ColeMan

You have to look no further than manure and rednose to see the truth in Lauren's comment.

Lippi is a good choice, but he has had the experience of 24 years in management. I personally feel that given that sort of time frame (probably not all of it here) Jose will learn to adapt his preferred style.

Thats just it Gullit, he's knackered, add to that his phenomenal form of the past 2 seasons, and the dip in form this just shows up more. For someone who isn't playing well, 21 goals this season looks rather good.

Guys, we all have different perspectives on what has happened, and what will happen in the future for Chelsea. As Loz says, the club is bigger than one man, and would, I have no doubt survive quite well without Jose. Having said that, the thought of him leaving us is giving me nightmares, who the hell would you bring in to replace him, he may not be perfect, referencing some of his comments, but , I for one, cannot see anyone else out there to compare with him. Our recent success I put down to him, he may have a great squad of players playing there hearts out, but he is responsible for our style of play from week to week, and must share in the plaudits of success. The style of play frustrates the hell out of me at times, but is very effective, just look at our results over the last 2 seasons, so should not be criticised unduly. If this style resulted in us losing frequently then that would be a different matter. As for other teams, the media et al calling us boring, who cares, in a league situation, results are all that matters. I think we were spoilt in the first season, when the 4-3-3 was used with such effect, and all now yearn for that kind of football to return. The problem is that that kind of play is essentially suited to cup competitions, one off games where you can afford to attack the opposition (we should obviously have used it more in the cup comps this season), but have still progressed well with this "negative" style. My main worry at the moment, is that Roman seems to be trying to influence which players we sign. With all due respect, (we all know its his money being used), he should leave that to the manager and his advisers. We do not need a dual tier of management here, with the manager having to go a third party to get approval, before it gets to Roman, and I dont mean Kenyon, by the way. Jose should be allowed to finish what he has started, albeit with toned down rantings, sign which players he wants, within reason, and be allowed to do the job for which he has been employed. His first 2 seasons have been nothing short of spectacular. Anyone thinking that we could achieve the heights of the last 2 seasons in perpetuity are severely deluded. Although I understand both viewpoints on offer, I seriously doubt that we could find a replacement of enough quality, and therefore, I am definitely in the Jose to stay club.

Guys, every genius has a flaw, and this is Jose's. I'm not even sure that he would stop it if Roman gave him an ultimatum.

Well said Lofty mate, if you want to bask in the glory, you have to learn to swim in the s**t as well.

All I kept thinking was "when the hell are we going to go for it, bloody hell ,we've been through this same crap in 3 semis now". At some time you would have thought we would throw caution to the wind, but no, lets sit back, invite them on to us and hope to snatch one on the break. Why were we playing 4-3-3 when all we did was give the ball to Petr to lump forward to Drogs, surely the diamond suits that much better. I dont like to say it but we were wrong tactically last night, Jose blew it big time. P**sed off is putting it mildly.

Definitely not our Maka he was talking about. Possibly the biggest cock-up they ever made letting him leave.

We are all nervous, but just think back a few years, we couldn't of dreamed of being in this situation. We have won the Carling, in the final of the FA, still trying to push Man.U in the league, and lastly, a Champions league semi, bloody hell, we should think ourselves lucky. I still understand what clubhappy is saying though, the nervous anticipation, which only gets worse as kick-off approaches, the nagging doubts in your head. I want us to win as much as anyone, but I want us to win well, with style. If we sit back, we could be in big trouble, the last thing we need is to give the scousers an early head of steam. We need a big game from the boys tonight, no missed chances, no mistakes, its there for the taking if we only have the heart and more importantly, the desire.

Geordie twat.

We've been missing his creativity all season, to be honest, great to see him back and looking so fresh. The flair is back, he must be given a big part on sunday, opponents just don't know how to handle him.

Fantastic display from the boys last night. We love Jose, and the players do as well. Did you see where Michael Essien went straight after the final whistle ?, straight across to Jose. The guys a genius, we know it, the players know it, surely the board can't be stupid enough to let him go, can they ?

