[Jokanovic]

Still giving the ball away too much.

[Butterflies]

That goal from Ryan....I never knew he was so quick.

[Butterflies]

Originally Posted by Jokanovic

Still giving the ball away too much.

Yeah, Mikel being the biggest offender.

I don't know about you, but I think Rambo is being wasted out on the right. It's good to use him if we plan to counter-attack but apart from that he should be used in the middle; his crossing needs to improve. Would love to see him start in the double pivot next to Mikel or Romeu.

[Jokanovic]

Originally Posted by Butterflies

Yeah, Mikel being the biggest offender.

I don't know about you, but I think Rambo is being wasted out on the right. It's good to use him if we plan to counter-attack but apart from that he should be used in the middle; his crossing needs to improve. Would love to see him start in the double pivot next to Mikel or Romeu.

He is. It's ok today as not so important but in bigger games he is going to get found out again.

[Jokanovic]

Was Eddie Newton on the bench? Didn't recall seeing him.

[RichmondBlue]

I thought the commentator was spot-on when he said we looked a bit lightweight, and our new signings are "not going to run through any walls". With Essien unlikely to return as the "monster" he once was, we desperately need a midfield ball winner (or two) to support our little midfield geniuses.. After all, we don't want to become the "new Arsenal"..playing lovely football but winning nothing.

[NinjyBear]

I know Abramovich wants the small, tricky players to play football like Barca, but we still need a few tough bastards - Essien/Ballack/Drogba - in there to hold the team together. It's no good having the likes of Mata and Hazard if teams are going to be kicking us all over the park every game, preventing the players from having the ball and leaving us with little chance of winning it back. It worries me that we don't even appear to be looking in that area. All the focus seems to be on RB and RW/Striker. Ramires might be better off going back there, but - assuming he's paired with Lampard - that's still not at all solid, it's just a bit faster. I'm convince that fast-tracking Romeu would be better than persisting with what we have now.

[roddydogs]

Originally Posted by Heavenly

That's fine by me.

Looks about right after to day, and theyve signed Rodwell.

[NinjyBear]

Some good news from today - Sturridge is out of the England game with a minor injury.

[kana]

Mikel was frustrating yesterday and overall we seemed pretty disjointed between defence and midfield. Most annoyed about the red card as no idea who will be playing right back on Sunday now and it was so unnecessary. D Luiz? Ramires? Would be surprised if it was Hutchinson.

[kana]

Just been told Ivanovic won't get a ban for the red as pre-season sendings off don't count in competitive fixtures.
And breathe .... :-)

[NinjyBear]

That's a bit of luck. Somebody needs to tell him to stop doing stupid things.

Also, Terry's CL ban has been reduced. He'll miss the Super Cup, but will be available for the first group game. I don't agree with reducing that ban, but....whatever.

[Dixon]

Originally Posted by Butterflies

We only played crap in the PL mainly because Robbie placed all his eggs in one basket and thankfully it paid off! Yeah, we could have played more attractive football and there is no question that we had a lot of luck on our side, but I wouldn't change a thing about our CL run. Who cares if people think we fluked our win?

I think it was a case of our great veterans putting all their eggs into one basket, rather than Robbie having anything to with it. It was just the same when the players took us to the final under Grant. In the two years we got to the final of the CL we could have had Cheryl Cole as manager and got the same results.

Of course, like you i wouldn't change a thing about our incredible CL triumph. It was without doubt the best feeling i've ever had watching football, and i doubt that anything will ever match that feeling again.
However, none of that should cover up just how mediocre we were last season and how medicore we continue to look.
Sooner or later we will start getting the results the mediocre quality deserves, and when that happens i wonder how long it will be before Abramovich pulls the trigger once more?

[NinjyBear]

The dressing room would be an interesting place with Cheryl Cole as manager.

[Plant_Pie]

Originally Posted by NinjyBear

Some good news from today - Sturridge is out of the England game with a minor injury.

Just hope we dont loose any of our players to real injury during any of the friendlies.Such daft timing

[kana]

Originally Posted by NinjyBear

That's a bit of luck. Somebody needs to tell him to stop doing stupid things.

Also, Terry's CL ban has been reduced. He'll miss the Super Cup, but will be available for the first group game. I don't agree with reducing that ban, but....whatever.

More good news on the Terry front though I wouldn't mind seeing Cahill and Luiz play more together in the middle as they're both young and will be the future central partnership.

