The Big Drog

Give me Terry, Alex or Ivanovic over Pique any day, criminally overrated.

They hammered us last season at the DW so Im not thinking that all we need to do is show up and the three points are in the bag. Of course though Im optimistic, particularly after the West Brom hammering. Really looking forward to seeing Ramires, the biggest signing we have made in a couple of years imo.

Thats how you start a season. The scary thing is it can only get better as the Chelsea lads regain full fitness and Ramires is added to the team. A lot of good performances, Alex, Ashley Cole, Essien, Lampard, Drogba but Malouda was the stand out for me, the longer he is at Chelsea the better he seems to get. Top of the table tonight!

Delighted, a genuinely top class signing who will slot comfortably into our starting eleven, the absolute right signing to make by the club. KTBFFH

One of the greatest centre backs to have ever graced the Premier League and the best centre back I've ever seen in my lifetime. A class act, an incredible reading of the game, very quick across the ground, underrated strenght, an insanely good man marker. Shame to se him go.

Got my black and orange Chelsea jersey today and I couldn't be happier. Really nice and a big improvement on the cursed navy and eye blindking green/yellow jersey last season. Im wondering who to get on the back though, Drogba is my favourite player but unfortunately the store currently does not have the letter "o", ruling out Drogba and Kalou(incidently I actually spotted a Kalou jersey in my town a couple of days ago, surely a collectors item), Im thinking perhaps Essien or maybe Malouda or if we wrap up the Ramires signing then that would be a cool choice too.

This is insane, Alex's work permit was repeatedly rejected and now Ramires too? Do you ever get the feeling that not many people like us? Im totally nervous now as to wether the deal will happen or not, not aided by the fact that he is seriously needed in our midfield.

Id love to se the Ramires deal done and dusted before this game come saround and for him to be in the centre of our midfield but I think its toon soon, even if we do sign him by that time I dont expect him to be flung into the side that soon, especially considering the lack of game time he has gotten this pre season with Benfica. I think Chelsea may look like this. Cech Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Cole Essien, Mikel, Lampard Anelka, Drogba, Malouda Of course if Ancelotti doesn't think Drogba will make it then Anelka moves into the striker position and Kalou probably starts out wide despite Sturridge looking like a much better player.

I've heard that its to be decided this Friday as to if he will be granted a work permit or not.

A few observations. Whats wrong with our defence? Or to be more precise the left side of our defence(the English side) do Ashley Cole and John Terry not realise they are wearing a Chelsea kit, not an England one, they are so often reliable for us but against Hamburg and again today they dont look like their at the races at all. I hate to beat a dead horse but Im going to have to say it, as much as I like Obi Mikel the man is just so slow. He is slow when in possession of the ball, his role in the side is to shield the back four and the great's at doing this, the Makelele's, have most of their work go un-noticed, I know that but honestly I cant see what Mikel does when we dont have the ball, he struggles to get about the pitch, you rarely see him make many tackles, the total opposite to Makelele whose reading of the game was second to none and would hardly have allowed Man Utd the time they got today on the edge of our box, I hope the Ramires deal is done and dusted before the start of the season. Kalou continously runs into the wrong places with the ball. Where is Nic going? Really what is he doing? Has the man got some deep lying desire to be a Xavi like playmaker? He was supposed to be our striker yet he rarely made a run in behind, it was bizzare. On the positive side of things, Essien had another good game today, player a beauty of a pass to set up Sturridge who should have scored and was quick about the pitch. Ivanovic looks at home at centre back. Drogba looked good when he came on and we looked a much better and more threatening side with him and Yossi on the pitch. The biggest positive was Sturridge who was really up for it today. I wouldnt be surprised at all if by the end of the season he has established himself as a regular in our starting XI over Anelka.

Im with Bluelion on this one, Carvalho practically always keeps Rooney tugged away nicely in his pocket for 90 minutes. I also dont understand why Ferreira is in that line up, against a fast, tricky winger I wouldn't fancy him at all. Just looking at the bench going into this game( and I realise that Drogba will be in the starting eleven when the season starts) Im impressed with how strong our squad has become, I remember a couple of years back( in particular during Grant's time in charge) you would look at our bench and no name would really stand out as somebody who can change a game. Now we have Zhirkov, Benayoun, Kalou(when he is on the bench) and Kakuta, all of whom are capable of changing a game, not to mention defenders the quality of Carvalho (or Bruma is Riccy moves on)

Paulo Ferreira at right back does not fill me with a great deal of confidence.

I think we will have the same 4-3-3 we had for most of last season and that works fine. We tried Lampard in a more advanced position when we used the diamond and it was a disaster, lets not forget just how poor Lampard was when he was played in that position. Lampard is at his best when he is making untracked, late runs from deep. Buying Ramires doesn't change our system, he will simply slot in like for like in place of Mikel in the holding midfield role to allow Essien to go forward more often. That being said Ramires is very good on the ball and can break forward himself. Ramires is also versatile and can do a job on the right wing if needed, at right back or in Essien's more attacking position if Essien goes down injured. Tremendous signing by Chelsea.

Despite the poor pre season we are rightly regarded as favourites going into the new season and we should look at the positives such as the likes of Kakuta, Matic and Bruma potentially getting more game time next season, that Benayoun appears to have fitted in well, that there are practically none to very few injury concerns going into the new season and now with the news that a fee has been agreed for Ramires and that transfer is imminent I think we have every reason to be optimistic.

