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Man City 2 Chelsea 0

Chelsea suffered their fourth defeat on the bounce at the Etihad Stadium as City moved further ahead in the race for second place.

Team News - For the trip to the Etihad Stadium, Rafa Benitez brought back several of those who sat out the Europa League fixture against Sparta Prague, Ashley Cole returned at left back, David Luiz partnered Gary Cahill at the heart of the defence, Frank Lampard returned to captain the side, Eden Hazard started in midfield and Demba Ba was preferred up front to Fernando Torres.

First Half - City got the action underway in a half in which they were to have the better chances. Very early on Petr Cech was forced into making a low save from a shot by Yaya Toure before Chelsea got a foothold in the game when Hazard and Ba combined to win a corner. Unfortunately, for Chelsea, the delivery was poor, something that was to be common place in the first half, with the kick being cleared at the near post.

City, almost camped in our half at times, forced Cech into making a great one handed save after Nastasic met a corner with a downward header. Yay Toure then saw Cahill block a shot that skidded away for a corner before Cahill then managed to block an effort from Jack Rodwell.

Lampard, being very optimistic, tried his luck from forty yards out but his shot was high and handsome. Rodwell, bursting into the box, headed over under pressure from David Luiz before Ramires was booked for a high challenge on Yaya Toure.

Cahill produced some more impressive defending getting a block, via his head, from a Zabaleta shot before, as half time approached, Cech was forced to tip over the bar a long range effort from Rodwell. From the resulting corner Cech produced another decent save from a header from Nastasic.

Second Half - Chelsea got the second half under way but City carved out the first chance when an acrobatic effort from Aguero flew wide. Chelsea responded with a low shot from Hazard that Hart saved before, with seven minutes of the half gone Chelsea had a glorious chance to go ahead.

Ba, chasing a long ball was brought down by Hart in the City goal. Lampard stepped up but his low shot was excellently saved by Hart and the opportunity was gone.

Mancini made a change on the hour mark, taking off Rodwell and bringing on Tevez. Cahill continuing his excellent defensive work, blocked an Aguero shot before another effort from the Argentine, with Cech rushing out, landed on the roof of the net.

With sixty two minutes gone through City went ahead when Silva slipped the ball back to Yaya Toure and his curled shot clipped the heel of Cahill to beat Cech at the far post. Benitez, six minutes later introduced Oscar and Moses for Lampard and Hazard but still offered little going forward.

A last substitution saw Torres replace Ba but City were to double their lead with five minutes of normal time left when Tevez hit a shot from twenty yards that gave Cech no chance.

Chelsea - Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, D Luiz, Cole, Mikel (Torres-80), Lampard (Moses-68)), Ramires, Mata, Hazard (Oscar-68), Ba .

Unused Subs - Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Terry, Bertrand,

Chelsea Scorers - Nil

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Ramires

Chelsea Red Cards - Nil




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Writer: Merlin Mail feedback, articles or suggestions

