Strike

yes (obviously)

make ONE official tc league please?

He plays CAM for Belgium.

The permanent di Matteo era got off to a good start on Wednesday as goals from new boys Hazard and Marin along with a brace from a striker looking to make a mark – Lukaku – took Chelsea past Seattle Sounders in a raucous atmosphere at Century Field. Now, a stiffer test awaits as Chelsea fly to New York’s Yankee Stadium to face Carlo Ancelotti’s Paris St Germain. The Venue While we played AC Milan in New Jersey in 2005, it has been nearly 60 years since Chelsea last played in New York. It was the summer of 1954, a year prior to our first league championship, when Roy Bentley led the Blues in a grueling post-season tour of North America playing eight games in four weeks, against German opposition, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Borussia Dortmund, and Scottish side Rangers. History will be made this Sunday as Chelsea face Paris St Germain in the first ever Football match to be played at Yankee Stadium. The new stadium, home to baseball’s most iconic franchise opened in 2009 at the cost of $1.5 billion and has a changeable capacity of up to 54,000. Similar to the old Yankee Stadium that was located across the street, it has hosted concerts by Eminem and Jay-Z but never a football match. The Opposition Paris St Germain lost out in the race for the French Ligue 1 title to Montpeiller but will be encouraged by their elevation to championship contenders. Coached by Ancelotti and another familiar face – Claude Makelele, Paris St Germain is a football club rising in stature. The recent signatures of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marco Verrati (yes, the Football Manager wonderkid) underline the club’s ambition to turn into a European powerhouse. Totally, the club spent $250 million in a little over 12 months on transfer fees alone as 15 new players joined the club. While it may not be ideal for a club in transition to face the current European Champions, PSG have enough talent to supplement its marquee players and effectively dampen Chelsea spirits. Jeremy Menez and Javier Pastore are talented attacking midfielders while winger Nene, with 21 goals last season, was the top-scorer in Ligue 1. Also, watch out for Chelsea fan favorite Alex and his thumping free kicks. Chelsea Chelsea vs Seattle – Analysis Chelsea head to New York on the back of a see-saw 4-2 win over Seattle Sounders. A vibrant attacking display by a youthful Chelsea team was undone partially by a lethargic defensive performance but the introduction of experienced names at half-time added stability to the team. Josh McEachran bagged 3 assists in the game (although one of them was for the Seattle goal) while new signings Eden Hazard and Marko Marin scored in their first game for the club. Romelu Lukaku(scorer of 2 goals) staked his claim for the back-up striker role with a powerful performance up front. The shift in Chelsea’s style of play was evident especially in the first half. The infusion of quick, silky technical players saw most attacks were being initiated at ground level using the pace of the attackers (Marin especially) with very few aerial balls. Even full-backs Chalobah and Fereira, in their rare forays forward, seemed to slide the ball in behind the Seattle defence rather than lift it into the area. The defensive vulnerabilities is hardly cause for concern and I fully expect the defence to stay compact as fitness levels improve and Ashley Cole returns to dislodge Fereira from left-back. The transition from defence to attack is something the players need to work on as John Obi Mikel had a poor game at CDM but overall, it was a good start to the pre-season rounded off by a great atmosphere at Seattle. Team News Di Matteo is expected to put out a stronger eleven meaning Ramires, Lampard and Cahill are all in line for a spot in the starting eleven. The defence will be bolstered by the returns of John Terry and Ashley Cole with Cole set to replace Paulo Fereira at Left-back. Cahill on the atmosphere in USA Players to Watch Paris St Germain – Ezequiel Lavezzi – Lavezzi moved to PSG in the off-season in a surprise 21 million deal and is eager to make a good impression on Ancelotti in the pre-season. Branislav Ivanovic may vaguely remember Lavezzi dancing around him and his defensive counterparts in a dreadful night in Naples. 2 well taken goals punctuated a devastating performance by the pacy Argentine as Napoli took a 3-1 first leg lead in the Round of 16 tie and a repeat performance is not out of question unless the Chelsea defence keeps him on a tight leash Chelsea – Romelu Lukaku – With Fernando Torres yet to join up with the squad and Daniel Sturridge away at the Olympics, Lukaku has a golden chance to continue his good form in the Centre Forward position. He was a handful for the Seattle defence as he constantly bullied them in his 2-goal performance. Footnotes Chelsea's record in and around New York 5/9/54 Chelsea 3 - Fortuna 2 (at Randalls Island, NY) 5/23/54 Chelsea 1 -Borussia 6 (at Randalls Island, NY) 5/30/54 Chelsea 2 -All-Stars 0 (at Harrison, NJ) 6/6/54 Chelsea 0 -Rangers 0 (at Randalls Island, NY) 31/7/05 Chelsea 1-1 AC Milan (New Jersey) - Part way through the tour of 1954, Chelsea lost its goalkeeper with a serious injury. Argyle, going home before Chelsea, allowed them to borrow club legend Bill Shortt who flew in from Chicago where Plymouth Argyle were having their post-season tour. - Although this is the first football game at the new Yankee Stadium, New York is no stranger to “soccer” as Pele faced Eusebio (Santos vs Benfica) at the old Yankee Stadium to a 3-3 draw in front of over 40,000 fans while it also hosted England’s first ever night game in the 50’s in a 6-3 win over USA. - Back to 2012, the venue has to temporarily lose its home plate and pitcher’s mound to lay a surface suitable for football sources: chelseafc.com(interview with cahill) and 1954 in american soccer by Dave Litterer (historical references) Click here to view the article

