Chelsea FC Fanatics

A Devastating Week (or two).

2012-02-09T01:53:00.005-05:00

These past few weeks have not been good for soccer.

First, we have the cancellation of the 2012-2013 season of the Women's Professional Soccer League, which I think was very unnecessary and left a ton of extremely talented players scrambling for teams and regular jobs. The entire season was cancelled due to a seemingly trivial dispute between the league and one of it's EX-managers (!). As a result, hundreds of excellent youth prospects are not receiving the match experience that would be beneficial to their future careers (i.e. Alex Morgan, who I believe is going to become the best player in women's soccer in a few years).

Alex Morgan

Secondly, we have the John Terry saga.

JT and Anton Ferdinand butting heads in the Chelsea-QPR match in October.

If you're not up to date on the situation, on October 23rd, 2011, John Terry, captain of Chelsea and the England squad, was accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand (Rio Ferdinand's little brother) in a match between QPR and Chelsea (that game was memorable for all the wrong reasons, if you remember: we had the chance to overtake Manchester United in the table, and instead lost 1-0 to low-ranked QPR, with our squad getting fined for receiving 7 yellows, and with both Drogba and Bosingwa getting sent off. Definitely one of the more depressing/frustrating games of the season (and believe me, there have been quite a few – don't even get me started on the Chelsea-Arsenal game, or both Chelsea-Manchester Utd games, for that matter)). For about 3 months, there wasn't too much news about Terry and Ferdinand, just the odd article in the back pages. But just recently there has been an explosion of coverage on the saga, with new rumours and gossip erupting everyday. Since then, Terry has been stripped of his England captaincy, been shrouded in rumours, and been abandoned by quite a few of his many sponsors. His trial date is July 9, and will face up to a £2,500 fine if found guilty. Not a huge sum for someone with a £150,000/week wage, but the real punishment would be the soiling of his reputation (more than it has already been soiled, of course, by all these allegations). Joey Barton, the controversial, Nietzsche-tweeting QPR skipper (who, incidentally, hasn't yet responded to our request to join the Football Manager 2012 league that a few friends and I are running) actually made sense a few days ago when he tweeted that the "FA should of dealt with it instantly and saved the public the expense of the drawn out legal proceedings." While a bit grammatically incorrect, he does have a point that I do agree with: this should not have been allowed to turn into "the John Terry saga" to begin with. It was unnecessary, and just unleashes bad press on everyone, especially John Terry and the FA (by the way, after tweeting those "controversial" views, Barton almost got fined by the FA, although I have no idea why. He seems to be making sense, and I thought that the concept of "free speech" still existed. Maybe that doesn't apply when football is concerned...).

Here's the link to the "incriminating" video. Personally, I can't read lips, but I'm assuming that someone at the FA can, because they've taken very extreme measures with Terry after watching this video:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2011/oct/24/john-terry-anton-ferdinand-video

Thirdly, the Chelsea-Manchester United game. That was absolutely devastating. Questionable decisions were made on both sides (AVB and referee Howard Webb), and I have a few issues with both of them. If you didn't know, Chelsea tied Manchester United 3-3 on Sunday. It may sound good (-ish) on paper, but we were actually up 3-nil after 50 minutes (courtesy of Daniel Sturridge, David Luiz, and a stunner from Mata). We gave up two penalty shots (Rooney scored them both), and allowed the unmarked Chicharito to net the equalizer in the 84th minute. I think this has been the first time that AVB has gone with a formation that isn't 4-3-3 in his entire managerial career at Chelsea, instead deciding on the 4-2-3-1, which actually worked pretty well. This formation allowed Mata to play in his favoured role behind the striker, and of course it payed off. He was absolutely the best player on the pitch that night, and had a role to play in almost every attack. Gary Cahill finally made his debut in the absence of John Terry (injured) and Ashley Cole (injured); however, he looked a tad shaky in defense. He was extremely lucky not to receive a straight red card and a penalty for Man Utd with his tackle from behind early on in the game. Bosingwa took Cole's place at LB, and played well. Branislav Ivanovic played at a similar level on the other side of the pitch. David Luiz teamed up with Cahill in the centre of the defensive line, and provided the rare experience of being the best defender in the Chelsea side. He sometimes went a bit too far forward (as he does), but definitely showed increased self-awareness and retreated as needed. However, he did leave Chicharito unmarked in the 84th minute, which tied up the game, so minus points for that. Essien was an absolute rock in midfield, and without him the scoreline would have definitely looked much worse for us. The two penalties were the main focal point of the match, and 50% of them were definitely controversial. The first was completely deserved – AVB told Sturridge that he hadn't been helping out in defense enough, so Sturridge did as he was told, and unfortunately gave a free penalty to Wayne Rooney with a badly-timed challenge. The 2nd penalty, however, I do not believe was justified (although I guess it depends on the angle). Ivanovic looked to trip Welbeck in the penalty box, but at a second glance, it actually looked like Welbeck ran right into Ivanovic's foot and fell over. Chelsea fans all over were absolutely furious at Howard Webb (enough so that they began to post cartoons and edited pictures such as this):

That explains it.

However, Howard Webb was not the only one with the controversial decisions. AVB made quite a few of his own. First of all, loaning newly acquired left winger Kevin de Bruyne back to Genk (when we so desperately need a left winger!) was, I believe, the wrong decision. Malouda does not seem to warrant a place in the starting XI anymore (especially after this game, where he seemed extremely quiet on the wings and provided little support for the attack), and we need someone to take that spot. AVB took off Sturridge in the 70th minute for Oriol Romeu, leaving nobody on the right wing (Romeu dropped back to his usual CDM position). Side-note: Sturridge refused to acknowledge AVB when coming off. That was the only substitution of the game, and it proved costly with the tired Blues losing out on the full three points, and losing more of their point-edge in the race for the final Champions League spot.

Chelsea-Manchester United Highlights

Anyway, that's the (depressing) round-up for the past few weeks. Sorry if I made you sad. Go drink some tea to recover (it helps).

Cheers,

~Matt

DONE DEAL: Chelsea sign Patrick Bamford from NUFC for £1.5m!

2012-01-31T17:28:00.001-05:00

Just minutes ago, Chelsea conformed the signing of 18-year old British forward Patrick Bamford from Nottingham Forest FC. The NUFC striker signed a five-year deal for a total of £1.5 million. He has made two npower appearances for NUFC this season, scoring no goals. However, he made two appearances in the FA Youth Cup, scoring nine goals and assisting three in those two games. Wow. That's class. It's likely that he'll be loaned out soon, considering his age and the lack of experience. He seems to have quite a bit of talent though (and was attracting the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal – hopefully he'll turn out to be a good signing.

Patrick Bamford.

Cheers,
~Matt

DONE DEAL: Kevin de Bruyne signs for £6.6 million!

2012-01-31T15:50:00.001-05:00

On the last day of the transfer window, Chelsea have signed Kevin de Bruyne from Racing Genk for a five-and-a-half year deal worth £6.6 million. The 20-year old Belgian left-winger, who can also play as an attacking midfielder, as already been loaned back to Genk for the remainder of the season.

Kevin de Bruyne receives his jersey.

I have a question for you: Why would AVB decide to loan him back to Genk, considering how badly Chelsea need a left-winger?

Answer: I have absolutely no idea. Really. To me, it makes very, very little sense.

If de Bruyne had stayed at Chelsea, Mata would have the opportunity to move into the centre of the pitch (as he loves to do) and take over the attacking midfield role. De Bruyne has shown on numerous occasions that he has the ability to play against top teams, so it unlikely that he would not rise to his full potential at Chelsea.

Anyway, I guess we'll see what else the window brings us as the hours wind down.

There'll definitely be a debriefing when it's all over.

For those interested, ESPN is running a live chat about transfer deadline day here:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/live/_/id/1014997/deadline-day:-all-the-rumours-and-moves?cc=5901

Cheers,

~Matt

DONE DEAL: Alex off to PSG

2012-01-29T13:59:00.000-05:00

Hey there Chelsea fans,

Another shocking piece of news for you (but not really): Alex is off to PSG for a projected sum of £4.2 million. He had previously submitted a transfer request, along with Nicolas Anelka, and was expected to leave the club this transfer window, so it's not a huge surprise that he's gone.

Alex.

The 29-year old Brazilian defender was a subject of interest for both QPR and PSG, but on January 27th he signed with PSG to play under Carlo Ancelotti, his (and Chelsea's) previous manager. During the past year, he was being used as a backup player to the likes of John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, and David Luiz, as well as a backup defender for the Brazilian international team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall he made 87 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 7 goals.

An absolutely incredible free kick by Alex to tie the game against Liverpool in the 2009 Champions League quarter-finals against Liverpool.

Good luck to him at PSG.

Cheers,

~Matt

P.S. Stay connected for for Chelsea transfer news to come. A ton of rumours are circulating about a possible swap: David Luiz for Real Madrid's Pepe; as well as a renewed Eden Hazard bid; and a go for Lucas Moura. Personally, I think all of these are unlikely, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. It doesn't look like AVB is too interested in signing any more players during the window (no idea why).

DONE DEAL: Gary Cahill is Now Officially a Chelsea Player (finally)!

2012-01-17T00:15:00.001-05:00

Well, it finally happened. After about 3 weeks of planning, arguing, squabbling over millions of pounds...

THE GARY CAHILL SAGA IS COMPLETE.
Done.
Finished.

Thank god.

Some Gary Cahill highlights.

Many people (myself included) were honestly expecting the transfer to go through pretty much a few hours after the ball dropped on New Year's Eve/January transfer window.

But then it didn't.

And we were waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Finally, we heard the news that Cahill wanted to be paid Ashley Cole's wages (£100,000 p/w) and Chelsea were only willing to pay him Alex's wages (£50,000 p/w). And it started to get a bit stressful, because while the two sides were quarreling over salaries, Tottenham and Liverpool were quietly sneaking up behind Chelsea, hoping to somehow hijack the deal. In the end though, it was Chelsea who emerged victorious (or did they?), managing to agree to an £80,000 p/w/ wage deal for five years, while offering £7 million to Bolton as a transfer fee. Personally, I think £100,000 was definitely too steep. £80,000 is slightly better, although I would definitely have been more comfortable with somewhere in the ballpark of £65,000 p/w. Although, I also believe that Chelsea are in a pretty dire defensive situation, and I think Cahill realized that they would be willing to pay quite a large sum to patch up their aging defensive line. My guess is that he never realistically expected to be paid £100,000 p/w at all, but rather he was attempting to see how much money Chelsea was willing to pay. That's just my opinion though, and I'd say that it's actually a pretty smart move, if that's what he was aiming for.

Thoughts? Was it too much money, or a good signing? Let me know in the "comments" section.

Thank god that's over.

Anyway, I'll give you a few stats now. He's 26, a central defender, and has teamed up multiple times with John Terry in the middle of the defensive line for the England national team. So I guess it's good that they have some chemistry there (although, when you think about it... England's defense isn't the best in the world). He's made appearances for Aston Villa, Burnley, Sheffield United, and, most recently, Bolton, where he made 130 appearances and scored 13 times (and scored the winning goal for them during their 2-1 win over Everton last week). He has been given the number 24 shirt, last worn by current QPR midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Cahill's released statement reads as follows:

"Chelsea is a massive club, it is a club that looks to win trophies season in season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that. Opportunities like this you can't turn down. This is the right move for me at the right time and I would like to thank everyone at Bolton because I've had a great four years at the football club. My spell with Wanderers has enabled me to break into the England squad, and I would particularly like to thank the fans for their support along the way. I always appreciate their backing."

Well, congratulations, Gary Cahill (and Chelsea).

Good luck at Stamford Bridge.

Gaël Kakuta Accepts Dijon Loan

2012-01-11T23:36:00.003-05:00

On January 11, 2012, Chelsea forward Gaël Kakuta accepted a loan offer from French club Dijon until the end of the 2011-2012 season.

Gaël Kakuta

Dijon were promoted from Ligue 2 at the end of last season and currently sit in 16th spot in the Ligue 1 table. He has previously made 16 appearances for Chelsea (assisting two goals in the process), 7 appearances while on loan at Fulham (scoring one goal against Sunderland), and 6 appearances during his arguably unsuccessful loan spell at Bolton (scoring once against Aston Villa in a League Cup match).

He has also made 58 appearances at the international level, playing on the French U-16–U-21 sides and scoring 15 goals at this level.

Good luck to him, hopefully he can grab some first-team football while in France.

P.S. Expect news of a Gary Cahill transfer tomorrow. Apparently the two sides have patched up their wage disagreements and the deal should go through very soon.

P.P.S. Tottenham FINALLY played their postponed (due to the London riots in the summer) match with Everton, meaning that each side in the Premier League has played the same number of games! Thank the soccer gods – that was really starting to annoy me.

Hulk: an £84 million transfer?

2012-01-04T23:53:00.000-05:00

A brilliant addition to the long list of Chelsea transfer targets:

Hulk

Current club: FC Porto

Clubs interested: Chelsea

Asking price: £84 million

This 25-year old Brazilian international can function as a right winger and striker. He has worked under André Villas-Boas previously, and his agent has issued a statement which reads: " Hulk would wholeheartedly agree to work with André at Porto or Chelsea, or at any other team because he really likes the way he coaches. André knows Hulk very well and they have a good relationship. Hulk at Chelsea? Anything is possible." Hulk has also stated that he would be open to a move, and he seems to be quite adept at scoring. Last season, Hulk was the top scorer in the Primeira Liga, netting 23 and assisting 13 in 26 appearances – an amazing record, to say the least. He works well with AVB and (if he performs to his usual standard at Chelsea) would serve to dispel the circulating rumours about AVB's lack of managerial ability. Hulk would truly be the signing of the year (possibly decade), and his move to Chelsea would completely shatter the EPL transfer record. The most money paid by a British club (up until now) has been Chelsea's £50 million bid for Fernando Torres. This would top both that record, as well as the world football transfer record (Cristiano Ronaldo's £80 million move from Manchesster United to Real Madrid). For that amount of money, of course there's a considerable risk; however, it would honestly be lovely to have a striker in the ranks who can finish almost every time. Let's be honest here: Fernando Torres is a great player, I'm not denying his ability (he has lots); however, it just doesn't seem to be a good fit at Chelsea. Manchester United have Wayne Rooney; Manchester City have Mario Balotelli, Sergio Agüero, and Edin Dzeko; Liverpool have Luis Suárez; Arsenal have Robin van Persie; Newcastle have Demba Ba. Chelsea need a striker of that calibre (especially since Drogba will be gone for the African Cup of Nations, and then also off to another team in January/summertime). We have Mata on the left, Sturridge on the right. Hulk would fit perfectly in that central role.

P.S. I've also added Hulk to the long list of possible Chelsea transfer targets (previous post).

DONE DEAL: Nicolas Anelka to Shanghai Shenhua

2012-01-01T23:46:00.003-05:00

Well, it's official, and nobody can say that it was unexpected: Nicolas Anelka is no longer a Chelsea player.

Hours after the transfer window opened, Anelka accepted a transfer to Shanghai Shenhua for an undisclosed amount.

During his four years with Chelsea he scored 59 goals in 184 appearances, and was club top scorer twice.

He also missed the penalty kick that lost Chelsea the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United. Credit to both Anelka and Edwin van der Saar – it was a good shot and an ever better save.

Anelka's kick at about 10:10. Notice how van der Saar points to the top-left corner of the net right before the shot as a distraction tactic. Guess it worked.

Look: I found a video compilation of Anelka's goals during the 2008/2009 season!

Apparently Anelka has stated that he plans to end his career back in the Premier League. I'm thinking he's planning on getting back at Chelsea for leaving him off the guest list at the club Christmas party (full story here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2080481/Chelsea-deliver-final-insult-Nicolas-Anelka.html)
Anyway, I wish him luck in China, and I hope he finds what he's looking for at Shanghai Shenhua.

Cheers, and Happy Transfer Window to you all.
~Matt

P.S. You may have noticed, I've put up a text box to the right of page detailing the transfers that are sure to come this January. Hopefully I'll have the pleasure of getting to write in names like Gary Cahill, Neymar, and Eden Hazard (and anyone else on that list).

A Huge, Mind-boggling List of Possible Chelsea Transfers. Huzzah!

2011-12-31T14:43:00.006-05:00

Hey!
So yesterday I promised a surprise, and here it is: a huge, mind-boggling list of possible Chelsea transfers! HUZZAH!
During this month's transfer window, you can expect to see quite a few Chelsea departures, as well as the (hopeful) addition of a few key players. As well, we can expect the return of Michael Essien to the first team come mid-January, which should be exciting.

Note: Notice how PSG is interested in quite a few Chelsea stars? Guess who the new manager is... Carlo Ancelotti! Ex-manager competing against new manager... should be interesting.

So here we go, a list of Chelsea's transfer possibilities this January:

IN:

Eden Hazard

Current club: Lille

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool, Inter, AC Milan, PSG.

