The Big Drog

Bit flat today but at the same time I dont think we deserved to lose the game. Set pieces are still a problem that really need to be worked on. Petr Cech entered another excellent performance but I think its safe to say that our best player was Ramires who was excellent going forward and reliable defensively, producing in particular one wonderful last ditch block to save a goal. A replay at the Bridge now where we will surely be a bit more confident of progressing.

A reporter on RAWK who is apparently well connected with Liverpool (at least so a Liverpool fan I talk to says) is saying that Torres has told the club he wants out.

Maybe we can do it in this short space of time. Liverpool wont want a player at their club who doesn't want to be there, neither will Liverpool fans, at the same time they are trying to push through a deal for Luis Suarez and could surely do with using some of the funds they would receive for Torres to put towards signing Suarez. And heck if we dont get him in January then we can try again in the Summer, Torres wants to be here, he wants to join Chelsea, so lets keep at it and secure the signing, either now or in the Summer.

Superb first post and I entirely agree with all of it. Yes our defensive record is the best in England this season, but I think that can be more put down to other teams poor defences than our particularly wonderful one and there is no doubt in my mind that this is the weakest our back four has looked since Mourinho arrived. Just remember how we were destroyed by Arsenal and Sunderland and ripped apart by Liverpool, the defence is clearly in need of something different. As much as I like Alex and Ivanovic, they are far too similar to Terry and too often Terry has been left to do the sweeping job (previously Carvalho's) which is not his natural role, Luiz fits the Carvalho mould to perfection and is exactly the type of defender ended at the heart of our defence.

Personally Id rather we just give them the extra couple of million they are looking for, get David Luiz in and dont deal with them again.

Sam is right, reports Im reading are that Benfica are simply digging their heels in about the price, not that the deal is off. They play hardball, they did during the Ramires deal too bu we eventually got our man, Im hoping we will get our man again this time.

So many good performances last night, Bosingwa, Mikel, Terry, Cech, Anelka and Essien all deserve mentions, though the two standout performances came via Drogba and Ramires, both were superb but my vote went to Drogba who was in inspired form last night, looking like a player with a point to prove, it was as if it were last season all over again and Drogba was tearing up the league, hopefully his bout of malaria is now fully done with and he can kick on with this sort of form.

Wasn't it refreshing to see Didier Drogba saunter around a football pitch as if he were its rightful owner? Wasn't it inspiring to see John Terry give a true captains performance? Wasn't it breathtaking to see Petr Cech in top form? Wasn't it magnificent to watch Michael Essien in full flow? Wasn't it a fantastic feel good moment when Ramires scored his first Chelsea goal? Didn't it feel right to see Chelsea play the way we all know they are capable of? As if a particularly grey cloud, or blue mood, had lifted from the players shoulders, the shackled released with one mighty swing of Drogba's right foot and all was right with the world again? Ok so perhaps all was not exactly right with the world, for one there was no Frank Lampard who missed yet another game through injury, a worrying sign of super Frank's advancing age, the sight of Kalou donning a Chelsea jersey is rarely a welcome one either but I suppose with the good must come the bad. However tonight the positives far outweighed the negatives and the greatest positive of all was the talismanic performance of the long time main man at Chelsea, Didier Drogba. With the confidence to take on a shot from long range, with the power and skill to execute it, Drogba scored a stunner which Sky delighted in showing us over and over again. Suddenly the confidence was back, the slick skills, the driving runs, the clever movement to unsettle the Bolton backline, the workrate to track back time and time again, the aura that he is and indeed Chelsea's great player, the great man, like Torres gave us a reminder at the weekend why he is still one of the worlds top strikers, Drogba tonight sent a message just as powerful. At the back we were solid, Terry, as he has been for much of the season, immense in holding the Chelsea backline together, Ivanovic an able ally, Bosingwa too produced one of his finer defensive displays and Cech, with the score at 1-0, pulled a top drawer save out of his large bag of tricks to deny Botlon an equaliser. Essien entered his best performance in months, Mikel was solid, Ramires put forward another energetic display which has won over the Chelsea fans and players alike and deservedly got his first goal for Chelsea, deserving as he has been Chelsea's best player for a month or so. McEachran got 20 minutes and looks so much the part, technically I can't think of too many English players more proficient whose name is not Paul Scholes and Nic Anelka had the bit between his teeth. Infact throw in the strong rumours about the imminent arrival of David Luiz, that we have 3 wins on the trot and we have found our golascoring boots again and perhaps this "bad moment" has become a "good moment"

The scary thing is he sorta does. If this story is true then this is our best tranfer in years, this guy is special, a special talent, a player who has all of the potential to be ranked with the Carvalho's, the Lucio's, the Nesta's ect. This guy is a top class defender by any standard and would be a massive addition for the present and future success of the club.

Very happy, I like Yossi a lot and he offers something different to our midfield options, a very clever player who can slot in and has the ability to change a game.