Date:Sunday February 24 2013

Time: 3:23PM

Your Comments

RAFA OUT !!!!!!! PERIOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don capon
if i could predict almost the whole rafa line up 2 hours before our game against sparta . out of which th only one i did not get was terry . this is absolutely non sense . now see the effects of dropped points against stupid teams
Don capon
1 good thing with this is that man city will finish 2. Which means Mancini will not get the sack, which means that MOURINHO will come home! Bring back the special 1!!!!!!!!!!
Lakupiippu
I am not a manager , the closest i have to management is FM13 , but i am not so stupid to start lampard for such a match , i said it days ago . i knew he would not change from his 4231 , so the pivot should have been mikel and luiz . And terry was on the ******** bench , i mean who the ***** does that .Now i am thinking it is a conspiracy that rafa has against us . Read more: http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=533481#ixzz2LpZFyNTV
Don capon
I am not a manager , the closest i have to management is FM13 , but i am not so stupid to start lampard for such a match , i said it days ago . i knew he would not change from his 4231 , so the pivot should have been mikel and luiz . And terry was on the ******** bench , i mean who the ***** does that .Now i am thinking it is a conspiracy that rafa has against us . Read more: http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=533481#ixzz2LpZFyNTV
Don capon
sorry for the double posts sack rafa before it is too late
Don capon
Let move on pipo,just take d pain
na me b chelsea
rafa should be sacked right now...he is destroying our club...cant beleive what still roman sees in him...its is better to be witbout manager rather than having him...
shlok27
He needs to go now! I don't care if Holland is placed in temporary charge! There is no passion or fight for the cause, why didn't Terry or Azpilicueta start, what is Ramires doing on the right wing instead of Moses?
Splint1976
if i say i am *****ed off its an understatement, what was that? Rafa is no coach
darilngblue
got to go to the next game with rafa in our rearview...
Gian-Franco/Luca
Seriously folks wat formation did we revert to after the subs were made? I really dnt get it! I bet even the players were as misplaced as we were. Come'on its bloody obvious Rafa was terrible today.
manzo2k6
and he has an assistant manager who has no management experience so we cannot obviously appoint him , and there should be at least one manager who is free ,
Don capon
don capon... which of the center half did play bad?? i don't thing terry would have had better game than them. its actually midfield which su(ks.. the club has become more about lampard these days.. he gets raped in the midfield again and again in the big games. and today he even got raped by hart.. the player we never replaced is ballack.. ramires's first touch is embarrasing really. mikel.. no comments. in terms of midfield duties.. luiz is better than all of them.. it's a joke really that club of our size doesn't have a single proper midfielder aware of his duties. thank god that torres did not played today.. because otherwise he would have been blamed for this loss to hide lampard.
ChampionBlue
Merlin ur summary says Ba was subbed for Torres wen he indeed came in for mikel.
manzo2k6
@championsblue non of the center halves played badly , but it would have been wiser to have terry and cahill as defenders and luiz and mikel at the pivot . our midfield was poor and why did ivanovic start over dave who jhas been on an amazing form lately
Don capon
And yet he plays a stronger team against bradford . #pathetic
Don capon
iva should have been subbed before the 60th minute because most of city's attack were down the right, but tubby thought otherwise, this guy is no tactician, rammy should have been off and wat was the porres-mikel change? this man is bringing us down
darilngblue
Oscar should play all the games ahead of Lampard from now.
foreign_viewer
No system about us now, every game now looks like 10 outfield individuals, not a team with proper coaching to a thoroughly thought out SYSTEM suited to the players.
BlueABS
give me ferguson's little toe or arsene wenger's left notrel over rafa any day. in fact i'd prefer a waste paper basket. if chelsea dont want to pay out rafa's cmpensation that's fine; he can see out the rest of his contract as a doorstop. not a particularly good doorstop albeit (who wants a doorstop that mutter endlessly about "squad management"?) but, unless we open a bad spanish restaurant, it's hard to see a role in the club where the fat spanish waiter wil be effective.
blueirishman
I so want the rats who support to defend him now and slate RDM.... One thing for sure, we are playing worse football now then we ever did under RDM.
Ess...DaBison
@don capon... I think Harry Redknapp should be free soon... he'd love it at Chelsea
Cape Town Spurs
lampard's penalty was well struck and it was a great save, yes you can criticze him for having a poor game but i remember at least two or three occasions when he tried to muscle toure off the ball. a few decent passes aside he was anonymous when almost everyone was. But, you know he can pull something out of a hat from distance and after seeing a penalty saved he could have been motivated. Hazard looked the most threatening and had started the last two games on the bench and scored a great goal last time out. and he is subbed. Ramires starting made sense as we were going to counter, but mikel's uselessness means ramires had to stay deep to tackle and his passing isnt great. if we are chasing the game ramires isnt useful wide since we were not going to counter. Terry for Mikel = you get JT on the pitch which will fire up the players, you can put someone in the midfield who can tackle and pass in Luiz.
Mia Maynard
@ChampionBlue, u said what? Torres did not do what?
darilngblue
where is ken, mq, fv? where are they? come your tactician
darilngblue
give me ferguson's little toe or arsene wenger's left notrel over rafa any day. in fact i'd prefer a waste paper basket. if chelsea dont want to pay out rafa's cmpensation that's fine; he can see out the rest of his contract as a doorstop. not a particularly good doorstop albeit (who wants a doorstop that mutter endlessly about "squad management"?) but, unless we open a bad spanish restaurant, it's hard to see a role in the club where the fat spanish waiter wil be effective.
blueirishman
can we gift lampard 4 goals???? he shoot when toure is ahead of him.. and went fo goal from nearly half line???? selfish fella and a glory hunter.
ChampionBlue
Guys, try to calm your emotions..the better side deservedly won...we were very very poor...and its not only rafa who should shoulder the blame, I tot like half of our team was poor...I am sorry, but that is it and the better team deservedly won....for me Rafa has not had any input into this team..i mean there are no improvements...even the games we have won, I dont think we have been convincing (Wigan (that scoreline flatters), sparta prague over the two legs and all those other draws with bottom half teams)...we can talk about lampard's penalty miss...but before and after the panalty..we were poor..very poor indeed..having said that..it will be very unfair to put 100% blame on tubby...our players were also not good enough on the day...there are a lot of issues around motivation, conviction and confidence...we seem to be on a downward spiral at the moment and not only from the results alone, our quality of play is near abysmal..the next coach has got a big big job...he has a lot of tough calls to make...which player stays and which player goes...asides from hazard, Mata, moses, Azpi, Cole (he just signed a contract), Ba, no one other player in this club is above the chop at the moment...our team needs a lot of structural change and a new sense of direction...if Barca wants luiz, maybe he can leave if the price is really right...but the summer should be interesting, I expect very very tough calls by the new gaffer...and guys top four is far from a surety...for me I had always known that...we have got a big big battle in our hands...I am hoping for the best but well prepared for the worst...we'll see where all these ends....*sigh.
layorh12
Not even bothering with player or match analysis. Just sack Rafa. Enough is eenough. Don't know what's taking the Russian dictator long.
KAKUfrank
I'd even take the solid defensive football or as the rats no it as "boring negative parking the bus" over this crap. At least with that one aspect was right....Not like this filth where absolutely nothing is right!
Ess...DaBison
*defend your tactician* sorry for the typo
darilngblue
I told you guys days ago that benitez will loose this match and he didn't dissapoint me. I said we don't only need to be consistent across competition(europa&Fa Cup) but most importantly in the BPL. I said this bcos I felt beforehand that he will loose this match then he will go ahead and tell the press that tho we lost this match but we have been doin well before now. I mean if we can't by any means impose ourselves in a mtach with kolo toure and natasic in defense and rodwell and garcia in midfield then am sorry to say I expect that the board will sack rafa in the next few games. Just my hunch
BluesInMe
*know
Ess...DaBison
@championblue pls be straight with ur comment..u r still slating mikel.there r worst players on the picth.rammy, lampard, mata, luiz, ivanovic.it was obvious that the removal of mikel was the killer blow for chelsea's head
endyblue
We have too many show ponies and not enough fighters. No Terry, No Drogba, No Essien, No Ballack, No Carvalho. These players have just not been replaced with acceptable top quality players despite all the money (wasted) spent. With all the tricks and flicks on show at Chelsea these days we are turning into the Harlem Globetrotters when we need to be be the Miami Heat.
CobhamBlue
Emenalo`s team got overun again today, it doesn`t matter who the manager is only Mata would got into Jose`s best 11 of 2005. The players that our board have purchased are not good enough. The cycle is over, as painful as that is, our days at the top have gone.
Blueheart9
Lampard does nothing in midfield. He's a minus. Makalele, Essien, Ballack, Deco etc have been covering him for years. He reciprocated with goals. But now he is way past his best. Nobody alive would put in the the world XI exceptfor sentimental fans.
foreign_viewer
@championblue pls be straight with ur comment..u r still slating mikel.there r worst players on the picth.rammy, lampard, mata, luiz, ivanovic.it was obvious that the removal of mikel was the killer blow for chelsea's head
endyblue
give me ferguson's little toe or arsene wenger's left notrel over rafa any day. in fact i'd prefer a waste paper basket. if chelsea dont want to pay out rafa's cmpensation that's fine; he can see out the rest of his contract as a doorstop. not a particularly good doorstop albeit (who wants a doorstop that mutter endlessly about "squad management"?) but, unless we open a bad spanish restaurant, it's hard to see a role in the club where the fat spanish waiter wil be effective.
blueirishman
The current Man City would smash Jose's team. They are technically better. Football has moved on.
foreign_viewer
I am sorry Mia i disagree on lamps pen..it was a poor one by his standards..usually when las take a pen he hits it with power and it is in the air so that it will take a superhuman save to stop it..against a world class gk like hart..especially one who knows lamps pretty well to keep the ball on the ground with relatively little mustard on it was a recipe for disaster..lamps has saved us many a time but today he pretty much sunk us because the moment he missed that pen all the momentum swung heavily in citys favor an the crowd got back into it.It was downhill for us from then on. The whole point of having a designated pk taker is for him to deliver in crunch time and today lamps failed miserably..end of story.
GabeU
has Rafa been sacked yet?
darilngblue
I'm sure the captain of the titanic had more control over the titanic than what rafa has over our sinking ship. How many times did Ramires run with the ball and loose it. I think the next week should be exclusively spent on crossing, ball distribution, ball retention, and delivery from set pieces and also the final ball. I can't believe that a team with some of the most creative players in the world can't cross a ball. Did hazard do something wrong, why was Ramires kept on the field for as long as he was? I just don't know.
Blue1989
And this is a warning to you guys that want to hire some pelligrini. If he comes am sure he would hardly win a trophy. If we must hire a coach we need one that commands and demands respect from the players. Only then will they play to instructions and fear to loose. We need a mourinho or moyes or conte
BluesInMe
im tired of people using lamps nd mikel as skapegoats. they are two very, very good players and any bad performance on their part is more likely to be due to how the team is organised. to make things as simple as possible for everyone: today a team without a plan went up against a team with a plan and the team with a plan won. surprised? surely it is the person who makes the plans fault. get a good manager (jose is my wet dream) and if the team still under-performs THEN you can blame the players but not befoie.
blueirishman
Why does Tubby believe that Hazard & Oscar rotate, it really should be Oscar & Mata, poor Juan he really needs a rest, he was knackered before we even kicked off. Mata cannot play every game and all minutes, it's bloody obvious.
BlueABS
hahahha @FV they wpuld smash jose's team ???? LMAO it seems youre not feeling too well
Don capon
im tired of people using lamps nd mikel as skapegoats. they are two very, very good players and any bad performance on their part is more likely to be due to how the team is organised. to make things as simple as possible for everyone: today a team without a plan went up against a team with a plan and the team with a plan won. surprised? surely it is the person who makes the plans fault. get a good manager (jose is my wet dream) and if the team still under-performs THEN you can blame the players but not befoie.
blueirishman
FV, jose beat them real madrid
darilngblue
sorry for the double post. have no idea why it happened.
blueirishman
Alright lads ? Hope you don't mind me joining in. Didn't think you were that bad and put us under a lot of pressure for an away team. It was all yours for the taking and I don't see how you can blame Benitez. If Lamps buries the penalty then you probably take the points. Thought our goals were good. Don't go getting all despondent and start changing managers mid-stream. We need you to take points of the 'rags' at Old Toilet. Call us hopeless dreamers if you want but we still haven't given up.
CITYBOY1000
Why do I think Lamps next 3 goals will probably be the hardest to get in his career.
BlueABS
Not yet darlingblue. Waiting for his press conference. If it is up to 45 minutes like RDM's then maybe he's been sacked. Lmaoooo @Globetrotters.
KAKUfrank
The team can't press. You need athletic players for that. That's why teams like City pass the ball freely. The most athletic players have to start ahead of the slower players.
foreign_viewer
i couldnt understand rafa substitutions . tactical genius ? i was inch away from snapped up and blow a punch at city's fan in front of me when we were 1 goal down , but after tevez's goal i laughed , pathetically . chelsea has become a joke , even to me ...
JackSufre
His press conference has started. Clueless ******** board. Fired ppl for less. Don't understand the patience with this guy.
KAKUfrank
Our defence is average, Cahill's first decision lets him down but recovers well. We need to invest in our defence and central midfielder. Cahill and iva are an accident waiting to happen and it's sad that JT is even slower. Mata has been off form for some time now.
shaka09
One thing for sure, Tubby cannot blame missed chances, we didn't have any. So what's the betting he blames Lamps missed penalty. One things for sure, he won't blame himself or his selections or his (lack of) tactics.
BlueABS
you guys just keep blaming lampard and ramires . Lamaprd is learning how to play in pivot at the age of 34 and he is supposed to kill his attacking instincts all of a sudden . then ramires clearly a box to box midfielder will automatically turn to a deep lying play maker in s0ome games . guys we bought players for 433 formation and now we are playing them in 4231 OUT OF POSITION and yet when they underperform we complain
Don capon
Going into this game i knew we weren't going to come out with anything out of this game. If we learned anything from this game it is that Benitez is absolute and utter pure garbage as manager and tactician. There was a reason he was unemployed for so long, and he showed us exactly why. The only thing he did right was to bench Torres, other then that he can't manage to save his life... I seriously do not want to see or hear another word coming out of this mans mouth!!! We've been playing poorly for most of this season, we were leaking goals right, left and center under RDM but at least we were exciting and thrilling to watch going forward but when Benitez came in he even killed that!!! It would make FAR greater sense to bring in a defense organizing and specialty coach (not a manager) to help out RDM... We deserve to lose this game, just like we deserve everything that is coming our way at the moment, because Chelsea FC, Benitez and Torres deserve each other!!!
Tiraspol
Sacking Rafa may mean a coach will come that will give every player a fair chance in the team. No politcs or playing by seniority.
foreign_viewer
@endyblue.. i slated all the midfielders.. ok with that?? and you are trying to defend mikel just because after he went, they scored a second??? come on man, didn't you see how carelessly he le toure go past him???? and he even didn't return to try to block that... he is just like a fifth defender on the pitch. what about about winning the ball and transition to attack?? what about bossing the midfield??? he just shields the defence. only that. no through ball, no pass to wing and nothing..
ChampionBlue
Roman if u love chelsea very much give this waiter that pink letter in your locker, i know u wanted to wait till May but please May is like eternity to me so please pull the trigger now
darilngblue
I tought we play only one CB today and two full backs. I kept seeing cahill pop up everywhere but where on earth was david luiz smh... And ramires had the poorest touch in this game
BluesInMe
At this point i fear we are not going to make top 4 bcus as at now we are leading Arsenal by 2 point and tottenham by a point with tottenham having a game in hand, we can't afford to lose any more point
Tosco
sorry for the double post. have no idea why it happened.
blueirishman
A small saving grace is that Spurs play Arsenal next week, so both can't gain ground on us, unless of course, we lose.
BlueABS
@ChampionBlue, why blame mikel alone , what was iva doing when the ball was being passed around in his area, he stood there ball watching, for the second goal mikel was not at fault because he was subbed for the stripper.
darilngblue
ChampionBlue - Thank you...CFC has the worst midfield...Luiz is better than anyone they have. Mikel was down right BAD today...Man C just walked through the midfield today with NO pressure at all...How the hell you going to win a game when NO ONE defends.
lamarochs
@Kaku have said whatever is expected to be said in this thread, no need to analyse anything in this game, we should just fire the man and bring in holland or whoever is willing to take the damn job, why I keep asking for mourinho is bcos of what a wise fan have pointed out already, mou will command respect, if u don't play well for him, u'll get the bench, casillas was thinking he is untouchable and guess what? Jose benched him and damned the consequences. That is the type of manager that we need, a manager that will impose himself on the team and not a wimp!! I am sorry u guys are just smelling the coffee, I have been saying it that we won't make top 4 with rafa for over 2 months now
Desmondadonis
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Capello wants to come to PL, get rid of rafa now and bring in Capello for next 18 months. It's the only logical solution.
Blue1989
@BluesInMe, as far as i am concerned we played one cb and one fulback, iva was a disaster today it remind me of a certain bosigwa
darilngblue
endyblue - Mikel was the worst today...Lampard / Ramires fighting it out for second worst with Mata third worst...
lamarochs
Blueirishman - You are correct. Lampard only needs to play in a 4-3-3 and Ramires only needs to play in a 4-3-3 when we are 2 goals ahead. Moreover, Mikel only needs to play when there is someone next to him that can play the ball and be creative..so that eliminates Lampard, Ramires and Romeu. Other than that...CFC has a great midfield.
lamarochs
Capello is overrated.
foreign_viewer
Bad lineup and the subs were made too late. But worse than that, the squad plays with no urgency. You see individuals making effort--Juan Mata, for instance, didn't have a good game, but he was constantly running and trying to make something happen. Cahill, who's been poor as of late, was immense. Ba was good when he could get the ball. Cech was excellent. Everyone else: absolutely terrible. Rafa does not inspire; he deflates.
RadioactiveD
CobhamBlue - VERY WELL SAID. THank you....We do have too many show ponies.....
lamarochs
May be if we had not cheated with the false penalty call,it would have gone our way.
bluesod
Capello overrated, ok I don't know where that idea comes from. The man has won it all has an encyclopaedia worth of experience and wouldn't take this rubbish we are currently being served up with. He's currently available (his words not mine), and if we want top four a change is needed. Spurs win tomorrow we are fourth, even arsenal are now breathing down are necks, if we would have won today we may have been comfortable, tomorrow we could be sitting ducks!
Blue1989
We have so much talent in this team...all we need is someone to come in and bind it all together and give it the winning mentality it once had...Rafa is not and will never be that guy. I'm sorry for all the haters but Jose is! He always has been, at porto, chelsea and inter....the only reason it hasnt worked as much at real is because the players think they are bigger than the manager!
Ess...DaBison
Some great comments...Blueheart9...you are correct sir...the player personal decisions that have been made would have fired anyone else? Proves that someone is running around purchasing players without a long term strategy or game plan...simple as that....Very Very poor organizational skills...Someone needs to tell Roman to ge the ***** out of the way and let a professional organize this club.
lamarochs
If we had not cheated with the false penalty call,it would have gone our way.
bluesod
@bluesod, false penalty? so BA dived right?
darilngblue
I'm a little calmer now to type...So i'll try and analyze this in the best detailed way i can. We approached the game with a 4-2-3-1 formation,(Mikel,Lamps) in pivot and (Hazard,Mata,Rami) in behind the striker(Ba). Pretty much a 5 man midfield (with the way we sat deep and approached the game). Man City approached the game with a similar formation a 4-2-3-1 (Rodwell,Garcia) in the pivot,and (Millner,Yaya,and Silva) playing behind the striker(Aguero),which was also a 5 man midfield. So it was the battle of the midfielders and which team could press and keep possession of the ball better. Rodwell and Garcia did a fantastic job pressing and frustrating Mata,who had to drop to the wings on numerous occasion to find space. Yaya,Silva and Millner kept the ball better under pressure and overpowered our midfielders. Yes we had a poor showing but a large part of it was due to City's approach in midfield. They also found a weakness on the right side of our defence and exploited it on numerous occasions(1st half especially). Mancini tactically outsmarted our gaffer,and was spot on with his subs. The approach to sub Rodwell off for Tevez and play Yaya in a deeper role was spot on. The approach to press Rami whenever he was on the ball was spot on (as Rami is very poor in possession of the ball). On the other hand Rafa takes off Lamps who obviously had a poor game for Moses (An understandable sub),then does the stupid thing of taking off hazard for Oscar. When Rami was obviously being clattered off possession quite often. Mikel should never have been subbed,he was the steel in that midfield,and that obviously carved us open. As long as we are not flexible formation wise and continue to do the obvious,we will get picked out easily. The better team won this one. PS; Lampards PK might not have been right at the angle but it had power on it,Hart figured out Lamps direction and went down early and had a good hand on the PK(Good penalty,great save).
nelyvanile
People clearly dont get it, we are doomed with this man in charge. Okay,he got the decisions and tactical inputs wrong today,and it has been so since he came on board. We have quite some more tough games ahead and you all be rest assured he will commit even more tactical blunders. One thing about football team is that once the coach gets the selection,shape and player positions right,every other thing falls into place and the team clicks automatically,even if you meet a good side you will lose with your head held high. We very much have all it takes to trounce $hity but lacked the nous to effect the required tactical changes. Before the match,although am no professional coach,i very well had a good idea of the type of team and approach that can break down this $hity side. And i was so distraught when i saw the line up that was to be used cos i was sure it was headed for the crash. I consider it a heinous crime that Rafa cant just figure out for once the right team and formation to handle various opponents. He deserves to leave for summer is too far off to be served this trash every week in and out.
Ohans
World Cup 2010, Germany vs England. That game sums up Capello for me.
foreign_viewer
@darlingblue,yes ba dived
bluesod
capello overrated? then Rafa has been over tolerated
darilngblue
After the penalty was missed by Lampard,mancity was all over us n hunted us down. That moment changed the game ,got them energized and demoralized our boys.
bluesod
@bluesod, come on man he was fouled, go watch it again
darilngblue
Our season was seemingly safe under RDM even after Clattern ***** but Roman and his wise men attacked it out of fear and handed it to that fat xmas cock to be murdered and buried. Rafa out! Torres out!
munich Glory
See how isolated our strikers are when the opponent derive us that pleasure of playing the ball early? Thank God i decided to watch this one at home instead of in a pub.
nelyvanile
u are right nely, Mancini won the battle, so when is rafa going to win one may be against aston villa
darilngblue
I 'm very sure Roman and his wise mEn would by now be singing 'IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME'
munich Glory
I point you to his cv: 5 Italian league titles, 4 Italian supercups, champions league, euro super cup, 2 la liga titles. Club football is entirely different to international football, as scolari found out.
Blue1989
The marginalization of youth players. Player ranking by price tag and wages. That's what Roman needs to fix. If not for that the squad wouldn't be so thin.
foreign_viewer
am off, hope Rafa gets the sack to me make happy, cos i dont Rafa can beat west brom next week
darilngblue
@darlingblue. Honestly no point waiting for him to win one,gooners are 2 points behind us and a Spurs win on monday will see us demoted to 4th...ill rather make hay while the sun shines. Its getting worse.
nelyvanile
@lamarochs, Mikel was not the worse player today. He just didnt get enough help for the greater part of the time he was in the field. From my screen he did a good job helping out in defense. It beats me why you lots cant see the obvious,only quick to point accusing fingers. There are one thing that has so far eludes many in here,that it is not Mikel's duty to pressure opposing mids among the two pivot players,because once you get past him while he is rushing at you,it leaves the back line open. The problem was that Lamps wasnt up to that task of mounting serious pressure on opponents and barely tackled accurately. And he capped up a bad day at the office with an uncharacteristic penalty miss,which was suppose to be the dagger punch that would of opened up $hity for much killer punches. You should have noticed well that our mids played better immediately Mikel had Rami by him,giving opponents a good pressure. Ofcos,that didnt last long as the manager destroyed that shape just when it was about to yield dividends. And that underlines my reason to say that the biggest villain who should shoulder the entire blame,and indeed pay for it with his job is the gaffer. Instead of managing he is damaging our team. His line ups,formation,tactical inputs,subs,motivation and presence is highly odious to say the least. The earlier he goes the better for the sake of our top 4 challenge.
Ohans
when mikel went off we didn't have a holding midfielder. the amount of space tevez had before he scored was embarassing. FSW has to go because he's absolutly clueless tactically. no idea. complete waste of considerable space.
trueblue44
I think a top 4 finish will slip away now. However at least, due to the Champions League win, we have managed to sign some good young player who, you would hope, with a decent manager - Michael Laudrup? - should be capable of melding KDB, Lukaku, Ba, Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Luiz etc into a decent enough team to get back into the top 4. However, the days of Drogba & Malouda leading us to Premier League titles are long gone unless we finish Top 4 and get Jose back.
CobhamBlue
This is where I tend to differ with a lot of fans. I remember when everyone here wanted Drogba gone because Torres was our future. And then there was a time when Frank was no longer wanted because he didn’t have enough flair. But now not only do we have Mata....but we also have Eden and Oscar who are a thousand times more creative than Lampard. And when we were winning earlier on, everyone said we did not need DD and we were a better team without him. But we are NOT winning and no one is trying to find out why. Is it because Mikel failed to close someone or Frank failed to score a penalty? We have been losing to City for a while now but it didn’t seem to make a difference. The difference that no one is pointing out now is even at our best, we still do not come close to City’s potential. And I think this is what Frank was talking about when he said our standards have become lower. That is why I find it pointless to nitpick on this or that player. Yesterday, it was Malouda, then Cole, then Kalou, then Mikel, today its Ivanovic, Ramires and tomorrow Cech and Luiz. Reality I that we are now a 72-76 point team. The biggest problem for me with this team is that it seriously lacking direction. It has no identity. What exactly are we trying to do when we are out there? Are we putting our best foot forward when we step onto the pitch? Becaue for me we might not have a team as good as City’s but there were times when we matched them when certain things were done. For example, we played 2-3 long balls to Ba in the second half, really stretched them and managed to get a penalty in the process. The balls/passes were from Cech, Ivanovic and Luiz. That was our best spell and it put City’s defense on the back pedal. It forced City to drop back. But after the penalty miss we went back to Mata and co through the middle. To me its like Arsenal playing fancy but no result. At Newcastle Ba saw the ball 4-6 times a game and he created and converted at least 1 of them. This is where I differ with our strategy here. Mata, Eden, Moses and Oscar should be capable of giving Ba at least 6 looks per game! No excuses! Yes we will get that occasional moment of brilliance from them, but what the team needs is a balanced approach. If the opposition is forced to account for Ba, they do not have time to create problems for us. But as long as our whole game plan is centered around none direct creativity of Mata and co, all we will manage are 8-0 scores here and there and more losses than this club needs. It was only when Wenger was forced to put the ball in RVP’s hands that we saw a different Arsenal, otherwise Fabregas, Nasri and Arshavin were never going to give them that edge.
OCBlues
Swansea play the way Roman wants. Why can't Chelsea coaches teach that?
foreign_viewer
and what's more if we don't finish top 4 we are finished. forget jose coming back if we are not in CL.i really fear for us with the current set up.
trueblue44
What scares me is the fact that WE all see the problems...1) CFC plays the 4-2-3-1 formation which does not fit for Lampard/Ramires...so these guys always play out of position. 2) CFC lacks a creative passer that can play in the midfield...this player does not exist at CFC (other than D. Luiz whom is the best midfielder at CFC). 3) Our defensive midfielders don't really defend and are too one dimensional. They can't pass, play the ball with speed or be creative....4) CFC has too many #10's and not enough outside midfielder's. Again, whomever purchases the players has no clue or long term strategy...So, everyone is playing out of position. 5) Torres has to go...the ***** poor midfield just compounds the CF problems. That about sums it up...Oh I forgot...then we have an owner that fires the guy that wins the Champions League Cup for us and hires a complete muppet...Then the owner is too afraid to fire him because he doesn't want the media circus of firing another manager...this is the club that we support...this circus of an organization...This is the worst run sports franchise...Just makes me sick...
