lalaboi:

na wa oh. . . Same ol bullshi again. Play better first half. . loose chances. . . come back 2nd half and play zilch. . .

wont be surprised if we get spanked at white hart line . .

Bose went off injured. . . . tse na Ferreira go play right back?? Chineke!

May the good lord grant Tottenham the grace to use this chance to shame chelsea--------London derby i pray chelsea drops all 3 points or at best draw but God forbid a draw----Will be fun to see Satan lose!! Chelsea is going down the drain this weekend-----cant wait for Chelsea's next loss, how can a team be more useless?

   BREAKING NEWS       CHELSEA FOR SALE


[b]Updated Dec , 2010 [/b]8:05 PM ET

Money can do strange things to your mind.

It can make you feel invincible, untouchable and it can also lead to you believing that you know how to run a football club.

When Chelsea owner, Russian oligarch and 50th richest man in the world, Roman Abramovich first purchased the Blues from Ken Bates, he was content to watch the matches from his comfortable box and let the football people make the decisions. All he had to do was open up the cash spigot and let it flow.

Over a six-year period, the West Londoners became the toast of football. They made winning look easy and they did it with arrogance. But a funny thing happened on the way up to the stage to collect yet another trophy. The owner started believing he was the man responsible for the team’s success. So he sacked the best manager in the world and brought in his own puppets. Well, it turns out that running a club is not as easy as he thought.
When it’s your toy though, there is always the attraction to want to play manager every now and again. Since his tenure in West London, Abramovich has succumbed to its irresistible temptation on more than one occasion.

The results have usually proven disastrous and on each occasion he’s been forced to scurry back to ‘football people’ that ‘know the game’ in order to repair the situation. Whether he’ll do so this time is the burning question on the minds of all Chelsea fans.

Since the firing of assistant coach, Ray Wilkins, the team has gone into a tailspin of epic proportions. With only one win in their last six Premiership matches, the club has slipped from first to third. With Spurs, Manchester United and Arsenal coming up in a trifecta that would test them at their best, there are legitimate fears that the season that began in glorious sunshine and scintillating fashion will freeze over in December.

In fact, I hope you’ve packed some thermal underwear and a copy of Solzhenitsyn’s 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' if you want to hang out with Abramovich because I think he’s looking firmly back east to Moscow and that his crush on Chelsea is all but over.

Of course his parting gift will be to sell off any shining baubles that still have value, because he sure doesn’t seem like he wants to spend any more of his easy earned money on a Chelsea team that is aging before my very eyes.

Let’s be clear here. This team, right now, is suffering from a[b] mental fragility[/b] and its so obvious that even Carlo Ancelotti is being forced to address it.

"We started to be scared when Everton put pressure on us," he said after yet more dropped points. By the way, this same Everton team had been pummeled 4-1 at Goodison Park by West Bromwich Albion last time out.

Scared and mentally fragile are words that I’ve not heard associated with Chelsea since the infamous meltdown to Marseille in the UEFA Champions League under Claudio Ranieri.

Sure you have the warriors in the form of the ever-mouthy John Terry, the brave and dignified Petr Cech but after that it’s a struggle to name a true Blue. With Frank Lampard still on the sideline, Chelsea is currently missing that heartbeat that defines all clubs.

The likes of Ashley Cole, Nicolas Anelka, Flourent Malouda and Didier Drogba may kiss the badge, but offer them a fat contract elsewhere and they’d be at Heathrow Airport before you could order them a limo.

As for Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Jose Bosingwa, they appear to shrivel up when the going gets really tough and the bench, well it is the weakest I’ve seen in years. The intimidation factor that won Chelsea games in the tunnel before the match had even started is not there and you can almost pinpoint to the day when that happened.

On November 7th a very average Liverpool team tore into the defending Premier League champions and stuffed them. That has become a blueprint for the rest of the division.

Ancelotti seemingly has no answers and is beginning to take on the haunted look of a man that knows the axe is being sharpened. Unfortunately for the Italian, the executioner’s knowledge of football could fit on a pinhead but as I like to say, 'it’s the man who pays the piper that calls the tune.'

Watching Roman call FIFA’s tune last week in Zurich, I would imagine his new mission concerns the building trade and developing the many stadiums that Russia will need in eight years time. Given his close relationship with Vladimir Putin, I don’t think too many of those contracts will be going out for tender.

From club football to World Cup football and all it takes is a few hundred million.

