Bombay Blues

An LOSC Lille news account (fan-site) claims he is to leave the Belgium squad soon, to travel to London for a medical at Cobham. (https://twitter.com/#!/LOSCNewsEng)

Lippi? Hell no. Benitez? Zola? di Matteo? Maybe. van Basten? Frank Rjikaard? Mark O'Neill? Sounds tasty. But, The Special One? Now we're talking. Bring it on.

That's strange. I've been thinking myself for the past three days that I've been reading rumours about this lad, that we should go get him and be pro-active for a change. But another site stated that he's a Liverpool fan, and favours a move to Anfield for that reason. Either way, to be honest, I think Roman's lost it and so, well, I've lost hope for such an ambitious signing.

With just this season in mind, at this point in time, I do think the squad is a bit thin. As abromovich pointed out up there, 7 players released, 5 loaned, 1 retired, and just two replacements incoming. Made me wonder after last night's game against Stoke, if Terry does miss the next game (doubtful that he would, but what if), and Ivanovic too doesn't recover, with Bosingwa out too, how would we line up our defence? Ferreira, Alex, Bruma, Cole? Just two of those four are deserving of first-team action at this point, realistically. We need a more experienced centre-back, and I'm surprised Ancelotti's decided not to buy anyone. Was surprised Mancienne wasn't retained. And although Demichelis isn't the most exciting centre-back in Europe to be linked to us, I was just pleased we were (supposedly) in the market for a defender. Too bad, that fizzled out too. Secondly, we don't need a striker this season, surely. Drogba, Anelka and Malouda on the left-wing, are terrific. Kalou and Sturridge are fine back-up. We have the promising Kakuta too, so that's all good. But Neymar would've been great. Or Aguero, too. Seeing as Drogba and Anelka don't have too many seasons left in them, perhaps this was a good time to pick up a promising, attacking forward and groom him for the future. Sure, we could do the same with Sturridge, Kakuta and Kalou, and I guess that's how Ancelotti thinks too. I'm not a 100% convinced, as yet. And I see a similar goalkeeping situation at Chelsea too. We need better back-up for Cech, than we already have. I guess we tried (for Begovic), but it isn't happening. The midfield, again, looks short of back-up. I was surprised at Matic being loaned out. I thought he had a role to play this season. Ramires and Benayoun are terrific buys in my opinion. I'm pleased with those two, but we needed perhaps one more (at least). For as long as our prime fifteen/sixteen (or so) remain fit, we've no worries. It's when about four or five of them get injured, that we might find ourselves in a desperate situation. Really, can we just manage with these many (a lot of whom are on the wrong side of 30) in the four competitions we aim to win? The bottomline, I think we've a thin squad, and surely expected a couple more signings, and am surprised it hasn't happened. Don't see any last-minute drama happening this transfer window, and I hope it doesn't get around to haunt us later in the season.

Wow. For me, it was 15 minutes of bliss to watch Sergio Aguero play against Korea. Set up a goal within a minute of coming on, provided a terrific cross later for Higuain to tuck in, and had a couple of very impressive runs into the box. One wonders, with his past record of injuries, if he's really ideal for a side like ours' and a league like the EPL, but the man sure has talent. It'd be interesting to see how Maradona keeps him on the bench for the next game, after that performance. I'd love to see the guy at CFC, and hope the proposed move hasn't fizzled out, just yet.

Ozil was terrific. And we aren't gonna be the only ones gunning for him. He was quick, and the Australians just couldn't pick his runs into the box. Loew plays him more as a CF, instead of Podolski/Muller/Gomez. If we aren't going for Aguero (and that rumour does seem to have fizzled out), Ozil could be another option. Of course, it's naive to judge him on just one performance, but there sure was a lot of promise.

Bloody fantastic indeed! 103 goals, 8-0 when they thought we'd slip-up, three wins scoring 7 goals, screwed the ManUnited-Liverpool-Arsenal trio 7 times out of 7 (including the Community Shield), 17 clean-sheets, & the Golden boot. Thanks for a great season Didier, Lamps, Malouda, JT, Bran, Nico, Cech, Ashley and all the other blokes. Chelsea FC - deservingly, Champions. Roll on the blue tide!

Sergio Aguero - if he comes for a reasonable price. And anything over 25-30 million pounds for him might be a big risk. He's quick, should fit in well with the diamond formation (at the tip) - but he's not as big in stature as some of our players and doesn't win many in the air. It'd be a gamble, and I've always preferred to rather have someone like a Tevez in the team for that role, instead of a Pato or Aguero - but since Tevez is out of the question, we could settle with this lad. There're still reports about Ribery and Chelsea linking up. But for some reason, I don't think it's going to work out either. He's way too inexpensive and prone to injuries. Alan Dzagoev should be picked up - IMHO. He's a massive Chelsea fan too, and a promising young midfielder. Yeah, also read the report about us targetting Dani Alves. He's already turned us down once before moving to Nou Camp, and I don't he's coming back. Wouldn't mind seeing him in a blue jersey though. As for players in our team that need to be replaced - perhaps Ballack and Deco, ahead of the others. Hilario is a decent stand-in goalkeeper (albeit old), while Belletti and Paulo Ferreira are good, versatile squad players to have.

