Redforever

I think he knows that he only has 6 months and pep will take over from him. But I think it was very big opportunity for him to get back into management. The more gap increases, the more problematic it would have been for him to get new Job. So think he'll try his best to make most of it to help his reputation.

As you can guess from my username, I am a Liverpool supporter and joined this site in 2008. I come here whenever we play against you to have some fair discussion. I am not here on windup so please take it easy on me. I think you make a good point here. His Valencia side was very good and the reason he landed the Liverpool Job. When we played Rafa's valencia side, the way his side used ball against us was very clinical. When he arrived at Liverpool, he based the formation and play style based on our strength (mainly Gerrard). I will not get in spend debate but he never had budget to overhaul players so that he can adopt his Valencia playing approach. He built his team and style around Gerrard. I think Rafa will look at organizing your defense first since he always says that thats the much easier to do than address the offensive side where you need player who demand premium prices. Luckily for Chelsea looks like that won't be problem since you already have quality offensive players in abundance. I think he will leave it untouched (or minor modifications) and concentrate on defensive side. I have respect for him for what he did for us. I know other fans think he was out of order when he was fighting against our owners but I am grateful for him since we were on brink of administartion under Hick and Gillet and his outburst made fans unite against the owners. Apart from this I can understand the reaction here over Rafa's appointment given our recent history. I would feel same if Jose joins Liverpool given his comments against us that time.

Also the whole kick by Suarez which started this event is captured here. He didn't even touch evera and he goes holding his knee. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH50lwwBRms He claims Suarez wanted to unsettle him by racially abusing him when he is the person who started the conversation by saying - as per evra's understanding of f**king hell but the word he used translates to "I will f**k your sister's pussy". Evra also says he doesn't know spanish that well but can converse in it. So if you don't have full understanding of language, there is always chance of misinterpretation when the conversation is taken place in spanish. For me still its one man's words against others.

This is Evra's take on events where as Suarez's events are different. Also note that they reviewed video evidence when these events happened and didn't find any evidence of Suarez using negro word during this or else it would have been very easy case. Suarez admitted to using word negro after they talked to ref where Evra called him don't touch me south american to which he responded you are black. Also strange no manchester united player hear the word negro when Evra claims he has used for 10 odd times in above transcript.

I think he is talented young coach and has potential to build something good at Chelsea. Now things are not going well for you guys but if he can turn the things around, he deserves more time and backing. At the start of the season he was spot on with his tactics etc and even you lost against united, you were the better team on the day. What I observed from that united game and your recent outings is that your team is not moving the ball fast. That's the one thing when Torres is at his best. Under Rafa whenever we had ball we moved it fast and always tried to isolate opposition CB against Torres. He provides great movement when the ball is moved fast and he is playing on shoulder of last defender. This is the reason why he struggles in Spain setup. Right now your play setup is more suitable to Drogba than Torres and unfortunately for you Drogba is on declines and can no longer bully the opposition defense with his pace and power.

He is coming of age since last season and becoming mainstay of our setup. The gap in midfield after he went off injured showed how important he has become for us in that middle of the pitch. Hope his injury is not that bad. He always had his qualities and really worked on his strength since he joined us. Only 24 and continuously improving.

I don't watch Chelsea that often but from what little I saw, I think Romelu is much much better DM than Michael. Also I think Meireiless coming for Michael when you put us pressure for 25 minutes would have added a lot to your attacking game.

You might call me biased but if Suarez called a variation of N word, it is not used in offensive way in South America. Also he hardly knows English and he might have said something in Spanish where that word is used to address among friends too. Suarez also mentioned that he said something in English and some stuff in Spanish. So they need to take all these factors into consideration. If he is proved to be guilty (he has a case to answer and is not found guilty yet), he definitely needs to be punished. Thats my take on that situation.

At least he has a plan B when our players are injured/suspended (Gerrard and Lucas) or tired (torres/Riera/Alonso/Kuyt) due to playing extra time (with 10 men for an hour) on Wednesday. IF anyone watched first half, that formation worked (3-5-2 countering 4-4-2) and should have been ahead. Second half (pompey changed their shape (4-5-1) and went ahead. At least Rafa was smart in his sub to counter that by changing shape to 4-5-1. Forget about plan C or D etc, if Scolari would have at least plan B, its you who would have been at top with your player quality and squad depth. The Ex scouser theory is pathetic. Some of those posts are sounding like Everton fan posts.

