Wxgba

No, I suppose it didn't. But you of all people ought to know I meant no harm by it.

Although the goal that wasn’t that actually was succeeded in grabbing the headlines, the reason that Chelsea won the game was because they were the better side over ninety minutes. You can dominate first halves all season long and still finish in the bottom half. There’s no point in starting strongly if you’re unable to produce the goods. Spurs simply weren’t clinical enough in front of goal – they had the chances but failed to make them count. They outplayed Chelsea for 43 minutes, but then William Gallas made the fatal error of allowing Didier Drogba, aka Mr. Wembley, to turn... in an FA Cup semi-final. He was never going to do anything other than smash it with his weak foot in to the top corner, was he? Scoring just before half-time must have given the side great belief going in to the break. That much so that it took only four minutes of the second half for Di Matteo’s men to bolster the lead, albeit via the controversial goal. 10 minutes later Spurs may have had another cause for frustration as Petr Cech took down Emmanuel Adebayor as he was one-on-one. A certain red card... surely? Not thanks to Gareth Bale being alongside Tottenham’s target man and successfully tucking it home to make the score 2-1. Retrospectively, the Welsh winger would have been better leaving the ball on its natural course, leaving Spurs with a penalty and half an hour to overcome the deficit against the ten-men of Chelsea. He didn’t, and Chelsea made him eat his words. Yes, Gareth, we all know you’re the better team, hence why you won 5-1. Oh, wait a second... Some may say that Chelsea rode their luck during the game, but the truth of the matter is that when the time came, the players stood up and fought hard for the win. It wasn’t the most glamorous 5-1 victory you’ll ever come across, but it will be difficult to find such an important. And the standard of goals the game produced? Phwoar. It was a proud moment to be a Chelsea fan. We may not have had a successful season for the most part, but we do have the opportunity to end the season on a high: we’re in the FA Cup final; we’re two games away from the Champions League final and there’s still a chance of finishing in the top four of the Premier League. Considering how poor we have been at times this season, we will have done extremely well for ourselves and will leave us in a good position to rebuild for next year. Speaking of rebuilding... the old guard faired alright yesterday, didn’t they? Drogba, Lampard and Terry were amongst three of the best players on the pitch. I thought they were past it... (No, that’s not a joke, I personally thought they were) obviously not. Di Matteo has them back on side, and they can definitely help during big games as they proved against Spurs on Sunday night. If they’re capable of producing a performance of that standard on Wednesday night, then there’s every chance we can go on to beat Barcelona. Pessimism has been prolific amongst Chelsea fans as of late, but Di Matteo’s succeeded in turning the results around and has started to gain points from games we wouldn’t have earlier on in the season, leaving the team with evident, new-found confidence, which is now at a new high. After all, it is mid-April and we’re still competing in three competitions. Not many teams in Europe can say that now, can they?

