mata. With Josh's slicing through balls, Romeu's quickness, Bertrand's energy.. I can see them connecting well with the dynamic front 3 of Mata, Nando and Danny.. It would be a young and most importantly a hungry side which will want to prove itself... the oldies don't have anything to prove anymore. And most importantly I think that with Drogba, Mikel, Lampard lately and fucking Malouda, we are too static. And most importantly, it will give a huge statement to everybody. A boy can dream, can't I? It's not gonna happen though, I don't think he has the balls...

0-0 is not an option, almost every team has been able to score against us this season, Valencia are more than capable of doing that.... But it's a home game, so it's reassuring.. and we did draw the away game only thanks to a certain player's brainfart.

Both of them should be sold, especially Essien.. Both are Jose era players, one isn't good enough, the other is old and extremely injury prone.. If we want an overhaul, then imo both need to go.

So glad for them lol They don't play for the fame or money.. and even a single goal feels like victory for them even if they lose.

I like Mikel, I really do... and I've had my eyes open for the last few months on what people had to say about him, almost over half don't think he's needed anymore while the other half disagrees. I've been patient in forming my opinion, because he plays a delicate position which is hard to spot during games... But I have more or less made up my mind on him. I think he doesn't fit the new system.. He was a solid and good player under Jose and there on until now. I at least think he shouldn't be a starter, which I think he wouldn't be if Essien wasn't injured... But long story short, I am starting to agree with those who want a quicker player to replace him.

Very good article, brilliant... but I don't get this: "The alternative is to nurture and create. To build on players like Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Cole, Sturridge and Petr Cech." Cole is almost 31 and in decline, and Cech has always been our nr. 1, wonder how more can you build around him... otherwise I agree.

About the Scolari situation: De Visser was also instrumental in the firing of Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and the installment of Guus Hiddink. According to De Visser he alerted Roman Abramovich of Scolari's lacklustre training methods: "I had to watch training sessions he was giving to the squad. I died of shock. It was so weak, his training sessions lacked every kind of sharpness. It made the entire squad lack sharpness in matches. I did not need a lot of time to conclude things were really bad with Chelsea." http://www.mirrorfoo...ticle26905.html ------------------------ Abramovich has his own spies lurking around Cobham to keep him posted. They didn't like what they saw from Scolari, simple as that... If they like AVB's methods, then he's safe. The dangerous thing is that if they don't like his methods, then they have a free agent in the shape of Hiddink waiting.

The fact is Leverkusen just tried harder... They covered more distance and made more passes, not to mention they earned 10 corners as opposed to our 0. In the style of play they seemed more lively and motivated.. a single glimpse at Ballack's overhead kick demonstrates it, what an attempt! They simply grinded it out, we were too lazy (apart from Studge).

oh right, didn't think of that at first

why is that? what difference does a colour's tone make in commerce?

it was my first thought also

hmm, in that case.. how would we fit Mata and Hazard? One of them will have to be on the wing.. and Mata doesn't seem half as efficient on the wing as in the middle.

Dzagoev would be good, but isn't he a playmaker not a winger? Anyway... he would be a risk, a leap from Russian league to English league would be massive.. but Ivanovic has pulled it off succesfully. And he's also still young, one for the future definitely.. it's a question of time before European big dogs come sniffin around his butt. At the moment if I had to choose, I'd take Hazard over Dzagoev.. if I could, I'd take both.

I didn't notice him making a single forward run yesterday. He got over the half-way line once and was on his way to do his thing, but I could hear a voice shouting "LUIZ!" and immediately he passed the ball away and went back... presumably that was AVB telling him not to go forward. I wonder if he will stay more restricted from now on, or was it just being cautious against a side like Leverkusen away.. no risks.

You serious about the Alex sub? Luiz wasn't feeling good, you could tell the way he held on to his stomach when going off.

Ramires has been here for more than a year

he doesn't play like a winger

Agreed Surprised me too

A bad result... the second half performance until Luiz went off was alright, after that we were clueless in defence. Leverkusen made more passes and ran more kilometres throughout the game as shown by the statistics.. It was pure hard work win so all credit to Leverkusen for grinding it out. Now I did not understand the substitution of Mikel... It was probably made to calm the midfield and have more control over it, but it didn't prove to be very effective. And don't get me started on Malouda.. waste of space. But DROGBA's goal was absolute BBBBBEEEEEEAASSSSSSSSTTTTTT (read it in KSI's voice ) Nevertheless, this team needs an overhaul from head to toe... reality is hitting bad. Even the Russian commentator on my stream was saying the same.. half the time he read through players names and their ages.

How bad are we? I think we got our first shot in late 30 minutes, the woeful shot by Drogba. We have no penetration whatsoever. And the referee Viktor Kassai.. I can't believe this abomination of a referee is still allowed to whistle. I'm glad he isn't biased against us, but he's just a shit referee. Granted, my hatred towards him is as personal as Chelsea fans' hate towards Ovrebo and Foy

It seems Chelsea have found their playmaker - Luiz

Had hoped Alex would get in.. and Torres of course, but let's see how Drogba performs before judging. And I bet AVB now seriously regrets leaving Bartron out of the squad. And I also wonder if we'll play 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-3 with Meireles/Ramires being holding mids... It seems he'll opt for the way we played against livershit in 2nd half.

[OT] You're like Oxford dictionary... I always must seek out a new word in almost every post you make [/OT]

----Player---------------------Good-------------------------Bad---------- 1. Cech- Catching crosses, reflexes / Pace, ... 2. Brana- Strength, crossing / Pace, ... 3. Ash- Timing forward runs, tackling / sloppy at times 4. Luiz- Technique, pace / Over-enthusiasm, timing 5. Essien- N/A 6. Romeu- N/A 7. Rami- Stamina, pace / long range passing, long range shooting 8. Lamps- Passing, movement / pace, reaction time (age being accountable for both) 9. Nando- Positioning, ... / Finishing, confidence 10. Mata- Movement, passing / defending, strength 11. Drog- ... / Pace, laziness 12. Mikel- Composure, passing / pace, shooting 15. Flo- Backtracking, ... / Crossing, decision making 16. Meireles- Passing, movement / Sometimes rash, ... 17. Bos- Pace, ... / Marking, crossing 18.Lukaku- N/A 19. Paulo- N/A 20.Joshy- N/A 21. Kalou- Pace, ... / Dribbling, passing 22. Turnbull- N/A 23. Danny- Finishing, pace / Crossing, one-footedness 26. JT- Marking, heading / Pace, ... 33- Alex- Heading, marking / Pace, ... 34- Bertrand- N/A 39- Nico- Passing, movement / Finishing, playing tempo 40- Hilario N/A