The Big Drog

He brings experience and power to the Chelsea squad, unfortunately for him, experience and power are two things that the Chelsea squad have in abundance. Personally I would be fairly happy if Ballack left and we replaced him with a creative midfielder.

Ballack is far from one of my favourite players, though the car crash thing is a bit on the extreme side. I can understand fans frustrations with Ballack, he is closing in on his mid 30's, he is one of our highest earners despite not being a regular fixture in the starting eleven and its pretty obvious that his best days are past him. I also struggle to see what he brings to the side. Yes he is a physical presence and, like tonight, that can come in handy for set plays, however in open play he is just so slow and plodding on the ball, alongside Mikel he gives away some truly pointless fouls and in a midfield that also consists of Lampard and Mikel, Ballack hardly adds any pace to that and thats what we need. Lately Deco has been in fine form and even in terms of defending he really does nip around the opposition. If we have to keep him then coming off the bench to help hold a lead is a good role for him in the squad, like I said though I can understand why certain fans might think that playing an odd 20 minutes or so is worth paying 60,000 (his reduced wage).

Cesc Fabregas Alex Song John Obi Mikel Joe Hart Fabian Delph INCLUDED, thanks - BL.

Richard Dunne Thomas Vermaelen John Terry Daniel Agger Vincent Kompany Sebastian Bassong Alex Scott Dann Brede Hangeland Aaron Hughes INCLUDED, thanks - BL.

Didier Drogba Wayne Rooney Jermaine Defoe Darrent Bent Nicolas Anelka Fernando Torres Carlos Tevez Bobby Zamora Kevin Doyle Louis Saha INCLUDED, thanks - BL

Frank Lampard Michael Essien James Milner Javier Mascherano Cesc Fabregas Darren Fletcher Alex Song Lee Bowyer Luka Modric Wilson Palacios INCLUDED, thanks - BL

Pepe Reina Shay Given Petr Cech Edwin Van Der Sar Joe Hart INCLUDED, thanks - BL

Florent Malouda Antonio Valencia Aaron Lennon Damien Duff Zoltan Gera Adam Johnson Andriy Arshavin Maxi Rodriguez Craig Bellamy Shaun Wright Phillips INCLUDED, thanks - BL

Branislav Ivanovic Ashley Cole Yuri Zhirkov Patrice Evra Stephen Carr Stephen Warnock Asou Ekotto Barclay Sagna Glen Johnson Leighton Baines INCLUDED, thanks - BL

Carlo Ancelotti Tony Pulis Roy Hodgson David Moyes Alex Mcleish INCLUDED, thanks - BL

Didier Drogba Branislav Ivanovic Wayne Rooney Cesc Fabregas Pepe Reina INCLUDED, thanks - BL.

Malouda was magnificent as were Deco and Terry but Im gonna vote Yuri Zhirkov. Shackled one of Man Utd's biggest threats in Antonio Valencia and wasnt afraid to get forward, marvellous performance from the Russian.

Super result, super performance made all the sweeter by so many "pundits" and the like saying we wouldnt be able to do it at OT. With the pressure on, without star man Drogba, we played the Mancs off the pitch in the first half and, channeling the spirit of Mourinho's Chelsea, we were water tight in the second half. For every bit as offside as Drogba's goal was, Macheda's goal was just as much a handball so it all evens out. The best team won on the day, that Drogba goal might go down as one of my all time favourites. Come on Chelsea !

He's a useful player who has a bit of Premier League experience, he is also versatile ( centre back, right back, holding midfielder) all roles Belletti ( who is gone in the Summer ) can play. I think Mancienne should definitely take his place in the squad.

wow I didnt know that. I was going to be the chief writer for Troy's new site next season, I had been talking to him for months through email. Really nice guy, really upset to hear about his passing. R.I.P Troy

Deco has played so well in the last couple of games in that deep role and we need a player in there that can keep the team ticking over and add a little bit of creativity from the middle. Also I think Deco has a bit more pace about him than Ballack and thats something our midfield notoriously lacks. Personally I wouldnt fancy Ballack up against the younger, more energetic Man Utd midfield.