LMAO that was brilliant and scarily realistic, top class find.

To be fair to Kakuta he has had very little rest time after having an outstanding and draining tournament for France, also you can argue that left wing is not his best position. Something that annoyed me abouty the game today, first half and Anelka just drops so deep, literally the man is in the centre circle at times when we are in possession, then when he gets on the ball its just far too slow, surely Essien or Lampard can pick up the ball in midfield and Nic can just stay up top at the figurehead of our attack? Im not saying I expect him to be standing beside the keeper ala Van Nistelrooy but he seriously does not need to get involved with the build up as he does and when he does it needs to be faster. Again in my search for positives, Benayoun provided one or two nice touches, looked clever and fast on the ball, I have high hopes for him this season.

This pre season has been the polar opposite of last years. I thought last years excellent pre season gave us great confidence going into the season, this pre season has done anything but, some shocking defensive mistakes, a lack of sharpness in front of goal and if I were to guess Id say Ajax, Frankfurt and Hamburg have all had more possession their games against us. For their first goal the culprits are Terry and Zjirkov, for somebody with Terry's experience I would expect him to play a pass to Zhirkov while he is surrounded by 3 Hamburg players. Still though Zhirkov's pass back was dreadful. The second goal and again you have to look at Terry, Son has slipped in behind him so easily and he has completely messed up his attempt to intercept the ball, Carvalho didnt exactly cover himself in glory either. Im finding it hard to find positives from this game and pre season as a whole, Mikel looked good, Drogba got some game time as did Kakuta and thats where the positives end. We can only hope that Ancelotti can scare these playschool mistakes out of the system of our defenders.

Excellent forum, always a joy to post on. imo the best Chelsea forum on the web, the majority of cfcnet users appear to be completely braindead, Im glad Talk Chelsea has avoided such people.

Like everyone else I dont know why we need another right back with Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Hutchinson, Ferreira and Bruma all adept at playing that position. I genuinely think the key signing this Summer will be Ramires, I rate him very highly and he will solve the massive midfield problem we had last season. If I were to take a wild swing in the dark as to who this mystery third signing is I will go with Neymar as it seems he is the only other player we have bid for.

Top class video, well done to whoever made that one, though unlike TX I actually enjoyed the music, in particular the end sequence with Kakuta's wonderful run assist against Spain went perfectly with the frenetic beat. On a less musical note, the lad Kakuta is the greatest young talent in French football and arguably the best young talent in all of Europe, its brilliant knowing that he is already at the club because in the future this lad could be worth 80 million pounds. Hopefully his contract is sorted out soon and I think just about everybody wants to se him get more game time this season, given the chance there is no limit to his potential.

Nice to see Ivanovic getting a shot at playing centre back.

I cant believe the negativety I've seen on this thread, we are about to buy a Brazilian first team player and we are about to do it without spending Man City levels of money. As unpopular as this opinion may seem I wanted the signing of a quick holding midfielder(a description with Ramires fits perfectly) far more than I wanted Aguero, Neymar or Torres. imo this is the perfect signing. Last season our midfield looked so slow at times, never more so than over two legs against Inter. Our defensive record last season was also not as impressive as it has been in previous years, I think Ramires will go a long way to improving those problems, the lad has great energy and stamina, very good on the ball and a tremendous reading of the game. Matic will still get chances but Ramires was not signed to add "squad depth" he is sure to be the starting holidng midfield player. In Drogba, Anelka, Malouda, Lampard and to a certain degree Kalou we already have a lot of attacking talent in our side, in Kakuta we have a player who in years to come will be the creative linchpin of the side. Thats not to mention that if Ramires joins it frees up Essien to go and attack more. I dont think we need an Ozil. To be honest before last years Confederations Cup I had never seen him play so when I saw him in the starting line up I was amazed Dunga chose this unknown lad over the likes of Pato or Ronaldinho to start wide right. By the end of the tournament I understood why, he was tremendous, he knew his role and he played it to perfection. This Summer even with his limited gametime he still left a big mark, being singelled out by Dunga as a player Brazil desperately missed in their quater final elimination to the Netherlands. If we can wrap this deal up then it will be the signing we should have made after Makelele left because until Ramires puts on the Chelsea jersey, I dont think we ever adequately replaced him.

Seriously mate you dont wanna see these highlights.

So far pre seaosn has been something of a nightmare, in complete contrast to our excellent pre season in America last season. Beat Palace fairly easily, then outclassed and outplayed by Ajax, a Chelsea 11 hammered 5-1 by Wycomb, and now a fairly experienced Chelsea squads beaten by Frankfurt. In Cech's absense both Hilario and Turnbull each had the choice to solidy themselves as the number at the club and both have gone out of their way to wreck their own chances. Hilario's kicking today should be saved for highlight reels for future young goalkeepers on how not to kick a football. There were few positives to take from the game. Branislav Ivanovic is wonderful, genuinely wonderful, the man is mounting a strong campaign to be the starting centre back at Chelsea this season. Van Aanholt was very impressive when he came on, I was impressed by Benayoun in the first half and Essein has another good 45 minutes under his belt. Apart from those factors, the rest is not good enough.

Hilario is having a nightmare, I cant believe its possible to become a professional footballer(albeit a goalkeeper) despite not having the ability to properly kick a football. Anelka, Kalou and Mikel not impressive, Terry doesn't look at it at the moment, the best player so far has been Yossi Benayoun.