The Chelsea Blue

It's coming...

2009-05-30T22:12:00.001+10:00

very, very soon

Preview: FA Cup Final 2009

2009-05-29T22:52:00.004+10:00

So hey, we did better than the "best in England" against Barca, didn't we? Even Ronaldo figured out that we outplayed Barca, at least until he got on the losing side.

Now the team can unleash the demons that have been raging inside them as they saw the team they beat lift the holy grail that we have continuously failed to reach on poor, unsuspecting Everton. It won't be unsuspected, and Everton surely aren't poor, but it will still be a cracker of a finale, hopefully a better finale than the midweek "final of the century" which I ended up reading the latest FourFourTwo in. I was really schintallated.

It should be a good final though, and let's have a look at the game, Chelsea Blue style.

TEAMS
Do not read the ESPN Soccernet's Chelsea correspondent. He underestimates Everton.

Rule no.1: Do not understimate Everton.

They have drawn with us 0-0 twice this season. You don't keep Chelsea to a clean sheet for no reason. They are good. They finished fifth, for god's sakes! So Mr. Andy Thorhill, you can send the kids out and see Phil Neville try to lift the trophy. Have fun in that fantasy.

Whilst the smart and actual Chelsea manager who knows what he's doing picks a team that can match up to the best in the world (apparently).

CECH
BOSINGWA ------- TERRY -------- CARVALHO/ALEX -------- A.COLE
BALLACK
ESSIEN -------- LAMPARD
ANELKA -------- -------- -------- MALOUDA
DROGBA

I'd like to see that, or something similar, take to the golden Wembley grass. TCB Player of the Year A.Cole can tear up the left wing, feeding Florent's stylish little bon-bon on the back of his head. Personally I think the whole Chelsea team should adopt this hair style, as it seems to turn players into career best form.

Jack Rodwell, a player I've always rated at Everton, may start. If he does, target him! He's young, fairly inexperinced and is the player who could bring Everton to their knees if he doesn't do the billing.

DANGERMAN
Do I need to tell you? It can only be Tim Cahill, Hiddink's golden Aussie boy who fired Australia into the World Cup Round of 16. I'm an Aussie, and I f****ing love Cahill, but Saturday, I'd like to see him crying on the ground holding that silver medal. Sorry Timmy, I'll go back to loving you after the Bahrain game which'll see us at South Africa (hopefully!)

PREDICTION
Only Michael Platini could sabotage this one and give it to Everton, if Chelsea go out and play with the sort of passion that can only come from watching the team you outplayed and kept out until the 183rd minute go on and completely outclass their final opponents to lift Big Ears. If it's penalties, I'm hoping to see JT slot in the winning penalty and rip off his shirt and throw it into to the support and go wild, just to cure Moscow once and for all.

Good luck Chels!

Wembley here we come!

Video: Anelka on the road to the Golden Boot

2009-05-28T21:17:00.002+10:00

Congrats Nico, and nice video.

Review: Nico scoops the Golden Boot

2009-05-25T20:54:00.004+10:00

The Premier League wrapped up today with Chelsea securing over eighty points with a close win over Sunderland

SUNDERLAND 2 - CHELSEA 3

TEAM

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry (c), A Cole; Belletti (Ballack 26), Mikel (Mancienne 78), Essien (Kalou 64); Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.

Goals Anelka 46, Kalou 73, A Cole 85

Booked A Cole 33

MATCH REPORT

My wish came true!

Anelka won the Golden Boot last night after a superb goal opened the scoring in an entertaining second half at the Stadium of Light that saw the Black Cats breathe a huge sigh of relief.

We almost scored early in the contest again when Essien headed Anelka's (?) cross into the side netting. However it was to be a scoreless first half in which we attacked, but did not finish. I feel that finishing is where we need to strengthen in the summer, as we could be looking forward to Man U in Rome this week if Drogba had put his chances in the net. Although some penalties would've been nice there..

Sunderland were playing like a Premiership team, and if they had gone down, I would be campaigning for relegation to be judged on performances, as Newcastle are, and play shite (how's that for pommy speak?!). They had chances, which Cech unfortunately looked a bit shaky on, but still remained the brick wall he is.

The second half began with Cech trying to be like Ronaldo, who was sitting on the bench in England's favourite place, Hull City. Unfortunately PC1 isn't quite the same as CR7, and Grant Leadbitter nearly converted.

Then Anelka secured his Golden Boot with a great goal which further pushes his case to stay next season. His finish smashed the top left corner.

Then the Cats equalised five minutes later, providing more cusp for why they are a Premiership team. However, sub Salomon Kalou took us back into the lead with his first goal for quite some time, a great touch followed up with a blasted finish. 1-2.

Ashley Cole wrapped up the scoring with the third and final game for our Premiership campaign, Sunderland going head over heels and Malouda providing Ashley with the ball to score. He said he wanted to score more goals, and that mission began tonight. Ashley, you are my Player Other Than Lampard Player of the Season, and you can expect a Chelsea Blue tribute to come in the offseason. To Bilic, Riijkard, Terim, Moyes or O'Neill, do not let him join Barca or Real! (I didn't mention Ancelotti, as that's how much I don't want him).

Sunderland's consolation inspired them to push for an equalizer which would've definitely kept them in the Premiership, but with Shearer not providing the goods it was the Cats day, and not a day to even be closely related to Newcastle United Football Club (or Middlesbrough, for that matter). Perhaps we should buy out St James Park for our youth = ) ?

Now, Everton awaits at Wembley, as all roads lead to London (not Rome, if you got the wrong memo)

PREDICTION OUTCOME
Well, I was off slightly (5-0!) but then again, only one per cent of IKTS players correctly predicted a 2-3 away win for Chelsea.

COMING UP
Everton in FA Cup Final at Wembley.

The countdown begins here, on The Chelsea Blue!

SITE IN OVERHAUL - PLEASE BE PATIENT!

2009-05-24T21:55:00.001+10:00

Please be patient as the site enters overhaul mode.

This is part of a bigger, better experince for The Chelsea Blue.

Stay tuned as this is just the beginning of our big off season project. More details shortly.

Preview: The last slice

2009-05-24T18:42:00.002+10:00

Here we are.

Thirty seven games that have been an emotional rollercoaster of sorts, thirty seven games that have determined our current fate in the Barclays Premier League this season. A fate that grants us third place, our first placing outside the top two since Roman rocked into town, unless Liverpool throw the dice away against Spurs.

Time for some serious metaphoring: This is the final slice of the loaf that has made up the bread and butter that has provided serious topping for Chelsea fans this season.

= )

Isn't it nice to have this game, as well as the Blackburn game, a game in which we don't have to worry about what's around the corner (apart from a FA Cup final), a game which has no real effect. A game in which the youth can come and play!

Now I'm not one to critque Hiddink's selection, but Bloody Sunday is begging for an injection of youth. Give them a chance to play Guus. You may want momentum ahead of Everton, but we need a future too (and you're not hanging around to see it, so this is the least you can do!).

Tonight I'm expecting CFC to rally around Anelka. The Golden Boot is one trophy we can take from them, and we need to do everything to make sure Cristiano doesn't saunter off, declaring he is the top ten best players in the Premiership.

PREDICTION
Chelsea 5 - Sunderland 0. We want second place!

BLOODY SUNDAY PREVIEW
I love the Bloody Sunday metaphor, if you didn't know. But I'm predicting Hull, Newcastle and West Brom to go down, and Boro to pull off the Great Escape, and breaking into Europa, in other words, chucking a Fulham.

It's coming...that big announcement will be announced very shortly.

News: Chelsea fined for being right

2009-05-23T19:32:00.003+10:00

It was to be expected - Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba have been fined for their role in the aftermath of that Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

CHELSEA FC / UEFA ANNOUNCEMENT

UEFA has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Chelsea FC, Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa in relation to incidents following the Champions League semi-final second leg against FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
"The club are charged with the improper conduct of their players and the throwing of missiles by their supporters, while Drogba and Bosingwa are accused of being in breach of the principles of sportsmanship by insulting the referee by making offensive comments.
"The club and the individuals concerned have been requested to file a statement by Friday 29 May. The UEFA Control & Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on 17 June

CHELSEA FC OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Chelsea Football Club will be responding to the Uefa charges issued today in due course, on behalf of both the club and the players concerned.

We would like to make clear again, as we did at the time, that the incidents in question were regrettable and occurred only because of the high emotions and frustrations which arose from the disappointment of a controversial defeat in such an important game.

We are all acutely aware of the responsibilities that lie with both the club and its players as regards setting a good example as role models and upholding the principles of fair play in football. Both of the players accept that and apologised honestly very soon afterwards for their actions.

Chelsea FC

Also, Michael Ballack has escaped disclipinary action for his actions, as "the matter was taken care of on the field". So for running, touching, yelling, screaming at the ref, sprinting down beside him, vehemently abusing him, Ballack gets a yellow. So when Overbo does the right thing, it's the wrong thing. And the wrong decision, well we know how those turn out.

Will Drogba stay on? Perhaps not, if he has a ban to serve out. More to come on that front

*HINT!*
Stay tuned to the blog for an exciting announcement...

Awards: Lampard wins Player of the Year

2009-05-22T19:03:00.003+10:00

Frank Lampard has taken out Chelsea's highest accolade for the third time in a row, the first

time in CFC history.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Frank Lampard

'It feels great because of the amount of top quality players who have won this
award,'
'When I came here I never expected to win it three times at all, I
just wanted to establish myself, but getting this award and the recognition from
your own fans is a huge thing in football. I am absolutely delighted.'

PLAYER'S PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Cole

'I'm shocked but it's a great honour and I am very privileged to have got this
award, there are a lot of players who deserved it, but I am happy to collect
this award.
'It is always nice to get recognition from anyone but from your
players it means a lot more and I feel this year I could have done better, I could have scored a few goals, but I do feel the fittest I have ever felt and
playing as best as I have for Chelsea.'

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Michael Mancienne

The Young Player of the Year award was in association with adidas and was
selected by coaches Paul Clement and Ray Wilkins.
Michael Mancienne who
turned 21 this season and returned from loan at Wolves to make his Chelsea
first team debut was the winner.
The young defender is an England Under 21 regular and received a call
into the senior squad during the campaign.

GOAL OF THE YEAR

Michael Essien vs. Barcelona Semi Final 2nd Leg

'It is always good to win something,' 'We put effort in to win trophies and win personal trophies, so it is great. 'I meant to do it because when I saw the ball coming that was the only option that came to my mind, I tried to take it and I had a bit of luck. 'It is difficult to score those kinds of goals and you need a bit of luck.'

OTHER AWARDS

John Terry recieved a Special Commitment Award for his ten years service to the club, and a Special Recognition award was awarded by Peter Kenyon to CLIC Sargent, Chelsea's UK charity partner for the past four years.

Review: The week gone by for reserves & youth

2009-05-21T18:27:00.006+10:00

A typically young Chelsea reserve side, but one with players who have accumulated plenty of experience on loan, was in action on Wednesday afternoon in a training ground friendly against Fulham.

The reserves are maintaining match sharpness to the end of the first team season and following on from a double header against Manchester City over the two previous weeks, our local rivals were hosted at Cobham and beaten 2-1.

The Chelsea side in action was:
Sam Walker; Nana-Ofori Twumasi (Shaun Cummings), Michael Mancienne, Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt; Jacob Mellis, Jack Cork, Liam Bridcutt (c); Miroslav Stoch (Jacopo Sala), Franco Di Santo, Scott Sinclair.

The big question at the end of the first half was how had the game remained scoreless with Chelsea, in the early stages especially, not capitalising on a string of shooting opportunities.
Stoch began the sequence with an attempt from a difficult angle that was saved and he soon beat two players in typical low-centre-of-gravity style on a run before teeing up Di Santo who shot wide with the best chance of the half.

The Argentine was more unfortunate than wasteful later in the half when his own dribbling left two Fulham players trailing but as the Chelsea centre-forward shot low, a third defender deflected the ball wide.

Mellis, who doesn't lack for inches as a midfielder, had a header from a corner saved but then having dominated, Chelsea allowed Fulham to cause problems at the other end as the half-time interval approached.

When a pass between Ofori-Twumasi and Bridcutt went astray, the Blues were grateful to see the ball fired wide by Fulham.

It was a big error at the back by the visitors that allowed Stoch to open the scoring shortly after the break and in front of a watching Guus Hiddink and all the first team staff (plus Ashley Cole supporting the reserves once again), Chelsea would have been looking to kick on from there and impress - but Fulham equalised almost immediately.

The Chelsea midfield set about re-establishing a lead - Mellis denied by a save and then Cork shooting wide after making space following good work by Stoch.
Sinclair was the next to shoot at the keeper but the winger did rather better midway through the half, scoring the winner after Di Santo's initial shot had rebounded off the bar and Mellis had feed him.

Di Santo could have stretched the lead but headed a cross by substitute Cummings wide and it took the best moment of Chelsea defending by Van Aanhlot to prevent far post danger from Fulham with time running out.

Right-back Cummings was playing his first game at Chelsea following 32 appearances in MK Dons' promotion campaign from League One that ultimately ended at the play-off stage.
Bertrand did not play against Fulham but Mancience, Sinclair and Cork (pictured below) did and all have plenty of loan experience under their belts.

Cork played 46 matches this season alone at Southampton and then Watford.

Of the Saints experience he recalls:

'It was a club that was in the Premiership and has a big history and I played in
a number of positions and did well when I played. But the team wasn't doing so
well and we struggled for results.
'Their financial problems made it hard so
we had too many young players to do well, but we played good football. It was a
good learning curve, but hard because we lacked quality and experience in some
areas.'

Towards the end of 2008, Brendan Rodgers, who was Cork's coach as he grew up in the youth team and reserves at Chelsea, asked if he would like to go to Watford on loan instead.

'It was a hard decision,' admits the 19-year-old, 'because the Southampton fans were alright with me but Brendan being at Watford made it a good choice.'

Now looking ahead to next season?

'I will come back here in pre-season and hopefully there will be a place for me,
but maybe I will have to go out on loan and get some more experience. I have
enjoyed it the past two and a bit years. My year at Scunthorpe was good last
year and having to settle in somewhere new, not just football but for life in
general, it is good for you.'

Cork is joined by Mancienne and Bertrand in the pre-selection England Under 21 squad of 40 names for next month's European Championships in Sweden. The final 23-man party is named today (Thursday).

In the last Young Generation, there was news of the first game by Chelsea's representative in the European Under 17 Championships - Turkish midfielder Gokhan Tore - who had lost to host nation Germany and been sent-off.

His belief is that both yellow cards were not justified but suspension still had to be served against Netherlands in the second match. He was back for the third game and a 1-0 win over England, both sides dropping out of a tournament won by the Germans.

Tore is now back with the Chelsea youth squad for whom there has also been friendly action recently.

'We played an Under 17 game against Nottingham Forest,' reports youth team manager Dermot Drummy.

'The thinking behind that was to give a game to 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds
who will be going to a tournament in Amsterdam next week so we needed to keep
them ticking over.
'The Under 16s have finished their training due to exams
but we wanted to give them a game for fitness.
'The Under 16s come to Chelsea
on a day release programme from school but come May they have the pressures of
exams. We have to give them then best chance so we take the heat off them and
give them plenty of time to study and do their course work.'

Forest were beaten 3-2 with Chelsea goals coming from first year scholar Kaby Djalo and schoolboy Aziz Deen Conteh.

There then followed a mixed Under 17s/18s game against Reading.

'That was because the Under 18 boys who don't play in the reserves will also go
to Amsterdam. We beat Reading 3-2 as well with goalscorers Frank Nouble, Djalo
and schoolboy Danny Mills so that was two decent performances against good
sides. 'We go to Amsterdam on the Friday with games on Saturday against Ajax
and Sunday against Chivas from Mexico who from experience always send over decent sides.'

Source: Chelsea FC
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1651075,00.html

Transfer Preview: Summer Window 09 - Part Two: Outs

2009-05-20T21:09:00.009+10:00

PREDICTED OUTS

There are a lot of shitheads I had like to flog from our squad.

Miniero

I don't know how a person who was not considered to be good enough even as a back up in Hertha Berlin could end up at Chelsea?? Only one
man could make it possible. The one and only Felipao.. He even compared him with Makelele !!!! Anyways, thank god he was signed only for a year.

Price Expected: ZERO !!

Paulo Ferreira

I know many would like to argue the fact that he is a professional and doesn't complain about a lack of game-time. But for me he is way too ineffective. If there is one area we have excess personnel, then that is RIGHT BACK. We have Mancienne, Ivanovic and Belleti who are all better to be honest. In my opinon he would do a lot better in a mid table club where he could even be the 1st choice right back; maybe say a West Ham or Wigan.

Price Expected: 3-4 m and I would chew their hands off !!

Claudio Pizzaro

Never rated him and never will. His attitute stinks and in my honest opinon not the quality Chelsea need. Also, age is against him. Too bad, Off you go.

Price Expected: 5m to Werder

Deco

This was one flop I did not anticipate. I knew he had not had a great season with Barca the previous year. But still somehow I had a feeling he would want to prove everybody wrong by joinng Chelsea. I really dont know if its the injuries or his lack of motivation that made him look like shit on the pitch. He is 31 now and not gonna improve much from last year by any measure. Maybe it was just bad luck that so many injuries hampered his season. So off he goes as well

Price Expected: 5-7m at least

Henrique Hilario

I have not once seen him collect a single catch with confidence. He is a good shot stopper but very poor at set pieces and in commanding his area. So offload him unless we are paying him really low wages.

Price Expected: Zero

Michael Ballack

Hmm.. a tough one I have to agree. He is not one I want to readily part ways with. Somehow I see a very interesting character in him. He is a big personality in the dressing room and someone who handles the big games really well. Many may say he has had another poor season. True he hasnt scored a lot, but he has played in a very defensive role all season allowing lampard more freedom to roam. And to me he has had a good if not great year. I still think he is needed for maybe one more season until Obi matures a bit more.

Price Expected: Zero (His contract is up this summer and there is a 1 yr extension if both parties are OK with it.)

Ricardo Carvalho

Go ahead, slate me. I accept he is still a class player but think its time we shipped Riccy while we could still get some silly money on him. Real are apparently interested in him and I think 10m is something we can get from his sale. Ask yourselves, do you want Carvalho playing next year having Alex and Brainslav on the bench and unhappy or do you prefer getting some good money on Carvalho while Brainslav and Alex share the playing time? I know which one I would choose. There is no denying he still has a solid year or 2 left in him. But he is 31 and his value is only gonna decrease with time.

Price Expected: 10m (Come on, when Heinze could get 7m Ricky can easily get us 10 from the moneybags !!) And more importantly its Perez of the Galacticos era who is gonna become Real's next president so its definitely gettable.

Florent Malouda

This fella has had an incredible last month or two. Has matched his days from Lyon ever since Golden Guus took over. Guus had rightly made a point that people perform well when they are close to the end of season to merit their place in the team and I guess Malouda was one of those. Unfortunately for me, that is not the kind of attitude to have when you are paid 80 grand a week. So sod off I say and thanks for the good two months. You owed it to us fans anyways.

Price Expected: 11-12m - Juventus again :)

Juliano Belletti

A strict NO as far as Im concerned. He maybe 32 but he is one versatile player which is needed to complete a squad. Has enough experience not to make any stupid mistakes during a game. Can play across the midfield and also as a full back. A much better squad player in my opinion than Paulo. So NO, we need him.

Andriy Shevchenko

As much as I love this guy, I jus cant imagine him leading our attack. He was definitely a trier. He tried his best for us inspite of the severe criticism he got day in day out. A true professional and a true legend of the game. Would definitely be sad to see him go but alas he has to. That would reduce our wage bill a great deal.

Price Expected: 3-4m

Didier Drogba

Last but not he least, the most complex yet funny character in our dressing room. You never know whats going through his mind. A very passionate fella that is quite obvious from his actions. A big game performer. A good diver ;) we dont have much of this type !! Though Bosingwa made his audition against the Rovers yesterday :P Physically strong but off late has been missing 2 many chances which is what concerns me the most. His finishing prowess has been on a decline. And this could be the last season we could make some money off him. The problem offloading him would be his replacement.