I just wonder if we'd even be discussing all this about Didier had he scored with that free-kick, late in the second-half. Well, I lost a bit of money on him missing that (only just, after shaking the cross-bar, I think), but I was dead-sure he was going to thump it in. And it was almost deja vu from the game at the Emirates, in November. With a 3-0 scoreline then, a Drogba hat-trick as it would've been, nobody would've care a hoot for Drogba losing the ball a few times. Hell, he can lose it a dozen times a game, if he'd also keep racking 'em at this pace!

Didier. He deserves it. Yes, there are times when he gives the ball away rather easily up front, but then there are times when he's magic. Did you not see his second goal? Brilliance. And that too, off of his weaker foot, if I remember correctly? And an honorary mention to Lampard for his contribution in that bit of play, too. A couple of saves by Cech were terrific. A close second, for me. Best responsible for the clean sheet, yesterday. Ivanovic didn't have his best game down that right flank. He's defended better. An occasion when he did just about enough, perhaps.

It's a tricky tie at a difficult time. With Manchester United pressing us - and with us not capitalising on the precious few opportunities we've had recently to widen the gap of points between us and second-placed side in the league - any less than six points from the next two (rather difficult) ties - Arsenal at home, and Everton away, would be a massive dampener to our hopes in this race. I'd prefer to start like this (similar to mad_mac's eleven, with Alex drafted in):- .......................Cech........................ ..Ivan.......Terry.........Alex......A.Cole.. ........................Deco....................... ..................Ballack.......................... .............................Lampard............. .......Anelka.......................Malouda... .......................Drogba..................... I'm also of the opinion that we shouldn't start with both Ballack and Mikel. I'd rather we start with Deco, instead of Mikel - in the holding MF role. Would be enticed to have Joe Cole in the starting line-up, but I suppose Malouda will make the cut. Personally, I'd say after a hard-fought 90 minutes, we should win 2-1. The next two ties could decide our fate this season. We can't afford to lost/draw tonight, or at Goodison Park - should United scrape past Villa in their next tie. We'll then be playing catch-up, and might well fall short.

4-3-3 please, and a similar line-up (apart from one or two) to the one that hosted Sunderland: -------------------------------CECH------------------------------ ------IVANOVIC-----TERRY---------ALEX------A.COLE--------- --------LAMPARD----------BELLETTI---------ZHIRKOV--------- -------J.COLE--------------ANELKA-----------MALOUDA-------- 1. I know seeing Ashley, Malouda, Zhirkov - ALL playing on the left flank would be ambitious and unlikely, but hell, I'm an optimist. 2. Presume Ashley Cole is fit and available? 3. If fit, rather play Lampard, albeit on the right, or have Ballack play in his position. In that case, we could switch Ballack and Belletti's positions, but I suppose Ancelotti prefers it the other way round. Let's hope Drogba's back for the game against Hull.

Yeah I'd say the same as a lot of you. I'd rather get rid of the dead wood, in the following order of priority: 1 - Ballack 2 - Ferreira 3 - Deco 4 - Belletti 5 - Hilario 6 - Kalou We need younger legs to replace the top five, and anybody else would do in place of the sixth.

Couldn't watch the full 90 minutes - only bits and pieces, here and there. But during the time I was watching, Deco seemed ineffective, to me. Glad that you guys thought he improved, because I obviously missed that part. Nobody really stood out. But Malouda, Anelka, Alex, Terry, Zhirkov seemed to know what they were doing. Hilario came close to giving a couple away. He was sloppy, on a couple of occasions, but held up, eventually.

Assuming he's certainly out till May, I, personally, still don't think we need a replacement for Essien for the rest of this season. Mikel and Belletti should be good enough to fill in his boots, for now. Don't see Nemanja Matic getting too many opportunities in the big flight, for now, anyway. Xavi, Gourcuff, Modric, Hamsik, Kroos or whoever is being mentioned are more in the attacking mould. Not like-for-like, although wouldn't mind seeing a couple of them in the blue jersey. Alonso wouldn't be an option realistically, so I won't even count him in. Lassana isn't coming (back), neither is his brother. De Rossi would be ideal (albeit expensive) and I was surprised to read earlier this season that even Ancelotti couldn't bring him to CFC. He's more like Essien - going box-to-box. Toulalan is another promising option, defensively. Yaya Toure, Jerko Leko, Sissokho, Fellaini, and honorary mentions for Gattuso, although most of them don't quite fit in to Essien's style. Bottomline - as I see it, we're going to stick to the current squad and hope that Essien is back sooner rather than later, or the current lot makes it through.