Di Magician? Although the goal that wasn’t that actually was succeeded in grabbing the headlines, the reason that Chelsea won the game was because they were the better side over ninety minutes. You can dominate first halves all season long and still finish in the bottom half. There’s no point in starting strongly if you’re unable to produce the goods. Spurs simply weren’t clinical enough in front of goal – they had the chances but failed to make them count. They outplayed Chelsea for 43 minutes, but then William Gallas made the fatal error of allowing Didier Drogba, aka Mr. Wembley, to turn... in an FA Cup semi-final. He was never going to do anything other than smash it with his weak foot in to the top corner, was he? Scoring just before half-time must have given the side great belief going in to the break. That much so that it took only four minutes of the second half for Di Matteo’s men to bolster the lead, albeit via the controversial goal. 10 minutes later Spurs may have had another cause for frustration as Petr Cech took down Emmanuel Adebayor as he was one-on-one. A certain red card... surely? Not thanks to Gareth Bale being alongside Tottenham’s target man and successfully tucking it home to make the score 2-1. Retrospectively, the Welsh winger would have been better leaving the ball on its natural course, leaving Spurs with a penalty and half an hour to overcome the deficit against the ten-men of Chelsea. He didn’t, and Chelsea made him eat his words. Yes, Gareth, we all know you’re the better team, hence why you won 5-1. Oh, wait a second... Some may say that Chelsea rode their luck during the game, but the truth of the matter is that when the time came, the players stood up and fought hard for the win. It wasn’t the most glamorous 5-1 victory you’ll ever come across, but it will be difficult to find such an important. And the standard of goals the game produced? Phwoar. It was a proud moment to be a Chelsea fan. We may not have had a successful season for the most part, but we do have the opportunity to end the season on a high: we’re in the FA Cup final; we’re two games away from the Champions League final and there’s still a chance of finishing in the top four of the Premier League. Considering how poor we have been at times this season, we will have done extremely well for ourselves and will leave us in a good position to rebuild for next year. Speaking of rebuilding... the old guard faired alright yesterday, didn’t they? Drogba, Lampard and Terry were amongst three of the best players on the pitch. I thought they were past it... (No, that’s not a joke, I personally thought they were) obviously not. Di Matteo has them back on side, and they can definitely help during big games as they proved against Spurs on Sunday night. If they’re capable of producing a performance of that standard on Wednesday night, then there’s every chance we can go on to beat Barcelona. Pessimism has been prolific amongst Chelsea fans as of late, but Di Matteo’s succeeded in turning the results around and has started to gain points from games we wouldn’t have earlier on in the season, leaving the team with evident, new-found confidence, which is now at a new high. After all, it is mid-April and we’re still competing in three competitions. Not many teams in Europe can say that now, can they? CHE15EA, CHE15EA, CHE15EA!

Then just tone it down, dickhead. I wonder if you'll fall for the white text just as Steve did...

Ah, I wasn't aware you were wanting regular contributors! I'd seen the article submission thread but didn't come across this one. I'm more than happy to add my two cents if you're wanting articles submitted frequently. I've got an idea for an article, though I'll leave you all in anticipation as to what the topic will be!

You would say we needed Hazard and Lavezzi when we don't because, quite frankly, we don't need them. We need wingers, yes. But them two specifically? No. They're both proven in two of Europe's top leagues - Ligue 1 is particularly good at unearthing and showcasing young talent - and won't come cheaply. If we're going to go after the big names such as them two, I'd rather the club do it now, I admit that. I'd rather not let the club meandre into thoughtless transfers and then try and persuade one of our rivals to let their new acquisition come to us and a steeply inflated price. Modric, on the other hand, is a player proven in the Premier League, which automatically means that he'll be a great purchase. Yes, he could be a great acquisition, but for £40m+? No thanks. Spurs would only succeed in replacing Modric with a better, cheaper alternative, leaving us a laughing stock. I mean, come on... we don't want to look like Liverpool, do we? Because there's money available doesn't mean you have to spend it all at once like a greedy kid in a candy shop. And your policy is that it's not your money so let's spend as much as we want is utterly ridiculous and quite embarrassing. I'm all for spending... just in the right areas: those being areas that we need.

So the emphasis of this thread was to be realistic? Either people are completely missing the point or they're bordering on delusion. I've seen Modric's name do the rounds so many times I'm starting to become a little dizzy. Come on... is this creative Croat really our main priority this transfer window? Put him to the back of your mind; put your lucrative, marquee signings aside and let's get real - I hate being the one to break it to you, but we don't need big name players to arrive in the summer for ridiculous sums. We need an emphasis on the team to return, that's what we need. I hope Abramovich has finally opened his eyes to the problems facing and surrounding the football club during this torrid time - no more knee-jerk, impact-buys please! Sadly, I've got a feeling what might be Roman's though process during our current predicament: "We need a creative midfielder and a winger, let's go and spend fuck loads on Modric and another unnecessary target. Then we'll find a manager and hope he does well." Unfortunately, this won't produce any good. It may seem like a quick and easy option, yes, but far too often has he [Abramovich] gone for the wrong option, purely because it's simpler. We need to think more carefully about who we employ, and then we might not see the club having to pay out millions to managers in compensation for what, ultimately, wasn't their fault... Get an experienced manager in who has a sense of direction: someone who looks for the future. Get him in before numerous names get thrown in to the hat and let him work his magic (I hope you appreciate the pun there!); allow him full control of the squad; let him decide who's to depart and who's to arrive. Let him choose his surrounding staff and recruit some good scouts for him to work alongside. With all these new rules being implemented, our scouting network really needs to start excelling. Rather than buy in talented prospects, we ought to be producing them, saving us money and also earning us some as we release the one's who aren't quite good enough to make the step up. Enough of me ranting about the board and the way the club is run, anyway. Everyone makes mistakes and hopefully Roman will learn from his own and his colleagues'. Torres alone ought to provide a good enough example of why we needn't sign "proven" players are prepostorous prices. Focus on the future, target talent and we'll soon see Chelsea Football Club on the rise again. Throw out your Cavani's, Hamsik's and Modric's all day long for all I care, I know myself who the people being realistic are.