lamarochs
Whoever the genius behind Swansea's passing is, he needs to come and be first team coach.
foreign_viewer
Rafa has been a disaster for Chelsea, first was torres now rafa. Question who would you keep if you had a choice to keep one toreros or rafa?
Pila12
trueblue44, I don't think we will finish top 4, but if we do, we MUST get Jose back as he will win us the league again within 3 years. If we don't make top 4 we should go for Michael Laudrup. I think he would get us back into the top 4 but we would be more like Spurs in future. We won't win the league again for decades and a good season will be 3rd in the league, CL QF and maybe a League Cup win. Roman has really phucked up this time.
CobhamBlue
FV: Martinez really started the philosophy at Swansea, Rodgers, laudrup have taken it on further. Martinez it is then!
Blue1989
i think roman is intersted in europa league rather than cl...bcoz now he has won that..he wanna win europa league...thats why he is not sacking that rat fat waiter assshole...because he wanna finish out of top 4....
shlok27
Need I remind fans here that we won many trophies with the same slow Mikel, uncreative Frank and a very poor Kalou and a very poor Ramires. We had Bosingwa and slow-Mo for crying out loud. But we won! We were facing Clichy and Toure and yet all of Mata and Eden could not even come near them. If we had put any of Toure and Clichy on the back pedal, it would have forced Yaya to drop back and they would not have carved us open as much. The thing is we had the right personnel to cause problems for Toure(Ba), Clichy(Eden). So why did we not? But we went with Eden, Mata, Ramires and Ba on the pitch, only for us not to play from the wings and or play Ba one on one against Toure were City were vulnerable.
OCBlues
@Nely, you indeed observed accurately and got the whole analysis spot on!! Your head is calmer indeed and it reflects on each line there.
Ohans
4th might seem bad tomorrow if Spurs win, but this time next year we will be lucky even to be a top 6 side. If Mata has got any sense, he should contemplate leaving in the summer. We as a club are just slipping further and further away. This policy of non football people just buying young players ad hoc, is ridiculous, 11 show ponies won`t ever win you anything, if Roman continues putting his faith in Emenalo, it`s over, the writing is on the wall. The only option, is to bring back Jose otherwise it won`t be long before the Bridge is half empty and qualification into the Europa League will be deemed as a success.
Blueheart9
Just one thing... RAFA OUT! !
DonDhammih
Ohans - I appreciate your comments..However, DM's must be able to perform more than contain...DM's can't just let the opposition walk through the midfield without pressure...Yes, Lampard is worthless defending...If the manager set up the team for Lampard to apply the pressure and to just let Mikel sit back and contain...well all I can say is...that is managerial incompetent.
lamarochs
Don't even see the new if slating Mikel and Lampard - 2 individuals who care deeply about this club when we lose. The genius at he Helm will take us to mediocrity. The Rafa fans have refused to take off the Benitez sun shades. He's destroyed 2 clubs an they said you have to look at his reign within the context. So explain what the context is now. From 4 points behind Man U to 19 points. What's the context now please? Injury to the squad; depth and quality? How have Benitez allowed Araenal and Spurs close the gap on us? What is the context in that please?
KAKUfrank
@Blue1989...Laudraup it is for me.
layorh12
our season is not gone...but we have fecked our future season also by this firing and hiring managerial decesion...this time roman has feckedd big time by hiring rafa....because rafa fooled him big time...rafa is the winner because he feckeed roman big time by making roma appoint as chelsea coach....rafa doesnt care wether chelsea win or loose or wetber they qualify for cl or not...he just wanted a job and nobody was giving him job because everyone realized that he is not good enough at all...but cant beleive how roman fall in his trap...
shlok27
with Hiddink as DOF...
layorh12
Blue1989 wrong!! It was Paulo Souza who started their football philosophy.
P.Avfc
or we can take a totally difrerent approach...bring back mou...all our identity issues will be sorted in a matter of weeks...mou is a one man army..he might not need a DOF....but certainly big changes are needed for us as a club.
layorh12
WAKE UP ROMAN and STOP BLAMING EVERYONE ELSE, look at the poor decisions that you and the board have made and continue to make. Get some proffesional people around you, to help stear us in the rght direction before it is too late.
Blueheart9
Look...OCBlues...Mikel is not the problem...playing Mikel with Ramires or Lampard is the problem...get it??? We have discussed this forever..and I am sick of explaining it...Mikel is one dimensional so he has to play with a creative passer that can somewhat defend. That is not Ramires or Lampard. Back in the day...when we were winning we also played 4-3-3 which is best suited for Lampard AND we had Drogba...THAT is not what we have today...We have no midfield, Lampard plays out of position waiting to take a penalty shot...Not the same then as it is today.
lamarochs
@OCBlues, where do u get to be when the defenders and avengers are singing rafa's praises? Been saying the same thing along with layorh and 3nity for over 2 months now. Our team beautiful football that was exciting all and sunder in the first half of the season under rdm is gone, we can't play good corners or any set piece,we don't position our selves in front of goal, we misplace passes, we are disjointed, we lack self believe and the muppet that caused this keeps grinning like a retard on match days!! We need grant or holland to make us get top 4, then we need mou back asap!!!! If we don't want mou then we should get laudrup, he is now on city, and madrid's wanted list
Desmondadonis
the new liverpool in the making....chelsea 2013...starts the new era of blue liverpool...under rafa and torres guidance...
shlok27
We are watching Chelsea as a club fail miserably..no individuals need to be targeted out and criticised because its got to the stage where it is gone beyond pointing the finger at player or manager...this time Chelsea are failing right across the whole board from 'OWNER' right down to 'SUPPORTERS' because even we are confused and saying silly things..other teams are looking at us and laughing like we're a joke! Chelsea have definitely lost structure.
shlok27
^^^@shlok your posts are pointless....its not adding any value...its just painting a terrible picture...
layorh12
Lol.... Anger really flying around on here. When tevez scored that 2nd goal, i was so hurt that i was tears but suddenly burst into laughter to save myself from embarrassment to the dismay of my fellow blue pals that were watching the game with me. Now the fear of missing out on top four is so real that i can assure u guys that if nothing drastic happens, we wont be playing champions league next season. Arsenal will finish third, thanks to GabeU's article sometimes ago, i now know that wenger would rather crash out now from the round of 16 to ensure he is focussed on top four which is what he will do. Its now between us and spurs and if we dont do something to arrest the situation, spurs will beat us to fourth.
Chelz Akamz
Chelsea Problem is way beyond tubby alone,like there are some players who doesn't deserve 1st 11 in this Team, there are works to be done,the most important thing we have to improve on,is our midfield, is just too Poor, and is a grave yard for strikers,as we can see torres and ba cases.
jayb
Here comes various theories and philosophies..... Losing to Man City shouldn't come as a surprise.... Cheer on!
Latunvic
shlok27 get a life
TafChels
is rafa still chelsea boss?
Dave-David
please let me turn twitter on to find he has been sacked roman has sacked for a lot worse. we wont finish in the top 4 with this clown in charge
Dave-David
And to those of you here who shouts Rafa as the only problem.... wake up! Rafa has his own flaws but he certainly isn't our only or major problem....... A few weeks ago, more than half of this site called Luiz a waste in midfield and clamored for Mikel to return quickly to rescue us as if we've never lost a match with Mikel in the line up... Mikel is here now and he is the rubbish today.... FANS!!!! We have issues with our midfield combo, that is what we need to sort and we need new midfield players to sort the issues..... Demba Ba is gradually becoming missing in our attack...
Latunvic
There is no point making anymore suggestions with Rafa incharge. It seems i take my mind off football for a while,until sanity is restored. @Desmond,is that Grant showing a sign for real?? Could do with any other person that's not Beneath Us.
Ohans
Lampard fans are an odd bunch. Nothing about the missed penalty? Just that Mikel was bad? What is Mikel's job? To defend from the midfield. How many times did he do that? What did Lampard do until he was subbed? Isn't he supposed to help Mikel defend? Mikel can leave or stay, I don't care much. But you need to point blame where it should go. Ivanovic and Lampard were the worst players. Ramires and Mata at least tried to do something.
foreign_viewer
According to the fans here Mikel had to mark Silva, Aguero, Toure, Milner. Basically the whole midfield and attack. Even then you have to ask yourselves why Mikel had to defend so much. Why couldn't the attacking midfielders take the pressure off him by keeping the ball better?
foreign_viewer
somtimes..FV makes a lot of sense...truth be told...like ^^^...although i think pur problem is a lot deeper than individual players we need a total revamp starting with the manager.!!
layorh12
@ohans, there is no smoke without fire, his presence confirms one thing for me, he is either going to replace benitez in a moment or he is going to take up a position upstairs, that is pure specs on my part, as I said before the arrival of the afcon duo and hazard's return against brentford is it? I said mikel and moses won't change this slide in form, why? Bcos we have a muppet as our coach
Desmondadonis
I want united to knock out real... Then get Jose straight away!! He will leave real or be sacked if they don't make it past united!
Splint1976
I don't think you can blame any one player, the whole team is disjointed, there is no fight anymore, we don't have a midfield, the defence is reluctant to throw themselves at shots and we look like a limp dog in attack... We used to bully teams and play with flair, now teams can play us in the knowledge that if they win the fight the win the battle...
Splint1976
@layor...there is nothing much to add on also...what you expect a miracle from rafa...you are saying mine point make u see terrible picture..so right now what are you seeing at chelsea...a beaufiful potrait...we have reached a saturation point and i dont want where we wanna suffer what liverpool has gone through...for liverpool to come back in title recognaztion it will take a massive time and effort...i dont want chelsea to go through where we.become. a club just fighting for top 4...chelsea whole system has to be blamed for this season failure sacking rdm...appointing rafa...persisting with torres as your lonely striker...there are lot of stuff chelsea board has to take the blame...this season was one of the worst season in romans era...
shlok27
@tafchels...i got mine...u get yours...
shlok27
foreign_viewer - you make a very good point. Mata and Hazard are also poor defenders..Man City just passed the ball with little opposition and walked around our midfield like it didn't exist...This is what you get when you have someone (and please someone anyone tell me whom is responsible for the purchasing of the players) just buyers players without any manager input, long term strategy or game plan...Its an organization running around blind...I live in a town that has one of the most storied baseball franchises in history and they operate with a small budget. BUT they win the world series far many more times than the big spending big budget clubs BECAUSE they have one of the best developmental programs in baseball and are one of the best run organizations in baseball. You don't have to spend big to win...but you can look like complete idiots when you spend too much money and lose. This the problem with CFC...they are very poorly run organization that just wastes money and talent.
lamarochs
Laudrup will be sacked by February the following year if he is hired. I predicted the same about RDM. Unless a manager brings a whole philosophy with him, he is useless. AVB was rightly was by the look of things. Spurs may be top 4 but his philosophy is hard to grasp. I can't detect it. "The emperor's new clothes" kinda thing.
foreign_viewer
It has to be hiddink as DOF and nobody else,not Grant.
Blue1989
hhahahha shlok27 you´re funny
TafChels
@Shlok..its a phase that will pass...you post in over exageratting things..yeah there are issues...but they will be sorted and we wont do a liverpool....the ''owner'' is not a problem, yes he made some bad decisions...hopefully he is learning as well.,..contrary to wat your previous post suggests, we are not a new liverpool in the making...we spent 80m last summer and the transition will be complete in the summer with a new manager...I mean our situation is quite precarious at this moment...but it does not mean we wont be fine eventually...we'll hope for a top4 finish and hopefully we'll get it..but even if we dont get it...we remain chelsea and we will boounce back immediately...I am 100% certain we wont do a liverpool....when the turn around occurs, I will call your attention to it..since all you are seeing is a liverpool in the making.
layorh12
im writing this season off. a good manager installed in the summer and the club has to decide on a formation. not buy half of a 4-2-3-1 formtion and keep half of a 4-3-3 like we did last year. ramires and lampard are good players in their element and it's sad to see them out of it.
blueirishman
lamarochs, No pressing. That's one of the problems. Lazy teams don't win trophies.
foreign_viewer
Avb was rightly sacked, I meant.
foreign_viewer
I am hurt as a chelsea fan, I believe rafa's team selection was severely inept and Mancini out coached him on the day. Mikel for me, wasn't focused or up to match speed, so was Moses. I think I would have preferred Azpilicueta to start the game. My team would have been more fluid. Cech, cole, azpilicueta, Cahill, Iva, Luis, Ramirez , hazard, mata, ba, Torres . In short we should have attacked !
kdnachi
The better team won. I will not say more than that.
SameX
I'll just move on from this defeat and think about next season. This Squad is nothing compared to what CFC used to be in the Mourinho days.
SameX
We were very poor no tempo,passion, kept giving ball away couldn't beat first defender from dead balls,not my Chelsea .rafa sets the team out not to get beat but it does are attacking players seem stifled we seem to be wasting the talent of our three amigos,the sooner we get a new manager the better these players aren't playing for him.as for Manu in fa cup if we get that far,put in a performance like that we will get hammered
herefordchelsea
I think laudrup just beated bradford 5-0 !!!!! 5-0 in a one off final!!!! My gawd!!
Desmondadonis
Saying our signings are not good enuf for Chelsea is phucking pathetic.We have potential worldbeaters on our hands who needs a real manager to nurture them not thay Fat Spanish Prick who knows diddly squat about football tactics.To prove that our Oscars,Matas,Hazards and so forth are superstars in the making revisit the matches vs ManU,Arsenal(emi),Spurs.You will see that they can take on the world but a Tactician is required
bluekid
SameX, the squad is nothing compared to 2010 never mind 05/06.
CobhamBlue
Why oh why did we sack Di Matteo...
k.chelski
i am afraid for this season...we still have manure away, spurs home, fulham, westbrom, everton, liverpool away...with tubby...I am very afraid...but like i earlier said, I am prepared for the worst...hmmm....decisions! decisions and undue interference with team issues...wrecked our season...
layorh12
CobhamBlue, the team of 05/06 had no real competion for the title. Manure were rebuilding. Once they had finished rebuilding, Chelsea fell off again. These days teams City, Spurs, Everton are way better than they used to be. The team of 05/06 would have to beat all these teams today.
foreign_viewer
@layorh I am waiting for a breaking news if roman really care about this club as most people say or we are just his play thing as most peeps say. His decision this week matters to our future
Desmondadonis
CobhamBlue, can you name 11 players who are available and would improve the current squad? If you can't, don't complain.
foreign_viewer
Plastic benitex plastic roman plastic evtin i imo i realy wish we would not win any tin dis season so dat by next season we wil start afresh
Finney_angel
@Desmond I doubt that news will come....to be honest...you know what? I feel like someone who knows he is going to die and is dying slowly...I do pray I am wrong...I honestly cannot see the way out of this..except for a straight miracle...its not only bcos rafa is the coach dont get me wrong..but bcos his presence does not seem to change anything...the players are not playing for him and the body language of the squad screams indifference, and I hope the relationship between him and JT does not turn sour...this is why i am bothered...last season when we were in a scenario similar to this, I saw passion in the players eyes and they were willing to give their all for the club and the coach...how times have changed..!!!...
layorh12
Chelsea have lost the fear factor, any small team takes pot shot at us when they feel like, and this same team quake at the mention of manchester united,ook no further than QPR versus man utd or man utd versus swansea, reading and NUFC.. What a pity. We are going the way of pool soon if we aint careful
Desmondadonis
@layorh its the same thing I have been harping on for a while now which u can testify to it, the only way to save this club is remove the cancer before it spreads all over, rafa is like a gangrene now, his ineptitude is spreading fast and killing our football cells and the worst thing is that its stench is overpowering our fans without no respite, the heartbreak will continue against man utd away, spurs at home, everton at home, liverpool away and the likes
Desmondadonis
Stop all the speculation Roman and sign Rafa up on a three year contract. This will let everyone know who is the real boss.
THEBREEZE
oh oh doomsday chronicles revisited :) KTF
JohnnyOz
foreign_viewer, Chelsea fell off again??? In 2007 they won the FA Cup, League Cup & finished 2nd in the EPL. In 2008, despite the turmoil of sacking Jose, Chelsea finished 1 point behind Utd and outplayed them in the CL Final. In 2009 despite the turmoil of changing managers again, Chelsea got 83 points, won the FA Cup and were robbed in the CL SF. In 2010, despite once again changing managers, Chelsea won The Double and scored 103 goals (Malouda Players Player of the Year!!). In 2011 despite Chelsea, selling 5 senior players and not replacing them, Chelsea went up to Man Utd with 3 games to go with a chance to go top of the league. In 2012, despite the turmoil yadda, yadda Chelsea won the CL & FA Cup. I don't scout the world looking for players. However Chelsea have scouts that are paid to do that. We should have bought better players. Obviously Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Man Utd etc have. The players must be out there somewhere. In saying all that, the players we have should be doing better than they are. You'd be hard pushed to find a manager that could get less out of them than Rafa. They should be capable of finishing 3rd, but the show ponies don't defend well enough for us to win the league, and Torres has obviously been a waste of space most of the season.
CobhamBlue
I have just gone and looked over the remaining schedule of BPL games and then thought this through..of the three credible sides fighting for the last 2 champions league spots we are in the most chaotic situation..we have a hated manager that neither fans nor the players are behind..Spurs fans and players love AVB while with all Wengers recent failings the Gunner faithful can still at least remember the early glory days he brought them. As far as none BPL schedules After next week when Bayern dispatch the Gunners, the Gunners will have the lightest schedule on matches with just the BPL: left ffed by Spurs who have just BPL and Europa league left..we have the most busy schedule with still having Europa league and FA cup commitments and yet have the most demotivated group of fans and players..not a great mix..if we escape this season still in the top 4 it will make our great escape from last year look like a mere dress rehearsal..i fear we have finally exhausted our luck and will finally pay fully for our widespread ineptitude and poor decision making. I personally have made my peace with it..i still hope for the best but fully expect the worst.-
GabeU
@cobhamBlue, sorry to intrude into this, do u think the teams u mentioned are better than ours? No they are obviously not, but do they have a manager that knows what they are doing and earning their pay? That is where the question lies, take each of those team's coaches and give them our squad, I am sure u'll love their football after a coupla months, that's the difference IMO
Desmondadonis
Pellegrini's malaga is been whitewashed by betis 3-0 and they are still in half time #inconsistency
Desmondadonis
^^@desmond..pellegrini should not come to chelsea or chelsea should not bother approaching pellegrini ...we need more than a football coach..we need a strong personality given the enormosity and dynamics of the work at hand...and pellegrinni will be roasted by different events if he comes to chelsea..he is a good coach but not what we need right now...he who has an ear...
layorh12
Desmondadonis, I think with a top manager and a couple of top quality signings we could be challenging for the title. At the moment Bayern, Juventus & Man Utd are better than us. Dortmund I'm not sure about.
CobhamBlue
@layorh, my exact sentiments too, he doesn't have the mental strength to toughen it out, @cobhamBlue, man utd don't have a better squad than ours, neither do juve or dortmund, player for player we are better than them if u sum it up, what they have working for them is a good structure and tactically sound managers
Desmondadonis
In my opinion, we were pathetic. No creativity, no chances, no spirit, no positive approach. Nothing. Just a missed penalty and nothing more. We played like a mid-table team, which was only concerned not to lose and NOT to win the game. Conclusion: this spanish bloke who pretends to be our manager must go in may, and a new real manager must come to move us forward. We really had enough of him. Period.
Blu
Lets have an adult conversation....looking at the squad we need a back up goalie as Cech is good for another year with Courtois resigned and loaned out again. Defensively, Cesar should be the starting RB with PVA/Kalas as the back-up. Realistically, if either PVA or Kalas do not back up then they may never see the 1st team again. At CB we have Terry/Cahill/Luiz/Ivan...Honestly, JT may be too slow to be a starter..I don't know yet...but he is close to being finished. Cahil and Luiz are our 2 best CB regardless, Luis is a tremendous talent that just needs to keep it simple. Ivan has had a poor year and IMO is too slow to be a RB and know is a back-up CB. It might be time to sell Ivan to max our return on him and utilize Kalas/Kenneth. LB is potentialy a problem as I am not sure Bertrand has enough quality to be a long term starter. My need a starting LB in a year. Bertrand is good enough as the back-up right now. Here is where it gets serious...Mikel is adequate but is too one dimensional. Good enough as long as his partner is a good passer and or creative...IMO Romeu is not the answer and should be sold and Chaloubah should be immediately inserted into the midfield as the DM. If we purchase a world class CD then Luiz can rotate in the DM role as well. However, Mikel is not the long term solution as he has way too many deficiencies. Need a strong quality passer/playmaker that can defend. I would also look at KDB/Oscar in this position...I hate to say this but Ramires should be sold off right away...he has too many deficiencies. Need to consider going to the 4-3-3 but the problem is that Mata/Hazard are poor defenders and that is why I believe Tubby sticks to the 4-2-3-1. Mata needs to be a #10 or shadow striker because defensively he is weak and has no physical presence whatsoever. This team will need to learn how to play many games next year without Mata because sometimes you will need a more physical presence...This team has too many "show ponies" and not enough "steel". Thus, Ramires or Bertrand is utilized to backup Hazard/Mata defensive weakness. Oscar needs to play in the middle of the field...IMO he has more potential than Mata as he can at least defend some. So, a vast upgrade in the midfield is required in order to both control the game and defend. Lets face it as good as Hazard/Mata/Oscar are offensively, they are equally a defensive liability. at CF need to purchase a starting CF..Torres needs to be sold ASAP. Period...Enough of him...If Lukaku doesn't' get promised enough game time, I would loan him out for another year. No need for him to watch Ba or anyone else. Summing up....High priority needs are a new midfield both world class DM (assuming Luiz plays CB) and a world class passer/playmaker midfielder that can defend. I would try to find a way to play Oscar more in the #10 and Mata may need to play less next year as he can't defend. A better midfield makes a better CF. Need a world class CF and need to sell Torres. Lots of issues to overcome to challenge Man U and Man City as CFC is far far from these two organizations.
lamarochs
If Jose arrived he'd obviously get rid of Torres but I also think he'd sell one of Hazard, Oscar or Mata, we just can't use them all or we will get overrun in midfield and we need the transfer fee to fund another midfielder. Jose would have Lukaku back. KDB is supposed to be doing well in Germany, although I don't watch German football, but since we signed him I reckon we have to bring him back to give him a chance.
CobhamBlue
Some things never change. Are we honestly sitting here and accusing Mikel of coming short today? We paired him with Frank Lampard of all players and then got Mata and Eden to assist them in stopping Yaya, Silva and Aguero? On paper there is NO team that can stop that combination. AND YET we saw it fit to play Frank and Mikel with Mata and Eden supporting them.....against Yaya, Aguero and Silva. You kidding me? Thats like taking a tractor to a speed race and then complaining the tractor was slow. Is it the tractor's problem it wasn't fast enough? That to me is the problem here at Chelsea because at this point in time, instead of wasting time with stats on the specifics of the tractor and showcasing what a speed car can do…we should really be looking at the person who took the tractor to the race. Frank is not a CM and has no reason to be in that position when we are facing Yaya, Aguero and Silva. We already know Mikel and Ramires play better as partners....so why complain when they are paired elsewhere and they do not do well? Like I said we already set a precedent of winning a lot of trophies with the same “slow and deficient Mikel” and an even worse Bosingwa on the RW. What should be obvious is that there are other variables other than Mikel and Iva that are causing all this. In fact put that same Mikel in that City line up and see what they will do. But I guess thinking like that is beyond us.
OCBlues
CobhamBlue, yes sell Oscar and Hazard. They are all rubbish. Chuck in Moses in there as while you're at it. Nevermind that they're all 22 but you believe they should be league winners already. Hey, why not just shut down the youth academy and spend £1bn buying a new team.
foreign_viewer
How many trophies did the players in the team of 05/06 have when they were 22? Sell Oscar, Mata, Hazard? Manure, Barca, Madrid, Juve, Bayern etc would snap them up in an instant.
foreign_viewer
Excellent post OC Blues..well said..as long as we have our present administrative structure and the usual chelsea Coaching we will continue marking time as we are doing now. Whatever else we say i think all of us agree that the better side won today..those guys were head and heels better than we were and if they had been more clinical and minus Cech the score line may have been downright embarassing. Throw into that the fact that the huge slice of luck we got with a PK lamps fluffed..we have no one to blame but ourselves..we were well and truly beaten. For anyone interested in watching a high quality derby where both teams are actually trying to win and not just one while the other is hoping for a draw (as was the case with us today) try and watch the Milan derby..what a game so far.. a real advert for the much maligined Serie A.
GabeU
foreign_viewer, Eh? They are good players but we just can't afford to play with all 3. 2 of them are a luxury never mind 3. We can't have it that every time a team has a go at us. And that is any team West Ham, Newcastle, Man Utd, Man City, Southampton, Brentford!!!. We fall to bits. The money we could get from a sale could finance a stronger more defensive minded player. If we don't care about FFP keep them all and just spend more money. We won't win the league if all 3 start regularly and if only 2 start it is still a problem and we'd need an upgrade on Moses.
CobhamBlue
I meant to say "Chelsea coaching carousel"
GabeU
I agree to a point @Lamorachs, however, what I'd say is a team can afford to have show ponies as long as we have someone in the middle who can pick up the ball and dictate the tempo of games as well and at the moment we don't, we have gone into this season with a major weakness which unfortunately every Chelsea fan can now see, the lack of someone in the middle of the park who can dictate the tempo of the game and compliment someone like Mikel, who's sole purpose in the team is to back up the defence and keep it simple. For all Hazard, Mata and Oscar bring to the table if we haven't got that midfield guile, we will never amount to more than a top 4 team at best. United have it in Carrick, City in Yaya, Real Madrid in Alonso, Juve in Pirlo, Bayern in Scweiny... The list goes on, yes we require Mazacar to defend at times, but if we dictate the tempo of games their defensive input should be limited to making up the numbers... I wouldn't say Robben, Ribery, Silva, Aguero etc are any better defensively, the difference is they don't need to be because they are rarely put into that situation. At the moment our squad is extremely imbalanced, however I do believe with a 2/3 signings and bringing back some loanee's we will have a squad to challenge. I will say this though, lets not go out and spend 50m on Falcao, lets utilise that money on a 3 quality players, Newcastle have shown with the right scouting the players are out there!
Splint1976
Mikel will never get into that city team, i bet you
ishmoto
Thanks GabeU. @foreign_viewer. I think Cobham has a very valid point. The default explanation is always age. But what we tend to forget is that Robben, Lampard, Nico, Cech and Joe Cole at 20-22 were more fierce than our Mata, Eden and Oscar. Mata is the best player we have, but he is not near "good" Malouda's productivity on and off the field. I think we have fallen into the trap of just roll calling-players and not judging them by their productivity. Malouda scored, assisted and put in a defensive shift at times similar to Cole's. Compare Silva and Mata today ad then take into account that Mata is our best player. While at City Silva is merely there to make Yaya and Aguero's lives easier. And then consider that Silva is not even at Iniesta level. To some of us it ends up having to choose between having a player like Valencia or Mata let alone Eden. Otherwise we accept being like Arsenal or winning trophies. I mean, we can have someone like Valencia and you know Ba has an opportunity to score in every game ManU or Reading. But with our trio, its mimicking Arsenal!
OCBlues
enjoying thursday night footie, what goes around comes around haha
123spurs
My God...Mikel and Ramires do not play well together..neither can pass neither are creative neither link up with the attackers. Mikel is slow with distribution ands Ramires has no skill...My God...please...
lamarochs
Splint1976...thank you.
lamarochs
@cobhamblue sell one of Hazard and Oscar??? Are you insane? They were virtually unplayable at the start of the season when everyone was tipping us to win the title. You have to remember they are still young and new to the premiership. Our biggest problem is the pivot at this point all the combinations we have tried have failed and since Lampard and Ramires started playing there we have become even worse conceding late goals as well as poor transitional play. Look back through the results most of the games we lost or conceded late goals in was when Lampard and Ramires were in the pivot. Our best Results under Rafa have come when Lampard or Ramires were not playing together in the pivot or not in the game at all. The only time our transitional play from defense to attack has looked decent is when either Luiz or Oscar have played in the pivot.
Anarchy
@ OCBlues, your observations regarding Mata is spot on. he is very good with the ball and very poor without ball. I have recorded most and these season games. that is the main reason CFC is playing 4231 just to cover his defensive deficiency. it's a shame with all the creative midfielders we couldn't create a clear chance in 90 mins.
jollyheart Torres
View from Spurs fan -