Deco's apparently still injured, so is Bosingwa. Don't really expect Ancelotti to 'start' our game with a 4-3-3, so I'm guessing Ancelotti's 4-1-2-1-2 should line up something like this: ---------------------------------------Cech--------------------------------------- ---------Ivanovic----------Carvalho-------Terry---------Ashley Cole----------- -------------------------------------Ballack--------------------------------------- ---------------------Lampard---------------------Malouda----------------------- ------------------------------------Joe Cole-------------------------------------- ---------------------Sturridge---------------------Anelka------------------------ Substitutes: Hilario, Zhirkov, Borini, Ferreira, Belletti, Alex, Matic ^ Personally, I'd rather start with Zhirkov in place of Malouda, Alex in place of Carvalho, and have Kakuta on the bench. We could see Matic or Belletti tried out in the holding-midfielder's role later on in the game, lest we switch to 4-3-3 before that.

I suppose (if at all there is an ounce of truth in this), it's for the holding-midfielder's role. And if Essien isn't available/playing or is injured, I'd still pick Mikel over Fellaini - for that role. Given that we'd probably see Chelsea being associated with about 150 players in this window, I, for one, feel he's not the worst name to emerge...but I just don't see us going for him.

I agree. And I do think it's what we're settling at. So technically, Carlo wouldn't have acquired another player for the rest of this season, but still would've bought one (or perhaps more) as insurance for the impending ban. Clearly, Ancelotti doesn't think we need to be desperate enough to dole out millions just for the month of January (when our African players are M.I.A.) - and perhaps, it's wise. So he'd rather save about 10 million quid, secure him for the next season instead, and - voila. Yeah, I can see this happening. And well, no wonder the ludacris comment about streaking naked on the pitch if he bought.

Well, if we've decided not to break the bank for Aguero or Villa, then Heskey isn't a bad option, IMHO. He's strong, wins balls in the air, and it's a real bargain. Of course he's not gonna be in our starting eleven (often, or at all) once a fit Anelka and Drogba are available, but he of most people would know that. As a stopgap for the next one month, I think it's a bargain.

I think our imminent need in January is someone who could play upfront - at the tip of the diamond/to fill the one-month void left by Drogba and Kalou's absence. The unanimous opinion of most (fans) is that we buy now, to avoid the embarassment of ruing it later when we're desperate, or when the transfer-ban is reinstated. Worries me that Ancelotti's claimed he'll run around naked if we end up buying - he's THAT confident we don't need to buy/need anyone at all, this season. Hell, then how DO numerous rumours come around, linking us to Aguero/Villa/Ribery/Dzeko/Dzagoev/Vieira/De Rossi, or whoever. IMHO, it's daft to not buy. Because we NEED someone. We have a vital position (the tip) where three guys have been tried out and all have failed - and we have a suitable replacement in mind, albeit expensive; One of our main strikers is off for a month; The other striker is about to come off of an injury.

Yeah, he's good. And he'd be an ideal replacement for the terrific Cech and Hilario. Cech could go on for a few seasons, but Hilario's getting old. And as it is certain Cech's gonna hang around for a while with us, I don't see Joe Hart signing on to warm the bench, either. We could, however, buy him from City once his loan contract expires, and then loan him off too (either to B'gham or whoever). However, Manchester City wouldn't sell him IMO.

This is simply a question that no one has a definite answer to. Because neither of the three has managed to impress. Malouda hasn't played at the tip as much as the other two, so he deserves a slight benefit of the doubt IMHO. But a lot of us would rather have him play alongside Lampard. I suppose a lot of us would rather have us drop the diamond altogether, and figure out another way of using the midfield-potential we have in our ranks.

.................................CECH.................................... IVANOVIC.........ALEX.................TERRY...........ASHLEY ..................................MIKEL................................... ..........LAMPARD..........................ZHIRKOV............... .................................J.COLE.................................. ............KALOU.............................DROGBA............... After Saturday's cameo at St. Andrews, I wouldn't mind see him starting this game. But then again, he's been known to play one decent game and then about half a dozen shockers. Alex to be picked over Carvalho is a no-brainer after his performance, in both defence AND attack. In Malouda's absence, it's a great chance to give Zhirkov a start. I'm bloody hopeful.

Alex, by a distance, for moi. Unstoppable in defence, AND attack. And what a kick that was too. Glad we renewed that contract. No matter how much Cech would end up doing, he doesn't get enough credit. He was terrific - and has been all season, IMHO. Ivanovic was bright, as ever. Mikel's been solid in his position, in the painful absence of Essien. Has been passing well and supports the centre-backs well in defence. Lampard, Malouda and Belletti were okay, in my opinion. Would've preferred Zhirkov in, over the latter two, to start. And I thought the second yellow for Malouda was silly...should'nt have been. Lampard seemed a tad confused about his shot on goal in the first half. He probably thought he was offside, but all said and done, it was a ghastly miss. He racks in three penalties on the trot one day, and then misses a sitter. Should've slotted that in. And just when we start despising a certain Kalou, he comes up with a very promising performance. Got into good positions, was quick, and created more half-chances than Drogba could in his last two outings for the year - at Upton Park and St. Andrews. Sad that Drogba couldn't wrap up the year with a goal or two for us.

First rumours about them inquiring for Carvalho, now Ivan? No way, no chance. Ivan's proven to be as good as any of our defenders, this season. Preferred choice for RB, even over Bosingwa.