Money. It’s a gas.

Nick Webster is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the Barclay's Premier League and the English national team.

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/premierleague/story/Webster-Blues-chief-ready-to-exit-PL-stage

Another loss?

People shouldn't blame us for getting pissed.
We ain't used to losing, unlike our London neighbours. 

I expect another 3 consecutive loses in Dec.

CA show the world that your achievement last season was no fluke!

BlueDiva:

Another loss?

People shouldn't blame us for getting pissed.
We ain't used to losing, unlike our London neighbours. 

I expect another 3 consecutive loses in Dec.

CA show the world that your achievement last season was no fluke!

Yebariba Sanboribobo

A loss to Spurs would be a disaster tho cos UTD would be coming afterwards

The most crucial game for you this season in against Spurs! A draw is enough: you dare not lose that game

Despite the slump,I think Chelsea still have enough quality to get past this tricky phase of up-coming games with a decent/tangible points haul to maintain their title challenge.
As an opposition supporter,I should be glad they are in this situation but I wouldn't gloat just yet.
I think something behind the scenes isn't just right,and it's affecting the players and Carlo.
I wouldn't want to write them off just yet. . .I still think Chelsea fans need to be a little patient. . .
Great squad players exist in that side.The only problem I see could be depth in personnel.

A bad patch taking too damn long but norin norin. We will ride the storm.
I say crush spurs.  but erm, first just who will curtail Bale on the left flank? kai, omo dangerous crosses oh!

Lotti should detail someone (I say Essien to shackle bale wella) to help PF! He cannot do it alone.

@FBS,
Bale to me gets to do damage because of the movement VDV off the ball.
I think man-marking Bale wouldn't work. . .
As per the patch,I wouln't worry too much about it. . .

@Starboard,
was VdV in town last season in April? We all saw what Bale did to PF (heck even JT had nothing on bale) ol boy, no be small thing oo!
Maybe not man-marking. . .but certainly PF will need a lot of help.

@FBS,
Yeah VDV wasn't around,but your players had an off-day then,if I recall.Besides Paulo Ferrera hasn't played any decent/meaningful football for years now. . I think he's taking money from Chelsea FC,not earning it. . .he's been appalling since 2009.
If your DMs come to the party,then maybe the game will not be as free as last season's tie.My humble op.

We play Ramires right back against Spurs.

If we play PF, I won't even wait around to see what the result is going to be.

@Starboard,
An off day THEN? hehehe. From what we can very well see, the boys are still on holidays. LOL
VdV FYI might not even play.
But again, I really wish the boys will return to form cos nna men, we need to get back on track.

If our DM comes to play. . .ah ha! that's why I said the triumvirate of Essien, Mikel and what's his name again, RAMirez will have enough to do.

Nah,Bro.
Back then,that performance against Spurs could be tagged an off-day. . .

What is wrong with my beloved Chelsea?

Point is, the confidence level now is at an ALL TIME LOW! this season.

An early goal against Chelsea, and it will be another OFF DAY! and I don't want that to happen.

@FBS,
I'll tell you something I have always believed:no two seasons are exactly the same.
I'll use Man United as an example.
In 2007-08,United played some devastating soccer,especially at the second half of that season.
2008-09,Unites suddenly weren't fluid,and were winning games 1-nil,just enough to win from game-to-game.
At the end,we won the title both seasons.
It's not going to be smooth sailing all the way. . .there will be defeats and slumps in form of players,coupled with injuries.
Í can understand the expectation from y'all but sometimes these things just happen.
I'm speaking from experience as a United fan who underwent three barren seasons.

@StarBoard. . .3 barren seasons you say? hehehe. How about Chelsea? 50 damn years!  You can't tell me we don't know what is feels like? or folks from the The L'Arse group.hehe!  Who knows. . . they may forever remain in darkness.

So yes, of course these things happen. It is football and no two seasons and at times games are the same. Now, everyone is expecting Spurs to have it easy but like I have said earlier, if we do the right things and own the midfield and fix the RB position, we will be back on track.

Sometimes the difference between a win and a loss is just a few inches.

I'm not shaking.  Eru o ba mi

Erm,Bro,
I daresay you're not 50 years old. . .but I can believe you were a fan before the Abramovich era so I can understand you. . .Let's not even go to the Arsenal fans.Most of them don't have an IQ up to zero,so leave them out of this,abeg!!!
I get your post. . .that's why I don't believe this slump will last too long.
Spurs might just get caught in this game,I tell you. . .if everybody plays up to near-potential,the worst result you would get is a draw which is a credit given how well the Spurs seem to be playing lately.