That would have been more fitting, I admit, though I wouldn't consider myself familiar with any of LL Cool J's songs. Back in the day, eh? I'd love to start producing graphics again - I only stopped as I'd started to become really busy with "life", so to speak. Now it's settled down again and I have spare time on my hands, so perhaps I'll return to it. I'll have to make you a new sig, then!

Yes, I'm back. Tell a friend. The reason I'm posting this is not because I want you all to recognise me (well, yeah, I do...), but because there's a lot of fresh faces around here since the last time I was active. There's the nucleus of the forum still going strong with Jim, Alex and Steve at the helm, but otherwise, I can see a lot of changes - for the better, might I add. A lot of new 'regulars' have joined since my previous spells on the board, so I've come to introduce myself to them and whoever else may not know me (it's not as though I stuck round for a long enough time for people to remember me - plus all the name changes!). I'm Greg. Hi. The site's looking great; top work to Jim and whomever else may have contributed to the skin and banner - I know how much of a pain in the ass it can be at times, so I salute you for your continued hard work. I mean, supporting Chelsea at this point is hard enough, never mind run a forum to showcase the pessimism surrounding the club! Keep it up, lads - the site is definitely reaping the rewards.

As bad as it sounds, I don't even think it's that. There's no creativity coming from the midfield whatsoever, proving that we're severely lacking in creative players. I mean, signing Mata was a great move, but he can't be the only one to feed all the balls through to Torres. We often bypass the midfield entirely so we need players willing to drop off a bit further to collect the ball, turn and start a sensible attack, rather than an aimless 50-60 yard pass over the top. If we're not going to concentrate on signing out-and-out wingers, then I'd happily take Belhanda for a reduced price. If we fail to snap him, or other prospects such as him soon, we'll get our feet stood on and other clubs will come in for them and take them off our hands before we can officially "show our interest". He's a talented player that has a lot to learn which will benefit his game. Will he get this in Ligue 1 with Montpellier? No. He will gain it if he was to come over here to England and try and make his way into the first team. Sturridge has proven that you can achieve such a task, so it's plausible. A player who's capable of spreading an inch-perfect cross-field ball as well as intricate, cutting passes through the defence? Not to mention he can score a few goals, has two great feet and good dribbling ability. Need we say more? Sign him. What harm can it do? I'd rather risk our money on "unproven" players as they come at a much lower price and isn't as much of a risk if they don't come good as you're not spending millions-upon-millions. Personally, I think Belhanda would be an ideal summer transfer for us. Though, realistically, I can only see Abramovich impact-buying, thinking we need some more "big name" stars in our squad and try again for Modric...

What happens if I want to create the topic myself? Only been regularly active again for a couple of days and you're already getting on my tits. Love you really.

If we win, no matter how we do it, the media will jump on the Spurs bandwagon as they always do. "Chelsea win using anti-football tactics", "they love parking the bus, they do!", or, what would put the icing on the cake... "They're a one-man team: without Drogba, they're nothing". Paraphrasing of course, but that's all the drivel that journalists seem to write about Chelsea, whereas Tottenham are this fantastic footballing force that teams should aspire to play like. Don't get me wrong, they're capable of playing nice, attacking football, but so are we... we just haven't shown it that much recently. I'd love to beat Spurs, go on to win the FA Cup and for us to focus on making that fourth spot ours. As much as I'd love to beat Barcelona and us make the Champions League final, realistically, it's not going to happen. We've been playing woefully as of late, but Spurs have hit a dip in form and hopefully that can resurrect the confidence within the camp. We hold a good record at the new Wembley and so does Drogba, so for me, he simply has to start; Torres can play against UEFA a few days after. It's a must-win game, and overcoming them in this fixture may just be the final nail in the coffin for their hopes of a top-four finish too. Imagine that: us beating the Yids at Wembley, going on to win the trophy in our new, sexy home shirt, and effectively costing Spurs their qualification for next years Champions League - that would go down a treat. Have faith and KTBFFH!

