capriccioso

He's not a bird to be set free

Fucking hell. :cry: :cry:

That attitude that a manager must be proven in order to be worthy of the Chelsea job is ridiculous. I am doubting him because thats what people want on this thread, they want immediate restructuring and Pep's not the guy for that. Forget tiki-taka or sexy football at all, 4-3-3 Mourinho style and its variants have been instrumental in the success of this club and there is no need at all to change it. As the proverb goes, if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it. Walcott?

The second sentence may be fair enough but calling him a disgrace when people like Barack Obama and his cronies roam freely without being hauled in for war crimes isn't fair. If he is a disgrace, what are those that actually commit crimes?

He's far from a revolutionary! All credit due, he's a fine manager, and Barcelona wouldn't have had this success had they retained Rijkaard. A revolution by definition is a complete overthrow of the previous system in place. The 'Ancien Regime' of Barcelona was remarkably similar to what he did. It's not like Barcelona played like Stoke City before he took over. Yes, there were differences between him and Rijkaard but in my opinion there weren't enough of them to warrant him being labelled a revolutionary.

But what did Pep even do to earn all this praise? It's not like he converted an 'ugly' side to play like that. He took a side that had always been playing with that ethos and tweaked a couple of things around, and hey presto, you've got 6 trophies in a season. I don't think he's the right man for a complete philosophical restructuring, because he didn't prove that at Barcelona. We need to play somewhat similar to Barcelona first before Pep can come in and make those famous tweaks.

59 guests viewing. WHS, where are you? Winning ugly is extremely subjective. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the second leg in Barcelona, it was enthralling stuff; perhaps more heart racing than any other match we've played all season excluding Munich.

Surely a high line necessitates quick players. Ramires showed their weakness in pace (they may have stopped that goal had Puyol been about 5 years younger/Pique still been on the pitch). There are faster players than Ramires in the Premiership.

No, he won't. If he was incapable of changing the slightest at Barcelona and it brought him so much success, why would he bother with it here? He's the classic ideologue. Wonderful in perhaps the business world or ethical involvements but stick him in politics or sport and he'll be out of favour faster than you can say "Leon Davidovich Trotsky".

Good post but that last bit is a cause for concern. Weak managers are favoured at Chelsea, strong ones, other than Jose Mourinho, are instantly hated by the players, from Lukaku to Drogba (or now Lampard/Terry).

Not quite sure how you can hate one of our own players. For example, Suarez is an enormous cunt and Liverpool fans would defend him even if he was convicted of raping their mothers.

He does not ooze class. I'm very suspicious with the Qatar Foundation deal coming out barely months after he publically voiced support for the Qatar 2022 bid.

I've never considered them fast. I've always thought Ferdinand a couple of years ago would beat them in a sprint.

Why don't you guys read that article?

Back on topic, this really is a wonderful article on Kalou. What a man http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/salomon-kalou-chelseas-family-man-makes-himself-at-home-1905821.html

You are tough to please Salomon is teetotal, so I would have to give up drinks in order to live with him, which I can't.

Why, Jaimin? Steve, I am disappoint. Surely Jaimin is better known than me around these parts yet you rejected me for being too well known Not that I'm complaining. There's an idiot poster on RAWK called Art Vandelay, I don't want to be associated with him.

Not just Terry and Lampard but Ivanovic, Luiz and Cahill. None of them are really that quick.

The greatest players in the world have all missed penalties. Not one of them says its unfair. You missed, the fault is on you, not somebody else. I suppose he'll blame FIFA for not having larger goals or something

Can't it be an open marriage?

He will be psychologically scarred for life as a result of this.

Perhaps but he was fairly ordinary last time we used him in that role. Plus it would break up the Lampard-Mikel pairing.

Yes, why not

I never said in this thread that I felt hope that he'll be retained. All I'm saying is with scant corroboration we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. There's still no guarantee except for a tweet.

If he does it'll be the end of Ramires. Which is a fucking travesty.