Strike

sweet upgrade...cheers, mate

ITV don't want the semifinal game to clash with Manchester United v Aston Villa which is at 4pm on Sky Sports.Pretty messed up really. We asked for a Friday night game but we dint even get the match advanced to an afternoon slot....

yeah. Looks like it. But we should really follow what ManU have been doin so well (2010 - Hernandez signed before WC, 2011 - Jones and Young signed early)

On paper, there are a dozen good names coming up in this topic but Abramovich will not even consider the likes of Eric Gerets, Brendan Rodgers, David Moyes, Luciano Spaletti, and who else. It is really between those who have been there and done that because anyone else is a big risk

sorry for the inconvenience, mate...reducing...

you have put your finger on the damn problem around here.the rebuilding of the team from the core which won the back to back premships in 2006 was painstakingly slow 2006-07 may have been too early...particularly after v won the league. then in 2007-08, we signed shevchencko, ballack and such flops but d core was still quite good...v reached the champions league final and were a penalty kick from winnin it. 2008 - grant and ten cate are packed off , steve clarke left and big phil is brought in. we bought bosingwa, deco and mineiro...6 months later,big phil is shunted sideways but not before he manages to get ricardo quaresma on loan.then hiddink came, and v stabilised for a while but he did not stay either. next up was ance.signed zhirkov, matic, sturridge (rarely used) but even after we won the league there was rebuilding to be done we released jcole, ballack, deco, belletti, carvalho and brought in ramires ...so v let go off 5 squad players and bought in ramires (and to be fair to ance - benayoun too- but he spent more time in the treatment table than anyone except owen hargreaves) that is where the root of the problem lies (apart from sacking mourinho) . . . Chelsea Football Club, please look up the word "REBUILDING" . I am sure it doesn't mean the same in my dictionary

rdm has a fair argument to claim the permanent managerial role but do u think anything other than winning the fa cup AND/OR champions league is an option for him?

This is a forum. Argue all you like but don't fight...Benfica might not suck but they did play shit.... u can say jt handball, luiz cleared off the line, all u like but the bottom line was both teams played shit but chelsea executed its plans tactically.....and this being a chelsea forum, sometimes celebrations of a win go over the top but in no way are v disregarding benfica (u scored twice at old trafford, for gods sake)

yes...very strange given how well he started

i would say fereira is ahead of bosingwa after the benfica game and also, why did we pay 18m for Lukaku and play him once a couple of months? Experts were heralding Chelsea's attack with Sturridge Drogba Torres and Lukaku but so far Only drogba and torres have been used at centre striker position so as u said, i think its the right time to play lukaku now....(likewise to romeu)

yep...All hail King Solomon.....Kalou for Ballon D'or next year

at swansea he was used earlier on but then gylfi sigurdsson emerged and is in the form of his life.....so mceachran is down the peckin order but he's immense! silky feet and the ability to pick out a pass......v r lookin around at costly creative midfielders when we have one right under our noses..!

yeah...but rdm won the tactical battle whereas avb got it wrong also, rdm can cite the fixture pile-up as a possible reason too

\Yeah, if they brought back fereira for the champions league tie, its time romeu got his chance.....cant believ that in the midst of all this rotation, he hasn't played a single minute under RDM..... Hopin for Cech ivan cahill terry cole romeu mikel sturro lamps king solomon didi drogs/lukaku!

is garay returning for the second leg?

yep And i hear eddie newton has been a big help tactically

weird isn't it....avb got a lot of stick for a rotating policy but now rdm is being hailed.....maybe because rdm has the fixture congestion reason up his sleeve also drogba and torres seem to be alternating every other game....so are sturridge and kalou, cahill-luiz, essien-mikel, meireles-lampard.... is it a case of over-rotation? or keeping everybody fresh

Chelsea offer Laurent Blanc £9m a year to take hotseat I still think the England v France game at Euro 2012 will be the audition for Blanc. Euro 2012 will see where he is in the pecking order in our list of managerial candidates. Sure, there are better managers out there (Hiddink, rafa benitez) but each of them have their own problems (Hiddink - Anzhi - costly, Rafa - u know ). Blanc is young and could lead us in to the future but at the same time, look at AVB

You are quite right.....Its far from over....Benfica are still in it.... But really, you have to admit, it is now an uphill task for benfica to get back because Chelsea are much much stronger at the Bridge. and about the gary neville commentating.....yes, he was biased. The reason for that was he thinks Chelsea are a good team and should be doing better and also maybe because its the last surviving English team in Europe..... Also, Benfica were good. But considering they were at home, they should have been better. We gave you too much respect in the end. The JT handball thing is a 50-50. It was too close but still he held his arm out..

Ramires defended attacked, closed down like a gladiator....Motm...luiz a close second....torres and kalou not bad at all

both luiz and ramires, gr8Satisfactory away perfrmanc....if v hold on....thank u ashley cole....good misd

Btw, chelsea vs tottenham, fa cup semifinals

Yeah...half hearted shot/cross

Ramires has been top class tonight

Nooooooooooo...bosingwa's on.....gaitan cuts him apart and sets up cardozo....one one