Mceachran

I think Drogba earned his keep as Center back last game.

good chat .

Exactly, that chance where he got clean through and scored was the same thing as the other times you are calling him out on lol. He lost the ball (seemed a bit cheap maybe) then DID NOT TRACK BACK and bam, "clean through". Maybe we misunderstand each other I dunno.

I'm absolutely baffled by your 1-dimensional view of his play, along with other others and their "newb post" "noob reply" war. First of all, I'd like to say that this season, most of the times you watched Torres hustle off of the ball vs Drogba, Torres made Drogba look like he didn't even want to play for us. With that being said, in the past few big games Drogba has been a most powerfully-vintage force and I am delighted by his workrate. Could you not see what Torres saw after he lost the ball? Everyone else was just booting it forward; hence why Torres had no one to combine with out of the back, plus he was fresh and figured he might as well have a go. THERE WAS NO ONE BACK FOR BARCELONA!!! So when he lost the ball and saw space he thought "gee maybe if I get on the end of one of these clearances I can REALLY help my team out". I'm not a mind reader, I just actually watched the game, and allowed myself to think beyond "He keeps losing the ball, then not coming back, what a waste". Maybe Barcelona could have punished us for only defending with 9 (heaven forbid) but they didn't. Torres was right. You were wrong. End of story. And yes, Rami's goal was the bigger of the two, but take nothing away from the fact that Barcelona could have screwed us in the last seconds; save for Torres. \endrant.

Maybe you weren't really watching the game? He was the only player who was trying to get forward and not just knock it forward, and that is exactly how he scored....he lost the ball going forward, kept running and voila he's 1 on 1 with valdes...

We should want this game more than they do. Right now this Champions League semi is a job for the Catalans, for the Blues it's a crack at unprecedented glory!! :cfc:

what I got from that video ^ was that he's a chump and we shouldn't sign him. Reminds me of Taraabt; and he looks great right now

This team plays much better football than the first team right now. It was very impressive, it makes me very excited for what our team could look like 3 years from now.

I watched both legs of Milan-Barca matchup (as I'm sure most have) and I have to say I think it was uplifting. Barcelona are very beatable. AC Milan looked like a bunch of school-girls while in possession; it wasn't until the front three had it that they looked dangerous. I think Chelsea will be much better at not panicking under possession. ALSO, PLEASE!!!! can we NOT play Mikel? He will be pounced on. Did anyone watch Seedorf try and hold Barca players off like Mikel does? IT DIDN'T WORK!!!! I believe in our players' ability to rise to the occasion. KTBFFH

If you've ever been around or experienced cracked ribs before, they don't heal in two weeks. He will be playing hurt, we just need to hope no one cynically elbows him or that he doesn't fall wrong. He mentioned something about "the guys have a few ideas" to help him through the games: i.e. cortizone shots haha. I have a feeling if these weren't possibly some of the most important games Terry was about to play in, he would sit out quite a while. How many more champions league semifinals will he get to play in?

Can we talk about his feet that were stuck to the ground on that Benfica goal?

I respectfully, but wholeheartedly, disagree. I thought in the Villa game we finally got to see how our holding midfielders and defenders could find mat sitting behind our forwards. He then made the quick pass forward and we were on the attack. Perhaps wide left he had the opportunity to dance a bit more by the sideline, but in terms of being a beneficial core to our attack, and can't wait to see him in the next few games there.

anyone else feel we have a better chance winning the champions league this season than qualifying for it next season?

well we've put bos at LB before i say f-it, put bertrand at RB!!

wow you guys are right this guy is fantastic!!! http://www.youtube.com/embed/ddAvft67RtA

sometimes I feel that as soon as it seems ramires isn't going to go on some scorching 40 yard runs, we should just take him out haha; but that's a bit unfair

I get so frustrated with him because he adds that ability to our offence of just skipping right past a defender or two but his decisions are sometimes SO selfish that it hurts the motivation of other attacking players. Regarding his awkward right-foot: hasn't he created quite a few chances from passing it across the goal with that right boot??

I still really think we can keep this positive moment going but that game last night has left me with some venting to do: 1. Exactly; or at least, I'm going to assume you're thinking the same thing I was that we were playing fine in the attack with Torres. 2. We are only "ending" the season with attacking problems? news to me....3. I just read Giles Smith's Thursday Thoughts on the chelseafc.com and his cry-baby complaints about Essien's handball. IT WAS A PENALTY, GET OVER IT! 4. That last goal is something that you only see players like silva, nasri, and every other player in the Barcelona Midfield do. They lurk outside the box, pick out a wall pass and somehow RAMIRES, CAHILL, AND LAMPARD, just let Nasri waltz in. WTF?????

big game...great goal. I only love mata because j cole is gone...just saying http://ballsession.blogspot.com/2010/04/joe-cole-opener-goal-drogba-goal-is.html

I would take Torres as a STARTER over Sturridge any day. Torres works his off and is always doing the best for the team. I respect Daniel for his ability to look a player in the eyes and say "i'm going to beat you" but he's also extremely selfish, so selfish that he makes others around him not want to make the next run forward into the box. I've been really happy with how Torres has been playing and producing opportunities lately; his attitude has been the most consistent of any striker we have.

I'd like to calmly (although I want to burst) disagree. When I watch Merieles defend, it's like watching a street baller put on studs and try to kick someone down. When I watch Lampard defend, it isn't always brilliant but he routinely makes stellar sliding tackles in midfield....oh and he STILL scores goals. I'm not opposed to letting someone better or younger start to ween him out, but I just think you're wrong there.

exactly!!!

No one is certain that AVB was going to lead us to consistent trophies year in and year out. That's not the point, which I think is what you're missing. The point is that we've had too many managers come and go to give any of them sufficient time to build up this club to something rock solid. I've said it before, but when Sir Alex first joined Man U, some of the first few seasons WERE SHIT. What we are right now isn't even shit. Some clubs would die to be "shit" like us right now. But obviously we're missing on a lot of potential. So maybe AVB did make some mistakes this year. Which if I were a senior player I would have been quite pissed off at those mistakes as well. They couldn't help being selfish since some of them might have felt it was their last chance at the champions league (or something like that) But the thing is AVB was young and so extremely committed to doing well at his job that given time he might have grown as well, with the club. Unlike a big name manage like Jose who seems to just want to try and win as many cups with as many different teams as possible, wouldn't it have been nice to have a manager for 6 years? Abramovich picked him, presumably agreed to what AVB was going to try and do, and then essentially went back on his word and made us fans look like fools for being so dedicated to this joke of an administration. EVEN WORSE: who the f*&k is going to want to manage us now!?!?! :censored: The club really just needs to pick a manager and stick with it.

Just a thought (because I read it somewhere and it got me thinking). Is it really that bad if we have a bad season? Wouldn't it be better to have avb (or any other coach) settle in a create a long-term relationship with the club? Maybe the era proves this irrelevant, but I seem to notice that the first few seasons of Sir Alex Ferguson over an Man U included some absolute dreadful ones. I'm not saying avb was great for chelsea (some of his substitutions this year were just ridiculous) but I just wish we could find a long-term coach....

I think it was a shame that they ever put him in the holding midfielder position. when he's a bit older and gains some tackling ability just from "man strength" i think he can play in the middle a bit more (I don't think lampard is a talented defender one on one but he's smart and works hard). i never understood (well before mata came) why they didn't keep him up high on the left. when ashley cole (or heaven forbid, bertrand) comes screaming up the side that would allow josh to drift in on the attack and connect with the other attacking players in the middle...much like mata has been doing; and he CERTAINLY doesn't defend i just don't get the use of players :/