ChelseaFanBoy

Can we get Diego Costa back for tonight?

Some head-to-head stats from the BBC to raise morale around here! :
Match stats
Chelsea and Barcelona are facing each other for the 13th time in the Champions League, the fifth-most played fixture in the competition. The London club are unbeaten in their last seven Champions League games against Barcelona (won two, drawn five). Barcelona have won only one of their six away games against Chelsea in the Champions League and they have never kept a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will attempt to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2013/14 - they are winless in their last six knockout games. Barcelona have reached the Champions League semi-finals only once in the last four seasons. Barcelona were one of four teams to remain unbeaten in this season's Champions League group stages, alongside Besiktas, Liverpool and Tottenham. They also have the best defensive record in the Champions League this season, conceding only one goal in six games. Luis Suarez has failed to score in the last 791 minutes of play in the Champions League, his longest drought in the competition. Eden Hazard has scored three goals and delivered two assists in his last five Champions League games.

Hi there,
Barca fan and owner of Barca forum and I come in peace (again)  
12 times we've met already in this century and I watched all those clashes. Some sweet memories like Iniesta winner at Stamford Bridge and some not so great like 2012 exit and, ultimately, pep's last CL match as Barca coach.
I am confident about our chances eventhough there are plenty Barca fans who consider this as first "real test". As if being unbeaten in the league accounts for nothing.
 Will we see our boys Pedro and Cesc tomorrow and how will Conte line up? 3-4-3?
 
Anyways, came here for some friendly banter and to give you heads up if some of you would like to do the same with our bunch over at our forum http://www.barcaforum.com/showthread.php/14764-CL-1-8-Finals-Chelsea-FC-Barcelona
 
 
 
 

Some of the fans reaction when Conte said Lord Bakayoko isn’t playing against Barca :

 

McEachran and based on what? We have players of similar build in the academy, with similar play styles, they're not all going to fail because Josh did.

5th at best??? Seriously? Even currently we are 4th. Have gone through our rough patch and we are still 4th and if we win at united, we will be at equal points. We finished 6th in the season we won the CL, FYI.
And talking about downing tools, what happened in the 2011/12 season when AVB was here? Or scholari? 
Yes, we have been inconsistent this season, but I am optimistic about the barca games. Come on Chelsea!!!

I don't know why people here are complaining.
Yes, we looked shaky up until the 10th minute. Yes, we played against West Brom.
But I think it was a huge improvement from the two last games. We played with energy, created chances and apart from the first minutes looked decent on defence. We also saw Conte, while not changing the system, at least introducing new tactical aspects to the game: more freedom to the back 3 when attacking (we even saw Rudiger and Azpi overlapping Moses and Zapa), the combination play upfront that Conte like has made a reappearance.
And, most importantly, the players played with energy and will.
I concede that ahead of this very difficult month this might not be enough. But maybe, just maybe, this will give the players the confidence they need (odds are slim though)...

What kinda fan are you ?
Dropping your weapons even before the fight started ?
Last time when we beat barca, we were sh*ttier than we're today. We had a weaker team and barcelona was stronger, yet we beat them. Form doesn't matter in CL. What matters is who play better on the given day.

I know, I just posted this tweet on the Antonio Conte thread, but this was quote was from the post match press conference
 

Lifted straight from the Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/02/11/antonio-conte-nobody-better-improving-players-disaster-getting/
Domn't blame me if the facts don't fit your agenda

