Barbara

talking about DD

smiling after scoring is overrated x smiling is overrated, period

Well, he already proved my choice to make him my fave Chelsea player before he even touched a ball for us to be damn accurate He's playing exactly where I wanted him to and he's doing amazing already without any rhythm, form and chemistry with his team mates. Can you imagine this guy a couple of months from now? #comingundone I think Matic provided the defensive solidness that afford us to keep Cesc in the pivot. Cesc himself pressed well, even won a side tackle, anticipated a ball or two. Seriously, he has to continue to play like this and improve even more so erase Mourinho's memories of Ramires completely. It doesn't compare at all to have Cesc by Matic side vs Ramires. It's a world apart in terms of quality. I hope to see him as #10 in a few times - just to Marco van Ginkel can have some match time and continue his development. Also the team played MUCH better when we moved to a 4-3-3. I hope Mourinho felt it too. This squad is begging for that formation. Take Torres off for Schürrle or Willian in the right and Hazard for Salah in the left, and Oscar for Marco in the midfield and it's orgasmic stuff. We could also go with Matic - Marco - Cesc (Cesc as the most advanced) and it's still upper class.

x x The king is here also have a feeling we'll be watching this scene a lot coming the next season. Seriously, we owed everyone else in this window transfer

I think we have nearly a perfect squad in all honesty. Boga and Romeu showed that we should keep them around. We don't need another MD - be it a DM, a CM or a B2B. Romeu was great and Marco has been amazing in the last two matches. I was going to vote for him in the subs MOTM, but Iva was just great as usual. Good cross, good goal disallowed, good runs and tackles. I can't get over people criticizing him playing as a RB. Yeah, he doesn't always have a cross on him, but I like him better there than as a CB... I think it's down to personal preference. Cesc was my MOTM in general. He was just as amazing as I expected him to be and he's playing where I expect to see him playing as well: in the pivot. He was superb already in the long balls, got his first assist to the Costa goal and dictated the tempo of our game from the deep. It's going to be glorious to have him and Matic there. Too bad it means Marco will get a lot of bench time, but we could play Cesc in the #10 a few times and bring MvG to the pivot. He's been excellent imo. Costa showed what a finish is. And Torres showed how to Torres it. They were both great in their specialties. Romeu as I said had a great match and so did Boga. Boga has such a great ball control, first touch and he just goes for it, he doesn't feel shy at all. I think Ake should also stay with us, he's been very nice in the LB position. Zouma should have had that goal from the first half, it was a great finish and his header (in the Ivanovic disallowed goal) was also a killer that made the keeper do a miracle there. Another positive from Cesc and Marco in the team: we have set pieces. Cesc was the assister in the Zouma goal disallowed (to Matic) and Marco to Iva's. Both put perfect balls on Matic's and Zouma's heads. So now not only we have players to receive the crosses (Costa and Drogba in the attack and the usual from our defenders in set-pieces) but we also have players that can assist from a set-piece. That's what we've missed the most with Mata departure imo. Yep, it feels good to talk about this team. This season is going to be mind blowing.

LOL Costa leaves the pitch (after the match ends), bumps on his mate Luís, but no smile, just a BAMF face, like he's ready for murder Gotta love the man

there suckers, a perfect Iva cross. Take that

hauuhauhauhahuahuahuauha I'm laughing my arse off at that Torres play. He Torres'ed hard

for all effects it is 3x1 Ivanovic's ball crossed the line. It doesn't matter what the moron of the referee called. First he called the goal, then he jerked himself. Idiot

well it seems Marco can also deliver some corners. That was superb

there, moaners, Diego Costa for you And Cesc edit: I only now realized we're playing with two strikers. Thought Torres had come for Costa. So it's 4-4-2?