I think scolari's lack of management experience at top club is found out. I think the only person who is responsible for chelsea's short downfall in these recent years is abramovic. He sacks Mourhino without getting proper replacement. I don't see any passion, commitment from your players which they showed when Mourhino was at your clubs. I don't what Abramovic expected (beautiful football) but I think you were really unstoppable in Maurhino's first two years. You were tough to beat and also you had lot of flair in your games with Duff and Robben on wings. You were like a crushing machine which can hold on to a lead or can demolish teams when required. Still you have very good players in your rank and just need a manager with bit character. I think Essien injury was big blow to you guys. That guy alone is much better than Ballack, Deco, Malouda and mikel. The guys is beast in the middle of the park and you missed him very much this season. Mikel can give you that holding midfielder but I don't think he has the talent which essien posses. While performing his holding duties, he can hit opposition at will with his powerful runs. I remeber he giving us hard time in last cl semi while playing at Right back. He can provide more from right back position than Malouda, Deco and Ballack can provide from middle. Scolari is disappointment after your early start to the seaon (Not sure if Essien was playing that moment). The guy lacks character to influence his players to play wiith passion and heart. This season I am wondering is it same Drogba, Terry, Cole etc which played under Maourhino. I might sound harsh but this season Terry is looking pale shadow of his days under Mourhino which saw him take that England captainship. You are still in hunt for title provided that Essien comes back soon and rub some heart and passion in your play. P.S. That was shocking decision from Riley to send off Lampard. He did got the ball.

I don't think we came with defensive plan at bridge (its not that we just sit back and defended. We created more opportunities for us in second half and scored in first). Rafa got it tactically correct. We denied you space in the middle so Deco and Lampard didn't had chance/time to make those through balls. We defended well in first half. In second half we were the better team, moved ball well and hit the post with Alonso shot. Babel and Gerrard also had good effort on your goal. When it was clear that your passing was not working, Scolari tried to play long balls and it almost worked (This is where Arsenal fails since they don't have alternate plan if their passing game is not working). Fortunately for us and unfortunately for you Drogba is out. He might have caused us mighty problems with your floated balls in the box. Its just that we were better prepared than you at this moment. As far as title goes, you guys are still favorite. We don't have quality depth in our squad. Our first 11 might be as good as others but we don't have real quality on bench. So think are better prepared if there are injuries/ drop forms/tiredness etc at the end of the season. i think you have the strongest squad in EPL. United are just behind you in those department (though their midfield is having poor season so far).

Before the match we were bit worried about our defence. Carra and Skrtel were doing very well but unfortunately we lost Skrtel with injury. Agger is very good player but he is coming back from 1 year injury layoff and is not at his best (against wigan we conceded due to his mistake). So we were bit worried how they will cope with your attack. But they did very well. I think you missed Drogba more than Joe cole in this game. Cole might have given you bit tricks on wing but Drogba would have given you more options upfront. It was clear after watching your previous games, Rafa will make sure that we don't give enough space to lampard and Deco in the middle of the park but doing so we allowed too much space to Boswinga and he was putting those crosses in our box time and again. So I think Drogba would have gave us lot of problems in the box since both Carra and Agger are bit shakyagainst his physical presence. I still think you guys need a better striker than Anelka to complement your game (David Villa) while Drogba will give you different options when opposition denies you space in middle. Di Santo is good in air but not as good as Drogba. Also Drogba gives you ball retention abilities in opposition half. Have to admit you might have best set of fullbacks in EPL along with Arsenal. Cole is comparable to Evra and Clichy while Boswinga pisses over Wes brown. I think Sagna is match for Boswinga. Boswinga is really fast (we knew about him when we faced Porto in CL last term).

That was a cracking game. Chelsea were really pushing us in first half (after goal) and second half we played really well. I really like Scolari as manager. The guy has transformed your side into an amazing unit which play attractive football and he is very good tactically. When things were not working he did make changes which almost paid divident (When Di santo came, he really did well and almost setup equalizer for Cole). At the same time apart from being a very good manager he is very humble in his press conferences too. At times your passing game is like Arsenal but Scolari knows how to mix it when things are not working that way (unlike wenger whose side only know one way of scoring - walking ball in opposition net. Take that away and they struggle - Hull/Fulham great examples). Scolari's team require space in middle to be effective and thats what liverpool took away from them. We didn't give enough space for Lampard and Deco and you really missed Joe cole on this occasion. He tried to change that by bringing in Di santo who I think is really good (specially in Air) and it almost paid divident. But all in all, it was great match. So far it was going very well for Scolari and this will test the man's character. Not that I doubt it since he has shown that at international level and he looked very confident in his post match interview. He rang the right bells in that post match interview.

We might have bit edge if he decides to come to England and we can manage cash (which is unlikely). But Barca will also have edge here. They can offer Valencia Cash and lot of barca players play for NT. Last time Rafa failed to get him from Real Zaragoza since he didn't wanted to move away from Spain and eventually ended up at Valencia. So this time also I think he will end up at Valencia or Barca (they will need replacement for Eto'o) or real Madrid.

His off ball movement is just out of this world. He just killed us in the first half in Istanbul with his movement. Still he is a top class striker since he still has that composure in front fo the goal and off the ball movement to hurt opposition. I am sure lot of clubs will be behind him since he is free agent now.