Im really hoping for a team that looks like this Cech Ferreira , Alex , Terry , Zhirkov Deco , Mikel Joe Cole , Lampard , Malouda Drogba

My line up would be similar to that of Tech9c's , play a 4-2-3-1 , much like what we played today with Deco playing a deep lying creative midfielder and Mikel alongside him giving Lampard the freedom to roam forward. However the only change I would make to Tech's team is Joe Cole to start in place of Anelka who I dont think ever performances well on the wing.

My stream suddenly switched to Malaga vs Valencia right after the Lampard goal so I didnt catch Drogba's injury , hope its not serious because the squad is stretched as it is. Vast improvement from Chelsea , what I liked in particular was that there was a ruthless edge to our play , I liked that players were fully commited into challenges and heck I liked the Pompy fans singing " 2-0 to the referee " cos when those sort of chants are going up you know your team is on to something. There looked to be a better balance to the side without Anelka's roaming slowing the build up play down, Joe Cole looked lively when he came on and I really hope he can keep that up for the rest of the season, Malouda is a sure fire bet for best left winger in the league, 2 more goals and an assist for Drogba. Cech was a calming presence at the back and Van Aanholt didnt look out of place at all when he came on. Though I am gonna have to stick a few negatives in here. Carvalho's injury, why are we forsaken with such an injury list to key players? Though it was good to see Ancelotti put his faith in Sturridge by starting him it didnt lead to a good performance from Sturridge. While the game was competitve, Deco was nowhere to be found, simply put you cannot rely on this man. Mikel gave away his customary few fouls but all in all had a good game. Good win, nice way to get us back on track, great for goal difference, roll on Villa at the weekend.

I think after this week Chelsea fans on here have a right to criticise the team , it doesnt say that they aren't true fans because if they were not true fans then they would not care , caring so much proved that they are true diehard Chelsea fans. Yes there are reasons to criticise , big reasons. I like John Obi Mikel but seriously the man cant move , a holding midfield player should have the ability to move. Look at how slow he was in closing down the cross that led to the goal. Can anybody remember a tackle Mikel made during the game ? Its a sign of the times of this Chelsea side when after a crushing defeat and European exit mid-week we are calling on Kalou and later Deco to bail us out of a rut...Kalou and Deco...really ? Nicolas Anelka looks lost out there , excellent first half of the season but since Drogba returned its all gone downhill and fast. Even though he didnt play today , Michael Ballack should not be starting for a club challenging for the Premier League. Once again it all comes down to the midfield , even in the first half when we were dominating with ease , the build up play was so slow , so laboured and just lacking the cutting edge that other top sides have that you sort of knew that a Blackburn comeback could always be on the cards. How many chances did we create ? I honestly cant think of too many clear cut chances. I dont go along with blaming Carlo Ancelotti. I feel sorry for him , the criticism he gets is not justified. He arrived at ther Bridge , new to English football and Arnesen is the man buying players for him. This is a squad who have fallen short of winning the league 3 times in a row. Thats a squad 3 years older. Carlo has not yet gotten a chance to mkae his changes to the squad. This is not Carlo Ancelotti's team , this is the Jose Mourinho's old side. Ancelotti is an excellent coach , the aging and somewhat limited squad combined with the injuries the squad has endured this season have hindered him. I say let him change things the way he thinks that things need to be changed in the Summer. Players that need to go are Hilario , Ferriera , Carvalho , Ballack , Deco , Belletti , Kalou and if you could find players who are better than Mikel and Anelka that would be great. Yes those are wholesale changes and truth be told I dont expect all of them to go but this side is desperately in need of a facelift and the lumbering , plodding and predictable performances today against Blackburn and Tuesday night against Inter Milan prove exactly that.

