Closed Chelsea 2-0 Inter Milan

[Pacquiao 1,834]

I am really impressed with Van Ginkel, he is looking like a real serious talent! I never knew he could break up play so well, he is also very tidy in possession and has pace to bring the ball forward, he is looking like a complete midfielder, i think Ramires - Van Ginkel look really good together and has potential to be a very very good pivot. i can see that pivot being our 1st choice next season.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

No you were right, it is in New Jersey and not New York.

Yeah, Parts of a New Jersey function as a suburb of New York City. The Meadowlands (MetLife stadium) where the new York Giants and Jets play is actually in New Jersey. If you were going to see the game, you'd travel to New York and stay there but technically, it's in New Jersey. Football is generally very local. The idea of Chelsea playing in say East London is ridiculous. Sports in North America are not as local. They cover larger areas.

[Johnny Kills 164]

Can anyone let me know what formation we were playing when Mata, Ba and Torres were on the field together?

I assumed it'd be a 442 diamond when I saw Nando come on for Hazard because it makes sense with Mikel-Essien-Ramires forming the triangle with Mata at the top. I'm at the 75th minute of the match right now and I just saw Ba run out to the left but IDK if that's because he was giving Bertrand an outlet and that's where the space was, or if he's playing LW. Right before Ba did that, Mikel and Essien aren't more than 10 yards away from each other and Ramires is off the camera on the right. Maybe it was still the 4231, maybe it wasn't. I'll edit this post when I finish the match with hopefully more findings!

Edit: It's definitely 4231 with Ba and Ramires on the wings. We were pressing the ball a bit while Inter's defenders had it and Ba ran at a defender and after he passed it, he ran back next to Essien I think and then was defending the overlapping RWB near our own box shortly after.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Johnny Kills

[Hamilton 2,118]

Anybody got a link where we normal mortals can see the match? Ive only managed to see highlights!

100000 interwebz for the taker :-)

If ChelseaTV showed the game then it will be in the broadcast from ChelseaTV next tuesday i guess on sporting telenet..

I tought they needed to play next night :banghead:

[Stingray 9,441]

That's not turf, that was grass that was put over the turf in Lucas Oil Stadium. If you have never played on turf before, then you do not know turf is a LOT faster than grass.

Pardon my french mister. I thought it was monofilament (sand and rubber fillng) artificial grass on a turf soil. Sometimes we use them here in belgium. I played on them and yes they are very, very slow when dry.

[bushman 2,043]

Yes i saw that ... The turf thing. Slow as fuck those horrible things.

I don´t understand that there is no stadium in the US with normal pitch, grass. An artificial turf is very bad for the players, knees..injuries..

[Strike 6,960]

Anybody got a link where we normal mortals can see the match? Ive only managed to see highlights!

100000 interwebz for the taker :-)

i thought you owned the internet

anyway firstrow? they've got chelseatv links

[Stingray 9,441]

i thought you owned the internet

anyway firstrow? they've got chelseatv links

I do Strike. But I am on vacation in France. I left the internet at home, so I have to wifi like a mere mortal :-)

[Ramzi 233]

I assumed it'd be a 442 diamond when I saw Nando come on for Hazard because it makes sense with Mikel-Essien-Ramires forming the triangle with Mata at the top. I'm at the 75th minute of the match right now and I just saw Ba run out to the left but IDK if that's because he was giving Bertrand an outlet and that's where the space was, or if he's playing LW. Right before Ba did that, Mikel and Essien aren't more than 10 yards away from each other and Ramires is off the camera on the right. Maybe it was still the 4231, maybe it wasn't. I'll edit this post when I finish the match with hopefully more findings!

Edit: It's definitely 4231 with Ba and Ramires on the wings. We were pressing the ball a bit while Inter's defenders had it and Ba ran at a defender and after he passed it, he ran back next to Essien I think and then was defending the overlapping RWB near our own box shortly after.

Ahh ok, thanks. I thought that it was a 4-1-2-1-2, which intrigued me, would've been a nice option for Mourinho to have.