what if van persie trolls us all and joins

that's flattering although i am writing only match previews now

PARIS ST GERMAIN VS CHELSEA - YANKEE STADIUM, NY - PREVIEW The permanent di Matteo era got off to a good start on Wednesday as goals from new boys Hazard and Marin along with a brace from a striker looking to make a mark – Lukaku – took Chelsea past Seattle Sounders in a raucous atmosphere at Century Field. Now, a stiffer test awaits as Chelsea fly to New York’s Yankee Stadium to face Carlo Ancelotti’s Paris St Germain. The Venue While we played AC Milan in New Jersey in 2005, it has been nearly 60 years since Chelsea last played in New York. It was the summer of 1954, a year prior to our first league championship, when Roy Bentley led the Blues in a grueling post-season tour of North America playing eight games in four weeks, against German opposition, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Borussia Dortmund, and Scottish side Rangers. History will be made this Sunday as Chelsea face Paris St Germain in the first ever Football match to be played at Yankee Stadium. The new stadium, home to baseball’s most iconic franchise opened in 2009 at the cost of $1.5 billion and has a changeable capacity of up to 54,000. Similar to the old Yankee Stadium that was located across the street, it has hosted concerts by Eminem and Jay-Z but never a football match. The Opposition Paris St Germain lost out in the race for the French Ligue 1 title to Montpeiller but will be encouraged by their elevation to championship contenders. Coached by Ancelotti and another familiar face – Claude Makelele, Paris St Germain is a football club rising in stature. The recent signatures of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marco Verrati (yes, the Football Manager wonderkid) underline the club’s ambition to turn into a European powerhouse. Totally, the club spent $250 million in a little over 12 months on transfer fees alone as 15 new players joined the club. While it may not be ideal for a club in transition to face the current European Champions, PSG have enough talent to supplement its marquee players and effectively dampen Chelsea spirits. Jeremy Menez and Javier Pastore are talented attacking midfielders while winger Nene, with 21 goals last season, was the top-scorer in Ligue 1. Also, watch out for Chelsea fan favorite Alex and his thumping free kicks. Chelsea Chelsea vs Seattle – Analysis Chelsea head to New York on the back of a see-saw 4-2 win over Seattle Sounders. A vibrant attacking display by a youthful Chelsea team was undone partially by a lethargic defensive performance but the introduction of experienced names at half-time added stability to the team. Josh McEachran bagged 3 assists in the game (although one of them was for the Seattle goal) while new signings Eden Hazard and Marko Marin scored in their first game for the club. Romelu Lukaku(scorer of 2 goals) staked his claim for the back-up striker role with a powerful performance up front. The shift in Chelsea’s style of play was evident especially in the first half. The infusion of quick, silky technical players saw most attacks were being initiated at ground level using the pace of the attackers (Marin especially) with very few aerial balls. Even full-backs Chalobah and Fereira, in their rare forays forward, seemed to slide the ball in behind the Seattle defence rather than lift it into the area. The defensive vulnerabilities is hardly cause for concern and I fully expect the defence to stay compact as fitness levels improve and Ashley Cole returns to dislodge Fereira from left-back. The transition from defence to attack is something the players need to work on as John Obi Mikel had a poor game at CDM but overall, it was a good start to the pre-season rounded off by a great atmosphere at Seattle. Team News di Matteo is expected to put out a stronger eleven meaning Ramires, Lampard and Cahill are all in line for a spot in the starting eleven. The defence will be bolstered by the returns of John Terry and Ashley Cole with Cole set to replace Paulo Fereira at Left-back. Cahill on the atmosphere in USA Players to Watch Paris St Germain – Ezequiel Lavezzi – Lavezzi moved to PSG in the off-season in a surprise 21 million deal and is eager to make a good impression on Ancelotti in the pre-season. Branislav Ivanovic may vaguely remember Lavezzi dancing around him and his defensive counterparts in a dreadful night in Naples. 2 well taken goals punctuated a devastating performance by the pacy Argentine as Napoli took a 3-1 first leg lead in the Round of 16 tie and a repeat performance is not out of question unless the Chelsea defence keeps him on a tight leash Chelsea – Romelu Lukaku – With Fernando Torres yet to join up with the squad and Daniel Sturridge away at the Olympics, Lukaku has a golden chance to continue his good form in the Centre Forward position. He was a handful for the Seattle defence as he constantly bullied them in his 2-goal performance. Footnotes Chelsea's record in and around New York 5/9/54 Chelsea 3 - Fortuna 2 (at Randalls Island, NY) 5/23/54 Chelsea 1 -Borussia 6 (at Randalls Island, NY) 5/30/54 Chelsea 2 -All-Stars 0 (at Harrison, NJ) 6/6/54 Chelsea 0 -Rangers 0 (at Randalls Island, NY) 31/7/05 Chelsea 1-1 AC Milan (New Jersey) - Part way through the tour of 1954, Chelsea lost its goalkeeper with a serious injury. Argyle, going home before Chelsea, allowed them to borrow club legend Bill Shortt who flew in from Chicago where Plymouth Argyle were having their post-season tour. - Although this is the first football game at the new Yankee Stadium, New York is no stranger to “soccer” as Pele faced Eusebio (Santos vs Benfica) at the old Yankee Stadium to a 3-3 draw in front of over 40,000 fans while it also hosted England’s first ever night game in the 50’s in a 6-3 win over USA. - Back to 2012, the venue has to temporarily lose its home plate and pitcher’s mound to lay a surface suitable for football sources: chelseafc.com(interview with cahill) and 1954 in american soccer by Dave Litterer (historical references)