Touché, my friend, touché.

I'm pretty happy they've kept the home kit simple and elegant with the addition of the gold badge, stripes and sponsors logo. I was hoping for gold lettering too, but it doesn't seem to be the case. In retrospect, I'm glad. I think 'too much' gold would have had the opposite effect: it would have looked cheap and tacky, instead of the subtly brilliant masterpiece Adidas have come up with here. Here's hoping for a subtle, classy away kit to go with it!

Please tell me that the badge is embroidered on?

The real question is: who the fuck am I?

I think Di Matteo's scared to make "big" changes to the formation, what with his reputation and former connections to the club at stake. He wouldn't want to lose the support of the fans if he's got his eye on the job full-time, and as a result, is reluctant to make dramatic alterations. Thus far, I can't see any improvement in terms of performance but he's managed to claw some results out of the bag, which has ultimately kept the fans on his side. We need someone of Mourinho's stature; someone who's not afraid to come in and stamp his foot down. Mourinho would be ideal, but realistically, he's not going to be available so Roman will have to find another option. Di Matteo's done well during his period in charge in regrouping the dressing room and restoring a little bit of pride, but I don't think he's the long-term solution. Genuinely think we made the wrong decision letting Villas-Boas go. If anyone was to depart, it should have been the big egos that made his time in London difficult. No point dwelling on the past mind you... and hopefully Roman's concentrating on the future too and is searching high and low for a full-time manager to take the reins in time for next season.

I'm using Google Chrome but it turns out the problem is as Jim states! I see! It's only one click more, I just wasn't aware I had to click on forums before checking my notifications. In fact, I ought to save the bookmark to the forums as opposed to the main site. Thanks, Jimlaa.

Not sure if it's just me that's encountered this problem, but I've selected for the site to 'Remember me' so it logs me in straight away. However, if I open up TalkChelsea and I have some and have some unread notifications or messages, it doesn't allow me to click on them to open them, a loading circle just appears but doesn't do anything thenceforth. When I log out and log back in manually, I can open them. It's not too much hassle, but I was just wondering if it's just me that's facing this hiccup.

Regardless of the strikers ability, it's almost impossible to score goals regularly without good service. I'm not saying that he'd suddenly start firing them in like there's no tomorrow, but given the right service he would be much more of a threat. Without Mata on the pitch, there's no-one capable of that creative spark. We're void of out-and-out wingers leaving us extremely narrow, thus leaving Torres feeding off scraps. People really need to stop with these knee-jerk reactions, though. One minute 'Fernando's back!', the next it's 'Sell him he's useless!'. Although his form has been a little erratic lately, he's often proved to be our most influential player and deserving of that starting place up top. It's very easy to jump on the bandwagon calling for his head, but Fernando's goal-scoring form ought to be the least of our worries right now. There's plenty of other problems that need addressing; such as the formation, strength in depth and some wingers willing to hug the touchline and cross the ball!

Another disappointing performance, to say the least. The second half display was just abysmal, and the defending for the corner... don't even get me started. People also need to understand that strikers can't score goals without good service, no matter how much of a world-class player they are. Torres is begging for goals and we don't seem to want to give them him as the service to the strikers in recent games has been sporadic at best. Bertrand looked a bit nervous at times but was otherwise impressive again. It's quite a sad state of affairs when you're most reliable player at present is an inexperienced youngster. He's definitely proving his worth though and that he should be in contention for a starting place week in, week out. Think it proves a point though: those who are on the highest wages couldn't give two shits about the club and where they end up come the end of the season. We need players who are willing to fight and show passion. Unfortunately, it's hard to find players of that calibre in this day and age. All that negativity aside, we've played the worst I've seen us play in quite some time and we've still come away from Craven Cottage with a point. Had Spurs won or even got a draw earlier on today, a draw would've been catastrophic. However, they stumbled and hopefully that'll prove costly come the end of the season. Onwards and upwards (hopefully)!

