We are strong enough to win the EPL

[Tomo 21,681]

Im getting so fed up of the dross pessismism that has been lingiring our club like a cloud, reading some comments over the summer you would think were odds on to get relegated and have signed players from Accrington Stanely.

But ive seen some obsence "we will be lucky to get europa", "manchester clubs are just a class above us" bolax, which is not true. United only won the league last season because every one else was shit, we had our worst season since Roman took over the club yet we were a win at Old Trafford away from going top with two games to go since then United have lost 6 expierenced players and replaced them with 3 players with not a minute of CL expierence between them now all of a sudden they have strengthened and are going to leave us behind? ok then if you say so.

Van De Sar has left he won them about 15 points last season on his own now theve got a expensive Almunia in goal who while has made good saves has made stupid mistakes nearly every match, like Almunia does. Its only the Fergie factor that is worrying me if he was not there i would say they would struggle this season and they still might with a few injuries, espeically in centre midfield. Manchester City have spent well but to say we cannot beat them is ludicrious, they have IMO a better team than United and on paper the best in the league but inlike United their achilles heel is their gaffer.

People seem to forget we have strengthened over the summer aswell, we have let go 2 players who never really made any impact and brought in a amazing spanish winger (something every Chelsea fan was crying out for) some fantastic young players and Raul Meireles, who while he might not be the flashy player you all wanted is still a very good midfield player who is proven at the top level, have a look at the Arsenal - Liverpool match at The Emirates you only need to see what he did to them when he came on to know how good he is oh and

saying all that i have still not came to mention we have the best young manager in the world (unless you count Guardiola as young) who broke numerous records in Portugal last season and before you say its only Portugal if it was so easy why weren't those records broken in the 100 years previously (Souness take note).

We also may not have seen many young players so far this season but maybe thats more because the games have not gone to plan, before any one pulls the Fergie plays Jones, Welbeck, Cleverly and Jones they all had to get prem expierence first, i guarentee without their expierence at another club Fergie would not have been as willing to play them as he is so far. I can re-call last season many Chelsea fans were calling for the young players, i can remember Bruma's match against Villa and despite not being at fault for any of their goals (dont say the Heskey one even Drogba has got outjumped by Heskey before ffs) he was the one being made the scapegoat. We call for young players then when they go play they get shot down when don't perform like Messi (Kakuta at Villa Park another glaring example).

Look at our 2 teams roughly, when all fit: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Sturrigde, Torres.

Other team: Hilario, Bosingwa, Alex, Kalas/Chalboh?, Bertrand, McEachran, Mikel, Meireles, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.

Thats even with Lukaku, Ferreira, Romeu and dare i say Kalou aswell how many clubs can name 2 sides as strong as those with those type of players on the sideline? Only City imo. This teams are not including the loaned out players.

We have got fantastic players, competition in every outfield position yet with the negativity you would think we are Plymouth (case strapped, cannot rub too pennies together, have glaring gaps in their team and are bottom of the whole football league facing).

We will no way be as bad as last season every team has a bad season and we still managed to battle for the title and have since strenghened. we have one of the best teams and managers in the world, we have a fantastic academy that is slowly getting stronger year by year, STILL have world class players and best off all a owner that loves our club from top to bottom.

What more can we ask for i mean seriously?

[Superblue 6,331]

Fully agree.

I believe we are in a state of transition, as we blood a younger generation of players and slowly phase out some of the older players. However I believe we have a young, bold manager capable of bringing us through this transition with as minimum fuss as possible.

Yes United look good but they're biggest test is to come...replacing Fergie. He won't carry on forever and that will be a huge burden for United.

And City are still building an identity and a spine of players, they're not the finished article.

[Fulham Broadway 16,393]

Dont think we'll win it this year, Man City will, but promising building blocks for the future

[zolayes 14,489]

If we are to have a chance this year it needs players like Lampard ,Torres and Drogba returning to their

best form . It needs Mata to provide what he showed in his cameo debut. We need to avoid injury to our key

players . It is possible but atm I see the two Manc clubs ahead of us . Still if you are feeling depressed

check the League table ,,,the bottom 6 look interesting

[ack17 205]

I worry about roman and avb think we are strong enough to win

[ulsterchelsea 3,213]

If we are to have a chance this year it needs players like Lampard ,Torres and Drogba returning to their

best form . It needs Mata to provide what he showed in his cameo debut. We need to avoid injury to our key

players . It is possible but atm I see the two Manc clubs ahead of us . Still if you are feeling depressed

check the League table ,,,the bottom 6 look interesting

yep my sentiments exactly

[Styles 9,790]

If we win the league this year it will be the biggest achievement of all.

[Ollie 4,400]

I believe we can win it. We have good players, a good balance, plans A and B, we're not 1 dimensional and we are very solid and hard to beat. I believe we'll come 3rd but i know we can win the league.

