cyberworm314

Indeed a disc race..

No one can argue against the bad refereeing performance. Sure, UEFA can punish him, but where does that leave us? Semi-finalists? It's time for video replay system like in other professional sports, as well as the presence of more referees. The world does not see the world through one bar steward ref['s eyes.

Back after a three month absence. The ref truly made an awful performance today, although blame also must go to the linesman, who is obviously as cockeyed as the referee to not see the Pique handball. Heartbroken. I can't imagine what the players must be going through. And the 6 unawarded penalties were almost as bad as the decision to send off the Barca player. I hope the referee receives death threats like four years ago. Grr..

Hello; I have only a few things to say. He will get games; because Avram Grant is not in charge of Chelsea. Roman Abramovich is.

I wonder how much playing time Sheva will get if Berbatov and Anelka sign. Let's not even discuss Pizarro. I am disappointed. I had hoped that the ACN would give Shevchenko and Pizarro to show what they are capable of. If Berbatov and Anelka come, there will definitely be no place for Sheva - Unless: Rumours spread that Avram Grant doesn't control Chelsea FC. It's controlled by Roman Abramovich. I don't think we need Anelka. Berbatov though, could really open up play for us. You notice when he plays for Tottenham, he is frustrated when he is fouled and doesn't get the free kick, or when his teammates' passes go awry. And anyway, Berbatov and Keane are right now the most feared partnership in the EPL.

I hate to remind you of this, but Grant has always played a 4-3-3 with Cole/SWP winging it and three central midfielders. There's no real choice for central midfield; Lampard, Mikel and either Makelele or Sidwell. At the back, Grant may give Cudicini another start as he has performed well so far. Defense-wise , Belleti Terry Alex Cole is the most likely option. Either Cole or Bridge. I think Grant flips coins to see who he picks. Both are really good marauding full-backs. The question, then, lies in offense. Whether Grant opts for a 4-4-2 (Personally, I feel a 4-4-2 would get us more goals). Because Cole and SWP are both excellent wingers. The latest news seems to be that Drogba isn't going to play. On a side note now, I have no idea why Grant is not granting Pizarro any sort of chance at all. The stats may say that Drogba has as many goals as the other three combined, but you can't expect Pizarro to get goals if you leave him on the bench or in the reserves. I don't believe we've seen the best of Pizarro yet. Let Sheva and Pizarro play, they're [iNTERNATIONAL CAPTAINS] FOR GOD'S SAKE! A 4-3-3 is not a good idea because only one of the four strikers will play, and on paper, Chelsea's strength lies in their attack. So far, it's worked, although since the 6-0 win, Chelsea have been somewhat boring, the Rosenborg game an exception. And the West Ham game was sleep-inducing, but maybe some of the credit for that must go to West Ham. I've made my say, which is in short to go for 4-4-2. I'll be damned if Grant reads this.

Hello everybody. This will in all likelihood be my last post on this forum. I've been posting here regularly for about two to three weeks, maybe a month now. I've provided you with insight on mourinho's striker conundrum and a detailed analysis before our match against..Villa. Now the news has come in Mourinho has been forced out, I can conclude some things. Firstly, there must have been some push factor involved. As far as we know, no club had offered Mourinho a place in the gaffer lineup. It is also likely that Grant had tried too often to interfere in Mourinho's affairs, making him very fed up. It is possible, and most plausible, that he did this with encouragement from the Russian owner. Another factor was the poor start to the season we had. Before the Rosenborg match, Mourinho hardly looked like leaving. Rememer the eggs? This resignation comes just before one of the important games of the season. The players will be generally in a state of shock and disorientation and disorganization. I foresee a comprehensive Man U win, maybe 3-1. Chelsea will finish below Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd this season, and maybe Everton. Say what you will but Chelsea's season is over. If you think anyone can do a better job than Mourinho, I'd like you to prove it.