Price Expected: 8-10m

RECOUP

How much do we recoup ?!? About 50m !!! Not bad I guess. An outlay of 50m net and we would be having an excellent squad for the next 3-4 seasons !!!! What say guys?? As usual, its all open for a debate...

HOPEFUL SQUAD

A good solid squad of 21-22 players with our youths stars filling the remaining slots to make it 30. I know I know.. Its all a dream !!! Nonetheless, a nice one to have :D

Forwards

Anelka Di Santo Carlitos (if Possible)

Wingers

J.Cole Kalou Ribery Stoch Sinclair

Midfield

Lampard Essien Obi Ballack Gourcuff

Defenders

Terry Alex Ivanovic Mancienne

Fullbacks

A.Cole Bosingwa Zhirkov Belleti Bertrand

Reserves: A season in review

2009-05-20T20:26:00.003+10:00

As with the Youth team this season has been a little disrupted for the reserves. At the start of the season Brendan Rodgers was at the helm and Brendan was a excellent coach, of that there is no doubt. All the lads loved to play for him and he was very clever tactically and knew how to get the best of the lads. But he moved on to bigger and better things and that gave Paul Clement a chance to move up a level. Paul himself is a very good manager who has done some excellant things with the youth team and I have been very impressed with what he has done with them. Things got a little more complicated though with the departure of Scolari, meaning that the majority of Paul's time was taken up working with the first team. All of this has meant a lot of inconsistency at reserve level.

On the pitch though we have seen some first team experience more than other seasons. Most notable have been Ricardo Quaresma who has been somewhat out of favour with the first team but flying for the reserves and Miniero who has also not been a feature for the first team but a semi-regular for the reserve team, although with not quite the same impact as Quaresma. We have also seen first teamers Carvalho, Belletti, Cudicini, Drogba, Hilario and Essien pull on their boots for the first team. Not to mention first team fringe players Di Santo and Mancienne.Results have not been great this season, and picking up wins is something that we want to be doing even if the main aim is player development.

Many times (too many) we have seen players playing out of position which has certainly not helped matters. Nana-Ofori playing as a centre back, Patrick Van Aanholt as a left winger ect... We have also seen some players break through to show they can cut it at this level. Most notibly Jacob Mellis, Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick Van Aanholt and Fabio Borini.One of the problems with Reserve football is the lack of games, games are too far and few between for players to build up any level of consistancy and for players too old for the U18's and not quite ready for a loan this can seriously hamper them.

Players need to play more regular football to aid their development. Chelsea to their credit have tried to help in this respect by arranging friendly games against Man Utd, Liverpool, AC Milan and recently Man City. But this has still not been enough and hopefully the club will be trying to arrange even more of these games for next season.

Player of the season: Patrick Van Aanholt

Van Aanholt has been perfectly consistant throughout the whole season. Not the sort of player who you would single out as being a major influence like Stoch or Borini but every game he has performed to a very high standard and been more than solid. In only his second season at the club he has shown himself to be a very capable left back who loves to bomb forward much like Ashley Cole. Next season could possibly even see him competing with Ryan Bertrand for the back up left back spot, although i feel it is too soon for him. Completely comfortable at this level at left back (more sloppy at centre back) a loan may be on the cards for him...

Team of the season

...................................Sebek...................................

Nana-Ofori....Bruma.....Magnay....Van Aanholt

.................................Bridcutt.................................

....................Woods................Mellis......................

Quaresma..................Borini........................Stoch

Next Season

Next season we will see what Paul Clement can do with the next batch of reserves players. Players like Nana, Magnay, Hutchinson, Van Aanholt, Woods, Bridcutt and Mellis will be looking to go out of loan. The next batch comming up from the U18's Borini, Nouble, Philliskirk, Gordon, Ahamed, Sala and Clifford ect. will need to make their mark. It would be nice to see more games arranged to allow these players to get plenty of games under their belts at this level and help their development. It is a very good group of players and i hope we can see them given the best possible chance to show their skills.

Courtesy of EskWeston

Transfer Preview: Summer Window 09 - Part One: Ins

2009-05-20T19:40:00.005+10:00

Hola a todos !! This is my first contribution towards this wonderful site which showcases the passion we have for our beloved Chelsea FC !! I have been thinking for sometime over what would be an appropriate topic to start with. Should I mourn over our big loss in Hiddink or be outrageously positive for the forthcoming transfer window as we usually are around this period every year ;) I thought I had leave Troy to talk about Guus's Golden touch & sad farewell. There are a lot of interesting names that are being linked with us in the papers. I know every X, Y and Z gets linked with Chelsea, but I'm talking about the real possibilities that could or should happen and the ones that should NEVER happen.

Of late, there is news making rounds informing us that Mr. Ab is set to loosen is purse strings and shower some of his Roman Riches again this summer. I hope that is the case because this year we definitely need to spend big for the sake of the future.
I'm not one who usually canvases big spending. I prefer Prudence to Riches. But this year has got to be an exception. So here goes my analysis on possible ins.

RUMOURED INS

Emmanuel Adebayor
Position: Striker
Estimated Price: 20-25m

Ever since Anceloti's name has been linked with the vacancy at SW6, Adebayor has always been touted as a replacement for The Drog. But no thanks. Not only do I think he is vastly over-rated & over-priced but also, as mentioned in various other forums and message boards, he is a poor man's Drogba. Has most of Drog's qualities to a limited level. But very poor work ethic and no attitude or passion or hunger either !!

Verdict: No, End of.

Frank Ribery
Position: Winger
Estimated Price: 30-35 m

Do I even need to talk what this guy is about? Everybody knows he is world class. Has a very good footballing brain. Knows were his team mates are. Never selfish on the ball. Excellent distribution and good finishing. He has got it all and for me, he should be our number 1 target this year like Robinho was during last year. Hopefully this time around our sales team dont mess it up by printing his name on our new kits too soon !!

Verdict: DEFINITELY unless he fancies himself replacing Ronaldo at ManU.

Yuri Zhirkov
Position: Wing Back
Estimated Price: 14-15 m

Haven't seen much of this guy to be honest. Watched him in the Euros' 08. Has an exceptional work rate running up and down the left flank. Is good in dribbling past an opponent, something our current players sorely lack. Has a decent enough cross. Only saw him cross 4 or 5 times in the Euros, he mostly likes running with the ball cutting inside. Though they call him the Russian Ronaldinho, I haven't ever seen him do any outstanding dribbles that has taken him past 5 r 6 men :) Like I said, I only know 30% of what this guy is actually about. Saw some videos of his at You Tube which looked great. But, I mean come on, who doesn't look good in YouTube ?!?
(Troy - even Ben Haim & Sidwell look good on YouTube!)

Verdict: Yes, because he is versatile. He is someone who could play both as a winger and if needed, left back as a cover for Ashley. That's a 2 in 1. And if Hiddink is recommending him, that means he has definitely got to be good !!

Ashley Young
Position: Winger
Estimated Price: 18m

To be honest, I would love to have this guy in our team. He has got all three attributes I consider essential in a winger - Pace, Dribble, Crossing. He has a decent cross from his left foot as well. His finishing may not be world class but he is still learning and I'm sure he would do a lot better than Shaun Wright-Phillips managed. Though the price is again too inflated as is the case often with Chelsea, O'Neil would definitely not be wanting to leave his star player for cheap.

Verdict: Yes, but only if we fail with a bid for Ribery. I don't want him for warming our benches. Also, that would reduce the chances of our youth severely. Stoch is someone I have come to like every time I've seen him. I hope he gets some more chances with the 1st team than he had this season.

Carlos Tevez
Position: Striker
Estimated Price: 25-30 m

Am I getting a bit too optimistic? HELL NO. Carlitos is exactly what the Chelsea spirit is all about. That NEVER SAY DIE attitude. A trier as Fergie puts it and boy is he right; fans absolutely love such players !! He would be an instant fan favourite. I'm not too sure if he would bang in 20+ goals season in season out, but I'm pretty sure he would get his fair share of goals/assists and most importantly not give the opposition defences a single second of respite !!

Verdict: YES YES YES YES.... :D He would give us the flexibility to play a 4-4-2 formation. Like wise he is comfortable playing wide right or left in a 4-3-3 as well.

Diego Milito
Position: Center Forward
Estimated Price: My guess would be close to 15m.

A tall physical center forward. Aerially good. Clinical finisher within the 6 yard box. Has had a great season with Genoa and getting the attentions of the European Biggies, rightfully so. But is he what we want to replace Drogba ?!? I don't think so. He is already 30 and would hardly give us one full season of his prime. I don't want another Sheva or Pizzaro. He may be good but I don't think he has enough time in his hands to get adjusted to the Premier League.

Verdict: Nooooooooooooooooooooo...... We have Di Santo. All he needs is a decent run of games and I'm sure we will have our next Drogba (I know.. Again too optimistic !!! But hey, if not here where else can I be?

Youann Gourcuff
Position: Attacking Mid
Estimated Price: >12m

A good young technically sound midfielder. Not exactly in the Lampard mould, but more in the lines of Ballack or Cesc. Likes receiving the ball and playing it out to the strikers with through balls or some lofted pass. Have not seen a great deal of him play. But have seen a couple of lovely screamers off his foot. Has age on his side, only 23 now, and there is only one way he can go and that is UP. But it all depends if MILAN are ready to part ways with him. More unlikely, looking at the aging squad of theirs !!

Verdict: YES, if are to let go of Ballack. Even if not, he might be a good purchase considering Ballack would definitely NOT be playing at the required level when he is 33 !!

Joe Hart
Position: GK
Estimated Price: My guess is 5-7m

An excellent young English goalkeeper. Was having a great season until Given took his spot between the sticks in Jan. I know if he is to leave Manchester City, it would be to a team where he can play regular 1st team football. But I hope we can lure him with Champions League and a few extra bucks in terms of salary and add-ons !! Would be great to have him as it would help us ease towards the 6+5 rule, if at all it were to be enforced in a couple of seasons.

Verdict: YES, I just don't have enough faith in Hilario to make him our 2nd choice GK. Especially when you consider Cech to be one of the most injury prone GKs around.

So I guess that would be my shopping list - Ribery or Young, Zhirkov, Gourcuff and Hart. Tevez would be a brilliant add-on :)

Estimated Transfer Expenditure:

Close to 100m pounds (If it's Ribery and Tevez)

Coming Up Next: Outs

Opinon: Too true - stick Ancelotti up your arse.

2009-05-19T18:04:00.007+10:00

Time for a quick rant on Carlo Ancelotti and the repeated rumours circulating him with Chelsea FC.

First of all, let's get this straight. Carlo is not the boss. He has not been confirmed as the boss. Not one statement has remotedly given any sign that he will be boss - in fact he has constantly denied it.

So why does The Mirror, a respected newspaper, report like this:

Carlo Ancelotti was last night warned he must refurbish his Chelsea "house" if
he hopes to challenge Manchester United for the big prizes next
year.
Outgoing boss Guus Hiddink will be replaced by the Italian in the
summer, unless there is a last minute change of heart by Ancelotti or AC Milan
owner Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/05/19/ageing-blues-need-quality-warns-guus-115875-21370801/

He is NOT the incoming boss, at any rate. He is NOT confirmed to join, he has constantly said NO I am not the next Chelsea boss.

Repeat (again). He is NOT the incoming Chelsea boss.

Secondly, do we really want Ancelotti? We want to be looking to the future, to quote Peter Kenyon, and does the AC Milan's transfer stats really stack up?

Look at his dealings and current crop - Shevchenko, Ronaldinho, Maldini, Kalac, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Gattuso, Dida. These are just a few of the players who are over thirty.

So do we need someone like him to rejuvuntalise Chelsea as a youthful team? Straight answer. No.

Thirdly, Ancelotti's track record is not exciting football. He is a lot like Jose Mourinho, grinding out results. So why would Abramovich bring him in to return to the Jose style of football, when that was part of the reason Jose left?

Fourthly, if we sign him, it would be disloyal to the fans. No joke. The outcry on Chelsea forums is largely negative. Try this for size.

4EVERCHELSEA
PLEASE DON'T GET THIS GUY..... PLEASE!!

Finally, I personally I can see an Ancelotti deal a lot like another Scolari - no offence to the Brazilian, but what I mean is that I don't think Ancelotti will cut it. Unless we want over 30's, return to grinding football and losing a large section of our fan contingent, the answer is clear.

No.

Announcement: IntenseDebate

2009-05-19T16:46:00.002+10:00

The Chelsea Blue is pleased to announce the implementation of a brand new commenting system powered by IntenseDebate.

The new commenting system contains comment rankings, comment RSS feeds for any posts, commenting profiles that utilise Google Accounts and OpenID accounts.

In your comments you can now add YouTube videos, polls and smiley graphics, to further enhance your comments.

This has been implemented in order to hopefully raise the number of comments on the site, as IntenseDebate is easier and smarter to use.

Enjoy the Chelsea Blue.

Gallery: Showing off the new kit

2009-05-19T14:08:00.004+10:00

Showing off the new kit verus Blackburn. Looks good in the flesh, better than it did before. So I retract my previous comments.

Opinon: The bright light in the Blues

2009-05-19T11:23:00.004+10:00

Chelsea is often bandied about as being old, ageing, beyond their prime, as Sir Alex Ferguson would attest. And it's hard to argue the point, with a fair slice of our key players over 30, the most notable including Ballack, Drogba and Lampard.

And whilst there are players who are under 25, only a few continue to make the grade week after week. And in my opinon, the most notable of these is John Obi Mikel.

It is not idle fun that Jose Mourinho is chasing the Nigerian. Since arriving at Chelsea from Lyn Oslo at the tender age of 18, he was a Manchester United player. The Reds cried foul that they had signed him, but Chelsea struck back by saying they had signed him. However, Ferguson appeared with Mikel, showing a shirt emblazoned with 21, Mikel.

But then John disappeared at a Norwegian Cup match. He wasn't playing, he was supposed to be in the stands watching. But he wasn't. Had he been kidnapped? The media thought so, and Man U assistant Carlos Quieroz said that it was Chelsea.

But John was really in London with his agent, "mulling over the deal". Then he appeared on the news, pointing the finger at United and saying that they had breached the rules.

Mikel was supposed to return to Lyn Oslo, but never did. A feud began to grow between the club and Manchester United. Then Chelsea heroically stepped through the door and offered to sign Mikel. They paid United twelve million euros, and Lyn four million. And finally through all that, Mikel was a Chelsea player.

And boy was it worth it!

Mikel, now 21, is a prominent voice in the side. Whilst not being absolute first choice, for the big games in particular, he can be relied on to make an appearance and perform, as he did when Essien was out for the first half of the season. Under Scolari, Mikel played superbly.

But it hasn't been all happiness. Mikel does have a temperant, having been sent off four times in his Chelsea career. During the early days, punctuality and personal life got in the way of his talent, and after being dropped considerably, his future hanged in balance.

Fortunately, Mikel cleaned up his act and got his career back on track. Stunning holding midfield performances, particulary in the Champions League, earned him plaudits. With the moving of Makelele, Mikel's place in the team was cemented even more, with his transition to the Makelele role seamless.

In the FourFourTwo Top 100 list this year, Mikel was listed at Number 90. Just another stat that contributes to the talent that he amasses in almost every game. Forget signing young midfielders, Mikel is the future diamond in the crown. Bring Cork and Woods into the fringe, and we may just have a future we can proud of.

He's just got to become a better shooter...

__________________

Review: The biggest departure since Zola

2009-05-19T08:17:00.009+10:00

CHELSEA 2 - BLACKBURN 0

TEAMS
CHELSEA: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Drogba, Anelka, Malouda
BLACKBURN: Robinson, Andrews, Nelsen (Doran), Givet, Warnock (Khizanishvili), Diouf, Tugay, Grella, Pedersen, Samba, Villanueva.

'I have had second thoughts, sometimes third thoughts, but I have to
leave.'
Guus Hiddink

Sunday was the day the Stamford Bridge chanted one of the best managers in the world out of the stadium. Guus Hiddink is leaving SW6, confirmed, and a Blackburn clash was the last saloon in front of the Blues faithful.

We lined up with the exact same team that secured third place last week, hoping to line up second. However Benitez's men took that silver medal earlier.

No youth, which was disappointing, but considering Malouda and Co's current form, it was worth it to see the football.

The game opened with an early goal yet again, Anelka with the assist and Malouda with a fantastic header that I couldn't have seen him doing a year ago. Hiddink must have hired a hairdresser to give him that terrible cut, and then threatened him to play well.

We played well in the first half, creating numerous chances. However Blackburn weren't letting go and held firm to keep us 1-0 up heading into the break.

It was man of the match Anelka's time to score hitting the hour mark. Malouda not having the enough form to hit the bicycle kick, but Anelka was on hard to slot it in the bottom right, taking him back to the top of the EPL Golden Boot, and setting up perhaps the most exciting event happening on the final day, spare the relegation battle. I'm predicting Anelka, as CR7 may not even make the grade, what with Ferguson wrapping up the title and one eye on Barca.

But back onto Anelka. Forget the Scolari reborn act, I personally enjoy the current Anelka as he smiles more assists more, and scores great goals. Which leads me to a condundrum - Anelka or Drogba? I can't choose, honestly.

PICK OF THE DAY
Abramovich tapping his bodyguard on the shoulder and asking what the fans were singing. "Oh, just the latest rendition of "Stick Ancelotti up your arse". Truer words never spoken. Forget the Italian coaches, they will be no good for us. So no to jobless Mancini, no to under fire Ancelotti, and definitely no to sacked Ranieri.

PLAYER OF THE DAY

Anelka was very good today. So he wins the award. However, Michael Essien played like a bull in a football team, running and technically being everywhere. Kudos to him, it may go unnoticed sometimes, but contributions like Essien's can decide a game.

COMING UP

We travel to the Stadium of Light to farewell a Premier League season that started so brightly, fell apart, and was pieced together back together again. All in all, a strange sort of EPL season we can turn around and laugh about it in years to come.

Announcement: New contributor!

2009-05-17T16:59:00.003+10:00

I'd like to take the oppturnity to welcome Bipinraj Mohan to The Chelsea Blue as my first ever contributor.

He's 24, resides in India, has followed Chelsea for ten years, and is an Australian cricket team supporter. He is a software professional by trade, and is specialised in automation testing of oracle apps.

He will join as a contributor to write articles and such.

Welcome Bipin!