Hi.
I'm Barca fan. A few things for your information. 
1.) Luis Enrique did not flop at Roma. He instilled a recognizable style pretty quickly in a league that isn't used to it and he didn't exactly fight for relegation either like someone who is truly clueless (G. Neville at Valencia). For a very young manager in his first job in a foreign league culturally than the one he grew up in he did quite well. Roma scored the 2nd most goals in the league after Juventus and finished 6 points short off of top 4, a team where Bojan was the big summer reinforcement. That's the supposed flop of Luis Enrique's career. 
2.) Luis Enrique did not flop in his last season at Barca. What happened is that Messi refused to do what he was instructed to do. With Messi, Suarez and Neymar you can only arrange their positions in a single way: Neymar left wing, Suarez center, Messi right wing. Anything else doesn't make sense. But Messi doesn' t defend at all. He ballwatches players 2 meters away from him until Barca goes through a bad phase and Ronaldo racks up the awards. Then Messi bothers moving again (like this season after Madrid won back-to-back Champions Leagues). What happens when Messi doesn't defend on the right wing is that Rakitic (right central midfield) has to do it for him. But when the central midfielder is pulled apart to defend the wings he can't do his actual job of a midfielder. That's where the perception came from that "Enrique bypasses the midfield". But there is no other way to make that front 3 work. Now what also happened was that Dani Alves left Barca in the 3rd season and that made the right flank even worse. Alves, offensively, in my opinion is the best rightback of all time. You could play him as a central midfielder no problem. A rightback with endless stamina and the technique of a world class midfielder helped a lot to mask the flaws of Messi on the right wing and his lack of positional discipline (always coming inside and leaving the flank empty).
Despite all that, Luis Enrique lost the league on the last day of the season. 90 points. But again, this is supposed to be a FLOP. Okay.
3.) The Barca fan base is the most embarrassing in the world. Truly. Apart from Pep Guardiola and Messi, I think I've seen them abuse every single coach or player that BROKE RECORDS like the late Tito Vilanova (RIP) or Luis Suarez if they were once in a dip of form or "only" won but didn't win in Globetrotters style etc. Embarrassing fanbase. At the beginning of this season Valverde was also called Fraudverde and they wished that Messi left Barca for Man. City so he could win Ballon d'Ors. Now it's February and Barca is still unbeaten in CL and La Liga and has pretty much already secured the domestic double.
4.) Luis Enrique is far from a bad coach but he is also not the second coming of Jesus. Manchester City and Manchester United can spend absurd money which Chelsea cannot. So naturally 3rd is the realistic aim. If you lose Hazard and/or Courtois to Real Madrid things won't get better either.
5.) Looking forward to our CL games. Maybe you are not because of your current form but it wouldn't be the first time where you look bad and then somehow overcome Barca.

This is what I've touched on many times in the past. When you are clearly not going to win the league but are also in no danger of dropping to the relegation zone, use it as a period to blood some of the youth. Not saying throw them all in but at least give some games so they benefit for the future - or alternatively we see that they aren't good enough. But the trouble is, now top 4 and CL qualification has become such a major thing, as you say, chances are it won't happen.

Is there  a chance we can Appeal Bakayokos suspension. I think it should be 3 games not 1

Can someone explain to me why he would be a bad appointment? I don't watch football outside of Chelsea so can only take things at face value. 
I see a lot of people saying he would be a disaster and that he's not a very good coach but he won a lot in very short space of time with Barca. 
I mean, you don't just fluke a triple season so he must have been doing something right. 
And, I don't believe that it was all because of Messi either. 

The joys of being a Chelsea fan. 
See you all at the Premier League victory parade next year!

I don't want Carlo back here.
He had his time and did fantastically well. With the current situation of the Manchester clubs, and Chelsea's lack of ability to keep up financially, he'll just flop hard.

Sorry but i don't understand for the life of me the interest in Carlo. Honestly he's sh*t compared to other greater managers we've been linked with. Luis Enrique all day mate. Carlo won't get us anywhere.

Either Conte gets sacked or we lose another 3-0 or 4-1 to West Brom next week.

Either Conte gets sacked or we lose another 3-0 or 4-1 to West Brom next week.

A performance so bad it crashed the site

I cant beleive Conte keeps on giving Bakayoko chance after chance after chance even though he f**ks up. If he had half that faith in Batshuayi we wont need Giroud. I honestly dont care if Conte gets fired, His ego is his worst enemy.. Starting with him getting rid of Costa

At the moment it's Conte In.
We're back in the UEFA champions league because of him. We're still Top 4 and will likely remain there till the end of the season. I also believe our new signings will help make a difference in performance overall.
If we don't finish this season top 4 or at least beat Barcelona ... Then it'll be fair to say Conte out. Just not at the moment.
 

If Juventus & Real Madrid didn't have faith in him, why should we ?
We're talking about a player that's had the privilege of playing for Italy & Spain's biggest clubs. He blew his opportunity in earning a place as a main striker not once but twice.
We've given Morata the benefit of the doubt by making him Chelsea's main striker. We've seen how he performed over the past 6 months. What has he proven to us thus far ?
I don't have faith in him as Chelsea's main striker. At the same time, I'm not against keeping him either. For his level, he'd make for a solid back-up striker. Same way Michy was for Morata earlier this season.
The January Transfer market exists to rectify our mistakes (If we made any) from the summer transfer markets. The kind of strikers we've been linked with in January speaks volumes. Very embarrassing.
That outcry and desperation coming from London's biggest club. The hunt for a striker lol. Anyway, it's all over now. We've got Giroud and in my opinion he's our new main striker. Morata back to bench where he belongs.