Looking at the 2 XI yesterday I initially felt both City & Chelsea were setup negatively with 3 holding CMs. Both managers didnt want to take chances, which I felt a bit odd given both club's relative positions. What I underestimated though is the impact of Rodwell had on game & the chemistry he had with Garcia, Yaya & Milner. Ramires, Mikel & Lmpard were consistently overrun in midfield by them.

Chelsea midfield lacked the bite & no tenacity to win the ball. Mancity weak link was Clichy and I felt not starting Moses was a mistake. There was nothing in Chelsea's right side yesterday. City were for the taking & I guess you missed it.

As a spurs fan certainly happy with the game's result. But it depends on whether we can capitalise today.I am hoping we win over the wetspam today, ensure we have a gap over Arsenal before we take them on in the derby.
sydqcb5
BIG TRUTH ,OUR OSCAR ,MATA ARE THE PROB. THEIR INABILITY TO PRESS WHENEVER THEY LOSE THE BALL PUTS A LOT OF PRESSURE ON OUR DM... LOOK AT BARCA. EEVERYBDY UP TO MESSI PRESSES THE OPPONENS BUT OUR ATTACKING 3RD LACKS THAT.. WE WERE SUCCESSFUL DURING JOSES TIME BCOS WE HAD PLAYERS THAT WERE AS ACTIVE IN THE ATTACKING HALF AS IN THE DEFENSE AS WELL.. THE KALOUS,ANELKA,BALLACK,DROGBA,MALOUDA WERE GREAT AT PRESSING WHENEVER WE DONT CONCEDE POSSESION BUT THESE DAYS, ONCE OUR BOYS LOSES THE BALL UPFRONT, EVERYONE EXPECTS MIKEL TO RUN AROUND AND TACKLE EVERYBODY FROM TOURE > MILNER>JACK > DAVID SILVA. COMMON Y'ALL
TheIncrediblue
I MEANT HAZARD ,MATA
TheIncrediblue
Lampard at 22 had won a trophy with West Ham? He was 27 when he first won a major trophy. Give the young players time.
foreign_viewer
Malouda more effective than Mata? The lazy dropped to the under 21s Malouda? I will always remember his assist for van Persie in the 3-5 game.
foreign_viewer
@ocblue....are you having weed...malouda better than mata....where in playstation...mata oscar hazard are three top young players in the world right now...and we should be happy that we are having them at same...and some peiole want them to sell them..because they dont defend..some people really need a break from football really..things are going out of their mind...i dont blame neither of them...oscar and eden are playing in their first season in epl and here people want them to attack defend and score also in first season....people are complaing about mata..that he is noo good enough defending...his job is not to defend his job is to attack score and create which he does conistantly..but if our striker suckss then what can he do...blame the manager for not knowing how to use them properly its how the smart the manager is to use them intellegently....and we dont have one...blame your manager blame roman for.the debacle not oscar mata and eden for chelsea loss..
shlok27
i am going to rank some of our player tacking capabilities...... torres 2.5/10...... ba 2.5/10...... moses 4/10......... hazard 3/10.......... oscar 5/10.......mata 1/10........lampard 2/10........ mikel 6.5/10........ramires7.5/10....... luiz7.5/10
Bain^DoggZ
@shlok, take ur time and read his points before u attack him, we have hazard, oscar and mata (mazacar) playing most of our games as starters at the same time, this players are a wet dream come true for some clubs, but seriously they can only play against defensively weak teams and make it without a strong DM, with all their flairs and flicks, they'll be overunned by the likes of man city's midfield 10/10 times, if we get a manager that knows what he is doing, he'll either be using mata as an impact sub or play him against a weak team,because against a strong team without a solid pivot, he mostly disappears as he can't cope or mark nor get the space he needs to cause them damage, with a manager like capello, hiddink and mourinho, oscar would be playing ahead of mata in every game because of his work rate and overall play, while mata will be used tactically or as an impact sub when we need magic, we can't play the 3 amigos all the time against tough sides without adequate protection in the pivot, get a midfield of arturo vidal and benat to cover in the pivot and it "might" work, but if we keep trying the 3 against top teams we always get soundly beaten, as we found out in the champions league under RDM against juve, shakter, we beat nordjaeslland comfortably in the group stage, suprise suprise? There is logic in it. And I think we need a manager that knows how to set up a team solidly, laudrup or jose for me, no pellegrini. Its no co-incidence that we have not been sucessful when playing man city thrice, juve twice,shakter twice,athletico madrid, man utd,corinthians,swansea I mentioned only this clubs because they have one thing in common, they'll press you all 90 mins and won't give u any space to operate which the 3 amigos need to wreck havoc. We need to mix them up, play mata in one, play oscar in another, or get a coach that knows how to set up a team defensively that would use the trio intelligently with a solid DM and CM.
Desmondadonis
i am hoping we get mourinho az i can see the squad looking along these lines we need a pivot of luiz and oscar.......... we need fellaini in our no 10 role......... we can then have mata hazard or rami moses as wingers depending who we play.......... we need lukaku up front...................i dont like ba ok....... just feel his been accepted only because his taking torres spot......... AND SELLLLLLLLmrLAMPARD and mrIVANOVICand possibly mikel
Bain^DoggZ
I thought as much....blame Rafa for Mikel's ineptitude and Ramires' mistake
@Mq
I sincerely hope that we finish out of Top 4. So, it will be a great lesson for us to understand our mistakes. Roman will realise his mistake of firing managers every now and then. Basic problem is our identity....ManU known for its wing play, Arsenal known for its smooth Passing game, Stoke known for its Physical play, Liverpooll for its Pass & Move game...what are we known for???? Bus Parking strategy...well even that is gone now with Mazacar in Playing 11....Every year we start fresh with new ideology, but we dont have patience to see it grow...We need instant results which is never possible. So, we change managers, who in turn come up new ideology, New ideology means new players...finally we have a group of players who are good at different systems...it is very difficult to integrate them...If Laudrup is a success at swansea, it is not because of him alone, it is because they have the necessary players out there. It will be easy for the manager to implement his methods...Take chelsea, we have Ramires who is good at 4-3-3 signed by carloo who prefer 433...but then we had RDM & Rafa who prefer 4231 and ramires wont fit in that formation....Similarly we can define every problem with chelsea. So, what can be a solution...Roman has to sit with his people, take a consious decision about the way he wants his team to play. He delivers the message clearly to manager, give him atleast 3 years to delivery results, clear out players who dont fit that method even if they are key players, get in players who the manager sees that will suit the sysytem and methods...In 3 years, with this clear thought approach we can definitely win more trophies that what we did in last 8 years...
Blu_run
add an ineffective Moses who had to good chances to make a quality cross yet he passes to the Man$hitty defense...what a "steal" indeed, seems we bought him to perform in the Capital1 Cup and for Nigeria
@Mq
I think we can sack Rafa now..Make Adi / Drummy as coach till end of season...our youth team is playing much better football than our first team...maybe the duo can deliver at first team level also.
Blu_run
What was Rafa supposed to do, run in the pitch and mark Toure effectively than that imbecile called Mikel, or tell Ramires to take his 1st touch a tad bit easier than the heavy kick and rush stuff?? You guys are pathetic, and that Rafa hasn't been sacked shows the club has more sense than the fickle-minded lot on VC who think they experts on the Internet
@Mq
...i am going to rank some of our player tacking capabilities...... torres 2.5/10...... ba 2.5/10...... moses 4/10......... hazard 3/10.......... oscar 5/10.......mata 1/10........lampard 2/10........ mikel 6.5/10........ramires7.5/10....... luiz7.5/10......>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Moses rated higher than Mata, Hazard and worse off Mikel being rated 2nd best in the match....*smh*...when you read such comments you don't have to question nor attempt to correct them, it's stupidity beyond rectification
@Mq
...I think we can sack Rafa now..Make Adi / Drummy as coach till end of season...our youth team is playing much better football than our first team...maybe the duo can deliver at first team level also>>>>>>>really now BLU_RUN?? We should "experiment" at such a crucial time?? We lost to Man$hitty not to Wigan or some team like that, how many "top" teams can beat Man$hitty @ the Etihad?? Let's no panic and overreact, we still to play Spurs home, we beat them and we safe.
@Mq
OCBlues - I agree that Mikel was the last of our CMs yesterday who deserves to be blamed for the defeat. In my opinion, he was considerably better than Ramires and Lampard. While Mikel is unable to propel attacking play, he is at least good at winning back possession and keeping it. Ramires and Lampard cannot even do that! Lampard is simply physically not able to keep up, you could see that he was struggling with the pace of the game and couldn't quite integrate himself into the game. Ramires does have the stamina to keep up, but his first touch is awful and his passing and dribbling below average. We definitely need 1-2 new midfield generals á la Ballack or Essien.
ElMagicoNino
Khedira anyone? If Mourinho signs for us, we might stand a chance at getting him..
ElMagicoNino
@MQ sorry mate i meant there TACKLING capabilities and not just for mancity game but just in general
Bain^DoggZ
Khedira anyone? If Mourinho signs for us, we might stand a chance at getting him..
ElMagicoNino
lol funny how one word can ***** things up
Bain^DoggZ
All. This fuming won't do us aanygood, like seriously, what choice do we have. Now? Sacking benitez is Not an option. We have to back those guys at least till the end of season, be optimistic and expect the worst as well. That's all
jayb
just 11 matches to go.... Can we make the top 4? Ur guess is as good as mine, this is the right time for us to push our anger aside and channel our emotions into moving the team forward. Maybe at the end of the season we can call for rafa's head.... I don't want him around, but we are stucked with him for the next 11 matches. We should all come together and support the team to a 4th place finish.
torvicson
LoL thanks for the clarification BAIN
@Mq
foreign_viewer, Maybe with Malouda you should remember him winning Chelsea their only League & FA Cup Double in 2010. With Malouda as a regular starter Chelsea finished 2, 3, 1, 2. With Mata we finished 6 and again heady out of the Top 4. Mata & Hazard aren't as good as you think they are. And Mata's performances have never reached the level Malouda reached in 2010.
CobhamBlue
We can't be sacking coaches when we lose every match. Rafa's done little wrong, the players aren't performing when expected. Granted we didn't have a good game, actually a $hitty 1st half but if you recall we played a "crucial" game on Wed, Man$hitty had a full weeks rest hence they were quicker than us but we held on and we were better 2nd half, Lamps missing a penalty then Mikel not marking effectively cost us 1 goal, 2nd goal was Ramires error compounded by Iva not closing down. How this is Rafa's fault beats me. Did you know this season we have played more games than all EPL teams (4 more than ManUre, 6 more than Man$hitty)?? Get a grip, Spurs still play Man$hitty @the Etihad and we @ the Bridge, Arsenal also travel to ManUre and Spurs. The season's not over.....
@Mq
well said JAY-B ppl speaking like we lost to some $hit team, this is the defending Champs @ their own home ground, that we came close to actually leading the game (penalty) despite having faced a tormenting 1st half proves we didn't do as bad as folks are making out, blaming Rafa left right & center for what?? Did he tell Mikel not to mark Toure?? Did he tell Ramires to fumble the 1st touch, and tell Iva not to close Tevez down?? It's funny how hatred can affect objectivity, that's why there clearly is no room for emotion in business.
@Mq
shlok27, Mata is better than Malouda NOW. But he has never reached the level Malouda reached in 2010 when Malouda & Drogba just about single handedly won Chelsea the Double. If you watched that season I'm astonished you can't remember that. Malouda was on another level altogether that year. Mata has not yet reached that level and, with his defending abilities, probably never will.
CobhamBlue
Khedira anyone? If Mourinho signs for us, we might stand a chance at getting him..
ElMagicoNino
@jayb, sacking Benitez is the only viable option. He is the worst manager in Abramovich's history with lowest PPG of all. Look at our last 5 games of the season and let me know if this is the guy you'll go to war with for those last 5 games. He is a few games off falling out with Terry and the locker room.
KAKUfrank
"@janecatxx: Sat behind the Chelsea Dug today, and some city fan called and shouted Benitez a fat rat! John terry turned round laughin his head off!!." That's exactly how they feel about our manager. LMFHO.
KAKUfrank
jayb, Sacking Benitez is DEFINITELY an option.
CobhamBlue
...He is a few games off falling out with Terry and the locker room...who is Terry but an employee @ Chelsea?? The same Terry who, when playing, failed to hold on to a 2 goal lead vs Reading, oversaw us lose to Newcastle and draw 2-2 with Bradford?? The same Terry who say's he cannot imagine Lamps playing for another club?? The same Terry who, too, will be released on or before his contract expires (no renewal) that Terry??.....LoL....
@Mq
Desmond - your post is spot on. Why Tubby rotates Oscar with Hazard I don't know, it's Mata and Oscar that need to rotate, not least to give Mata some rest time. Playing all 3 and we get over-run by teams that press. Whoever thought that getting these 3 to get us playing like Barca forgot that they have to press as much as play their own game. Only Oscar seems capable of doing that.
BlueABS
@Mq is back here defending benitez. Yes the players did not play well , who is supposed to motivate them ? yes we got the wrong tactics , Who is supposed to get that right too ?? we neeeded to make subs when mancini made a change what did we do ? waited for them to score . we have had such performances repeatedly this season , so if you dont want to blame him , that is left to you . and as for the bradford game , remember turnbull had a bad game , and made child like mistakes now if youre blaming terry for that too juts shows how well you think . this guy is a backward step from RDM and everyone knows this. in as much as i will like to sack him we dont really have much options but the day we become 5th then we should pull the trigger . And remember we were 5 points off man utd when RDM left and now it is 19 and yet MQ says its not benitez's fautl for our game FOH
Don capon
And release terry and see how teams in europe will snap him up like the way they were circling ashely cole then they will know how vital he is for us
Don capon
@Mq...I agree that Losing to ManCity @ Etihad is not end of world...But I was frustrated at the team selection and the way we played...What rationale will be there for the below selections 1. Why drop Azipilicueta and Play Ivanovic at RB? 2. Why Play Ramires at RW when you have Moses ? 3. If you advocate REST is the reason, why cant you rest Mata and Play Oscar in central role? 4. Why play Luiz in CB when Cahill & Ivanovic are partnering well. We could have played Luiz & Lampard or Luiz & Mikel at Pivot? 5. Finally, what was the game plan??? 5 shots on target with 50% possesion (1 Shot from penalty)...what are we trying to do there...were playing for 1 point???
Blu_run
If you want to be objective DON don't take extremes lad. Rafa had faults, for1 I didn't understand why sub Hazard and leave a useless Mikel when it was clear we were pushing for equalising, Mikel offers little in defense and is even worse on the counter. As for the goal, 2nd hald performance was better MILES BETTER than the 1st half and we were duly rewarded with a penalty that Lamps (did nothing all day) missed, and that gave Man$hitty renewed belief. When they attacked us (1st goal) Mikel didn't mark Silva and Cahill had to mark him (on the right side of Cech) thus drawing Cahill out. When Silva passed Yaya, Mikel again lazily threw his leg in and, together with Lamps, did NOTHING to stop Yaya, who only took the shot past an on-rushing Cahill (check that goal again, you'll see what I mean) and who could you fault for that?? Was Rafa supposed to "motivate" Mikel to mark Silva, and if not then mark Yaya?? He was by the dugout lad, Mikel was by the goalie. Till that moment, it was looking more of an even contest....okay we overlook the 1st goal, Rafa takes Hazard out (bad decision imo because we have less goal threat) and brings on Moses (LoL) and what does he do, ABSOLUTELY ZILCH. Had 2 chances to put a quality cross in, both times the ball hit the 1st defender, that's what you get for a "steal". 2nd goal, do you think it's still Rafa's fault that Ramires had a poor 1st touch?? And why did Iva stop halfway when advancing to Tevez??.....
@Mq
I'm not saying Rafa is blameless, but you clearly missing the picture if you blame him solely for that loss. As for RDM (5 points behind when he left) how many games had we played then, compared to now?? Don't you forget under RDM we finished 6 (SIXTH) on the table last season, so leaving that incredible luck aside in the Champs League and controversial victory in the FA Cup, on what basis could RDM have done better by now, comparing Apples with Apples (League for League)??...some reasoning
@Mq
I dont believe in the statement like 'We cannot sack Rafa','We are stuck with him till season end'....He has shown his inadapability for tactics / subs / personal choice in his last 7-8 matches...This is highly unacceptable....True, 5 points off 1st Place when RDM left to 19 pts off 1st Place with Rafa is not the improvement Roman would have asked for??? He would have asked to close the gap not to increase??
Blu_run
@BLU_RUN I agree with some of what you said (team selection) but for whatever reason, that team had held on till Mikel's stupidity cost us the goal, from then we struggled. Ramires played an energetically-foolish game, and yes at RW he was out of place but Moses did nothing when he came on to suggest he could've done better. Iva was close to aweful at RB, I'd have preferred Azpi there too but for the 2 defensive errors that cost us the game, we played better in the 2nd half than the 1st. I expected Man$hitty to attack in the 1st half, they weren't as jaded as we are, and if you saw we tried playing counter attacking football but just didn't get our midfield pivot to make good passes, so all the time Mata had to pick the ball in our 3rd and there was very little option for him going forward. Did Rafa make mistakes in his team selection, YES, but did the players compound those mistakes with moments of folly, YES. That said, we still in p3 (maybe P4 by tomorrow morning) but Spurs play away to Arsenal this weekend, they still to travel to the Etihad, travel to the Bridge, Arsenal are due to play ManUre, Man$hitty and we only have ManUre away. Still some games to be played and results may still change. It's pointless calling for Benitez to be sacked, the season ain't over and he ain't leaving. All this negativity is only causing us more harm than good, but ofcourse the "Chelsea-loving" self-shooting fans don't see that. They only fill themselves with trivial issues, negating the bigger picture
@Mq
Its stupid to say Malouda is better that Mata because we finished in better league positions.Need I remind you Malouda had inform DD,Lamps,Ballack,Anelka,JT,Essien,Mikel who made life easier for everyone.Even Mata in that lineup could flourish.Lets see..Mata has Torres,Lamps(need i say more,past it),Ramires(my grandma can hold and pass better than him,Oscar n Hazard(they are adjusting to EPL),JT(past it) Btw,In two seasons How many assists and goals does Malouda have vs Mata?? Some comparisons are phucking insane.
bluekid
RDM won the UCL...to do that he had to sacrifice the league...Rafa is a loser who was jettisonned from Liverpool and Inter for his ineptitude...no one hired him because he is a fat fool with not aorta of tactical nous...plus everyone hates him, he has no plan, the players do not believe in him hence we are not going to finish top 4 and we will become a laughing stock as liverpool is now because of rafa...because of Roman...
Gian-Franco/Luca
Fight for 3th & 4th Place is getting hotter... If I treat ManU, ManC, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Swansea as tough opponents, then Chelsea has 5 games out 11 remaining Spurs has 6 games out of 11 remaining Arsenal has 4 games out of 11 remaining
Blu_run
Maybe a RA visit to Cobham is the need of the hour
Blu_run
What are people thinking at times? So you expect. Chelsea to sack Benitez and appoint. Another manager,then sack thaat one come end Of season. Is never done thatt waaay, and it will kill the little confidence left in those young players who have never experience such. Imagine player like oscar, hazard,cesar experiencing a rampant change of manager in first season, does it bodes well? If tubby get sacked, who should be appointed? Holland? What if he flops too? Lol, It remains 11 matches, all what we can do best now is to get behind those guys, hope for the best and expect the worse, cuz even tubby wins fa and Europpa, he will be certainly gone. So enuf of conplaining ramiis is this, mikel is that, lampard is those, no replacement for them yet. Fingers crossed
jayb
Spurs has 6, somewhat comforting especially as they still playing Europa. Arsenal I worry about, they don't have any other competition to play in. In that case, Spurs should beat Arsenal and we beat Spurs, should have us some gap there BLU_RUN.
@Mq
@GIAN seeing as we still in Europa and FA Cup, if we win those 2 and come 3rd will that not be the same as finishing 6th and winning Champs League and FA Cup??
@Mq
I don't think anyone is blaming him solely for the loss, yes his team selection was quite baffling yesterday, but I agree to a point with @mq - the boss can give his instructions and tell the team how to play, but once they cross the white line its down to the players to perform and they did not do that. One thing I will say though is Benitez is a reactive manager not a pro active one, he seems to wait to long before making any changes and when he does it is too late. Mikel was the only midfielder to have a half decent game, yes Lamps is a a Legend, but in big games he's way off the pace nowadays, I've been saying for months Rammy for all his attributes cannot pass a football consistently well! These are things FSW can't change but he should be able to pick the right team for the right game...
Splint1976
This game felt like watching Chelsea vs Arsenal 2008-2010. We used to be the team with strong players and Arsenal hade the small ones. But thanks to roman we no gets bullied by teams with strong players the same way we used to do with drogba, ballack, essien, makelele, lampard, terry caravalho, cech. You cant win the premier league with small weak players!
Lakupiippu
bluekid, When you are Chelsea's best player in the season Chelsea win the Premier League & FA Cup Double and score 103 goals the comparisons aren't stupid. The problem some people have is they can only think in the here and now. The Chelsea team of 2010 were so far ahead of this team it is embarrassing. Malouda was the best player in one of the best Chelsea teams ever.
CobhamBlue
We have WHU, WBA, Southampton, Fulham, Aston Villa, Sunderland ... We need to steamroll these teams so that the 5 BIG teams have some fear for us...We can get a 1-0 scrappy win against 4 of those 5, we will be very SAFE at 3rd
Blu_run
bluekid, I think Malouda has around 45 goals and 45 assists for Chelsea. Including scoring in 3 FA Cup semi-finals.
CobhamBlue
"@janecatxx: Sat behind the Chelsea Dug today, and some city fan called and shouted Benitez a fat rat! John terry turned round laughin his head off!!." # People at Chelsea will never change...Very bad attitute from Terry if this is true...Terminate these players contract in summer, if we want to rebuild
Blu_run
well said BLU_RUN exactly my sentiments when I read that. How anyone who "loves" Chelsea can see the fun in that beats me, especially given the "business end" of the season we in @ the moment. This team needs all the support, if you don't like Rafa then rather support the players and ignore him, undermining him creates an unhealthy environment even for the players, and with reactions such as those from the so-called "Mr Chelsea" it's no wonder why the club has such a bad name. And I believe 100% that Terry won't be given a new contract, and if he leaves I don't see him play for a "top" European team, Man$hitty WILL NEVER buy him now, won't even mention ManUre, Barca, Madrid, Bayern, Dortmund, maybe PSG, Galatasaray or some Chinese club, but definitely not the teams that matter
@Mq
By the way (sorry to do this here) those who said Pep wasn't doing anything at Barca look at their performance against Milan. Pep's Barca would never lose nil, you couldn't score 2 against them without reply
@Mq
