g3.7

I think it would be madness to get rid of shevckenko any time soon. but to answer your question, I'm not sure. he'd be an easy scapegoat.

I really enjoyed casino royale... thought it was grittier and less obviously comic. double entendres are for the birds. maskimov, I don't for one second think later brosnan films took themselves too seriously... two examples: 1) the invisible car. (artists impression) 2) denise richards. as a nuclear (or something) scientist. was goldeneye not the most brosnan film by a distance? and the most believeable? loz, unfortunately, that copy of casino royale is not as good as I thought- having checked it again the sound isn't great, althougfh the picture is watchable. heard that all films barring calendar girls and sotd on the moos' list are sh*te. love actually! if you want a good romcom try annie hall.

I got the wii last less than a month ago. it is really very good.

no it isn't. I wish people would view joe for what he is, not what the press or he himself think he is- he is not a playmaker. he is a damned fine wide player who cuts in as well as goes down the outside- think malbranque, fiore, luis enrique, medieta maybe.... not deco, kaka, rui costa or riquelme. his passing, not in terms of technique, but in terms of pure vision is not at the same level. that's not to say he's a bad player, it's not even a criticism- it's just recognising truly what kind of a player he is- great center of gravity, great dribbler, good crosser and a good passer. add that to a tremendous work ethic. he also is far better playing on the right and roaming a bit than he is centrally. p.s. why would we get deco FOR sheva? sheva is the player who would most profit from deco. p.p.s. there's not a chance in hell jose would get deco to stop diving.

to me, a midfield with both essien and another defensive midfielder, is too defensive- generally speaking. of course there are times when we should protect a lead or in tough away games then great, I'm all for it. in fact, I mean a midfield with lampard, and two defensive players in the midfield is too defensive. lamps comfortably does enough work not to need two defensive players, and also doesn't (can't) create enough to be viewed as a purely attacking player. most of his assists are set peices, I'm sure. obviously essien and lamps will be here for a good few years yet- I think the next 4 at least. around those two I think if we are to continue with 3 (or more) central midfielders then at least one must be a purely attacking midfielder. I don't doubt ballack will improve, and I would be horrified to see maka removed from the squad just yet... I thought we'd see ballack, lamps and one from maka and essien a lot more this season, rather than all four (so we could still have the wide players), but with all 4 what we have is a system built for a kind of player we don't have.

uh ive seen sheva trap a ball down at the corner of the box lobbed from the other side of the pitch and in his own half... he can take any ball, its not necessary to provide him a to foot pass, just a good pass.. we are not giving him a dogs scraps, let alone aything a striker would call decent service.. see when SWP was playing against villa the other day? ask yourself, how many time did we pass to him? remember any? no. our midfield is weak now. weak weak weak. my point is, for the kind of striker sheva is (like crespo and owen), to get the most from them someone must be able to play them short passes to run onto- passes over long distances are naturally less incisive. it doesn't mean the midfield is weak. we have 3 truly world class midfielders in ballack, lampard and makelele. ballack hasn't been at his best, he's been okay. we have essien, who will I'm sure prove himself a world class player for us for many years. lets say there are 4 then. none of them are exactly the type of player that provides the passes that a shevchenko wants more than anything else (though ballack is the closest). that type of player, is one that we do not have. swp... i did not see the villa game, but from what i've seen, getting the ball to wide players is not a problem. ballack and lamps can do it in their sleep. it's not an inventive pass, just one that needs sound technique. what needs to be done by the wide player is get into space to receive the ball. watching swp in his time here I've been amazed how often he doesn't actually get wide- it's simply making yourself available for the pass and he doesn't always do it. then there is the question of touch- to receive a diagonal pass you have to control the ball well- and swp hasn't done that often sadly.

has anyone seen the "city of men" spin off series? I heard it was only okay, but no-one I know has seen or even heard of it...

he wouldn't stand a chance up against jim's witticisms.

not a film, but those who have not seen arrested development deserve a 4 hour stand up show in a locked room with this man:

good thread coco. shevchenko is used to kaka and rui costa, not balls over the top from 40 yards.