I did say, after the Blackburn game in which Sheva had unanimously a disappointing game, to wait one game and pass judgement then, because one game does not call a season. Both times that we hit the post btw, were assists from Shevchenko. We should consider ourselves unlucky not to have won the game, given Rosenborg hardly moved out of their half in the last 20 minutes. Last season Drogba scored 30 goals, remember? Shevchenko assisted him in many of those goals and often drew defenders away giving Drogba space to run. No one can question his ability to play in a team or his work rate and commitment. The sad thing is, almost everyone is more concerned with the result than the progress. Machinated efficiency is now by far preferred to original craftsmanship- this you can see everywhere: Many household items are mass-produced, rather than made by a skilled craftsman. I don't know where my train of thought is going at the moment, so I'll just put on the brakes and back into a siding. By the way, I voted for Shevchenko in both games. In the Blackburn game, his last-minute header was denied by a top save, but the volley on Samba was comedic, reminiscent of last season's comedy routine against Blackburn. You can see him raise his hands to his head in shock and despair after he volleys Samba in the general direction of the goal. In both games, he was unlucky not to get more, but the law of averages states that his luck is likely to improve as we progress through the season. Right now.. Shevchenko has 57% of votes, which is an encouraging sign for Mourinho to use him against Man U alongside Pizarro (and possibly Joe Cole) if Drogba recovers only by the Valencia game which is in two weeks.

Hi guys. This news may be a bit late, it's already seven hours since the game was played BUT.. Chelsea drew 1-1 with Rosenborg, with Shevchenko scoring (admittedly he made it look easy, and Malouda too had enough time to boil an egg and pick out a perfect cross). Chelsea hit the woodwork twice. The first time was from Malouda, the ball was gotten to him by Shevchenko. The second time was from Kalou, the ball was passed to him by Shevchenko too. I think he just got unlucky. Chelsea should have won, given our perfect record in the opening game in the last four Champs League seasons.

I'm going to take this topic in a different direction now. It's probably apt to assume that Shevchenko may play against Rosenborg, given that Drogba will probably be rested for the BIG game against Man U. Let's assume he scores a goal. What will you say? Will you say that "oh, the Rosenborg defenders are low-class, scoring past them is no big achievement." I feel Shevchenko probably will score if he is played. Against Italy we saw his goal, which was rather opportunistic but still a goal. He probably needs to use that strength which is being in the right place at the right time, and not his pace which as some posters have mentioned before seems to be ebbing. If Shevchenko scores it will be a great morale booster for everyone. But I fear, against my hopes, that it will be the same story of last season. I bring you back to the famous goal against Tottenham in the FA Cup on the edge of the penalty area. Remember the commentator's words? "What a way to prove the critics wrong and his manager, who a few weeks ago was clearly unhappy with him." Even if he scores, at the end of the season they will still look back at a disappointing season. Anyway, if you remember Drogba's first season and subsequent seasons, I'll keep hoping Shevchenko can emulate Drogba's change of form. Just because he failed to score in his first game means absolutely nothing. Dirk Kuyt has yet to open scoring for Liverpool despite four (almost) full games, and last season's second top scorer Ronaldo hasn't scored yet. Neither has Andy Johnson, Carlos Tevez, Mark Viduka, John Carew, and a few other examples. Wait for another game, and make judgement then.

Joe Cole in the centre? That's a new one, and no Essien either. Your formation seems all right, but Mourinho prefers Essien to Mikel any day. I wonder if Mourinho has an eye on the Champions League clash against Rosenborg. He'll want Shevchenko for the Champions League, of course, so that might influence his decision to put Shevchenko as a sub.

Fine. Both Irish are about the same to me anyway, I know Robbie Keane and Shay Given play for either one of them. He did drop the harmless looking cross. Even if he was fouled he still dropped it, so I was right all along. Anyway let's not dispute about that; shevchenko to play and score

hI GUYS, Shevchenko: Played 90 minutes against Italy Smashed a 25-yard free kick against the crossbar Created several chances Led the Ukraine team, not just in attack, but as a whole Scored an equalising goal (but Ukraine were eventually beaten.) Add to that the rumour that Drogba may be injured, and Shevchenko just might start his first game for Chelsea against the Rovers. I can tell you one thing though - Sheva is definitely fit. He ran with much energy for all of 90 minutes and the Chelsea-planted rumours that he's still recovering from a hernia/groin/back injuries are obviously grafted.