Do you guys know what is more sad in all this. More and more ST holders are not renewing bcz of the ***** that the club did with this FSW. Twitter is full of our life long fans and ST holders who are actually contemplating about not renewing for next season. How about it. I have said even before a month to sack this fat piece of $hit. Even it didnt acheive anything at all. SACKING OF THE FSW will bring all the club together. Everybody will be together again. The fans will back the team. Team will feel less pressure bcz the SB is rocking. The opposition will fear us again bcz the confidence of the team is growing. This pathetic piece of $hits FT9 and FSW both ripped the heart out of this beautiful club. Its like watching somebody is doing a operation on your stomach with you watching. The way the life long fans and ST holders are talking about the deep disgust the way RA and his gang treated RDM and appointed this Fat piece of $hit. Oh GOD WHY you hate my beloved club. Somebody just come to their senses and sack this $hit. Play the reserves in fa cup and EL. Concentrate fully on the EPL top 4. Holland and adi vivesh is more than enough to unite the players and fans to push us over the line.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
@Cobhamblue... It's true Malouda had a phenomenal season that double year and was our best player.. His link up play with Drogba was telepathic! Its a shame he didn't reach those heights throughout his Chelsea career. Mata is the closest we've got to that kind of return in goals and assists and has the potential to far exceed what Malouda did at the club.
Splint1976
@CobhamBlue.Goals and assists wise mata can suppass that of Malouda by the end of may.You actually said it yourself,'the chelsea of 2010 was far ahead of this one' so I dont see the need to pick on Mata because with what he's done this season and last,if it was in 2010 he would have also been the player of the season and with loads of goals and assists.we could call Iniesta in place of Mata now but with our disjointed team's overall play he'd do more or less than what Mata has.Point is Chelsea aint playing as a team or group but rather we are relying on individuals to pop up with wondergoals etc.yes Floro was great then but noone expected him to carry the team to win titles but it was a collective effort which won us the double.
bluekid
I'm appalled to associate myself with you BLUE&WHITE because from that statement alone, I detest such logic. Sack this ************************ I mean, what has he ever done personally to you to dare say that?? Tell you what, you may not renew your season ticket, hell I bet those who won't renew that come start of next season the stadium will be filled, with or without you (some of you's embarrassing hatred borders alongside racism) I'll support the club and whoever's in it, you don't want that then off you go, SIMPLE. No1's got a gun to your head lad, no1 even worries if you not there. The club will be a success, if not this season then in years to come and guess what, you's the 1st 1's to come spouting love for Chelsea.....don't come here exhibiting border-line racism
@Mq
CobhamBlue, Malouda did not score 103 goals. It should tell you how awful a player he really is by his performances as soon as he turned 30. Look at Giggs. He lost his pace but still has the skill to pass the ball. Malouda never was and will never be as good a Hazard, Mata and Oscar. These three players can play for any team in the world. How many top clubs chased Malouda in his prime?
foreign_viewer
For gods sake somebody just BAN this piece of $hit. He is making more and more level minded fans snap. This pathetic excuse as a FAN. I still dont believe a word he says here. He is not a chelsea fan. He is not a fan of anything at all. He is only the fan of that barca pussy PEP and scouse scum rafa. For GODS sake somebody BAN this piece of $hit. It will make life easier for everybody at VC
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Guys lets have non-insulting arguments.Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but please lets keep it civil that way not start insulting each other.
bluekid
*smh* Lord have mercy....I feel sorry, not for the individual, but those who rely on his decision-making and advice
@Mq
@Mq You are appalled to associated with me? Entire VC is shamed bcz you are a member in this site. Entire CFC is shamed bcz somehow you claims to be a CFC fan. You are a shame to CFC, VC and LIFE in general. Shame to this world. Just shut the ***** up. Nobody wants your advice here about how to being a fan. Pathetic excuse as a human being. You have the nerve to comment about how the life long ST holders about renewing and supporting the club. Pathetic piece of $hit. You are $hit. Your coach FSW is piece of $hit. More than anything your lover boy PEP is also a piece of $hit. There. What you are going to do about it?
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Hahaha...Mq saying he is appalled to associate himself as a fan to someone on here? Hahaha...Pathetic, that's what most of us feel of you mate. Did you just say you'll support the club and whoever's in it? Really? Ahhh! That's how you supported Robbie.
nelyvanile
@bluekid All the fans know about me and my comments mate. Its not about CFC anymore with this pathetic excuse as a fan. He is not even has the gut to own up to anything he says. All he can do is come up with some pathetic argument and insult the entire VC and live in his glory about how everybody is talking about him at VC. I am ignoring his comments for a long time. I already asked him before not to answer to my comments bcz he is no use to comment or argue with. Yet he comes here and lecturing about the life ling ST holders about how they should support their club. He is not even fit enough to WASH the shoes of any ST holder of CFC.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
foreign_viewer, Thanks for correcting me I had always been under the impression Malouda had scored all 103 goals himself in the Double winning season. There were plenty of top teams after him that's why Chelsea gave him a new contract. It doesn't really matter if he is not as good as Giggs in his 30s. In 2010 he was Chelsea's best player and without him they would not have won the Double. I very much doubt Hazard will ever achieve what Malouda has achieved in football. 1 World Cup Final, 2 Champions League Finals, 3 FA Cup Finals, 4 French League titles, 1 Premier League title. Hazard can be fun to watch - his goal on Thursday night - but he is a show pony that doesn't work hard enough and he should be sold to raise money to allow us to have a more balanced harder working team.
CobhamBlue
@nelyvanile the nerve of the guy to tell the life long ST holders how to support the club. Dont you find is amusing mate. OH GOD Why you hate CFC so much that FSW is the coach of beloved team and guys like this $hit is claiming to be the fan of CFC. Mate do you honestly think this EAF("Excuse As a Fan")(dont want to even write his name so i made up EAF) is even know anything about CFC?
BlueAndWhiteArmy
You have people here hating on Oscar, Hazard and Mata. Again, how old were Lampard, Malouda, Drogba and the rest when they won the double?
foreign_viewer
Ban me?? For what??
@Mq
I was against appointing RDM but eventually gave him a chance, and he failed me NELY. And if I remember right, it was you (figuratively) who "taught" me to support whoever was in charge, not so??.....case of do as I say not as I do perhaps??
@Mq
@EAF Ha ha ha. Everybody is laughing at you. First go and see a mirror and think about how to improve your life. I am 100% sure you will be a miserable and negative guy who will $uck the JOY out of the people who are around you. Its a gift for some people like you .$ucking the JOY of everybody around them.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Hazard is 22. He won the French league as well. Awarded Best Player for every year he played there. He is better than Malouda will ever be.
foreign_viewer
@nelyvanile The @EAF is now trying to wind you up. Just ignore the EAF he will go away to make some body else's life miserable. We all pray that its not somebody in VC.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
....I have said even before a month to sack this fat piece of $hit. Even it didnt acheive anything at all....this statement alone is what I will NEVER associate with, NEVER. I don't care who say's it, maybe besides Roman, although he being a reasoning man would never dare think of such grovel. It tells you a lot about an individual if their minds can conjure up something like that, amazingly-crazy stuff
@Mq
@CobhamBlue. I disagree with you to a large degree...Every player has their strength and weaknesses. So I'm not one to compare a certain player to another as they play differently and have different approach to the game. Malouda was a good signing but really started flourishing when Guus got placed him tactically in his comfort zone,Carlo followed up on that and Malouda had his best season in a Chelsea jersey. In my books I rate players based on their consistency level,Mata has had 2 good season for Chelsea and will obviously have a 3rd good season. Technically more brilliant,and more aware of movement around him. Yes he is probably not the best defensively,but their are many players in the world(top players) who work on their defensive side of the game as they mature. Its about the tactics you deploy,Messi is not the best player at tracking back,he hardly marks,but Guardiola changed that and he defends from the front with high pressing,Ronaldo hardly tracks back,and Manchester United players complained about that,but he does better at tracking back now at Madrid. Players learn to improve their game as they get older. Mata still has a lot to offer Chelsea and i assure you we have not seen the best of the lad yet.
nelyvanile
CobhamBlue, you dismiss the youth too often. Don't you know, all the players you mention were once 22 as well. They had mostly won nothing. Did CFC let you go from their academy or something? marginalization
foreign_viewer
@mq, thought u are a bank manager or may be works in bank, you should be at the office by. Noww lol, just kiddn tho, folks,enuf or insults and argument,u guys are even making more mockery of cfc, it won't change anything
jayb
Rafa has to go. What is his philosophy?
foreign_viewer
foreign_viewer, We'll only know for sure in 10 years time when we can look back at what Hazard has achieved. But it will take some going for him to have a better career than Malouda and if he doesn't work harder he will have no chance. But he does have the skill set to be a top player, I'm just not sure he has the correct attitude. Mourinho would not put up with him that's for sure.
CobhamBlue
I'm in the office JAYB how else do you think I can be on VC as regular.....*it's called delegation ;)
@Mq
Haha...@BAWA. You sure are truly ticked off mate.
nelyvanile
@nelyvanile The @EAF is now trying to wind you up. Just ignore the EAF he will go away to make some body else's life miserable. We all pray that its not somebody in VC.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
@mq, so guess there's no work to do per se? Sorry mean no offence just asking
jayb
@nelyvanile The @EAF is now trying to wind you up. Just ignore the EAF he will go away to make some body else's life miserable. We all pray that its not somebody in VC.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
nelyvanile, Mata can stay. I'm just saying have Mata, Hazard & Oscar is a luxury no club can afford if they want to challenge for the title. We are just left wide open when we lose the ball. 2 of them is a luxury never mind 3. Of the 3 the one I would sell, to finance a more balanced team, would be Hazard as I believe Mata is better and Oscar has more upside. I'm not against youngsters. I'd have Lukaku back in a minute. Although I wasn't impressed with him last season. And to finance a stronger midfield I'd sell Cech and bring Courtois to be No.1.
CobhamBlue
CobhamBlue, this is simple. The coach should tell the players to press. If they don't do it, send them to the bench. They were doing it at the beginning of the season. Now they don't.
foreign_viewer
there is work JAYB but you just gotta get other ppl to do it ;)
@Mq
There is a simple solution to the Mata, Hazard, Oscar debate. play Mata behind the Striker, Play Hazard wide left and play oscar deeper in the pivot alongside mikel or luiz. Oscar is currently being wasted under benitez as hes playing out of position.
Blue1989
I don't trivial stuff, I do the "important" stuff that either makes or loses the bank's money's, like stay after hours and sign off cheques, authorize overnight transfers, check-list staff activities....stuff like that. Don't like discussing my job though *don't wanna be a target ;)
@Mq
@nelyvanile You know what pains me even more. One of a close friends who is even more hardcore CFC than me. this is what he said to me after the city game "Its not painful anymore" He said its not painful for him anymore to watch CFC loosing. We are talking about a hardcore fan here. Going to SB for long time and try to give as much as money for cfc by buying multiple shirts etc. Sometimes i will ask him about why he is buying the same players jersy more than once sometime?(H&A&3rd kit).He will always say to me its like a loving a girl that you must prove your love to her not only for new year,christmas but for the whole year.Although i know him so well that i was afraid that how much he is in depression regarding this whole RAFA mess. This is a fan who will not be happy even if we loss a match and that day itself we won the league title bcz of other results gone our way. Lot of our fans are in a deep depression about anything related to CFC. Like i said its like watching somebody opening up your stomach with you watching it.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
I think the biggest blame I have on tubby was his substitution, how on earth ll you take off Hazard (who ws growing into d game @ dat time) 4 a Moses (whose contribution 4 all d time hw ws on d pitch ws nt even half of Ramires's in 5 mins) n secondly by taking off Mikel, he wasted Oscar bcos d lad jst could'nt attack any longer n dat ws exactly wen d game ws lost.
Bunmiemich
CobhamBlue. Totally understand your point of view mate,its not entirely about the players,it has a lot to do with the tactics employed. 4-2-3-1 is supposed to be a balanced formation and that's why most teams in europe have adopted the formation since its inception. Bayern,Madrid,Dortmund and some other clubs in Europe have shown how a 4-2-3-1 should tick when players are played in the right position strategically. We don't have the personnel especially in the pivot (that we already know),this team and personnel would do better in a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1 (flexibility in formation is key). Oscar and Mata can play in the wings or an AM role in a 4-3-3. Hazard,Moses,Marin can be rotated for the wings...We can have one of the 3 MF playing a box to box role in Lamps or Rami,and One a DM in Mikel. We have to play to the teams strength,and ride the wave till the season ends. This are little details Rafa can work on,basically too stubborn to change formations like he was at Liverpool and Inter.
nelyvanile
If we had....uh-mm.....maybe bought Moura instead of Oscar we'd have more versatility. Moura plays on the wings or behind the striker, very fast and still more then capable at dribbling and creating chances...*just saying :)
@Mq
Everybody must press. If one player doesn't press it won't work. Some players in the team lack that ability because they lack the pace to do it. Oscar, Luiz and Ramires would be better options in midfield. Cahill needs a new CB partner with pace like his.
foreign_viewer
@MQ if i may ask , how did RDM fail you ? By not leaving group stages ???? lemme ask you this , if benitez started the season do you think we would have gone thru ? do you think we will be where we are ? Do you have an idea of how many points we have dropped since when benitez took over?????/ yes we finished 6ht last season , but i can tell you it was a dream to think that 3 teams above us will just suddenly drop form and then we will get 4th place. Benitez is the worst manager i know , his tactics , subs , rotation policy all show it . If RDM was here , we might not have won at the etihad , we probably would have lost but i am sure we would have beaten southampton , QPr , and at lest drawn with West ham , and we will not have lost our lead against newcastle . if he does not win 2 matches in a roll then i see no reason why he should be the manager for the third game , Roman always persist with the wrong people , AVB should have been sacked earlier and Benitez but no it was Ancelotti and Rdm that got sacked early . And right now the players need the support from the fans and the only way i see that happening if benitez leaving , we have never been afraid to pull the trigger why should we be now ???? the only hope i have for top 4 is Arsenal's inconsistency
Don capon
And a stat guys , KDB is the first player in the german league to score bayern munich this year
Don capon
Christmas tree anyone? 4-3-2-1
Blue1989
@BAWA...There's more going on,the club is lying to the public and trying to paint a rosey picture. The game against Brentford at home,I saw lots of empty sits of ST holders and was amazed to hear we had 4900+ supporters...I was shocked!
nelyvanile
These are all some of the msg's going on twitter about the ST situation. "No, regardless of who is in situ. It is with great sadness I have decided enough is enough. #chelseafc" "I'm not renewing the ST if he's still there and maybe even if he's gone" "im not renewing, my dad who has been going since the 60's has stopped going coz of what going on." These are all samples only. I have seen more than 100 msg's on my timeline alone. these msg's are really really disturbing. All these fans are the lifeblood of this club. RA and the board with their moronic decision. God Its SAD. Really SAD.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
"would not renew. Only been to one game since he took over, don't anticipate going to many more" " I won't be renewing I have had a ST in Mhl since it opened have only done 2 games since he joined just can't stand him" "i may not renew my membership and rely on friends to buy the odd away game. NO home games or money to the club"
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Meant to right 40,000 lol
nelyvanile
These are all not just new fans. These are the guys who stand up to the relegation's, bankruptcy limping in division 2 and 1. Fans who are following the club for 20,30,40,in some cases 60 years. How can somebody explain it? Looks like we are going to be soulless with no proper fans who will sing their lungs out. Be a 12 th man for the team and destroy the confidence of opposition even before they come out on the pitch. WHY GOD WHY?
BlueAndWhiteArmy
There is nothing wrong with Mata, Oscar and Hazard and the comparisons to Malouda is way too premature. Mata has already surpassed what Malouda has done for this club already - HE WAS AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE compared to Malouda as well as our FA Cup. Malouda wasn't the only reason we won our double in 2009/2010. He was playing alongside better players than him that season in Lampard and Drogba who actually put up better numbers than him. Can you imagine playing Mata alongside better ST and a better CM right now? As far as Oscar and Hazard, it was too early to be comparing them to Malouda. The problem is not just about Hazard and Oscar being lazy or whatever - they are young. What is painful to watch is having an inept manager who has zero clue how to use their talents nor how to get them better. Not only is it Mata and Oscar, but Lampard, Ramires and Mikel. The only reason we switched from our 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 was because of Torres. We managed it through out last season and against smaller teams but it is clear the 4-2-3-1 is just not working of which OCBlues predicted last season. We all know Lampard is not good for the Pivot; we know Ramires has poor possession ability and lack technique etc...what does our smart coach do - play them in positions against a team that actually gets their faults exploited!!!!!!!!What pains me is the incessant insults hauled at players with a clueless**** at the helm. Managed 15 games and only won 7 out of the 15 games. Knocked out in 2 finals. Demba Ba can't even score and has gotten out coached by Southampton, Sam Allarydce, Corinthians and how many other coaches. Out of the 11 games left, we've got Man U, Everton, Tottenham, West Ham, Liverpool and Swansea City.
KAKUfrank
Calm down mate...its a trying time for the club and fans but i believe we will pass through this stage having learnt a valuable lesson. The importance of fans is pivotal and so is the support of the owner,we all have to come together to push the club forward. The changing of Managers have pushed us through season after season,it was just a matter of time it proved counter-active. Lesson should be learnt this season and measures should be taken to improve next season,if the board are blind enough to see the faults and mistakes this season,then we are in deep *****.
nelyvanile
Out of the 11 games left, we've got Man U, Everton, Tottenham, West Ham, Liverpool and Swansea City, and we think Benitez will guide such tough roads????
KAKUfrank
Totally agree Kaku...its gonna be a bumpy ride,nail biting stuff. Trust me the sacking of Rafa will be celebrated like a holiday and might just pull everyone together...I'm really not sure Rafa can get us a UCL spot.
nelyvanile
I know im going to try to fit in the sunderland and swansea home games before the seasons end (not always easy for me to fit in every game), i can then look forward to renewing my membership for next season.
Blue1989
I do remember OCblues predicting us dishing the 4-2-3-1. I remember disagreeing as am a big fan of that formation based on tactical discipline and the flexibility the formation brings. Right now we just don't have the personnel suited for that formation. We can build on the formation next season,but this season we have to play to the teams strength...and its obviously not a 4-2-3-1.
nelyvanile
YEs now everyone is seeing that 4-2-3-1 does not suit us , yet our manager refuses to change formation , better sack benitez before its too late
Don capon
Its amazing some people still try to find an excuse for Rafa's tactical ineptness. So Man city is a top side now ei? They are defending Champions all of a sudden because they were playing Chelsea? Southampton whooped this same Man city team 3-1. City were totally outplayed and Mancini got tactically outclassed by Pochettino. So Southampton have better personnels on the pitch than we do? Baseless...
nelyvanile
i have been callign for us to change to 4-3-3 since , even 4-4-1-1 will be better for us but no we must use two peple in the pivot playing out of position
Don capon
@KAKUfrank @nelyvanile Already i said it before a month to sack this FSW just to unite the club than anything else. If we sacked him we could be in 2nd with the whole club pulling in one direction not in this dog fight for 4th. time is not gone yet.Sack him now atleast to save the top4 spot. I dont have even 10% confidence on this FSW to finish in top 4. Somebody from the board must order the waiter to throw the towel in the fa cup and EL with immediate effort. If RA and the board has any brain left they must sack him now to at least unit the fans and the players. With the FANS behind the team our young good players with the help of the likes of cech terry FL will surely finish in the top 4. The problem is that the mere site of the FSW is winding the fans up more and more with each match its affecting the whole club in a negative way. Its like the FSW emitting negative throw out the dug out. His mere site in chelsea dug out makes more fans to emit negative energy.All this negative energy is engulfing our players at CFC like a baby drowning in the vast sea.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/02/25/image-rafa-benitez-fernando-torres-eight-point-masterplan-to-destroy-chelsea-working-beautifully/
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Im not sure the standard 4-3-3 would work with mata playing wide- but maybe a variation on it like 4-2-1-3. Oscar and Mikel/Luiz in the 2, Mata as the 1 and Hazard, Ba and Moses as the 3. it worked for Inter in the CL final versus Bayern different, players i know. (Blue1989 stop playing the managerial game!!!!)
Blue1989
Not sure oscar fits a 2 in the pivot. I think the whole point of this is to abolish the 2 completely and revert to a 4-1-2-3 formation with Oscar/Lampard and Ramires pressing from the front and Mikel in DM. Not only do they press from the front, but they also provide covers for our wingers (who aren't tracking back much) in defensive phase and are closer to our target man in BA. Throughout yesterday, long balls to Demba Ba were ok. But FSW had us defending so deep on our half that Demba had to pass the ball 10 to 15 yards back again and then run towards the City defense. Add that Man City players were running endlessly and catching up to Mata and co, this was just absolutely stupid by this clown we call a manager. Yesterday was really some kiddy type coaching.
KAKUfrank
it either means some lads here are FAR more intelligent than those advising Roman, or the opposite is true.....given how long Bruce Buck (for instance) has been in the game, that he hasn't gotten Rafa fired speaks VOLUMES about the difference between intelligent (thoughtful) assessment considering all factors, and inept (rather foolish hatred-induced) assessment......your choice
