Official Chelsea FC Thread

[fatlever]

i like all the offensive subs on the bench today. mou smart enough to know he can get away with ram or essien at the back in a pinch.

still not a fan of the ram, lamps partnership though. i doubt it will matter much today though.

[Double Helix]

Kevin De Bruyne looks good for such a young kid. When this golden generation of Belgium talents is in their primes they are going to surprise people.

And us Chelsea fans have arguably their top 4 prospects.

Courtois
De Bruyne
Hazard
Lukaku

[fatlever]

Kevin De Bruyne looks good for such a young kid. When this golden generation of Belgium talents is in their primes they are going to surprise people.

And us Chelsea fans have arguably their top 4 prospects.

Courtois
De Bruyne
Hazard
Lukaku

i cant wait to watch them in the world cup next summer. they will be my #2 team behind usa, with brazil #3.

[treiz]

Glad I came pretty close to the actual line-ups, even though they pick themselves.

I was working so I didn't see the game, but I heard that De Bruyne looked amazing as did Hazard. Can you guys give me some input?

I too am not a big fan of the Ramires-Lampard pivot, but against Hull at home it makes a lot of sense.

[5DOM]

I was working so I didn't see the game, but I heard that De Bruyne looked amazing as did Hazard. Can you guys give me some input?

Both were good - De Bruyne especially - in the first half, but like rest of the team, were rarely influential in the second half (very reminiscent of the old Jose team). If you are planning to watch the full game, don't bother. Just watch the first 30 minutes, maybe listen to some of the post match interviews then go get some sleep instead

[treiz]

Fair enough, it was effective the first time round. Just gonna catch it on MOTD then

[Double Helix]

Sorry if this has been posted but with TSN covering more games and NBC covering more games it's becoming a little confusing knowing where a game might end up in Canada. Does anybody have a good link to a Canadian broadcast guide for Chelsea fans? The NBC game finder site only works for US customers.

There's nothing more frustrating than realizing that you could have watched the game live in clear, motion artifact-free HD and dolby digital surround on your big screen after you've already been watching a stream on your laptop and closing pop up windows constantly. First world problems, I know, but still...

I'd like to get organized for the season and see what Chelsea games are available where so that I can plan which games I have to stream and which I don't. Does anybody know of a good resource?

DH

[fatlever]

sorry helix, in US and watching on NBC channels. i am still skeptical that NBC will bring better coverage than fox soccer. i think i was able to watch every chelsea game (except a few cup games) live in HD last year. also, good thing about fox soccer was they would replay games all week. a few times i would set the dvr and it wouldnt record for various reasons. there was always a back up plan to see the games. and it still is hard to believe that US fans can see more chelsea games than fans in england. i have seen that a lot where US has live coverage and UK doesnt except maybe chelseatv.

[fatlever]

fun for a monday...

who are your 5 favorite current chelsea players as of right now? quick apologies to the english players but i dont think any are in my top 5 favorites and also apologies to mata.

1. oscar - i just love everything about his game, personality etc...
2. cech - he is the reason i became a chelsea fan back in 2006
3. ivanovic - his on field demeanor is just awesome, he always looks like he wants to fight you then go out for beers after.
4. hazard - i always have sweet spot for wingers
5. luiz - just so damn likeable

hm - de bruyne - i have a feeling he will be in my top 5 before long, but he has to earn it. that interview with him and lukaku was fantastic. just seems like a fun guy and again, love those wingers.

of the english players cole is my favorite. left back was my position so its hard not to love the best left back in the world, even if he is a bit of a douche off the field.

[Double Helix]

My 5 favorite as of this year:

1) Hazard - I love creative players that can handle the ball and create something out of nothing. I honestly think he's going to become a superstar in the league eventually.

2) Mata - Savvy, smart, and incredibly opportunistic. A calming presence for the team and an incredible passer.

3) Lampard - Do I really need to explain this one? This is Chelsea we're talking about! I know he's nowhere near what he once was but I still love the guy so he's still in my top 5 even if he's not a part of the new era. I'll admit that I was hoping that Toronto FC would sign him as a high profile designated player but he's still got some game left.

