Chelsea vs Manchester United

[Aj17 0]

Well..this one sure is a curtain raiser ...guys , here we go ....Chelsea should win to send out a strong statement ...and The way we will win ,would definitely describe the season ahead of us ..I want no penalties ..I want our midfield to be as dominating as they are on paper ...I want them to be outplayed in every department and I want every Man U fan to cry for RONALDO this season ...lets start here ...

[Steve 10,227]

Firstly STEVEO, I am entitled to my opinion! If i want to be negative towards anything, i will be.. If i am wrong, you may be the first to rub it in! I will gladly take it! Although you may all think we done well in the off season, I (My opinion) don't think we did. We played very under strengthed sides. Like i said in my previous post's. I hope for Chelsea's sake that i am wrong! But i can honestly see another Scolari year infront of us.

If Ancelotti plans to form the team around Deco, we will lose. He is not strong enough and doesn't deserve to be there. The "Diamond" will not work. We need to play with the 4-1-2-3 with Drogba in the middle and Anelka and Malouda on the wings. Ballack and Lamps behind the front line with Essien or Obi in front of the defensive line. Ashley and Bosingwa are fast and can play far up the pitch so they are like extra midfielders anyway. Leave the "Diamond" in case I am wrong (PlanB)

I never once said you where not entitled to your opinion all i tried to say is show a little faith in the man and let him do his job. Sure it might not work out as we have seen with past managers but there is no point hating him before he is given that chance. It just sounds like you want him to fail more than you want him to be successful. Now i know that is not true because no supporter would ever want that, but be a little more open minded. He could be a major success and lets pray that comes true.

When you say we did not play against full strength sides im guessing your talking about Inter and AC. Now lets look back on last years pre-season where we played some asian teams who where no where near our level or experience. We where beating these teams 4 or 5 nil and everyone was singing Scolaris praises. Saying we have a big season ahead of us and we are going to win the league. That quickly backfired and we turned to shit. What im trying to say is these Milan teams that we faced are still better than those asian teams we come up against and to get any sort of win is a Decent result. Sure we might of scored the lucky goal here and there but still, the team looked fresh and they looked alot fitter in comparison to what we did 12 months ago.

The team we currently have is a great one. As it was proven towards the end of last season, all the lads really need is to be fit, some basic tactics and a manager that fills them with confidence and they seem to stick like glue and bond like the Chelsea that won back to back titles. The team have seemed to bonded with Carlo already and i think that is great to see, a few players have come out and sand praises for him which is always good to see.

I say give the Diamond a go and see how it runs. While Mourinho was coaching Chelsea he did use this diamond formation on occassions and it was very successful. The only thing i dont like is that fact that it pretty much cancels out our wingers and plays alot more narrow. If it does not work something like the formation you have provided can always be a plan B. Ancelotti is not as stupid as Scolari and when he see's something is not working i garentee you he will change it.

[Aj17 0]

I dont see Ancelotti going for Diamond for a long time ..He should put his own style into the game ...rather than keeping old Successful one ...

Ancelotti is not the guy who will get bullied by early bad results in the season ...He will make team succeed at his preferred formation .....and guys ..we all know scholari was not the guy for us only because he lacked vision for adjusting in EPL .....It was not the team for him ..He needed players like Deco ...that was an effort towards right direction ...He wanted the team to be skillful and wanted his training methods to be followed ...and we know how few of Chelsea's players disrespected his training methods ..I am sure those methods are quite effective because without them,he would not have been such a successful manager before coming to Chelsea ......Its just ..he failed to adapt the league ...He is not stupid,mates ..Its the perspective which we differ in

[Steve 10,227]

Yes now when i said stupid i meant he didnt go on to change things when something was not working. Which i personally think is stupid!

[Laylabelle 9,359]

Yep. Remember the 2008 final? 1-1 with United, went straight to penalties. Lost 3-0, Pizarro, Lampard and SWP had their penalties saved by van der Sar, Rooney and Carrick scored two of United's three penalties to win it.

I just remember how bloody appaling our pens were lol..hopfully this time we wont aim them at the bloody goalie!

[Rambo 1,729]

Besides Ballack, Drogba and Lamps, no one is really consistent with penalties.

[Stamford 3]

I just remember how bloody appaling our pens were lol..hopfully this time we wont aim them at the bloody goalie!

I remember too, infact I remember most of our penalty shoot outs lost us games. Burnley at home last season in the Carling cup for example.

[Laylabelle 9,359]

I remember too, infact I remember most of our penalty shoot outs lost us games. Burnley at home last season in the Carling cup for example.

Well least we know from that not to let Mikel take one...that was just....bad lol

[Ray. 217]

For those who aren't aware, if this game is level after 90 minutes it goes straight to penalties. No extra time

OK why do they go straight to penalties? What makes this match different to other matches, i.e. where they go to extra time.

[Steve 10,227]

Im guessing its something the FA has decided to do. I dont really no why possibly to make it more intence towards the end but i got no idea.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

It's basically a pre-season game, most pre-season fixtures are part of some competition, such as the World Football Challenge we won last month, and usually, if they are tied after 90 minutes, it goes to penalties. No real reason other than that.

[EskWeston 696]

This one should be interesting. No doubt both teams will want to win this, with a week to prepare and get themselves ready i am feeling confident we can get one over on the Mancs in this game.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Van der Sar is out for United until mid-September, so Foster will likely be in goal.

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

I'd like us to win, but in all honesty the result doesnt bother me in the slightest.

Its just another game to prepare us for the start of the season. If we hump them then brilliant, if we lose its not the end of the world.

I'm confident we'll win though. I've a good feeling about this season.

[Ollie 4,400]

Oh and BTW the winner of the CS hardly ever wins the prem. Only us in 2006 and Man Utd the last 2 years, thats it

[Elmajico 0]

3-2 to the Blues! should be a cracker of a game....I cant wait to see Zhirkov in action

[Tomlewis7 0]

I think we should win this one pretty easily...Especially without Van Der Sarr in goal. But im afraid i dont think Zhirkov will play...Inbetween that game and the first of the season there is a friendly between Russia and Argentina...I may be wrong...But i think i read somewhere that he would miss definatly the Hull match and possibly the CS. COMON Chelsea . We might even have Aguero in time for this one *wishful thinking* .

[caesarblues 51]

hahah, poor VDS

ya can't wait 4 Zirkhov too