@Mq
If Spurs win today (hope to God not),they'll be 2 points ahead of us in 3rd demote us to 4th with Arsenal 2 points behind us in 5th. Oh lord have mercy...Come on you blues!
nelyvanile
Lampard is not going to be there next year. Truth be told in games like this one he is too deep to influence the game in a attacking sense and he isn't quick enough to tackle. He does not fit the system going forward, but that does not mean he is useless.II can't fathom why Benitez, who tactically had got a few things correct at the start of his interim spell, ditched the Luiz midfield experiment, I had marked thhis game down in the calendar as the first real test of the system that has been more successful than any without him in a positive sense. And rafa goes to the proven failure of pairing mikel with lampard. Both were good goals by city, mikel must have had a bet with toure after the African cup game where Nigeria knocked ivory coast out that he would let yaya walk past him into the box a few times. And ivanovic made the terrible decision to turn the other way when Tevez shot. He has been disappointing recently and needs a break, and there was no reason to start him ahead of azpilicueta, who has been on of our best players recently
Mia Maynard
@Mq sacking RDM has proved to be a stupid decision , does that mean buck is stupid ??? maybe not , but because he has not sacked Benitez ( i doubt that is his job ) does not make him any more intelligent than us
Don capon
@nelyvanile @KAKUfrank As usual @EAF came out with another one of his "world class" analysis about the FSW. For instance 'FSW' is the greatest thing that ever happend to CFC. As a fan of long time do you and me know what 'FSW' stands for? All hail @EAF. All of us must learn how to support CFC from @EAF.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
If anybody dont know what @EAF means yet its Excuse As a Fan = EAF. There is a EAF here at VC. We all know who he is. So all follow the advice of @EAF about how brilliant FSW is and how we could improve our behavior and support for CFC through our spiritual leader @EAF guiding us through this tough times.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Lmaooooo!!!!! What does EAF mean BAWA?
KAKUfrank
Lmaoooooo @ Excuse As a Fan.
KAKUfrank
@Mq if I may ask? How long has Bruce buck been running a football club from (football wise) not talking of the financial stand point and legal side? Do answer that question since u know a lot about a Club I've supported for 4 decades.
nelyvanile
All hail our spiritual leader @EAF.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
How long Bruce Buck has been in the game? What game? Football Management?????? Was the comment a joke or was it a serious comment?
KAKUfrank
@nelyvanile, in regards to Spurs: "Spurs have gone 10 games (7 wins 3 draws), and over two months, since their last league defeat ( 2-1 Everton Dec 9th). This run is only surpassed by Man Utd....
KAKUfrank
@nelyvanile You only supported for this 'stupid' club for 4 decades? Then you dont have any right to comment about our leader @EAF and his greatest coach in entire milkyway galaxy FSW. Infact i am proposing a motion to BAN @nelyvanile @KAKUFrank bcz of them daring to debate with my leader @EAF and FSW. All hail @EAF and FSW. All pray for the waiter to take us to finish in the mighty 10th place. If anybody questions the FSW then they will be abused by our natural leader of cfc fans @EAF.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
Okay ill learn to use the EAF next time BAWA
nelyvanile
@Kaku...Similar to what I said on twitter. Spurs have been the more consistent side of the 3 (Chelsea,Arsenal,Spurs) fighting for UCL and deserve to be 3rd. Thank God for our early season gap on them,they could be miles ahead of us by now,and we could be playing catch up. The though of Spurs being ahead of us is absolutely sickening.
nelyvanile
@nelyvanile Thats good. We must know our place you know. We cant go around and pass comments against our 'FAR more intelligent' Buck or 'Even more intelligent' @EAF. We must be ashamed of ourselves just for the thought itself to question our leader @EAF and FSW and 'Dont know anything about football but i am the chairman of CFC Buck'. How dare we question them when we are spending our life savings and earnings to follow this club?
BlueAndWhiteArmy
thought*
nelyvanile
@nelyvanile @KAKU I dont know who to blame for this whole mess but its making more and more of our fans taking an unconventional approach towards supporting the club. Some hard core fans already decided against renewing the ST next season. Some others are in the resolution of not spending money on merchandise etc. Lot and lot of level headed fans are asking for patience patience for years yet RA and his gang treated CFC like a machine that splits out money. But now all their ruthless and heartless approach to running the club broke the heart of lot of fans finally
BlueAndWhiteArmy
@Nely, @Kaku @Bawa...guys I am seriously enjoying this thread...but am I missing somthing??..coould sombody please tell me what @EAF is??....l already laffing but please I need to know...
layorh12
@layorh12 EAF = Excuse As a Fan. If you are a member of VC long enough then you will surely know by now that there is a excuse as a fan here who calls himself as cfc fan. I can say his name but it will only stroke his ego to see his name being mentioned. So i gave him a nick name to reduce his ego. From now onwards if anybody is willing use the name EAF to answer him. With this way he will learn some dignity as a fan.Will be less craving for spotlight. He will always come with some 'intelligent' analysis and how great the 'FSW' is. 'How CFC dont deserve a gretest coach of all time in FSW'. This @EAF abused RDM to no end and bitched himself to end for his lover boy in PEP.
BlueAndWhiteArmy
In keeping with our club policy off signing every player that takes the ***** out of us, Chelsea are set to sign Luke Shaw. Seems like a good buy to me if it happens and he's only 17.
CobhamBlue
@bawa....rotflmao....i get it mate..thanks!!
layorh12
@Cobhamblue...thats a freaking piece of good news meen...fantastic young player...who will go straight into the first team as Cole's understudy...I dont know what will become of Berty as I honestly do not think he is good enough at this point...may be after cole leaves, Berty will slot it out with Shaw which will be fantastic....
layorh12
Let's see...under RDM we fell from 3rd to 6th last season, excluding the TREMENDOUS luck we had in the Champs League and the controversy around the FA Cup (vs Spurs) it's fair to say we FLOPPED under RDM in the League. Using that as a reason to justify anger/resentment towards Rafa is utterly myopic because apples to apples, there's no evidence we are worse off in the league now than last season.
@Mq
Benitez is one cocky manager who wastes no time in taking all the credit when things are going well but refuse to raise his hands up when things go sour. Those substitutions yesterday erases the all the little respect I have for him, he was found out big time in that game against City, Mancini went for the jugular on realising Rafa has got no clue of what to do to our impotent midfield by replacing Rodwell with an attacking midfielder, Tevez the difference was there for anyone to see. An intelligent manager would ask Hazard to keep running at zabaleta who was moments away from getting a matching order, Hazard was causing him all sort of trouble before the genius Rafa sent him to the bench. Of what use was Iva as a RB in that game? NOTHING! both offensively and defensively. Ramires had an off day yesterday but he was not helped by the fact that Rafa played him in 3 different positions in a single game. Lampard was ineffective and Mikel was Mikel, any substitution should have come in that area first. The problem with Benitez is when he makes mistakes with his team selection he thinks making prompt correction would mean acknowledging he made a mistake, something that is allien to him.
RayBell
As for you "fans" (NOT ALL) that claim to have supported the club since 40 years ago (when the club was $hit, to be brutally honest) you can retreat with your Ken Bates-driven mentality. You say the club is in decline now, where was it in the 70's, 80's, 90's?? Nowhere close to where it is now, so if it "hurts" you that we not winning now, where you pleased with the mediocrity then?? If so do yourselves a favor, don't buy the tickets, eff off SIMPLE. Why stay around for something you not enjoying, no1's got a gun to your heads, no1's holding something of yours at ransom, eff off
@Mq
Roman isn't stupid, he's actually 10times smarter than you can imagine yourselves to be. The club might be going through difficulty at the moment but we will prevail, the club will come good eventually. Come next season when we rid ourselves of certain "legends" and build a team to usher us to a new era BETTER than the garbage football the last era lads served us in large doses, you'll be singing here like you being paid for it. We get the right Manager (Rafa or not) and the right players, we start winning and guess what, the same IDIOTS will be hear spouting their love for the club etc when they busy speaking through their a$$holes right now about not renewing their tickets (AGAIN NOT ALL OF THEM, THE "SMART" ONE'S LIKE BLUEANDWHITE)
@Mq
As I was told (in similar words) If you love the club, support the club and forget Rafa because like it or not, he's here till we lose ground to Spurs. If that's your wish (that we lose till he's fired) then ask yourself if you love Chelsea or individuals at Chelsea. Pointless spouting useless grovel and name-calling, it only points to what environment you surround yourself in (must be a very "productive" one given the potency of insults....) pity I fell for the stupidity. Better quit now before my I lose the little ounce of intelligence I have left :)
@Mq
@Mq, I'm not a fan of RDM , but you and I know we play better football under him than the pathetic display we are being served now, RDM do go extra cautious in his team selection against tough opponents but he likes to have a go at small teams. I wonder what Rafa scribbles in that book of his, nothing perhaps, it just for the camera
RayBell
@Mq...''The club might be going through difficulty at the moment but we will prevail, the club will come good eventually'' some folks might call it an unreasonable optimism, but I am with you on that tot...I know we will be fine eventually...but the shambolic state we are in right now is scary plus I want us to play champions league next season...if we dont play, it wont be the end of the world though,(if that ever happens, I think we will bounce back immediately)..but I will prefer we play in it come next season
layorh12
@Mq! When avb got the sack we were 5th! So we only fell ffrom 5-6TH.
Lakupiippu
You always ask yourself where it goes wrong with people, where they miss the line between "normal" and stupidity. You wonder how some people become successful and others, despite the vast opportunities ahead of them they still aspire to be foolish....Now I know why....such short-term unreasonable reasoning Ha talk about fools Gold *smh
@Mq
@BlueAndWhiteArmy ..............look what's happening to ACMILAN they where a lot worse than US at the start of the season...... there fans were booing them off the ground as performance was very bad dropping to 14th they threw beer bottles at the players and thats fact, they sold ibra silva pirlo etc had no superstars left and were lucky for El Sharwey to sorta hold em steady for a bit.......... NEWAY my point they now look like a COMPLETE DIFFERENT TEAM with the purchase of BALLOTELLI they see him as one of thier own as he is and THE BELIEF there now is emmense. WE ARE NOW IN NEED OF THE SAME THING MY FRIEND DROGBA WAS OUR HERO JUST LIKE RDM WAS. I FEEL LUKAKU HAS GOT A SPOT FOR HIS NAME IN THE STARS....... HIS BEEN SPEAKING OF THIS RECENTLY....... forget the FSW FT9 benyoun etc i feel your pain bro im actually starting to think no CL next year is meant to be and better off...... we bring ROMELU back, the brazilians all seem happy and will be more with FSW gone and im sure hazard mata etc will stick around IF ANYONE WANTS TO LEAVE TO CHASE CHAMPIONS LEAUGE SO BE IT but all we need to do is add some steel to this team and england will be ours AND EUROPE WILL FOLLOW so expect the worse for now mate as its looking i guess you already know but will b back stronger
Bain^DoggZ
we will play in the Champs League next season LAYOR we won't fall beyond that. Remember we just lost to the defending Champs, not that I'm saying we should accept losing but it's not like we are out completely, we still have a say given the teams we to face (Spurs @ home, maybe ManUre away might be tricky but if they are still in the Champs League who knows) All I'm saying is we were very unlucky and stupid @ the same time yesterday, Lamps missed a penalty and Mikel didn't mark Silva and Yaya leading to the goal. Ramires missed a chance to try score (remember he was almost 1on1 with Hart) and then made an error that Iva compounded by not closing down Tevez. How Rafa get's blame for that beats me. We were awful in the 1st half and lucky to go scores tied, but we played better in the 2nd half yet certain players cost us what could otherwise have been a draw (maybe a win) so why blame Rafa solely like he individually lost us the game?? And why persist with the negativity when you can see it's causing more harm than good?? Surely if anyone "loves" Chelsea but still resent Rafa they'd @least ignore him and support the team, not so??
@Mq
Hahaha...BAWA got under your skin...your words shows utter frustration and Anger. You got a good dose of your medicine mate. Easy on the keyboard Mq or should I say 'EAF' according to BAWA...Lol.
nelyvanile
First @Mq you must admit, Rafa has failed. From 4 points away from manure to 19 points. That is failure no matter which way you look at it.
foreign_viewer
If we had....uh-mm.....maybe bought Moura instead of Oscar we'd have more versatility. Moura plays on the wings or behind the striker, very fast and still more then capable at dribbling and creating chances...*just saying :) @MQ <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< YOU ARE DEFINETLY NO BLUE OUR OSCAR IS SPECIAL AND WEARS THAT BRAZILIAN 10 FOR A REASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bain^DoggZ
Look lads, ignore Rafa and support the club. He's not going anywhere till the end of the season, and unless we lose 3 games more he'll be our Manager. If your desire is that we lose more games then SHAME ON YOU. If your desire is club progress then support the club. We have 20+ games to play (all tournaments) and it's unwise to be wishing bad just to appease and fulfill your selfish desires
@Mq
No1 say's he isn't any good BAIN it's about adaptability, hence my point. Oscar's on the bench now, and in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mata on song Oscar's really a sub in the EPL (he can't play in the pivot, players like Toure, Tiote, Fellaini, Diame will eat him all day long) so while he's good, is he a true fit for Chelsea given his lack of versatility?? I like him, he's a good player but lesser versatile than Moura, hence I made that point
@Mq
It takes more than online banter to get "under my skin" NELY :)
@Mq
RAFA HAS HAD 180 mins plus extra time against man city........ AND PRODUCED 2 shots on target and he is some TACTICAL GENIUS......... MRS TORRES scored against MAN C in the community shield!!!!! need i say more about tactics
Bain^DoggZ
RDM last season - Coached 11 games. Won 5 games. Drew 3 and Lost 3. Win Percentage 45.45%. Loss Percentage 27.27% and Draw Percentage of 27.27%. RDM Second season - Coached 12 games. Won 7 games. Drew 3 and Lost 2. Win Percentage 58%. Draw Percentage 25% and Loss Percentage of 17%. Throughout his time at Chelsea, RDM coached 23 games, Won 12 games, Drew 6 games and lost 5 games. Win Percentage 52%. Draw Percentage 26% and Loss Percentage of 22%. Benitez has coached 15 games, won 7, lost 4 and drew 4. Win Percentage 47%. Draw Percentage 27% and Loss Percentage of 27%.
KAKUfrank
To some people RDM maybe dumb, BUT their tactical genius in Benitez is just 2 points marginally better than "Dumb" RDM who was resting the starters towards the end of last season AND FEATURING the subs against opposition in the PL and resting our starters for the FA Cup and UCL. With the same squad that tactical genius Benitez has, RDM had a much better win percentage. The genius has gone from 4 points behind Man City to 19 behind Man U; Arsenal and Spurs are closer and he's been knocked out of 2 competitions. But of course, in Benitez's case, the players ARE AT FAULT while in RDM, he WAS AN INEPT MANAGER......
KAKUfrank
OSCAR is adapting to the epl as his stats on the european stage show OSCAR is a future deep lying playmaker once he adapts and is basically everywhere on the pitch if you happn to watch brazil.......... HE SHUT DOWN PIRLO and stunned buffon twice in his first full game........ and RDM was experementing with the 433 formation at this time, just didnt trust your woman FT9 come the second leg....... shame what that whore has done to this club talking all that ***** about being in her prime and wanting to leave THE SEA and not loving THE SEA before season start WE WERE FOOLED!!!!!!! and there are other formations that dont hold a pivotal 2 @MQ idiot
Bain^DoggZ
Well put Kaku...Well put. Blind reasoning by some.
nelyvanile
KAKUs stats clearly show and that doesnt include the fact of CL participation and his wins there and the fact that he played weaker squads during last seasons reign
Bain^DoggZ
The earlier some of you calm down, the better it is for you and for the club... Some of you have to take things easy here.... all these crying and lamentation is just because we are not winning games not because we are unhappy that we have a bad system... we've been having a bad system for a while and we've all been smiling because it's been paying off, diminishing returns has set in and now we are all making noise... If there is anything we should have learnt from this it is the fact that the club has to be careful with their next appointmet and really do a thorough job... I think some of you guys may still have to cry longer as it appears the management has learnt a lesson and is not ready to rush into a panic appointment..... This is not a time to revel on the past or the fact that the management has made mistakes, it's a time to think ahead and act like a club who has learnt from previous falls... I'm interested in eading matured analysis and comments of or situation, well thought out suggestions and recommendations not all these whining and crying....
Latunvic
At this point...I expect Rafa to finish out the season...I know I let my emotions get in the way..but I hope that we can end the season within the top for and I pray that we get a new strong manager that has the ability to adapt the players that we have and mold them into a top 4 team. I believe we have good players but they need to be set up in a formation that show cases their abilities. I hope the new manager has total control of player personel moves as the incompetent bunch of *****s in charge now just continue to make everything worse. Regardless, I am now comfortably numb and my expectations for the remainder of the season are adjusted properly. While Rafa is a complete idiot, Roman will not fire him as Roman is too wary of the media and bad pr it will create. So, we will have to suck it up and hope for the best. But honestly, and easily, CFC can end up in 6th at the end of the season. Their confidence is so low...Really, if you can't get up for a big game like Man City what level of effort do you really expect? We will just have to wait for Tubby to be replaced at the end of the season and hope that someone with some leadership steps up and drags the team to 4th place.
lamarochs
with rafa ?
habbo
I don't understand you Latunvic. Are you saying sacking Benitez is crying and whining? In the spirit of mature analysis, well thought out suggestions and recommendations, what exactly in Benitez's record with Chelsea today, Inter Milan and Liverpool suggests he will see Chelsea retain TOP 4?
KAKUfrank
FSW stands thier picking his ass then realises the camera is on him and pretends to instruct players!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I SWEAR HAS ANYONE NOTICED THIS
Bain^DoggZ
KAKU frank they say things happen in THREES i guess were in for it....... BUT IF LAST SEASON SHOWED US ANYTHING ITS THAT CHELSEA NEVER GIVE UP
Bain^DoggZ
LUKAKU WILL SOON CLAIM HIS THRONE and that whore FT9 shall be vanished
Bain^DoggZ
with rafa we are down
habbo
All these arguments about RDM vs Rafa to me is just an exercise of personal ego.... can you guys drop this RDM vs Rafa thing, it adds no value to the discussions here, or maybe Merlin should bring in a judge to decide which group is the winner so that the argument can rest. I believe there are more sensible thigs to be discussed here... RDM vs Rafa argument is not the wayforward, RDM is in the past, Rafa will soon join him... except perharps fans intend to begin a campaign for the return of RDM which is what I was expecting fans to do instead of the calls for the return of Mourinho... We claim we love RDM so much but no one is singing bring back RDM....
Latunvic
We were just one or two players from been the best this january but we fluffed it big time, we play a formation that requires our pivot players to be strong and very good with the ball thus reducing the number of times our very effective, creative but defensively naive/weak wingers come back to help out the defence or get the ball. Momo Diama, Wanyama, Benat would have been less than 20m and would have given any club a run for their money. Imagine a pivot of Wanyama and Diame with Diame the B2B and Wayama seating deep or Benat, it would free our creative trio the burden of playing deep thereby isolating the striker but no, we fiddle with our thumbs while Russia burned and now we are been burn by every Roberto, Alex and Pardew. Our board is so fccking spineless that no one could tell Roman that he is making the biggest mistake of his life since he bought the club by firing RDM without any suitable replacement and now we are saddled with a clown that is not fit to lace RDM's shoes. that some IMBECILE(S) thought this appointment was better than the former was particularly galling and i am waiting for the post apologizing to RDM and members of this site for been so stupid. Now we are 19 points behind the leaders. Never has the difference in teams been so obvious in the history of the league. In a perverse way, I would be nice to crash out of the top four and miss CL next season. There won't ever bee a better way to rub it in on Roman's face for is cruellty to RDM. Maybe there is a God after all
Dwonder
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/02/25/image-rafa-benitez-fernando-torres-eight-point-masterplan-to-destroy-chelsea-working-beautifully/
bleetoe
I hear you point Latunvic, but you still haven't said anything about the way forward so really don't see why other posters comments are whining and crying.....
KAKUfrank
Okay @Kaku, you don't understand me, I'll try to make my self more explicit... I'm not saying sacking Benitez is crying and whining.. of course based on logic and some other fators sacking Benitez will be judged as the right call. My pointis siply that we don't need to keep saying the same thing all ove again, sack Benitez is fast becoming the only thing we read on this site, especially when ever we lose a match I believe we as fans should understand that judging by the antecedents of this club, that Rafa is still our coach today suggest the club is looking ahead and trying to be careful about who is picked as next manager. I just feel "sack Beitez" is a given and is just a matter of time, we should discuss other issues surrounding the club and suggest other opinions as I strongly believe Rafa is not the only problem with CFC... Just a different perspective to things is what I like to read here but all you find is sack Benitez or RDM vs Rafa arguments....
Latunvic
Speaking abot wayforward @Kaku... I'll suggest a bring back RDM campaign.... let Chelsea fans at SB and everywhere begin a bring back Rafa, as that could be the best and easiest approach to this issue.... what do you think about that?
Latunvic
LOL! sorry ***Bring back RDM campaign*** not ***bring back Rafa***
Latunvic
Funny some people read comments from the surface without diving into the depth of the points being made. The argument about Rafa and RDM is to point out that the club obviously made a huge mistake and the quick fix approach back fired this time in appointing Rafa. Some have actually argued differently,and thought otherwise. The only way to tackle any problem for the future is to analyze your mistakes so you can learn and avoid them. So saying its crying is obviously lack of insight imo.
nelyvanile
my only prayer now is to get a UCL spot and remove rafa and torres (if possible) from chelsea. nowadays i m not getting the feeling when i support which i had till last year. this tactical(inept) man is leading us to a whole time low which we would never witness under roman era. Gr8 job tubby now pls go from this club.
arun.superstar18
I understand that u guys have been winded up as usual by you know who, but can we talk about another thing? Like who would suit us most between mourinho, laudrup (who is being linked to real madrid and city), pellegrini (sexy football no trophies) and perhaps moyes?