in: kaka, jon harley out: swp, cashley

I think sheva would have scored at least twelve had one of the following been in the chelsea side: totti, riquelme, deco, kaka. we wasted crespo's true world class ability for two seasons, and now we will do the same with sheva. sure, like crespo, at the end of the season he will have his 12 goals or whatever, but we continue to miss a trick. crespo had more success than sheva with it maybe because of a stronger, more typical no.9. physique, maybe because we had players who could sometimes make the short pass- joe, duffer and eidur. none can do it like the names mentioned above, but still... ballack, maybe in jose's eyes, is as close as he'll go to a no.10 in this league- more robust, less vision for the short pass. that's fine, because he can do it, again, not as well as the names above, but technically his passing is spot on. it's not fine if you will use ballack as another player with heading ability. ballack, ideally plays deeper, making runs into a box. how many times, since zola (and maybe eidur too) have we seen the strikers with a player 5-10 yards behind them throughout the match, waiting to create?

sofa manager and jack make excellent points. jack also mentioned cashley. I agree actually, but then, as I don't like the man it would be hard for people to accept my opinions on the player as unbiased. luckily, I'm not sure I care anymore.

I think carvalho has been in excellent form this season and it really tells by how few times gallas' name is mentioned. sure, he's a better defender, but he's gone. I wish he could get the credit he deserves- no one talks untill he has a bad game- and f*ck me, it was a slip, in poor conditions, and hey, he scored anyway and we won 6-1. p.s. he's better than toure, and less prone to haircuts.

the "ronaldinho too lightweight" thing is incredible nonsense. it's as if every player in the premiership is made of iron- some people need a wake up call and realise which league it is that the likes of gamst pederson, benayoun, fabregas etc play in. here's a clue, it begins with the letter "p" (and ends with "remiership"). and even then, if all the premiership players were made of iron, hands up who remembers JT bounce off him in the nou camp last season? and stranger still, while dismissing a player who plays a lot of the time out wide (facing hardmen like gael clichy and steve "I swear I'm not gary neville" finnan) you can say yes to kaka, who plays more centrally for his club. honestly, I'm not sure where some people even bother to apply logic...

you should have that published.

he got no service, essentially. this is true. his runs were great- really, they were top class. but kalou and swp (the nearest players to him) probably think a pass is a type of alleyway, and everyone else never got close enough with the ball. having said that, the one time he did get the type of service he needed, he won a pen. my only dissapointment was that after the opening 38 mins or so he didn't run up and knee one (or all) of the midfielders square in the balls. and why on earth would anyone play bridge like that? it was ridiculous, and doesn't help anyone. for the record wayne bridge: leftback, not central midfielder.

this was meant to be in the film thread. I am not completely insane. that is all. p.s. joey ramone's what a wonderful world? no-one does louis armstrong better than the man himself but it is a good cover.

oh dear god...

considered by you more than anyone! I thought he'd do much better than he has done also, but I was a little wary given that about 30-40 % of what happens at lyon is not down to the head coach.

I predict 6-0 to chelsea.

this thread needs deleting. leeds- the new leeds. like the old leeds, but worse.

lots of it has already been said. most of it, probably. I'd like to see players play in ways more natural to them than to jose's "ideals". i.e. -sheva central, and 10 yards further up the pitch. it's no good asking him to play in a fashion where he is in front of the defence- especially if he has lost his speed (which I do not agree with, and speaking of that, I never felt that he had the raw electric pace of a robben or henry). it is simply wrong to play a player like him in a position where to get into the box he has to carry the ball all the time. now, if he has lost his pace there is no question whatsoever- he must play in the box. he is intelligent enough to adapt to a style similar to van nistelrooy- the finishing, the workrate and the movement are all there. also, back to goal he is technically sound enough for it. -paulo. put him at rightback, or leave him out. stop messing about with where he plays and when he plays. pick him, or get rid- dithering helps no-one. if you are going to play a diamond, keep ballack between the midfield and attack, and get lamps and essien particularly to take less touches. with little space, you should be taking one or two touches to manouvere the ball around the opposition. it has resembled a defensive square too often, with both lamps and ballack ahead of essien and maka. and ultimately, the ball is given wide- why? if your moves are going to end up with crosses or passes from wide areas, surely a diamond is counter productive. it seems to me sometimes that it is a diamond for long balls- ballack and drogba facing back to goal trying to play flick ons... again, counter productive. we must keep it on the deck more.

G4 - can I just mention that if JT is not fit, we have NO centre halves for this tie at all! Happy New Year it sounds absurd to say this, but I'm really not worried. I feel calm. essien can do it well, and ferreira can also. against wycombe there shouldn't be an issue whatsoever. and I think JT will play through pain again if he feels he must. things obviously must change. fortunately, they will.

it's not seven points- at the moment it is like 6.5 points (there's an important difference). I agree though that the cup has come at a good time for us. let's really smash wycombe and go from there.