Asking price: €40 million

This 20-year old Belgian international can play as an attacking midfielder as well as a winger, and is known for his creativity on the ball, quick pace, and his superb technical skills. He's been likened to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and has been described as a "defender's nightmare." Chelsea have reportedly scouted him five times, and Hazard has stated that he is definitely leaving Lille this season, although a January move is unlikely. PSG has already submitted a bid, but Hazard has stated that he will not be transferring to a rival French club, so a move to PSG is out of the question.

Kevin de Bruyne

Current club: Racing Genk

Clubs interested: Chelsea

Asking price: £7 million

Kevin de Bruyne is a 20-year old Belgian international who can play in an attacking midfield role or as a winger. His near-flawless technical ability has impressed André Villas-Boas, who failed in an attempt to sign him last summer. However, it is believed that Chelsea will come out with a new bid of £7 million during this window, which could pry him away from the Belgian side.

Neymar

Current club: Santos

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Anzhi Makhachkala

Asking price: €45 million

Recently named South America's footballer of the year, this 19-year old Brazilian striker is a technical wonder. Gifted in almost every aspect, he is wanted by almost every club on the planet (although only five can afford him). For awhile, it was believed that he had agreed to terms with Barcelona; however, reports are now indicating that no such thing has occurred. Very good news for Chelsea. It's likely that he'll be leaving Santos this season – it's just a question of whether he goes in January or July.

Gonzalo Higuaín

Current club: Real Madrid

Clubs interested: Chelsea

Asking price: £40 million

The 24-year old Argentine international plays as a striker for Real Madrid, but he has recently been replaced in the starting lineup by Karim Benzema. However, one can't say that it was due to poor form: Higuaín scores a goal every 53 minutes on average, and has netted 12 goals in just 7 starts for Madrid. Needless to say, his record is something that would be much appreciated at Chelsea. Due to both Chelsea and Real Madrid being interested in signing Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, it seems that Chelsea have agreed to drop out of the race for Cavani if Madrid allow Chelsea to open talks with Higuaín.

Kaká

Current club: Real Madrid

Clubs interested: Chelsea, PSG, AC Milan

Asking price: £22 million

Kaká has recently fallen out of favour with José Mourinho in the Madrid lineup, and the 29-year old midfielder is likely to leave this January. In 2007, he won the Ballon D'Or and FIFA Player of the Year awards while playing for AC Milan. He is also a Brazilian international, and is known for his creativity on the pitch, as well as his technical ability.

Gary Cahill

Current club: Bolton

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool

Asking price: £7 million

This 26-year old central defender is an England international who is known to play excellently with John Terry. He can also play as a left-back, right-back, and defensive midfielder. His quick pace, technical skills, and commanding presence have turned him into a formidable defender who would be welcome at Chelsea. A £7 million bid has been agreed in principle with Bolton, and it's extremely likely that Cahill will be wearing a Chelsea shirt by the end of January (AVB has actually announced that the transfer should be made official within a few hours of the window opening).

Miloš Krasić

Current club: Juventus

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Bayern München

Asking price: £10 million

This 27-year old Serbian midfielder would be a great addition to the Chelsea midfield line, and André Villas-Boas is eager to add his pace and ball control to his squad. AVB is apparently asking Branislav Ivanovic to step up and try to convince his fellow Serbian to join the Blues. He has recently fallen out-of-favour at Juventus, and could be sold for approximately £10 million. It's also possible that he could join Chelsea on loan.

Lucas Moura

Current club: São Paulo FC

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Liverpool, Inter

Asking price: £25 million

This 19-year old Brazailian international plays as an attacking midfielder for São Paulo FC. Known for his blistering pace and excellent dribbling skills, he can create great chances and would be a brilliant addition to Chelsea's midfield.

João Moutinho

Current club: FC Porto

Clubs interested: Chelsea

Asking price: £30

This 25-year old Portuguese international can function as a utility player, playing as a defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder, or central midfielder, and can play on either side of the pitch. André Villas-Boas is a big fan of Moutinho, and is hoping to add his numerous abilities to Chelsea's lineup.

Jack Rodwell

Current club: Everton
Clubs interested: Chelsea
Asking price: £20 million

This 20-year old defensive midfielder can also play in the defensive line. He understands how to position himself well, and presents a formidable defensive force. He has a poor injury record, but if the Chelsea coaches can work with him to increase his fitness, then he would be a good signing for the Blues. In 10 games for Everton this season, he has scored 2 goals and assisted 1.

Hulk

Current club: FC Porto

Clubs interested: Chelsea

Asking price: £84 million

This 25-year old Brazilian international can function as a right winger and striker. He has worked under André Villas-Boas previously, and his agent has issued a statement which reads: " Hulk would wholeheartedly agree to work with André at Porto or Chelsea, or at any other team because he really likes the way he coaches. André knows Hulk very well and they have a good relationship. Hulk at Chelsea? Anything is possible." Hulk has also stated that he would be open to a move, and he seems to be quite adept at scoring. Last season, Hulk was the top scorer in the Primeira Liga, netting 23 and assisting 13 in 26 appearances – an amazing record, to say the least. He works well with AVB and (if he performs to his usual standard at Chelsea) would serve to dispel the circulating rumours about AVB's lack of managerial ability. Hulk would truly be the signing of the year (possibly decade), and his move to Chelsea would completely shatter the EPL transfer record. The most money paid by a British club (up until now) has been Chelsea's £50 million bid for Fernando Torres. This would top both that record, as well as the world football transfer record (Cristiano Ronaldo's £80 million move from Manchesster United to Real Madrid). For that amount of money, of course there's a considerable risk; however, it would honestly be lovely to have a striker in the ranks who can finish almost every time. Let's be honest here: Fernando Torres is a great player, I'm not denying his ability (he has lots); however, it just doesn't seem to be a good fit at Chelsea. Manchester United have Wayne Rooney; Manchester City have Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko; Liverpool have Luis Suárez; Arsenal have Robin van Persie; Newcastle have Demba Ba. Chelsea need a striker of that calibre (especially since Drogba will be gone for the African Cup of Nations, and then also off to another team in January/summertime). We have Mata on the left, Sturridge on the right. Hulk would fit perfectly in that central role.

OUT:

Nicolas Anelka

Going to: Shanghai Shenhua

DEFINITELY LEAVING CHELSEA IN JANUARY.

Alex

Going to: Juventus, PSG, QPR, Brazilian league

DEFINITELY LEAVING CHELSEA IN JANUARY.

Didier Drogba

Clubs interested: Guangzhou Evergrande (if he signs for Evergrande, he will become the highest-paid player on the planet), LA Galaxy, Shanghai Shenhua, Dalian, Aerbin, Aston Villa

While he might not be leaving in January, he is definitely leaving Chelsea this year, and has already stated that he will go wherever he is offered the most money (which is most likely Evergrande).

Frank Lampard

Clubs interested: LA Galaxy

Lampard is looking for a contract extension at Chelsea, but if they do not offer it to him, a move to the USA might be imminent, with David Beckham attempting to facilitate a move for him to the Galaxy.

Florent Malouda

Clubs interested: PSG

"I'm not getting enough playing time. It's too limited for the ambitions I have. I can't be happy with that. If it is necessary, I will leave."

That quotation says it all.

Saloman Kalou

Clubs interested: PSG, Arsenal

LOAN:

Gaël Kakuta

Clubs interested: Dijon

His loan contract at Bolton ends at midnight tonight, and French side Dijon are very interested in securing his services. The 20-year old forward only made four appearances for Bolton during the first half of the season – all as substitutions, and scored one goal against Aston Villa.

Josh McEachran

Clubs interested: Bolton, Swansea, Aston Villa

While his ultimate goal is to play for Chelsea, the 19-year old midfielder is likely to be loaned out to Bolton as a part of the Gary Cahill deal.

So, that's my complete list. If you think I've forgotten someone (or just want to talk about Chelsea stuff), let me know in the "comments" section.

Cheers, thanks for reading, and Happy New Year everyone!

~Matt

A Surprise.

2011-12-31T00:59:00.001-05:00

So... tomorrow. December 31.

Guess what happens at midnight (it's pretty obvious)?
...
JANUARY 1, 2012! It's the new year!

BUT. Do you know what else happens at midnight tomorrow?
THE JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW OPENS! COMMENCE DANCE PARTY!

So, in honour of the transfer window opening (and the new year, I suppose), I'm bequeathing unto you all a present. It will be fairly extensive, and will definitely be Chelsea-related. I'm not going to tell you what is it, all I can say is that I've been working on it awhile.

GUESS YOU'LL HAVE TO COME BACK TOMORROW AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.

Anyway, happy new year.
~Matt

Chelsea Hands Manchester City its First Loss!

2011-12-12T19:34:00.001-05:00

Hey... so... uh... guess what...?

CHELSEA JUST BEAT MANCHESTER CITY. That's right.
Booyah.

I'm actually just exploding (figuratively, of course) from happiness right now and I'm finding it very very hard not to write absolutely everything in capitals.

It seemed like my entire day was leading up to this game (it definitely was). I picked out a special outfit for today's match (Chelsea jacket with blue jeans – unfortunately, my Chelsea t-shirts don't fit me anymore). I pretty much spent all of history predicting formations and lineups, all of french trying to figure out who Man City would start in defense (after I realized about Richards' and Kolarov's injuries), and all of Spanish compiling random statistics and attempting to figure out if there was an accent on the second "e" in "Touré" (there is one). Then I ran home, occasionally stopping at random sports-bars along Eglinton Ave. to check the score, and watched the game with my good friend Larissa, who proceeded to watch me jump around in circles after Lampard's winner.

Raul Meireles (centre) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the equalizer in today's match.

2-1 was the score. With a red card to Gaël Clichy. And goals from Balotelli (2') and Meireles (34'), as well as a goal from a spot kick scored by Frank Lampard (gotta love that guy) in the 82nd minute.

I'm actually so excited that I can't form real sentences. Forgive all forthcoming grammar mistakes (I'm sure there will be many), believe me, they're all due to pure euphoria.

And it looks like André Villas-Boas can finally consider his tenure at Chelsea stable (yes!).

Here was Chelsea's lineup (4-3-3):

Bench: Turnbull, Ferreira, Mikel (Sturridge 88'), Lampard (Meireles 73'), Malouda (Mata 84'), Kalou, Torres.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:

- Daniel Sturridge: Man of the Match, and rightly so. Assisted the first goal with a brilliant series of step-overs and a perfect cross to Raul Meireles, and forced the second penalty by managing to clip the ball off of Lescott's hands in the box.

- Juan Mata: Incredible ball control and dribbling skills to get around numerous Man City players. They just couldn't handle him today.

MATCH OVERVIEW

The match definitely started with trouble for the hosts. In the 2nd minute, a (basically) unmarked Mario Balotelli received a lifted ball, avoided a tackle by Ivanovic, managed to get around Petr Cech, and passed the ball into an open Chelsea net to make the score-line 1-0. However, Chelsea rebounded in the 34th minute, when former Manchester City man Daniel Sturridge found his way past Gaël Clichy with a series of brilliantly-timed step-overs and crossed it to Raul Meireles, who slotted it home in the air with a well-taken volley. 1-1 at the half (after Meireles received a yellow for a dangerous tackle on Zabaleta). In the 58th minute, Gaël Clichy got himself sent off after receiving a second yellow for a reckless challenge on Ramires, putting Manchester City down to 10 men. After this, Manchester City made a series of defensively-minded substitutions (Kolo Touré for Agüero, De Jong for Silva), interspersed with yellow cards to Romeu (no idea what his was about – looked completely legit), Ramires, and Drogba. In the 73rd minute, Frank Lampard came on for Raul Meireles (not sure why it wasn't Romeu – I would've thought that Chelsea would try to look for for attacking options, and taking off Meireles would be a loss of a midfielder that attacks well). In the 82nd minute, Daniel Sturridge worked his way into the box and his shot deflected off of Joleon Lescott's outstretched arms for a penalty. Frank Lampard stepped up and coolly blasted it home, putting Chelsea up 2-1 (cue crazy dancing by me). Chelsea made a couple more subs (Malouda for Mata; Mikel for Sturridge), and managed to hold on until the end of stoppage time.

Final Score: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Chelsea Manchester City

Ball Possession (%) 49 51

Shots (on target) 14(3) 7(2)

Corners 5 1

Crosses 25 9

Fouls Committed 11 20

Yellow Cards 4 1

Red Cards 0 1

Offsides 0 3

Unfortunately, no highlights on Youtube about the game, so here's a website with the highlights posted:

http://www.soccer-blogger.com/2011/12/12/chelsea-vs-man-city-2-1-highlights-goals-2011-video-balotelli-meireles-lampard-clichy-red-card/

P.S. Really sorry I couldn't report on the Chelsea-Valencia game on Tuesday, tons of work. WE WON THOUGH, and are now through to the Final 16! Awesome, eh? And we also won our group (due to Bayer Leverkusen's draw against Genk)!

Drogba Intent on Honouring his Contract at Chelsea

2011-12-04T20:24:00.000-05:00

So, as stated previously here, Didier Drogba is definitely planning on leaving Stamford Bridge, but we do know that it won't be in January. The 33-year old Chelsea fixture is planning to see his contract out until it officially ends. "I always said that I will honour my contract with Chelsea until the very end. And for the moment, the end is in 2012," he explained to Canal+, a French television station. "I am fine here and my personal case is not an important factor for me at the moment. The important thing is to try and get Chelsea back to the summit of the Premier League."

Didier Drogba.

In other news, a transfer request submitted by Nicolas Anelka was officially accepted by the Chelsea board yesterday, meaning that he'll likely be off in January.

Chelsea Snatches 4th Spot from the Magpies!

2011-12-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

Hey!

So, it's been an interesting week for Chelsea, with a disappointing 2-0 elimination to Liverpool in the Carling Cup quarterfinals (but hey... Manchester United lost to Crystal Palace 2-1, so I'd imagine they'd also have to be a bit worried) (it's also the Carling Cup... so...yeah), and then a 3-0 away win over Newcastle yesterday morning (!), meaning that we've successfully regained our position at 4th spot (only 3 points behind Tottenham, who have a game in hand against Everton).

Daniel Sturridge celebrates his goal with teammate Ramires in yesterday's game against Newcastle.

I'm also glad to report that www.hasandrevillasboasbeensackedyet.com is still reporting "no." Hopefully that continues (I think that as long as we don't lose against Valencia this week then he'll be fine).

So, to the Newcastle game.

Although Chelsea scored 3 goals (courtesy of Didier Drogba, Saloman Kalou, and Daniel Sturridge) and recorded a much-needed clean sheet, the score-line absolutely does not remotely reflect the actual intensity of the game. David Luiz (oh god) came incredibly close to getting tossed out in the 4th minute for tackling Demba Ba from behind just outside the box. Arguably, he should have been given a red card, but instead got off with a yellow (seems to happen often, eh?), and you can believe me, Alan Pardew is furious. Mike Dean (yesterday's referee) has since admitted that he made an error and that David Luiz should have been thrown out immediately. If this had happened, the entire course of the game would have completely changed. Unfortunately, Luiz seems to be looking more and more like a liability on the field rather than an asset, and in my opinion, if Alex is fit to play on Tuesday, he should be the one starting against Valencia. Chelsea cannot afford to have holes in the defense or be playing with 10 men in that game, which could prove to be the do-or-die game for André Villas-Boas. Alex can defend well, and usually puts in a consistent performance. Also, if he plays well then it will boost his player value for the January transfer window (he might be off to Juventus in exchange for Milos Krasic).

Here was the lineup for yesterday's match (4-3-3):

Subs: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Bertrand, Meireles (Lampard 61'), Kalou (Mata 75'), Torres (Drogba 79').

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:

- Didier Drogba: Showed why he's still one of the best strikers in the Premier League with a powerful header off Mata's cross in the 38th minute.

- David Luiz: See the above rant.

- Daniel Sturridge: Played very well, and on any other keeper he could have had at least 3 goals, but Tim Krul's ridiculous shot-stopping ability was a crucial factor there.

- Saloman Kalou: In his 100th appearance as a substitute for Chelsea (the first person ever to do this), he scored a nice goal from 10 yards out after Torres' attempt on goal did not work out. Wants to sign a new contract with Chelsea only if he is guaranteed more playing time. Maybe his performance yesterday turned some heads?

NOTABLE NEWCASTLE PLAYERS:

- Tim Krul: Oh. Wow. This guy is incredible. Actually. He saved a well-taken penalty by Frank Lampard, and denied Daniel Sturridge quite a few times before finally getting beaten in the 92nd minute. (although this was after his two central defenders both got taken off injured, so there was nothing he could really do about that one or Kalou's).