5 goals isn't a lot to "cost" the team. Many other players within the squad will have squandered that number of goal-scoring opportunities by being selfish and not passing to a team-mate in a better position, not just Sturridge. Yes, we've got the funds available, but that's not the right mentality. If Sturridge is aware that he'll just be loaned out/sold on after a few more mistakes - remember they are just that: mistake - then it's not helping to build confidence. He needs time to learn and develop, and I hope that fans such as yourself don't allow for Sturridge to be released as he's a great player lacking in confidence at the minute.

That was my intention anyway, mate - I'd sent Jim a message containing the profile and then happened to stumble across this topic so thought I may as well post it up here. Every post counts and all that... Here's the updated, more "fleshed" out version: Again, feedback would be appreciated.

It's a universally-accepted fact that, on occasion, Sturridge is renowned for being too selfish. He may not be too comfortable with his role in the team, but he's happy to be playing regularly and is doing what comes natural to him: running at defenders, trying to score goals. I think "dictate" is a very strong word, as I don't believe for a second that Sturridge has been dictating anything in the dressing room. That's my first gripe. Secondly, and more importantly, "you think he should be let go in the summer"? Are you kidding me? One of our best and brightest assets and you're prepared to let him go whilst he's still undergoing developmental changes? Sorry, but letting him go would be a foolish move, if you ask me. He's got so much talent - yes, he needs work - and surely you'd like Chelsea Football Club to nurture such a prospect as opposed to one of our arch-rivals? Say if we're not to finish in the top four and we release players such as Sturridge, it's not exactly a statement of intent, is it? Be patient with him; get behind him; and he'll soon be firing on all (and hopefully less greedy) cylinders.

Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s number nine! He hasn’t always been a number nine, though, as he first started playing football trying to keep out strikers such as himself. He discovered that his talent wasn't to prevent goals, but to score them instead and was soon scouted into Atletico Madrid’s youth set-up when he was just 11 years old. Four years later, his progression in the youth team saw him warrant a professional contract with the club. After a few hindrances due to injury, Fernando deputised for Atletico two years later, in 2001. The following week saw him score his first professional goal for the club. Torres’ development continued as he started to further improve his goals-game ratio, and was awarded with the captaincy at the tender age of 19 as result of his hard work and commitment. Torres and his team-mates made it to the Intertoto Cup final, following their seventh place finish in the 2003-04 season, allowing Torres to showcase his talents to wider audience. Chelsea were said to be interested in this young prospect but the club soon eradicated any chances of Torres’ departure, claiming there would be “no chance” that he would be leaving the club. Torres himself publicly announced that he’d refused an offer to sign for Chelsea after the 2006 World Cup, though it wasn’t too long after that he departed Madrid for Liverpool in what would prove to be a great move for the Spaniard… A rumoured £25m was the amount Rafa Benitez forked out for this talented striker, which turned out to be quite the astute investment. Torres didn’t take long to find his feet on Merseyside, scoring on his Anfield against none other than guess who - yes, Chelsea! – in a 1-1 draw. He soon won the Kopites over and was a fan-favourite in no time. He made 102 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 65 goals in that time, which is rather impressive. That impressive that Roman Abramovich could no longer witness Torres in a red kit and was persistent in acquiring the Spaniard – perhaps a bit too keen, with Fernando Torres soon becoming the most expensive British transfer and the sixth most expensive player in history. Since arriving at the Bridge in 2011, he’s not been able to find his prolific goal-scoring form of old, but has nevertheless managed to win the Chelsea fans over, being somewhat of a favourite in the stands. When you’re paying £50m for a World Cup-winner, the least you’d expect them to do is win the fans over... Thankfully, Torres – although still lacking goals – is starting to find his feet in the blue of Chelsea, and I’m sure it won't be too long until we see Fernando bagging goals left, right and centre again. He’d rather walk alone he said…Torres, Torres! NB. Don't judge me or my writing as I'm pretty tired (probably got some "facts" wrong too), though constructive criticism is recommended!