4-3-3 now? (or is Matic off too?) I think I'll come undone

also let's not forget the players are very careful not to get injured. Injuries in pre-season are a nightmare... ask Mata last season. I think there's a lot of positives and I'm flabbergasted at people criticizing Costa already... and that comes from someone who doesn't even like him that much. The guy's first match for us, he didn't get proper service and he's still rusty and hell is released on earth? LOL FOREVER I still get only adverts or no, lol, it seems now they've stopped. Thanks, mate

this stream http://streamsp.com/ stopped showing the match for me... it just shows adverts vids now. Is anyone going through the same or knows how to fix it? If not, another link would be appreciated. Thanks!

Boga on the other hand can just stay... really, I can't believe he's only 17. I know it's a position we're stocked with players, and if we're going to register some of the boys to fulfill the HG quotas, it should be in a position that we may need depth, but Boga has been just great through and through. Let him play with the U-21 and registered for the competitions with the first team. He could play a few cup games

I've got my quota of Izzy Brown for this pre-season....

and we have set pieces again! Cesc And even if Matic was offside, that was very good by Zouma there

don't know what's better in this stream: the picture quality or the lack of Chelsea TV commentary. Thanks a lot, man

his problem was never in the pitch though and that's why I disagree with you. José was really disappointed with him in training. Whether the problem he saw was physical, commitment, motivation, character (more like weak/strong, not bad/good) we don't know, but that was what Mourinho said around Octorber-November or November-early December about de Bruyne. So if the problem was in the training sessions he was given as many opportunities as possible, as he trained here for a whole semester (even if he went to the Youth once). Maybe Mourinho even recognized that he could have good matches as he did against Hull, but that whatever he saw in training proved those matches wouldn't be often or that they weren't worth. For a player to deserve a chance in the matches he has to prove his worth first in the training sessions. Normally 90% of the players do well in the training (of course, taking into account their own limitation/quality) and then they are given chances in the pitch to prove they can displace some other player. At least in Mourinho's eyes, Kdb failed in the first instance. It's hard to give a player a chance in the pitch if you don't like what you see during training sessions... Which is why Mata was given chances to play whereas KdB wasn't. Mourinho always praised Mata's effort in training and during matches. It was just he didn't fit the system based on what Mourinho had in mind. IMO if KdB didn't fail in training, he'd take Schurrle position in the squad - especially because Schurrle went a period without playing because he was getting stronger physically - all more chances for KdB maybe even grab a first team spot (displacing either Willian or even Oscar when he went downhill from January on). So I think he was given chances if the reason why he didn't make it into the team was because he trained bad in whatever aspect. Spots in the team have to earned and the first place you earn them is in the training sessions. Kevin couldn't do it.

If that's true... so the player doesn't have balls to stay and fight a deadwood and an ancient (who's probably here to his benefit more than anything else) and prefers to leave and somehow Chelsea suck handling it? Sorry if that's a hard angle for me to understand. If he leaves AGAIN on his own accord is because he's a big coward. If he had high competition for the spot I'd say well, he's not the bravest guy around, but that's also a hard situation. But last year he had to fight his spot against an old Eto'o, deadwood Torres and I-can-also-score-double-figures-in-mid-tables-teams Ba. Now he has to fight to be #2 against Fernando Fucking Torres and Didier Once-Upon-a-Time-A-Regular Drogba? Sorry if I can't see a big character and personality behind those decisions IF HE DECIDES TO LEAVE. And I think the comparison with Daniel is a really bad one. Daniel proved at this club - facing off Torres competition when there was still hope about Torres - with Didier still around while he was still THE Didier Drogba. Daniel proved his worth while he was at Chelsea, not loaned somewhere else. The least you can say about Dani is that he stayed to fight for his position and then we fucked up. We can't say the same about Lukaku, can we? He asked to leave last season and who knows if he doesn't ask to leave again. Daniel had better competition when he chose to stay. A guy that runs away from fighting against Ba, Torres and Eto'o and then against Drobga and Torres doesn't deserve a place in this team if you ask me. All that said, I won't believe some twitter from a guy that gets it right as much as he gets it wrong... But as everyone here is discussing it as a done deal, that's my position. I don't believe the board or Mourinho would allow him to go (unless they plan to bring someone else to replace him), I think if he leaves it'll be because he wants it and we won't stop it. And if that's the case he's never deserved to wear this shirt anyway because if you want to take a #2 position at age 21 in club the size of Chelsea for granted and want everything handed to you in a silver tray without fighting (and then maybe what José told about Costa - who got nothing for free in his life and had to fight for everything he's conquered - was already alluding to a possible Lukaku departure, as he has all info and we don't) you simply don't deserve to be here.