MATCH OVERVIEW:

In the 4th minute David Luiz came extremely close to crippling his team by tacking Demba Ba just outside the box. He received a yellow card, but everyone involved has now agreed that it should have been a red. Luiz was extremely lucky to get off with just a booking. In the 14th minute, Yohan Cabaye, the Toon's centre midfielder, brought down Daniel Sturridge in the box to earn Chelsea a penalty. Frank Lampard stepped up to take it (as usual) and drove in a decent shot to the lower-right-hand corner, which was saved by Tim Krul! That guy is actually ridiculous – definitely one of the best keepers in the EPL right now. Things began to turn unfortunate for Newcastle when their captain and centre-back, Fabricio Coloccini, got injured in the 28th minute and had to be substituted for James Perch. In the 38th minute, a Chelsea throw-in allowed Mata to send in a nice cross for Drogba, who drove home a powerful header to put the visitors up 1-nil. Throughout the first half, Daniel Sturridge unleashed a flurry of shots, all miraculously saved by Tim Krul. Newcastle were also extremely unlucky – quite a few of their shots hit the post/crossbar. After quite a few substitutions in the second half (Meireles for Lampard, Kalou for Mata, and Torres for Drogba), as well as a yellow card to Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea struck again, this time through Saloman Kalou. After a Newcastle attempt on goal, Torres initiated a counter-attack which saw his shot get rebounded back to him. He passed it off to Kalou, who then scored from 10 yards out. In the 92nd minute, Ramires sent the ball through for Sturridge, who went through the entire Newcastle defense and scored, finally ending his game-long battle with Tim Krul.

Final score: Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Newcastle Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 56 44

Shots (on target) 15(3) 21(10)

Corners 6 5

Crosses 15 10

Fouls Committed 7 6

Yellow Cards 2 3

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 2 2

Highlights of the Newcastle game.

Drogba Prepared to End his Career with Chelsea (sad face)

2011-11-30T22:13:00.004-05:00

On November 29, Didier Drogba, a long-term Chelsea fixture (and record-holder – ranked 6th all-time goal scorer for Chelsea), turned down an offer for a one-year contract extension with the Blues. Thierno Seydi, agent of the 33-year old striker, has rather indelicately stated: "at Didier's age, he has nothing left to prove as a player. He will go where he is offered the most money." At least he's being honest.

Didier Drogba

Where will Drogba end up?
Apparently he's considering a move to Asia (Russia looks especially promising), as well as the USA. I'm aware that Anzhi Makhachkala, the Russian team that makes Manchester City look impoverished, has put Drogba on its wish list. If successful, Drogba will be a nice addition to a squad that seems to be amassing its own private army of brilliant footballers and coaches (Roberto Carlos, Samuel Eto'o, possibly Guus Hiddinck, and possibly Marcelo Lippi). And if it's truly money he wants, Anzhi is definitely the place to go. Money seems to be absolutely no object for the Russian side, with the club signing Samuel Eto'o to a contract in August that officially made him the world's highest-paid football player (10m Euros/season). I believe that the offer from Anzhi was a transfer fee in the ballpark of 10m Euros. Another option for Drogba is MLS side LA Galaxy, which his agent has stated is "possible." The Galaxy are certainly no stranger to amassing great talent either, picking up David Beckham and Landon Donovan, as well as being linked with Luca Toni, Michael Ballack, Ronaldinho, Frank Lampard (!), Alessandro del Piero, and Guti. Personally, I'm hoping he comes to the Galaxy, because when the Galaxy play Toronto FC (my home club), I might be able to see him. So, for entirely selfish reasons, I want him to reach Los Angeles.

What does this mean for Chelsea?
While losing Drogba will, of course, be very unfortunate for the club, in all truth I do not believe it will force a huge difference in Chelsea's tactics. André Villas-Boas seems to be favouring Fernando Torres as the target man in the Chelsea formation. As well, Drogba look-alike (and play-alike) Romelu Lukaku is waiting in the wings to become a permanent fixture in the starting 11.

Romelu Lukaku

When he comes of age, the 18-year-old striker will be the one to take Drogba's place in the squad. Drogba is undoubtedly one of my favourite Chelsea players ever – it will truly be devastating to see him off. And when Drogba's last game at the Bridge is played, I have no doubt that he won't be leaving without at least one standing ovation (he'll get one from me, at least).

Brilliant video – Drogba highlights.

A Devastating Loss, AVB Career Speculation, and a Victory over Wolves.

2011-11-26T22:56:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone,
So after a truly devastating 2-1 loss against Bayer Leverkusen (Champions League) on Tuesday, the general public really stepped up the speculation over the future of André Villas-Boas' job. It's true, Chelsea is definitely not where they were expected to be this season. Their title hopes are extremely low (Manchester City has pretty much locked it up after only 12 games, providing their incredible run of form holds); they require a win against Valencia to qualify for the Champions League; and Chelsea are currently sitting at 5th in the Premier League table. Past managers have been in better positions than Villas-Boas is currently, and were still sacked by Roman Abramovitch (think Carlo Ancelotti, Avram Grant, etc). The Russian multi-billionaire is quite impatient with his managers, expecting almost immediate results. Since José Mourinho, he's gone through 6 managers in 5 years. The conjecture among the general population is that if Chelsea do not advance to the next round of the Champions League, it will not be long before Abramovitch hands Villas-Boas his marching orders (and AVB has acknowledged this).

(my friend Daniel showed me this website)
http://hasandrevillasboasbeensackedyet.com/

Personally, I hope this doesn't happen. I actually think he's quite a good manager, and that he needs more time than just 20 or so games. Even if we don't manage a Champions League win, the main goal should be to finish in the top 4 in the Premier League (which will get us a CL spot next year), and use the break to try and fix up the team. Transfers need to be made. It's definitely an aging team: the average age of the team is 27.5, 8th highest in the league. When compared to top teams such as Manchester City (26.4), Manchester United (26.1), Arsenal (25.3), Liverpool (26.7), etc... it's obvious that Chelsea needs some younger players. John Terry is 30, Frank Lampard is 33, Didier Drogba is 33, Petr Cech is 29, Ashley Cole is 30, Florent Malouda is 31, Nicolas Anelka is 32. With the occasional exception of Anelka, these are all regular first-team players. The average age of Chelsea's usual starting 11 (I'm going to say Cech, Cole, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic, Meireles, Lampard, Ramires, Malouda, Torres, Mata, just for argument's sake) is 27.8. In a few years, the majority of these players will be gone, and Chelsea need to have a contingency plan. Purchases such as Romelu Lukaku (who plays in a very similar style to Drogba), Oriol Romeu, and Thibaut Courtois (who will be ready to step in as the new goalkeeper by the time Petr Cech retires) are excellent. Chelsea need to continue to invest in developing footballers and supplement the current squad with young, creative players who can strengthen the team.

André Villas-Boas: the perpetually squatting manager of Chelsea (and we love him for it).

Chelsea had a Champions League match stolen from their grasp on Tuesday, when Bayer Leverkusen scored in the 92nd minute to win the game 2-1 at the BayArena. Chelsea had gone up 1-0 after a Drogba goal in the 48th minute (on a Daniel Sturridge assist). After bookings to Ivanovic and Meireles, Erin Derdiyok came on for Leverkusen and scored after only 2 minutes. The game looked to be a draw when 90 minutes passed; however, it was at that moment when Manuel Friedrich headed in a Gonzalo Castro corner to win the game 2-1. With this unlikely loss, Chelsea moved to 3rd place in Group E with 8 points and a +6 GD, and now need a win against Valencia (8 points and a +8 GD) in order to advance to the next round of the Champions League. Chelsea are in an extremely tough position now, with André Villas-Boas' job on the line as well. They desperately need a win against Valencia. In their last game against them (in Valencia), the two teams drew 1-1. The next match will be at Stamford Bridge. Hopefully the support of the fans can drive Chelsea to a victory and a place in the next round.

This was depressing: the winning goal at the BayArena on Wednesday.

This morning, Chelsea emerged victorious with an important 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton that saw them put a bit of distance between themselves and Arsenal (2 points), as well as close the gap slightly between themselves and the likes of Newcastle (1 point), Tottenham (3 points), and Manchester United (5 points). With Newcastle up against Chelsea next Saturday, I'm definitely hoping that next weekend we'll all see a shift in the Premier League standings (with Chelsea overtaking Newcastle and reaching 4th spot). In today's match at the Bridge, goals from John Terry, Daniel Sturridge, and Juan Mata (with Mata assisting the first two goals) put Chelsea up 3-0 at the end of the first half.

Here was the lineup for today's match (4-3-3):

Subs: Turnbull, Mikel, , Malouda, Kalou, Lampard (Meireles 70'), Bosingwa (Ivanovic 77'), Torres (Drogba 78')

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Juan Mata: Man of the Match performance. Assisted the first two goals, and scored the third. Showed great composure and vision with his crosses. Provided Sturridge with the easiest of tap-ins and Terry with a lovely corner ball. Overall, he had an excellent game.
- Daniel Sturridge: Positioned himself well to tap home Mata's cross for the 2nd goal of the game. At times seemed a bit needlessly selfish with the ball (went for goal, even though passing it off would have been a perfect option), but nonetheless played a great game. Created a beautiful run for himself down the length of the pitch in the 2nd half, but couldn't finish.
- John Terry: Positioned himself well and got up to a good height to score the first of the game off a Mata corner. Defended well during the game.
- Oriol Romeu: In his first Premier League start for Chelsea, he looked extremely comfortable in the holding midfield role. Linked up well with the attack, and defended well when needed.
- Ramires: Played excellently in midfield. His incredible pace gave Chelsea a number of opportunities. Showed his great value to the team when he dispossessed a Wolves player at the centre of the pitch and made a brilliant run down the middle, unleashing a blistering shot which was saved by Hennessey.

Juan Mata celebrates his goal.

MATCH OVERVIEW:
Chelsea did very well to dominate the game from early on, with John Terry scoring off a Mata corner in the 7th minute. According to the commentators, the goal could have easily been cleared at the far post if Wolves had defenders marking the posts. However, both were left wide open and Chelsea went up 1-0. A fluid passing play in the 29th minute between Cole, Romeu, and Mata led to Sturridge tapping in the brilliant cross by Juan Mata. In the 45th minute, Drogba passed it off to Cole, who crossed it to Mata in the box. Mata, from 10 yards out, volleyed the ball into the top netting to make the score 3-0 for Chelsea. Chelsea dominated the entire 2nd half, only allowing Wolves 2 shots on target during the entire game (as opposed to Chelsea's 12). In the 90th minute, John Terry got himself booked for time-wasting (what he was doing, I have no idea – he pretty much just held on to the ball during a throw in for a minute, when it seemed that he had plenty of options. There was no real need for any time-wasting, since Chelsea were up 3-0 and the game was about a minute away from being over).
Final score: Chelsea 3-0 Wolverhampton.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Chelsea Wolves

Ball Possession (%) 53 47

Shots (on target) 21(12) 8(2)

Corners 8 2

Crosses 20 11

Fouls Committed 10 11

Yellow Cards 1 2

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 1 0

No highlight reel on Youtube, sorry, but here's a good link with the video at the bottom:

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/chelsea/99165/chelsea-3-0-wolverhampton-wanderers-juans-a-mata-of-life-and-death-for-avb.html

Chelsea's January Shopping List: Defenders, Please.

2011-11-20T18:30:00.003-05:00

So after watching an exciting (and ultimately depressing) Chelsea-Liverpool game this morning which ended 2-1 in favour of the Reds, a conclusion has been reached: Chelsea needs to buy some defenders come January. After watching the past few games, the only defender with whom I don't have any issues is Branislav Ivanovic, which just makes me love him all the more. Credit to Ashley Cole, who is usually quite consistent (with the exception of today's game, where Glen Johnson managed to outmaneuver him to get the winner); however, John Terry seems to need some conditioning (he looks quite uncomfortable in his own defense, and in the past few games he's made a few costly mistakes); José Bosingwa's marking needs improvement (he's actually been dropped from the lineup in recent weeks); and David Luiz... well. I've already voiced my concerns over David Luiz. I honestly think he should be playing in a holding midfield role. I also think he needs to learn how to control his temper. In today's game, after losing the ball and hitting the ground, he actually just lashed out with his cleat and kicked a Liverpool player in the back of the legs. He luckily received just a yellow (it could have easily been a red), but players shouldn't behave like that. Ever. He is pretty young (24 years old), and he's still adjusting to the Premier League after moving from Benfica in January of this year, but he has to know the consequences of his actions. Maybe in a year or two he'll be the complete package, but at the moment I do not think he's ready to feature in the starting lineup as a centre-back.

In a weekend where Chelsea was presented an absolute ideal opportunity to reclaim third place (after Manchester City handed Newcastle its first loss of the season), we could not manage to take advantage of the opportunity, and, as a result, Chelsea remains in 4th (likely to be 5th if Tottenham manages a win or a draw from tomorrow's match against Aston Villa).

Look! I made a cool starting 11 image! You don't even know how proud I am of this. And it was also really annoying to make because I had to make my computer think that all of the players' names were actual words so that they wouldn't get that red squiggly line underneath.

Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Bosingwa, Anelka, Torres (Drogba 84'), Meireles (Ramires 84'), Sturridge (Mikel 45')

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:

- Daniel Sturridge: Tipped in Malouda's pass to tie the game and get Chelsea's only goal. His introduction at half-time changed the pace of the game and definitely improved Chelsea's overall play.

- David Luiz: I've said it all in the above paragraph.

- John Obi Mikel: Voted Flop of the Match on Goal.com, it was his mistake that initiated the build-up for the first Liverpool goal. Needs to improve defensively if he wants to keep his place in the starting 11.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

In a game where the balance of power seemed to be in perpetual flux, Chelsea began well, holding possession and creating good chances. After Drogba came incredibly close to scoring a free kick (he had Reina beaten, but the ball went wide and hit the back of the net), Liverpool struck first in the 33rd minute after Petr Cech passed to Mikel, who was then dispossessed by Charlie Adam. After a neat passing play between Adam, Bellamy, Suarez, and Maxi Rodriguez, Liverpool was up 1-0, courtesy of a Rodriguez shot from the far post. In the 42nd minute, Luiz was lucky to escape with just a yellow after lashing out at a Liverpool player with his cleat. At half-time, Sturridge came on for Mikel, and immediately changed the pace of attack. Just nine minutes after coming on, Sturridge slotted home Malouda's cross at the far post to equalize, 1-1. In the 57th minute, Branislav Ivanovic pulled off an amazing header which would have been a goal, if not for Reina's incredible save. After yellow cards to Ramires and Ivanovic in the 62nd and 79th minutes, respectively, a double-substitution was made in the 84th minute: Torres for Drogba, and Meireles for Ramires. In the last 5 minutes of regulation time, both teams were going all out – they both desperately needed a win. Chelsea looked slightly stronger near the end; however, it was Glen Johnson, a former Chelsea player, who found his way around Ashley Cole and netted the winner through a brilliant solo effort.

Final Score: Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool.

Daniel Sturridge celebrates his goal.

He's dancing, by the way.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Chelsea Liverpool

Ball Possession (%) 56 44

Shots (on target) 17(3) 8(2)

Corners 5 5

Crosses 29 19

Fouls Committed 13 12

Yellow Cards 3 2

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 1 2

Okay, so for some weird reason, Blogger won't let me post Youtube videos at the moment, so I'll just post the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfz_IqHnQfg

That one is Sturridge's goal – unfortunately there aren't any full highlight reels that I can find.

This Wednesday we have Chelsea playing Bayer Leverkusen in an important Champions League match. Let's go Blues!

Cheers,

~Matt

An Unfortunate Past Few Weeks (for Chelsea fans)

2011-11-06T01:15:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,
Very sorry for not posting anything for the past couple weeks. Work has been absolutely ridiculous, and it was getting to the point where it was becoming very depressing to write about Chelsea activities (you'll see why after you read this post). But things are looking up (as of today, with a 1-0 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park), and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks, especially Chelsea-Liverpool on November 20th and Chelsea-Man City on December 12th).

Frank Lampard celebrates his goal in the 3-5 loss against Arsenal last weekend.

So I'll give you a quick rundown on last Saturday's 5-3 defeat to Arsenal (you can see why I was depressed now, right?), and then an overview on their 1-1 draw with Genk on Tuesday (depression increasing), and then how Chelsea dropped to fourth place behind an impressive Newcastle side today (gah!).

First: the 5-3 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Arsenal. That was a really exciting game (although the result wasn't favourable). On average, there was a goal every 11 minutes. A goal from Frank Lampard put the home side up 1-nil in the 14th minute. Robin van Persie then equalized in the 36th, and John Terry's header put the home side on top in the 45th minute. Andre Santos equalized again for Arsenal in the 49th to make the score-line 2-2, and Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead 3-2 in the 55th. After a series of substitutions and bookings on both sides, Juan Mata scored an incredible goal in the 80th minute. After a few more minutes of breakneck pace from both teams, Florent Malouda sent a poor back-pass to John Terry, who then stumbled while trying to chase down the ball. Van Persie took control and advanced on Petr Cech, who couldn't make the save. In the 90th minute, Arsenal struck again through Robin van Persie to make the final score 5-3 in favour of Arsenal. This was Arsenal's best result at Stamford Bridge since 1934, when they won 5-2.

When van Persie scored his 2nd goal, apparently quite a few people (and some of the more tabloidy football websites) misconstrued his celebration as "Sieg heil." Here it is. Honestly, I'm thinking it must have been a ridiculously slow news day for anyone to even consider printing that.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Chelsea Arsenal

Ball Possession (%) 53 47

Shots (on target) 12(7) 11(6)

Corners 3 2

Crosses 20 11

Fouls Committed 8 17

Yellow Cards 2 3

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 5 2

Sorry about the lack of highlight reels – I couldn't find a single one on youtube. If you see any, link it in the comments and I'll add it to the post.

