BigIzz

I agree Ashley is irreplaceable but if Jose were to sign one of our big players he's been rumored for (Lampard, Drogba, Cole, Essien) I think Ash is the best fit to be sold. He will get a great price and we have a decent replacement on the roster already. That said, I hope he (and everyone else) stays.

This is a poor time to sell Essien even if you wanted to. He hasn't played in months and still isn't healthy. Who knows if he will come back to be the player he was or when it will happen. You won't get full price selling him now. Even if Madrid were going to pay £50 million, they'd pay £70 million if he were healthy and produced on the pitch like he's capable. So if the medical reports say he's goodnto go then why sell him now?

Does anyone doubt for a second that if we didn't win at OT that Man Utd would be celebrating their fourth straight title right now?

Love the ad

I agree 100%. ZonalMarking is an exceptional website and he is far more knowledgeable than I so I'm not sure if I'm qualified to criticize. It's fair to say he knows more than any of us, or actually anyone whose not an actual coach or manager. While I think a couple of Chelsea players may have deserved a spot, there is a good argument for each not being included. And he did include 4 Chelsea players in the second 11, meaning Chelsea accounted for 18% of his best 22 players.

What do England supporters think of Capello possibly switching to a three man back, as explained here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/05/14/eng...-defence-3-5-2/

I'll believe it when I see it. Suppose none of the big teams comply with the new regulations. "OK, Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Barca, Milan, Real, Bayern, etc., you guys are all out of the champions league. We don't want our sponsors reaching your massive fan bases. We don't care about selling 40, 50, 60k+ plus tickets to matches. We don't want Messi, Ronaldo, Drogba, Rooney playing in our league. We will find the three teams in each of your country that actually comply with these rules and play the champions league with them. Were sure the League will be just as good and just as profitable."

I think the bigger concern would be having Abramovich's finances outside of Chelsea take a downturn. I could imagine if he went broke or didn't have the revenue to support his lifestyle he might start wanting some of his loan back. That said I know very little about his finances, nor is it my business, so I don't know how likely this is to happen. That said, all the bug clubs seem to have their issues and risks. Nothing in life is 100%. Roman is the least of our conerns and we are lucky to have him.

Not a bad strike...

1. Best Chelsea Player: Drogba. A few other great seasons (Lampard, Ivanovic, Malouda all stand out) but a player who can score like Drogba is simply irreplaceable. 2. Worst Chelsea Player: Belletti. I like him but he had a poor season. The two things I think of when I think of his season are the penalty/red card against Man City and the Penalty against Pompey in the FA Cup final. Honorable mention to Hilario. 3. Best Opposing Player: Lucio. I'd like to give it to Samuel as well but those two played nearly perfect against what turned out to be a ferocious Chelsea attack. 4. Best Opposing Team Inter, they are th best team in Europe. If they win the CL they will have won the Italian treble and knocked out the English double winners, the German double winners and a team that won the Spanish League and was (is) regarded as one of the finest of all time. 5. Worst Opposing Team Against us no one really stands out but I'll go with Bolton. We beat them three times and had an aggregate score of 9-0. 6. Best Team Performance: Quite a few to chose from but I'll pick the April 25 game against Stoke. Others that stood out were 4-0 against Wolves, 0-3 at Arsenal, and 8-0 against Wigan. 7. Worst Team Performance: 2-4 loss against Man City, 8. Best Individual Performance: Lampard's 4 goals against Villa. 9. Most Improved Player: Malouda. 10. Best Signing 2009/20010: Zhirkov. 11. Worst Signing 2009/2010: don't think any of them qualify 12. Best Chelsea Goal: Drogba against Bolton although I must say that while we scored many great goals none were wow! amazing! 13. Best Opponent Goal Against Us: The Tevez goal where he beat two of our defenders and Hilario. It was disgusting from a Chelsea prospective but an impressive piece of skill. 14. Best Game 8-0 against Wigan to win the title 15. Worst Game The Blackburn draw. 16. Defining Moment Of The Season If the question was turning point I'd say the ball that bounced over James against Pompey. I think that lifted a lot of pressure off the team. Defining moment is much harder. When I think of 09-10 Chelsea I think of them being great but maddeningly inconsistent and pilling goal after goal on top of opponents, My moment would be the last fifteen minutes at Man United. Scored a goal to pad our 1-0 lead, conceded a goal to make things interesting but showed determination and held onto the most important three points of the season. 17. Disappointment Of The Season I think it's obviously the home match against Inter. 18. Player You Want Sold: No one really but Belletti would be my first to go off the team. Not the player he used to be and past his prime. 19. Player You Want Bought: I'll leave that to the experts, I don't think this team needs a big flashy addition though. Not to say I'd mind a Torres or Aguero. 20. Three Hopes For 2010/2011: 1. More consistent overall play. I don't mind that we conceded more goals because we scored so many but I do mind losing so many points from winning/tied positions and the results we had against Man City and Everton which nearly cost us our season (1 point out of a possible 12). 2. Give Ancelotti the benefit of doubt. Theres no doubt he will be back but I just hope people recognize stability at the club is important and not to panic if the club hits a rough patch. 3. Health. Let's not forget this season saw significant injuries to Cech, Ivanovic, A Cole, Essien, Carvalho, J Cole, Mikel, Bosingwa, Zhirkov, and Deco. Not only were the injuries numerous they mounted in inopportune ways (two keepers hurt, all left backs hurt at the same time, etc.)