Please let this happen. What an incredible signing Luiz would be for the club and on top of that we may actually con someone into taking Kalou from us, its the deal dreams are made of.

Maybe others wont agree with this but I think there is a gap in quality between Luiz and Alex and Ivanovic. Sure Alex and Ivanovic are excellent defenders (though are both probably too similar to Terry) but Luiz could become a world class defender, a genuinely world class defender in the class of a Carvalho, a Nesta, a Cannavaro. He is only 23 and already he has established himself as Brazil's first choice centre back, he is a very special talent and would undoubtedly improve our team and would also enable us to move Ivanovic into right back. Personally I've not been overly impressed with our defence since Carvalho and Terry were in their pomp at the back, if we can get Luiz we absolutely should, it would be the absolute right addition. Kolo Toure said recently that attackers win you games but defenders win you titles, I couldn't agree with him more and if we are going to win the top prizes then we need the top defenders and David Luiz very much fits that bill.

Personally I think we need a top quality centre back and Luiz is exactly that, our defence has been a bit weak this season and last season and the addition of Luiz will certainly go a long way to fixing that problem, yes we need a right winger or creative midfielder but I think we need a top quality centre back every bit as much.

There is no way Luiz will be 4th choice, Id expect him to be slotted into the centre back position straight away.

Taken from Sky Sports News Chelsea are reportedly locked in talks with Benfica to sign Brazilian defender David Luiz. The 23-year-old international has emerged as Carlo Ancelotti's number one target to bolster his defence. It is understood that Benfica shunned an offer of €25million plus Paulo Ferreira at the weekend. But now Chelsea are said to be thinking about upping their offer to €30million (£25million). Benfica are keen to keep Luiz until the summer, but local sources say they will do business if Chelsea come up to the £25million mark. Chelsea, who missed out on the signing of Steven Pienaar earlier this week, will be anxious to make some sort of breakthrough in the transfer window in order to bolster their faltering title bid.

Im really hoping we can complete this one. This is not a "squad signing" but it is the signing of an automatic starting 11 player, a player who could be part of a starting 11 for the next 10 years. Anyone who has seen him play for Brazil or Benfica will know why so many top clubs are interested in him, he has it all, this guy is well on the way to becoming the best defender on the planet, we already had the best defender in the world at our club (Ricardo Carvalho), we know the benefits of what a truly great defender brings and there should be no mistake this Luiz is the next great defender, this would be a great signing for the club for both the present and future.

5 stars for Talk Chelsea I also like the Chelsea fan blog.

Ramires, another excellent display, really carving out a role of his own in the starting 11.

Id like McEachran and Sturridge to get more game time as much as the next person but we should all be a bit happier that we have picked up an important 3 points to get us back into the top four. Also Ramires was once again fantastic, Carlo is getting a a lot of criticism here for his exclusion of Sturridge and McEachran but his inclusion of Ramires over Mikel was certainly the right move.

Well Im a bit disappointed that neither of the young English lads get a start today following the reports in the papers this morning and their performances last weekend but if we win today and get 3 points then I wont be complaining, that being said Id still like to see Sturridge and McEachran being given more opportunities because there is no way that they could do any worse than some members of our permanent starting 11 have done during this "bad moment"

Kalou's sentiments in this article are nice and nobody is doubting his attitude which is 100% right but the bottom line is he is a very average player and teams looking to win Premier League and Champions Leagues will struggle if they are having to carry average players like Kalou, like Man Utd 04-05 who had a bunch of average players in their side and they suffered as a result, really he is not good enough to play at a club the stature of Chelsea and worse still the more he plays, the less playing time goes to players with big potential like Sturridge or Kakuta.

Considering our long, drawn out, Ramires transfer saga from the Summer, I wont be holding my breath mate.

Realy hoping that Daniel Sturridge gets a start, after his performances last week against Spurs reserves and Ipswich he more than warrants a starting spot, I just dont understand what Kalou has over him. Drogba (if fit|) will certainly be returned to the starting line up, hopefully Essien will be back too, though if he is missing then there would be worse things than starting McEachran.

I think it would help the right back situation as we could then move Ivanovic across to play at right back, Luiz, while a classy centre back, can also play at wing back if needs be. 2 newspapers reporting that this move could be on this morning, with the fee in both being 21 million and Paulo Ferreira, Im really hoping we can do this deal, he is the best young centre back on the planet, he will be the main man at the heart of the Brazilian defence for years to come and he is exactly what is needed to sure up our leaky defence,

While I have no doubt that the fans of the respective countries involved would enjoy it (myself included, being Irish and all) but if this were to become a permanent fixture I dont think it would really be of any aid to any of the sides involved, most of all England. England's big tournament problem is not against scrappy, long ball sides like Ireland and Scotland, rather it is against technically superior sides like Germany, the only way you can learn to play against sides like that is to actually do it and playing against Ireland and Scotland would mean less chances to play friendlies against technically better sides and thus imo wouild be of little use in preparing England for a major tounament.