Eagle Owl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ham-YXatJPk&feature=related

Torres should've broken away from Ryan Taylor there and scored, but it ended well after all. Kalou got a little lucky there, missing a chance like that would be catastrophic. He had all the time in the world with a clear view, but nevertheless nice that he scored. Three points from Newcastle is an extremely good result this season. Up the Chels! e. I meant Steven Taylor.

Krul - magic.

I'm aware of that, I just think he's that good and great to watch. I'm not as familiar with Courtois (haven't really seen him play enough to be able to judge), but I'm sure he's also a great talent having been signed by Chelsea.

He always does. I'd love to see him at CFC when Cech decides to hang up his boots.Great goal by Drogs! All in all a good latter part of the first half.

Sturrdige is on fire - the best player we have right now, hands down. Newcastle gives us loads of space we should be able to convert to goals, but the important passes in their end are not very good. This has to improve, City would've scored twice already.

Why would AVB do such a thing? It sounds too weird to be true, and I can't see how it would benefit the squad or the players in any way.

That makes sense. It's actually quite interesting how much our countries have in common regarding this. Liverpool (in particular, Finnish players playing a major role) or ManU are the common ones over here, while Chelsea really isn't that popular. Chelsea fans seem to have more knowledge about the team itself, while Liverpool fans are usually regarded (not entirely seriously though) as clowns singing to the TV in their red tops. Tottenham is also gaining in popularity as a first/second team, depending on if one follows the local league or not. Among soccer (I don't usually use it, but it's derived from "association football", so I feel it's an okay word) people, it's actually frowned upon to only follow a foreign league, and many Finnish Liverpool fans are known for this behavior and a lack of respect for domestic football. I have to agree with the TV-part, too. It's just a lot easier (and more fun) to follow a team during the Finnish off season that is shown on TV often. I mean, following Crystal Palace would mean surfing really bad streaming from Hong Kong or visiting the UK frequently, which one frankly can't afford.

I have to agree with Six Times. The clubs are what make a competition prestigious, and I certainly think the past finals have been extremely enjoyable. E.g. when Fulham played in it, it was truly a big event. It would be huge for Lamps, Terry & C.o. to win a big European title for Chelsea, so I wouldn't underestimate its worth as much as some people tend to do around here.

Naah, I don't believe it would be a major distraction. More of a morale boost, if anything. In February it wouldn't really make any difference, since there's no league match after the first leg and Bolton at home after the second. March could be a little trickier, but we have quite a deep squad to work with.As said, it would be the optimal tournament for the younger lads. Success in this competition would without a doubt be a morale boost for the entire club. I'm not sure concentrating everything on the league would even be such a good thing considering Champions League qualification. It might be good to have something concrete (=a trophy) to fight for, in addition to the FA Cup of course. That's what keeps it interesting.

In what way would it "f**k our season" any more than the Champions League? The round of 32 would mean two matches in February, the round of 16 two matches in March and then it would be quarter final time already.In other words, it would be only two more fixtures than if we'd qualify for the round of 16 in the Champions League. It would also be a great opportunity for the younger lads, and I believe you're able to re-register players for the Europa League after the Champions League campaign has ended. I see absolutely nothing negative about it.

I wouldn't mind the UEL. It's an interesting tournament with many clubs you usually don't see in the Champions League, but still some very entertaining football. Entertainmentwise, I actually prefer the Europa League to the Champions League. Let's face it, it's impossible for Chelsea to gain anything in the Champions League, so ending the international season at Romania's new national stadium would be a dream come true at this point.

That might be the case, but I don't see how it's any different in Europe or Asia for that matter. How many Asian Newcastle fans has one heard of? Fulham is obviously popular as well due to Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey etc.Many Europeans do however have a local favorite and one abroad as well, like me for instance. Americans also seem to be quite proud of where they come from, they support their local professional sports teams no matter how sh*t they are, which doesn't support them being gloryhunters.

Good article which I completely agree with. The Guardian is usually a source that contributes with less crap than the other newspapers. Thumbs up for that! What's the reason for Chelsea being so popular in the States? It seems like the Blues are the club with most passionate fans on the other side of the pond, even though the likes of Liverpool and ManU have a stronger American connection through their owners. It's by no means a bad thing, most Americans who follow football passionately know what they are talking about! That goes for Canadians as well.