Reserves: Chelsea 2 - Manchester City 3

2009-05-17T15:53:00.002+10:00

A double of header of friendly fixtures against Manchester City was completed with a behind-closed-doors game at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday afternoon. The result was a reversal of the 3-2 victory Chelsea had recorded at the City of Manchester Stadium last week, all five goals netted in a first-half in which both strike forces were allowed to enjoy themselves more that coaches generally appreciate.Chelsea welcomed back three players who have spent considerable loan periods in the Football League Championship - Scott Sinclair (pictured above) and Ryan Bertrand, who were reunited down the left flank, and Jack Cork who played deep in midfield in the 4-2-3-1 shape currently favoured by Guus Hiddink, an observer of this game.Franco Di Santo led the attack, Miroslav Stoch the central midfield in behind and Salomon Kalou began on the right wing.Man City's right winger Vladimir Weiss, who was a major player in their youth side's victory over Chelsea in the Youth Cup Final a year ago, set the pattern for a half of chances when he hit the bar within the first two minutes. The shot over Hilario following a sustained City attack rebounded safely. Bertrand looked to be harshly penalised for the opening goal when a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge with Weiss was judged illegal. David Ball rolled home the penalty with just three minutes gone. Before Chelsea's 12th minute equaliser it took an interception from Michael Mancienne in the area to prevent another attempt but when the Blues hit back it was something special from Sinclair.Man City centre-back Clayton McDonald, by far the heftiest player on the pitch, was left with no chance of catching our left winger once he had raced behind with the ball. Charging in on goal but with still much to do from the tightest of angles, the 20-year-old finished across the keeper and high into the far top corner with unerring accuracy from his right boot. Two minutes later, Di Santo made it 2-1 in what was a very good Chelsea spell. He calmly finished one-on-one with the keeper after escaping offside and running onto a good ball forward from Kalou. It took a tackle inside the area from City defender Paul Marshall to prevent Kalou adding another in a similar move another two minutes further on but then the visitors were gifted an equaliser.Their second goal on 25 minutes all stemmed from an ill-advised Patrick van Aanholt ball infield that was snatched upon by Weiss. Combined pressure from Mancienne and Bertrand could not prevent the finish under Hilario's dive. The Chelsea keeper saved from lively striker Robbie Mak three minutes later before Di Santo saw a chance from the edge of the area deflected over after the industrious Bertrand dug out possession. Van Aanholt headed the corner wide. Kalou's appearance ended just beyond the half-hour mark. He had received treatment several minutes earlier in the game but had played on without too much obvious difficulty. However on 33 minutes the Ivorian walked off, substitute Fabio Borini coming on to play behind Di Santo with Stoch moving out to the right.What in the end proved to be the winner came about when Mak exchanged passes with strike partner Ball inside the area to finish strongly from close range. The same player wasn't too far away from a Man City fourth eight minutes before the break as Chelsea continued to defend poorly. Stoch curled a free-kick not too far wide four minutes before half-time with Kasper Schmeichel in goal rooted to the spot. There was a good tempo and good movement about Chelsea's start to the second half with Stoch frequently involved. Clear chances for an equaliser were proving elusive however. Finally, midway through the half, Stoch burst past his marker with good control of a high ball and let go with a shot that looked well on its way to the net. That was until full-back Ben Mee appeared just in time to deflect wide. Schmeichel was the reason Sinclair, low-key since the interval, didn't score his second on 68 minutes, the keeper making a sharp save low to his left after the shot came in following an opening worked by Cork (pictured above).Borini headed a Stoch corner narrowly wide as the game approach its final 15 minutes, the Italian's own sharpness having won the set-piece. Man City had been quiet in attack compared with their profitable first 45 minutes, but Weiss fired across the face of goal to change that briefly. Then another Chelsea chance to level fell on Borini's head, this time in open play but again from Stoch's right-side supply. The attempt was glanced wide of the far post. The final hope came when Schmeichel dropped a corner but as the ball was cleared up field, the ref was putting the whistle to his lips to bring the game to a close. 'The two games were worthwhile,' decided reserve team manager Paul Clement.

'Both teams had an attack-minded plan but the first-half we were too open so we
tried to secure things up a bit at half-time. We were far better in the
second-half even though we didn't score. We had more of the ball and they
created less against us. We were disappointed not to score again.'We have been
the same players for a long time but were a totally different team today and you
lose coherence because that. Sinclair and Bertrand have played a lot together
over the years and there was fantastic work between them for the first goal and
Scott took it very well - but we did not have enough of that understanding over
the pitch.'

Chelsea: Hilario; Bruma, Mancienne, Van Aanholt (Taiwo 82), Bertrand; Cork, Bridcutt (Ofori-Twumasi 67); Kalou (Borini 33), Stoch, Sinclair; Di Santo.

Source: Chelsea FC

Preview: SW6 farewells Guus

2009-05-17T03:30:00.003+10:00

Hiddink is my favourite manager, no doubt about it. He took Australia to the World Cup after thirty two years of hurt and got us to the round of sixteen. Then we were penalised Barca-style by Italy. And Hiddink taking over at Chelsea you know the story. Defeat in the pinnacle competition of that team, in the final minute.

And yet Hiddink is so refreshingly honest.

"I got angry at everyone after the Barca game."

It is quips like these that make me like Golden Guus so much. Put aside his tactical genius, and you find a genuine human being with emotions and pride for a team. Whilst Liverpool fans must suffer with Benitez finding excuses for everything.

Tomorrow, hopefully Hiddink will not walk out onto SW6 for one last time. However, Guus has told us repeatedly that his time is up after May 30, and seeing that only the Stadium of Light and Wembley await us, this is the final chance for the home faithful to thank the man who saved their season.

United secured the title just a few hours ago, so this game has no point, except the race for the second. So I would like to see youth make the grade, with perhaps Stoch, Mancienne and Di Santo starting on the hallowed turf. Blackburn, whilst still a good side, have nothing to play for. Relegation is a nightmare past, and now they can relax. Hopefully a little too much, and we get treated to a spectacle.

Salomon Kalou will be unavailable to play tonight, and possibly in the FA Cup final too, whilst Ballack and Belletti are doubtful, along with definite injuries to Deco and Carvalho.

Prediction

Chelsea 4 - Blackburn 1

News: United win title

2009-05-16T23:36:00.003+10:00

Breaking news - Manchester United have just wrapped up their 18th Premier League title. How exciting.

This was not a fun post to write. Bloody Ferguson. Though I predict if United triumph against Barca then I'm predicting he will leave the hallowed halls.

Tevez will definitely leave in the summer, as could Ronaldo again. So will Alex decide to leave before the stars do?

Rumours: It's a f**** disgrace if Ade comes in

2009-05-16T23:00:00.004+10:00

Yet another Drogba disgrace cliche adorns my headline for a rant on the transfer rumours around the world. The most prominent is the one saying that Ivory Coastman Drogba will be heading to Inter Milan and other destinations, with Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor coming in.

Why? Why would we give up Drogba for Adebayor? Drogba is bigger, more powerful and more proven. Adebayor scored 20+ goals for Arsenal last season maybe, but this season he's been less enlightening. Whilst Drogba has suffered through injuries and prejudice from Scolari (I had to say it) this season, it must not be forgotten that he was the EPL's top scorer in 06/07. If Didier does move on, Ade is not the answer.

Also, tonight has seen an unexpected filtering of rumours saying that Boro, who are destined for the drop, will wave goodbye to keeper Ross Turnbull as he heads to SW6. Unlikely I think, even on a Bosman. I can't see Turnbull taking Cudicini's spot and pressuring Cech much at all, I think it would be better to give Rhys Taylor the chance to break into first team duties.

Goal.com
report
Set
to get a Bull for free?

Video: Road to Wembley countdown

2009-05-16T21:25:00.002+10:00

The road to Wembley 2009 is getting closer and closer. May 30 is the date, and The Chelsea Blue will be taking you every step of the way! Here's a look back at our trip so far.

Announcement: Site overhaul!

2009-05-14T21:59:00.003+10:00

The Chelsea Blue has undergone a huge transformation from it's old template to a new stylish silver theme with more bells and whistles than I ever anticipated.

A few pointers around the site:

The very top menu is the top menu to the inner workings of Chelsea Blue - About, Welcome, you get the point.

Then we have our new header, with a stylish new TCB logo.

Then our drop down menus come next, with quick links to more Chelsea stuff. Keep an eye on there for new menus featuring an easier way to get around Chelsea FC on the net.

Now we have our slider. The slider features, well, featured stuff from TCB, and more quicklinks to the best content. Click the arrows on the left and right to slide the images.

On the left hand side of the main section is our posts, where the latest five are displayed, and you can click Read More to read the rest. On the right hand side we have firstly a snazzy Featured Posts animation, which you can click to get around selected content only on TCB. Below that we have my latest Twitter updates. My Twitter account (www.twitter.com/thechelseablue) will feature all latest posts, my updates from the Chelsea Twibe and occasionanal site news.

Below this we have TabNav. Our first tab is the latest EskWeston video. If you click Tags, we get a special Flash Tag cloud which you can click to find the blog posts in that category. And Labels is a non moving 2D version of the same thing.

Below this in two smaller columms we have a quick Welcome message, and ways to Share, Subscribe, Google Follow and RSS feed this blog. Make sure you utilise those! And next to that is an Archive of Blog Posts.

That's all! The main overhaul is done, images and new links will be added all the time, and I hope you enjoy your time on the sexy new skin!

Thanks,

Troy.

Like it? Hate it? What do you think of the new skin?

Kits: New kit to be worn Sunday

2009-05-14T21:55:00.003+10:00

Our next Premier League match against Blackburn will see us take to the field in our new cyclists uniform.

The Chelsea Megastore click here
http://www.chelseamegastore.com/stores/chelsea/products/kit_selector.aspx?selector=204

Reserves: Chelsea 2 Manchester City 3

2009-05-14T21:02:00.003+10:00

A double header of friendly fixtures against Manchester City was completed with a behind-closed-doors game at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1657094,00.html

Chelsea Team:
Hilario, Bruma, Mancienne, Van Aalholt (Taiwo 82) Bertand; Cork, Bridcutt (Ofori-Twumasi 67) Kalou (Borini 33), Stoch, Sinclair; Di Santo

Highlights up shortly

Video: Vote for the Youth & Reserves goal of the season!

2009-05-13T22:19:00.004+10:00

The second string and next gen have wrapped up the boots for 08/09, and so EskWeston has taken the pick of the goals from the season past and compilated them together to create the Youth & Reserves goal of the season vote.

Vote for your favourite at: http://www.talkchelsea.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4240

I voted for Conor Clifford...seems like he is the early frontrunner...

Announcement: Chelsea Blues

2009-05-12T21:27:00.003+10:00

Official Partnership Announcement

Another partnership has been created today, this time with another Chelsea blog Chelsea Blues.

http://chelseablues.co.cc

Chelsea Blues features a stylish Chelsea FC template, match previews and reviews, rants and opinons. Check out it now.

Review: That's some way to ease Barca hurt

2009-05-12T20:00:00.003+10:00

Well, the pain and heartbreak suffered at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday was eased slightly with a 4-1 win over Arsenal on Monday morning.

But really, watching the goals go in, I could really do much but laugh.

Because this was the "losers final", a game which only means automatic qualification for the Champions League next season. I did get some happiness from the victory, but when it came to slagging work mates who go for Arsenal (misguided souls, I know) I lacked the passion. Bloody Ovrebo.

Still, it's nice to knock four past a 21 game unbeaten streak team.

We started a bit weakly, Arsenal seemed to be on top. Then Alex scored a great header, nailing the bar and the ball ended up on the right side of the line. Then ex-Arsenal man Anelka scored his best ever goal for Chelsea, a curling shot swerving wide of Fabianski, who was back in goals seeing he played so well against as us last time =).

Kolo Toure's own goal was a bit of revenge on Barca. You see, Kolo's brother is Yaya, Yaya plays for Barca, Barca stole the UCL final from us. Kolo gifts us a goal, and wraps up the win. That's the way I viewed it, as I'm still depressed from Barca. In all seriousness, I think own goals are cruel. I hate getting them, I hate conceding them. They cheapen a performance and demoralize players. Obviously there is no course to eliminate them, but I still feel sorry for own goal conceders anyway - apart from Jamie Carragher, who is a natural.

Malouda put a bow tie on Toure's wrapping after Bendter (yuk) scored a header which "put Arsenal back in the game." Fat chance, we were dominating. We squandered four chances at least, so I think that attack is where we need to strengthen. Time to open the Tevezgate?

Two games to go now. Blackburn and Sunderland await, a favourable draw to say as both have really nothing to play for, having pulled themselves out of the relegation scrapheap (Sunderland not so much). To finish second Liverpool must not win either of their remaining games. It's possible, and knowing Liverpool, it will happen. They love to choke. The title is returning to Old Trafford for another year for sure, and all we can await is a date with Everton on May 30. F****ing Barca.

Reserves: Chelsea 3 - Tottenham 0

2009-05-10T20:02:00.006+10:00

Youth: Chelsea 0 - Watford 2

2009-05-10T20:02:00.005+10:00

Youth: Chelsea 0 - Leicester 0

2009-05-10T20:02:00.003+10:00

Preview: Easing the heartache

2009-05-09T23:32:00.005+10:00

Heartbreak in London.

Arsenal beaten 3-1 by Manchester United to flail out of their final chance of a trophy.

Chelsea stave off Barcelona until the ninety-third minute when Andres Iniesta scores to take Chelsea through.

So could a London derby come at an any better time?

Maybe. But the fact remains that coming off losses in the Champions League for both clubs puts forward a case for a game that could well decide automatic qualification for the Champions League next season.

This is our third London derby in as many weeks, with West Ham and Fulham taking predence in our last two EPL games. The last time we played Arsenal was the FA Cup semi final which is now our only chance at winning a trophy this season.

I'm expecting a full strength side to take to the pitch, with Mikel maybe in for Ballack or Essien. Kalou could possibly start for Anelka, but otherwise it should be the same team that experinced Barcelona heartbreak.

Tonight we should play the same game plan as we did against them in the FA Cup. However, Andrei Arshavin should start tonight. That gives Hiddink food for thought, as Russia manager however he should know how to handle him. As Evra put it, it will again be men against boys, and we should target Kieran Gibbs (cruel I know), if he does play.

The previous Premier League clash against the Gunners was the 2-1 loss which saw Van Persie hit a double. However, we've improved vastly from them and I would be confident in predicting three points. Man Utd only need seven points from four to secure the title, but if they were to slip up against Man City beforehand, we may be back in again with a shot.

Prediction:

Chelsea 2 - Arsenal 0

Predict the score tonight right here on the Chelsea Blue

Youth: A season in review

2009-05-09T22:25:00.005+10:00

This season has been very topsy turvey for many reasons. In a lot of ways the season has been somthing of a dissapointment for the Youth team. Results have been incredibly inconsistant this season, a lot of people argue that at U18's level results is not important, but i would disagree with that. Creating a winning mentality, especially at a club like Chelsea is very very important, plus winning breeds confidence and confidence allows players to perform at the highest level.Paul Clement brought a lot of good things out of the team, defensively they were struggling which was why a lot of the results went against them. Mainly that was because there was never a settled back four and more often than not there were players playing out of position. But at the other end Clements team could bang in the goals, the team had a reputation of providing exciting games, even if the results were not what we would have wanted. And then Dermot Drummy took over and in my opinion things went downhill fast. Firstly going out of th FA Youth Cup to Liverpool which saw us put out a poor performance, which was something that we shouldn't have seen from that team, and didn't see until that point. Drummy brought up with him a lot of the U16's which saw some older players pushed out of the squad and some younger ones playing at too high of a level. Results seemed to get worse and Dermot was certainly someone who was all about looking at development rather than results.

Player of the season: Frank Nouble

Nouble really hit form this season and hit it early. He ended up as top scorer, he scored some incredible goals and showed what he is all about. He really dominated at this level this season and earned himself some places in the reserves He is a big lad which really helps at level but he is much more than that, he has the skill and speed that every winger needs but his power sets him on a different level.

Next Season:

Personally i would like to see a chance of manager next season and get someone who can really drive the boys on to be the best they can be. Particulary next season as the under 16's moving up are touted as probably the best group of players we have seen at this club at youth level. Some players, McEachran, Lalkovic, Ince, Tore and Mitrovic have already moved up and shown themselves at this level. Others like Ashton, Rodgers, Pirez and Deen-Conteh are all extremly highly thought of and big things are expected.

Video: Drogba goes wild | Hiddink after match

2009-05-09T20:53:00.001+10:00

Opinon: Even more Barca thoughts

2009-05-09T15:07:00.001+10:00

Isiah has more thoughts on the Barca game:

I think that Hiddink blew it in the sense that he played catenaccio instead of kicking us while we were down. When we were reduced to 10, there were huge gaps in our defense, but instead of exploiting that and drawing us out, Hiddink subbed out Drogba and put on Belletti. Who promptly disappeared into the black hole of central midfield because that's what happens when you allow Barcelona to retain posession and you're no longer pressing.What made Chelsea so capable of keeping us off the scoresheet was the fact that they were pressing constantly in the midfield in basically a 4-5-1 (though I think you could dispute that since Anelka was rotating up front and Malouda wasa bombing down the wings); once Malouda began to sit back and once Anelka was pushed farther up as the long striker, that opened up our game immensely and allowed us to score. So yeah, Hiddink blew it by switching his tactical approach. Were his players getting tired? Didn't seem like it, so that couldn't have been the reason.Essien failed to clear because he was slightly off balance. It's unfortunate for him. It's not a criticism of him, it's just a fact that he failed to clear it. He was stupendous throughout, he proved that he is one of the best if not the best box-to-box midfielder in the world. And he also proved the Keita is not. I wonder how different it would have been had Iniesta been able to play in that preferred position -- and does that mean that Guardiola screwed up his tactics? I kind of think so, to be honest, because I was advocating Iniesta retain his midfield position instead of being pushed forward. I thought that Chelsea could be broken down only if we didn't cede control of the midfield. Unfortunately, Henry was out, so that did force Guardiola's hand a bit, but we could have put Bojan up front. Not that he did diddly doo doo when he went on, but it was an idea. Perhaps, though, the injury to Marquez and Puyol's stupid yellow are to blame for all of this because that forced Yaya to play in the back line instead of in the middle where he is so dominate. Or at least he's more capable than Busi, who is too inexperienced to properly wrangle control from players as quality as Chelsea's. He was a revelation earlier in the year, even getting a call up to the national side for a friendly, but he didn't show why in this game. He was awful. Were it not for Alves' childishness, he would have been our worst player. Though there seemed to be a three-way competition for Worst Player between him, Alves, and Eto'o.And I don't trust Mikel to put in as physical a game as Ballack did and that's what was required in this game. I think that Ballack's presence was very important (though he didn't block Iniesta's shot -- not that I would have gotten in the way of that, like Keita in front of Essien's), but what would have been more important was Ballack's absence for the last few minutes in the first leg, when Barcelona did look like scoring and probably should have.I suppose, all in all, it was two games worth of missed chances that really decided things, not really the tactics, the ref, or whatever else. Just the 1v1 misses from Drogba, Eto'o, Bojan, and Hleb (and to a lesser extent, Lampard). Mostly Drogba, who lacked that killer ball. Could have been 3-0 on aggregate from him alone.Oh well. We'll see what kind of game ManU wants to play on the 27th. Hopefully they're arrogant enough to come out to play, thinking Giggs and Scholes can match Xavi and Iniesta. They're missing their DM lynchpins in Hargreaves and Fletcher, so they'll have to think a bit about how to create that 4-5-1 their fans are already touting.

Opinon: What the Barca fan thought

2009-05-08T23:02:00.003+10:00

I do think there were penalties on Barça. But don't forget that Ballack handled the ball in the box as blatantly as anyone else and that was before Essien's goal. 1-0 to Barça would have made it a completely different game. And don't forget that Ballack could have been sent off in the first leg.

Was the ref bad? Absolutely. But he wasn't biased in his decisions. Essien spiked a ball into the ground after a foul was called and he wasn't given a yellow. Drogba dove several times and no cards were given. Abidal got a straight red for absolutely nothing. Ashley Cole kicked Messi in the legs as he was skinned, but Messi kept running instead of falling and grabbing his ankles (like a certain Red Devil would certainly have done), but no card was given after the play. Alves was given a deserved yellow -- he was such a twat in the game. Seriously, be a professional, Dani. I'm thinking of writing a post about how childish he was, even if it ruins the euphoric mood going on for me.

I hate to say it, but you guys were the better team with the better organization throughout. Boring, but definitely better and much more open and interesting than the last game. But you had the chances, you had the possibilities and laying the blame on the referee does nothing but distract from the team's failures. Drogba 1v1 against Valdes shoots at the keeper instead of putting it in the back of the net. Drogba, alone versus the keeper bumbled the ball backwards after a brilliant through ball by Lampard from the ground. John Terry, heads wide from close range. Frank Lampard, shoots wide with the goal beckoning.

Busquets was a lost little duck and Essien played Keita off the park, perhaps out of England. Lampard was decent against Xavi and good going forward, Ballack is a baby, Cole was rather damned magnificent against Messi with the exception of that one time (if you're beaten only once in a game by Messi, you've had a hell of a game), Eto'o was anonymous, we really missed Henry.

