Magic Lamps

Most of our players look completely off pace. Ok, its preseason, but we should have the necessary fitness level by now

this is team who should actually beat most teams in the world, so i expect a bit more of precision

Read a report in a German newspaper confirming Bremen plan him to be their new no. 10. Great, IMO, for him, just don't know i in what position he will fit in at CFC. Mata, Hazard, Oscar and maybe Piazon (who I actually see as a striker) will all be ahead of him. Perhaps we should convince himt o become rather a CM/DM/regista, he surely got the potential

Don't think anyone will offer Ashley Cole higher wages. IMO should step back at 31 he will not become any better probably. Bertrand will increasingly replace him and maybe ven van aanholt who is a maybe a shade faster and more attacking than Ryan will become back-up. At LB we are very much covered, so there is no real argumetn for being too keen on Ash,.

Think Sahin has been robbed the edge that u need to get the chance in that Real Madrid Team by the injury he had in the early stages of last season. He generally is injury prone. His other porblem is he is maybe physically and defensviely a bit inferior to Lass, Khedira and Xabi Alonso, also because he is way younger then any of those. Anyway, in terms of ability and potential he is superior to all of them bar Xabi Alonso. Sahin is simply made for the slick, intricate passing we intend to play next season, has a lovely left food, can swiftly fit in in every position in a a midfield 3 or double pivot. In his last Bundesliga season he outshone Bastian Schweinsteiger by lightyears' distance. Would absolutely love to see him here but can't see it happening before we get rid of Essien or Meireles.

Don't know what the fuss with Cazorla, Arsenal, the predicitons adn our midfield is all about. 1. Arsenal can have a team as good as you like they will fuck up in the end anyway 2. Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski are okay but nothing more. Would have NONE of them in my Chelsea team. 3. Lamps and Mikel are vastly experienced players, they'll make sure they wont get caught off position in a counter. 4. Some of u might have forgotten what Super Frank Lampard is all about. He is an excellent passer, shooter, can read the game as good as anyone, has excellent positioning, is still one of the best midfielders out there, even German media had to acknowledge that. There are players who will struggle adapting to new position, Lamps won't be one of them. 5. Who the fuck is Liverpool or Arsenal? Don't give a shit about their fans predicitons. We are the Champions of Europe. We have nothing to prove. They have a combined title haul of one mighty Caring Cup since the end of the pre-Roman Iron age. Whilst they apparently try to affect their chances by farfetching some barmy predicitions its fare more interesting to see what our club actually does to shape its own destiny.

Heard at the time we signed de Bruyne choice had been between him and Shaqiri. The Club opted for de Bruyne because his better English... personally would pick Shaq any time... Bremen is probably a good side to be for him, although they as well as the league are utter crap. . Not sure about his chances here, far too slow for a winger, better prospect as a no.10

All worth nothing if RvP leaves this summer. Nonetheless they have somehow broken with their own - unsucessfull - policy and signed some established, experienced players as Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski. Though not convinced with the latter.

Courtois is - even though only 20 - by now one of of the best goalkeepers in the world. He would be absolutely wasted as only a back-up, he will challenge Cech next yyear. Anyway, the problem with Turnbull and Hilario is not they are average or not so good, its they are utter BS. How Hilario dances in the box, being always 5m off his line, when a shoot comes on target u already know its going in as was the case against Seattle lately. As poor as his positioning and bad ballhandling is Hilarios kicking, he misjudges about any backpass, can't kick a moving ball, we conceded numerous times because of that. Turnbull is simply a classic British goalkeeper, strong and good on the line but awful by judging shots, always good for an error and a joke as a footballer. U simply cant have back-up goalies as these adn it does not get any better when u have 2 of these. Any Bundesliga and most 2nd buLi side has a better back-up goalie. Even if its a short-term solution turnbull or hilario will cost us titles when cech is injured.

Agree, Mikel lacks effort and commitment and is not really persistent enough to be a world class DM. The frustrating thing is, he does not really lack the ability. He is by no means slow or has no sense for spaces niether is he a bad tackler, IMO Mikel seems to have a high standing within the Team and the way Lamps, who might have the most intelligent footballing brain in the world, rates him, makes me thing he is doing sth right. http://www.kickoff.com/news/29612/frank-lampard-says-fellow-chelsea-midfielder-john-mikel-obi-is-underrated-by-outsiders

At Chelsea, no one gives a f*ck about FFP. Righly so. The burgeoning new Television deals have greatly enhanced our income once more, additionally we got a record sum from the CL win, some big-earners are off the salary list and as Champions of Europe we are to be rewarded with extra cash-deals. Gourlay would knew if there was anything to fear about corrupt UEFAs little games.