The supposed choice of players is odd...What team on earth would chose Paulo Ferreira over Boswinga?

Keep the pictures and videos coming for those of us not fortunate enough to be able to attend

It isn't but the US trainer checked him out as well. They could have challenged Sochaux if they wanted to. I have to imagine that Bradley didn't think he had a shot at contributing if he didn't even make the pre World Cup camp. It's a shame but he is rehabbing five serious injuries and hasn't seen a club match. I can understand why Bradley wouldn't want to throw him onto the pitch in the World Cup. As far as my projected US lineup, I bet if they were to play tomorrow there is a pretty good chance of Dempsey moving up top and Stu Holden moving into the right mid spot. Unless one of the other strikers steps up before the Cup - Gomez, Buddle or Ching because I don't think Findley or Johnson have a shot - we will probably see Dempsey playing forward.

All i know is after a great day and a great seasonI'm sitting out on my balcony enjoying a drink and nice cigar. Who cares what the media think? I think I understand what carefree means now

Haha I can relate to that

Cech!!!

Double!!!! It felt like Portsmouths name was on the cup, how on earth did we win that match?

Obviously the man isn't a bad player. He has does have his flaws. When you consider the cost he isn't worth it. Not just in terms of transfer fee or wages - I don't pay those so I could care lee. In terms if the place he takes up. That is money and a roster spot we could use much more effectively.

He really was treated unfairly there.

I think he would be a great fit.

World cup years always make for tricky transfer markets. A good 3 or 4 world cup matches can greatly inflate a players price.

I felt the same way about the Wigan game but was afraid to say it. I'll say it now...I don't see how we lose this match. I'm sure Pompey will be motivated - whatever. They are probably the worst team in the Primer League despite all their heart and effort. Of course anything can happen but a loss would really be inexcusable. And yes, the team picks itself. Do you think Carlo even bothers to post it for the players before the match?

http://www.theshedend.com/index.php?showtopic=15116

It's obvious that the problem this season was consistency. Chelsea punished weaker teams on numerous occasions this season. They also did fantastic against the top competitors. The stumbling blocks against Blackburn, Everton, Tottenham, Man City are puzzling. Clearly they are teams that Chelsea could beat at their best but for whatever reason they weren't at their best on those days. I'm not not sure how to fix that problem. Let's not forget we had a ton of injuries this season. Essien, Carvalho, Bosingwa, Mikel, Cech, Ash Cole, Joe Cole, Ivanovich, etc all missed significant amounts of time. Those losses would be more then a lot of clubs overcome.

I was looking for it already. I want to see them. All 103. In order.