4) Cole - Age has caught up to him as well unfortunately but he's still pretty special on both ends when he's really zoned in. I know he's become a divisive topic of conversation amongst Chelsea fans (Much like Torres and Terry) but I'm still glad to have him.

5) Cech - One of best keepers of his generation. Hard for me to leave him off after all the big saves he's made over the years in huge matches so I'm knocking Oscar down despite the fact that he's capable of this:



Honorable mentions:

John Terry for the great moments and toughness he's provided over the years. Oscar for the incredible upside but he's been less consistent, IMO, than Hazard so until he proves more consistency I'm okay keeping him out of the top 5 despite the incredible skillset.

[5DOM]

Oscar

[fatlever]

we should get a quick look at how jose plans to rotate the team and possibly who he prefers as his top 11. 3 games in 8 days with the 3rd game vs man u. we also get to see right away the tactics jose will use vs good teams like man u. will he go with someone like ram or moses as the 3rd in the attacking band to provide more defense and speed/directness on the counter?

luiz is out tomorrow, which also probably means we wont see him vs man u next monday. i'd be shocked to see him play such a big game after being out. my guess is lamps will be rested vs villa so he is available for man u. mata should get a run tomorrow either a start with 60 mins or so or as a sub coming on early.

my lineup for villa would probably look like
cech
azpi cahill terry cole
essien mvg
moses mata hazard
lukaku

bench: ivan, ram, kdb, oscar, schurrle, torres

too much rotation this early? or good idea to rotate with an eye on the weekend?

[Boognish]

It's hard to pick real 'weakened' side. Depth is insane

That said Villa were pretty lethal on the counter. Reffing decisions and Arsenal's lack of composure aside, Villa may not be an easy three points for you guys

[fatlever]

playing villa on the road, would never expect an easy 3pts. playing villa at home, we should expect to win, but nothing should ever be expected to be easy.

villa did look very fast on the counter vs arsenal for sure. some of that surely was due to how arsenal was playing. that being said, perhaps a quicker backline of azpi, ivan, cahill and cole would work better, rather than using JT. ideally we'd have luiz and ivan at CB to deal with speed. luiz and ivan are my preferred CB pairing anyway. i thought those two were fantastic together last year.

one thing learned from last year... i dont want to see mata and hazard rested at the same time.

[5DOM]

IMO Arsenal's biggest problem against Villa was toughness not speed. Just before the first Villa goal, Agbonlahor could have been stopped long before he got anywhere close to the box if they had any body on him. I think JT will be just fine against Benteke. I'm also not a fan of Ivanovic at CB, and Jose said the same. The midfield just needs to keep the ball better than Arsenal did, and we should win comfortably IMO. Keep in mind Arsenal still created a lot of chances. They just couldn't finish and of course Anthony Taylor happened.

[J-Mezzy]

I am very intersted to see Lukaku in our starting line up. Who do we play this weekend? It will be the first time I get to see the boys this season

[5DOM]

Game at Old Trafford will be a Monday night game. Not sure who will start that one, but I expect Lukaku to start tomorrow's. Wouldn't surprise me at all if I am wrong though.

[treiz]

My top 5 favourite:

1) Lampard
2) David Luiz
3) Hazard
4) Mata
5) Cech/Oscar

I think the lineup against Villa should be something like

Cech
Azpi Cahill Ivanovic Cole
Van Ginkel Ramires
Shurrle Mata Hazard
Lukaku

I think we would get both speedy defenders to deal with Benteke/Agbonlahor. I don't expect Lamaprd or Terry to play 2 games in less than a week, our midfield should be able to easily out play theirs and I would expect Jose to go with a platoon strike force, sort of like last year with Rafa. Especially with United on Monday I expect Torres to play then. I think some guys will be given a rest, but I think one emphasis that Jose will put up against Villa is speed

[fatlever]

#cfc: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard; Oscar, Mata, Hazard; Ba.


not much rotation at all from sunday, only mata in for KDB and ba in for torres.

[fatlever]

essien, bertrand and torres (and luiz-still hurt) not on the bench today