[Billy. 2,739]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11667_7146993,00.html

this tit doesnt seem to think we can win!!

[Henri 115]

Lets see, the first game against Man U will give us some truth i think. But deep down i think Boas need more than one season to succeed.

And some how i think that Roman knows that, and should he failure this season, let him build on for another before the axe comes again.

If not it may kick back on him ans someone finally will question his way of running this club.

[Peace. 4,352]

To be frank, I couldn't care less about the title. As long as we end up within the first four place, I'll be happy.

Though, what I am interested in, it is the build of a new era, a new squad, with young and quality players. So, for me, to judge whether our season has been a good one or a shitty one, I won't look at the table. I'll look at the composition of our team. Indeed, If players like Drogba, Anelka, Malouda, Lampard and Kalou are still playing a major part in the starting eleven, while the young players (McEachran, Bertrand, Romeu, Lukaku and Danni (I no longer considere him as a youngster, but you see what I mean)) haven't play that much, and haven't been integrated to a certain level in the starting XI, then I'll say we had a bad season, even if we have finished second or first.

And I'll go further. I even wish the club isn't aiming to win the title. Why do I wish such a thing ? Because I do believe it won't go well with the aiming of construct something new.

Finaly, I do not think we are strong enough to win the league. But if we win it, then André Villas-Boas will have achieved something really, really great.

[jmarlow 458]

Of course we can win the league! I have been shocked by how many people think we cant win it this year??? i find it crazy that people think we dont even have a small chance to win the league! but i guess thats how football fans are, people think that because the Manchester clubs have started off the season by scoring goals for fun and winning with ease (like we did last season) they think they will do that for the whole season! and just because we haven't been convincing at home to Norwich and West brom people think we are going to struggle to beat those teams all season! to me thats just laughable! both Manchester clubs will go through bad patches this season no doubt! you cant play at the intensity they are playing at for an entire season, they will soon run out of steam! whereas us we have got off to a very steady start to the season! not very impressive but still getting results, if we can keep this up for another month of two just doing enough to win games and hand put a couple of real beatings as well and then around end of November/start of December should be when we come into our championship form where we can start battering all teams! im going to predict for once that Chelsea will have a great Christmas period and hardly drop a point throughout Dec/Jan as thats the time of year when usually we are awful but this year the way we have started makes me think thats when we can hit our peak! and where the Manchester clubs start going through a bad patch!

We have so much strength in depth now as well, which is something we lacked last season, i feel we can run away with the league this year, Man City will struggle to compete in both CL and PL also all they need is one injury to Silva and they are finished! yes they have more creative players but Silva makes them tick and is their most important attacking player. and United the thing which makes them so strong is the fact that basically every team in the league apart from us, City and Liverpool are soo scared of them! any other team who gets into a position against Man U where they are winning or drawing going into the final 10-20 minutes will be thinking 'its only a matter of time before they score' and this is going to be a big problem for us! once teams realise that they are capable of beating Man U then the better that will be for Chelsea, thats why we really need to lead from the front this season and make sure we stay there! I fully believe we are more than capable to Win our Title back for sure! anyone else who doesnt is either getting carried away with the Manchester clubs starts this season or just believe and actually listen to all the rubbish the so called football experts say about Chelsea, Man U and Man CIty.

[lecter 84]

Im getting so fed up of the dross pessismism that has been lingiring our club like a cloud, reading some comments over the summer you would think were odds on to get relegated and have signed players from Accrington Stanely.

But ive seen some obsence "we will be lucky to get europa", "manchester clubs are just a class above us" bolax, which is not true. United only won the league last season because every one else was shit, we had our worst season since Roman took over the club yet we were a win at Old Trafford away from going top with two games to go since then United have lost 6 expierenced players and replaced them with 3 players with not a minute of CL expierence between them now all of a sudden they have strengthened and are going to leave us behind? ok then if you say so.

Van De Sar has left he won them about 15 points last season on his own now theve got a expensive Almunia in goal who while has made good saves has made stupid mistakes nearly every match, like Almunia does. Its only the Fergie factor that is worrying me if he was not there i would say they would struggle this season and they still might with a few injuries, espeically in centre midfield. Manchester City have spent well but to say we cannot beat them is ludicrious, they have IMO a better team than United and on paper the best in the league but inlike United their achilles heel is their gaffer.

People seem to forget we have strengthened over the summer aswell, we have let go 2 players who never really made any impact and brought in a amazing spanish winger (something every Chelsea fan was crying out for) some fantastic young players and Raul Meireles, who while he might not be the flashy player you all wanted is still a very good midfield player who is proven at the top level, have a look at the Arsenal - Liverpool match at The Emirates you only need to see what he did to them when he came on to know how good he is oh and

saying all that i have still not came to mention we have the best young manager in the world (unless you count Guardiola as young) who broke numerous records in Portugal last season and before you say its only Portugal if it was so easy why weren't those records broken in the 100 years previously (Souness take note).