Desmondadonis
IF WE DONT QUALIFY CAN ANYONE FORSEE ANY CHANGES TO OUR SQUAD for example personal leaving or not being able to purchase specific players? I THINK we can pretty much forget FELLAINI
Bain^DoggZ
Desmond..you are just soo funny...**pelegrini (sexy football no trophies)..lmao..he was beaten mercilessly yesternite...I dont think any young manager can work here without an able DOF to protect and guide him through the pressure roller coaster..for me...I wont want Laupdrup alone to be appoint as our coach...he'll need a capable DOF in Hiddink who will be available, this is my preffered combo for us in the summer...if we are not going in that direction..lets simply bring back Mourinho....pellegrinni is a No for me..I strongly believe he will be another scolari at chelsea..and Moyes...I am not convinced.
layorh12
@desmond in my opinion i would love to have conte-juve coach. he is superb. he also declared his interest in coaching in another league. he is tactically good, uses young players , and he has got the charisma to inspire players.
arun.superstar18
Who would suit us better I mean, and @latunvic, shut up, u are as slippery as a poisonous snake and would wond the next fan up as ur asslicking partners.. U keep defending rafa and won't see anything bad about him, now that it is clear that he can't make us achieve top4 u are asking for a truce, or should I say I recess? Bullcrapping about inconsequentials since january when we found the fat asshole out. I am sure u are all happy now, rdm lacks tactical nous, he Is inexperienced and all, I'll take him with my eyes closed over this clueless retard
Desmondadonis
hey DESMON do u think ZOLA would have a chance? Or would he steer clear after the RDM situation
Bain^DoggZ
@arun, are u sure conte is going to leave juve for chelsea? My friend u know he won't! Considering our set up here.
Desmondadonis
Well, @nely... it wouldn't surprise me that you see it as lack of insight... and going by your comment, it appears you have not ben able to show that you have a better level of insight... If you read with an open mind, perhaps you will understand that my point is not directly at RDM vs Rafa arguments but the repitition of this argument... And you are free to continue the argument if you derive pleasure from it.....
Latunvic
@Desmond^^^^for crying out loud, I am in a freaking meeting stop making me burst into laughter...
layorh12
@Des. Said it countless times mate,the structure of the club is not comfortable for any of the coaches you mentioned,but Jose has a thick skin to ride the wave. So why do I say the structure isn't right? It doesn't encourage managerial stability and means you're working under pressure to save your job game after game,even an assurance from the board doesn't guarantee a stay. The reall re-structuring has to start up top next season,gourlay and Bruce don't have to be sacked,but they should be eased of football making decisions and concentrate on our Legal and financial issues as lawyers...while a DOF is employed to oversee decisions made across our footballing activities from youth team to top. That's where to start,not the managerial position.
nelyvanile
I see mr @mq have closed for the day in his office where he gets access to network service on weekdays, how tolerable it is for VC on weekends when he doesn't have access to the web or at nite, perhaps merlin should be posting artiicles from 5 in the evening where we'll enjoy discussions here than allow trolls to deliberately wind other fans up..... Perhaps the forum is more of a place to have a civil and knowledgeable debate
Desmondadonis
apologies for the typos. but i know that you guys got the gist. we could have used a Diame, Diakite, Mulumbu or Wanyama against Yaya Toure yesterday but dont have anybody in the entire team that can hold the ball and take it to the opposition at pace. Mata had to drop deep most of the time to collect the ball. we look disjointed and before I forget, Ramires need to either be sold or placed on the bench except when we are leading a team 3 - 0. I think that more and more, opposing teams are finding out that when you put ramires under pressure, he is hopeless with the ball. we need passers in the team not runners.
Dwonder
apologies for the typos. but i know that you guys got the gist. we could have used a Diame, Diakite, Mulumbu or Wanyama against Yaya Toure yesterday but dont have anybody in the entire team that can hold the ball and take it to the opposition at pace. Mata had to drop deep most of the time to collect the ball. we look disjointed and before I forget, Ramires need to either be sold or placed on the bench except when we are leading a team 3 - 0. I think that more and more, opposing teams are finding out that when you put ramires under pressure, he is hopeless with the ball. we need passers in the team not runners.
Dwonder
apologies for the typos. but i know that you guys got the gist. we could have used a Diame, Diakite, Mulumbu or Wanyama against Yaya Toure yesterday but dont have anybody in the entire team that can hold the ball and take it to the opposition at pace. Mata had to drop deep most of the time to collect the ball. we look disjointed and before I forget, Ramires need to either be sold or placed on the bench except when we are leading a team 3 - 0. I think that more and more, opposing teams are finding out that when you put ramires under pressure, he is hopeless with the ball. we need passers in the team not runners.
Dwonder
@Desmond...you are freaking hilarious and I am sure @Mq wont find that funny...Rotflmao....
layorh12
@Desmond... haha! Okay, I've heard you.... I would shut up! lol! you are just a brat and I wont bother to exchange words with u.... I will come back to your issue when time permits.....
Latunvic
@bain^doggz, with the clips I saw of chelsea in the zola and di matteo days, they seem to be good pals, so I doubt if zola will come here under roman when he witnessed what was done to his pal (who broke his leg while playing for chelsea), what do u think will happen if zola hits a bad patch here? Roman would fire him too, remember that zola turned down a new contract in 2003 when roman bought cfc and preferred a move to italy (was it lazio?). Correct me if I am wrong* so I don't think he'll want to come to chelsea and commit a managerial harakiri
Desmondadonis
Zola definitely wants the Chelsea job. That's not to say he should get it. But he would not turn it down if offered to him.
CobhamBlue
@Desmond its your day today.just enjoy it...''managerial harakiri''..loooooool.....you wanta kill sombody.??...water in my eyes
layorh12
I am not sure if the Board is being careful in sacking Rafa or just being incompetent and inept as usual, but I will leave that for another day. The reason the "sack Benitez" cries keeps getting louder was because it was a poor decision from the get go. The games coached, win-draw-loss percentage, point gaps, ppg and knockouts in competition already prove so. I can't remember in my years of supporting this club the level hostility reaching this level. It is hard to debate anything else from Benitez because in my view, he is the main reason for the losses and draws recorded. If we want to point to other direction which is the players, it will eventually lead back to Benitez. Take for example - the Pivot -Mikel and Lampard or Ramires. A lot of fans know this, but guess what brother, those players are not bad compared to a significant lot of others in the PL and other leagues as individuals. Let's take an example - AC Milan. The starters against Barcelona in that AC Milan game was Ambrosini, Muntari and Montolivo. But those 3 players shut out Xavi, Iniesta and Messi and restricted them to 1 shot on target in 90 minutes. I pick those 3 players in particular because Rafa wanted to defend deep and then counter, but here is the problem with the approach - we know Lampard and Mikel are not mobile enough to track Yaya Toure and David Silva and then Mata hardly tracks back to help them in defense so it was a lost battle from the 1st minute. It was no surprise City had about 8 fouls (from pressing us), how many shots on target (from the barrage of attacks) and how many corner kicks? If not Cahill and Cech, we could have been ruined from the get go. From the barrage of attacks, we were always 1 mistake from conceding and that was exactly what happened. Every loss or draw (that was supposed to be a win) is always going to be a debate of who's fault was it - the players or the manager and unfortunately for us, the manager has been responsible for a lot of these because he is simply not using this squad properly by using the right set of players in certain games nor is he team set up correct.....Unfortunately, that's why everything leads back to Rafa. We can't be outplayed like yesterday and believe the problem is the players. That's impossible. The first 2 subs of the manager were the 2 players he rested on Thursday. What does that tell us about his initial set up then?????
KAKUfrank
*A lot of fans know Mikel and Lampard or Ramires are not the best for the pivot....
KAKUfrank
@latunvic, if u want insults u would get a full dose of it and u won't even know what hit u, it will be packed with so much power u'll crap in ur shorts so much u won't need to reuse it, talking about brats!! Unlike u, I tend to learn from peeps in here and cool down, OCblues and arun talk a lot of sense and it is not because we always agree but they'll debate their points with finesse and u would hardly get to argue back, nely, kaku, layorh(who I enjoy his civility) and ess da bison, many folks in here who debate with their brain and football knowledge, but you don't contribute anything other than bringing other people's opinion down and seeing them as whinning and crying, when u begin to contribute sensible things maybe, just maybe VC will be a better site, one thing is consistent with u and ur amigos, u spew a lot of bull and make no sense. Go to other forums everybody is seeing and saying the same thing, but u and ur amigos are so oblivious to this things and its bothering on been concussed, or should I say ignorance at its peak!
Desmondadonis
Ambrosini is a 35 year old DM. He is the same player Ancelotti said had 1 LEG in AC Milan's 2007 CL run. How is that player worse than Frank Lampard?????? However, he was able to put up stellar performances against Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas. For a player that old, you just don't put him in a pivot with Mikel or another younger player and then tell him to go play football. You play him like Allegri deployed him in that game - put 2 hard runners upfront in Muntari and Montolivo to chase Xavi and Iniesta all game with helps from the wide men. If you leave exposed like Rafa did with Lamps and Mikel yesterday, then the coach is not doing the job properly and should be called out. When I see the Mikel insults as being inept etc....I just google Wikipedia and look the managers he has started for as well as trophy walls. I also do the same for Ramires and for Lampard. I check it out for the last 3 seasons. After I do that, I pull up Benitez's record for the past 5 years as well as today at Chelsea and the records easily tell me who is at fault.
KAKUfrank
@desmond i know that our structure is a big zero but if roman can give some kind of promise and and next year more senior players are gng to be offloaded and have a young squad which will be good for a manager like conte to establish his authority.
arun.superstar18
^^^@Kaku...totally on your side...you argue very very persuasively...and I do think you are right...but I dont think tubby will be sacked to be honest....we can only hopw for the best but at this point, its not looking very good.
layorh12
Kakufrank - very well said. thanks..
lamarochs
@arun..Conte has zero motivation to come to chelsea...in my eyes...He wont be our manager next season...although a very good coach...there's no point wasting quality time talking about him...except we wanta spend time dreaming...Conte wont be our next manager...noff said!
layorh12
cant remember the last time, the number of post on a single thread in VC hit over 400...except for transfer deadline...hmm...emotions are boiling..anger flying..God have mercy
layorh12
Has anyone also noticed that apart from the 1st half of the Arsenal game...we hardly employ the high & side pressing we were used to seeing under RDM?
nelyvanile
@layorh, what is making me really angry about this whole situation is the fact that if u could recollect, I have been complaining about rafa from the time he was appointed, I am not all knowing, but I have perception enough to know something would work or not atimes, and I am a guy that says it as I see it without attaching any emotions when required, I am one of the advocators of rdm, but when he got it wrong I was among the first who say the things he got wrong and was attacked even by some friends that are on my blackberry list who are VC members too, while I won't argue further about the stupidity of sacking RDM, why should the board dare get this overipe, pudgy, egotistical, trouser wrinkled, tactically inept fat ass to replace him, since roman didn't hesitate to fire a club legend that one us our holy grail, why is he hesitating to sack the clueless man since january? Okay, accepted that the job is not easy as we all think it is, I accept that the fans ought to support him as they should, I accept that the board members can be clueless, but why can't rafa improve anything and show us he is earning his pay, why can't he change from the blimey 4-2-3-1 ( you can recollect since when I have said it), why can't he play oscar consistently as our no.10 in a 4-3-3 formation? Why can't he improve our play upfront? Why can't he organize the team in a better shape? For a manager earning more than a million pounds, u need to expect more, now I believe he wants us to deliberately be out of top 4 so it would be easy for his darling club liverpool to replace us there, along with the rest of the scousers in our team and the ones who are masking themselves as cfc fans!!!
Desmondadonis
TORRES earns 175k per week and was brought on with around 15 mins to go in the match........ now he is suppose to be fresh and he failed to press more than one time i believe......... i didnt see him on the screen and i have a 55 inch plasma......... ROMAN MAN WAKE UP
Bain^DoggZ
sry for the double post. The biggest truth about this whole saga began when we were infected with the liverpool virus. since then our life as a club as gone downhill. We bought torres: press got on our back; massive pressure on coach and teammates to accomodate him; coach sacked, effective players sold, ostracised or given away for free, 50m failed to perform, more pressure; another coach sacked, specialized personal trainer for 50m, a legend and most dangerous striker allowed to leave;50m gets his chance for most yet no end result, 50m benched, coach sacked, Specialized personal Coach for 50m( sorry team) >>>....... stamford bridge is burning down. Therein lies the story of our fratenitzing with the red club. My fear is that none of the clubs this joker has managed has been able to come out of the quagmire he got them into years after he left, maybe its payback time for Roman and his minions for all these years of arrogance.
Dwonder
I am not sure if Roman giving some kind of promise is enough for any incoming manager. Promise is not enough, but a structure which is visible and credible is much more important to any incoming manager. Michael Laudrup has gone on record stating he likes to recruit his own players as opposed to Chelsea. Conte went as far as freezing KRASIC out of the squad because he didn't fit his philosophy and Juve then gave him the leeway in recruiting his own players. Can you imagine Conte freezing out Torres and we lose? The problem with Chelsea is they are copying a structure that works in other clubs and in Europe, but they aren't spending critical time and analysis to see why such structure works for them. Barcelona has the same structure, but they hire in-house coaches that have been embedded in the coaching system which is why not only Pep has succeded, but his assistant and then the assistant's assistant. It is the same case with Porto as well. It wasn't only AVB who won, but his assistant has won as well. The exception that comes to mind is maybe Bayern Munich, but the football at the top at Bayern is more than impressive which is why I laughed my head off when someone said Buck has been in the game for long. They know how to recruit period - call it what you want - hidden jewels, bargains, expensive, youthful to become world class and they know how to promote. That's why it is easy for any coach to go there and do well. Chelsea have a lawyer and Microsoft Excel lab rat as our 2 at the helm and then lack the patience to breed coaches from within since they keep sacking every manager. Why won't we be in the mess we find ourselves?
KAKUfrank
@arun, u have a point my friend but can u recollect roman made promises to carlo ancelotti and AVB too? That promise roman made was one of the reasons pep guardiola took to his heels and join bayern, when roman makes a promise, he seem to break it after 6 months, @kaku, you see it but rafa who earned a uefa pro license over a decade ago can't see it even when its on the tip of his nose, he is that fat!!!! Our squad is very good enough to beat anybody, all we need is set them up properly and add one or two more players and we'll be set, but all in all, this team still ought to make top3 effortlessly. I am resigned to the fact that we won't make top 4 under rafa, so I'll prepare myself very well from now till the cold nights on thursday next season, perhaps still under rafa and with lot of unknown players if he is allowed to buy
Desmondadonis
A Yaya and Pirlo pivot, Kompany in defense, van Persie up front. What a team that would be. Hindsight is something.
foreign_viewer
Layorh12 what proof u can give that conte will not come to chelsea. as i said if u given him project like us were there is no superstars in ur dressing room and all are young players with gr8 potential and in a period where academy flowing with quality players. he will thrive to coach. i never said he would come. desmond asked whom u want and i replied it. for that u dont need to make an aggresive reply to me. its my wish for that i dont need u permission. And if u have seen juve set up its like same like chelsea where coach has zero input on transfers. their DOF is doing all the job conte job is to coach the players and give a list of players he would like to add in the squad. I havent seen at any big club other than ManU and RM (because of jose) where a coache have all control. and there is DOF for all the big clubs. coach and DOF will have a regular meeting regarding squad, additions, sales and academy players etc.
arun.superstar18
@Desmond...honestly I understand you perfectly and this whole scenario is very very frustrating..even though the players carry some fault for not giving 100% every single time...I think rafa carries the bulk of the responsibility...I cant see what he has done tactically or otherwise...Its actually looks like we dont train before match days...and for close to 10 games now, our overall play boarders round pathetic really...even though we have won some games....just like you, I do think hiring rafa was a mistake even though I dont know who suggested such an appointment to roman...but Desmond...I dont think tubby will be sacked whatever happens...I know its very painful but we all have to deal with it..and I must add that it could be to the detriment of a top4 finish....we dont look like we'll make top4 at the moment..except something major happens...now I pray JT does not fall out with tubby cos if that happens, then the situation will even be worse....Desmond we can only pray and adjust expectations accordingly before tubby gives all of us high blood pressure...I am very sad though...very very sad...under rdm who was not perfect in any way...my opinion is that we would have been better off..at least the players will play for him, the fans and the badge similar to last season....now we are left in the middle of nowhere....
layorh12
Good Lord, champions league or not...I do not want rafa here next season...please lord!
layorh12
Kaku posted that by mere seconds after mine!!!.... Atleast 2 fans can really talk about what roman's promises is like, when u make ur money in oil and blackmarket or racketeering, that doesn't mean you'll use the same approach in football, and the thing we should be worried about is that roman is not ready to change!! That was why I used the word plaything yesterday, are we roman's sweetheart as a club? Or a plaything? Roman's next move will shed a light on that, if he sits down and do the planning AC did, the planning going on in liverpool, the planning going on in aston villa, the same planning going on in swansea, same planning that is making munich self sufficient, a planning that made juve and dortmund football juggernauts under 5 years, where we enjoyed a period of gold orchestrated by ranieri and mourinho, now rapidly declining with rafa, I said something about milan over a month ago for those who will recollect, watchout for them again next season, when their transition would be complete, and how many years did that transition take place? Considering the fact that they sold ibra, seedorf, silva, pato etc, that is when club structure prepare u ahead of turbulent times
Desmondadonis
Torres "earned" £175k in 15mins!
foreign_viewer
@Desmond,calm down mate. @Kaku...You make a very valid point. Rafa's substitutions was an admission that he got the set up wrong from the start. Funny cos Ray Wilkins was sat in the Sky studios saying Mancini's set up is quite defensive,wrong and negative and Chelsea should be able to win this.I thought he was saying rubbish and Now we know why he's still jobless. The way our club is run,City will be a bigger club than we are in 5years...well once they sack Mancini or once his luck changes in Europe. People should stop blaming Rafa though. Its just repetition and its tiring. The man isnt going anywhere until the end of the season,we all know that. Something tells me we've learnt our lesson regarding managerial approaches and we are doing a thorough search behind the scene. It used to be a messy affair with the whole world knowing the details even before we approach,but i think Munich getting Pep has really got to Roman. Here lies the problem,Even if we get a genius as a manager,the set up of our club will make him look ordinary at best. There is a reason City decided to bring footballing brains into their board. Household names and former players...The reason Mancini still has that job(no dis-respect to him) is cos of the footballing brains in city's boardroom. Perhaps RDM wouldnt have been sacked if we had a good set up,who knows? Until Roman realises that,Im afraid we will be stuck with this system for many more years. All in all,i think we should get used to this cycle and system of being so close to greatness, yet being so far from it. Its the Chelsea way,we never do it the easy way,remember??? KTBFFH
3nity
@arun ease up mate..no offense intended...but if you were conte..will you honestly come to chelsea at this time?....that Juve team has a lot of unrealized potential...they are clearly on an upward tragetry....you know what happens when you come to chelsea and you falter for whatever reason...you get fired on or before 6 months...and like @Desmond and kaku said above...this time around, promises from roman wont work...he promised AVB and Carlo and turn his back on them.....If Juve adds two or three more players in the summer (they already have a deal in place for Lloriente), they will even be a lot stronger...the team is stable and conte is well respected....and maybe I should tell you in case you are not aware..Conte is an ex-juve player who is a freaking legend at the club...and I dont think its time for him to leave just yet, that team has not won a lot....remember wat we did to our legend?...we disgracefully and shamelessly sacked him...now if you were Conte, will you join chelsea at this time???..''ll leave you to answer that..
layorh12
@DWONDER ROMAN would normally spend big if that crisis was to occur but then FFP is kicking in...... i keep saying one man can help us ROMELU LUKAKU..... how many players in the world have the pace strength height andd flair this 19 yr old has.......... he iscapable of rescuing us....... as i dont know whats wrong with DEMBA
Bain^DoggZ
@desmond i knew AVB saga but we should remeber that the players went war with AVB and roman didnt have option but to rescue his beloved club instead of coach. i dont know what would have happen if roman had backed AVB. but AVB admitted he also made mistakes simply because he didnt have the expreience to manage a big club. this is just opposite if we compare conte who has won double in his first year. and he also going for another scudetto. and he is doing brillant in UCL. as i said roman wont sack his beloved one and if he(roman personally) can go and persuade conte (my wish only). then i think it he will come.
arun.superstar18
@layorh, I am resigned to that fate already, I am just venting my frustrations over and over again, no matter how much I programme my mind, seeing school boy mistakes from a uefa licensed coach makes me livid, @arun, why I think conte won't come is due to an article I stumbled on a few days ago, I believe I posted it for the benefit of those fans that would read it, he is juve through and through, he is comfortable there, he is the boss there and there is no uncertainty hanging over his head, his job is secure as long as he is meeting the club's target, why would he swap that for a sinking chelsea? The Challenge perhaps?