The thing is, and I said this at the time watching it live, the Alves "foul" on Malouda that people think should have been a penalty began outside the box and actually should have been called earlier, if at all. Malouda grabbed Alves, then Alves grabbed Malouda, and Malouda went down like a sack of potatoes. The ref should have actually blown the whistle earlier, if at all, and marked the foul about 3 yards farther back up the field and a yard closer to the sideline. That would actually have given Drogba a better angle at the goal and could have resulted in a goal.

And we were playing without two of our regular center backs. And Hiddink blew it tactically. And Guardiola stuck to his guns. And Essien failed to clear. And sometimes, that's how it goes in soccer. You win some, you lose some.

There's my take.

Barcelona The Offside

News: Hip hop Drogba

2009-05-08T22:58:00.007+10:00

Didier Drogba's "It's a disgrace" launch single. Kinda funny, but annoying too.

Announcement: Brand new skin!

2009-05-07T22:12:00.001+10:00

The Chelsea Blue presents to you a brand new skin, featuring a coming soon flash player and a commenting system! A few tweaks are definitely needed, but you get the idea for the new look!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to comment now!

Review: It hurts to write this

2009-05-07T21:07:00.004+10:00

Oh god.

If you are a Chelsea fan, then you would've seen the game. Nine minutes in, Essien scores my personal pick for goal of the season with a stunning left footed volley. Then, I lost count of the number of penalties that absolutely TERRIBLE ref missed - I got to five, how many did you get?

Then, a player I used to like. Now I hate him. Andres Iniesta scores in the 93rd minute.

This is crueller than Moscow. We outplayed them, we kept them scoreless for 180 minutes - they scored in the 183rd.

We ghosted Messi out of the game. We shut them out to ONE shot on target - the goal.

Maybe we should have scored two. Maybe we should have one even when Barca had ten men. But personally, I think if Abidal had not been sent off, then we would've won. Because the slack was released, and it seemed like our job was done. So personally, a yellow would've benefited us more.

United will tear Barca to pieces in Rome personally - no Alves or Abidal to control the epitome of Ronaldo.

A finale that will forever be dampened and questioned after a game in which looked like we would walk with so much, but now end empty-handed and facing judiciary action.

It's a disgrace to the game of football how a referee can change everything with not one, not two, not three, not four but five clear decisions.

This game had everything going for it - until everything went wrong.

Preview: The enemy awaits...and chats

2009-05-06T20:51:00.006+10:00

Ahead of the biggest game for the mighty Blues this season, The Chelsea Blue got in contact with Isiah from The Offside's Barcelona portal. I shouted him five questions, and here's what he had to say ahead of the game:

1. Can you go all the way to Rome on Wednesday?

Yes, we can.

2. What is your opinon of Chelsea? Be honest, can you see them going all the way?

Chelsea is a team filled with extremely good players, but I can't say that I like them in the way that I like Arsenal or Roma. That is, stylistically. For whatever reason, and I'm not entirely sure why, I dislike several of the Chelsea players (John Terry, Frank Lampard) on what feels like a fairly personal basis. Perhaps it just stems from the encounters both teams had in the Champion League over the last few years, but for whatever reason, I've found myself disliking Chelsea more than any other team ever since Abramovich took over and poured his hundreds of millions into their coffers. Whether this is fair is, of course, up for debate, but it is what it is and I go into every game I see involving Chelsea rooting against them.

I do think, though that Chelsea is a very strong team with extremely good players. They don't play the style I enjoy watching, but I can't deny their overall quality. Can they go all the way? Of course they can, they're 90 minutes from the final and 180 minutes from the Championship. In a single game, anyone can beat anyone and that applies perfectly to this game. It's the second leg and the score is tied 0-0, which I think means Chelsea has to play a different game, but without Marquez and Puyol, that might just be easier. That's the same reason Barcelona can win without them, though: anything can happen.

Beyond that, it is, once again, a one-off game where anything can happen. Think about it: Cronaldo missed a penalty and ManU still won the Champions League final last year. How often does that happen? So yeah, in short, Chelsea can win it all, especially if they don't have a league title to focus on.

3. You can sign one Chelsea player. Who and why?

Petr Cech circa 2006, but if it's someone from right now then I would say Didier Drogba. Cech from '06 is obvious: great goalie and we have Victor Valdes. However, that Cech is gone, so then there's the big, physical "9" striker that we currently don't have. And Drogba certainly qualifies as that, though I don't see him in the starting 11 because of our 4-3-3, the point of whch is dominated by Eto'o, who is having a contract year (or is he? imagine if this is Eto'o is here to stay!), so even Didier Drogba has to come off the bench.

4. Highlight the Chelsea dangerman and why.

Didier Drogba. There's a reason why I would want him. He's strong along the ground and in the air, which is dangerous for a team made up of players mostly in the 5'7"-5'9" range. Pique will have to be at his best to hold down both Drogba, while whoever steps into Puyol's place (Abidal or Caceres) will have to have the game of his life. Set pieces will always be tough for Barça, so if Drogba finds himself in the box with a free-kick from 40 yards out, he'll be at his most dangerous. Over-the-top long balls will be hard for the defense to contain as well, especially if Alves and Sylvinho are on the field together providing suport up front, so attempting to stop those from coming in whill be a priority.

5. Three reasons why Chelsea are better than Barca - and three reasons why Barca are better than Chelsea.

Let's be clear: no one is better than Barça right now. At least not from my perspective, which prizes free-flowing attacking soccer above all. You can dispute that as the "right way" to play soccer (there is no right way), but under no circumstance is any team in the world better at attacking than Barcelona. Chelsea, though, is better at several things, one of which is physical play. That factor alone could tip the scales in their favor if they're allowed to play physically. It is not a style that is conducive to Barcelona's style and Chelsea have the athletic players capable of closing gaps and harrying Barça's players for 90 minutes. That could lead to frustration and bad decisions, which probably won't result in goals for Barça. The ref will have to set an early tone if Chelsea are looking to close the game down in a manner like they did at the Camp Nou.

As I've suggested, Chelsea is better in dead ball situations, a fact about as clear as day. It would be a foolish fan who thought that giving up freekicks to Chelsea would be a good idea. Limiting those chances is the only way or Barcelona to avoid giving up silly goals. Without Puyol or Marquez to help in that department, Abidal may commit silly fouls that will cost Barcelona. Conversely, maximizing those chances is Chelsea's best route to goal, but that might require a more attacking style than Hiddink is willing to employ. Or maybe it isn't.

Chelsea's defense is also better. That much was in evidence at the Camp Nou. If Alex and Terry can come up trumps against Eto'o again and either Ashley Cole or Bosingwa can keep a lid on Messi, then Chelsea's job becomes infinitely easier. It is, however, hard to imagine Chelsea being able to contain Messi and Eto'o for 90 minutes without the aid of two defensive midfielders. Henry's absence would help that a lot because Bojan or Keita's inclusion wouldn't necessitate double marking, which would mean, in a sense, that Chelsea gain an extra attacker. I assume that would be Frank Lampard, who would then direct the ball further up the field than he was doing at the Camp Nou. Henry's inclusion, however, would draw Lampard back a shade to help out with Messi's cut-ins as well as Iniesta's movement through the middle. That Chelsea is capable of doing this is a credit to their players, but that they don't feel they can control the ball well enough to push out beyond their own 18 (a slight exaggeration, of course) is a credit to Barcelona. Hiddink watched the Real Madrid game and no doubt has ideas of how to beat Barcelona through the air, but will he come out to play and leave his defense to play one-on-ones throughout the game? That sounds like suicide.

You could even include a fourth way in which Chelsea are better: quality depth. While Bojan is going to be a great striker, he's still "one for the future" rather than a regular starter or a typical sub. Keita is perhaps Barcelona's only world-class sub thanks to Busi still being young, Gudjohnsen being in the wrong system for his skills, and Hleb having never really looking like adapting to the Spanish game. Otherwise, there's Sylvinho, who will probably start, and, really, that's about it. I have my complains about squad size in England versus other places, but it doesn't mean those players aren't available. Without going into Chelsea's squad, I think their depth is there and while not as good as Barcelona's starting 11, there are tactical options available to Hiddink than to Guardiola (who has chosen to ignore changing the system in dramatic ways, preferring the subtle yet significant changes like shifting Messi to the middle against Madrid).

Three reasons Barcelona are better than Chelsea: 1) Messi 2) Xavi 3) Iniesta. The three mighty mites are so amazing together. They'll play your socks off and, if you're anything like Fernando Gago, you'll like it while they do it. For my money, it's the most dazzling display you can possibly see in soccer. I wasn't around for 1982's Brasil or the fabled Dutch teams of the 1970s, so I'm not sure they're the most dazzling ever, but they're the most fun I've ever had watching games. And the argument that they lack punch at the end of their pirouettes is easily combated: 100 league goals. Yup, that's a fact. 2.94 goals per game in La Liga; 29 in the Champions League (2.63 goals per game). While none of those goals have been against Chelsea, the fact that Barcelona only has to draw the game (as long as they score in so doing) to advance could precipitate Chelsea coming out to play a bit more. Whoever scores first will probably win because if it's Chelsea, then they have the luxury of sitting back and absorbing pressure while Barcelona gets more and more desperate, but if it's Barcelona, then Chelsea have to attack and that will open up holes in the defense.

Official Prediction: 2-1 Barcelona. Goals by Messi and Eto'o.

MY CALL

Very interesting stuff from the Offside there - personally I can see Didier Drogba in his current incaranation in the Barca starting XI, but that's from an outsider. I'd agree with the three reasons why Barca are better - they are the three reasons why Chelsea could lose. I'd personally like to see Bosingwa keep on the left rather than take up the right, as he took the Flea under his wing and didn't let him out of sight at the Nou Camp. We need to score, and if they score, we will be on the backburner - so do NOT let them score! Could you stand another shoot-out?

After Manchester's domination of the kids on Tuesday, whoever progess will have the pleasure of making sure the Mancurians do not retain their title. Will it be last year's semifinal replay or last year's final replay in Rome?

Only way to find out. Stamford Bridge, 4.30 AEST

FORM GUIDE

May 2 Chelsea 3-1 Fulham (PREMIER LEAGUE)
Apr 28 Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Apr 25 West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea (PREMIER LEAGUE)

May 2 Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona (LA LIGA)
Apr 28 Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Apr 25 Valencia 2-2 Barcelona (LA LIGA)

PREDICTION

Chelsea 2 - Barcelona 1

The commenting system does not work, does it? Don't worry, another (!) new skin will be up very soon...

Announcement: Link on the Chelsea Supporters Group

2009-05-03T21:52:00.002+10:00

I have been put onto the Chelsea Supporters Groups link list here:

http://www.chelseasupportersgroup.net/page.php?12

Thanks to Peter for the addition.

Youth: Watford 2 - Chelsea 0

2009-05-03T21:36:00.003+10:00

Chelsea youth succumbed to a tough Watford team this weekend despite controlling possession throughout.

Despite dominating throughout, Chelsea failed to convert their chances in front of goal and allowed Watford to build on a couple of mistakes.

Two second half goals in the space of five minutes sealed Chelsea's fate as Frank Lampard senior watch his academy side complete their victory from the sidelines.

'We were disappointed with the result,' explained youth team manager Dermot Drummy, 'We dominated possession but weren't clinical enough in front of goal, although we played really well in the first half.

'Despite the result, Billy Clifford did really well for an Under 16 player and Nikki Ahamed put in another good performance.'

Team

Chelsea (4-3-3): Sam Walker; Nikki Ahamed, Tom Hayden, Ben Gordon (Ben Sampayo h-t), Jordan Tabor; Tom Taiwo (Frank Nouble 65), Conor Clifford (Jacob Mellis h-t), Jacopo Sala; Billy Clifford, Daniel Philliskirk, Aliu Djalo.

Highlights to be up as soon as possible.

News: Barca destroy Real | Ferguson tips Chelsea

2009-05-03T20:19:00.006+10:00

Our upcoming Champions League opponents Barcelona embarassed Real Madrid in the el classico winning 6-2. That's right, 6-2. Here's videos of their emphatic win.

Will Barca destroy Chelsea?

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has tipped Chelsea to oust Barcelona, surprisingly. Although he is also saying that United will meet them at Rome. Unsurprisingly.

Goal.com

Review: We're not so boring now are we?

2009-05-03T14:38:00.006+10:00

The only two things that really came out of a regular bread and butter clash for Chelsea in the Premier League was three points for Chelsea to pile a bit of pressure on Pool, and no points putting a bit of a drownage on Fulham's Europa League hopes (that's the new UEFA Cup, if you didn't know)

Team:
Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Cole, Lampard, Essien,Mikel, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba

We kicked off at the stroke of 3.00, and scored at the stroke of 3.01. Beautiful one touch football from Anelka, Malouda and Lampard with Anelka finishing with the help of a slight deflection of Mark Schwarzer. Good start...but Fulham also started well and scored at the stroke of 3.05, Erik Edman the scorer, and the defence already looking a bit wobbly.

However, it was not be the Whites day, with Malouda taking a low cross from Drogba on his left foot and hitting it home. Advantage Chelsea (again).

The game was a tussle of possession and shots, and Lampard's long range ball fed at Drogba's feet, who cooly finished, only to have the goal called for offside. This time, in a rare act, the linesman got it wrong (seriously, the linesman have been great this year!).

Terry squashed Gera, whilst I was busy talking on the phone to friends, abusing the commentary for starting up the "Cech is terrible" rant again.

45 minutes up, Chelsea 2 Fulham 1.

Hiddink elected to bring on German Ballack for Essien and Ivanovic for Alex. In the fifty-third minute, Drogba getting his name on the scoresheet for real off a counter attack. The celebrations were short lived when the frontman fell to the ground just two minutes later. A few moments later, and he decided to play on. So Di Santo went and sat on the bench for a bit longer, much to my disappointment. The closest shot was Lampard's pile driver free kick, which poor Schwarzer had to put a finger on to stop it being 4-1.

Domination, as Di Santo entered the fray for Drogba in the eighty-fourth minute, signalling the lank's eighteenth appearance (!) of the season from the bench, but still no start! Mikel's long range effort swerved wide of the mark, but it was Malouda, Anelka and Drogba who guaranteed the three points for Chelsea last night. With United's win over slipping Boro, the EPL is all but gone. Barca awaits, in London on Wednesday morn.

What did you think of the game? Have your say now!

Opinon: A life with Robinho

2009-05-02T20:10:00.008+10:00

Oh god, do you remember the terribly over drawn Robinho transfer saga and his final day move to Man City off the back of their mega money takeover.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like with Robinho amongst our ranks? I have... and this is what I have come up with.

Just say on August 30 we sign him, beating Manchester City to the deal - they are still mega rich, they just didn't poach him. He joins the team, and hundreds of fans order a Robinho shirt for real. Scolari insists he will be a success, and Brazilian compatriot Alex welcomes him into training. So far so good...

Robinho debuts in the Premier League against none other than...Manchester City. Oh, the ironic twist of writing opinon articles like these...

He is an instant success, scoring a scorching goal off a fantastic dribble, to immediately introduce himself good and proper to the Shed End. Scolari hails his contribution.

He plays against Manchester United, and fails to score and his replacement Kalou scores the equaliser.

He enjoys a good run from October to December, scoring six goals (taking them away from Anelka, who fails to play as many games as he really did). Chelsea fans are hailing Scolari, saying he is a tactical genius and masterclass in the transfer market.

Then...we fail to beat Newcastle. And Arsenal. And West Ham. And Everton. And Fulham. And Man Utd.

Oh dear. A bit quiet on the Scolari front and the Robinho front, the Brazilians lacking the touch that the Blues were hailing.

Then, Robinho sparks flying back into life against Liverpool. Lampard isn't sent off and we rampage against the Reds 5-0, Robinho scoring four.

Our killer run continues as Robinho chases the things he's always dreamt about it, ever since he joined Santos. Trophies. And so we climb to the summit of the Premier League and Champions League, conquering the two mountains with our little midget running riot. Scolari is given a five year contract and is hailed the Special Brazilian One. Cliches abound, but the only thing that matters is that Robinho was such a good transfer...

Oh, who am I kidding? It could've all been so different if we hadn't been pipped at the post.

But hey, who wouldn't want Hiddink at the helm? It's been so fun with him...

Preview: Walking down Fulham Road

2009-05-01T21:50:00.005+10:00

Who would've thought that Fulham would turn around from their last minute "Get out of Jail" card last year to Europa League contenders? Not me.

However, I can see why. Two words. Mark Schwarzer.

Schwarzer is an animal, and he has been for club and country for far too long. The Socceroos don't deserve his talent, he is THAT good. In fact, statistics say that he is the fourth best keeper in the Premier League, ousting out Arsenal's "supposedly" good keepers.

And Schwarzer is the man we must beat to hang on that dim candle that could lead us down the tunnel towards Premier League success.

FORM:

Chelsea

Apr 28 Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Apr 25 West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea (PREMIER LEAGUE)

Fulham

Apr 25 Fulham 1-0 Stoke City (PREMIER LEAGUE)
Apr 18 Middlesbrough 0-0 Fulham (PREMIER LEAGUE)

To keep the pressure on Man Utd and Liverpool (yes they are still there, can you believe it?) we need to win this one. Although I would rather draw and have safe passage to Stadio Olimpico in the UCL final. So I expect to see a bit of "foot-off-the-pedal" action, although the Blues may be itching to score some goals, after stalemating against Barca and probably only having to make do with one in the upcoming second leg tie if we are to progress.

The starting XI I believe will see at least one youngster make the grade of the starting team, Di Santo or Mancienne the most likely. I for one would like to see this, however we cannot take Fulham lightly - they have a lot to play for and have beaten a top 4 side - admittedly it is Arsenal but they are still good...

As for the game, control the midfield and we will win. We have proved too many times, but midfield wins games. Perhaps Anelka will break his goal drought, and look to reclaim Premier League Golden Boot top spot. Or maybe local lad Lampard will score another free kick special, like the one he scored in the first Fulham game this season, the one that left Schwarzer shell shocked.

And that's not a sight you see every day...

Prediction:
Chelsea 2 - Fulham 0

Last time vs. Fulham - bloody scum took it away...

What do you predict? Get in on the act, get people reading about the Chelsea Blue!

Kits: New Chelsea kit revealed!

2009-05-01T19:22:00.010+10:00

Do you remember a few weeks ago I had a little rant about the "leak" of the Chelsea kit?

They were right. We will be cyclists next season.

It returns to the old collar, which is no collar, and retains the Reflex Blue colour, along with the adidas three stripes.

Today adidas and Chelsea revealed the home kit, which will feature "Layered chest panelling coupled with the 3D Formotion cut" and surprisingly, "Waffled Climacool fabric and mesh panelling across major sweat zones will increase comfort and ensure players remain cool and dry."

It will go on sale May 14, but you can preorder from the megastore now
Chelsea site press release

Do you like the new kit? Have your say! Comment now on the Chelsea Blue

Review: Disclipine the key to the drivers seat

2009-04-30T20:46:00.004+10:00

A highly disclipined game which ended 0-0 saw Chelsea take the advantage into next week's game, with no goals to come back too. Unfortunately, no away goals but you can't wish for everything!

Team News: Bosingwa played on the left to thwart Lionel Messi, whilst Michael Essien replaced Salomon Kalou, a more defensive move.

The hotly anticipated game kicked off inside a cauldron that on SBS, sounded dead silent....and Barca and Chelsea exchanged first shots of the game. Then the Catalans got into their rhythm and Chelsea began to play what they came to play - a solid, defensive game. Barca were playing well, but Bosingwa, Terry, Alex and Ivanovic were doing superb, in particular Bosingwa shut Messi out of the game completely.

Barca then in the middle of the half started hitting them well and a Xavi pile driver free kick came close. As did some incompetent Henry shots that "underperforming" Cech picked up easy.

Then our best chance. Marquez's head seemed to implode with a shocker back pass which Didier Drogba picked up and surged through with. Victor Valdes, a keeper I do not rate very highly managed to stop the first shot, and then Drogba's rebound was pushed away. A few rushed heartbeats from Pep on the Barca bench for sure, and Marquez would've been thanking the fairy godmother watching over him.