why are people even linking one thing to the other (Drogba arrival and Lukaku's potential departure)? There has been rumors about Lukaku leaving since the window opened. He himself talked about it and that was before the rumors about DD even started, let alone turned to be true. Who said the board and/or Mourinho is behind his transfer if it happens? Mourinho has been clear last season that when a player puts in a request to leave, they won't deny it. I'm not saying this is Lukaku's idea instead of ours, but it's a bit premature to assume this is board and Mourinho business before 1) it actually happens; 2) if it actually happens someone - or maybe even everyone involved - talks. Remember last season when he was loaned to Everton and everyone was badmouthing Mourinho and then when he said Lukaku asked the move a lot of you still didn't believe Mourinho was telling the truth (as if it was possible for him to lie about something like that) then a couple of weeks goes by, Mourinho through a press conference tells Lukaku that he talks a lot, but he hasn't talked about the only thing that he should and then Lukaku himself admitted he asked to go? How do you think people looked after the whole ordeal was clear? Willing to look like that again? Let's wait and see what happens and if he indeed leaves, let's see who's responsible for that before we call Mourinho and the board all names. I really doubt Mourinho brought Drogba here to be the player that will have 20-30 minutes every match - as he admitted that the striker position is one they always substitute (true to almost every football team in the world).

Well, it's nearly 2am, I arrive home to this news. I've spent the whole day out and I had no idea what was going on. Anyhoo, I was giving it some consideration... we need someone like him in the dressing room. This is the guy that fires you up from the the dressing room, from the bench and the moment he enters the pitch. Also he can continue from where Eto'o stopped being someone else to help Eden Hazard fulfill his potential. I think Eto'o's presence was crucial for Eden last year and I think Didier's can make wonders for him. Those guys have the kind of personality that Eden needs to have around him and learn from. I hope he helps him as much as Samu did. I don't think what he's done for us is at stake. This idea some have that he will tarnish and lose the perfect career he had with us is crazy imo. What could he do to even stain what he's done? Absolutely nothing. If he misses an important penalty it won't undo what's done. I don't think as a striker he adds that much. I think he adds a bit less than Eto'o because his legs seem more tired... but he's still a beast in the air and that's something Samu didn't offer for us. So maybe he could still be useful as a striker in the pitch, but his impact in the squad, in the dressing room, in the bench and in our hearts is nearly immeasurable. I wasn't fond of this, but now that the deal is done I'm holding onto the positives. If this somehow gets Torres out of Stamford Bridge for good, that's is the deal of the century. I think José is also targeting on Didier to mentor Lukaku in addition to Eden. I don't see Romelu leaving for a decision made by the club. Maybe he decides to go somewhere else, but he should know having a mentor such as Didier Drogba is invaluable.

Boga = ass hole (as in the hole in the ass, not the jerk) in Brazilian portuguese, carrying on the previous discussion about similarities between the language here and in Portugal. Not sure if there's another meaning though

I still don't get where the CTV guys took this idea that Boga is in any way similar to Romário. He could end up being one day, but this video of yours just prove how at the moment they have a few small similarities to them, but in general one doesn't remind me of the other at all.

I found out a few weeks ago that in Bahia they also call pão cacetinho. Lol