The Big Drog

Cech - Top class , awesome performance in the game and in penalties. Ivanovic - Disaster , the huge weak link for Chelsea at right back , luckily for Chelsea this was a friendly game and not the premier league. Carvalho - Everyone knows Ive long been a fan of the man , though even I had written him off and said he is past it following his few showings last season . Oh how to be proved wrong , world class performance from a world class defender , playing and on form there are few better than the man. Terry - Could have maybe done better with the first goal but alongside Carvalho an excellent performance. Cole - Excellent , not so good going forward but looked solid at the back. Mikel - I rate the guy very highly but he was really poor today. Essien - Decent in the first half out wide , once he moved into the holding role the man was immense , keep him there. Malouda - Did pretty good , though he doesn’t have the pace he once had he is intelligent enough to be able to replace it with his ability on the ball. Lampard - quite first half , very good second half as he really pushed up on Fletcher and led the pressing up of Man Utd high up the pitch. Anelka - Decent performance. Drogba - Good performance , when on the ball he was dangerous , his first touch and link up was excellent , caused problems for Man Utd’s defence and was heavily involved in both goals.

I really think we can win this one. They are missing players and anyway with them having lost Ronaldo and Tevez and us having gained Zhirkov and Sturridge I think our squad is better than theirs. It is a glorified pre season game but its always sweet to beat Man Utd who must have the most arrogant fans on the planet.

My opinion is that the lack of youth development in the side has been down to the constant switching of managers at the club. Because of the high pressure at the club to deliver instant results , managers have been completely focused on the present rather than looking to the future because they know that if they do not deliver in the present then they will be fired. Thats what the situation is like. However the good news is that Carlo Ancelotti seems to understand the need for youth , bringing in Sturridge and Zhirkov were excellent moves , not only that but the fact that he has loaned Di Santo and Sinclair out to premier league clubs shows that he cares about the development of these clearly talented young players and wants them to be better when they return. Considering that last Summer Carlo Ancelotti was the first choice manager to talk the helm after Grant left , its obvious RA values him highly as a coach , thus Ancelotti will surely be given more time than Scolari. With that being said I think we will push ahead with the signings of younger players and I think Ancelotti is proving his commitment to the development of young players with these buys and by sending some of our young players out on loan.

Delighted ! You can probably tell by my username I am a huge fan of Drogba's , this guy has been the main man at Chelsea now in terms of the attack for years and now he can be the main man for years to come.

I get the connection with penalties but I think we can beat them in 90 minutes. Our midfield is far superior to theirs , our attack is more lethal than theirs and we have a world class manager at the helm. My prediction is Chelsea 2 - 0 Man Utd. John Terry and Didier Drogba to grab the goals.

To be perfectly honest Im expecting to get Pirlo before the Community Shield , however I dont think we will get Ribery but once we are rejected in our pursuit for him I think we will then turn our attention to a real star player in the form of Aguero. I know this sounds like a poorly written soap opera but I think that it will go down on the last day of the transfer window. Clubs go crazy on that day and spent above and beyond what they normally would , I expect to get Aguero that day for mega money. Its good news though that Abramhovic is willing to spend big and we are identifying the right kind of players.

wow some harsh criticisms after quite an excellent comeback. To be honest I thought we should have had a penalty when Deco went down pretty early in the first half , perhaps Anelka could have finished when he rounded the keeper and also Drogba could have had a goal. To be honest I dont think Essien is going to work as a right winger , simply put its not his natural position. If I were to create a Chelsea midfield with all of our players fit it would look like this. Essien J.Cole , Zhirkov Lampard I agree that Deco should not be on the pitch , did very little today. Not one of Mikel's best games but grew into it more in the second half and played a gem of a pass for the first goal. The Drogba and Anelka partnership needs some service , personally this is where I think Pirlo would come in pretty handy. The defence looked a little off , I think its up in the air between Carvalho and Alex. Still thuogh Ancelotti is getting quite a bit of criticism from certain people on this thread. Its pre season , thus far our pre season has excellent. There are still some things to work out but Joe Cole is still to return and the transfer window isnt closed yet. In my opinion Ancelotti has gotten almost everything right thus far. The reason you didnt see Zhirkov today is because he was carrying a minor injury. Carlo Ancelotti is not Phil Scolari. I never rated Scolari , not ever. His Brazillian and Portguese sides were one dimensional and incredibly poor at defending set plays. He had no club management pedigtee to speak of. Carlo Ancelotti on the other hand pretty much build an incredibly successful AC Milan side. One which played some of the best football seen in the modern era. He has helped to create and develop so many top players. Tactically superb this is a man who has twice won the champions league with AC Milan and he has done it in only 8 years. There are very few , if any , better managers in world football than Carlo Ancelotti. When this man delivers the titles at the end of the season , and I believe he will , then pass your judgements on him as Chelsea coach.

I dont know about snyone else but personally I am delighted. He has been one of my favourite non Chelsea players for years. I think that this guy will prove a lot of doubters wrong.

I think Mikel could learn quite a lot from watching Pirlo play , I also think that either could play depending on the game and what Anceotti thinks is required , Man Utd dont have 2 set midfielders that start each game and I think we could do the same with Pirlo and Mikel. Also I would certainly take Pirlo over Ballack.

