Magic Lamps

ohh luiz... we don't get our game sorted out fast enough. Utd now can counter us easily and sit at the back comfortably. they are always good for one crazy mistake but we've got all work to do now without being able to afford any mistakes

shame ivanovic can't cross and did not simply pass to oscar.

nice pressing, but we lack the finishers

saw it coming. that was it. when luiz went out of the box too late and the cross came in, iw as sure they would score

brillant tackle by ivanovic, alright with that. should have played on, evra was out of the pitch

already reminds me of the atletico disaster

they might have been lucky, but that chance and shot did merit a goal. They caught us out. No one marked RvP even though we had double as many guys in the box as them

fuck. luiz's already guilty of a goal without havin committed a mistake.

ferguson the old fox has - of course- reverted to wingers to get us at the balls ( does this idomatic exist?). so lets hope rdm has the right answer

It's my birthday and I command a win as a present.

1. Torres is taller than Studge. I know he is listed everywhere as 1.88m but that is simply not true there are shitloads of photos that prove different. A friend of mine has a photo with studge which was shot when he randomly met him in London and they are very much the same height at straight posture. That friend is waay shorter than me and I am 1.88m. Anyway height is not necessarily a factor in aerial challenges. It's about timing, leap and technique. Hence I'd favor Torres with regard to that aspect cos he clearly is the more prolific guy at headers. 2. It would be a bit strange to give Studge his first start against ManUtd. RDM has kept faith in Torres after worse displays than against Shaktar. I am sure, RDM has good reasons for not starting Studge in Ukraine and against Wolves e.g. where it would not have harmed Torres confidence. Maybe he is not fit right now. 3.Torres always has something in his locker, esp against ManUtd. He might be a mediocre striker right now and will never again be the guy who set the world on fire in 2008 but he has shown glimpses of it with his goal against Newcastle and in particular with his finish and cross in the ManU games last season respectively. 4. Lamps is a massive loss for this game whether he would have started or not.As a sub his lack of pace would not have been an issue. Even though his playmaking abilites might not be required his scoring certainly is. He is one of our very few natural finishers and he is about the only guy I would be certain of converting a penalty. With Utds clumsy defense I am perfectly sure we should get a few situations worth a penalty, whilst I am equally aware that we will get none. 5. The ref's performance will be crucial as usually against them. Whilst in 2009/10 the refs where bad as fuck but did not manage to stop us from regaining the EPL crown in glorious fasion beating the reds devils twice, in 2010/11 they were tolerable (of course as always favouring Utd more or less) in 2011/12 they cost us at least 3 points at least. at OT they allowed 2 clearly offside goals for Utd to stand, at the bridge they got unrightfully rewarded 2 fuckin penalties to equalise. I am a bit afraid of 10 minutes fergie time if we are about to win and no drogba to make fun of them at their own corner flag with atrocious skills ( but I am sure hazard can do so too)

Why do people call Lamps fat? He never was, he's always been of strong,ahletic build and is one of the fittest guys there is.

Torres is not intelligent in any way. He's a guy who only got his instincts. Just look at the verbal diarrhoe he uses to produce in any kind of interviews. He's simply not the charakter to drag himself out of a low.

The other problem is, he does not offer anything we do not already have got in Oscar, Eden, Juan. Moses will play the waay bigger part

Its such a shame that a player with his attributes and potential is halted by injuires all the time.

Utd is the team with even fewer centre midfielders than us, so it could be nice to overpower them there but imo any of our midfielders could play both games and still get the better of that ginger fella. Like the idea of Lamps playing in the hole against shakthar, they'll probably not prepared for this, as lamps usually goes deep to help build-up play we mostly will have an extra man in midfield. IMO we need width in that game, when we can not avail ourseleves of our creative players. Marin and moses can offer exactly that rather than mata and the others. IMO Torres should not get a game at all. Bet sturride would have done better all the time. cech azpi-cahill-terry-Bertrand ------Romeu-Mikel------- Moses----Lamps----Marin ------------Studge---------- should give them a game and us a narrow win. Tactics are crucial

Ronnie had his best year 2005. Lamps was better then and more consistent over the years. No idea why people go on about Ronaldinho in that tone. Lamps never had that south-american magic but was not second to Maradonna, zidane, pele or anyone in terms of brillance. At the same time he is superior in terms of effect and consistency

Just watched the match of the day records. Lukaku should have killed City.

Mikel scored a goal... DAFUQ?

I've not been online since weeks due to moving, but what is that "Mikel to score" about? The usual anti Mikel stuff or something recent? The longer the wait for the game the more I am longing for it... International football is so bloody redundant, glad some of our important players are not involved. We always struggle against them at the Lane, This game is always a nice story for me cos one of our last wins there in 2004 was the first Chelsea game I attended. Not really a great game but remember that Hasselbaink goal. A point would be okay, a win great they conceded against every half decent opposition, so they still are a bit shaky which could serve us when our engine gets on running. I do not really worry about our creativity rather about our conversion. Torres might score recently but he wastes twice as many 100% chances. No idea how his evolvement from a great to a pathetic to a tolerable striker will continue. These are the games we can confirm our title bid early days so bring it on!

sry quoted instead of edited

For years, It has been pretty clear to me that Frank's our best player ever and I can tell he's the favourite player of the major part of all chelsea fans I've met. Drogba and Terry have let us down on several occasions in big games, Lampard never did, his reliablility is kind of superhuman. But he's not only our best player ever but simply belongs in the same category as Zidane or Maradonna and probably the greatest guy who has ever graced English football. He simply still deserves a World Footballer of the Year and a EPL-topscorer award but he has won so many individual and team honours, he won't care. Hopefully he amkes it another 20 goals this season and smashes that Bobby Tambling record. No idea why he cannot take successive one-year extensions, He can still have a big money move afterwards. Btw. terrific(triffic) article, I am a big Lamps fan and could not have put it better

lol that's it with playing a b-team in the capital one cup

Indeed, he would look really nice, even handsome if he wouldn't put on that scary psycho smile on all the time. Romeu can put on any face, he wil look like Frankenstein's monster all the time. Both will become great footballers too.

particularly liked bertrand's goal, precise, strong shot, that's why he will come better than ashley cole: he can shoot