So now for game #2: Chelsea 1-1 Genk on November 1.

I remember watching this game, and just getting very frustrated that we weren't winning. We had so many chances, but just couldn't finish. After Ramires' brilliant give-and-go with Fernando Torres in the 26th minute to put Chelsea up 1-0 at Cristal Arena, Chelsea just couldn't score a second goal. Raul Meireles' excellent strike hit the crossbar; Frank Lampard's shot (on an almost-open net! From 3 feet away!) went wide of the post; and David Luiz couldn't convert a penalty kick into a goal. Now hold on a moment. Surely you're asking yourself: with the likes of Fernando Torres, Florent Malouda, Raul Meireles, and Nicolas Anelka on the pitch (all more than adept at taking penalties), why was David Luiz stepping up? He's playing as a centre-back! Why is your centre forward not taking that penalty?! Everyone, including myself and the game commentators, was flabbergasted (yes, flabbergasted) when we saw David Luiz behind the ball. I know he's good on the attack, but surely with the likes of Torres (or any of the other attacking options) on the pitch, you don't need anyone else taking penalties. I'd really like to know the story behind that one. Later on, in the 61st minute, Vossen scored for the home side, and the game ended 1-1. Quite unfortunate, considering that Chelsea dominated the majority of the game, but just couldn't finish. In all truth, that game could have easily ended 4-1 in our favour.

Highlights of the Chelsea-Genk match.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Genk Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 44 56

Shots (on target) 9(5) 18(6)

Corners 5 5

Crosses 13 16

Fouls Committed 9 9

Yellow Cards 1 1

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 1 1

Now, to today's victory over Blackburn.

We won 1-0! Yay for breaking a streak of taking only 1 point from a possible 9 in all competitions! A 51st minute diving header from Frank Lampard, who now has 6 goals in 8 games, sealed the win for the Blues at Ewood Park.

Here was the starting 11 (4-3-3). Very interesting to see Daniel Sturridge leading the attack. He played very well. When Torres came on in the 2nd half, Sturridge moved out wide on the left and Torres took over in the middle of the attack.

Malouda (Torres) --------- Sturridge --------- Mata (Meireles)

Lampard ----------------- Mikel ---------- Ramires (Romeu)

Cole --------- Terry --------- Alex --------- Ivanovic

Cech

MATCH STATISTICS:

Blackburn Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 38 62

Shots (on target) 10(4) 13(4)

Corners 5 8

Crosses 11 16

Fouls Committed 12 11

Yellow Cards 4 2

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 3 1

In the 51st minute, Branislav Ivanovic made a lovely run down the right-hand side and delivered an excellent ball with the outside of his foot to Frank Lampard, who had to get so low to head in the goal, his head almost hit the ground. As well, the game was stopped for 7 minutes while Petr Cech, who had earlier collided with Yakubu and Ashley Cole, received medical treatment for a broken nose. Everyone was expecting him to come off at some point, but he put on an amazing show of bravery and played out the full 90 minutes, making a few excellent saves and recording his 2nd clean sheet of the season. Apparently he went through two different jerseys during that game due to the sustained bleeding.

What have we learned? Having a broken nose makes you play soccer really well.

Proof? Here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/video/video-sinclair-breaks-her-nose-scores-a-goal/article2077848/

I think we can all agree that he goal was pretty much the best thing ever. Seriously.

Unfortunately, no highlight reels of the Chelsea game can be found on youtube – if you see one, link it in the comments and I'll make it part of the post. With Newcastle's 2-1 win today over Everton, they slot into 3rd place in the table with 25 points. Manchester United have 26, Manchester City have 31, and Chelsea are in 4th with 22. Tottenham sit in 5th at 19 points, but they have 2 games in hand.

Thanks everyone! Have a great week, and I'll post again soon.

Cheers,

~Matt

Chelsea Unable to Capitalize on Perfect Opportunity

2011-10-25T00:19:00.001-04:00

If you were watching the Premier League this weekend, then you might have seen a historic rout of Manchester United by Manchester City, as well as Chelsea's dreams of taking second place in the table shattered in an extremely depressing 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers. In the Manchester Derby, which took place on Sunday, Manchester City demolished their opponents 6-1 at Old Trafford, the worst home loss in 25 years of Fergie's managerial career. The result highlighted the rapid shift of power between the two Manchester clubs, one of which remains undefeated after 9 games, while the other has experienced a recent drop in form, only managing to obtain 5 points out of a possible 12 in the last four games. 2 goals from the entertaining Mario Balotelli, 2 from Edin Dzeko, 1 from Sergio Aguero, and 1 from the incredible David Silva, who is now widely considered the best player in the Premier League, cemented the win, with United only managing one goal from Darren Fletcher (although it was a nice one).

FINAL SCORE: Manchester City 6-1 Manchester United.

Mario Balotelli celebrates his first goal by revealing this custom-made shirt underneath his Manchester City jersey, and promptly receives a yellow card for his troubles. What a guy.

The game was thought to be City's toughest match of the season, playing arguably (what everybody thought was) the best team in the Premier League (Manchester United) at their home field (Old Trafford). I honestly have no idea what can stop Manchester City now – they seem to be utterly unbeatable. Well, the game on December 12 should be interesting, to say the least: Chelsea vs. Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Highlights of the Manchester Derby.

P.S. A present: http://footballspeak.com/post/2011/10/24/The-A-to-Z-of-Mario-Balotelli.aspx

Now to the Chelsea game (shudder).

It mentally pains me to write about this game because of how perfect the opportunity was to drift into second place that morning. Manchester City's 6-1 win over Manchester United had put them at 25 points, United at 20 points, and Chelsea with a game in hand at 19 points. A win from Chelsea over Queens Park Rangers, at the time sitting in the bottom half of the table, would have put them in 2nd place with 22 points. A draw would have put them level with Manchester United on points and 3 points behind them in goal difference. Instead, an ugly 1-0 loss that featured a reckless tackle by David Luiz in the box leading to a penalty kick; 2 red cards issued to José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba; and 7 yellow cards shown to Chelsea players fractured their dreams of surpassing United in the table.

FINAL SCORE: Chelsea 0-1 QPR.

José Bosingwa cannot comprehend his controversial red card on Sunday's match.

André Villas-Boas went with his usual 4-3-3 lineup for Sunday's match, with Mikel in the holding midfield position. Strangely, Branislav Ivanovic did not start the game, and instead came on as an unusual substitute for Daniel Sturridge in the 37th minute. His spot was taken by David Luiz, although after his performance on Sunday it could be quite a while before that happens again. I have quite a few questions about some of the decisions in the game, and I pose them in a list a bit later in the article, so see the question list for more details about Ivanovic and some other aspects of the game.

Mata (Anelka) -------- Drogba -------- Sturridge (Ivanovic)

Meireles (Malouda) ----- Mikel -------------- Lampard

Cole -------- Terry -------- Luiz -------- Bosingwa

Cech

Bench: Turnbull, Romeu, McEachran, Kalou.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:

- Frank Lampard: Continued his hot streak by being the best Chelsea player on Sunday (and arguably the best player on the pitch that day), showing intelligence and creativity with his numerous runs and passes into the attacking zone.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

In an ugly game full of cards and tackles, the only goal came 10 minutes into the match, with David Luiz giving a slight push to Heidar Helguson in the box, thereby impeding the play and forcing a penalty kick. Helguson stepped up and fired a shot past Cech (who actually got a few fingers on it) to make the score an unlikely 1-0 for QPR. After that, Chelsea took possession of the game, until, in the 33rd minute, José Bosingwa received a controversial red card for pulling down Shawn Wright-Phillips outside of the penalty box. Whether the call was justified or not, it certainly was terrible for Chelsea. After a 37th minute substitution where Ivanovic came on for Daniel Sturridge, Didier Drogba's dangerous two-footed tackle on Adel Taarabt gave him a red card. At that, all hell broke loose. After half time, when Anelka came on for Mata, Chelsea received a total of 7 yellow cards for numerous tackles and disputes. In order, the cards went to Mikel, Lampard, Ivanovic, Luiz, Meireles, Cole, and Terry. In the 71st minute, David Luiz was dragged down in the box by Helguson after an Ivanovic long throw into QPR's penalty area, but no call was given, much to the horror of André Villas-Boas and every Chelsea fan ever. In the 73rd minute, Malouda came on for Meireles, but no avail, when 9-man Chelsea were unable to convert excellent efforts into goals. The utterly depressing game ended 1-0 in favour of QPR.

MATCH STATISTICS:

QPR Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 41 59

Shots (on target) 10(3) 15(3)

Corners 0 6

Crosses 24 30

Fouls Committed 17 19

Yellow Cards 2 7

Red Cards 0 2

Offsides 6 1

Match highlights.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why was Branislav Ivanovic not a starter?

As I've previously stated, I think that Ivanovic is one of the more consistent players on Chelsea, and I just cannot comprehend the reasoning behind not starting him. When Ivanovic came on in the 35th minute as a substitute, Chelsea's defense (already one man down with Bosingwa's red card) began to shape up and shut down the QPR attackers. However, by that time, the damage had already been done in the 10th minute by David Luiz's nudge on Heidar Helguson which put the home side ahead.

2. Where does David Luiz fit into the Chelsea lineup?

As far as I can tell, David Luiz seems to be quite the attacking threat, scoring 2 goals in 13 appearances for Chelsea and always going forward and being aggressive. However, his aggressiveness is also a detriment to his team. Reckless challenges gave up penalties against Fulham and Birmingham City last year, and his nudge on Heidar Helguson in the 10th minute of Sunday's match cost Chelsea the goal which lost them the game. As well, his attacking style of play sometimes gets him unnecessary cards, both yellow and red. So I'll raise the crucial question once more: where does David Luiz fit into the Chelsea lineup? Not at left wingback – Ashley Cole is pretty much a permanent fixture there. John Terry, the captain, consistently plays at left center defense. Luiz prefers to play on his right foot anyway, so he wouldn't be taking up either one of those positions. On the right side of the defense, you've got Branislav Ivanovic in the centre and José Bosingwa as a wingback. Since Chelsea cannot afford to have any more mistakes in the centre of their defense, it might not be prudent to have Luiz take Ivanovic's spot. He could potentially stand in for Bosingwa, where his attacking runs could be put to good use. Or he might be better off playing as a holding midfield in place of John Obi Mikel, where he could defend aggressively, not give away penalties, and still have the ability to make runs into the attacking zone. Opinions? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

3. Bad officiating by Chris Foy?

While it seemed that Heidar Helguson did go down pretty easily on David Luiz's nudge in the 10th minute, I suppose play was impeded and therefore a penalty needed to be given. However, according to many people, José Bosingwa's red card on Shawn Wright-Phillips was unjustified, as John Terry was covering SWP as well and therefore the foul did not greatly affect a goal opportunity. On the other hand, Didier Drogba's red card looked very justifiable, with Drogba coming in with a two-footed tackle on Adel Taarabt, which could have badly injured the QPR player. As well, there was an instance where David Luiz was dragged down in QPR's penalty box and, incredibly, no penalty was given. Because of this, and the numerous other decisions in which did not go Chelsea's way, many people, André Villas-Boas included, are calling foul on the officiating. "The referee lost it – he was card-happy. I'm not happy with the difference in treatment between the teams," he remarked after the game. "We don't have a problem with discipline. We have a problem with the referees applying discipline. The referee was poor – very, very poor. I spoke to him at the end and I was very aggressive to him. I don't care if he's okay or not." Villas-Boas has accepted that he will likely receive an FA fine for his comments, but does not seem to care. "I'll expect Mike Riley's call," he said, "It won't make any difference."

André Vilaas-Boas' post-match interview.

So there we go. A very happy day for Manchester City, and disheartening losses for both Chelsea and Manchester United. On Saturday, October 29, Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, and that game should be very interesting. Hopefully we'll walk off with a comfortable win there.

Have a great week!

~Matt

Fernando Torres back on form in Chelsea's 5-0 victory over Genk!

2011-10-22T12:51:00.000-04:00

Fernando Torres looks to be returning to his old self after scoring 2 goals in the Champions League against an injury-plagued Genk team. Chelsea won the game 5-0, with the rest of the goals coming from Raul Meireles, Branislav Ivanovic, and Saloman Kalou. Chelsea utterly overpowered the Belgian side, which could not manage a shot on target in Wednesday's match. The victory puts Chelsea top of Group E with 7 points, 1 point ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who stands in second with 6 points.
FINAL SCORE: Chelsea 5-0 Genk

Fernando Torres celebrates with Raul Meireles during Wednesday's match.

André Villas-Boas saw the game as an opportunity to give playing time to a few members who do not usually take a spot in the starting 11, including Nicolas Anelka, David Luiz, Alex, Saloman Kalou, Florent Malouda, Paulo Ferriera and Oriol Romeu, with regular starters Juan Mata, Ramires, Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, John Terry, and Daniel Sturridge being given the day off.
Here was the lineup for Wednesday's match (4-3-3):

Malouda -------- Torres -------- Anelka

Lampard (Kalou) ---- Romeu -------- Meireles

Cole (Ferreira) -------- Luiz ------- Ivanovic ---- Bosingwa (Alex)

Cech

Bench: Turnbull, Mata, Mikel, Sturridge.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Fernando Torres: Man of the Match with 2 goals (and very nearly a third and fourth in the 7th and 72nd). Showed all of those naysayers out there that he truly is capable of returning to Liverpool form, and that he still has a wide range of talents that he brings to the table. Overall he had an excellent game.
- Raul Meireles: Played very well and demonstrated his full range of abilities with a goal slotted into the far corner from 24 yards out. Also sent in a lovely cross on which Torres capitalized for the 3rd goal of the night.
- Branislav Ivanovic: Positioned himself very well for Malouda's free kick to beautifully head the ball into the far corner of the net. Played near-flawless defense as well.
- Saloman Kalou: Came on for Lampard in the 68th minute, and positioned himself well to be able to collect the rebound from Torres' shot and slip it past the Genk keeper for goal #5.
- Oriol Romeu: In his first 90-minute game for the Blues he showed good vision and passed well. Seems to be very comfortable in the holding midfield position. Looking forward to his next start.
- Frank Lampard: Ever since the talk of Lampard's quality decline has arisen he's played like a different man. He did very well to link up the defense and the strikers, and assisted Torres' first goal with a lovely through-ball.

MATCH OVERVIEW:
After the whistle, Chelsea came out firing on all cylinders, dominating possession and taking quite a few shots. In the 7th minute, Fernando Torres showed what he was capable of as he took a shot that careened off the post of the opposing net. Just a minute later, Raul Meireles took a pass from Ashley Cole, took a couple steps forward, and, with almost no coverage, laced a beautiful shot into the far corner from 24 yards out to make the score 1-0. 3 minutes later, Torres doubled the score by receiving Frank Lampard's through-pass and curled a shot around the oncoming keeper for his first goal of this year's Champions League. After a somewhat reckless tackle by David Luiz in the 18th which awarded him a yellow card, Torres scores again in the 27th, heading in a lovely ball from Raul Meireles. 15 minutes and quite a few shots later, Chelsea struck again through Branislav Ivanovic's header off of a Malouda free kick. At half time Paulo Ferreira came on for Ashley Cole, and in the 68th Frank Lampard was replaced with Saloman Kalou, who had almost an immediate impact on the score-line. In the 72nd minute, José Bosingwa sent in a lovely cross for Torres, who took a one-timed shot from point-blank range. It was saved by Koteles, the Genk keeper, but Saloman Kalou had positioned himself well to drive home the rebound. After Bosingwa was replaced with Alex in the 78th minute (with Villas-Boas hoping to increase his monetary value, forcing Juventus, who will likely be bidding for him come January, to pay a higher sum for the Brazilian), Chelsea controlled the remainder of the game, and the whistle blew with the score-line reading 5-0 in favour of Chelsea.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Chelsea Genk

Ball Possession (%) 62 38

Shots (on target) 26(12) 5(0)

Corners 5 4

Crosses 23 16

Fouls Committed 10 10

Yellow Cards 1 2

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 3 4

OTHER FIXTURES:

Group A:

Napoli 1-1 Bayern

Man City 2-1 Villareal

Group B:

CSKA Moskva 3-0 Trabzonspor

Lille 0-1 Inter

Group C:

Otelul Galati 0-2 Man United

Basel 0-2 Benfica

Group D:

Real Madrid 4-0 Lyon

Dinamo Zagreb 0-2 Ajax

Group E (Chelsea's Group):

Leverkusen 2-1 Valencia

Group F:

Marseille 0-1 Arsenal

Olympiacos 3-1 Dortmund

Group G:

Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Zenit St. Petersburg

Porto 1-1 APOEL

Group H:

Milan 2-0 BATE

Barcelona 2-0 Pizen

Match highlights.

Chelsea Pulls Within 1 Point of Manchester United After a 3-1 Win over Everton!

2011-10-16T00:12:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone!
Sorry I haven't been updating the blog recently - EPL has taken a hiatus for Euro 2012 Qualifications, and I've been pretty much transfixed by the World Series. The Phillies are out of it (unfortunately), but I'm still hoping for Texas to win it all.

Anyway, to business.

