Strike

As good as rdm has been with rotating the squad, romeu shud hav started few games. or maybe rdm is holding back to unleash him vs barca ( he playd ramires and luiz vs benfica bcoz they knew abt opposition)

Nope. Eriksen will Qualify for CL with Ajax. We still may get him but Lucas is different. He's in the Brazilian League and any good club in europe is a step up

I think there should be one more passer along with Mata. Because against fulham, everytime meireles, mikel got the damn ball they passed it back to cb's and every time we were in their half, a long range shot was taken But later on in stoppage time, Mata received the ball in midfield. He did a nice little turn and took off leaving Diarra or whoever it was behind. With Oriol Romeu, Lampard and Mata in midfield, our game will not only speed up but also we can depend less on cb's playing the ball long or full-backs crossing out of play. That is if Rdm still doesn't persist with Mikel and Meireles

yeah.but he is a good enough squad player imo. doesn't have to start the big games but wil do a good enough job when called upon. look at mata this season. he has played almost every game. i think with benayoun around, he doesn't have to play every single game

YOSSI BENAYOUN –THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY We have debated about Lampard, Meireles, Mata and the other midfielders’ contributions this season, quite extensively here on TC but what about the one that got away – Yossi Benayoun. Mock me all you want but Yossi Benayoun could have been the much needed link-up player between midfield and attack Benayoun joined Chelsea from Liverpool on a three year deal for £5.5m after the League and Cup double in 2010 as a direct replacement for the departing Joe Cole who coincidentally headed in the opposite direction. He had a great debut, coming of the bench to score the final goal in a 6-0 thrashing at Wigan. Things were looking good for the little Israeli midfielder whose link-up play and quick feet were hailed by the media. On 22 September 2010, he ruptured his Achilles tendon in a Carling Cup game against Newcastle to be forced out for most of the 2010-11 season. He did not return until April when we played Wigan again. At the start of the 2011-12 season, he gave up his no.10 shirt to Juan Mata and took over the no.30 shirt saying – “I decided to give Mata the number 10 – his favourite. For me it's just a number, not my lucky 15”. He had a good pre-season – scored a wonderful cheeky goal against Wycombe - and thus it was a surprise when he joined Arsenal on a season-long loan late in the transfer window. Most Chelsea fans did not give much thought to this strange move simply because Arsenal had just been thrashed 8-2 at Old Trafford and were nowhere near the top 4. But Arsenal recovered and as the season progressed and Benayoun is increasingly becoming a crucial part of Arsenal’s attack. He started the crunch games against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City repaying the manager’s faith in him with no-nonsense performances. “Yossi knows the job in this position,” said Wenger. “He is also highly focused in the big games – that is a massive part because you cannot switch off. So we have a good balance in the team with him and good focus. And he has quality. In the games he started, he did extremely well and the team did extremely well as well. That is never a coincidence”. Although he has scored only one goal this season, it came at a crucial time – a late winner away at Villa Park. Judging Benayoun by goals is harsh on him. He is a player in the ‘Dirk Kuyt/Park Ji-Sung’ mould. But given how Chelsea midfielders have performed this season, I think AVB missed out by letting him go. Meireles was recruited on deadline day and apart from the odd good goal, he has been a major disappointment. Meireles, Mikel and Essien are the exact same type of players. They are typical holding midfielders. How many times have you cursed them when they got the ball and passed it straight back to the centre-backs? Most of our attacks are either crosses from the full-backs or long balls from the centre-backs. That is where I think Benayoun would have been a more than useful addition to our squad. He gives the holding midfielder an extra option and his link up play with the forwards is much better than anyone else at Chelsea. Sure, Lampard scores goals, but he has lost a yard of pace and is increasing playing alongside the holding midfielder now. Benayoun, Mata and Sturridge in the 3 attacking midfielder slots would have been a much better attack than Kalou or Meireles playing as one of the attackers. Moreover, Benayoun has played with Torres at Liverpool and I think Torres would have scored atleast a couple more goals with him around as long balls from the CB’s and crosses from full-backs does not really suit his type of play. Torres loves a playmaker threading balls through to him and sadly, apart from Juan Mata, no one is capable of doing that in our squad. Even though he is growing old, I hope Chelsea retain Benayoun next season. He will be a handy squad player who will do a good job when called upon

I hate to sound like a broken recordm but NONE of the Top Players will join us now. Forget Eden Hazard, forget Gotze, forget Modric, forget Eriksen The only players who will join now are those that didn't qualify for CL or those who see the PL as a step up We should rather look at quality clubs who failed to make CL like we didn't. Newcastle United - Cabaye, Ba Napoli - Cavani, Lavezzi, Junior Hoilett - free and as for the CAM position - Lucas Moura, (Kevin de bruyne) Willian Leavin aside all that, we must focus on getting the Manager in place BY the end of MAY! We simply can't lose out on any bargain signings before Euro 2012 just because we didn't hire a manager.

they did get involved in the napoli game. made an incorrect penalty decision

what happened to the poll? I would really like to see who the members of TC vote for as manager next season

Video refereeing will slow the game down. With some of the games being played at rapid pace, using 'hawk-eye' for every petty incident will kill the game. Goal-line technology on the other hand would be a good addition to the game although Uefa's idea of a referee near the goal-line is not bad since it gives extra eyes on the game and not just on the goal-line. Having said that, the goal-line assistant ref failed to give a clear penalty against didier drogba in the napoli game

Give it up. Eriksen, Gotze, Hazard, Ozil and the whole batch of exciting European youngsters will not come to Chelsea this summer. And even Jurgen Klopp will be mad to leave Dortmund(which is currently first in the Bundesliga) and join our madhouse. We'd rather look at bargains from Newcastle, Napoli and other quality teams that did not make CL

cheers, mate

i hate how the media thinks that Chelsea is the bully in the playground

just sayin, if it comes down to it, i would rather have a go at barca than spuds

The Barca game is MUCH more important. I know ppl are not giving us much of a chance but that is the game we have to go after. We have won enough FA Cups in the last few years and the Champions League is the Holy Grail for Abramovich.