Kai when i think of what Bale can do, i shudder.
Let's keep the score respectable though. I can manage a 2 nil defeat nothing more.

@StarBoard, 50 ke?!
But oh yes, we will ride this storm. The only prayer is that it shouldn't last too long. Other teams are not waiting you know. Morale and confidence shouldn't be low and I won't deceive myself, the team will have to fight for this. A win and its yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

As for L'Arse boys. You are right. We shouldn't go there.  

Kai . .

Bale against Ferreira. . . How we go take explain am.
Ramires to right back. Mikel in midfield with Essien and Josh, if Carllotti has the balls.
Malouda, Anelka and Sturridge. in attack.

Drogba and Kalou on the bench. . . again, if Carllotti has the balls.

I really believe we are just one splendid performance away from a come back. The only way to do that though, is to find confidence in another way. It may be difficult to justify, but persisting with out-of-form players like Drogba will certainly not bring the confidence back any quickly. I say we go for it.


Nothing do us. Still.

. . .Earlier this season Chelsea were destroying everything in their path, beginning the campaign with six-goal hammerings of West Brom and Wigan and looking so good that people were genuinely talking about them being the greatest side ever to grace the game. That seductive illusion of infallibility was just as deceptive as the current appearance of a crisis on the King's Road.

Yet everybody has already forgotten the heady days of six weeks ago, when Chelsea were on course to build such a big lead in the league that they were set to be crowned champions at Christmas.

The way things are going now, however, suggest that we're only a few weeks away from the Blues being talked about as relegation candidates.

It's all rubbish, obviously. Though they have won only once since the departure of Ray Wilkins - and that only against Champions League whipping boys Zilina - it remains the same squad of players, with the same skills and fitness doing the same thing, day in, day out.

[b]Carlo Ancelotti hasn't bumped his head and forgotten everything he knows about tactical guidance, and Didier Drogba hasn't had his magical footwear stolen in a Billy's Boots-style comic strip farce. The club has simply slammed home an essential truth that it's a physical and mental impossibility for any sportsman to perform at their peak permanently.

Let's get it straight. Chelsea's recent results are not 'shocking'. A shocking result would be seeing the reigning champions lose 8-0 to a non-league side in an FA Cup match, not seeing them lose to well-drilled and highly professional sides such as Sunderland. The gap between the big four and the ordinary clubs closed so much last season it's no longer a surprise to see anybody beat anybody.

Shocking, in football terms, is seeing Leeds go from Champions League football to the brink of oblivion within the space of a few seasons. Shocking is Eric Cantona kung-fu kicking a fan. It's not shocking to see a football club lose a few games in a row to players only slightly less skilled than they are.[/b]

A few weeks ago Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini was in crisis after seeing his men lose to Arsenal, Wolves and Lech Poznan in quick succession, with dozens of stories hitting the papers about internal strife at Eastlands.

City were a runaway juggernaut, and it seemed inconceivable that the club's oil-rich owners would leave the driver in his job - yet an unbeaten month later and Mancini seems to have doused talk of crisis.

And just as Mancini rode out the storm, and ED would happily wager as much as five pence that Ancelotti will do the same.

This is real talk here. . .

@nateevs,
My only problem with Ramirez at right back is that defensively,he isn't much better than PF.
He dilly-dallies and shilly-shallies too long on the ball and is massively indecisive.
Given what Bale did to Brazil's best Right Back Maicon some weeks ago,I'm not so sure a converted DM who is yet to establish any kind of consistency or confidence in his game will fare much better.But again it's footie and stranger things have happened. . .so i won't categorically put my money on my pessimism of Ramirez at RB

A 'whole' Chelski looking for strategies to beat Spurs?

How the mighty have fallen.

While no two seasons are the same, this ‘dip’ is not due to seasonal variations, it is due to Lamps being out longer than probably in his entire career and the lack of quality on the bench to fill in when the first team lads are not performing.

Still no reason to worry yet, get through December still in touch with the top and everyone still has a chance. However, lose two or three games and the alarm bells will be ringing loudly.

Still can’t bring myself to cheer on Spurs, but I’ll try on Sunday.