Manchester United unexpectedly tied their game with Liverpool today and Chelsea beat Everton 3-1 to put them within one point of the defending league champions. However, Manchester City wrapped up a 4-1 win over Aston Villa to finish Matchday 8 at the top of the table. Goals from Daniel Sturridge, John Terry, and Ramires put Chelsea up 3-0 before Apostolos Vellios reduced the deficit to 3-1 in the 81st minute. While Everton did well at the beginning of the game to stop the majority of Chelsea's shots, Chelsea eventually settled into a groove and took control for the remainder of the game. Chelsea's victory ended a streak of not winning against Everton for the past two seasons (they played six times, and Chelsea lost two and drew four).
FINAL SCORE: 3-1 Chelsea

André Villas-Boas went with his usual 4-3-3 formation this morning. With Fernando Torres serving a 3-game suspension (starting with Chelsea's last game against Bolton), the forward line consisted of Juan Mata, Dider Drogba, and Daniel Sturridge.

Mata (Anelka) ----------- Drogba ------------- Sturridge

Lampard ------------ Mikel (Romeu) --- Ramires (Malouda)

Cole --------- Terry --------- Ivanovic --------- Bosingwa

Cech

Bench: Turnbull, Alex, Meireles, Lukaku.

John Terry celebrates after scoring Chelsea's second goal this morning.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Daniel Sturridge: Scored his third goal in two games when he did well to get away from his marker and head in Chelsea's first goal. He now has an equal number of goals (4) to Anelka (1), Torres (2), and Drogba (1) combined. My question: why is he not starting every game? Booked for simulation in the 70th minute, but other than that he played excellently.
- Juan Mata: Did very well to get the ball to Ashley Cole, who assisted Sturridge's goal, and sent a perfect pass across the face of goal for Ramires to push in for Chelsea's third. Showed excellent creativity and vision when making passes.
- Frank Lampard: Had an excellent passing rate and worked hard to anchor the midfield and link up the forwards and the defense. He also set up the second goal by John Terry. It seems that ever since he was kept out of the lineup a few weeks ago, his performance has greatly improved.
- John Terry: Defended well, and positioned himself excellently to head in Chelsea's second goal.
- Ramires: Showed great pace to tip in Mata's pass to get Chelsea's third goal. After the goal he seemed to be slightly injured, but André Villas-Boas insisted that it was minor.
- Ashley Cole: Did well to get far forward while setting up Chelsea's first goal, after receiving Mata's excellent pass.

MATCH OVERVIEW:
For the most part, the game was pretty quiet (both on and off the pitch), with the home crowd not showing too much verbal support.

*P.S. I just have to take a quick break to announce that the TEXAS RANGERS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES! Sorry, but I'm watching the game as I write this, and I'm very super-happy. Just in case there are any baseball fans out there who also happen to be reading this.*

Anyway, as stated earlier, Everton defended well for the first half hour, but, after a 16th minute yellow card issued to Fellaini, Juan Mata sent the ball through to an oncoming Ashley Cole, who sent a lifted cross to the center of the penalty area, where Daniel Sturridge got away from his man and headed it into the back of the net in the 31st minute. After two more yellow card issued to Cole and Baines in the 38th and 41st minutes, respectively, Frank Lampard sent in a cross for John Terry (missed by goalkeeper Tim Howard), who nodded it into the back of the net to make the score 2-0. In the 61st minute, Juan Mata sent an absolutely perfect pass right in between the opposing keeper and opposing defenders to find Ramires, who tipped it in to make the score-line 3-0. After the third goal, Ramires seemed to be limping slightly, but André Villas-Boas later dismissed his limp as a minor injury. In the 70th minute, Daniel Sturridge fell over after a seemingly light challenge, and was subsequently booked for simulation. After three substitutions saw Malouda, Anelka, and Romeu come on for Ramires, Mata, and Mikel, Apostolos Vellios netted Everton's first of the game only 18 seconds after coming on for Louis Saha. The final score was 3-1 in Chelsea's favour.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Everton Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 39 61

Shots (on target) 7(2) 7(5)

Corners 2 2

Crosses 5 19

Fouls Committed 10 13

Yellow Cards 2 2

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 8 1

OTHER FIXTURES:

Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United

Manchester City 4-1 Aston Villa

Norwich City 3-1 Swansea City

QPR 1-1 Blackburn

Stoke City 2-0 Fulham

Match highlights.

Chelsea Sign 14-year old English Starlet!

2011-10-14T23:24:00.001-04:00

Chelsea have beaten out Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal with the signing of Oluwaseyi Ojo, a 14-year old English midfielder, for the sum of 2 million pounds.

Seyi Ojo playing for MK Dons against the Chelsea U-15 squad.

While you're probably all pondering the seemingly ludicrous price that was needed to pry him away from MK Dons (his former club), think about his track record: when he was only 13 years old, he was selected to play with the MK Dons U-18 squad, and on Wednesday, October 12 (the day that he was signed) he made his debut for the England U-16 team. Only two minutes after being substituted into a game against Northern Ireland, he assisted a goal by Mason Bennett to give England a 3-1 win. During that game, Chelsea staff immediately recognized his unlimited capabilities and bid three times in 45 minutes, aiming to sign the star player before any other major club. The initial two bids were rejected, but finally MK Dons agreed to a 1.5 million pound transfer fee, along with 500,000 pounds in additional benefits. He is known for his excellent composure and his ability to deal well with pressure (especially for being only 14). On the pitch, he is an intelligent, creative player that is also able to set up goals. Oluwaseyi, known as Seyi, strives to be like his Spanish heroes: Iniesta, Fabregas, and Xavi. If he becomes even half the quality player of one of those three exceptional footballers, then Chelsea will have made a very wise signing indeed.

Chelsea Grab the Full Three Points at Reebok Stadium!

2011-10-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

An absolutely brilliant showing this morning against Bolton gave Chelsea three points and a +4 addition to their goal difference. Two goals from Daniel Sturridge (recently returned from a knee injury) and three from Frank Lampard, who has been working hard to reclaim his position in the starting eleven, cemented the win for the Blues with the final score being 5-1.

Mikel (12), Meireles (16), Sturridge (23) and Mata (10) celebrate a goal by Daniel Sturridge.

P.S. Mata looks a bit like he's fixing his hair. Interesting.

André Villas-Boas again went with his usual 4-3-3 formation; however, with a few lineup changes. Fernando Torres, being suspended for 3 games with his dangerous tackle on Mike Gower last weekend, gave way for Didier Drogba, who has just recently recovered from his concussion sustained a month ago. Daniel Sturridge, recently recovered from a knee injury, claimed the right winger role, and David Luiz took on the role of RCB, pushing Ivanovic to the bench (although he was substituted into the game later on).

Here was the line-up for this morning:

Mata (Anelka) ------- Drogba ------- Sturridge

Lampard ------- Meireles (Mikel) ------- Ramires

Cole ------- Terry --------- Luiz ----- Bosingwa (Ivanovic)

Cech

Bench: Turnbull, Romeu, Malouda, Lukaku.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:

- Frank Lampard: Very deservedly Man of the Match this morning, scoring three goals, upping his tally to four goals in two games - an excellent record, considering that he's facing a large number of naysayers who say that he's past his prime.

- Daniel Sturridge: Did very well - especially after coming off an injury - to give his former team hell, scoring two goals and assisting Lampard's first.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

Chelsea came onto the field firing, with Daniel Sturridge immediately heading in a goal 93 seconds into the game off of an excellent Meireles corner. Chelsea defended well against the Bolton offense, and in the 15th minute, Juan Mata sent a lovely ball through to Sturridge, who found an oncoming Frank Lampard in the box, who one-timed it past Adam Bogdan, the opposing keeper, to put Chelsea up 2-0. At this point, Chelsea were well in control of the game, and 10 minutes later, Daniel Sturridge received a pass from David Luiz up the right flank, managed to get by a Bolton defender, and launched a shot past Bogdan to put Chelsea up 3-0. Just two minuets later, David Luiz made a run up the centre of the pitch and fired a shot right at Bogdan, who made the save but couldn't keep a hold on it. The ball bounced right to Lampard, who tipped it past the keeper to add another goal to Chelsea's tally. At half time, the score-line read 4-0 in favour of Chelsea. Just a minute after half-time, Bolton reduced their deficit by one when Dedryk Boyata headed a Martin Petrov cross past Cech to make the score 4-1. In the 53rd minute, Branislav Ivanovic replaced Bosingwa and did well to cover Bolton's left attackers. In the 56th, John Obi Mikel replaced Ramires on the right. In the 59th minute, Frank Lampard finished off the scoring with a hat-trick goal after a series of excellent passes between him and Drogba. In the 61st, David Luiz received a yellow, and in the 72nd, Juan Mata gave way to Nicolas Anelka. In the 79th, John Terry received a yellow, and Chelsea finished the game completely dominant, the final score being 5-1.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Bolton Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 42 58

Shots (on target) 13(3) 18(10)

Corners 4 5

Crosses 9 12

Fouls Committed 10 10

Yellow Cards 1 2

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 2 1

OTHER FIXTURES:

Fulham 6-0 QPR (wow)

Swansea 2-0 Stoke

Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal

Unfortunately, Youtube has no match highlights (and Blogspot requires that I get all my videos from Youtube, for some reason), so I don't have a highlight reel for you. But what I do have is a website with a great highlight reel. You can watch all six goals right here: http://highlightsoffootball.blogspot.com/2011/10/2-october-bolton-wanderers-vs-chelsea-5.html

Chelsea Settle for a Draw in Valencia After a Few Unfortunate Errors.

2011-09-29T17:02:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm absolutely gutted. That game was ours to win, and a very unfortunate handball in the box by Saloman Kalou in the 87th minute allowed Roberto Soldado to convert his penalty and tie the game 1-1, after Lampard's goal in the 56th.

Frank Lampard celebrates his excellent one-timer goal in the 56th minute.

While Valencia did win the possession battle, Chelsea seemed quite dominant for the majority of the game and created many excellent chances. If not for the consistently excellent goalkeeping by Valencia's Diego Alvez, the score-line would have looked quite different.

Here was the Chelsea lineup for yesterday's match:

Malouda ----------------- Torres (Anelka) ----------------- Mata

Lampard (Kalou) ----------------- Mikel ----------------- Ramires (Meireles)

Cole ----------------- Terry ----------------- Luiz ----------------- Bosingwa

Cech

Bench: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Romeu, Drogba.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:

- Frank Lampard: Showed that he isn't ready to be left out of the Chelsea starting 11, taking an excellent one-timed shot off of Florent Malouda's great pass across the box, and put Chelsea ahead in the 56th minute. Came forward well on the Chelsea attacks and assisted a Ramires shot that was very close to a goal.

- Saloman Kalou: Very unfortunate outing whose handball in the Chelsea box (after only 3 minutes of play) cost Chelsea the full three points.

- Juan Mata: Played well, as expected, and was given a standing ovation by the crowd in Valencia as a welcome back to his old stadium, and a thank-you for his many years of service for the club. I thought that was very nice of the home crowd.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

Chelsea started the first half with many blocked chances by Diego Alves, the Valencia keeper, and dominated the game for the early part of the first half, until Valencia began to calm themselves down and take possession. All quiet at the end of the first half, but when the second half began, Chelsea came out very strong. A flurry of chances (all saved by Alvez) stopped the score-line from favouring Chelsea, and kept it at nil-nil, until the 56th minute, when Chelsea finally broke through. Malouda dribbled the ball up the right side, and then sent an excellent pass across the box to Frank Lampard, who took a brilliant one-timed shot and put Chelsea ahead 1-0. Chelsea made three substitutions in the 66th (Ramires off, Raul Meireles on), 72nd (Torres off, Anelka on), and the 83rd (Lampard off, Kalou on), all interspersed with good efforts from both sides. However, in the 86th minute, Sofiane Feghouli took a corner for Valencia, and the ball caught the arm of a jumping Saloman Kalou, who was given a yellow card. Valencia also received a penalty shot, and Roberto Soldado made no mistake with the shot, sending Petr Cech diving the wrong way to make the score-line level. In the 90th, Nicolas Anelka came very close to scoring for the visitors, but Diego Alvez once again made an excellent save to rob Chelsea of three points. Malouda also received a yellow card in the 90th, and Juan Mata and Ashley COle both received post-game yellow cards for arguing with the referee. The final score was 1-1.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Valencia Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 54 46

Shots (on target) 14(7) 10(9)

Corners 6 5

Crosses 28 12

Fouls Committed 9 9

Yellow Cards 2 4

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 3 2

OTHER FIXTURES:

Group E (Chelsea's Group):

Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Genk

Group F:

Marseille 3-0 Borussia Dortmund

Arsenal 2-1 Olympiacos

Group G:

Shaktar Donetsk 1-1 APOEL

Zenit St. Petersburg 3-1 Porto

Group H:

BATE 0-5 Barcelona

AC Milan 2-0 Viktoria Pizen

Full match highlights

CL PREVIEW: Chelsea vs. Valencia

2011-09-27T13:42:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow's Champions League match against Valencia at Estadi de Mestalla should be an interesting one, to say the least. Not only will a win put Chelsea top of Group E, but Juan Mata, Chelsea's new winger, will be playing against his former team. He stated in a press conference beforehand: "I will try to be respectful and not celebrate if I do score." A nice sentiment, considering that it's only been about a month since he left the Spanish side.

Juan Mata makes his return to Estadi de Mestalla, but this time on the opposing team.

Fernando Torres looks set to play in what will be his last game for about a month, after receiving a THREE-GAME SUSPENSION for his reckless challenge on Mike Gower in Saturday's 4-1 vicotry over Swansea. While we're all put out by the fact that he got his suspension just as he was beginning to get back on form, look on the bright side: At least it didn't happen a couple weeks ago, when Drogba was still out with his concussion. He seems to be quite ready to come back as a starter for the club, having come on as a substitute on Saturday and scoring a goal within 10 minutes. However, I think that he'll be left out of tomorrow's lineup, allowing him to rest up for his probable start next weekend against Bolton, in which he'll take the place of the suspended Torres. AVB has stated that he'll be switching up the lineup a bit, trying to rotate players in order to allot resting time. So it seems likely (at least in my opinion) that we'll be seeing the likes of Frank Lampard and David Luiz reinstated into the line, and possibly Alex as a substitution late in the game. According to reports, Daniel Sturrdige has recovered from his knee injury and could be a potential starter for tomorrow's game.
Here's my prediction for the Chelsea starting 11:

       Mata ------- Torres ------ Sturridge

   Meireles ------ Lampard ------ Ramires

Cole ------- Terry ------ Luiz ------ Ivanovic

                          Cech

Bench: Turnbull, Alex, Bosingwa, Mikel, McEachran, Malouda, Drogba

OFFICIAL MATCH TIME: 2:45 PM EST.

While Valencia is a tough team, my guess is that Chelsea will walk off with a win tomorrow, putting them at the top of Group E.
MY PREDICTION: 2-1 in favour of Chelsea, with goals possibly coming from Torres and Mata.

Good luck to us all.
Cheers,
~Matt

10-man Chelsea cruise to a 4-1 victory over Swansea at Stamford Bridge!

2011-09-24T13:12:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,
Very sorry I couldn't write a preview to this morning's match - I've been bogged down with a ton of work. Anyway, as you can see from the title of this post, Chelsea delivered a crushing 4-1 defeat to Swansea City, with Chelsea goals coming from Fernando Torres, Drogba, and two from Ramires, with Torres also receiving a red card for a dangerous tackle on Mike Gower, meaning that he'll be suspended for Chelsea's next match against Bolton on October 2.

Ramires, with two goals, was Man of the Match.

André Villas-Boas went with his usual lineup of 4-3-3 against Swansea's 4-5-1; however, he did make a few key changes to the lineup in accordance with injuries and player performance. Daniel Sturridge, out with a knee injury, was replaced by Nicolas Anelka, who again proved himself to be an excellent forward player. As well, the bench saw the return of DIDIER DROGBA (yay), after his concussion a few weeks ago. Drogba came on as a substitute for Anelka in the 79th, and scored his first goal of the season in the 90th minute. As well, Frank Lampard was taken out of the starting eleven, making way for John Obi Mikel to take his place.

Mata (Malouda) ------------ Torres (RC)  -------------- Anelka (Drogba)

Meireles (McEachran)  -------- Ramires  ------------------------- Mikel

Cole  -------------- Terry ------------- Ivanovic ---------- Bosingwa

Cech

Bench: Turnbull, David Luiz, Lampard, Kalou.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Fernando Torres: After Torres' bittersweet performance against Manchester United last weekend, where he netted a goal but then missed a golden opportunity, this morning he delivered another puzzler. 10 minutes after his brilliant goal (which was assisted by Juan Mata), Torres allowed himself to be sent off for a dangerous two-footed tackle (with studs up) on Mike Gower, forcing his team to finish the match with 10 men.
- Ramires: Man of the Match this morning, and very well deserved. Excellent performance, scoring twice with excellent shots each time. As usual, great pace and ball control.
- Nicolas Anelka: Very impressive performance this morning, consistently beating Swansea's defenders and almost scoring with an excellent effort that careened off the crossbar.
- Didier Drogba: In his first appearance for Chelsea after his concussion, which was sustained a month ago, Drogba immediately impressed, scoring his first goal of the season in the 90th minute after an excellent pass by Malouda.
- Josh McEachran: Came on for Raul Meireles in the 83rd minute, and while he didn't really have enough time to make a large impression on the game, good for him that he got some playing time. I'm really hoping that he'll develop into a homegrown starting midfielder in a few years.