Frustrating first half for Barca. 0-0.

Marquez had to come off almost straightaway into the first half, and Puyol took his spot. Chelsea came under more pressure, but as the scoreline says, we held firm. Messi, virtually invisible, was being court-marshalled by Bosingwa on the left side - a great display from the Portugese. Alves and Malouda were having a tea party on the pitch - in reality they wanted to kill each other. But the tension actually helped Chelsea, with Barca starting to feel the pressure. Puyol got a yellow, which will see him out of next week's game - so Guardiola will face some selection headaches, and Barca's defence will be considerably weaker. Substitute Bojan Krikic got the award for "Biggest Miss" with a point blank header flying over the bar. Chelsea could breathe easily after five minutes of extra time, and could cheer with the fact that we kept the first clean sheet at the Nou Camp this season. A credit to a defence that was being labelled, well, terrible.

Real awaits for Barca on Saturday, as does Fulham for Chelsea. And then, calling all Catalans for the rematch at Stamford Bridge.

Rome awaits.

Preview: The night of stars

2009-04-27T10:55:00.007+10:00

Xavi vs Lampard. Iniesta vs Essien. Eto'o vs. Terry. Kalou against Alves. Bosingwa against...Messi!

This is the night. The night that has been calling for far too long, the night in which the Nou Camp will welcome the might of Chelsea to do battle in a two-tie match up which will see one team go through to Stadio Olimpico, and the other left to taste the salt in their tears.

Chelsea vs. Barcelona, 4.30am Australian time. Where will you be?

Our biggest chance to win lies within the train that is Michael Essien. If he contain Xavi and, assist Ballack in the tailing of Iniesta, then we take control of the midfield, and Frankie Frank can run absolute riot. Our priority should be to give the ball to in-form Drogba, as he can do magic with it. We should look to play all across the park, as Malouda is hitting the straps of good form.

Weaknesses. Well, Bosingwa is no weakness. But on his weak side, and against the formidable Flea in Lionel Messi, he is a weakness. Simple - don't make him do much. Malouda will need to help track the best player in the world, otherwise he will - will - tear us apart.

Set pieces. Use them! Deco is right, we can beat them there. So do it! Float them in, and let Alex take the ones where he likes them - he knows where he likes them!

What should we look to do? Score a goal, most definitely, but do not let Barca play well. Pep has done a fantastic job, so kudos to him, but hopefully everyone has an off day.

Barcelona are on a Champions League record running streak of 103 matches without receiving a red card; current coach Josep Guardiola was their last player to be sent off. And so we need to keep our cool. Any moments of madness will be SEVERE, and Barca will see to that.

Do not let them play the game the way they want to. Guus is too good to let that happen though.

The odds are firmly in Barca's favour - 1.70 to them and 5.50 to us. Go out and take a bet, do yourself a favour - it will pay off! Seriously, we need to play at our best, with no lapses, as they are better than Liverpool - Xavi is better than Lucas. Get the point?

Come on Chels - go out there tomorrow night in that big fat cauldron, and show the Catalans how it's done.

Prediction:
Barcelona 1 - Chelsea 1

Like it? Hate it? Opinonate it? Predict the Barca score - right here on The Chelsea Blue! Do it - comment now!

Announcement: Changes at The Chelsea Blue

2009-04-26T23:14:00.003+10:00

If you have been reading this blog, then you may have noticed a few changes a foot, including the adding of a Twitter and Facebook.

The Chelsea Blue is now on Twitter! http://twitter.com/thechelseablue

The Chelsea Blue has a Facebook profile! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1779721343&ref=name

I am in the process of adding social networking icons to every post - but it's not working! At the moment they only appear at the very bottom of the page! Is there anyone who knows how to fix this problem? The template I use is not a regular template, so that may be the source of the problem! Any HTML wizards know? Let me know! gurrung@gmail.com

This is just the beginning people!

P.S Don't be afraid to comment! Just because there is no one, doesn't mean you can't spark some debate! So start commenting!

Announcement: CFCBlog

2009-04-26T16:19:00.004+10:00

Official Partnership Announcement:

I am pleased to announce a new partnership, this time with CFCBlog, an entirely new blog also dedicated to Chelsea FC.

This blog is in the early stages but is already looking promising. Good luck with it all!

http://cfcblog.net/

Reserves: Chelsea 2 - West Brom 2

2009-04-26T13:14:00.004+10:00

A tight draw with West Brom for our second string

Lineup: Nick Heimann, Juliano Belletti, Nana Ofori-Twumasi, Liam Bridcutt, Michael Mancienne, Ricardo Carvalho, Frank Nouble, Jeffery Bruma, Franco Di Santo, Jacob Mellis, Patrick Van Aaaholt

Youth: Chelsea 4 - MK Dons 0

2009-04-26T13:09:00.005+10:00

A deserved and emphatic victory for our youngsters over MK Dons.

Lineup: Sam Walker, Nikki Ahamed, Thomas Hayden, Rohan Ince, Benjamin Gordon, Conor Clifford, Milan Lalkovic, Daniel Philliskirk, Adam Phillip, Joseph Sala, Gokhan Tore

Review: Hahaha! That's the sound of Cech laughing at his critics

2009-04-26T12:22:00.004+10:00

Chelsea 1 - West Ham United 0

The happy reunion ended happily only for Frank Lampard yesterday as Chelsea grinded out a 1-0 win over West Ham, courtesy of a second half Salomon Kalou goal.

Hiddink decided to tinker with his formation, with one eye on Barcelona midweek. Bosingwa took up the left side, Ivanovic went into the middle with John Terry and Mancienne took up the right back spot. John Obi Mikel and Juliano Belletti took the places of Michael Ballack and Michael Essien, whilst Anelka was given the chance to lead the front line with Kalou and Malouda flanking him. Lampard resumed his centre mid role.

Chelsea started strongly, and held onto the ball well against a Europa League chasing team. However, for all the stats said, West Ham seemingly had the more chances, and perhaps the more clearer chances, with Diego Tristan missing one and Kieran Dyer failing to make advantage of a clever ball. Lampard came under heavy calls from the West Ham support every time he touched the ball.

Get over it! It was seven years ago! It was always going to happen!

At half time neither Zolarke or Hiddink made any changes, and ten minutes in Salomon Kalou netted the eventual winner after Lampard made a storming run down the left, as he did a lot of the night. A great first touch for the Ivory Coastan, and Chelsea took the lead. A horror mistake from Upson gifted a quality ball straight to Nicolas Anelka, but he failed to convert and push his goals tally any higher. Anelka must have really loved Scolari, with the amount of goals he scored under him.

Then, the moment. Kalou, goal scorer, concedes a penalty against Ilunga after a cheeky back pass from Tristan. Mark Noble, scored three out of four penalties this year steps up to the spot...

Get in! Petr Cech dives to the right and deflects the ball around the post. It's all serious for the custodian, then after JT gives him a double hi-5, and the under fire keeper's smile cracks up and players rush to congratulate him.

After that we hung on to claim the three points, stay within a whisper of Premier League title hopes, although United will have to lose two games - but we can still scalp Liverpool to second.

West Ham United
Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Boa Morte, Noble, Stanislas, Dyer, Tristan, Di Michele.

Chelsea
Cech, Mancienne, Ivanovic, Terry, Bosingwa, Mikel, Belletti, Kalou, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka.

Referee
Mike Dean

Attendence
34,749

Goal-Scorer
Salomon Kalou (55).

Announcement: Calling all Chelsea fans for Eurofan competition

2009-04-25T15:42:00.005+10:00

A message from Slavik, Ukraine regarding Chelsea fans. Have a read and let him know!

Hello!

My name is Slavik, I am from Ukraine, I represent Public organization "Karpaty" (http://www.gokarpaty.org/ ), which organize an international tournament for football supporters "Eurofan" in Lviv, Ukraine.

Maybe you would be interested to put together an amateur fan football team to represent supporters of Chelsea FC during the international tournament "Eurofan-2009" in Ukraine?

Below I give you detailed information about the tournament.

On 25-28 June 2009 we will be holding the international tournament for football supporters "Eurofan 2009" in Lviv (Ukraine) for the 3rd consecutive year.

Current list of teams confirmed their participation looks like this:

Zenit (Russia), Chievo Verona (Italy), 1.FC Koln, Schalke 04 (both - Germany), Ostrovia (Poland), Wales supporters team, Atletico Madrid (Spain), Heerenveen (The Netherlands), AEK Athens (Greece), Rapid (Austria), Westerlo (Belgium), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland), Karpaty (Ukraine) and the Team of Ukrainian showbiz stars.

That's 14 out of necessary 16 fan teams.

Tournament rules: 11-a-side teams, match consists of 2 times (each
lasts 30 minutes).
During games we arrange live comments and music (speakers are placed
around the ground,
DJ and commentator work with microphones).
Number of substitutes is not limited.
We arrange accommodation for 15 people for 2 nights in a comfortable
hotel (half board) - it is on us.
The 3rd night for those 15 persons and accommodation for extra members of
your delegation is on you (for one person one night in hotel costs 15-20
Euro).
Also we arrange and pay for an excursion tour around our city with an
interpreter.
After the tournament we organize a celebration party with booze, meals,
prizes and mementos for all tournament guests (everything is on us).
Also all team members will be able to watch live shows of a large
rock festival in Lviv (one ticket valid during 3 days will cost about 10
Euro).
The “Eurofan” tournament is a unique event not only in Ukraine, but in
all Europe.

As you may know, Lviv will be one of host cities for Euro-2012. Our city is regarded the cultural capital of Ukraine. It has quite interesting old architecture and resembles Vienna, Krakow or Paris to some extent.

Herewith, we officially invite a fan football team representing glorious Chelsea FC to take part in the "Eurofan-2009" tournament.

I also previously received an positive reaction from fans at CFCnet

They are interested but they find it difficult to put together a whole team (for the moment 7 persons have agreed to take part) so maybe in case you are interested, you could make a joint fan team with them?

Their contact is Darren Mantle (dazzmantle@hotmail.com).

In case you are interested to participate in "Eurofan-2009" tournament,
please let me know as soon as possible:

e-mail: gokarpaty@gmail.com

Look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards, Slavik.

Preview: East vs. West when Zola and Clarke return

2009-04-25T04:33:00.001+10:00

Kick-Off: Saturday, April 25, 15:00 BST.
Upton Park, east London.

Tonight the Blues travel to Upton Park for a reunion of some sorts - Gianfranco Zola, who spent seven years in the services of Chelsea and Steve Clarke, the Special One's right hand man, host a Chelsea side with one eye on a titanic Champions League clash against Barcelona on Tuesday. Will the distraction of a match up with the Catalan giants lift Chelsea's guard and perhaps see our London friends take some points off us, which would seemingly damm the end of our ever diminshing title chances.

Zola is a Chelsea legend. No doubt about it. So now, when the claret and blues face us off against us, there is a mixed feeling of happiness and hate, at least from this Chelsea supporter. And Clarke too, who was Mourinho's best pal and is part of the reasonw we were such an outfit defensively a few years ago. And they're not the only two making a reunion. Frank Lampard, born and bred in West Ham, will return to his old club, and whilst he's not playing, it'll be an emotional return for Joe Cole.

Once all the fluffy duffy happy "welcome back" stuff is out of the way, it'll be time for game on. West Ham, under Zola and Clarke, are challenging for Europe instead of sitting in mid-table mediocrity. So a result tonight would go a long way. And Chelsea, whilst Ballack, Cech and Hiddink have ruled us out of the race, a win could be pivotal if, if, United and Liverpool slipped up.

We may see Hiddink tinker a bit tonight, rest a few players, try out new positions because of that ever-imminent Barca game. We may see a few changes, with a few key players to be rested perhaps.

In the centre of defence it should remain the same with Carvalho still with a niggling injury. It has been confirmed that Bosingwa will take the left side tonight with Hiddink exploring his options for Tuesday. Ivanovic will remain on the right.

In the midfield I would bet on Mikel in the starting XI, after putting in a sterling performance against Everton off the bench. Lampard, Essien or Ballack will take a break. Deco may make a cameo appearance under Hiddink. Up front will be interesting to see what happens, with Anelka and Drogba possibly rested. My pick would be for Di Santo, Kalou and Anelka in the front line.

For the game, we will need to crack down the defence of West Ham. Last time they took points off us thanks to them "parking the bus", and it's unlikely it will be the same game. Expect a couple of goals, 1-0, 2-0 maybe. Hopefully our defence can keep it together, shut them out.

Prediction
Chelsea 1 - West Ham 0

Betting

West Ham	4 - 1
Draw	23 - 10
Chelsea	4 - 5

News: Guess who's a heartless bastard? | Deco talks Barca | Cech & Ballack concede defeat

2009-04-24T11:40:00.005+10:00

A lot happening in Chelsea land lately, since that draw with Everton. Hiddink has ruled the Blues out of the title race, and Ballack has said that whilst the title is not a reality, second is everything. And Cech also ruled us out of the title race.

Cech: Title race over
Ballack: Second is everything

Deco has given us some tips on how to beat Barca in a Chelsea FC.com interview - saying that our set pieces are better than theirs. Read more.

The Thursday Interview: Deco

The FA Cup tosses were done this morning, and the mighty Blues will be wearing yellow. Come on you yellows! And the ticket allocation is a bit of a rip, with only 25 000 tickets for either side out of a possible 90 000, the rest going to Wembley's football family.

Everton & Chelsea blast ticket allocation

Beckham said that Ancelotti is learning English, and he is teaching him. But do we really want Ancelotti? Expect a bit of a rant on the debate.

Ancelotti learning English

And the hardest I've laughed all day: Lampard's ex says he's a heartless bastard.

Chelsea's best player is a heartless bastard, says ex

Review: After ending their quintuple dreams, have Everton just handed United the trophy?

2009-04-23T15:51:00.006+10:00

Oh, how cruelly ironic and twisting can football be.

Everton, who knocked out Manchester United in the FA Cup semi finals last Sunday, have surely now put the nail into the coffin of Chelsea's title hopes with this morning's 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The Merseyside team put in a good and gritty performance against Hiddink's Blues, which saw no goals scored, however there was excitement and chances for either side in a game that could've gone either way, a draw the most plausible result.

Everton started brightly, with Jo given two clear cut chances to beat Petr Cech. However, the Czech Republican silenced a few of his critics with a sound performance. Chelsea began to get a feel for the game ten minutes in, and despite containing and holding possession, were frustratingly unable to create a chance. The best chances of the half, and perhaps the best chances of the game, came from a cross that Drogba tried to acrobatically finish, some Essien and Lampard shots that were uncharacteristically off target, and a Ballack free kick. Then, Everton clicked and began to assert themselves even more, with Baines denied a penalty and Jo squandering another chance.

Half time: Chelsea 0 - Everton 0

Everton came out with all guns firing, it was only Jo and Cahill not pulling the trigger. However, again Chelsea became very certain, but still couldn't get a shot on goal. Hiddink tried to force on some action, bringing John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou into the fray for Michael Essien and Nicolas Anelka respectively.

More penalty shouts as Malouda and Yobo ended up in a flop, but the assistants weren't so keen. John Terry took the award for Best Shot by a Centreback for the day, a forty yard effort testing Howard, more so than Chelsea's frontline. News may have filtered through that United were one-up, and Chelsea entered panic mode. We finally started getting into the box and getting close to a way through Everton's ten man defense. Everton's chances were mainly on the counter attack, with Cahill smashing the side netting on one occassion. Franco di Santo made an appearance, the lanky 6 ft 3 (and he's only 19!) adding firepower, but not enough.

Doubters of Cech were given a right lesson in the stopper's fearsome bravery when he collided with Jo. Unfortunately, they both stayed down and time ticked against Chelsea. However, the closest and most dramatic moment of the game was to come. Branislav Ivanovic, still playing due to Bosingwa's weak fitness, whipped a ball into in-form Drogba, who turned beautifully, nailed the shot, and hit the woodwork.

Fate can be a fickle foe, and if Drogba's shot had been millimetres lower, then Chelsea could remain in the hunt for the Premier League title. However, this FA Cup dress rehearsal ended in a stalemate and Everton, after ended the Red's historic dreams, may have just given them their third Premier League trophy.

Chelsea 0 - Everton 0

1 Petr Cech
2 Branislav Ivanovic
33 Alex
26 John Terry (c)
3 Ashley Cole
13 Michael Ballack
5 Michael Essien
39 Nicolas Anelka
8 Frank Lampard
15 Florent Malouda
11 Didier Drogba

Substitutes: 40 Hilario, 35 Juliano Belletti, 42 Michael Mancienne, 50 Jacob Mellis, 12 John Mikel Obi, 21 Salomon Kalou, 9 Franco Di Santo

Match Reports:

Goal.com
Official TCB Partner Chelseadaft in depth Match Report
Title hopes are finished: Hiddink
English Debate: Have Man U just won the title?

BREAKING NEWS:
Ipswich Town has announced Roy Keane, ex Sunderland boss, as it's new manager

Announcement: Vital Chelsea

2009-04-22T10:59:00.004+10:00

I am pleased to announce another partnership, this time with Vital Chelsea site.

Run by the fans for the fans, this site has extensive news, match previews and reports, backed up by a large community of members.

It also has a forum board for Chelsea fans to chat.

Thanks to Vital Chelsea.

Preview: A warm up for May 30

2009-04-21T18:21:00.004+10:00

Ironically, after a great weekend of FA Cup action, Chelsea, who emerged victorious against Arsenal, will host Everton, who kicked Ferguson and his youngsters out the door on penalties. So, in perspective, this is a warm up for the FA Cup final on May 30. But, for the time being, it is a Premier League clash, in which Chelsea cannot afford to drop points. For if they did, and United or Liverpool won their clash, then we can write ourselves out of the title race. And even if United or Liverpool drew, or failed to take points, then that's an opportunity wasted to close the gap.

Our last Premier League clash was against Bolton, in which we scored many, but unfortunately, conceded many. And of course, in that already infamous clash against Liverpool, we conceded 4, and at Stamford Bridge too. We restricted Arsenal on the weekend to one goal, but that's still eight in three. Not good. So we need to tighten the backs.

The midfield is class, and dominating, and winning games for us. So no comments there, just keep it the same.

Wingers. It's been a bit strange, with Anelka and Kalou flirting in and out of form. Anelka was great vs. Pool, but fell down a bit against the Gunners. So who will play? I'd say Kalou, with Malouda on the left. Don't drop him, he's in too good form.

And the striker. Didier Drogba has been reborn, and with him actually smiling for real now, I think we can expect a goal or two from him.

Prediction:
Chelsea 2 - Everton 0

What do you think will be the score? Post a comment, spark some debate!

Announcement: Singapore Chelsea Supporters Club

2009-04-21T13:23:00.004+10:00

Official Partnership Announcement

I am pleased to announce another partnership, this time with the Chelsea Supporters Club in Singapore

http://sgchelseafc.com/

Participate on their forums and join their Chelsea talk. They also have a prediction league and photo galleries.

And for any Singapore readers, they have gatherings of Chelsea fans to chat about...Chelsea!

Thanks to Singapore Chelsea, and well done on great site and forum board.

Opinon: The rise and fall of Deco

2009-04-21T12:04:00.007+10:00

It all started so promising for Deco. He moved away from Barcelona for eight million euros, ready to revive his career and chase a third Champions League trophy with his new club, Chelsea.

August 16, 2008. Deco takes to the field against Portsmouth, and in Chelsea's 4-0 rampage over the Pompey, he scores in the 90th minute with a forty-yard shot.

Seven days later, Chelsea travels to Wigan. In just the second minute, Deco scores a sublime free kick into the top left to gift Chelsea the spoils.

Deco wins the Premier League Player of the Month award for August. He makes his Champions League debut on September 16.

And then it begins. He injures himself in a training session and is ruled out for a month. He returns against Middlesbrough off the bench, and then we come to the Champions League clash against Roma. Deco is sent off, and Chelsea succumbs 3-1 and doubts are cast over Chelsea's aspirations.

