Luis Enrique

I think it was Ballack for injury rehab. but I might be wrong. They had reported Sheva training in sand last season also.

Will this "training" somehow involve implanting an incendiary device in his posterior?

I don't think Drogba needed any prompting by Mourinho. He seems like an emotional person who would have done that in the right environment and in the language of his choice

Wait, Bridge is suspended? He hasn't been back from his injury yet. I'm obviously missing something.

I think this idea of taking control is interesting from a psychological standpoint. He's often referred to in the press as being "arrogant." I honestly don't know why. This is something that dogged him in Germany as well. I haven't read any quotes of his that could be construed as arrogant. And his play, as many have pointed out, certainly doesn't embody arrogance. A poster on some other site (a Chelsea site, but can't remember which) commented that it seems like his problem while he plays is that he isn't arrogant enough and he often doesn't show the confidence to move forward. I find this interesting because in his early career he was crticized in the German press for not having leadership qualities. One of his early coaches, Christoph Daum, recognized the potential but also saw that he had to overcome some natural reticence and made a point of working with him. Soon after at Leverkeusen and Bayern Munich he did assume a leadership position successfully. It's almost as though he has to be given license to do this. And he performed the task very well for Germany and Bayern. The ability is there. A lot will say that a player of his stature shouldn't need this so called license, and should be ready to assume this role anyway. But it seems like that was a difficult thing to do at Chelsea which already had senior players in those roles. I've always wondered how much he was really included as part of the squad to the point that he felt he could step into that role. Obviously Mourinho saw something and kept playing him and got pissed that he couldn't play after the injury. He saw him a valuable asset in the upcoming games against Liverpool and Man U. I'm not trying to create excuses, just saying that this is something that could have played into things last season. And the stuff about strolling on the pitch. This is also something that has dogged him through his career, particularly at Bayern. Fans and the press complained about this.

This is the set up he worked with on the German NT with Torsten Frings at his side and Odonker and Neuville working the flanks. How often did this occur? Once or twice or after subs? Not frequently enough to guage how effectively he could manage.

Hey, believe me I have nothing about a player coming out and saying those things. It's who is saying those things and the timing. Have you ever once heard him speak about the team before? I don't recall Sheva ever saying anything that referenced the team or teammates in any other interview. He's only talked about his situation. (to my recollection at least) I'd have preferred anyone but him come out and say those things. I would have though him to be truthful and genuine, not self-serving. But seriously, why aren't we hearing this from the captain or co-captain?

Something really bothers me about this article. It's not the over-optimism or confidence that he's showing, but rather that it seems like he's making statements for the team as a whole rather than stating something as his opinion. It almost sounds as though he's usurping Terry or Lampard's role. They're the captains and they are the ones who are designated to speak on behalf of the team, not Sheva. Seriously, does anyone really think that "everyone is happy and calm" and that everyone likes Grant? Sheva's stating this as fact almost as though he's now Chelsea PR. And of course most players were surprised that Jose was going, but in saying this and later coming up with his "happy talk" he's clearly implicating himself as one of the players who was not surprised and probably happy with Jose's departure. (you can almost see the guy rubbing his hands together saying "Goody. Now that Mourinho is gone Grant is going to play me and I'm gonna score!") I think this is may piss some of the other players off, like Lampard, Drogba, Malouda, the very guys who can pass to Sheva and set up these 15-20 goals. And one game demonstrates that Grant is a "specialist?" At what I do not know.

Actually, LeSaux went out of his way to point out that he doesn't think Beckham is homophobic. He used him as an example to point out that there is such a prevailing culture of homophobia that even a player like Beckham who has a large gay following and has been known to be gay friendly has used such taunts because they are so accepted and par for the course in the Premiership. Beckhams spokespeople promptly denied that the player ever used such language on or off the field.

Who's being really being snubbed here? Rather interesting. It looks like Chelsea was ready to take on Adidas. [web]http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article2947447.ece[/web]

Am I the only one who finds this vaguely suspicious? His injury is listed as an "ankle sprain" in the official site and it's never been until now reported as that. 5/6 months recovery for this? It had been variously reported as a bone fragment and possible resulting nerve damage. What possible other motive besides player health could have being kept from the squad?

It's funny how JT keeps saying "If I was that way." OK, thanks for clearing that up for us.