MATCH OVERVIEW:
In the first 20 minutes or so, Chelsea takes control of the game, although Swansea defend well and do not give them a chance to score. However, in the 29th minute, Juan Mata's excellent lofted pass into the box gives Torres the opportunity to chest the ball down, allow for a bounce, and then drive a hard kick into the far corner. His brilliant goal makes the score-line 1-0 in favour of Chelsea. In the 34th minute, Mata receives a yellow card. In the 36th minute, Ashley Cole makes an excellent pass across the field to Ramires, who puts it through the legs of a defender AND the screened goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Three minutes later, Fernando Torres receives a red card for his reckless, two-footed, studs-showing, tackle on Mike Gower, and Chelsea are compelled to finish the match with just 10 men. In the 59th minute, Malouda comes on for Juan Mata, who already has a yellow and is valuable enough to the team that AVB will substitute him early so that he doesn't receive another. In the 75th minute, Bosingwa plays an excellent through-pass to Ramires, who drifts through two Swansea defenders and sends Michel Vorm the wrong way with his shot. 3-0. In the 86th minute - drama with opposing Ashleys: Ashley Cole receives a yellow, and Ashley Williams, of Swansea, scores a header off of a free kick to make it 3-1. In the 90th minute, John Obi Mikel receives a yellow, and Florent Malouda sends a fine pass into the box for Drogba, who turns, beats a defender, and drives it far post to finish the game 4-1 for Chelsea.

Sorry about the quality - it's the only highlight reel I could find on Youtube.

OTHER FIXTURES:

~ Stoke City 1-1 Manchester United (first time EVER that Stoke have gotten a point against Manchester United)

~ Manchester City 2-0 Everton

~ Arsenal 3-0 Bolton

~ Liverpool 2-1 Wolverhampton

~ Newcastle 3-1 Blackburn

~ West Brom 0-0 Fulham

~ Wigan 1-2 Tottenham

UPCOMING CHELSEA GAMES:

Wednesday, September 28: @ Valencia, 2:45 PM EST

Sunday, October 2: @ Bolton, 8:30 AM EST

Chelsea Play Well, but Suffer a 1-3 Loss Against Manchester United, while Tottenham Rejoice After a Resounding Home Win.

2011-09-18T14:57:00.004-04:00

Well, Super Sunday has come and gone, with quite a few electrifying matches in the form of the long-awaited Chelsea-Manchester United matchup, as well as Liverpool-Tottenham, Manchester City-Fulham, and Stoke-Sunderland, all of them having four goals scored per game.

Torres attempts a bicycle kick in today's match, but to no avail.

First off, before I get into Chelsea - Manchester United, I'm going to discuss the catastrophe (depending on which side you support) that was Liverpool against Tottenham this morning. When I made my prediction of Liverpool taking home the win, I did not count on the addition of the injured defenders Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, as well as the flying start that Tottenham had at the beginning of the game. Right from the get-go, Tottenham dominated the Liverpool side. They constantly sent balls down the left for Gareth Bale, who's pace was unstoppable. Both Agger and Skrtel attempted to mark him, but to no avail. He managed to get around them almost every time, and his great pace and work ethic allowed for a great number of crosses, which culminated in a few goals. The few times that Liverpool did get possession they often ended up passing it back to their keeper, Pepe Reina. Both Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel received two yellow cards, which forced Livepool to end the match with nine men. While Adam's second yellow is questionable, both players are very physical, and the tackles were unnecessary. In the 7th minute, Luka Modric scored a beautiful goal that hit the bottom of the crossbar and ended up in the top corner. I bet Daniel Levy is very pleased with himself for keeping him, after that one. During the play leading up to the goal, Daniel Agger's groin and rib injuries became aggravated and he was substituted in the 27th minute. In the 28th, Charlie Adam received his (questionable) second yellow, and was sent off. Near the end of the first half, Liverpool started to settle down and play slightly better, although Skrtel, Coates, and Suárez all received yellows. Their defense managed to hold off Tottenham's attacks, and at halftime the score-line was still 1-0. In the second half, after Skrtel received a second yellow and was sent off in the 63rd, Tottenham came out firing on all cylinders against the 9-man side. The first came from Defoe in the 66th, then two more from Adebayor in the 68th and the 90th. At the end of the game, Tottenham had taken 25 shots, while Liverpool had only taken 3. The game ended 4-0, with Tottenham finishing with a very well-deserved three points.
FINAL SCORE: Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool

MATCH STATISTICS:

Tottenham Liverpool

Ball Possession (%) 55 45

Shots (on target) 25(9) 3(1)

Corners 4 1

Crosses 20 9

Fouls Committed 14 9

Yellow Cards 1 5

Red Cards 0 2

Offsides 3 4

Now then, onto Chelsea-Manchester United. If you're a Chelsea fan, you might want to look away - it does get a bit depressing at times. Early mistakes by the linesmen (and lack of coverage by Chelsea defense) allowed for two offside goals by Manchester United, with Chris Smalling's header in the 8th minute, followed by Nani's blistering drive from long-range in he 37th. In the 45th minute, a few deflections in the Chelsea box allow the ball to bounce right to the feet of Rooney, who makes no mistake with an open net to make it 3-nil at halftime. However, André Villas-Boas must have given an amazing pep talk during the break, because Chelsea came back with Fernando Torres scoring an excellent goal in the 46th minute. After a nerve-wracking penalty miss by Rooney in the 57th, the game ends 3-1 in favour of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

However, the game was not as one-sided as the score-line might make you think. In my opinion, Chelsea were actually the better team this morning. Chelsea led the game in shots, shots on target, corners, and crosses, as well as second-half possession. It was unfortunate that a few mistakes allowed the score to be 3-1. It could have just as easily been 3-2 for Chelsea.

I was pretty close with my lineup predictions, with just one or two minor changes for each team:

De Gea

Smalling (Valencia) ------ Jones ---------------- Evans ---------------- Evra

Nani ------------ Anderson (Carrick) --------- Fletcher ----------- Young

Rooney ---------------- Chicharito (Berbatov)

___________________________________________________________

Mata ----------- Torres ----------- Sturridge (Lukaku)

Lampard (Anelka) ---- Meireles (Mikel) ------- Ramires

Cole ----------- Terry ----------- Ivanovic --------- Bosingwa

Cech

MANCHESTER UNITED BENCH: Lindegaard, Giggs, Park, Fabio.

CHELSEA BENCH: Turnbull, David Luiz, Romeu, Malouda.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Fernando Torres: I don't quite know what to make of him. His consolation goal in the 46th minute was very welcome, but he missed an open-net opportunity to make it 3-2 after finding his way around De Gea and sending his shot wide of the open net. Earlier in the game, he also couldn't manage to score on a breakaway, sending his shot wide. While he did break his scoring duck in style, missing those shots can't be good for his confidence. Worked hard for the ball though, and is definitely showing signs of getting back on form.

- Nicolas Anelka: Immediately changed the game when he was came on at halftime by assisting Torres' goal with an excellent pass.

- Juan Mata: Once again he played an impressive game, taking a good shot on net and sending in excellent crosses and through-balls. When AVB said that nobody's job on the starting eleven is safe, I don't think that Mata needs to worry very much. Every performance that he's made for the club has been excellent.

- Ashley Cole: Unfortunately, Cole could not find a method of keeping Nani in check, and almost gave up a penalty after he tackled Chicharito in the box. He was very lucky not to have been shown a yellow or a red for his challenge.

- José Bosingwa: While he connected well with Torres and did well to get forward on the attack, he also gave up a penalty with a late challenge on Nani in the box.

- Ramires: As usual, worked very hard and had excellent stamina during the match, but unfortunately could not score on either of his close-range shots.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
The game started off at a very quick pace, with the first goal coming in the 8th minute. A free kick taken by Ashley Young found the head of the unmarked Chris Smalling, who was a tad offside to make it 1-nil for the home side. In the 37th minute, two players (one of them being Nani) were in an offside position, and Nani came back to receive the ball (although it looked that he was still offside when the ball was kicked). He then drifted through the right side of the field, and blasted a 25-yard screamer which went inside of the far post. 2-0. Just before halftime, John Terry worked hard in the box to try and clear the ball, but it took quite a few deflections, ricocheted off of Nani, and landed at the feet of Wayne Rooney, who extended his scoring streak from eight goals (in five matches) to nine. It was at this point in the game that I turned off my TV in a state of defiance and denial (although the only things I were missing were half-time commercials). After the break, Chelsea came out rejuvenated. Anelka replaced Lampard, and immediately assisted a duck-breaking goal by Fernando Torres, which was chipped over De Gea. After many elaborate victory dances and summersaults (which, one arm injury later, I realized I don't know how to do), I watched as Torres then showed signs of his old Liverpool form when he managed to get around David De Gea, only to send his shot wide of the open net. I actually fell off of my couch at this point, which my friend Daniel, who was watching with me, can attest to. Two yellow cards were awarded to Ramires and John Terry in the 49th and 56th minute, respectively. In the 57th minute, José Bosingwa fouled Nani in the penalty box, and Wayne Rooney stepped up to take the penalty, hoping to increase his streak to ten goals in five games. However, during his run, he slipped on the grass and his shot went wide of the post. Every Chelsea fan in the world breathed a huge sigh of relief after that one. After a number of substitutions by both teams, which featured Romelu Lukaku, John Obi Mikel, Carrick, Valencia, and Berbatov coming on, Manchester United received two yellows to Valencia and Fletcher. The game ended, exciting until the end, 3-1 in favour of Manchester United.

FINAL SCORE: Manchester United 3-1 Chelsea

MATCH STATISTICS:

Manchester United Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 54 46

Shots (on target) 12(5) 21(8)

Corners 4 10

Crosses 16 21

Fouls Committed 11 12

Yellow Cards 2 3

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 2 0

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

OTHER MATCHES:

Sunderland 4-0 Stoke City

Manchester City 2-2 Fulham

EPL PREVIEW: Chelsea vs. Manchester United

2011-09-17T22:18:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone!
So, tomorrow looks to be pretty much the most exciting day of the Premier League in terms of match-ups. I know I've been waiting for this for quite a few weeks now, and I'm definitely stoked to watch some quality soccer tomorrow morning.

First up is Liverpool playing Tottenham at White Hart Lane, which I'm definitely going to watch even though I'm not a large supporter of either team. In my opinion, the fourth spot in the EPL at the end of the season will go to either Liverpool or Tottenham (my guess is Liverpool), with the other team taking fifth. This will be a very important game for both teams, which could be a deciding factor in a close race for a fourth-place Champion's League spot. I've also taken a look at the betting line, and it's pretty interesting - Both teams have been given the exact same odds to win. While I would make a prediction of Liverpool taking the three points tomorrow, Tottenham does have the home team advantage, and Liverpool seem to be missing (or are doubtful about) a few key players: Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, and Martin Skrtel. If none of them show up for tomorrow's match, then Liverpool could have a spot of defensive trouble. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this one plays out.
OFFICIAL MATCH TIME: 8:30 AM, EST, on Sunday, September 18, 2011.

Now then, on to the match that we've all been waiting for: Chelsea vs. Manchester United; Goliath vs. Goliath. These two Premier League giants are always slated to deliver great performances, and I'm sure that tomorrow will be no exception. Right. Now onto the player matchup. Because this is such a huge match, I'll be going into detail about the Manchester United line as well. Here we go:

MANCHESTER UNITED:
FORWARDS: So no surprise here, it will most likely be Wayne Rooney (on excellent form, by the way, scoring eight goals and getting one assist in four matches for his club) and Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) composing the attacking force, due to Danny Welbeck being forced out with a hamstring injury after Manchester United's 8-2 win over Arsenal's youth-academy-turned-starting-eleven (which included a player that had never even participated in a Premier League match before). Sir Alex will most likely work in a 4-4-2 formation.
MIDFIELDERS: With Tom Cleverley out with an injury (very unfortunate for Manchester United - he's an excellent player who's quickly turning into one of my favourites at the moment), United will most likely go with a midfield of Nani, Fletcher (replacement for Cleverley), Anderson, and Ashley Young.
DEFENDERS: Vidic is out due to injury, along with Rafael. This could be a big problem for United defensively, with their captain (Vidic) on the sidelines, they will most likely go to Phil Jones as a replacement. Chris Smalling is likely to start at RB, paired with Rio Ferdinand, who is returning from an injury. Patrice Evra is likely to start at LB.
GOALKEEPER: David de Gea will be starting for Manchester United. While I'm he'll eventually grow into his role, at the moment he seems to be a bit shaky. However, we do have to keep in mind that it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very hard to replace the likes of Edwin van der Sar in net.

CHELSEA:

FORWARDS: With Drogba still injured, André Villas-Boas is likely to go with his usual 4-3-3 formation, with Mata on the left, and Torres in the centre. I believe that the right-winger position will (and should) go to Daniel Sturridge. He's greatly impressed AVB (and myself) in his few games for the club, and personally I would love to see him in a regular starting position (provided he keeps on form).

MIDFIELDERS: I'm sure that new signing Raul Meireles will feature tomorrow, coming off a good performance in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen. During that game, with the omission of captain Terry and vice-captain Lampard in the starting eleven, they were both given a message that they couldn't ignore (and this is something that AVB has been saying for a while): If your form is off, you'll be benched. It makes absolutely no difference of your wages, or your position in the club. I think that they both got the message, and will both feature in tomorrow's match. But tomorrow, they'll play their hearts out, because they know that if they don't, there are a number of sidelined players itching to grab their spots. The midfield line will most likely feature Lampard in the centre, with Ramires on the right and Meireles on the left.

DEFENDERS: As I previously mentioned, John Terry must have received the clear message that his form must improve, and tomorrow's match is the perfect place to reclaim his spot in the starting eleven. With David Luiz coming off a brilliant start in Tuesday's Champions League match, he'll most likely play tomorrow, alongside Ashley Cole and Branislav Ivanovic on the wings.

GOALKEEPER: Petr Cech looks to be completely cured of his injury and will start tomorrow's match.

PROBABLE MATCH LINEUPS:

De Gea

Smalling ------- Ferdinand ----------- Jones ----------- Evra

Nani ----------- Anderson ----------- Fletcher ----------- Young

Rooney ----------- Chicharito

_______________________________________________

Mata ----------- Torres ----------- Sturridge

Meireles ---------- Lampard --------- Ramires

Cole ----------- Terry ----------- Luiz --------- Ivanovic

Cech

MANCHESTER UNITED BENCH: Kuszczak, Evans, Fábio, Park, Giggs, Carrick, Berbatov
CHELSEA BENCH: Hilário, Bosingwa, Alex, Josh McEachran, Florent Malouda, Romelu Lukaku, Nicolas Anelka

OFFICIAL MATCH TIME: 11:00 AM, EST, on Sunday, September 18, 2011.

While I'm not sure who's going to win tomorrow, the one thing I know for sure is that it will be a great game. I'll be watching, wearing my numerous items of Chelsea attire, waving my scarf, and hollering at my TV while everyone else in my house ponders about whether or not to send me away to a nuthouse.
Have a great Sunday (and it will be great, I'm sure)!

~Matt

P.S. I just found out that David Hoilett, who has the third-most assists in the Premier League so far (granted, it has only been about 5 matches), is CANADIAN! Represent.

Chelsea Open Champions League with a Win!

2011-09-13T18:20:00.005-04:00

Today at 4:30, Chelsea sealed their first Champions League win with a 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge. A 67th minute blast by David Luiz and a 93rd minute tap-in by Juan Mata, both assisted by Fernando Torres gave Chelsea the win over Michael Ballack's team.

André Villas-Boas said a few days ago that nobody's job on the pitch is safe, including his captain John Terry, vice-captain Frank Lampard, or 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres. While Torres was left out of Chelsea's Premier League game against Sunderland last weekend, today it was Terry's and Lampard's turn to sit out. However, while Terry was not even on the bench for Chelsea, Lampard arrived as a substitute in the 65th minute for Raul Meireles.
AVB chose to stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation, once again playing Daniel Sturridge up front. Here is the lineup:

Mata ------------- Torres ------------- Sturridge (Anelka)

Malouda ------------- Mikel ------------- Meireles (Lampard)

Cole ------------- Luiz (Alex) ------------- Ivanovic ------------- Bosingwa

Cech

BENCH: Hilàrio, Ferreira, McEachran, Kalou.

PLAYER OVERVIEW (NOTABLE PLAYERS):
Petr Cech: Made a very important save early in the game to disallow Leverkusen an almost-sure goal. 11 shots, 2 on target, 2 saves, no goals against.

David Luiz: Made an excellent run all the way from Chelsea's half to the Leverkusen goal, passed well with Mata and Torres, and scored a brilliant one-timed strike to give Chelsea the lead. Played a bit physically (there were a number of occasions where he could have easily been sent off but for the leniency of the referee), and was lucky to escape the game with just a yellow.