According to Goal.com ( poor source I know ) Pirlo is a step closer to Chelsea having said his goodbyes to his Milan team mates while Chelsea and AC Milan still talk about the possibility of Pirlo moving to London. Personally I cant believe how negative some people are about this deal , some even going as far as to compare it to the Deco deal. Huge difference between the two is that Deco had been washed up and playing poorly for 2-3 seasons at Barca , while Pirlo is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise average Milan side. Granted he is pushing on in years but with his style of play running really isnt that much of a factor. Ive seen him play a few games for Milan last season and for Italy and the guy still has a tremendous amount of talent. You might say he is too slow for this league but look at what Paul Scholes did for Man Utd a couple of years back , he was their star midfielder in a premier league and champions league winning season , I think Pirlo could potentially do the same for us , Ive always rated the guy very highly and I still do , what the African cup of Nations this year and Essien and Mikel leaving us I dont think it would be such a bad thing to have Pirlo stepping into that role. Also you have to consider that we have long lacked a bit of guile and creativety in our midfield , well thats what Pirlo brings.

Its nice that we have a player like Malouda at the club , someone good enough to fill in on the elft wing while Zhirkov adapts to the league. Personally I think that Zhirkov and Cole will play on the wings with Essien as the holding player and lampard in the attacking role of the diamond.

Pizzaro definitely. I like that he says he wants to stay and fight for a first team place but he is past it , after a good season in Germany we might be able to get some money for him.

To be honest I would rather Di Santo over Kalou , the guy has bags loads of potential , for a big guy he moves very fast and he is quite creative , finishing could do with a bit of work but all in all he looks a very promising player.

Good call , the away kit looks pretty darn good. On a side note , Im thinking of getting Drogba on the back of the jersey.

lol It does resemble a bulletproof vest but its a nice bulletproof vest !

I am super confident about next season. I think our squad is better than that of Man Utd's and Liverpool's. Last year we showed we could more than hang with Barca and even they have declined a bit with the loss of Eto'o ( I dont rate Ibrahimovich very highly ) iReal Madrid dont have a defence. I actually think that the premier league and champions league are not unatainable targets.

Well done John ! He has looked in fantastic form on tour in America , delighted he is staying with the club , he really is MR. Chelsea.

I think Shane is right on that one. Also I think a really key difference between this pre season and last pre season is flexibility. Ancelotti has shown already that he is willing to change the shape of the side to suit the game , horses for courses so to speak. For example he played a diamond in his opening game , I missed the Inter game because of net problems so I cant comment on that but against AC Milan he then went with something that resembled a 4-2-2-2. I never had faith in Scolari , however in Ancelotti we have a manager who is not only willing to adjust systems to suit games but also a manager who is ABLE to adjust systems to suit the games we are in. Add Zhirkov and Sturridge into the squad and I think we have a much better chance going into next season than last.

Really enjoyed that game , end to end sort of stuff that was played with more intensity thana regular friendly. Delighted that Zhirkov got a goal on his debut , really good performance from him , excellent on the ball , he can run past players but he also has a brain and can spot players in better positions than himself , he also works hard in midfield. I would like Sehav to stay , not a bad back up striker , I would much prefer him as a back up than Michael Owen. Bosingwa and Cole on both flanks were top class , they are arguably the best right and left backs in world football respectively. Drogba looks to be in great form , the guy is the best big man striker in the world. Cech entered in an excellent performance as did Terry and Ivanovic. Pizzaro seriously has to go. If I were to choose a man of the match it would be Mikel , immense performance , powerful , concentrated and quite good on the ball , did a good job on Ronaldinho. Like Aesthetic Relic said , I cant wait for the start of the season.

Definitely , unlike last season he is going to start next season fit , he has a pre season under his belt , he now has a strike partner and he looks set to sign a new 3 year contract. He is my bet for pfa player of the year next season.

Really enjoying the game so far. Two excellent goals , but in particular , Drogba's was an absolute rocket. Quick mentions to Zhirkov who is having a very good game and hopefully can bring that kind of form into the season , Mikel gets my pick for man of the match so far , he has been immense. Ashley Cole is also playing really well at left back. Some really good passing , am loving the movement and partnership up top with Drogba and Anelka.

The big news is that Zhirkov is allowed to play and Ancelotti says he will feature , I cant wait to see him play.

This isnt really a major broad issue but I think its something that is really quite special. Today my Chelsea jersey arrived , I ordered it online , they sai it would be here next Wednesday but in a surprising twisted it arrived 5 days early. Its almost difficult to put into words how nice it felt to don the new blue home strip of Chelsea. Its not a major transfer for the club , its not the announcement of the club making a huge profit for this quater , its not the signing of a contract extension by one of our big name players , it is however a little slice of Chelsea , one which only wets the apetite further as we head into the start of the new season. Wearing the Chelsea jersey right now I feel quite proud , my chest has practically been puffed out all day , Ive been showing the jersey to anybody who will look. Its really a pleasent feeling , its one of those small little things that makes it so greatto be a football fan in general. No doubt a lot of you here already have your new Chelsea jersey , maybe you enjkoyed it as much as I have. In short , I really cant wait for the start of the new season.

Im happy, young , good , strong , physical player with the potential to get much better.

Nicely written thread and more articulate than some articles Ive read , written by genuine journalists.