[Barbara 15,149]

If ChelseaTV showed the game then it will be in the broadcast from ChelseaTV next tuesday i guess on sporting telenet..

I tought they needed to play next night :banghead:

I may be mistaken but I guess I read in the match's thread someone saying ChelseaTV would replay the match 14:30, so if it's true you can use the firstrow link and watch it.

[Johnny Kills 164]

Pardon my french mister. I thought it was monofilament (sand and rubber fillng) artificial grass on a turf soil. Sometimes we use them here in belgium. I played on them and yes they are very, very slow when dry.

No that is actually real grass that they put over the artificial turf in the stadium. This is what they've been using for our friendlies in the baseball stadiums and all of the players and coaches hate it. You can google it if you don't believe me. That's why if you went and checked, the first post in the game thread for this match is me saying I wonder how they're gonna handle the field situation. The turf we have here in America is great to play on. It's softer than grass and plays a lot faster.

[Hamilton 2,118]

I do Strike. But I am on vacation in France. I left the internet at home, so I have to wifi like a mere mortal :-)

Still on vacation mate?

I'm happy i left Dutch camping on sunday

[Johnny Kills 164]

I don´t understand that there is no stadium in the US with normal pitch, grass. An artificial turf is very bad for the players, knees..injuries..

The football stadiums here are mostly, if not all turf now. The maintenance is a lot cheaper with turf. The only stadiums that have grass are the college, baseball, and MLS stadiums. The college stadiums are for the most part in terrible locations. The baseball stadiums have to cover up the dirt in the infield. The MLS stadiums aren't big enough for these big clubs to come play in. I don't think there's a MLS stadium that could match the 40,000 that came out tonight to watch this match.

About the artificial turf: you must be thinking about the old artificial turf from 10+ years ago. The American turf is now great.

[juankikdc 17]

I don´t understand that there is no stadium in the US with normal pitch, grass. An artificial turf is very bad for the players, knees..injuries..

Actually, all of baseball stadiums in MLB except 2 (Tampa and Toronto) have grass. Half of the American Football stadiums in the NFL have grass too. I would say that 75% percent of football stadiums in the US have grass.

Metlife Stadium is not one of them though lol.

[Stingray 9,441]

No that is actually real grass that they put over the artificial turf in the stadium. This is what they've been using for our friendlies in the baseball stadiums and all of the players and coaches hate it. You can google it if you don't believe me. That's why if you went and checked, the first post in the game thread for this match is me saying I wonder how they're gonna handle the field situation. The turf we have here in America is great to play on. It's softer than grass and plays a lot faster.

Hey mate, the grass must have been too long then! It looked very, very slow. Here it is cut real short and even sprinkled on before a game. I assumed it was artificial because of the turf reference

I am happy you have good artificial turfs there, but i am an old fart and played football some time ago on first generation artificial fields. Besides having my thighs and ass burned every time you tackled, it was slow and I even tore an ankle ligament ....

Interesting fact: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640410701422076

Football style does differ on artificial pitches .... :-)

[Strike 6,960]

Loved how Cole stood up to that cunt Campagnaro

[Stingray 9,441]

Still on vacation mate?

I'm happy i left Dutch camping on sunday

Yeah but leaving tomorrow :-)

[Johnny Kills 164]

Hey mate, the grass must have been too long then! It looked very, very slow. Here it is cut real short and even sprinkled on before a game. I assumed it was artificial because of the turf reference

I am happy you have good artificial turfs there, but i am an old fart and played football some time ago on first generation artificial fields. Besides having my thighs and ass burned every time you tackled, it was slow and I even tore an ankle ligament ....

Interesting fact: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640410701422076

Football style does differ on artificial pitches .... :-)

I made a reference to that to bushman a couple of minutes ago. The original turf was terrible for everything in every sport! No one liked it! But now, even here in the rich areas, our elementary schools (5-11 years old) even have turf! This article even mentions that the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium has been voted the best surface to play on several times, something I wasn't aware of.

http://www.easyturf.com/artificial-grass-industry-news/21-nfl-teams-use-fieldturf-synthetic-grass/