The Big Drog

Mikel and Ivanovic were excellent. Our defending looked hesitant all throughout the game. I hate to beat a dead horse but without Essien our midfield has no legs in it , everything is too slow , nobody is getting around the pitch , what I wouldnt have given to see Essien play tonight. The service to Drogba was poor , Anelka in this Christmas tree formation suffers. Kalou has the incredible ability to frustrate any Chelsea fan. Could have done with a left back ( Cole or Zhirkov ) bombing into their box. I thought Ballack and Lampard were quite poor. All of that being said , we got an away goal , it will be difficult at the Bridge , Inter were a threat going forward , our defending was poor when they got men forward but if we can get Michael Essien back into midfield then I would be confident of victory.

I expect Belletti to play , though I wont even hazard a guess as to if he will play at right back or left back , whichever one he plays at I expect Ivanovic to play the opposite side.

Just sent the preview for Inter vs Chelsea to blue lion.

Ok mate just emailed it to you now.

Great signing by the club and shows the clubs commitment to building a team for the future. In 3-4 years Sturridge could prove to be the main man at Chelsea and England. I think he is more in the Anelka mould , he will drift , he is lightening fast , he is an excellent finisher and his link up play is quite good. He is more speed than muscle which is why I think he is better compared to Anelka than Drogba.

No problem mate . I'll write a preview for the Wolves game and send it to you on Thursday. Should I send it through a personal message or post it in the general chat section ?

Cole offers Chelsea a bit of creativity and the ability to go past players , something that perhaps the squad does not have in abundance , that being said he hasnt performed so far this season , whatever way you paint it up he is not a world class player , no way should he get close to the wages of Lampard or Terry. Id like Joe Cole to stay , but with our transfer ban having been lifted , I honestly think that we could find a younger player with greater quality to play at the tip of the diamond or on the right wing.

Was Zhirkov a good signing ? We are about to find out.

Was Zhirkov a good signing ?

Was Zhirkov a good signing ?

Was Zhirkov a good signing ?

Was Zhirkov a good signing ?

You sure that aint Porthsmouth mate ?

After that result against Everton Id like to see us smash Cardiff. Honestly at this stage Id nearly give the big toe on my left foot to see Gael Kakuta start a first team game for Chelsea , he is Chelsea's great , young hope , after that poor result give us some hope by letting him play against Cardiff.

Well I wouldnt mind writting them if you want , if so then tell me how long before match day would you like such pieces posted and what layout you would like them to take.

Just a few things. After we went 1-0 up why did we drop so deep ? I really didnt understand that at all , I accept that Everton are a good premier league side and they were always going to have a period in the game where they had us on the backfoot but we were literally camped out on the edge of our box for far too long in the game. No offence to Everton but they are not Barcelona , we gave them far too much respect after the goal. Somebody needs to do something about set pieces , that was the turning point in the game , a top side simply cant concede that many goals from a single aspect of the game , its insanity. Without Essien we lack legs. Arteta dictated the game from the middle with Cahill and Osman doing the running in midfield. When Essien doesnt play then there is no Chelsea player who can cover the same amount of ground , Lampard , Ballack and Mikel are all quality players but none of them are gonna do a Michael Essien job in there. Nicolas Anelka currently looks mis-placed and thats a problem. I've always been a big fan of Carvalho but it might be time for Alex to step up and become the first choice centre back alongside John Terry because these days Ricardo is just making too many mistakes. If you took Mikel Arteta out of the Everton side and put him in the Chelsea side then we would have won tonight. We lack that creative midfield player like an Arteta. Also there was far too much last ditch defending for my liking , what happened to our orginisation ? The only minute ray of hope is that Man utd have dropped points tonight to leave us at the top of the table. Improvement needed.

Nice to see Zhirkov getting a start even if central midfield isnt his proper position. Chelsea to win 2-0 !

He is a revelation , a genuinely excellent right back , I never thought I would be saying that about Ivanovic but this guy has been the best right back in the league this season without a shadow of a doubt.

Not great , away form needs improving. It was one of those games that was crying out for some legs and energy in midfield ( Michael Essien ) but alas when Essien is out we have nobody else to provide such running in midfield. Glad the Drog got a goal on his return game. Set pieces defensively were dreadful. Missed Ashley Cole in the game , Malouda , Zhirkov , Ballack and Anelka all looked out of sorts. Missed the chance to go 4 points clear which is obviously disappointing , however all of that can be rectified with a strong performance against Arsenal on Sunday , its essential.

Will Drogba be included in the squad for this game ? I hope so , tough away fixture.

Id love to see the 4-3-3 in play again tonight. I know its very unlikely but Id love to see a team that looks like this. Cech Ivanovic , Alex , Terry , Cole Lampard , Ballack , Malouda Cole , Anelka , Zhirkov I really dont fancy playing Deco in the holding role tonight against the physical Birmingham midfield , also the late runs into the box by Bower might catch out the not so defensively minded Deco. By the way please post up some stream links guys , thanks in advance.

Without Drogba Id also rather see us continue with the 4-3-3. As always with a Chelsea side there will be experience in it , I expect it to look like this. Cech Ivanovic , Alex , Terry , Zhirkov Ballack , Bellletti , Lampard Sturridge , Anelka , Malouda Though to be honest Id love to see Kakuta get a run out in the side.

Gotta say Im loving the new layout to the website , well done guys it looks far more proffesional.

Why care about Man Utd ? The destination of the title is in our hands , not theirs. They need to worry about us , not us about them , anyway for me Arsenal are the main threat. It was a glorious performance today from Chelsea , simply stunning , the movement in the 4-3-3 , the interplay between all of the attacks , the width provided by the wingers and full backs was really something to behold today. Magnificent performance , though I agree the Alex and Carvalho partnership doesnt work lol. Man of the match vote goes to Anelka who was nothing short of world class today both in his build up play and his goals , close seconds were Florent Malouda who was magical on the wing , Ashley Cole who was in jaw dropping form in the first half and Juliano Belletti who was stunning in his holding midfield role.

Anyone with stream links please post them.