Jype

Will you go with him?

I don't quite understand how Ajax were able to bottle it, they won the first leg 2-0 at home. Cheap alcohol in Romania. It's not Amsterdam but I'm sure it would be a great trip too. Or you could just go to Amsterdam anyway.

I said that, and my mind hasn't changed. If they were in the PL and played all 38 games, they would get relegated.

FFS Torres, how is it even possible to miss so many great chances? And the commentator is starting to piss me off, he says it's always someone else's fault and the ladyboy just can't hit them because his confidence is down. He's about a year and a half late with these excuses...

At least someone is happy watching this shit.

Sounds about right then, fucking useless blondie. (not that I have anything against gay people, guite the opposite actually. It's just that Torres pisses me off more than anyone)

I wouldn't know, seems like one of those games again where anything isn't going our way even though the performance isn't even that bad. Creating chances is going to be much harder in the second half...

For fuck's sake, how hard can it be to beat a second rate team like Sparta Praha? No offense, but they're not even PL quality and whatever the lineup, we should be winning games like this especially at home.

From that position it is so much easier to put the ball in the net than it is to shoot wide. Needless to say Torres managed to fuck it up.

Got home from the pub just in time for the match. If the first leg is anything to go by, it can only be a good thing I'm a bit drunk.

Just turned 16 a month ago. He's been with Chelsea since he was 11.

Congrats mate, would've taken a cheeky punt on that myself but didn't have any money.

Score in injury time against Barcelona with ten men, sound familiar?

Nope, it's Rafa who is the useless one here. If his formation of choice isn't working with the current bunch of players we have, he should change his approach. He's only an interim manager who should be looking for a short-term solution for our problems and right now that would probably be playing a different formation, for example the 4-3-3. If he's unable to do that change, then he is not the right man for CFC (which we all knew already but just pointing it out here).

Boga and Feruz seem too good for this level. To even think that a has-been like Benayoun gets played game after game ahead of these guys is disturbing.

Horrible tackle from Hunte, deservedly sent off. Oh well, at least these youngsters can now learn to play with ten men against Barcelona, something they should get used to if they're ever playing with the big boys.

Courtois in Moscow with Falcao for their Europa League match against Rubin Kazan. Have they been taking fashion tips from Arsène Wenger?

Ba: "Chelsea have to bring in a second striker. They can bring in someone, but I won't walk out. It will only make me better" So basically Ba doesn't even consider the ladyboy a striker? I'm starting to like this man more every day.

Those figures are taken from FM, doesn't make it true.

There is nothing wrong with the 4-2-3-1, most top teams are using it and to good effect too. We just don't have the right players to utilize that formation properly. Maybe 4-3-3 could suit Lamps, maybe Ramires and De Bruyne better but where would that leave the likes of Mata and Oscar, who are thriving with playing just behind the striker? If only we had a player like the ones you mentioned at the end of your post (Schweini, Modric, Alonso) sitting deep next to Mikel and supplying the three creative AM's / wingers with their excellent passing, I'm very confident we would be challenging for the title. A deep-lying playmaker may not get many goals or assists but anyone who understands football would prefer those over the 34-year-old Lampard in a two-man midfield. It's not even their job to get 'scorer points', as you put it, it's their responsibility to keep possession of the ball and create more space for everyone else to thrive in. It's no surprise that our strikers are struggling, no matter who plays there, because there is no creative force in midfield and the team is nowhere near balanced enough.

Paolo di Canio has resigned from Swindon. Sign him up, surely he couldn't do worse than Rafa.

I am slowly starting to accept the fact he will be gone in the summer. I just hope he will hit the record before that so he will be able to leave on a high note, having won nearly every trophy there is to win and becoming the club's all time top scorer in the process. What has he got left to prove once he's broken the record? This season he's been chasing it and as a result he's once again scored a bucketload of goals but would the hunger still be there next year if he stayed? It's a great thing watching Frank Lampard score one of his trademark goals but he isn't suited to playing in a midfield of two, at least not anymore, and I don't think we should be adjusting the tactics to better suit a 35-year-old. If he really is leaving, I will forever miss him but to be entirely honest I think someone like KdB could offer the team a bit more and more likely than not the club will also be in the market for at least one new midfielder who too would be ahead of Lamps in the pecking order. Call me cynical but I kind of understand the club's decision of not wanting to keep a player on such high wages who's not that influential anymore. Also, I believe this has got something to do with the fact that with Lampard leaving the next manager would then be able to start with a clean slate and it'd be a clear message to the players that the days of player power are over at Chelsea and that no one is indispensable. Letting go of club legends is not unheard of, most clubs do it when it's time to move on but none of them get the stick Chelsea are getting for this now. Sure, I agree that the club should be handling this situation with a lot more class but you can't always get what you want, especially with non-football people in charge of the club. Nonetheless, I would be really happy if he got the extension and stayed with slightly smaller wages and a smaller squad role but clearly I'm not as much against him moving on as some people.

It has got to the point where offloading Torres even for free would be a good thing, it would get him at least partially off the wage bill even if we had to compensate a little. But I do understand what you're saying, Atletico have to be the only club who would be willing to take a gamble on Torres despite the massive wages but maybe not if they still have Falcao. If Falcao is leaving and it wouldn't be for Chelsea, the only sensible options I can see are Real Madrid and Manchester City. City already sold Balotelli and can't see Dzeko surviving the summer there either so they would probably have room for a world class player in their squad. And Real Madrid is... well Real Madrid, most of the time they don't even need the players they buy but they get them anyway because they're available (Modric recently and many of the Galacticos they had before). By the time Falcao is gone, I can see Atletico being interested in getting Torres back, be it on loan or a permanent transfer. While Falcao at Man City would be very frightening and I would absolutely hate to see him play for one of our PL rivals, I suppose we can't buy a world class player just for the sake of our rival not getting him if it would mean our own plans were fucked. Right now I have no clue what kind of a plan the club has for Lukaku but I will forever curse the clueless Chelsea board if they manage to either destroy Lukaku's development by not even giving him a proper chance or let him go and become a hit somewhere else.

Yeah, each day I'm leaning more towards the option of not buying a top class CF in the summer and instead invest massively in the midfield where we are clearly lacking and as for the strikers get Lukaku back and use both him and Ba regularly next season. Then get some cheapish 3rd choice striker who won't complain if he has to sit on the bench, maybe some older guy who can still be relied upon when needed but who's already played his fair share of first team football at some smaller club and would now be happy to be a backup at a top team and enjoy a nice last paycheck. Or alternatively some top class player who would primarily play as a winger / attacking midfielder but could also play as a striker if the others were unavailable, for example Jovetic whom I've wanted at Chelsea for years now. No need for Lukaku to spend another season on loan at WBA if we could offer him the same playing time and would get a good return of 10-15 league goals from him even with him as the number two striker behind Ba. If he stayed there and got handed a definite spot in the starting lineup, it would be good if he stayed there for another season but I can't see them building their team around a loan striker. If Lukaku stays on loan, we simply have to enter the market for a striker because Torres is done but I'm afraid of what it would mean for Lukaku's chances of ever making it if the new guy was again another record buy like Falcao. We have a gem on our hands here in Lukaku and the situation needs to be handled properly.

Just checked, 2-0 was the score in the home game against Boro that season with Kalou scoring both. And like I remembered, away was 0-5 with the Belletti screamer. Kalou scored two goals that day as well. Match reports for both games: http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/1536899 http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/1424476