Deco looks like he might spark again when he scores a bicycle kick against Bolton Wanderers. But then Luis Felipe Scolari is sacked and Deco's Chelsea career goes flying downhill. A string of bad performances keeps him out of Hiddink's invigorated side, and whilst Hiddink has stated he wants Deco to play in a new creative midfield position, he has appeared only initermittley in 2009.

Rumours abound that Deco will move to the Old Lady of Juventus, but he has pledged his skills to Chelsea. But do we really need him?

Our midfield already is extremely strong, with Lampard, Ballack, Essien and Mikel the core of the side. There is no real room for Deco, and even under Scolari he only fitted into a right winger role supporting Nicolas Anelka. With Drogba back in form, Anelka now resides on the right wing, thus there is no room for the Portugese. As stated before, Hiddink said that he wants Deco in a new creative midfield role, but our current set up does not require one.

Father Time is catching up with Deco. At 31, he is one of the oldest people in Chelsea's squad, and one makes the point that Mikel is his closest rival, and with Abramovich and Hiddink looking to tighten the average age, Mikel, at just 21, seems more likely to be stepping up should Essien, Ballack or Lampard be unavailable.

Money. Whoever Chelsea's next manager is, he will have to, reportedly, make do with a limited transfer budget compared to what Mourinho was handed. So the moving on of Deco, to Juventus as reported, may generate some income that can be used to strengthen our weak spots.

However, there is a strong case for Deco to stay. If he were to move in, the depth of our midfield would not be the same, and in light of an injury crisis, his services could come in handy. And perhaps, his transfer may not generate enough cash to bring in another younger player. And if he does regain the form that scored him the runners up prize in the 2004 Ballon d'Or, then Chelsea may just take another turn for the better.

I for one would like to see him stay for at least one more season. Give him a chance at Chelsea, he may be reborn again.

Because like the artist period that carries his namesake, his glamour and sheer elegance can make the best player in the world.

What do you think of this article? Should Deco be given a chance? Or should he be tossed into the "flop" pile? Leave a comment today.

Transfers: Chelsea sign Austrian youngster

2009-04-21T10:32:00.017+10:00

Chelsea sign Austrian youngster

Premier League outfit Chelsea have secured the services of Austrian youngster Philipp Prosenik. The 16-year-old will leave his current club Rapid Vienna for the London side this summer.
Prosenik is considered to be one of the worlds most promising players of his age and the young striker had attracted the interest of several European giants.
Bayern Munich, Milan and Juventus were reportedly all closely monitoring the talented attacker's situation at Rapid Vienna too. The under-17 is the son of former Austrian international Christian Prosenik.
Initially, Prosenik was part of the 1860 Munich youth academy. However, he eventually left the outfit to return to his native country and play for Rapid Vienna.
The hot prospect made twelve appearances for Austria under-17 so far, scoring eight goals.

Goal.com

Chelsea sign Austrian youngster

Opinon: Why 6+5 is a suicide mission for quality football

2009-04-20T09:49:00.010+10:00

It would be hard to find a Englishman who does not sing the praises of the significantly large contingent of foreign players that ply their trade on the world's biggest stage, the Barclays Premier League. Machester United's Portugese winger Cristiano Ronaldo had a stunning 07/08 season. Liverpool's Fernando Torres is the most successful debut foriegner in the Premier League's history. Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas is the heartbeat of the Gunners. Chelsea's Didier Drogba has roared the Blues into a great period of success. And all of these players have an impressive supporting cast made up of many cultures and countries.

So why does Sepp Blatter want to end it all?

The UEFA president is heavily pushing the bid for a 6+5 quota in domestic competitions, which would mean that six players on the side are eligible to play for the national team of the country of the club. So in England, twelve English players would have to grace the pitch for the game to start.

Sit back in your seat. And think of the complications, the revolution this would bring to domestic competitions around the world.

Chelsea would be in a position where their English players would be forced to play every single game - and Chelsea's current first team has these English stocks: Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, John Terry, Michael Mancienne, Scott Sinclair, Jimmy Smith and Lee Sawyer.

Only four of those players play in the first team on a consistent basis. Michael Mancienne has only played in two games for the club. Scott Sinclair, Jimmy Smith and Lee Sawyer are all out on loan at the moment - and only Sinclair has played for Chelsea first team with five appearances.

The idea for 6+5 is that it would be gradually rolled out slowly, with 4+7 the starting point. In a hypothetical situation, if 4+7 was to be introduced for the last game of the current season, then A. Cole, Lampard, Terry and Mancienne would have to start - Joe Cole is out for the season, and the three other players, are, as mentioned before, on loan.

And so, with the introduction of Mancienne, in our hypothetical situation, would mean that Bosingwa or Ivanovic would have to be dropped so the Englishman can take the right back position. And doing this, would weaken the team. And that is just 4+7.

Now we enter the transfer window, and Chelsea must get ready for the 6+5 ruling. So we purchase, say Aston Villa's Ashley Young, and sell the services of Kalou, seeing that we need Englishmen and not Ivory Coast men. But the wrecking ball of 6+5 doesn't stop there. Aston Villa, now without the option of Ashley Young, must go and purchase another Englishman to make up their 6+5 quota.

You can see the trail that this proposed rule would love - eventually teams like West Bromwich Albion, with their English players poached by the lure of money from bigger clubs needing to fill in the gaps left by the English players that have moved from their club to an even bigger club - the Big 4. And so lesser quality players would have to be purchased by West Brom and such, taken from the Championship and such. But if they were better than the foriegn players already at these clubs, they would be there. But they're not, put simply. So that's why the foriegn players are purchased, to improve the standard of player at these clubs. I cannot fathom the possibility that Chelsea would be where they are now without Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, John Obi Mikel, Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and many more. Indeed, if it weren't for Ballack's goals last season, we would've been 13 , not 1 point behind United. Makes you think.

I can see the positives in Blatter's proposal, and I do admit that England does have quite a few top players. Obviously, there is some sort of a problem when Liverpool have more Spanish players on the field than Spanish side Real Madrid. But if 6+5 were to come in, just take a look at Arsenal. They would have to forego a lot of their talented foriegn youngsters in favour of lesser talented Englishmen.

It is not the foriegners fault that England did not qualify for Euro 2008. It is not the Premier League's fault that Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have invested better in their squads and are more successful in the Champions League. A while back, Spain were kings of Europe. Now, it's England. They will move on, to be replaced by another dominant nation for a period of time.

Losing the foriegners and introducing lesser players into the top flights around the world is not the answer.

News: Weekly round up

2009-04-19T20:45:00.004+10:00

It was a huge week for Chelsea FC.

1. Epic Champions League quarter final tie with Liverpool, which saw us go through 7-5 even though it was 4-4 on the night. Epic. And you can read more here.

Review: An epic in every sense of the word
Gallery: A look back at a tie for the ages

2. Cech went under heavy scrutiny this week, perhaps the most he had ever gone under during his time at Chelsea tending the sticks.

Cech shrugs off criticism: Goal.com report

3. Ancelotti emerged as the no.1 candidate for the top job, though I heartily disagree (and so does he, thankfully)

Is it going to be Ancelotti?
No.

4. We beat Arsenal in the FA Cup Semi - thank god.

Review: It just had to be Drogba

5. And The Chelsea Blue was launched!

Announcement: Welcome to the Chelsea Blue

Leave a comment, and add to the global tally of one! Spark some interest, show off this blog to everyone you know!

Review: It just had to be Drogba

2009-04-18T23:36:00.008+10:00

Guus Hiddink is incredible.

Taking us to the semi's of the Champions League.

Issuing belief and confidence into every player.

Picking up the scattered pieces that Scolari left lying on the cutting room floor and putting them all back together to create an aesthetically pleasing football side that produces results.

And an appointment with either Manchester United or Everton on May 30 at Wembley.

But that is nothing compared to what he has done with one Ivory Coast frontman.

Guus Hiddink has transformed Didier Drogba, changing the previous sulking, "I want to leave" personality into a powerful, modern day beast on the football field. Hiddink has changed Drogba from just a dangerman into someone you simply do not want to have on the field with you.

But enough of how good Hiddink is. We've made the FA Cup Final, we've taken the road to Wembley all the way, and now only Manchester United or Everton stand in the way of our first piece of silverware in well, it seems like a while now.

Last night at England's big shiny stadium we played our favourite London rivals, Arsenal. Wenger opted to play 19 year old Kieran Gibbs, and left Russian Andrei Arshavin on the bench. Hiddink played Anelka starting, with Kalou warming the wood tonight. John Terry returned to our shaky defence.

The first real chance Chelsea had was when Gibbs heroically saved Drogba's header, thankfully for the Arsenal support. Theo Walcott was an absolute thorn in Chelsea's side, the England international Arsenal's main threat for the night. And it was he who popped up to slam it into Ashley Cole (of all people!) and score the opening goal. Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0.

Fortunately, Fabianski was 24 today, and in the words of Setanta Sport's commentator, he was giving out all the presents. Florent Malouda, with a return to the form accompanied by a stylish new haircut was busy sending stand in right back Eboue on a merry dance - until he decided to shoot. On his right foot of all things! The Frenchman's shot was impressive, beating the Arsenal stopper at his near post.

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1 as we enter the break.

A slight scare for the Chelsea faithful, with John Terry looking a bit worse for wear. However he returned to the pitch to joyous cheers from the stands.

Arsenal's main second half chance was well weighted ball from Walcott which Van Persie failed to capitalise on. Essien and Lampard were controlling the midfield well, but no chances were converted and it seemed we were headed for extra time. But...

Of course, no Arsenal clash would be done without a Drogba goal. And on 84 minutes, Didier popped up suddenly under Fabianski's nose, and the Pole could only watch as his mistake led to the winning goal.

A late appearance for Nasri and Arshavin, but too little too late for Arsenal, and cue the celebrations as Chelsea triumph in the FA Cup semi-finals, and Hiddink extends his Chelsea stay until May 30.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1

The aftermath of last night's match:
Hiddink hails Drogba
Wenger hails Drogba
Soccerlens Live Match Report
ChelseaFC.com Match Report

Announcement: New look for The Chelsea Blue

2009-04-18T17:42:00.003+10:00

This afternoon I've been working on a new skin for The Chelsea Blue, and have edited an original design to come up with this new theme that tries to put across a bit of class into raw passion.

Don't be shy, drop a line on what you think of the new look now!

Action Replay: On the eve of another London clash, here's Adebayor chucking a fit

2009-04-18T13:47:00.003+10:00

Remember this fight during Chelsea's clash with Arsenal in the Carling Cup?

Talk: Oh dear, something's gone horribly wrong at adidas

2009-04-17T22:00:00.007+10:00

Some kits for next season for England's Big 4 have been supposedly been leaked onto the Internet, but I, for Terry's and Lampard's and everyone else's sake, that they are not them.

What do you think? I think you've got my opinon...

Arsenal's new away kit
Bit random, seeing it's yellow this year.

Oh god, can you imagine fashion icon Ronaldo pullling on this sexy number? That man, no, the whole United squad would deserve a $100 payrise to wear this.

Liverpool seemingly are the only team to escape with a bit of credibility in the fashion stakes in this away kit that returns to black after this year's horrible all grey effort.

And did you see, it's all over the gossip. Heurehlo Gomes is set to become the new no.1, and Cech will leave. To be honest, can't a player have two bad games in his lifetime? What about Gomes terrible run during the opening month's of the EPL? No thanks, I think I'll stick to legend Cech - cut him some slack, remember his killer run under Mourinho? If we do sign Gomes, that's a fat load of thanks for all that.

Announcement: Chelseadaft

2009-04-17T21:50:00.006+10:00

Official Partnership Announcement

I am pleased to announce my first partnership with another site, Chelseadaft.

http://chelseadaft.blogspot.com/

This is another recently set up blog that has interesting match reviews, reports, rumour and rants easy and well written articles.

Chelseadaft and I have reached an agreement, and will be backing each other's blogs.

Well done Daft on a great new site, and hopefully we can build up strong new blogs.

Competition: Win tickets to Chelsea/Arsenal!

2009-04-17T20:49:00.005+10:00

Soccerlens is offering two free tickets to Chelsea vs. Arsenal tomorrow, so head on over to Soccerlens if you haven't been there already, and also read my Opinon: Next in line to the throne article on there as well.

I will be publishing the Opinon articles only onto Soccerlens, and all other parts will stay TCB exclusive...even if no one has commented yet...

http://soccerlens.com/win-two-tickets-to-the-chelseaarsenal-match-this-weekend/26869/

Preview: Van Persie set to quake in his boots

2009-04-17T19:09:00.006+10:00

When the Guus Hiddink genius rolled into town two months ago to replace Luis Felipe Scolari, few could be forgiven for feeling a bit of worry that Hiddink, yes Hiddink, was rocking up to take over Chelsea. Robin Van Persie was part of what must have been a very large crew cursing their luck about the new Chelsea gaffer.

Tomorrow at Wembley Stadium, the stars have aligned to produce a night of well, stars, that will undoubtedly see Michael Essien ghost Emmanuel Adebayor out of sight for the game. Essien's fine cloaking skills aside, this is a London clash that could not have wished for a better lead in - Chelsea fresh from one of the top 10 Champions League epics of all time and Arsenal sticking a potato down the Yellow Submarine's periscope. Hiddink vs. Wenger. Who will win?

My money is on Hiddink, naturally. But who wouldn't? The Dutchman has transformed Chelsea from what was supposed to be a beautiful side to watch into a side that wins games, scores nice goals and has backed up this with consistency. Something Scolari couldn't get into his head. (No offence to Felipe but I've got a first class carriage with the Hiddink express now).

Arsenal may now boast Andrei Arshavin as part of their attacking options - unfortunately for Wenger Hiddink was the coach of the Russian side that Arshavin carried to the Euro semi's. So I think we can see that we won't see an Andrei masterclass tomorrow night.

Who will shine? I'm backing Didier Drogba to follow up on his recent fine form and provide more reason that he is the best striker in the world on his day (Messi's a winger, so he doesn't count). And of course, if Van Persie does overcome his phobia of Hiddink and his Midas touch and scores early, well then, we know what to do. Give it to Ivanovic.

Betting:
Arsenal 3.2
Chelsea 2.54

Prediction:
Chelsea 3 - Arsenal 2

"The first thing I thought when he came was 'Oh no! He will win something', because he is unbelievable,"

"I asked him: 'Can I see your hands?' and he said: 'Yes, why?'. I said: 'Because everything you put your hand on turns to gold'.

Credit to Robin Van Persie

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/article-23677326-details/Robin+Van+Persie+admires+fairytale+of+golden+Guus+Hiddink/article.do

Reserves Fixtures, Results & Scorers 08/09

2009-04-17T16:30:00.001+10:00

Reserves results and top scorers for season 08/09

July 2008:

Saturday 12th July 2008: v Aldershot (A)(F) Draw 2 - 2
Saturday 19th July 2008: v Hampton & Richmond (A)(F) Lost 0 - 1
Saturday 26th July 2008: v Torquay Utd (A)(F) Won 1 - 0

August 2008:

Wednesday 6th August 2008: v NK Maribor (A)(F) Lost 2 - 3
Monday 18th August 2008: v Manchester United (A)(F) Lost 0 - 1
Tuesday 26th August 2008: v Manchester United (H)(F) Draw 2 - 2 Highlights

September 2008:

Monday 1st September 2008: v Arsenal (A) Won 3 - 2 Highlights
Monday 15th September 2008: v West Ham (H) Won 2 - 0 Highlights
Friday 26th September 2008: v Liverpool (A)(F) Lost 0 - 2
Tuesday 30th September 2008: v Portsmouth (A) Won 2 - 0 Highlights

October 2008:
Saturday 4th October 2008: v AC Milan (H)(F) Won 4 - 0 Highlights
Monday 6th October 2008: v Aston Villa (H) Lost 0 - 1 Highlights
Saturday 25th October 2008: v Liverpool (H)(F) Won 4 - 0 Highlights

November 2008:
Monday 3rd November 2008: v Stoke City (H) Lost 0 - 2 Highlights
Saturday 15th November 2008: v Milwall (H) Lost 1 - 3 Highlights
Monday 24th November 2008: v Wet Brom (A) Lost 0 - 1 Highlights

December 2008:
Wednesday 10th December 2008: v Generation Adidas U23's (H) Won 4 - 0 Highlights
Tuesday 16th December 2008: v West Ham (A) Lost 3 - 4 Highlights

February 2009:

Monday 16th February 2009: v Portsmouth (H) Won 6 - 0 Highlights
Wednesday 25th February 2009: v Stoke City (A) Lost 2 - 3 Highlights

March 2009:

Monday 2nd March 2009: v Aston Villa (A) Lost 3 - 4 Highlights
Wednesday 11th March 2009: Norwich City (H)(F) Won 4 - 3 Highlights
Monday 16th March 2009: v Tottenham (A) Lost 0 - 4 Highlights
Monday 23rd March 2009: v Arsenal (H) Draw 0 - 0 Highlights
Friday 27th March 2009: v West Ham (H)(F) Lost 2 - 4 Highlights

April 2009:

Tuesday 7th April 2009: v Fulham (A) Lost 1 - 2 Highlights
Monday 20th April 2009: v West Brom (H) Draw 2 - 2 Highlights
Monday 27th April 2009: v Tottenham (H) Won 3 - 0 HighlightsMay 2009:
Tuesday 5th May 2009: v Manchester City (A)(F) Won 3 - 2
Wednesday 13th May 2009: v Manchester City (H)(F) Lost 2 - 3 Highlights

Top Scorers:
Scott Sinclair = 7 (+1 Pre Season)
Fabio Borini = 6
Jacob Mellis = 5 (+2 Pre Season)
Franco Di Santo = 5
Miroslav Stoch = 4 (+3 Pre Season)
Frank Nouble = 3
Ricardo Quaresma = 3
Patrick Van Aanholt = 3
Morten Nielson = 2
Michael Woods = 2
Juliano Belletti = 1
Michael Essien = 1
Fabio Ferreira = 1
Miniero = 1
Daniel Philliskirk = 1
Adam Phillip = 1
Lee Sawyer = 1
Sergio Tejera = 1
Gael Kakuta = (+1 Pre Season)

Key:
A = Game played Away From Home
H = Game played at Home
F = Friendly Game

Announcement: Reserves and Youth highlights for every game, right here on The Chelsea Blue

2009-04-17T00:06:00.002+10:00

Official Link

As you can see from the posts below, The Chelsea Blue will be posting the highlights of all of Chelsea's Reserves and Academy games.

This comes from a partnership with YouTube user EskWeston(http://www.youtube.com/user/EskWeston).

I would like to thank Esk for this fantastic offering of football that we can now look forward to regularly.

Reserves: Chelsea 1 - Fulham 2

2009-04-16T23:55:00.002+10:00

A first half strike from central midfielder Miniero wasn't enough for Chelsea to win at Craven Cottage. Goals at the end of either half would have left the Blues feeling hard done by.

Teams:

Chelsea:

Jan Sebek, Nana Ofori-Twumasi, Jeffrey Bruma, Sam Hutchinson (sub Ben Gordon ht), Patrick van Aanholt, Mineiro, Ricardo Quaresma, Liam Bridcutt (c), Adam Phillip, Fabio Borini, Frank Nouble (sub Jacob Mellis 85).

Fulham:

Pascal Zuberbuhler, Fredrik Stoor (sub Karim Laribe ht), Alex Smith, Chris Baird, Chris Smalling, Matthew Saunders, Courtney Harris, Giles Barnes, Diomansy Kamara (sub Michael Uwezu ht), Erik Nevland, Julian Gray.

Video courtesy of EskWeston: http://www.youtube.com/user/EskWeston

Used with full permission of owner.

Youth: Chelsea 3 - Charlton 1

2009-04-16T23:30:00.002+10:00

It was an emphatic victory for our youngsters against Charlton Youth, and disrespectful of the scoreline however it was an uneventful game, the result sealed with two goals in the last two minutes.