Fernando Torres: Worked very hard to win back the ball and keep it in Chelsea possession. He also worked very well with both goal-scorers and assisted both of Chelsea's goals. Excellent vision on the Luiz goal, and was extremely unselfish to allow Mata the sure goal instead of giving himself an unlikely shot. Both Luiz and Mata showed their appreciation by pointing to him while celebrating, showing the fans that he was responsible for the goals.

Juan Mata: Another magnificent performance by Mata to get himself a goal. Took three excellent shots on target (the most on the team - tied with Sturridge), scored one of them, and won quite a number of tackles as well. Every time I watch him play, I'm almost mesmerized. He has great vision and works really well with every player on Chelsea.

Daniel Sturridge: Sturridge's excellent performance on the weekend convinced AVB to let him start toady against Leverkusen, and he made the most of it. He came extremely close to scoring a beautiful goal, which was denied only by the opposing goalkeeper Leno (who, in my opinion, was one of the best players on the pitch. He saved 10 shots - and quite a few of them seemed almost unstoppable).

David Luiz celebrating his brilliant goal in the 67th minute.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
While exciting events were already underway at Camp Nou, where Alexandre Patio scored in 25 seconds (tying for 5th fastest Champion's League goal ever), the first half of the Chelsea-Leverkusen game was not extremely eventful. A couple of cards were dished out - one to Torres and another to Castro (on Leverkusen). Quite a few shots were taken, but there was change in the score-line by the end of the half. David Luiz was booked in the 59th minute, and Daniel Sturridge took a beautiful shot that was blocked (somehow) by the goalkeeper, who pushed it past the post. Frank Lampard came on for Meireles in the 63rd, and Anelka came on for Sturridge in the 64th. I noticed at this point that Leverkusen were having quite a lot of trouble working down their left side. They constantly seemed to be trying to work around the Chelsea defenders with tricks, and every time they were unsuccessful. The Chelsea players would then pounce on the ball and start counter-attacks, bringing a few players forward. David Luiz ended up making a beautiful run, all the way up to the opposing side's 18-yard box, before passing it off to Mata on the wing. Mata passed it back to Torres, who sought out Luiz. Luiz took a beautiful one-timer that curled inside the far post. Great assist by Torres, and great shot by Luiz to make the score 1-0 for Chelsea in the 67th minute. Chelsea were controlling the game at this point, and substituted David Luiz with Alex, who is happy to see some playing time. In the 93rd minute, Torres made an excellent run down the left wing. When nearing the post, he declined the option to shoot, and instead made an extremely unselfish square pass to Mata, who was waiting at the edge of the 18-yard box. Mata one-timed his shot past Leno, the opposing keeper, to make the score 2-0 at the end of the match. His goal was the last kick of the game.
FINAL SCORE: Chelsea 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen

MATCH STATISTICS:

Chelsea Bayer Leverkusen

Ball Possession (%) 59 41

Shots (on target) 22(12) 11(2)

Corners 6 2

Crosses 33 10

Fouls Committed 17 24

Yellow Cards 2 3

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 2 1

OTHER FIXTURES:
Group E (Chelsea's group):
Genk 0-0 Valencia

Group F:
Marseille 1-0 Olympiacos
Arsenal 1-1 Borussia Dortmund

Group G:
Porto 2-1 Shaktar Donetsk
APOEL 2-1 Zenit St. Petersburg

Group H:
AC Milan 2-2 Barcelona
Viktoria Pizen 1-1 BATE

A Confident Win for Chelsea!

2011-09-10T15:15:00.006-04:00

Well, my prediction was a bit off. While the score-line suggests that it was a close game, in reality Chelsea cruised to a comfortable 2-1 win over Sunderland this morning, with goals coming from John Terry and Daniel Sturridge. A Sunderland goal in the 90th minute by Ji Dong-Won robbed me of getting a correct prediction of 2-0, and robbed Chelsea of upping their goal difference by 2.

Lampard (8), the heavily-tattooed Meireles (16), Terry (26), Sturridge (23), and Ramires (7) celebrate Terry's goal in the 18th minute.

Chelsea played quite a different starting 11 than I expected, starting Sturridge and Meireles, and benching Fernando Torres and David Luiz. It was only a couple days ago that André Villas-Boas gave a speech saying that nobody's place in the starting 11 is safe, including Terry (the captain), Lampard (a loyal Chelsea midfielder) and Torres (the $80 million striker), if their performances negatively impact the team. However, I don't think anybody was expecting him to make the decision to bench Torres today. However, it seems to have yielded good results in today's match.
Here was the Chelsea lineup for this morning's match:

Mata (Torres) ----------------- Anelka (Romeu) ----------------- Sturridge (Malouda)

Lampard ----------------- Meireles ----------------- Ramires

Cole ----------------- Terry ----------------- Ivanovic ----------------- Bosingwa

Cech

Bench: Hilário, McEachran, Kalou, David Luiz, Torres, Romeu, Malouda

PLAYER OVERVIEW:
I'm assuming here that David Luiz was not quite fit enough to play today, just coming off an injury, but he will most likely play in next week's match against Manchester United. Petr Cech, in his first game off a knee injury, played very well today, making a few nice saves; however, he was not really tested very much during the game, with Sunderland only getting off 4 shots on target. Mata (as usual) played a brilliant game, giving Ashley Cole a beautiful through-ball early in the match (although unfortunately no goal came of it), and made an excellent run that almost became a goal. His free kick was very well-taken, hitting the right post from a few yards out of the box. The free kick ultimately led to a brilliant left-footed finish by John Terry. Anelka, replacing Fernando Torres in the centre of the attacking line, played well and came very close to scoring. New boy Raul Meireles played well, effectively slotting into a deep midfield role and assisting the goal by Sturridge. Daniel Sturridge, coming off a 3-game suspension, worked hard in a forward role and scored a brilliant back-heeled goal. He also helped assist the goal by Terry. Now that André Villas-Boas has seen what his new players can do, it should be very interesting to see the starting 11 that he'll play against Manchester United next week.

GAME OVERVIEW:
In the first five minutes of the match, Chelsea takes almost complete control of possession, although neither team is able to create any real opportunities. However, in the 10th minute, Juan Mata sends a beautiful through-ball to Ashley Cole, who gets a shot off on target, but it's deflected out for a corner. Frank Lampard takes the corner, but it comes to naught. In the 12th minute, Sunderland gets their first real opportunity of the game, with the 6'5" Nicklas Bendtner heading a ball away from the net after a Sunderland free kick. While everybody is wondering how Sunderland aren't winning 1-0, Mata gets a free kick and hits the post with a beautiful shot. The rebound bounces around the box until it lands at the feet of Daniel Sturridge, who spies John Terry making a run on the left side. Sturridge lifts a beautiful ball to Terry, who shoots and and gets his shot cleared off the line and right back at him. He shoots again, this time making no mistake as he left-foots it through space in the defense to make the score-line 1-0. In the 23rd minute, Jack Colback (Sunderland) gets booked for a very reckless challenge that was never going to touch the ball, and only served to injure Ramires slightly. He plays on however, and until half-time Chelsea take quite a few shots, all of which are blocked by defenders, mainly Wes Brown, the former Manchester United player. At one point near half-time, Juan Mata is tackled cleanly by Bardsley of Sunderland, but while stepping over the Chelsea player, it seems that Bardsley stamps on Mata's back. While he receives no card, it is clear that Mata is hurt, although he keeps playing. The commentators then remarked that on Monday, the photos of the stamp will be shown to the FA, and they might hand Bardsley a suspension. Whether it was deliberate or not, nobody knows. In the 51st minute, Raul Meireles sends a beautiful lifted through-ball to Daniel Sturridge, who times his run perfectly and receives it well. He's on a collision course with Wes Brown and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, so he pulls a neat back heel that travels the width of the box and goal into the net. 2-0 Chelsea. In the 62nd minute, Malouda comes on for Sturridge; in the 74th minute, Torres replaces Mata; and in the 79th, Oriol Romeu makes his debut by taking off Anelka. All three substitutes fail to make much of an impact in the game, and Chelsea cruise comfortably until Nicklas Bendtner assists a goal by Ji Dong-Won to make the score-line 2-1 in the 90th minute, and Bosingwa is booked.
FINAL SCORE: Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea

Match Highlights (sorry about the non-English commentary - it was the only highlight reel on Youtube)

MATCH STATISTICS:

Sunderland Chelsea

Ball Possession (%) 40 60

Shots (on target) 11(4) 16(5)

Corners 4 7

Crosses 17 7

Fouls Committed 7 3

Yellow Cards 1 1

Red Cards 0 0

Offsides 2 3

OTHER FIXTURES:

Bolton 0-5 Manchester United

Manchester City 3-0 Wigan Athletic

Stoke City 1-0 Liverpool

Wolverhampton 0-2 Tottenham

Everton 2-2 Aston Villa

Arsenal 1-0 Swansea City

Manchester United stays top of the table with 12 points and a goal difference of +15, with Manchester City very close behind with an equal number of points and a +12 goal difference. Chelsea are third with 10 points and a goal difference of +4. Stoke City's 1-0 win over Liverpool leave them in fourth, with 8 points and a +2 goal difference, and Liverpool sit in fifth spot with 7 points and a +3 goal difference. On Sunday, September 18, we're all in for a few excellent games, with Chelsea playing Manchester United at Old Trafford, Tottenham and Liverpool facing off, and Manchester City taking on Fulham. After next weekend, the premier league table could look completely different.

Have a great week!

P.S. Look! I added a Premier League Table to the right of the page! Pretty cool, eh?

EPL PREVIEW: Chelsea vs. Sunderland

2011-09-09T01:55:00.007-04:00

Hey everyone!
So tomorrow's game against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light should be an interesting one, to say the least. While Chelsea are expected to win, there will be some lineup changes, with Drogba being ruled out after a concussion, and David Luiz and Petr Cech likely to return to the starting 11, as well as the new addition of Raul Meireles in midfield.

With Drogba out for at least tomorrow's game (hopefully he'll be fit for next weekend's battle with Manchester United at Old Trafford), André Villas-Boas will likely switch back to his favoured 4-3-3 formation, with the attack force being based around (guess who?) Fernando Torres.

FORWARDS:
Juan Mata will be hoping for another brilliant performance tomorrow, with what I believe will be a starting position on the left wing. Hopefully he'll be able to send in some nice crosses for Torres, who will most likely be playing in the centre. My guess is that André Villas-Boas will likely go to Nicolas Anelka for the right-winger position. My belief is that sometime during the last half-hour Lukaku will come on for Torres, and Sturridge may get a chance to prove himself with a substitution for Anelka.

MIDFIELDERS:
What André Villas-Boas chooses to do in midfield will be anybody's guess. I'll have a go and say that he'll stick with his usual lineup of Frank Lampard in the middle, with Ramires and John Obi Mikel flanking him on the right and left, respectively. However, I do believe that at some point during the match Raul Meireles will make his debut for Chelsea and come on for one of these three. Most likely he'll be in for Lampard in the centre, as Ramires has excellent stamina and Meireles isn't very comfortable on his left.

DEFENDERS:
With the probable return of David Luiz, André Villas-Boas will most likely go with a back four consisting of Ashley Cole on the left, John Terry and David Luiz in the centre, and either Branislav Ivanovic or Bosingwa on the right. My best guess will be that Ivanovic will start in the hope of being able to successfully shut down the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and his 6 foot 5 inch stature.

GOALKEEPER:
Petr Cech is most likely returning to play in tomorrow's match! Cheers all around!

BENCH:
Henrique Hilário, Bosingwa, Alex, Josh McEachran, Raul Meireles, Romelu Lukaku, Daniel Sturridge.

Here's my projected lineup:

Mata ------------- Torres (Lukaku) -------------- Anelka (Sturridge)

Mikel ----------- Lampard (Meireles) ------------- Ramires

Cole ------------- Terry ------------- Luiz ------------- Ivanovic

Cech

Sorry it's not super-beautiful, but I have absolutely no idea how to make it all pretty with pictures and numbered jerseys and a soccer field background. I'll figure it out eventually - give me some time.

MY PREDICTION: 2-0 Chelsea. Do you have a different score-line prediction? Write it in the comments!

Good luck to us all tomorrow.

Up Chelsea!

Torres is Benched, Chelsea sign a 16-Year Old Forward, and January Bids are Prepared

2011-09-07T19:53:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday, September 6, Fernando Torres experienced something that hadn't happened in a very long time. He was benched. Actually, not even benched, but rather he sat in the stands for Spain's qualifier against Lichtenstein (which they ended up winning 6-0, with an assist by Juan Mata - at least there was a bit of Chelsea presence in the win).

Chelsea seem to have based their entire forward line around him for every game, declining to bench him when he was in a scoring slump, even when there were many other players who would be more than willing to take his place temporarily, and could even add something different to the table (I'm talking about younger, talented players like Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku - although they did just get him, so I'm sure he'll get his starting chance). Even Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, who have both proven their goal-scoring worth have been benched as a result of Torres starting. It's very likely that the previous and current coaches of Chelsea don't want to bench someone on which Roman Abramovich spent a record 50 million pounds. Makes sense, I suppose, and I do believe that his form is definitely going to pick up, but being left out of the Spanish lineup can't be good for his confidence one bit, which is quite unfortunate. Although I guess Vicente del Bosque (the national coach of Spain) has a point when he says that "Torres is an important player, but those who stand out with their clubs will get the call to the national team, not the other way around."Apparently, Torres was very gracious about not being called, congratulating his teammates on their six goals and great performance. While his confidence took a bit of a beating, this might actually encourage him to bounce back and work even harder than he already is to try and reclaim his role as a leading Spanish striker. I know that I'm hoping for it to happen, and I'm sure that every other Chelsea fan is probably hoping for the same thing.

According to weaintgotnohistory.com, Chelsea have signed a 16-year old forward from the Czech Republic to their youth squad, and we're hearing quite a few good things about him. His name is Dominik Masik, and he plays for the U-17 Czech national team. Noted for his good pace, acceleration and ball control, the left-footer seems to be playing all over the pitch in an attacking role, although recently he's moved into more of a left-winger position. Apparently he played today for the youth team and scored a goal with two assists. A good signing for 1.2 million pounds, to say the least. Here's a look at him:

Czech that beautiful play at 1:30 (Get it? Because he's from the Czech Republic? Anyone? Oh well.) Great finish, anyway.

In other news, Chelsea are preparing new bids for (guess who?) Luka Modric come January! Everyone thought it was over, but apparently the saga will continue. I have no idea what they plan to offer Harry Redknapp, whether it be an exorbitant amount of money, a player or two (Yossi Benayoun maybe, when he gets back from loan?), or a promise to never let a reporter call him a "wheeler-dealer" again.

We all know what happened last time.

Harry Redknapp is called a wheeler-dealer by a reporter. Big mistake.

NOTE: Contains swearing (I'm trying to be family-friendly).

Premier League Hiatus

2011-09-04T22:40:00.001-04:00

So after learning that the Premier League was on hiatus for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers, and then after being miserable about it for the weekend (I had no games to watch), I decided to bring an update of how some Chelsea players are faring in the Euro Qualifiers.

FRANCE:

Florent Malouda - The French international has played well these qualifiers, netting two goals and taking thirteen shots in seven games. He scored the insurance goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and put through the equalizer against Belarus in June that allowed France the draw.

ENGLAND:

Ashley Cole - Ashley Cole has established himself as arguably the best left-back in the world, and he's made no mistakes playing for England in the qualifiers, putting through two assists, one against Bulgaria and the other against Switzerland.

John Terry - The Chelsea captain has played well for England, captaining the international squad to an unbeaten record in the qualifiers so far.

Frank Lampard - Everyone knows that Frank Lampard is one of the best midfielders in the world. His free-kicks and spot-kicks are almost unmatched. He contributed in England's victory over Wales and a 2-2 draw with Switzerland with two well-taken penalties while playing in three games.

PORTUGAL:

Raul Meireles - While we've yet to see him play in a Chelsea uniform, we can be assured of his talent. Raul Meireles has established himself as a starting midfielder for Portugal. In these qualifiers, he's scored two goals in six games.

SPAIN:

Juan Mata - Ever since Juan Mata has joined the Blues, we've seen him score twice: one for Chelsea, and another for Spain. Oh, and he's only played 23 minutes for each team so far. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty damn excited to see this guy play for Chelsea when EPL comes back.

Fernando Torres - Good news: Torres' form has really improved from last season (cue applause and me jumping up and down), already netting two for Spain in two games, and landing nine shots between them. I noticed that during his Chelsea games he seemed to be a bigger part of the action than last year, and he impressed in the preseason as well. While he's still yet to score a goal for Chelsea, it's only been three games. I say, give him a bit of time, he'll get there eventually - especially now with Juan Mata sending in beautiful crosses from the left.

SERBIA:

Branislav Ivanovic - Ivanovic has landed himself a starting role in the Serbian lineup and has done well to keep his team very much alive in these qualifiers. Serbia is in third place with 11 points, but Slovenia, in second place also with 11 points have played one less game than Serbia. It's likely that Serbia will advance.