My worry is that individuals will continue doing stupid things when it does matter. There was no real reason for Ivanovic's leg to be so high, even if he just wanted to make sure he got the man he could have done it with the leg on the ground and saved himself a red card. Same with Mikel, his awareness was bordering on nonexistent and his passing was so sloppy. Will everyone just turn off the sloppiness and recklessness when the season starts proper or is it going to be another long season full of individual errors.

[NinjyBear]

Only updated transfer news is some quotes from Kakuta.

"My decision is final. This is an important time in my career. It's better for me to leave the club and find one where I could play more matches. I need to play."

"Marseille is a club that I like," he added. "In France, Marseille, Lyon and Lille are the three clubs I like the most. Nothing is certain yet. First Marseille must first sell and then negotiate a reasonable salary."


I think we can assume that Marseille aren't interested. The RB deal would be done by now if they were.

[Butterflies]

Originally Posted by Dixon

I think it was a case of our great veterans putting all their eggs into one basket, rather than Robbie having anything to with it. It was just the same when the players took us to the final under Grant. In the two years we got to the final of the CL we could have had Cheryl Cole as manager and got the same results.

Of course, like you i wouldn't change a thing about our incredible CL triumph. It was without doubt the best feeling i've ever had watching football, and i doubt that anything will ever match that feeling again.
However, none of that should cover up just how mediocre we were last season and how medicore we continue to look.
Sooner or later we will start getting the results the mediocre quality deserves, and when that happens i wonder how long it will be before Abramovich pulls the trigger once more?

What if Robbie publicly said at the beginning of his reign as interim of Chelsea manager, that he was going to focus all his efforts on the CL but we had lost in the final? Who do you think will get the bulk of the criticism; the players or the manager?

To simply say if XXX was the manager we still would have won, is void of any real substance as there's too many variables to take into consideration. It was Robbie who chose the team, the tactics, the formation and the resting of players. Whilst our veterans played a huge part in our success in the champion's league, to say Robbie didn't play a part is simply not true as winning something as big as the CL is down to it being a collective effort.

I know we haven't looked good in pre-season but it's still early days. For now, I'm just going to stay positive and trust that Robbie is working on the issues. Our proper test starts with Wigan away so hopefully we get off to a good start.

[Butterflies]

Originally Posted by NinjyBear

Only updated transfer news is some quotes from Kakuta.

"My decision is final. This is an important time in my career. It's better for me to leave the club and find one where I could play more matches. I need to play."

"Marseille is a club that I like," he added. "In France, Marseille, Lyon and Lille are the three clubs I like the most. Nothing is certain yet. First Marseille must first sell and then negotiate a reasonable salary."


I think we can assume that Marseille aren't interested. The RB deal would be done by now if they were.

If Chelsea makes a fair offer for Aspi, we will let him leave. If there is a good offer for Stephane Mbia, we will let him leave too. We are working in good terms both with Cesar and Stephane.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...medium=twitter

[NinjyBear]

Wigan / Reading / Newcastle in 7 days.

I can see a signing or 2 after those games. Just hope we do it better than last season panic buy.

[Heavenly]

A young Man City fan was delighted after Chelsea defender, Ashley cole, gave him his Community Shield medal.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...-City-fan.html

Daily Mail Sport@DMAILsports


Little lad looks well chuffed.

[NinjyBear]

Levante striker Arouna Kone is to join Premier League side Wigan in a deal worth a reported €3.5 million.

They also signed Miyaichi on loan yesterday, so the Moses deal will likely be wrapped up soon.

[RichmondBlue]

Originally Posted by NinjyBear

Levante striker Arouna Kone is to join Premier League side Wigan in a deal worth a reported €3.5 million.

They also signed Miyaichi on loan yesterday, so the Moses deal will likely be wrapped up soon.

I can't get very excited about that deal to be honest. It takes our spending up to around 75m, but still leaves us with problems.
We have all our eggs in one basket up front, and I'm still not convinced about Torres. It looks like we will have a skilful but lightweight midfield unless Essien can find a new lease of life.
We have needed a genuine RB for a while, and even with Ivanovic playing well in that position, we still need quality cover.
Of course its great to have Hazard, Oscar, Marin etc...but it does seem to me that we've gone for "luxury" purchases, instead of buying a few "essentials" to start with.

[NinjyBear]

My hope is that once these 2 deals are done the management will realise it's not enough and will focus on the CM. They won't be able to use the "it's only pre-season" excuse when we struggle against Wigan and Newcastle overrun us again.

[roddydogs]

Littlejohn (Spurs season ticket holder) Uses most of his column slagging off JT & Ashley (Tue)
Now I wonder why that could be?