StarBoard:

@nateevs,
My only problem with Ramirez at right back is that defensively,he isn't much better than PF.
He dilly-dallies and shilly-shallies too long on the ball and is massively indecisive.
Given what Bale did to Brazil's best Right Back Maicon some weeks ago,I'm not so sure a converted DM who is yet to establish any kind of consistency or confidence in his game will fare much better.But again it's footie and stranger things have happened. . .so i won't categorically put my money on my pessimism of Ramirez at RB

I say Ramires though not in terms of defensive superiority to other players, but because he has to pace and energy to match Bale on a good day. He doesn't need to pass the ball when he gets it. He only needs to boot it out.

A much stronger option is to move Ivanovic to RB and play JT and Bruma in the middle. I can doubt though that Carllotti would give credence to this point of view after a goal came in from Bruma's side of play yesterday.

I fully subscribe to a loan move for Bruma. He is a very good player and needs to get a lot of experience. I only would have wanted it in a premiership club or the Championship.


In all, I am still hoping for 3pts on saturday. If we don't make it, I still will be hoping for the next 3 points after then.

Nothing do us.

DD will start. Not because Lotti does not have the balls to bench him but we all know (deny it all you want) that he is a goal machine. An in-form DD is a nasty DD!. Else why da y'all have in on your Fantasy teams?

As a matter of fact, the team is not scoring cos DD is not firing. He is the very reason we won the double last season.
Bad form, bad patch, malaria? whatever it is, he needs to get his scoring boots on. Starting this weekend

FBS:

DD will start. Not because Lotti does not have the balls to bench him but we all know (deny it all you want) that he is a goal machine. An in-form DD is a nasty DD!. Else why da y'all have in on your Fantasy teams?

As a matter of fact, the team is not scoring cos DD is not firing. He is the very reason we won the double last season.
Bad form, bad patch, malaria? whatever it is, he needs to get his scoring boots on. Starting this weekend

How can anyone deny that DD is a goal machine? No one can.
How can anyone yet criticize Carllotti for being "perhaps technically inept" either. . . ?

Arguments of convenience. If Carllotti can be demanded to produce results or walk. Why can't the players. ?
Also before you credit Drogba only for the reason we won the double last season, I implore you to check out the assist rate of Lampard to Drogba.

I guess it all depends on whose side you are on.

We just need a nigga with pace and energy to match Bale.

Ramires can do that having played) in his earlier years and acting as a defacto) for Brazil anytime Maicon/Alves go forward.

We are talking obvious commonsense here but will the manager see it or will he keep persisting with that born loser called Paulo Ferreira?

@ Nateevs,

Marseille goal yest was all Ivanovics fault. He fell asleep and Brandao sneaked ahead of him. I don't see what Bruma has to do with it.

I keep saying that Ivanovic is only half the player when he plays CB although he is threatening the club that if they move him back to RB he won't sign a new contract.

nateevs:


How can anyone deny that DD is a goal machine? No one can.
How can anyone yet criticize Carllotti for being "perhaps technically inept" either. . . ?

Arguments of convenience. If Carllotti can be demanded to produce results or walk. Why can't the players. ?
Also before you credit Drogba only for the reason we won the double last season, I implore you to check out the assist rate of Lampard to Drogba.

I guess it all depends on whose side you are on.

I'm on only one side (you can stay on any side you wish to) and that's on Chelsea's side. Take it or leave it.
DD has been terrible for like a month now (malaria o, out of form, team generally playing badly or whatever) and I say it like it is but we know hez still got it and that you cannot deny.
The stats will tell you "assists" because it was converted into a GOAL. Anything short of that will be regarded as an attempt. kapish?
Regarding Lotti, I give up. If you or anyone else can't decipher what I meant. no shakes. just take it say I no sabi football. I be jjc.

End of story is this: The team (Lotti and his players) should wake up.

Plus we already know where most of spurs threat will come from and we are eagerly waiting to know how Lotti will address this. This is simple enough for anyone to understand. Technically inept or not.

I rest my case.

From BBC football:

"I am surprised nobody comments on the hopelessly ineffective John Obi Mikel, probably the slowest player in the Premier League. He never shoots, never scores, never sprints."



@ All,


My boy Lampard will save the day. Even when Scolari was playing this tight football where the opponents put 10 men behind the ball, Lamps was the only one who used to score.

Even as you see Carlotti team facing the same tactical malaise now, Lamps will pop every game, or at least drag the centre backs away from each other to create space for others.