Desmondadonis
@layorh12 i know that to come to chelsea hit the road is not easy. simply because of pressure from roman,media and ofcourse fans also. but i dont believe that because he is juve legend he will not leave italy to other country. if he think he has won every thing at juve and want to taste different. then why not make an offer. i m saying he will leave juve this season. we can present our idea to him and ask him are u interested. but yes it all depends on time. if i was i conte i would demand to insert a cluase in contract that i should be not sacked till my project gets completed (minimum of 1 yr)unless i withdrew voluntarily.
arun.superstar18
Roman isnt even 50 yet......Brace yourselves for many more years of this unless he gets bored and decides to sell. I was watching Athletico Madrid last night and the passion and set up of Diego Simeone just makes me wonder........
3nity
@arun, if u noticed, I and layorh wrote the same thing at the same time, if we want a coach we should dig deep for one and not conte or klopp, why? Because I don't see him coming now, it is until they see that roman have learnt his lessons that is when they will cautiously nimble at the carrot roman will dangle, first a revamp of the board, 2 to give total control to him, can roman do that? I don't think so, that is why I agree that city would be great in 5 years time, that sheik monsoor got plenty savvy, he got football brains to run city as a business not plaything, then doesn't do anything to interfere in their activities, only look at the patience he afforded hughes before he fired him, and when he did fire him, he consulted football minds to chose a coach better than sparky, and if he fires mancini, be rest assured he'll get someone better.
Desmondadonis
I find it funny that @Mq can defend Rafa for this yet when RDM was getting the same stick then it wasnt the "players fault". Bottom line is we were playing better football under RDM at the start of the season...the last 5 games have to be the most boring and dull I've seen Chelsea play...and that is Rafa's doing!
Ess...DaBison
@desmond same can be asked about pep also. he is a legend at barca as player and coach. he was leading a team at its peak and once in generation team. why he resigned from the post. may be he thought he needs fresh challenge. he need to show his adaptability and to work his tactics in another league. there is no guarantee that u will be given time based on ur past performance or ur goodwill. if conte or any coach of big couldn't win any trophy sacking will looming his head. but media projects out ours as brutal but its happening in many clubs. bayern also had a record of sacking mangers 6 before van gaal took over. hw may year he had i guess 3 and hw much hykness had 2 because these clubs are media darlings their negativity will not projected out but its chelsea every one can attack and even our fans also join them (not all but some)
arun.superstar18
@ess since its mq its better to ignore him.
arun.superstar18
@desmond i agree ur point. hopefully roman realises this and hope that finally someone can shed some light in to his eyes.
arun.superstar18
@arun, if we get conte we will do very well, if we approach him now, I sincerely don't know if he will come due to the reasons I stated above, but perhaps if he wins juve the UCL? @3nity, I am more calmer now when we are talking pure football and not been deliberately winded up........ See u later guys
Desmondadonis
@desmond i will take anyone at this moment to replace rafa simply because i can alteast see SB free of negative feelings
arun.superstar18
@arun that was what I wrote up there if u scroll up, challenge and perhaps the UCL trophy for juve can motivate him to test his mettle in another league, I'll love a situation where madrid will beat man utd and juve playing real in the semis, the winner of the tie can be our next manager lmaoo.. On a serious note, my top 5 manager that I'll like to manage chelsea are 1) klopp, 2)mourinho, 3) laudrup, 4)conte, 5) diego simeone
Desmondadonis
@arun...Pep won 14 MAJOR trophies with barca, Conte has not won half that....his team still has a lot of potentials like I said earlier..but like you rightly said...if we make our propositions and he can get that ''you cant sack me clause'' in his contract...then maybe we've a very slight chance..but realistically I dont see that happening..its possible later but not this coming summer...like @Desmond said...we'll have to really dig deep to get the coach call right...God help us..
layorh12
Roman isnt even 50 yet......Brace yourselves for many more years of this unless he gets bored and decides to sell. I was watching Athletico Madrid last night and the passion and set up of Diego Simeone just makes me wonder........
3nity
It doesn`t matter who the manager is, our squad is littered with big holes in it. Emenalo and Abramovich are responsible for buying players with potential, but that does not guarantee that they can unify as a team. Roman just got lucky with Jose and since he has departed, our team has got weaker and weaker as each year goes bye. Until the board leave football matters to a manager and not over rule him all the time, the slide will continue. We peaked, now we are falling and our board are totally responsible. As hard as that is to accept, it`s the truth.
Blueheart9
Mail has us linked with a 10m bid for Luke shaw. Absolutely I say. He's the heir apparent to Ashley and in my view 10times better than Ryan- although I like Ryan as he is one that has come through the ranks finally. Shaw and Ryan after ash has gone.
Blue1989
I'm with Nely here and I said it also 2-3 weeks ago. RA has to appoint a DOF first. Only then will the incompetence of the 3 amigos on the Board be rectified. Buck & Gourlay should concentrate on business matters only, apart from FFP top of the list is the hunt for a new stadium or SB expansion. That should keep them well busy and keep their noses out of the squad. Emanalo is chief scout, nothing more, nothing less and reports to the new DOF. The DOF sits with Roman and discuss who the next manager should be, no-one else involved, after all it's these 3 people that should decide footballing matters, and Roman is included in that because that appears to be what interests him the most as as CFC is concerned. Ideal candidate for DOF is Hiddink as we all know, but I actually have an inkling that Capello would be good at this job. If he could be persuaded. The new manager will have a tough time pleasing Capello, but a Committee of Roman, Capello, new Manager will set the footballing matters straight. Hiddink is still first choice, but Capello if Hiddink declines. But DOF first, otherwise the 3 amigos will advise Roman incorrectly. Emanalo is lucky to still have his job after promoting Tubby to Roman, perhaps he will be let go at the same time as Benitez.
BlueABS
No reason why a DOF cannot be appointed now, will give him time to assess the structure whilst Tubby plays out his term. Then the DOF can make a considered recommendation for the new Manager. Come on Roman, get talking (NOW) with Hiddink & Capello.
BlueABS
@Desmod..... Seems you've been waiting for an opportunity to vent your frustrations at me.... Wasn't even having a conversation with u, anyway, good try! "...if u want insults u would get a full dose...." that is one of the most naive and silly statements I have ever read anywhere? Is that a question or what.... You know what I like about you? You never disappoint in showing how feeble you are.... Moreover, you didn't send an invitation before using "shut up" so why ask now..... And you say u tend to learn from people.... YOU? Perhaps you meant to say you only learn from and make peace with those who share or agree with your views. You certainly are not one with a mind to face strong oppositions without taking it personal... You always resort into name calling when faced with counter arguments and differing views...You telling me to shut up and resorting to your usual insult game is an evidence to how uncivilized and incompetent you are.... I argue and have a mind of mine without going as low to insult people... Even if I have to trade insults, I'll do so with someone capable...
Latunvic
Rather than discussing who the next Manager is, we should be talking about the DOF. Is one needed, bearing in mind the record of the Board on footballing matters? Who should it be? Who's available? Talking managers whilst the 3 amigos on the Board are still engineering matters via Roman will prove fruitless, history will repeat itself. As for Latunvic's suggestion of starting a 'bring back RDM' campaign, LOL, Robbie will tell Roman to go stick it where the sun don't shine, Robbie is a very honourable man, 'nuff said.
BlueABS
@latunvic, talking about capability, do u know what that is? I think u don't even know what it stands for,for someone who can't see or say anything productive about the on going turmoil we are experiencing in our club right now, I think u should review urself before talking crap, as for ur statement that I am targeting you, how many time have u poked ur beak like nose in my affairs when I am chating with intelligent people I want to learn from? How many times have I asked u and ur amigos to ignore my comments and how many times have u been taking pot shots at me when I didn't direct a comment to u, read what intelligent people have talked about pertaining to the club's crisis and reread the bland rubbish u wrote then u'll get the point. Just telling using this sweet opportunity to tell u to take ur nose of my affairs, don't direct comments at me, don't do so indirectly either, mind ur business and u'll see I can mind mine too, I am not an attention seeker and don't need u to write anything or engage in debates with me. I agree with most people here, gabeu,ocblues,arun,ohans (atimes),kaku (atimes),3nity,ess da bison, bluesinme and some others I can't remember now, do u notice a trend? But u agree with who? Oh yes @mq, @kencfc, who again, the breeze? How the feck do u want me to agree with u lot when I won't gain from it but get winded up? Huh?
Desmondadonis
Just using this sweet opportunity to tell u to take ur nose off my affairs*
Desmondadonis
@Desmod...... haha! now you are talking....Your comments are very childish and silly...You seem to be a very reactive dude who doesn't like opposition but like to oppose others... You don't have to list people's names trying to look for cheap support...Dude, you only agree with people when they agree with you and get aggresive when people oppose your views and telling me you agree with most people here doesn't make any difference and doesn't add any value to you... moreover, I have no business with the number of people you agree with here... I need not list the names of people I sometimes agree with here and may I inform you that my primary mission here is not to solicit cheap popularity like you do... I state my views, not expecting everybody here to agree with me and also expecting my views to be criticized by people, without abuses or name calling of course.. I may disagree with your views but I don't think I have ever told you to "shut up" because you disagree with me and I keep my debates civil to a large extent. I may have responded back with nasty abuses but chose not to cos I felt there is no point trading abuses over the internet with someone I can't even see.. but if you feel abuses and name calling is the way to go, it's okay by me dude...I don't need to indulge in name calling with you, it's classless and will only get very dirty, I know how to get at you... Of course I disagree with people here but I don't get angry, take it personal and resort into insults like you do. If your interpretation of disagreeing is enemity and insults then you may have to endure more frustrations because I will continue to express my opinion irrespective of your feelings. I agree or disagree with people's views not people or personality, I may agree with someone's view today that doesn't mean I'll always agree with that person and vice-versa... I'm not interested in you agreeing with me and don't intend to demand for that... what do I stand to benefit from agreeing or disagreeing with you. If You find it tough to stomach my views that's your problem not mine... I'm not in anyway worried if you chose to target me here, I was only surprised cos I know you once requested that I should avoid you which I have been doing, but since you've decided to pick at me it's game on then... Have fun dude!
Latunvic
So Rafa saw it fit to use Ryan against Reading as an extra defender when we were facing Le Fondre and McNuff. Then when we faced Aguero, Silva and Yaya, he goes without an extra defender in the middle. GENIUS!
OCBlues
Desmond,if u like u can name all your twitter friends just to attract cheap support but it definitely seems @latunvic has burst your bubble and has practical summarised you perfectly...however,i decided to stay away from VC for a day cos i know here would be filled with as much negativity as can be found in the entire universe and dare i say am wasnt disappointed on my return.am not ready to join in the 'sack rafa' or 'rafa vs rdm' debates cos i have been through that over and over again and have made my point that the problem is deeper than just the 'manager',i thought about not commentin on this thread but since u mentioned my name then am forced to have a rethink.
Ken4CFC
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/alanhansen/9891425/.html
Ken4CFC
@latunvic, you did not avoid my comments, and that's why I used this opportunity to let u know that, I remember yesterday telling layorh about how I want mou to come back and stated what I feel and the next thing u did was come here and start saying rubbish that he can't cope without buying expensively, firstly did I invite u to the conversation? Even when u did invite urself (to troll) u didn't do it civilly, remember the adi viveash jibe too? I ignored it bcos I wasn't interested in ur wind ups, so sorry if u are affronted by me telling peeps my opinion about u which isn't much, so as I said face ur business and don't interfere with mine (either directly or indirectly) and u'll see if i care if u exist or not, @ken, I got ur craw too mate, sooo sorry, but its the truth, u and ur amigos don't contribute anything sensible to the conversation but just wind normal folks in here up, I see that u are still using ur sun shades in here, u have not seeb the light, comprehension is really beyond u lot and perception I must confess is not ur forte, to see things in ur eyes and chose to neglect it is sure stupidity at its peak. As I said, learn to visit other forums apart from VC, perhaps u'll complete ur education and understand ur club better.
Desmondadonis
DESMOND it's not that I have no internet access (I use a tablet, duh) it's that I have a life outside the office, 1 MORE INTERESTING than arguments on VC. This is my time-pusher in the office, and judging by the understanding of most here it's no wonder I don't bother after hours, there's better insightful ppl to discuss such matters with. People who understand the difference between hindsight and foresight, ppl who argue with salient facts/reasons not illogical verbal diarrhea
@Mq
.....@Desmod..... Seems you've been waiting for an opportunity to vent your frustrations at me.... Wasn't even having a conversation with u, anyway, good try! "...if u want insults u would get a full dose...." that is one of the most naive and silly statements I have ever read anywhere? Is that a question or what.... You know what I like about you? You never disappoint in showing how feeble you are.... Moreover, you didn't send an invitation before using "shut up" so why ask now..... And you say u tend to learn from people.... YOU? Perhaps you meant to say you only learn from and make peace with those who share or agree with your views. You certainly are not one with a mind to face strong oppositions without taking it personal... You always resort into name calling when faced with counter arguments and differing views...You telling me to shut up and resorting to your usual insult game is an evidence to how uncivilized and incompetent you are.... I argue and have a mind of mine without going as low to insult people... Even if I have to trade insults, I'll do so with someone capable....>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>well said LATUN to DESMOND.....LoL just made my day :)
@Mq
Preach....Church....Tabernacle....Pulpit....Yeah LoL
@Mq
Mq,am so glad with that particular quote from latunvic,it so much describe our friend desmond,a dude whose motto is to turn disagreement with his views into enemity..and for you desmond,who are u really??a professional analyst or a site evaluator??u come here to repeat what others have said a million times and u think u are so sensible that your views are the alpha and omega ofwhich all opposin views are craps and bull***** to u hence u resort to insults and namecalling.how is that sensible??i wonder what u go learn in other forum,probably insults,vituperation,namecalling e.t.c thats how to get educated and know about our club huh??so much for a sensible contributor!
Ken4CFC
And the 3 blind men are scurrying out of their holes when nice discussions have been put to bed!! Account for the amount of people that debate with the trio of you combined and see how irrelevant ur views are, and by the way, most of my views are spot on, I don't need someone to say it before I do, if u want references the archives are there or perhaps u should ask @mq, he'll tell u how consistent it has been starting from the way to munich last year where u @ken was nowhere to be found on this site. @mq, u don't have internet access personally, if u do start commenting reasonably at night or on weekends, u have a tablet but u can't suscribe to the internet? Funny!
Desmondadonis
@latunvic, @mq,@ken, what have you contributed as cfc fans to the site? You give shiet opinions to wind people up, do you suggest articles at all? To express those views? Or do you post links that others might benefit from? No u don't, its easy to sit wherever u are and spew rubbish about rafa's tactical nous, like u got a mental block or something that make word processing or thoughts difficult for u
Desmondadonis
U keep bringin up irrelevant and childish jibes here which shows how immature u are,what has mq's acces to internet got to do with matters on VC??what has his internet subscription got to do with VC??are we now here for a financial contest instead of football discussions??..he should start commentin in the night??why?just to prove u wrong?u see what i say about u goin the crossin d line and arguin blindly or ignorantly just to prove how right u are when u are obviously wrong...and i read u callin someone a 'poisonous snake',really??because he disagrees with your view then i wonder what are u??a saint??am avin a laff.judgin by ur post on mq's personal life i must say its tantamount to the biblical temptation of christ by the devil.tank goodness other fans dont stoop so low to post such childish garbage u just vented.
Ken4CFC
And all hail mr desmond!!the only one who post links,contributes and suggests article!!guess u even own VC,yea VC is yours,u are the only one who makes meaningful contributions!thank u sire for remindin me you own the site and nobody has any right to disagree with your views.thank again for the reminder mr desmond
Ken4CFC
Haha!!! @Desmond.... you are ridiculously petty.... I can't believe a man is as petty and silly as you are.... Why are you so scared of my comments that opposes yours.... moreover the discussion on Mourinho was a general one, how does stating that "Mou can't cope without huge spending...." offend or hurt you? and how does that amount to wind up or jibes? Oh, you were expecting me to ignorantly agree with you, sorry guy, I'm not the gullible type that you are and I don't abide in the land of ignorance and naivety like you do... And talking of Adi viveash, so because you have commented on Adi I shouldn't express mine just because I want to avoid you... haha! dream on.... naaah!!!! that's never going to happen and like I told u before u can pick on me as much as you want...I'm fine with that...I have no issues with counter arguments or opposing comments, what you won't get away with is you turning your weakness and insecurity into abuses.... And just to remind you that have threatened to hit me hard with abuses.... blah...blah...blah..., haha! please do wise one.. the floor is yours... You said my comment wasn't civil, how do you define civil? must my comment agree with yours before it is civil? I am 100% certain there was no abuses or "shut ups" in my comment even if it had addressed an issue you commented on...anyway, that aside... Talking of contribution to this site.. as far as I am concerned, you are extremely worthless to this site and I can be sure your worthlessness spans beyond this site and into every sphere of life... Dude, if you don't know, let me make you know, you are a follower on this site, a yes-BOY... all you do here is to regurgitate people's opinion and ideas and that's why you make a lot of noise as you are an empty barrel.... You are so meager, petulant, judgmental and lousy to such extent that your comments are extremely childish...
Latunvic
Why should I comment after hours, to appease you DESMOND?? I have better stuff to do, I have better ppl to debate with (ppl with sound, salient and reasonable explanations for their view points) and to top it all up, I HAVE A WOMAN to please. So I'll chat when I want, I don't need you or anyone else for that matter....yeah :)
@Mq
FYI you should go through some match-day moments (some night European games and weekend League games) who comments using the moniker @Mq, you?? Grow up DESMOND....well said AGAIN you just know how to judge a character LATUN :)
@Mq
....Dude, if you don't know, let me make you know, you are a follower on this site, a yes-BOY... all you do here is to regurgitate people's opinion and ideas and that's why you make a lot of noise as you are an empty barrel.... You are so meager, petulant, judgmental and lousy to such extent that your comments are extremely childish.......anything I add will be ruining what is otherwise an apt description of the "Professor" LoL
@Mq
@mq, as I regurgitated rdm's appointment? Getting moses? Not getting hulk and moura?, @latunvic, enjoy ur wet dreams, @ken, continue to learn from me, and I am glad u guys are doing a better thing in new posts, rotflmao, it shows I hit a nerve didn't I? As for ken u are not in this site for long, so u won't get anything, talking about yes boys, u packs really fit urselves hahhahhahahhaahhaha
Desmondadonis
Is there any honesty within u latunvic, did u have a differing opinion or u laughed off the notion? The adi statement too what did u do? That is not how to debate, ridduling someones opinion even when u don't agree is wrong, u didn't give any sensible reason why mou can't work with our squad other than he spent huge at chelsea (how much)? He spent huge at real (how much) what about at inter and porto? Hence I saw ur opinion as a verbal attack, go reread it and u'll see for urself
Desmondadonis
Riddiculing*
Desmondadonis
If there is anyone who needs to go re-read those comments, that person is you..., it won't even make any difference because you are what and who you are..... I guess flawing your argument with mine is what got u off balance and hit your spinal cord and brain.... You still continue to prove your naivety.. I don't need to make reference to Porto and Inter as they weren't needed in my argument.. Trying to educate you is even futile as your problem is you don't like opposing arguments... and your brain certainly cant accommodate more than its capacity... You interpreting "Mou spent huge amount at Chelsea" as verbal attack is ridiculous and just confirms your kind of person... You want to teach me how to debate, right! I should debate by supporting your own view, how is that a debate?.... "..doing a better thing in new post..." are you only rolling on the floor?, u need to roll in a sewer line, that will do you more justice.... I feel your pain and feel sorry for your state of mind.... I can see you are beginning to sober, haha! next time you will always think twice before you leap....
Latunvic
@desmond,am sorry for u cos u have ended doin is makin a huge mockery of yourself..learn from you??i thought i was doin that a couple of months back till your ugly side started surfacin,what do the folks say about a leopard?yea i remember,they say it never changes its spots(and thats what u are).as naive as ever and i bet your arrogance never allow u smell the coffee,u believe u are the alpha and omega here and turn disagreein with your view into enemity.when u are defeated/embarrassed in debates u resort to cheap and childish drivel/insults.so whats there to learn from??..u re laffin ur ass off?u can as well laff ur brains off..since when did bein new on VC become a criteria for evaluatin coments/expressed views??well for your info i have been a visitor here since 2009 and i officially signed up in May 2012(guess u joined since 1000b.c right,friggin ferkin VC 'legend')..How old are u??cos u reason like a baby stil suckin mama's breast milk and u are practically worse than a YES BOY,learn to express ur views boy!learn to agree or disagree with views (and not people) without nursin enemity,learn to keep debates civil,obviously, u stil have a whole lot to learn..
Ken4CFC
 

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