Team:
Chelsea (4-3-3):
Sam Walker; Jacopo Sala, Rohan Ince, Ben Gordon, Nikki Ahamed; Jacob Mellis, Tom Taiwo (Jordan Tabor 75), Joshua McEachran (Aliu Djalo 72); Milan Lalkovic, Daniel Philliskirk, Gokhan Tore (Adam Phillip 62).

Video courtesy of EskWeston: http://www.youtube.com/user/EskWeston
Used with full permission of owner.

Opinon: Next in line to the throne

2009-04-16T20:34:00.003+10:00

Who will be Chelsea's manager next season?

Whilst the fans ferventely hope that it is current interim boss Guus Hiddink who stays in his position, the chances of the Dutch mastermind staying on are quite slim- considering he's told everyone he's not staying. The bookies have been taking bets on everyone from ex Barca gaffer Frank Riijkard to Mourinho's predecessor, Roberto Mancini. But one name that has been overlooked quite a fair bit is current Everton manager David Moyes.

The gingerhead took over at the Merseyside club in 2002, and has transformed a once mid table side into one of the most consistent and talented teams in the Premier League. Some have even forget that Moyes has taken Everton to the dizzy heights of the world's top contintental competition in 2005 on, importantly to note, lesser funds than the Big Four.

His transfer dealings are impressive, with some of the best players in England's top division brought in. Some of those names include Australian Tim Cahill, goalscoring centreback Joseph Yobo, winger Mikel Arteta, custodian Tim Howard and also Joleon Lescott, fierce strikerYakubu, rated right back Leighton Baines and many more. That's an impressive list of players, all brought in hardly earth-shattering fees. Indeed, the most he has paid is fifteen million for Marioque Fellaini, who proved to be a great acquisition this season.

Imagine the possibilities at hardly cash strapped Chelsea.

Also important to note in Moyes' CV is his persistence in Everton's 2004 campaign which had many board members and fans crying foul of conspiracy and turmoil. He managed to keep his head up during these turbulent times, evenduring Wayne Rooney's dragged out transfer to Manchester United.

As Andy Burham, the Secretary for Sport, Music and Culture in England has said,

"Mr.David Moyes is probably a fine example to everybody in
Government of stability and making the right decisions for the long term."

Sounds impressive, what the Pensioners need in their new manager and what Chelsea could and should, be taking on board when it comes to decision time for Hiddink's successor.

Hopefully there is never a decision time though...

Gallery: A look back at a tie for the ages

2009-04-16T19:52:00.003+10:00

The most unlikely of heroes.

It all starts to go horribly wrong for Petr Cech
On his day, is he the best striker in the world?

Saluting the faithful

A stunning goal...

A stunning tie.

http://thechelseablue.blogspot.com/2009/04/epic-in-every-sense-of-word.html

Review: An epic in every sense of the word.

2009-04-16T16:16:00.002+10:00

On Tuesday evening, at 4.30 Australian time, Chelsea kicked off against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg. Having won the first leg 3-1 at Anfield, the objective of the game at Stamford Bridge for both sides was obvious:

Chelsea - do not concede more than three goals and you're through.

Liverpool - score three goals and you're through.

Well, one side completed their objective but did not reap the rewards. And Chelsea, well, we conceded three goals but we got through. And thank god we did that.

Because this game, quite simply, was a terrible game of football. Shocking defending from either side saw eight goals being scored on the night, the grand total of twelve over two legs was unbelievable - considering that previous Chelsea/Liverpool clashes have been low scoring affairs.

Hapless defending maybe, but the attacking was superb. A fantastic performance from reinvigorated Didier Drogba saw him come out with a goal that changed the flow of the tie. Yes, Reina made a shocking mistake, but Drogba's presence on the pitch made normaly quite formidable Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio and Arbeloa backline concede four goals, and ultimately hand Chelsea the game.

Because Liverpool's attacking was applaudable, even with Fernando Torres doing a "Steven Gerrard", that being, disappearing from the game almost completely. I must admit, when Torres came off for David Ngog, I thought that Rafa Benitez had thrown the cards away. But Liverpool scored two goals after Torres came off, to climb back into the tie.

The interesting thing about the game was that there really was no stand out player. Apart from the Ivory Coast frontman for Chelsea, there was no real good performance from anyone. Yes there were the occasional acts of magic from everyone, but then just about every player got lost at some point during the game. Take point:

Fabio Aurelio, after scoring the first goal, got quitened by early substitute Nicolas Anelka.

Michael Ballack, after being invisible for the first half, produced magic in a well timed pass to set up Lampard's goal.

Frank Lampard - lacked compsure in the first half, came flying back to life in the second.

Pepe Reina - well, well, well. Chelsea can thank the Spaniard - his horrible mistake against Drogba turned the tie on it's head.

An extraordinary game where you could take nothing for granted, assured the now commonplace feeling that the Premier League is the best domestic competition in the world. Hundreds of fans, 180 minutes, 22 players, 12 goals, one fantastic spectacle. A game which stunned the Sunrise reporters (Sunrise is an early morning TV show on Channel 7 in Australia). A game which has given me the inspiration for this blog. Because the passion, the drama, the spectacle filled me with such tension and emotion, I just felt I had to let it go.

Kudos to both Chelsea and Liverpool, and well done on providing a great game. Now to turn our attention to the Premier League title race. Oh wait, the might of Barcelona is just around the corner. Now that, will be stunning.

Announcement: Chelsea Blue, a brand new blog dedicated to the raw passion

2009-04-16T15:34:00.003+10:00

Such is my passion for Chelsea Football Club, I've decided to set up a new blog to unleash all the emotions and drama of being a Chelsea FC fan.

I hail from good old Australia. If you don't know, Down Under is rugby mad, the national team the Wallabies a hotly contested debate. So to be a Chelsea fan, it's different. Although soccer seems set to become the new national sport, there is still a fierce divide of rugby fans who oppose the sport. So apologises if my opinon seems indifferent or such.

Tuesday's clash with Liverpool left me with a great sense of pride - that we were through to the semi finals, even if it is against the might of Barcelona. The raw passion that unfolded in that epic was unbelievable, and the next post coming up will aim to collect all my feelings from that game.

If there's anything Chelsea Football Club can serve up, it is raw passion. And The Chelsea Blue will aim to capture it all.

Contact

2009-04-15T14:49:00.001+10:00

Administrator

Troy Palmer
gurrung@gmail.com

Want to become a contributor?

Chelsea fans, United fans, neutral fans, rugby fans - whoever you are, if you've got something to say about Chelsea FC, contribute!

Drop Troy a line at his email and he'll get straight back to you.

Players Out on Loan

2009-04-11T16:09:00.000+10:00

Ben Sahar (De Graafschap - end of season): After a very dissapointing loan spell at Portsmouth Ben Sahar has moved to dutch side De Graafschap to see if he can regain some of his past form and scoring touch. Things have not gone well for Ben the last couple of seasons and he will certainly need to impress now.

Ryan Bertrand (Norwich City - end of season): Ryan has excelled so far in his various loan spells away from Chelsea and is well on the way to fulfilling his potential as the new Ashley Cole. This season he is going back to Norwich where he did very well at the end of last season for the first 6 months. I am sure he will impress once again and sooner rather than later will be knocking on our first team door.

Shaun Cummings (MK Dons - end of season): Shaun will link up with former blues player Roberto Di Matteo and former Blues Youth Coach and player Eddie Newton at MK Dons for an initial 1 month loan with a view to extending it longer. It is thought that he will play in the right back role he has grown into over the last year or so. Hopefully he can do well there because he is a good player for sure. After a few impressive appearances Shaun has had his loan extended until January.

Jack Cork (Watford - end of season): Jack has now had very succesfl loan spells at Scunthorpe and will now set his sights on having a similar impact at Watford which should be a much tougher challenge for him. Under Brendan Rodgers Cork should flourish and show once again how much of a talent he is. He will be looking to go the same way as Michael Mancienne and begin to make a name for himself.

Scott Sinclair (Birmingham - end of season): After a spell where Scott was not allowed to go on loan so he could be eligable for our home-grown quota, Scott has gone back out on loan. This time to Birmingham where he will look to cement a place in their starting line-up and make and impact in their promotion chasing season.Fabio Ferreira (Oldham - 1 month):This is Fabio's first loan and it could be very important for the player as i find it hard to believe that he will still be at Chelsea after the summer. He has failed to impress and struggled to win a regular place in the reserves. Hopefully he will do well there an earn himself a permanant deal.

Carl Magnay (Nothampton - 1 month): After a dissapointing loan at MK Dons Carl will be looking to get a regular place in this team and hopefully extend his loan to the end of the season and get some vital league football experience to push him on to something better next season.

About

2009-04-10T18:30:00.000+10:00

The Chelsea Blue is a fans blog to express, as our slogan attests, the raw passion of Chelsea FC.

Opinons of the issues facing Chelsea FC are constantly debated. Every single Chelsea FC game is previewed and reviewed, analysed and discussed. The latest and most important news is brought to you. Reserves and youth play an important part, with highlights of the second string and next generation brought to you as soon as they hit YouTube thanks to EskWeston. And photo galleries and rants come whenever I feel like it =).

The Chelsea Blue's comment policy is simple - keep it nice, but don't be afraid to think what you really think of Chelsea.

Contributions are welcome, contact Troy at gurrung@gmail.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy The Chelsea Blue!

Youth: Season Draw, Results & Statistics 08/09

2009-04-09T22:42:00.001+10:00

July 2008:

Friday 25th July 2008: v Queens Park Rangers (H)(F) Draw 3 - 3

August 2008:

Saturday 2nd August 2008: v Brighton (H)(F) Draw 1 - 1
Saturday 16th August 2008: v Wolves (H)(F) Draw 4 - 4
Thursday 21st August 2008: v Crewe Alexandra (H) Draw 2 - 2
Saturday 30th August 2008: v Newcastle United (A) Lost 0 - 1

September 2008:

Saturday 6th September 2008: v Aston Villa (A) Lost 0 - 2 Highlights
Saturday 13th September 2008: v Reading (H) Won 4 - 3 Highlights
Saturday 20th September 2008: v Bristol City (A) Lost 1 - 4
Saturday 27th September 2008: v Ipswich Town (H) Won 7 - 2 Highlights

October 2008:

Saturday 4th October 2008: v Arsenal (A) Lost 0 - 2 Highlights
Saturday 11th October 2008: v Southamption (H) Lost 3 - 4 Highlights
Saturday 18th October 2008: v West Ham (A) Won 4 - 2 Highlights
Wednesday 29th October 2008: v Fulham (H) Won 4 - 3 Highlights

November 2008:

Saturday 1st November 2008: v Portsmouth (H) Won 3 - 0 Highlights
Wednesday 5th November 2008: v Trinidad & Tobago (F) Won 4 - 1
Thursday 6th November 2008: v Mexico (F) Lost 1 - 3
Monday 10th November 2009: v St Benedicts Prep (F) Won 1 - 0
Tuesday 11th November 2008: v Mexico (F) Lost 1 - 2
Saturday 15th November 2008: v Norwich City (H) Draw 2 - 2 Highlights
Saturday 22nd November 2008: v Charlton Athletic (A) Won 4 - 2
Thursday 27th November 2008: v Manchester United (A)(FA) Won 3 - 2 Highlights

December 2008:

Saturday 6th December 2008: v Crystal Palace (A) Lost 1 - 3 Highlights
Saturday 13th December 2008: v West Ham (H) Draw 2 - 2 Highlights

January 2009:

Wednesday 15th January 2009: v Walsall (H) (FA) Won 5 - 1 Highlighs
Saturday 17th January 2009: v Portsmouth (A) Lost 0 - 4 Highlights
Saturday 24th January 2009: v Fulham (H)
Saturday 31st January 2009: v Norwhich City (A) Lost 2 - 3

February 2009:

Thursday 5th February 2009: v Liverpool (A) (FA) Lost 0 - 1 Highlights
Saturday 7th February 2009: Charlton Athletic (H)
Saturday 14th February 2009: v Crystal Palace (H) Won 3 - 1 Highlights
Saturday 21st February 2009: v Ipswich Town (A) Won 3 - 0 Highlights
Friday 27th February 2009: v Fulham (A) Lost 0 - 3 Highlights

March 2009:

Saturday 7th March 2009: v Arsenal (H) Lost 3 - 4 Highlights
Saturday 14th March 2009: v Southampton (H) Lost 0 - 3
Saturday 21st March 2009: v Tottenham (H) Lost 0 - 5 Highights
Saturday 28th March 2009: v Cardiff City (A) Draw 2 - 2

April 2009:

Saturday 4th April 2009: v Charlton Athletic (H) Won 3 - 1 Highlights
Saturday 18th April 2009: v MK Dons (H) Won 4 - 0 Highlights
Saturday 25th April 2009: v Leicester City (H) Lost 0 - 3

May 2009:

Saturday 2nd May 2009: v Watford (A) Lost 0 - 2

Top Scorers:

Frank Nouble = 14 (+1 Pre Season)
Fabio Borini = 11 (+2 Pre Season)
Jacopo Sala = 8 (+1 Pre Season)
Marco Mitrovic = 6
Josh McEachran = 4
Coner Clifford = 3
Milan Lalkovic = 3
Daniel Philliskirk = 3
Jordan Tabor = 3
Nikki Ahamed = 2
Billy Knott = 2
Rohan Ince = 2
Gael Kakuta = 2
Jacob Mellis = 2
Adam Phillip = 2
Jack Saville = 2
Aziz Deen Conteh = 1
Ben Gordon = 1
Sergio Tejera = 1
Jordan Hibbert = (+2 Pre Season)
Mori = (+1 Pre Season)

Key:

A = Game played Away From Home
H = Game played at Home
F = Friendly Game
FA = FA Youth Cup Game

Youth Player Profiles

2009-04-09T22:34:00.001+10:00

Goalkeepers:

Rhys Taylor:
Born 7/4/90 in Neath, West Glamorgan.

In just his third year at the club, Rhys mixed reserve and youth team duties last season and was capped by Wales Under 21s at the age of just 17.

A brave keeper, comfortable with the ball at his feet, his intial moved up to reserve level occured at the tail end of 2006/07 having made 12 appearances in the youth side.

Last campaign he started as the second string's first choice and made eight appearances in all but was also ever-present in the Under 18s memorable run to the FA Youth Cup Final, a semi-final save especially standing out. Was an unused sub for three games in the first team during the Christmas and New Year period 2007/08.

Stuart Searle:

Born 27/2/79 in Wimbledon, London
An experienced non-league goalkeeper, Stuart signed in the summer of 2007 at the age of 28 to provide experienced cover for young Rhys Taylor in the reserve team squad.

His previous club had been non-league Basingstoke Town and he was well-known to Chelsea having been a part-time coach in our Academy. Excelled on his reserve team debut against Spurs in September and went on to play half the games.

Niclas Heimann:
Born 12/3/ 91 in Engelskirchen, Germany.
A German goalkeeper in his second year as a scholar having signed for free from Bayer Leverkusen.

Tall, stylish and left-footed, Niclas played 13 youth team games last season.

Aldi Haxhia:
A goalkeeper who has been with the Academy since the Under 12s level.

Aldi is a good shot stopper who distributes the ball well. He has already made his debut in the youth team, starting one game and coming on as substitute once last season.

Sam Walker: A 6ft 5in goalkeeper, Sam joined last season from Millwall when still a schoolboy and he featured in the youth team, playing four games.

A good shot stopper who collects crosses well and distributes well. Now a full-time scholar.

Defenders:

Sam Hutchinson:
Born 3/8/89 in Slough, Berkshire

A season of major progress in 2006/07 was completed with a first team debut as a substitute in the final league game against Everton.

Sam was then part of the first team pre-season visit to the United States that followed, ex-manager José Mourinho speaking about him as a future member of the Chelsea squad.

However after just five reserve games in 2007/08, injury and eventually surgery brought the season to a halt but he should return fit and well in the new campaign.

The reserve team captain prior to his set-back, Sam is a right-back or centre-back who first joined the Academy aged nine.

He was second highest appearance maker in the reserves the season before last season and has been a member of the England Under 19 squad.

Now in his fourth year full-time at the club, he signed a new four-year contract in August 2007.

Carl Magnay:
Born 20.1.89 in Gateshead.

The winner of 2006's Football Icon TV contest to seek out undiscovered talent, centre-back Carl has progressed to become a fully-fledged regular in the reserve side, making 14+2 appearances last year, the second highest total.

He has been rewarded with an extended contract and was part of the club's Right to Play humanitarian visit to Jordan and Israel in the summer.

Originally rejected as a schoolboy by Leeds United where he had played with current Chelsea colleagues Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo, Carl was a stand-in captain in the youth team before progressing to the reserves.

A composed, all-round defender.

Michael Mancienne:
Born 8/1/88 in Isleworth, Middlesex.

A composed and elegant centre-back or right-back who can also play in midfield, Michael played a second season on loan in the Championship at QPR last year, making 31 appearances and breaking into the England Under 21 team.

He was originally picked up by Chelsea as an eight-year-old and made his debut in the reserves whilst still a schoolboy. He turned professional in January 2006 and was named on the bench for the first team for the final game of the 2005/6 season but was not called into action.

He was also an unused sub in the 2006 Community Shield before playing 30 games at Loftus Road two seasons ago. In August 2007, he signed a new three-year contract.

Ryan Bertrand:
Born 5/8/89 in Southwark, London.

In his fourth year at Chelsea, Ryan is a fast, attacking left-back, converted from a winger, who was signed in July 2005 from Gillingham. A tribunal set the fee at £125,000 initially with additional amounts to be paid depending on progress.

He signed professional in August 2006 and was taken on the first team pre-season visit to America in that summer before making his England Under 19s debut in September 2006. A loan at League One Bournemouth followed but Ryan missed the final two months of the season having suffered a ruptured spleen in a Chelsea reserve match against Arsenal.

He has recovered to spend the rest of 2007 gaining more experience on loan at League One Oldham. In January 2008 he moved up a division where he earned good reviews during 20 games for Norwich in the Championship.

An England Under 19 international who helped his nation to the European Championship finals.

Patrick Van Aanholt:
Born 29.8.90 in 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland.

In his second year at Chelsea having arrived from PSV Eindhoven, the tall, fast and technically accomplished defender immediately established himself in the reserves where he was the third highest appearance maker last season with 14+1 games, mostly at left-back. He also demonstrated an ability to rocket in the odd long-range goal.

In the youth team, he was a centre-back of choice on the way to the FA Youth Cup Final. A Dutch Under 18 international.

Jack Cork:
Born 25/6/89 in Carshalton, London.

With Chelsea since the age of nine, Jack is in his fourth year full-time and is versatile enough to play right-back, centre-back or midfield.

He played 16 times for the youth team while still a schoolboy and progressed to be youth and then reserve team captain.

Last season he play in the Championship with Scunthorpe and although his loan club were relegated, it was a season of personal progress with 35 games and two goals plus four Scunthorpe Supporters' Player of the Year awards.

The previous season he spent time on loan at League One Bournemouth.

Part of the England Under 19 squad to make July's European Championships, Jack is the son of former Wimbledon player, Alan.

Nana Ofori-Twumasi:
Born 15/5/90 in Accra, Ghana.

Last season's youth team captain moved to England from Africa aged 10 and spent his early teenage years on the same west London estate as former Blue Carlton Cole.

A right-back, Nana was a junior athletics champion and his pace and strength have helped win recognition at England Under 18 level for whom he takes penalties.

A Chelsea Academy product, in his second full-time year he was part of the club's humanitarian visit to his birthplace of Ghana in conjunction with global charity partner Right To Play.

The second highest youth team appearance maker with 24+3 games, he was also given one reserve start and two sub chances.

Nikki Ahamed:

Born 18/4/91 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

A holding midfielder or right-back who grew up in the Wembley area of London, Nikki has been with Chelsea since he was 10-years-old.

A second year scholar, he played four games in the youth team when still a schoolboy and added another 15+7 last season, scoring twice.