BELGIUM:

Romelu Lukaku - Lukaku has played five games for Belgium in the group stage, and has earned himself a starting position in the Belgian lineup. He is yet to score, although he has one assist, and there is a chance that Belgium will advance to the next round. At the moment they sit in third place behind Germany (21 points) and Turkey (13 points), with 12 points.

Thibaut Courtois - While Courtois has yet to play in any games for Belgium, it's nice that he's received a call-up for the international team this year. It's testimony to his youth and talent that he was picked this year, and I'm sure that his abilities will be put to good use in years to come at the Belgian national team, as well as Chelsea when Petr Cech decides to retire.

CZECH REPUBLIC:

Petr Cech - One of the main reasons why I decided to write this post was pretty much to inform people of Cech's recent form. After Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Stoke in the first game of the season, Cech suffered a knee injury in training and was forced to sit out the last two games against WBA and Norwich City. However, he claims that he might be able to return to playing for Chelsea very soon (possibly their next game against Sunderland), which would be lovely. His recent form for the Czech Republic proves his increase in fitness. Czech Republic's statistic of only five goals against in six games (and only three were actually scored on Cech, who has played in five out of their six games) is quite good. I think most Chelsea fans can will be excited that their star keeper is on his way back, hopefully in time for Chelsea's matchup against Manchester United on the 18th at Old Trafford. It's going to be possibly the toughest game all season, and Chelsea needs a fit Petr Cech in their starting eleven.

ISRAEL:

Yossi Benayoun - I know that Yossi's on loan to Arsenal at the moment, but it's possible that one day he might make his way back to Chelsea. If he does, then hopefully he'll play as significant a role for us as he is for Israel at the moment. Not only is he the captain of Israel, but he's played in five games so far and scored four goals, three of them being a hat-trick against Malta which single-handedly won them the game.

P.S. This has absolutely nothing to do with Chelsea whatsoever, but I'd like to make a preemptive prediction that Germany is going to win Euro 2012. They're the best team in the world, I don't care what the FIFA rankings say, their ranking system makes no sense to me anyways. I'm going to add another poll at the bottom of the page (exciting!). Who do you think will win Euro 2012?

A List of New Chelsea Faces

2011-09-01T00:26:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone!
So the transfer window officially closed around 5 hours ago, and Chelsea have gained quite a number of new players during the summer, most of them being youth players.
With the exception of Raul Meireles, who I profiled in the previous post, here is a list of Chelsea's transfer activities this summer:

PLAYERS IN:
1. Thibaut Courtois
This 19-year old Belgian goalkeeper is brilliant buy for Chelsea at a fee of £9m, and was signed from Racing Genk early in the transfer season. He's a rising star in the Belgian international squad and can become a long-term replacement for Petr Cech. He's very quick, with excellent reflexes, and knows his position well. He's been loaned out to Atlético Madrid for a season to gain some possible first-team experience.

A ten-minute video of some of Courtois' best saves.

2. Lucas Piazón
Lucas Piazón is a 17-year old attacking midfielder from Brazil who currently plays for São Paulo but will be joining Chelsea on January 20, 2012. He played on the Brazil U-15 squad where he scored 11 goals in 7 games. He then moved on to the U-17 squad, where he scored 4 goals in 13 games. He's fast, works well with other players, and can create plays. He was signed for £7.5m.

This is Piazón playing for Brazil U-17 where his goal actually goes through the netting of the goal. Watch until the very end - that's when it becomes obvious. He also sets up a neat give-and-go beforehand.

3. Ulises Dávila
Dávila is a 20-year old attacking midfielder who played for the Mexican U-20 team and the senior Mexico team during the Copa America in 2011 as a replacement for one of the five players involved in a prostitution scandal that year, although he didn't play any matches. He's quite fast, makes runs, and has the ability to get around players. Here's proof:

4. Juan Manuel Mata
Juan Mata is a 23-year old left winger who can also play as an attacking midfielder. He's a creative, intelligent playmaker who will work well with Fernando Torres. He exhibits that well about 40 seconds into the video when he creates a perfect opportunity for Torres, who gets a good header off, but it's saved by John Ruddy.

The first 23 minutes of Mata's performance against Norwich City yielded some pretty impressive results, including a brilliant goal, capitalizing on an error by a Norwich defender. The goal can be seen at around 2:40.

5. Oriol Romeu
The 19-year old defensive midfielder (who can play in a CB position if needed) played for Barcelona B until recently, when he signed for Chelsea for a fee of 5 million euros. He's been likened to Sergio Busquets, arguably the best player in the world at his position, being very capable of getting around players and passing well.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good enough video of Oriol Romeu, but here's a picture.

6. Romelu Lukaku

It's always been Romelu Lukaku's dream to play for Chelsea, as evidenced in this video, where he takes a tour of Stamford Bridge tells off his teacher for saying that he has to be realistic about his options, after Lukaku expresses his desire to play there one day. Good for him. The 18-year old Belgian striker played at Anderlecht, where he had a great record of 33 goals in 73 appearances for the club. He also plays for the Belgian international team, and was signed by Chelsea for a fee of around £18. Needless to say that he'll be a great addition to the squad.

PLAYERS ON LOAN:
1. Yossi Benayoun (Arsenal - season-long)
2. Patrick van Aanholt (Wigan - season-long)
3. Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburger SV - season-long)
4. Gael Kakuta (Bolton - until January 1)
5. Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid - season-long)
6. Ulises Dávila (Vitesse Arnhem - season-long)

Unfortunately, Chelsea weren't able to sign many of the players they were hoping to get this summer, including all five of their top transfer targets (listed two posts ago), but hopefully they can make some great strides this year, especially with all of this young talent that they've received, and bring home the title. The real test will be the upcoming Chelsea-Manchester United match at Old Trafford on September 18.

Cheers,
~Matt

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uTGyDPAP7Sw/TfCUVGD-XzI/AAAAAAAAACI/G-kFuni7PlM/s1600/romeu.jpg

Welcome to Chelsea, Raul Meireles!

2011-08-31T22:29:00.005-04:00

So it's 22:29 right now, around four hours since the transfer window closed. While Arsenal have done well to land five players (one of them being Yossi Benayoun, the Chelsea/Israeli international playmaker on loan) out of their 20-30 targets in an attempt to strengthen their team after last week's shellacking to Manchester United, Chelsea have only made one signing today, and believe me, it was not one that many people were expecting.

Raul Meireles
While he was on the Chelsea radar for the past few days, it seemed like a very unlikely signing due to the fact that Chelsea had already seen a bid of £7m + Yossi Benayoun rejected for the Liverpool midfielder, and reports were saying that a deal would only be reached if Daniel Sturridge was substituted with Benayoun. This was never going to happen though, as Andre Villas-Boas seems to have some pretty long-term plans for Sturridge, and wants him to play a role in the Chelsea attacking force. The rejection, coupled with an unlikely prospect of a revised bid was the reason for the exclusion from the list of possible transfer targets this morning. Sorry about that. Because I wasn't expecting a signing, I didn't give an overview of Meireles, so here we go: He's 28, plays midfield, worked under AVB at Porto, where he scored 15 goals in 138 games, and has an enormous amount of tattoos. He's also quite capable of linking the defense to the strikers, something that I was saying that Chelsea needed much more of, and can score from long-range. Chelsea signed him to a four-year contract worth about £12m only a few minutes before the window closed.

Here he is finishing well against Chelsea while still playing for Liverpool.

6 Hours until Deadline!

2011-08-31T11:52:00.005-04:00

So with only six hours to go until the transfer window for the 2011-2012 EPL season is officially over, there are transfer rumours circulating all over the place. Here's a breakdown of Chelsea's transfer targets:

1. Luka Modric
The Luka Modric saga has gone on all throughout the transfer season, zigzagging back and forth between sides. If you're not familiar with the story, then I'll explain. Basically, Chelsea are in need of an intelligent, creative midfielder who can link the defense to the strikers and anchor the team. Chelsea have found exactly what they're looking for in the 25-year old Croat. The problem is that he plays for Tottenham, and wants to win trophies. Therefore, he's dying for a move to the Bridge. That's brilliant, because everyone at Chelsea is keen to sign him. Sounds like a done deal, right? Wrong. Daniel Levy, Tottenham's owner, has decided that he's not going to sell Modric, for any price (even though Levy and Modric had made a gentlemen's agreement prior to the transfer season that said that if a good club came along, they would consider the offer). Levy has remained adamant in his stance not to sell Modric the whole summer, while manager Harry Redknapp has see-sawing back and forth, first agreeing with Levy, then saying that they could use the money to purchase some new players (Tottenham have spent a grand total of $0 in the transfer window so far), then saying that he's given his blessing to Modric if he wants to leave, and now going back and saying that he's not going anywhere. Modric, in the meantime, has done everything possible to try and force a move through to Chelsea. He asked not to play in Tottenham's games against Manchester United and Manchester City. Redknapp benched him in the United game, but he was threatened with not being allowed to play in the Euro qualifiers if he didn't play against Man City. He played 65 minutes (not at his usual form) before being substituted, saying his "head wasn't quite right." Chelsea have already seen bids £22m, £27m, and an unofficial £30m rejected by Daniel Levy, saying that there's no point in bidding at all, it will just be rejected. Chelsea, who are willing to treble Modric's current wages, are putting together a bid worth around £40m before the end of today, hoping that it will be an offer that Daniel Levy just can't pass up, considering Tottenham are in need of some spending money. Tottenham are known for making transfer deals up until the very end of the window however, so I wouldn't count a Modric move out until the window closes at 6:00 EST.

2. Alvaro Pereira
Pereira is a Uruguayan international who helped his team to victory at the most recent Copa America. At the moment, the 25-year old LWB plays for FC Porto (he used to play under new Chelsea manger Andre Villas-Boas), although Chelsea are quite confident that he'll be a Chelsea player before the window closes. Chelsea have already seen a bid of £16.6m rejected by the Portugese club, but Chelsea seem to think that a bid of £20m (which they have just submitted) will be enough to land the prolific winger.

Who wouldn't sign him?
3. Franck Ribery
Ribery is a well-known French international who is quite capable of filling the empty role of creative playmaker in midfield, and apparently can make some very interesting faces. While Chelsea are trying their hardest to push through the Modric deal, every hour it looks slightly less likely. So they've turned to Franck Ribery. The 28-year old midfielder currently plays for Bayern Munchen. Chelsea have already submitted a £30m bid for Ribery, although Bayern are telling Andre Villas-Boas that he will have to up his offer by £6m if he wants to sign Ribery. I'm thinking that if Modric isn't signed by sometime around 2:00 EST then Chelsea will agree to Bayern's terms and sign Ribery. They can't wait for Levy to cave until 6:00 EST (when the window ends). They desperately need a playmaker, and he's a great choice. He's strong, intelligent, can score goals, and would fit in well with the rest of the squad.

4. Kevin de Bruyne
For Kevin de Bruyne, a move to Chelsea would ignite his career. The 20-year old Belgian international is eager to follow in the footsteps of his teammates Thibault Courtois and Romelu Lukaku with a move to the Bridge. He's a quick midfielder who can pass and cross the ball well, and is quite good at taking free kicks. He would be a great addition to the squad, and would most likely see some playing time at Chelsea if he were to sign. Unfortunately, he broke his leg in early August, but it seems to be healing nicely and Chelsea still want to sign the highly-rated midfielder. Chelsea have submitted a handsome £6m bid to his club, Racing Genk, for consideration, but it was rejected, much to the chagrin of de Bruyne. He desperately wants a move to Chelsea, and I think that the two clubs can reach an agreement before the window closes today.

5. Gregory van der Wiel
The 23-year old Dutch RB would be a great addition to the squad, allowing Branislav Ivanovic to reclaim his CB position, where he plays best. He was the Dutch player of the year for 2009-2010, which is quite a huge deal, considering he beat out Wesley Sneijder for the award. He has the ability to make brilliant runs and is a great defender. Chelsea have submitted a 32 million euro bid for the Dutch international, to which he and his club Ajax seem to have agreed. Contract agreements just have to be hashed out now, and unless the deal hits any snags, we'll see him in a Chelsea jersey soon.

So there we have it! Those are the top five Chelsea targets for today. The transfer window closes at 18:00 EST, which is 23:00 BST. Hopefully we'll see quite a few of the listed players playing for Chelsea soon. I'll be keeping everyone posted.
Cheers,
~Matt

http://whackedteens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Luka-Modric-pictures.jpg
http://eplreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/alvaro-pereira.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jLlqDrcSYeQ/TAZIPCtOCtI/AAAAAAAABuE/0kLXOb7HGKU/s1600/Ribery.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YRGApnsA024/TgtsT3HRynI/AAAAAAAAAfs/bLnI__qRZeA/s1600/anderlecht-wil-de-bruyne-voor-1-5-miljoen-en-twee-spelers_5_460x0.jpg
http://www.football-pictures.net/data/media/597/Gregory__VAN__DER__WIEL.png

Well, Hello There!

2011-08-31T02:08:00.008-04:00

So I've never had a blog before, but for a while now I've been interested in starting one up. It's also 2:08 AM on the day that the transfer season ends for EPL, so it's as good a time as any, right?
Anyway, as you can see by my domain name and the About Me page, I'm a huge Chelsea fan living in Toronto. In this blog I'll be covering all things Chelsea, although sometimes I'll throw in a bit of extra soccer-related stuff about other teams/leagues I'm following (such as MLS and Toronto FC - I do live there, after all). Hopefully it will be a fun experience.
As you can see in the survey question (unless more people have answered the poll about who will win the EPL this year), I've said that Chelsea will take it all this year. While I can just hear the scoffers telling me that the title will be heading to Manchester this year (albeit which Manchester club, nobody knows), I do believe that the Blues have the ability to bring it home. Although, that does depend on quite a few important factors:

1. Fernando Torres returning to form.
This is going to be a major one. Since new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas seems to be happy playing Fernando Torres up front for awhile, I think I speak for every Chelsea fan when I say that he needs to score some goals. While the pre-season has seen glimpses of the old Liverpool-Torres again, hopefully that can continue throughout the season and he can be the club's top scorer this year. Especially now with Juan Mata playing on the wings, the two Spanish players have the ability to link up well and produce some great opportunities. While Torres has still only scored one goal in about 18 games, we must not forget that he's a world class striker who has a good shot and can lead teams to victory.

2. Finding someone who can create chances and link up well with the strikers.
This is something that Chelsea have been lacking in previous seasons, and this is the main reason why AVB is so desperate to reach a deal with Luka Modric (I'll talk about his situation later). Chelsea's new signing Juan Mata did this brilliantly in the 23 minutes that he played against Norwich. He revitalized a struggling team and instantly created a beautiful chance for Torres, showing that the two Spaniards have good chemistry. He's quick on his feet and takes advantage of situations, scoring a goal by capitalizing on the mistake of a Norwich defender. His creativity and intelligence is exactly the kind of thing that AVB was hoping to bring to the Bridge this season. Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than just Juan Mata to bring Chelsea to the title. That is why, on the last day of the transfer window, Chelsea are itching to complete deals with a number of midfielding prospects, such as Kevin de Bruyne, Luka Modric, Alvaro Pereira, and Raul Meireles. Unfortunately, things look tough for a number of those deals, but I guess we'll see who we can snatch up before the window closes. If none of these possible targets end up at the bridge, who knows? There might be a place on the starting eleven for rising youngster Josh McEachran, which could be very interesting.

3. The fitness of Petr Cech.
It's been incredibly unfortunate that veteran Petr Cech managed to get injured for the first month of the season. While Henrique Hilario has been a decent replacement, a few errors have cost Chelsea a goal and lots of stress. Chelsea cannot afford to give up any goals this season due to error, because the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool will be waiting in the wings, ready to pounce on any opportunity where Chelsea don't end up with the full three points. A young, new goalkeeping prospect named Thibaut Courtois has been signed this season, who is likely to be the long-term replacement for Petr Cech. He's out on loan this season to Atletico Madrid however, and therefore won't be able to be a backup keeper if something unfortunate happens to Cech. Chelsea have been thinking about signing Juventus' veteran backup keeper, 34-year old Marco Storari, as a replacement for Hilario, although it doesn't look like that deal will be completed in the next few hours, forcing both clubs to wait. Until that time Chelsea fans will have to hope that Petr Cech stays healthy.

4. A strong bench.
If you were to take a look at Manchester United's bench, you would see a list of players that, on most other teams, would all be some of the most prolific players on those teams. For example, players like Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-sung, Michael Carrick, and Fabio. That's one hell of a bench. Any one of those players could take over for an injured player in the starting eleven, and they wouldn't be seen as a weak link. Chelsea have quite a decent bunch of substitutes this season, with players such as Nicholas Anelka, Paulo Ferreira, Romelu Lukaku, and Josh McEachran lining the bench. While it may not be as strong as Manchested United's, what's important is keeping it solid and preparing for every eventuality in terms of players and positioning. If this is done then player injuries aren't as big of a threat to Chelsea's title chances.

Anyway, that was my first blog post - hope you all enjoyed it. Definitely more to come, especially when the transfer season ends and we see who's arrived to Stamford Bridge. Up Chelsea!
Cheers,
~Matt