Hello again from Cyberworm! icecoolguy you were quite right. Shevchenko, in his captaincy role against Italy, started by smashing a 25-yard free-kick against the crossbar, with Buffon beaten, continued to create many chances against a resolute Italian defence, scored a turning goal in the 71st minute, and played the full 90 minutes. If those signs aren't good enough for Mourinho not to play him as a centre striker, I don't know what is. In any case, I'll just round up the Chelsea players based on their international performances. JT, SWP and JC, and Ashley Cole: All played reasonably well against Russia, although it was the Newacstle man who grabbed all the honours. SWP AND JC tirelessly tormented the right and left Russian flanks respectively, and John terry was as usual a commanding presence in defence. Ashley Cole was impressive throughout, although there was one instance where he was clumsy over a Russian attacker. Shevchenko: As you have read earlier, he played the full 90 minutes and scored his first goal for club and country in abou three months. Signs that he's improving? Look here Steve Clarke and Mourinho, if sheva really was still recovering from his hernia injury he couldn't have played the full 90 minutes with as much energy as he did. Petr Cech kept a clean sheet against the N.Irish as well although he dropped a harmless looking cross that nearly led to a goal once. Florent Malouda was quite frankly very bad, as evidenced by the French Waterloo loss to the Scots, his passes completely off. He looks a bit over-rated to me.. Surprisingly Paulo Ferreira played as the Portugese international left-back. It seems strange he'd be selected given he hasnt'played this season for CHelsea, AND that he usually plays right-back? If Drogba is injured, Pizarro/Shevchenko should form an upfront parntership which would be new, If Lampard won't return, Essien and Miikel (should be Sidwell) will start according to the Grande Mourinho's Fancy. Joe Cole may just be picked ahead of Malouda SWP will be a confirmed starter. John Terry, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech are also confirmed starters, which begs the question of the remaining centre-back and right-back. Alex seems like an oversized Boulahrouz.

He may not play too much this year, maka. Ballack: if he's not in any team why do we have him? Come on, he's the captain of Germany for goodness sake. Yet we should not place teams by order of big-name (ness). So let's have a formation that judges by simply.. the quality of the players, and not the quality of their names. I find Mourinho's unwillingness to play 3-5-2s could be detrimental to Chelsea's versatility. WHile a 3-5-2 may not be defensively sound, it would be attacking football, and let us control the ball more. My favourite formation would be a (flat) 3-5-2. Cech Carvalho/Terry/AshleyCole Wrightphilips/Essien/Lampard/Ballack/JoeCole Drogba/Shevchenko Just forget all the conventionalistic formations Mourinho has adapted so far, and see how this works out.

Hi everyone. I'm the topic creator! YAYS! COOKIE! Kudos to those who predicted a 2-0 scoreline against us. A recent news article highlighted Shevchenko's queries over why he wasn't played, despite being fit. Sheva claims he's fit, Chelsea claims he's still recovering from his back/groin/hernia injury, Steve Clarke hints he may have to wait for his opportunity and grab it by the balls, Steve Clarke hitns he may have to wait until the Carling Cup clash with Hull (at the end of the month, damnit) to play. What we can be sure of is that Chelsea didn't play well. Credit to Villa, they were very quick on the break. Chelsea has a host of world-class defenders: the England captain and the no. 1 england left back, carvalho is a regular portugal starter. The problem apparently seems to be that they aren't gelling. Anyway, we'll be keeping a close eye on our players on international duty this week. Players to look out for are Shevchenko: Expected to play in Ukraine's Euro qualifiers. Ukraine have a good chance of qualifying for the finals. Georgia vs Ukraine (Saturday) and one more match on Wednesday. JT, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Wright-Phillps: All expected to start, if not on the bench representing England in crucial qualifiers against Israel and Russia. Petr Cech: Definitely expected to start against San Marino, and expected not to concede. Carvalho and Ferreira: May be on the bench for Portugal's matches against Poland. Malouda is expected to start for France. Anyway this is kind of a rubbishp ost. see you later.