I thought that was great, nonchalantly conducting with one hand, and a nice liitle grin on his face. Back to the game, thats the Sheva we, and JM want, working his nuts off, slick finishes, good link up play, and tackling back as well. I just hope its the start for him, not a false dawn. Mikel is a definite star of the future, good to see Petr back to near his best, Maka in commanding mood again. Nothing really to moan about, Diarra had a few misplaced passes, but, for a midfielder, played quite well at right back. Ashley Cole didnt have the best of games, but was being pushed forward an awful lot. What can i say about Michael Essien, Mr. Utility ? he's just bloody awesome, is there any position he cant fill ? With Ricci and Petr there, he looked really at home. Overall a good performance, another cup final, and with a bit of luck, it wont be the only one this season.

I like this formation, DutchBlue, especially if Robben has a free role. I dont think we can risk Mikel in the holding role, Geremi is a far better bet. Oh, I see I got that bit wrong. Mikel alongside Lamps, could work, but risky against Alonso and Gerrard. I personally doubt that Cech will be risked, probably saved for the Wycombe game. I'm still (at the moment at least) of the opinion that Sheva will come good, this sort of game may be just the motivation he's waiting for. With the mousers in good form, this is going to be a difficult game, could go either way.

Its a bloody shame that his form is so hit and miss, on his day, he is one of the best in europe, let alone the EPL. Even more of a shame, is that Joey will be out all season, Joey and Arjen on either wing, we can only dream of it, unfortunately.

Yeah, I know mate. I was thinking, they ripped us off 21 million for a player rated around 10 million with SWP. Now they are trying to do the same again with Richards. They say never look a gift horse in the mouth, but Man City are really taking the michael now, its time to tell all these parasites, accept our offer or sod off.

The answer to this problem is to swap SWP and Richards, no money involved

Although we all know the diamond is Jose's preferred formation, to me it makes the team very narow. The straight 4-4-2, although not an ideal formation, is still the most balanced. it allows for 2 out-and-out strikers, (the only way we are going to get anything from Sheva), and also gives the necessary width and depth to the side. I also disagree that Lampard and Ballack cannot play together in a 4-4-2, it will restrict both players to some extent (as both will have defensive duties), but with Robben on one side and Essien on the other, the attacking threat is still there, with over-lapping full-backs to help out. Frankie is much better backing up the attack than trying to be a part of it, and Michael Ballack has (reportedly) played a kind of sweeper role at times. My main problem with the straight 4-4-2 is that it doesn't really have room for Maka in it, although not up to his level of the last 2 seasons, he is still a very important part of the machine. The injury crisis may force us back to a more conservative approach, but we still have enough quality to catch the Mancs.

I've heard that Jos? want a couple of new players now in january but Kenyon has stopped all signings. I heard Jose said it But now I found Jose will a new striker but roman is not agree only for sheva Roman loves sheva and likes only sheva play for Chelsea I think it is not right and we need a new striker and sell sheva Sheva didn't play against wigan and it shows jose don't want him And jose is right Actually Sheva didn't play because he's injured. Atleast that was what I heard. I don't think we should sell Sheva we just have to let him play the way he did in Italy. There he was a real striker who was up front chasing every opportunity he got. Here he's like a winger and that really doesn't suit him. Also he really needs to get the right passes to him. He might get the ball 2-3 times every game and that might leave him with 1 scoring chance. That is not enough. Sure one could argue that he should score every now and then but when not playing in the right position it's really difficult to find ones game. The part of your reply that I've highlighted, mirrors my thinking on Sheva entirely. I know Jose likes team players, and Sheva is trying his best to be one, but that has destroyed in Sheva, what we need from him. We need him to be greedy, to take players on and shoot, as he did at Milan, not look to pass almost as soon as he gets the ball. As the old saying goes "if it aint broken, dont try to fix it", most strikers are inherently greedy players, who thrive on scoring goals, we dont need Sheva to be a link up forward, or pseudo midfielder, we need him to be the predator he was in Serie A, or he may as well leave.