We also may not have seen many young players so far this season but maybe thats more because the games have not gone to plan, before any one pulls the Fergie plays Jones, Welbeck, Cleverly and Jones they all had to get prem expierence first, i guarentee without their expierence at another club Fergie would not have been as willing to play them as he is so far. I can re-call last season many Chelsea fans were calling for the young players, i can remember Bruma's match against Villa and despite not being at fault for any of their goals (dont say the Heskey one even Drogba has got outjumped by Heskey before ffs) he was the one being made the scapegoat. We call for young players then when they go play they get shot down when don't perform like Messi (Kakuta at Villa Park another glaring example).

Look at our 2 teams roughly, when all fit: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Sturrigde, Torres.

Other team: Hilario, Bosingwa, Alex, Kalas/Chalboh?, Bertrand, McEachran, Mikel, Meireles, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.

Thats even with Lukaku, Ferreira, Romeu and dare i say Kalou aswell how many clubs can name 2 sides as strong as those with those type of players on the sideline? Only City imo. This teams are not including the loaned out players.

We have got fantastic players, competition in every outfield position yet with the negativity you would think we are Plymouth (case strapped, cannot rub too pennies together, have glaring gaps in their team and are bottom of the whole football league facing).

We will no way be as bad as last season every team has a bad season and we still managed to battle for the title and have since strenghened. we have one of the best teams and managers in the world, we have a fantastic academy that is slowly getting stronger year by year, STILL have world class players and best off all a owner that loves our club from top to bottom.

What more can we ask for i mean seriously?

A much needed harangue, I'd say. But somehow it does not seem to lift people's spirits! Very surprising and irritating.

I understand that Man City sports a great squad this season. But the other half of Manchester has not become invincible over the summer! They have injected some youth at the expense of veterans. The first few results went their way and they are on a high, especially after becoming Champions last season and reaching the final of the CL. Their squad has not really been tested yet. I cannot comprehend how people miss out on the start we had over the last season. We were flowing with confidence and were dispatching teams with tennis scorelines! A championship can do that to u. But then there were injuries and bad 'moments' and by the end of December we were fighting for the top four spot! So people, please do realize that it is too early to be all negative. There is reason to be a lil more aware of Man City than in previous seasons, considering the way they strengthened their squad. But just a few 'bizarre' results that went United's way dont need to fill us with cynicism. As pointed out earlier, the only thing that can and might work their way is the Fergie factor.

Besides, we have not hit our rhythm yet. Its just 3 matches into the season. We have fresh legs to come in. And most importantly, we have a highly acclaimed tactician on our side. So rest assured, there will never be stagnation in the team dynamics, especially when we hit a bad patch.

I, personally, am very optimistic about this season. 'We are strong enough to win the league'. We have enough potential to compete on all four fronts. I am very much behind AVB to achieve things here and in this season. And I strongly feel it is too early for people to lose their heart!

CMON CHELSEA. KTBFFH!

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I think everyone is being influenced by a couple of under performances. If we win 5-0 at the stadium of light every one would be sure that we'd win the Premiere league and the CL as well.

These first few games rarely mean anything.This time of the season last year every one was saying that chelsea would win the tittle by march!

Fact is we don't have the strongest squad, but that didn't stop manchester last year (for example).

We have as much chance of winning the EPL as the manchesters. The season is still young and NO ONE can predict with certainty anything yet.

[lionsden 4,689]

The simple and non delusional answer is, No we are not strong enough to win the league this season.

Man Utd and City are superior to us and are odds on favorites for the title. However that doesn't necessarily mean we cannot win the league as anything is possible in football.

Let's just say, I wouldn't advise anyone to stake their mortgage, rent or retirement fund on us winning the pl this season.

[Madmax 9,219]

I hear people go on an on about the quality and pedigree of our players. But like we already found out last season, a team takes the field, not 11 individual players.

Fact remains there's no cohesion, no understanding, no communication and no fluidity. You look at Chelsea playing these days and you'll see eleven guys playing with no sense of purpose or direction.

Posiitve, flowing football; breaking up player power; youth integration; a top 4 finish. We achieve this, and I'll be delighted.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Let's just say, I wouldn't advise anyone to stake their mortgage, rent or retirement fund on us winning the pl this season.

Lol think i heard on SSN a couple weeks back, that some guy bet 100k on Chelsea winning the league

[neel 257]

Posiitve, flowing football; breaking up player power; youth integration; a top 4 finish. We achieve this, and I'll be delighted.

Player power is the biggest barrier for Chelsea in my opinion.