manpe

Nice dive from Torres, but the one on Lamps was 100% penalty... fuckin stupid ref

Let's sign Barton and Balotelli, the Ba-Ba duo... I wonder if AVB will turn out a paranoid schizophrenic at the end of the season. Hell, let's throw Gattuso in there aswell.

Kalou and Malouda were so poor, Kalou was totally lost.. and I still remember Malouda's awful cross. At one point Malouda and Kalou were playing next to Lampard, shows how central they are ffs. Torres, Ramires, Alex and Čech have been our best players in the first half... But we all know we are a 2nd half team, so things might just change, hopefully. The sooner Kalou gets subbed out, the better.

I have developed pretty strong skepticism towards journos, so are you sure this interview is legit? If it is, then it was very promising stuff.. especially saying Josh is in his future plans and won't sign anybody on his expense

Both are very good reads. Thank you. His tactical analyses were interesting, I guess we will see our defensive mids playing more direct game... he's right, up until now they did pass only horisontally. And the opposition provoking, positioning and movement are important too, that's why I have always considered having intelligent players as a major plus for a team... not just one or two, but to be smart collectively and understand what they are doing and to have a purpose in what they are doing.. Some teams are just clueless, and it showed on us too last season at certain periods. But that kind of understanding comes only with time, stability, patience and lots of hard work.

you're right... he really took his chances in pre-season, and it has rewarded him. I have a feeling AVB's hand was involved in changing their minds.

chelsea insider my ass

http://www.footballtube.com/Videos.aspx?movieId=926 Premier League 2011/2012 Preview

Nothing concrete, the same general blabber as always... but he said they had made a bid for Modric and that Levy rejected it, and that they are still thinking if to make another offer or not.

very interesting... thanks. and he said that AVB told them areas in the team that he would like to improve... so that shows he isn't 100% satisfied with current quality.

that's because Arsenal suck... he'll have no real run of games until Cole is fit and ahead of him

I thought his release clause was 22 mill. £? Is that roughly the same as 30 mill. €, no?

Not exactly the point of this thread, but can anybody tell me how to completely delete my facebook account? I could only disactivate it, but it wasn't removed completely.

let's all go a step further and start taking wikipedia as an actual source

Has anyone seen Romeu play CB? Is he good at it? Selling Alex would downgrade our defence in quality, no doubt. Get Ivanovic/Luiz/Terry injured and you have Romeu or Ferreira covering for them. I don't trust either in what might be the most important position defensively (behind goalkeeper). But if Rajko does get a work permit, then it's a bit different story... still an unproven kid though, but might be a fairly good backup player.

Well, the price may rise to 40 with different clauses... at least that's what I've read

Even if he is, I'll give my head that he won't play... too soon

Yeah, Luiz reminds me of Carvalho... could turn out as good as him hopefully

Only a freak event would stop this deal happening, he's even training with the team already... people should stop worrying, official announcements always take more time than they should.

good number, it's a hint of his new role in the first team glad for him

Should I get Tommy on your ass or not? *whistles* ooooh tommy tommy tommy

So a defensive mid/centre back who can shoot penalties? Interesting.. something we lack in our current squad

I'm bored, so thought I'd also play some fantasy here I won't include any non-Chelsea players, but obviously by 2014 we will have new players... so I'll do it with what we have atm Čech Ivanović - Luiz - Terry - Bertrand Ramires - Mikel - McEachran Sturridge - Torres - Kalou No way, in my opinion, are Piazon and Lukaku going to be definite starters in just 3 years... Lukaku maybe, but if Torres will still be in the way, then I doubt it. And my gut feeling says that Bruma won't stay with us.

Thats 75% of international games is a joke... who comes up with those laws?

definite starters have reduced in numbers, yes.... it remains to be seen if Lampard stays an untouchable (which I think he will). Čech and Cole have no real competition, while Terry is the captain and must play when available. Drogba is no longer a definite starter, although he might become one if Torres continues seriously underperforming. All other positions are up for grabs, which means players must work harder to ensure a place in the team that's good, although I consider having a rock solid defensive line the most important part of a team, it's not very good to rotate it too much... there always used to be one under Mourinho, but now the right side of defence is always under question.