Frank was incredible in Carlo's first season. 20 odd goals and set up Drogba often. It was in the second season that it all went downhill

Not to mention his well documented injury and attitude problems

we wont have a strike 'partnership'. whenever torres and drogba have played together, torres has been wide on the right. should stick them up centre together when we are chasing the game

Listen to the uefa anthem. the lyrics starts with 'le barca'

Every time Mikel and Meireles got the ball, they passed it back to Cahill or terry. Look at Newcastle, Yohan Cabaye gets the ball and threads it through to Ben Arfa, Cisse or Ba. Even if it's intercepted sometimes, that is how you score. Spurs -Parker wins the ball and drives forward. Or if it's Modric, he spreads it to the wings or to Adebayor upfront. NOT Backwards to the CB's. And another thing, good teams don't resort to SHOOTING FROM LONG RANGE throughout the game. Meireles may have scored one fluke vs Benfica but yesterday he skied it from the edge of the area. And Kalou keeps nominating himself for miss of the season. Really frustrating Meireles, Mikel and Essien should be shunted out in the summer along with Malouda and Kalou

P.S - @Jim and @BlueLion - I know its early but i thought i will write this when I am free

CHELSEA V BARCELONA – UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIFINALS PREVIEW The fires of injustice from that night 3 years ago, when Andres Iniesta struck in stoppage time, are raging again as Chelsea get ready to face Barcelona in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona have dominated world football over the last few years, beating the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid comprehensively but they cannot say the same about Chelsea. In the 8 times, Chelsea have faced Barcelona since 2005, there have been 4 draws and 2 wins apiece (both Barcelona wins came with Chelsea down to ten men) In 2005, Chelsea overturned a 2-1 first leg deficit to race away to a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes at Stamford Bridge. Eventually, the Blues held off a Ronaldinho-inspired Barca fight back to progress to the quarter finals. In 2006, again down to ten men in the first leg, the Blues were beaten 2-1 at the Bridge with Eto’o scoring. In the return leg, a late Ronaldinho goal all but clinched it for Barca, rendering Lampard's injury time penalty a consolation. Later on in 2006, the two sides met in the group stages when a brilliant Drogba strike settled the tie at Stamford Bridge while Lampard’s zero-degree magic and a late Drogba goal saw Chelsea grab a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp. This match saw 10 players yellow carded. The CL record for yellow cards is 11. 3 years on, Mourinho had long left Chelsea and Hiddink had come in after Grant and Scolari had failed. A brilliant defensive display saw Chelsea come away from the first leg at the Nou Camp with a 0-0 scoreline. In the 2nd leg, Essien’s thunderbolt looked set to hand Chelsea progress to the final for the second year running despite numerous calls for a penalty being turned down. In the end, the missed chances and the penalties not awarded came back to bite Chelsea big time “It’s Iniestaaa.. and the Chelsea fans cover their eyes in horror” It was tough to take in that away goals defeat, especially after the Luis Garcia ghost goal and the penalty shootout losses to Liverpool and ManU. Chelsea had created more chances and were by far the better team on the night but it was still not enough to set up a 2008 Champions League final rematch. Since then, Barcelona have twice won the Champions League and have solidified their status as one of the greatest teams ever while Chelsea, apart from the League and Cup double in 2010 have slid down the football hierarchy. Barca held off a spirited challenge from AC Milan in the group stages to progress as Group H winners. Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Chelsea 2-1 in the group stages, were trounced by 5 Messi goals as Barca coasted into the quarter-finals. AC Milan provided a much stiffer challenge, but Barca overcame Milan’s resilience in the second leg to progress 3-1 on aggregate. Chelsea finished top of Group E, despite failing to win any of their away games from winning positions. Valencia were beaten comprehensively at the Bridge on Matchday 6 while Genk did Chelsea a favor by holding Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw. Napoli awaited the Blues in the Round of 16 and it was truly a tale of 2 halves. Annihilated at Naples, the Chelsea old guard stepped up at the Bridge to send Chelsea through after extra-time. In the quarter-finals against Benfica, it was much closer than the 3-1 aggregate score suggested as a late Raul Meireles strike sent Chelsea through “Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.” -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities “Everyone’s got unfinished business with them. That game (2009) is certainly in our minds, but this is a completely different year. So, we need to try and beat them” -Frank Lampard “Let me be honest, I don't think the final will be a Real Madrid/Chelsea final. It could be Bayern or Barcelona, I just don't think it will be Real Madrid v Chelsea and we know why.” “Barcelona aren't the favourites, they are super-favourites” -Jose Mourinho The quotes speak for themselves. Let me be honest, the task for Chelsea is definitely daunting but NOT impossible. If the defense stays rigid, then a smash-and-grab is not out of question but by no means will it be easy. Barcelona will be quietly confident while Chelsea will come in with spirit and a nothing-to-lose attitude. One glorious night can set this horror season straight for Chelsea but Barcelona will come all guns blazing to defend their crown. The backdrop is set-up. The characters are in place. The magic of the Champions League will capture us again. Whatever happens, come April 18, when the players go out on the pitch, expect fireworks.

Revenge is a dish best served cold