Its a bitter pill to swallow for the fans , player , management and owner in particular. The aim this season was Champions League glory , thats why Ancelotti was drafted in , thats what RA has always aspired to.In a season where Barcelona do not look the unstopable force that they did last season , where Man Utd have been weakened , where Arsenal cant beat a big side and where Real Madrid imploded again , many felt this was the season for Chelsea to win the Champions League. I think tonight was the beginning of the end for this Chelsea side. We already know Deco is leaving , we know Belletti is leaving , we know Joe Cole could be on his way out. I think during the Summer and continuing on into next season the rebuilding process must begin. Alex surely has to become the first choice centre back to partner Terry. Ballack should not start games. It was again obvious that tonight what was lacking was legs in midfield ( Essien ) and no creativity to break down a stubborn Inter defence , thats where RA now , after seeing his side fall at such an early hurdle , must invest in this side again. On the game , Inter were good and their tactics were well put together. The major problem was again was a lack of pace and drive in midfield. Im sorry but a midfield trio of Mikel , Ballack and Lampard is not gonna win you a Champions League because none of those players are workhorses and I think its a sorry state of affairs that the midfield goes to shreds the moment Essien goes down with an injury. I thought Anelka was poor again tonight , I would not say no to a top young striker joining the club in the Summer. The word to sum up tonight was disappointing , disappointing for players , fans , management and owner but its how the club handle this disappointment that will define the route the club takes going into the future. Tonight should serve as a wake up call to the hierarchy of Chelsea , that call being that while this Chelsea side has been a truly great side in every sense of the word , its time to begin the evolution of the team and for the rebuilding process to begin.

Until the day Michael Ballack or Salomon Kalou leave the club , this is the happiest I will be to see any of our current squad say that they want out. By the way Im sure Belletti will go in the Summer, he said Chelsea blocked a move to his native Brazil in January because of the ACN , but from the sounds of it he wants out too. I will miss him. However what it means is a chance to promote young players. Also what it means is that no longer can Chelsea manager's desperately hope that Deco will come good and become our creative spark. Now we might buy a creative spark who can...you know , be creative.

Two things Id like to see at the club. Legs in midfield , you notice it so much when Essien doesnt play , without Essien our midfield is slow....really slow. At Arsenal they have Denilson , Song and Fabregas all of whom are mobile players , at Mna Utd they have Fletcher and Anderson both of whom cover ground , at Liverpool they have Mascherano and Lucas both of whom cover a lot of ground , at Chelsea is you take out Essien we have Lampard , Ballack and Mikel , none of whom are really known for chasing around midfield ( and in the case of the latter two moving in general ) , Id like to see somebody brought to the club who can bring some legs to our midfield. Also a playmaker , at the moment we just cant rely on Joe Cole or Deco to provide a creative spark consistently , we sometimes lack guile in midfield. If you could throw in a tricky winger and a young second striker that would be great too.

A list of complaints : - there is 4 of us against 1 Tevez and he still scores ? Mikel's backwards header to nowhere was bad , John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho ( two world class defenders ) being unable to stop the isolated Tevez was worse , Hilario being beaten by a barely moving football was the worst. - John Obi Mikel once again , your one on one with Bellamy , do something ! Dont just stand there and let Bellamy get a run on you and allow him to get a shot away ! Could you imagine Michael Essien or anything holding midfielder for any top side in the world allowing Craig Bellamy to do this ? - Oh Mike Dean , if only you were the ref at the San Siro. In a challenge that was almost identitcal ( if not even less clear cut ) as the one Kalou suffered at the San Siro , Belletti received his marching orders and a penalty was awarded to City. Im not gonna rant about consistency in refereeing but Ancelotti must be cursing the football Gods ( aka Blatter and Platini ) that his side seemingly dont get the same decisions as other teams. - Ok , Ballack's second yellow is indeed a yellow card , but his first yellow was for him pointing out that it was Chelsea's corner when indeed it should have been Chelsea's corner after Given saved from Drogba. For seeing something that the referee and linesmen didnt , Mr.Ballack was booked...tremendous. - Hilario , Carvalho , Terry , Mikel , Ballack and Anelka all poor. At the end of the game , while trying to look at the bright side I figured at least Ballack cant play against Stoke so there's a silver lining in every cloud. Carvalho aint the player he once was , a string of uncharacteristic performances this season show that , Anelka is bang out of form at the moment and Hilario today lived up to his nickname " hilarious " - Drogba cant carry the team single handedly.

Hopefully he is ok , after an indifferent start to the season he has really started to hit his stride in the last few games. Hilario is an ok number 2 but the man seriously needs to sort out his kicking.