yep. that's true. hopefully the management gives him a rest until after the International break

Diagree Mata barely played in the Euros apart from the last 5 minutes of the final and the Olympics will just be like a "competitive" pre-season training for him. It will be a bit more gruelling than the other players but i think mata will be alright at the start of the season. signs of tiredness may come up later in the season but we have enough options in - hazard, oscar, de bruyne, benayoun, lampard, meireles, mceachran - in that order to rotate him with..

yes he can play but his preferred position is CAM and secondary position is Left Wing. He played Left Wing/ CAM for Lille/ Belgium but its not like he doesn't know to play right wing. Yet, Ramires maybe the only player in the squad whose primary position is right mid

lol the chelsea flight got delayed. so they trained on the airstrip

di matteo wont dare drop Lampard this season.. whichever way you look at it, oscar is being groomed for a future CM role. Maybe they will ease him in this season but the number of CM's in the squad is alarming - Oscar, Lampard, Mikel, Meireles, Essien, Romeu, McEachran, de Bruyne while Ramires, Mata, Benayoun and Hazard can all play there if needed Imo, Essien should be sold and McEachran should be loaned while de Bruyne gives cover for the wingers and CM's. Oscar, Lampard, Mikel, Meireles and Romeu should be the CM choices. I don't think we will play Ramires in the middle. Ramires will be on the right and looking at the squad right now, he is the only player at RM. Marin prefers the left wing while Hazard is comfortable at LM and CAM. I think di Matteo will stretch Hazard's versatility by playing him on the right and thereby relegating Ramires to the bench. Torres Marin Mata Hazard Oscar/Lampard Mikel

Haha Marko Marin lol

no ibra is NOT starting. its been almost confirmed.

sales will be made. di Matteo said -"We are assessing the situation and I will speak to the player later this week" on Malouda and I think that's the professional way of giving Malouda the GTFO

Monday morning

Agree with the predictions as long as United sign Modric/Moutinho/RVP. City maybe a wildcard this time around. they may yet make an addition to the squad and make it even better but i agree fergie will get united through Chelsea are a work in progress and anyone "EXPECTING" a title win is being unrealistic

Good choice for a pre-season friendly

No-one to initiate the transition to attack. Mikel is sitting deep but the ball isn't being directed anywhere.