There's no real excuse for not thrashing Brighton this time. Expect a totally different match to the former preseason games, when Lukaku has been our prevailing front man. With Torres who is actually able to hold up a ball and create goals and space with his movement, our attack is provided with further options.

yeah, Di Maria and Oezil are just soo hot

your are right, about everyhting harms his confidence, so either sell him or not, buying a rival striker hence is inconsequent. the Club has opted to keep Torres. Period.

RW, RW, RW ??? We have had no proper Right Winger since Tschoäi Kohl (Joe Cole) left us. We might have bought a bunch of Offensvie midfielders and have some left wingers at our disposal but there is simply no out-and-out right winger, which is simply poor for a club like us. Moses or Hulk should be top priority

Apart from the fact that about everything harms Torres confidence, why would a player like Rondon who is 22 and raring to go be satisfied with sitting on the Bench? If we buy a striker then s.o. reliable, experience adn cheap, a proven scorer who can offer an extra bit, Hoarau or Kerzhakov go in that direction.

A young, amtitious striker being signed will only harm torres confidence. We either have to sell torres or keep him as undisputed first choice, otherwise he is uneffective. Apparently the club has chosen to Keep Torres... Otherwise, 3 Strikers, of which one is inconsistent, one is transfer-willing and will need extra time to recover after the Olympics adn one is unproven, erratic and has little to offer apart from his physique sounds a bit of a gamble.

Indeed can't see the club spending for more than a RB adn a ST/RW. We'll atleast have a try until Winter before buying a new CM/DM. We lack a bit of quality in that position but perhaps its an opportunity for Romeu or McEachran to demonstrate their ability to step ahead. ATM a major factor is numbers. We have to get rid of players to buy new ones whilst at CM we are - with regard to numbers - fulled up. Provided Essien and Meireles leave us ( which I wish they would and still trasnfers are not off as Ess is past it and Meireles has always been an average player with a bit of shooting ability and experience )there would be a blatant neccessity, but don't expect the club to rush before. . As for Mikel, he's always been a decent defensive midfielder, of course he lacks the drive and commitment wich becomes more obvious in a doubole pivot than in a midfield three. aS he's our only viable opiton it leads us back to the initial topic, our system. I think a 4-3-2-1 interchanging with a 4-3-3 would fit most players individual strengths -------------Mikel----------- ---Ramires-------Lamps-- -----Mata----------Hazard- --------------Torres-------- Mikel - works best in a midfield three as the holding midfielder Ramires - has not quite the technique for RW but his pace, drive, energy are wasted in a double pivot. Best position is RCM Lamps - always likes to draw back before making his trademark runs, so a classic numer 10 would place him too far in front, whilst his offensive abilities would be limited too much in a double pivot Mata & Hazard have very much freedom roaming about, interchanging sides both being kinda number 10 AND winger whilst having enough space not to stmap on each others toes. As for width, I assure u this system would provide our fullbacks the opportunity to sprint forward and otherwise Hazard is a brillant and Ramires a decent winger with their pace, so they could both do a job there by changing position. In case it should have to be really offensively this can easily turn into a 4-1-4-1 with Lamps going next to mata in a double no. 10 hazard left, rambo right, a 4-2-3-1 with either lamps going forward to no 10, mata on wing or lamps withdrawing into double pivot with mikel and rambo on wing or if we need to counter it could be a classic 4-3-3 with mata nd hazard on the wings

yes but i think this comparison is a bit off. Marin's play is based on his dribbling, turning ability and acceleration. For Zola this acceleration was only as much as he needed (even though he was in his mid30ies he was much faster than Mata is with 24) for his game. Zola lived for the surprise, the extraordinary. He was a scorer, a scorer of chipped, curled or backheeled efforts. You seldom see Marin score. he is more of a "solid" dribbler but no one as creative and brillant as Zola. Additionally Zola was a rather a striker, Marin is rather a winger.

Lukaku said in the facebook chat on CTV, that Didier Drogba is very much of his role model as he himself reckoned how similar their playign styles were. Of course its a huge legacy and theres probably no way Lukaku will come near Drogba but hey, where was Drogba when he was 19? Lukaku is a great physical specimen with power and pace and enough time to work on his weaknesses. Its far too early to write him off already

nonetheless, frustrating game, no real urgency anywhere, the players did not really look fit. Is it just me or des anyone else think (independent of that game) thate we are missing a worldclass man either in midfield or in the wings to make us challenging on all fronts? Even when we buy Oscar, its only a bunch of kids +lamps +torres (who is not always that consistent). Don't know how those can compete with ronaldo, messi or agüero, silva for the big titles.

t Marin has been one of our best players in preseason so far, don't know what u expected of him to justify a place in the starting. Piazon been decent

incredible how malouda does not shoot us to victory there

Because they are German ... as our incredibly biased, hyping media who always proclaim the national team or our sides as favourites would wish Actually as a German u rather perceive German players being less consistent than italian, spanish or english players.