Ah, so Carvahlo was injured. I was wondering why on earth Johnson was subbed in. I'm watching this on streaming. In addition to the tiny screen channelsurfing.net, is nice enough to provide audio from a tennis match as accompaniment, so it's a bit hard to keep up. Sopcast is just kaput across different streaming sites. Beautiful pass forward to Lampard right in front of the net, but he didn't anticipate it at all. Reading's goal was a tangle of Cech and two defenders with the ball squirting away from them.

Hi all, Now since Virgin Media has exclusive rights to transmit any EPL match footage over the internet, Youtube has dried up as a source to find match highlights. Everything is wiped away nearly immediately as a copyright violation at the request of some VM subsidiary named "NetResult." Result for them, but not for fans here in the US and possibly other locales outside the UK that do not have access to VM's generous 2 min. match highlight offerings. This is true for VM's website and what's offered through the Telegraph and Times sites. What monetary gain VM possibly has to make by wiping out fan's short submissions to Youtube, I can't fathom. But, I digress. Last year I found this fan run site that has excellent and pretty comprehensive footage of Chelsea matches. There are individual goal clips, full matches for download, and occasional interviews and special features. There is also an archive, but I can't attest to what's in it since I haven't used it. http://chelseaclips.blogspot.com/ I also tried to find footage from the Arsenal and Man. U. matches to no avail as they had been wiped off Youtube as well. If anyone knows of similar sites for other Premiereship footage, I would really appreciate links.

Great interview from a great player

So is Drenthe incoming or not? During the Ballack rumor period I read that Madrid was signing both of them within the "next 48 hours" but none of these reports made it beyond the bullsh*t press in Madrid and some of the English tabloids and Bild, but this has been picked up by the Associated Press and the International Herald Tribune. What gives? Report: Real Madrid completes signings of Robben from Chelsea and Drenthe from Feyenoord The Associated PressPublished: August 9, 2007 MADRID, Spain: Real Madrid completed the signings of Netherlands international Arjen Robben of Chelsea and Feyenoord's Royston Drenthe, Spanish radio station Cadena SER reported Thursday. Cadena SER said both players would be presented Friday and would be available to play in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Aug. 11, when Spanish champion Madrid plays Copa del Rey winner Sevilla. Sports daily AS said Madrid had also agreed to a fee of ?13 million (US$18 million) for Netherlands under-21 defender Drenthe, signing him through 2012. Madrid President Ramon Calderon had been courting the two players throughout the summer. Robben, 23, had been at Chelsea since joining from PSV Eindhoven in 2004, scoring 19 goals in 104 appearances at Stamford Bridge.

Expected return for Ballack is Aug. 12. http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_pre...njury_table.php

Why did it take them so long to diagnose? Lampard suffers injury blow Lampard to miss start of season By Lewis Rutledge Last updated: 02nd August 2007 Lampard: Broken toe Sky Sports News understands Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has broken a toe on his left foot. It is believed that Lampard picked up the problem during Chelsea's first training session in America three weeks ago. The extent of the injury was not then revealed until he was sent for an x-ray on Thursday afternoon. With a number of other Chelsea players also sidelined, news of Lampard's broken toe will come as an especially major blow to Jose Mourinho. Although Chelsea have yet to confirm how long Lampard will be out for, he is set to miss the Community Shield against Manchester United on Sunday. He is also expected to miss the start of Chelsea's Premier League campaign the following weekend. Lampard has been a virtual ever-present in the Blues side in recent years and speculation of a move away from Stamford Bridge recently died down after he was offered a big pay rise.

Is it really necessary to have a French-speaking captain? After all Aresenal are located in London. Wegner speaks English, so what's the problem? Very odd. I do find it quite rich that Gallas wants to be captain when he's been with the team for only one year. Arrogant much?

A few others:

Haha. Didn't Jose used to sing for the Back Street Boys or model for International Male? These are my favorite from the "When They Were Young" collection: Check out the 'fro. Once a Shrek, always a Shrek. He looked like he could punch your lights out even as an infant.

Hi Alex, I'm new here too. I noticed you said you go to school in Indiana. Would you happen to go to IU Bloomington? I went to school there and lived there for 5 years. I'm now in Illinois. I'm sure moving from Russia must had some elements of culture shock for you. I move to Indiana from California and I felt as though I had moved to another planet. (and Bloomington is a nice college town) Hoosiers were a completely new and different species to me. My best friend was from New York City and we were just bowled over by the southern Indiana accent, the devotion to basketball, some of the odd people from out of town and, well, just about everything. Hope we enjoy posting here. I've been lurking for quite a while. Thought it was time to join.