Tom Hayden:

Tom is a right-back who has been with the Academy since the Under 12s and is now in his first full-time year. He is comfortable on the ball, has good pace and made his full debut in the youth team in April 2008.

Jack Saville:

Born 2/4/91 in Frimley, Surrey.

A left-sided centre-back who joined from Reading Under 14s at the same time as Brendan Rodgers, our current reserve team manager, made a similar journey between the clubs.
Jack in now a second year scholar who played a healthy 19+2 games in the youth team last campaign. In March 2008 he was handed his first reserve start and a few weeks later scored his first goal seconds after coming on as a sub versus West Ham.

Jeffrey Bruma:
Born 13/11/91

Though still a schoolboy, 16-year-old Jeffrey played centre-back in every round in the FA Youth Cup last season and was the top appearance maker in the youth league, a combined total of 27+1 games with four goals scored.

He has also made his first reserve start and helped the Dutch Under 17 side to the European Championship finals although unfortunately missed the tournament through injury.

Comfortable on the ball and a very good athlete.

Vincenzo Camilleri:
A centre-back who joined from Italy where he is a junior international.

Tactically, he reads the game well and is comfortable on the ball. This is his first season in London.

Ben Gordon:

Born 2/3/91 in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
A tall, athletic left-back in his second year at Chelsea having signed from Leeds United, Ben has enjoyed international recognition at England Under 17 level.

He played 24 youth games last year, including appearances throughout the Youth Cup run, and also made his first reserve start.

Billy-Joe King:
Born 23/9/90 in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey.

A left-back who recovered from a dislocated knee to begin his scholar training at Chelsea, Billy-Joe is in his second full-time year.

Brought up close to the Cobham training headquarters, he has been with Chelsea since the Under 8s age group and played 10+3 youth games last year plus one reserve sub appearance.

Midfielders:

Liam Bridcutt:
Born 8/5/89 in Reading, Berkshire.

In his fourth full time year, Liam signed professional in the summer of 2007 and is a product of the Academy. He was the youth team top appearance maker two years ago while also finding his way into the reserves.

A tough-tackling, consistent holding midfielder and occasional full-back, he was a regular in the reserves with 10 appearances, five as captain before a loan to Yeovil in League One where he played nine times.

Ricardo Fernandes:
Born 28/3/89 in Leiria, Portugal.

One of two recruits from Sporting Lisbon in the summer 2005, Ricardo is a diminutive attacking midfielder and Portugal Under 19 international who turned professional in July 2006.

He contributed one goal in 15+3 youth team games two seasons ago and played 10 times for the reserves before becoming the unfortunate victim of a cruciate injury.

He began the 2007/08 season recuperating but happily returned in March after a year out to play in four reserve and two youth games.

Lee Sawyer:
Born 10/9/89 in Leytonstone, London.

A competitive, attacking midfielder who has been with Chelsea since the age of nine and is now in his third year full-time, Lee overcame both a stress fracture in his back and a cruciate ligament injury in his last season as a schoolboy.

The year that followed was one of steady progress with a regular place in the reserves, a call onto the first team bench for the final league game of the 2006/07 season and progression through the England ranks to Under 19s. He signed his first professional contract in July 2007.

Unfortunately injury has again reared its head too often, denying an intended place on the first team trip to the United States that summer and then a dislocated shoulder in December, at the start of the FA Youth Cup run, meant more weeks out.

He played 6+1 games in the reserves last season and 10+4 in the reserves but a red card in the semi-final at Villa Park ruled Lee out of both legs of the Youth Cup Final.

Michael Woods:
Born 6/4/90 in York, Yorkshire.

In his third year at Chelsea, Michael joined from Leeds in the summer of 2006 and was immediately involved in the first team pre-season.

In January 2007, he made two sub appearances in the FA Cup against Macclesfield and Nottingham Forest when still aged 16, becoming Chelsea's fourth youngest player in our history.

An energetic central midfielder, he was the third highest appearance maker in the reserves in the 2006/07 campaign but recorded a smaller 5+4 games total last season.

In the FA Youth Cup run to the Final, he was ever-present, scoring one edge-of-the-area goal. At the end of the campaign he travelled to Jordan and Israel as part of the club's Right To Play humanitarian visit,

Michael is an England Under 18 international, having played in the Under 17 World Cup.

Jimmy Smith:
Born 7/1/87 in Newham, London

Is currently on a 6 month loan deal to Sheffield Wednesday.

Another spotted early by Chelsea, Jimmy has come through the age groups beginning at nine. Now in his fifth full-time year, turning pro at 18 in March 2005, this attacking midfielder was top scorer for the reserves two seasons ago, ending that campaign by coming on as a late sub in the final first team game at Newcastle.

Last year he was at QPR where his goal scoring knack was again on display with five goals in his first eight games although he would only add one more in totalling 31 appearances. A former England Under 19 international, he will spend the rest of 2007 with Championship side Norwich although his time in Norfolk has been interrupted by a foot injury.

Sergio Tejera:
Born 28/5/90 in Barcelona, Spain.

A Spanish Under 18 international who is in his third year at Chelsea having joined from Espanyol.

Left-footed and a deadball specialist, Sergio began his time in London playing similarly to a classic 'No. 10' position, scoring three goals in the youth team last season beginning to feature in the reserves.

However his second year saw him frequently played more deeply in midfield, with benefit to his form and he was one of the stars of the FA Youth Cup campaign, scoring the Academy's Goal of the Season in the semi at Villa Park.

He had begun the season playing for his nation at the Under 17s World Cup and also reached the final there but was an unused sub as Spain lost to Nigeria.

Sergio played 9+1 reserve games in 2007/08 and 13 in the youth team with four goals scored.

At the end of the year he was part of the club's humanitarian Right to Play trip to the Middle East where he celebrated his 18^th birthday.

Per Weihrauch:
Born 3/7/88 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

An attacking player who can play wide or as supporting striker, Per signed from Ajax on a professional contract in July 2006, but his time at Chelsea so far has been spoilt by injury.

He was a member of the Danish youth international side that won the Under-17s Nordic International Tournament.

Fabio Ferreira:
Born 3/5/89 in Barreiro, Portugal.

Signed in the summer of 2005 from Sporting Lisbon, Fabio is a Portugal Under 19 international who plays wide on the right but can also play down the middle.

He turned pro in July 2006 having impressed with his pace in the reserves during the second half of his first season here.

He played 12 times in the reserves last campaign, frequently on the right of a front three but last season was hampered by injury that kept him out between October and March. He scored once in his eight appearances.

Miroslav Stoch:
Born 19/10/89 in Nitra, Slovakia.

A Slovakian Under 19 international regular who made his debut at Under 21 level last season, Miroslav joined Chelsea in the summer of 2006 and signed professional a year later.

Accomplished with either foot and with a low centre of gravity, he can play as a second striker or out wide in a front three and enjoys taking defenders on and shooting.

He was the youth team's top scorer in the 2006/07 campaign with nine goals from 20+6 appearance as well as two after breaking into the reserves.

Last season he managed two reserve goals again, from 10+3 games while in the youth team his 10 goals from 14 games were the second best tally. An FA Youth Cup ever-present.

Tom Taiwo:
Born 27/2/90 in Leeds, West Yorkshire

A central midfielder in his third year at Chelsea who swapped the Leeds United academy for London the same summer as Michael Woods.

However while Woods joined the first team tour of the United States in 2006, Tom's start at Chelsea was spoilt by a broken leg that pre-season.

He returned before the campaign's end but was limited in appearances in the reserves. Fit again, last year brought 19+6 youth games and one game off the bench in the reserves.

Aliu Djalo:
An attacking midfield player joining from Portugual where he has played for the junior national team.

Technically very good, this is his first year at Chelsea. Aliu is nicknamed 'Kaby'.

Conor Clifford:
Conor is an Irish international at Under 17 level who played in May 2008's European Championships.

He is a central midfield player who is hard working, strong in the tackle with good distribution. In his first full-time scholar year.

Jordan Hibbert:

Born 25/10/90 in Hampstead, London.

An attacking midfielder who grew up in south London, Jordan has been with Chelsea since the Under 14s team. Now a second year full-time scholar, he last season played 14+7 youth games with one goal scored.

Gael Kakuta:

Born 21/6/91 in Lille, France.

Voted the Academy's Scholar of the Year by staff and peers, Gaël enjoyed an eye-catching first year having joined from Lens. He ended the season as youth top scorer, finding the net 12 times in 20+4 games played out wide or behind the forwards. He also opened his reserve team account and scored some memorable goals including a Youth Cup hat-trick at Port Vale; his final total six in that cup run.

A highly-skilled left-footed player who loves taking players on, he ended the season by helping France Under 17s to the European Championship Final although the game was lost.

Jacob Mellis:

Born 8/1/91 in Nottingham.

A member of the England Under 17 squad, Jacob signed in the summer of 2007 from Sheffield United. Now in his second year, he is primarily an attacking midfielder but filled in at full-back and centre-back during 21+6 youth games. He also made a full reserve team debut and was a main player in the Youth Cup run, scoring twice although he was sent-off in the Final.

Daniel Philliskirk:

Born 10/4/91 in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

A second striker or attacking midfielder, signed in the summer of 2007 from Oldham Athletic, Daniel has played for England Under 17s.In his first youth team season he found the net three times in 15+6 games as well as scoring in the reserves.

Jacopo Sala:
An Italian Under 17 international, Jacopo is a versatile player, capable of a number of positions but predominately on the right.

He has good game awareness as well as being a good athlete. He made two starts and one sub appearance in last year's youth campaign. Now full-time.

Jordan Tabor:
Born 9/9/90 in Oxford.

A left-back or left-sided attacking player in his fourth year with Chelsea, this his second as a full-time scholar.

Jordan played 14+6 games in the youth side last season, scoring once. Late in the campaign he was given a first taste of reserve football. He is a proficient set-piece taker.

Forwards:

Shaun Cummings:
Born 25/2/89 in Hammersmith, London.

Now in his fourth full-time year, Shaun has been at Chelsea since the Under 12 age group and signed professional in the summer of 2007.

Quick and well-built, he began his time in the Chelsea youth team as a striker or wide-right player and was given his first reserve action as early as September of his first scholar year.

However his position on the pitch is evolving and he has frequently played at right-back although front runner duties were restored at the beginning of last season.

In the reserves he was top appearance maker, starting all 18 games and scoring once. Joined Chelsea's Right to Play visit to Middle East for humanitarian purposes in May/June 2008.

Ben Sahar:
Born 10/8/89 in Holon, Israel.

Ben Sahar is currently on a 6 month loan deal with Portsmouth.

A rapid rise to prominence for the centre-forward who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2006 was ensured when in February 2007 he became both Chelsea and Israel's youngest international ever at the age of 17.

The next month he made more records by becoming our youngest international goalscorer with two goals against Estonia.

In the January before, Ben had made his Chelsea debut as a sub against Macclesfield in the FA Cup and his Premiership debut later that month against Wigan. In total he made four sub appearances during the 2006/07 campaign.

His previous club was Hapoel Tel-Aviv and his time in London began well with four goals in his first five youth team games and a first start in the reserves as early as September.

He finished with a reserve total of six goals from 15+1 game (making him top appearance maker) and began this season on loan at QPR although the start was interrupted by an appendix operation.

In total he played nine games at the Championship club but failed to find the net. A more productive time was enjoyed in the same division at Sheffield Wednesday between February and May 2008, scoring three games in 12 appearances.

Included was a goal in a final day win that kept the Hillsborough side up.

Franco Di Santo:
Born 7/4/1989 in Mendoza, Argentina.
The Argentine Under 20 international forward joined Chelsea as an 18-year-old in January 2008, having previously played for Chilean side Audax Italiano La Florida for whom he appeared in the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent to the Champions League.

He totalled 13 goals in 35 starts over the last two seasons at his former club.

Franco signed a four-and-a-half year contract for Chelsea and went into the reserves mid-season. By the end he was top scorer with seven goals in eight games, doing much to turn a run of 11 games without a win into six games undefeated, three of them victories.

Two penalties and an outstanding volley registered a hat-trick away to Tottenham and he also equalised against Arsenal.

A tall, industrious player, Franco describes his style as similar to a former Chelsea striker from the same country - Hernáand Crespo.

Fabio Borini:

Born 23/3/91 in Bentivoglio, Italy.

A tall striker and Italian Under 17 international who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2007 from Bologna. He found the net five times in 16+3 games in his first youth team season with one sub appearance in the reserves.

Adam Phillip:
Born 19/6/91 in Carshalton, Surrey.

A striker, late into the professional club system having been scouted aged 15 when playing Sunday park football with Sutton, Adam is now an England Under 17 international.

He is now in his second scholar season and was 'supersub' in the run to the FA Youth Cup Final, scoring three important goals, all from the bench. His full season total was 8 goals from 19+14 and there were also two reserve sub games.

Morten Nielson:
Born 24/2/90 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In his third year at Chelsea having turned pro in July 2007, Morten is a well-built centre-forward who moved to England from FC Copenhagen. He has played for Denmark Under 18s and his father, Benny, was a full international.

He took part in 15+4 youth team games last season, scoring four goals, and was the central striker in the FA Youth Cup run, finding the net twice. Morten also led the line in 2+2 reserve games, scoring once.

Frank Nouble:
Born 24/9/91

Along with Jeffrey Bruma, Frank was one of two schoolboys used regularly in the youth team in 2007/08.

Now a full-time scholar, Frank is a south London boy who has been with Chelsea since Under 12 level. A forward capable of playing centrally or wide, he is very quick and strong in one-on-one situations.

He started 14 youth games with 12 sub appearances last season (3+2 in the FA Youth Cup run). He scored six youth goals and made his team reserve debut in November 2007.

Called up by England Under 17s.

TCB Team

2009-04-07T17:13:00.001+10:00

Admin & Site Founder
Troy Palmer
Based in Australia
gurrung@gmail.com

Contributor

Bipinraj Mohan
Based in India
bipinraj.mohan@am.sony.com

Join the team! Anybody welcome! Contact Troy at gurrung@gmail.com

First Team Results & Scorers 08/09

2009-04-07T16:46:00.001+10:00

July 2008:
Wednesday 23rd July 2008: v Guangzhou (A)(F) Won 4 - 0
Saturday 26th July 2008: v Chengdu Blades (A)(F) Won 7 - 0
Tuesday 29th July 2008: v Malaysia XI (A)(F) Won 2 - 0

August 2008:
Friday 1st August 2008: v Lokomotiv Moscow (A)(F) Draw 1 - 1 (Lost on Pens)
Sunday 3rd August 2008: v AC Milan (A)(F) Won 5 - 0
Sunday 17th August 2008: v Portsmouth (H) Won 4 - 0
Sunday 24th August 2008: v Wigan (A) Won 1 - 0
Sunday 31st August 2008: v Tottenham (H) Draw 1- 1

September 2008:
Saturday 13th September 2008: v Manchester City (A) Won 3 - 1
Tuesday 16th September 2008: v Bordeaux (H)(CL) Won 4 - 0
Sunday 21st September 2008: v Manchester United (H) Draw 1 - 1
Wednesday 24th September 2008: v Portsmouth (A)(CC) Won 4 - 0
Saturday 27th September 2008: v Stoke City (A) Won 2 - 0

October 2008:
Wednesday 1st October 2008: v CFR Cluj (A)(CL) Draw 0 - 0
Sunday 5th October 2008: v Aston Villa (H) Won 2 - 0
Saturday 18th October 2008: v Middlesbrough (A) Won 5 - 0
Wednesday 22nd October 2008: v Roma (H)(CL) Won 1 - 0
Sunday 26th October 2008: v Liverpool (H) Lost 0 - 1
Wednesday 29th October 2008: v Hull City (A) Won 3 - 0

November 2008:
Saturday 1st November 2008: v Sunderland FC (H) Won 5 - 0
Tuesday 4th November 2008: v Roma (A)(CL) Lost 1 - 3
Sunday 9th November 2008: v Blackburn (A) Won 2 - 0
Wednesday 12th November 2008: v Burnley (H)(CC) Draw 1 - 1 (Lost on Pens)
Saturday 15th November 2008: v West Brom (A) Won 3 - 0
Saturday 22nd November 2008: v Newcastle (H) Draw 0 - 0
Wednesday 26th November 2008: v Bordeaux (A)(CL) Draw 1 - 1
Sunday 30th November 2008: v Arsenal (H) Lost 1 - 2

December 2008:

Saturday 6th December 2008: v Bolton (A) Won 2 - 0
Tuesday 9th December 2008: v Cluj (H)(CL) Won 2 - 1
Saturday 13th December 2008: v West Ham (H) Draw 1 - 1
Monday 22nd December 2008: v Everton (A) Draw 0 - 0
Friday 26th December 2008: v West Brom (H) Won 2 - 0
Sunday 28th December 2008: v Fulham (A) Draw 2 - 2

January 2009:
Saturday 3rd January 2009: v Southend (H) Draw 1 - 1
Sunday 11th January 2009: v Manchester United (A) Lost 0 - 3
Wednesday 14th January 2009: v Southend (A) Won 4 - 1
Saturday 17th January 2009: v Stoke City (H) Won 2 - 1
Saturday 24th January 2009: v Ipswich Town (H) Won 3 - 1
Wednesday 28th January 2009: v Middlesbrough (H) Won 2 - 0

February 2009:

Sunday 1st February 2009: v Liverpool (A) Lost 0 - 2
Saturday 7th February 2009: v Hull City (H) Draw 0 - 0
Saturday 14th February 2009: v Watford (A) Won 3 - 1
Saturday 21st February 2009: v Aston Villa (A) Won 1 - 0
Wednesday 25th February 2009: v Juventus (H) Won 1 - 0
Saturday 28th February 2009: v Wigan Athletic (H) Won 2 - 1

March 2009:

Tuesday 3rd March 2009: v Portsmouth (A) Won 1 - 0
Saturday 7th March 2009: v Coventry City (A) Won 2 - 0
Tuesday 10th March 2009: v Juventus (A) Drawn 2 - 2 (Won 3 - 2 on aggregate)
Sunday 15th March 2009: v Manchester City (H) Won 1 - 0
Saturday 21st March 2009: v Tottenham (A) Lost 0 - 1

April 2009:
Saturday 4th April 2009: v Newcastle (A) Won 2 - 0
Wednesday 8th April 2009: v Liverpool (A) Won 3 - 1
Saturday 11th April 2009: v Bolton (H) Won 4 - 3
Tuesday 14th April 2009: v Liverpool (H) Drawn 4 - 4 (Won 7 - 5 on aggregate)
Saturday 18th April 2009: v Arsenal (A) Won 2 - 1
Wednesday 22nd April 2009: v Everton (H) Drawn 0 - 0
Saturday 25th April 2009: v West Ham United (A) Won 1- 0
Tuesday 28th April 2009: v Barcelona (A) Drawn 0 - 0

May 2009:
Saturday 2nd May 2009: v Fulham (H) Won 3 - 1
Wednesday 6th May 2009: v Barcelona (H) Drawn 1 - 1 (Drawn 1 - 1 on aggregate; Barcelona win on away goals)
Sunday 10th May 2009: v Arsenal (A) Won 4 - 1

Top Scorers:

Nicolas Anelka = 23 (+ 6 Pre Season)
Frank Lampard = 19 (+ 3 Pre Season)
Didier Drogba = 13
Salomon Kalou = 10 (+ 2 Pre Season)
Florent Malouda = 8
Michael Ballack = 4
Alex da Costa = 4
Joe Cole = 3 (+ 2 Pre Season)
Michael Essien = 3 (+ 1 Pre Season)
John Terry = 3
Deco = 3
Juliano Belletti = 3
Branislav Ivanovic = 2
José Bosingwa = 2
Ricardo Carvalho = 1
Franco Di Santo = (+ 2 Pre Season)
Shaun Wright-Phillips = (+ 2 Pre Season)
Ashley Cole = (+ 1 Pre Season)

Own Goals = 3

Key:

(F) = Friendly Match
(FA) = FA Cup
(CC) = Carling Cup
(CL) = Champions League