This is a message from the topic creator. Lalala! As of posting, we are 3 hours away from Aston Villa vs Chelsea. Team news still yet unavailable. I am going to clear the air right now by telling you Shevchenko IS fit. But, even though we may hope to the contrary, it is more likely for pizarro to start and shevchenko to be on the bench. It is likely he will come on for the 2nd 45 minutes. Lampard is doubtful, but may yet start. More updates will be availble on soccernet. Since G.Johnson has gone off to Pompey, we are left with Ferreira and Belleti. Mourinho would be a fool not to play Essien in midfield especially if Lampard is injured. Hope the blues win. VIlla Park is the only place Mourinho has travelled to since arriving and YET to win. despite having won at the theatre of dreams and the kop.

Good news: Mourinho will have no excuse not to play shevchenko this week. He has already had two weeks of training and should be fit and furthermore, he has not featured in the Chelsea squad ever since the pre-season. This was one reason why Chelse had to play three wingers against United. Let's hope Mourinho does play sheva. I'm looking forward to Sunday's game. Surely he can prove us wrong. Actually, last year he had quite good service from the tireless (but injurisky) Robben. If you notice, the Chelsea/Portsmouth game of yesteryear had Shevchenko scoring from Robben's mazy run. His goal against Porto was also from a Robben pass. Of course Sheva did not score many goals, but he made some number of assists to Drogba and helped Drogba to win the Golden Boot last season. Wait, how many strikers did w have least season?

"Young Cyberwilly" would like to swear violently in your face and cause some permament damage to those who have detracted from Mourinho's striker problems.

It was most unfortunate, this. We struggled quite a bit against Portsmouth, and any honest Blues fan will agree that we were lucky to get a win. Portsmouth would have gotten at least a goal with strikers of slightlyhigher calibre. The problem issue was that our man of the match against Liverpool was suspended and thus became unavailable to play. We'll miss you, Rob Styles.

I volunteer to answer that. Nothing. Well, not really nothing. Factor #1: He previously suffered from a back injury. THis injury kept him out of Chelsea's first three games. However, he has already recovered from this injury. He demonstrated this by playing for Ukraine during last midweek for 55 minutes, creating quite a few goalscoring opportunities, which we as Chelsea fans should take encouragement for. Factor #2: No match fitness. This was built upon by factor #1 as it was difficult to get in proper fitness training with his back problem. That is why, having already played for Ukraine and being short of match fitness, I hypothesise that he was not available to play Portsmouth. I confidently predict that we will receive more news this week about Shevchenko. I foresee Drogba and Shevchenko making their first starts up front with Pizarro and Kalou in the stands i mean, on the bench. By the way: I have told that joke to quite a few of my classmates who find it very amusing. Sarcasm aside, I compliment you, SydneyChelsea, for being gifted for an especially provoking sense of humour.

There have been rumours, especially in brit papers that ronaldinho has been in talks with Russian the Great. It will be most interesting if he comes to the Bridge. Then Mourinho will be pulling his hair out all day.

I notice Villa have a preference for penalties, all penalties are inevitably taken by their captain Barry. Barry is a hard worker and was the Man of the Match last week. Me, I'd like to see shevchenko at least on the tench.

Are you referring to cows?

I said this in my other topic, the one I started about Villa's upcoming match, and I'll say it again. The reason why I've gotten so used to the tag of Gentlemen your opinion: Firstly, it is a very sleek presentation of questioning your panellists in the studio (in the context of a footballing match) about their thoughts. Secondly, here in Asia where John Dykes and co. represent Espn Starsports in presenting the EPL matches, that is what he usually says. Thirdly, his entire panel is male. If there are any members of the opposite sex who happen to view this and are offended, I would like to holistically and sincerely apologize for any psychological damage I have caused by apparently slighting the weaker sex and dismissing their parlance and relevance to modern-day English football. Although I may be new to the forums, I'm familiar with Chelsea's issues- and some of you may have noticed I tend to be quite detailed in my posts. One reason for this is for the benefit of readers so they may have a more complete picture of the scenario.