is josh McEachran the solution to our creative midfield problems? brilliant start by the youngster

lol. i dont think mikel would mind

ivanovic is the captain tonight

its not fair. i have even this game at 6 in the morning

Barely 2 months after the greatest triumph in the club’s history, it’s back to business for Chelsea Football Club as it enters a new era under ‘permanent’ manager Roberto di Matteo. A busy summer of transition saw a Chelsea legend leave the club to the Far East but with exciting young players coming into the ageing squad, the new season looks promising for Chelsea as it begins its pre-season tour of America with a game against Seattle Sounders. Opposition Views It’s not every year that Champions League winners visit Seattle yet that is what will happen tonight when Seattle Sounders host Chelsea. Chelsea’s fifth visit to Seattle marks another chapter in the growing history between the two clubs which began back in 1967 when the Blues defeated a Seattle amateur’s team 5-0 at the Memorial Stadium. The Blues last appearance against the Sounders was in 2009, when they received goals from Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard in a 2-0 win over the Sounders. Since then, Chelsea have added the Premier League(2010), 2 FA Cups and the elusive Champions League to its trophy cabinet. Meanwhile Seattle have elevated themselves to being Championship contenders and have also won the US Open Cup thrice in ‘09, ‘10 and ‘11. They play Sporting Kansas City next month in this year’s final. The friendly will also bring on an unexpected farewell for Seattle, as forward Roger Levesque has decided the match against Chelsea will be his last as he will attempt to further his educations according to The Seattle Times. According to few Seattle fans, Fredy Montero hasn’t been great this season. Hopefully, it continues tomorrow as the Chelsea defence needs to cope up with Eddie Johnson (ex-Fulham) as well .Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid will have a full squad at his disposal except long-term absentee David Estrada. Roberto di Matteo on Seattle Sounders and MLS Chelsea News Rectifying a lowly 6th position in the league last season will be the priority as di Matteo attempts to infuse the new Chelsea with a bed-rock of senior players – (Cech, Terry, Cole, Lampard) The loss of Drogba (Kalou and Bosingwa as well) was eased by the arrival of the hottest property in Europe – Eden Hazard while Marko Marin was also signed from Werder Bremen. Yossi Benayoun, Josh McEachran and Kevin de Bruyne returned from loan spells to swell the Chelsea squad left thread-bare by Olympic participants Juan Mata, Oriol Romeu, Ryan Bertrand, Daniel Sturridge and (Oscar). John Terry is set to join the team this weekend after being cleared of racial abuse charges during the summer while Gary Cahill has recovered from a jaw injury that ruled him out of the Euros. The younger players in the squad will be put up for trial in the pre-season games. Lucas Piazon, Josh McEachran, Todd Kane and Patrick Bamford have the chance to prove their mettle and possibly push for a place in the squad. Line-up Assuming that di Matteo continues with the 4-2-3-1, expect di Matteo to fiddle around with the team tonight. Probables Lukaku Marin Hazard Ramires Lampard Mikel Fereira Cahill Luiz Ivanovic Cech It will be interesting to see how new signings Hazard and Marin blend. The roles of seniors Frank Lampard and Michael Essien will be cleared up in the pre-season while Fereira might have to cover for Ashley Cole at Left-Back Seattle Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid Players to Watch Seattle - Eddie Johnson - He may have been goal-less for Fulham (and Preston for that matter) but expect him to stretch Cahill and Luiz in the Chelsea defence. Chelsea - Eden Hazard - Considered the hottest property in Europe, he has the ability to be a truly great player. It will be intriguing to see his first game in a Chelsea shirt. Foot Notes Literally rolling the Green Carpet! - The Sounders have replaced their home stadium’s usual turf surface with a full natural grass playing field Stability - There are nine players on Chelsea's team who played in the 2009 friendly in Seattle. Four players even remain from the 2004 squad that beat Celtic FC, 4-2, here in an exhibition: midfielder Frank Lampard, goalkeeper Petr Cech, and defenders John Terry and Paulo Ferreira. Chelsea’s record in Seattle Year Opponent Score 1967 Local amateurs 5-0 1977 Sounders (NASL) 0-2 2004 Celtic FC 4-2 2009 Sounders FC 2-0 2012 Sounders FC -- The boring summer is ending. Sit back and enjoy the first game of a new era at Chelsea Football Club Kickoff – July 18 – 9:30 pm EDT, July 19 – 2:30 am BST Venue – Century Fields, Seattle How to watch? Chelsea TV, ESPN 2(USA) Click here to view the article

better than Hilario and turnbull although its hard to be worse than those 2