DoubleHelix74

Thank you! And more than likely players like Drogba, Malouda, Lampard, Cole, and even Terry may not ever get another chance. Them being this close should and will be enough motivation to give it their all and if we all know one thing, when they do they're a pretty tough side to play against. We may lose but I will bet we will give Barca another tough challenge and who knows maybe take them to the brink and just may pull the rabbit out of the hat.

Apologies for the double (incomplete) post... I am on my phone and must have fat fingered the keyboard... Mustve been those offing refs or Pep himself inside my phone...

Anyone else tired of hearing about conspiracy and/or bad referees? Anyone tired of the Overbo fiasco in 2009? Why are we even talking about this or answering to somebody on here who's probably began being a Barca fan within the past 5 years... The thing I remember signing on for this site was about Chesea... Sure chips are stacked against them, throw in Spurs and I think Arsenal to book end it and they're really stacked against us. But last I checked most of you all are claiming to be Chelsea supporters, so quit worrying about the past and more importantly quit whining about Barca and support the club and squad! We are playing them right? So therefore we stand a chance. One never knows what may happen... Their backline is not that good and we could or should score against them if we play our all... We have great experiences with them and frankly most Barca supporters I know are not exactly thinking its gonna be a walk in the park. They know we probably are one of maybe three clubs that can take Barca to the brink. Why don't some of you? Bullsh*t calls and poor officiating is out of our hands, so why worry about it. Why aren't we concentrating on our own leagues governing body and the Bullsh*t they are pulling with the FA semi? I'm sorry but I'm so tired of hearing about Barca and their dominance... Chelsea could outplayed them, have some faith... It's a longshot but we're playing and last I checked both squads begin the sane way with no goals. Come on you Blues!

I'd rather have that happen to Xavi... Both would be ideal but if I had to choose one it be Xavi. He makes Barca work so well in the middle of the park...

Not sure where you are from mate but I certainly beg to differ on Japanese football not being as commercially viable as the other two nations you mentioned are... First off, football is no where near the size and/or popularity say as Baseball is in Japan but it's a very close second and if you know Japanese sports fanatics you will know that shouts volumes... My wife is from Japan and we happened to be down in the Dotombori in Osaka back in May 2010 when Japan ran circles around the England National team, if memory serves me right in a friendly... The Japanese were out in full force supporting the Blue Samurai on and it was a whole lot of fun drinking large glasses of beer (and I won't even mention the Saki after the final whistle) in the late evening! They are quite fanatical and in any major city you go to in Japan, it would not be difficult to find an izakaya (Japanese pub) with supporters and/or an Adidas shop sporting all the worlds teams jerseys. Football is quite big in Japan! Kagawa is rumored to have stalled on talks with Dortmund because he wants to play in the Premier League and if the brass at Chelsea had any foresight, they would be giving him what he wants (which isn't very much, think 10M?)... I have been saying over a year now why they haven't gone after Kaisuke Honda, who wants away from Russia because he too would shine... Lock up one or the pair and the jersey sales and television revenue would pay for itself alone, plus we would be getting some fine creative talent to play alongside Mata.I pity the teams that are grouped with Japan in the WC 2014 in Brazil because they will not stand a chance! Between Kagawa, Honda, and Miayaichi in the midfield there is not going to be much hope for their opposing sides back-line! I know those Gooners are all high on Chamberlain, Theo, and Wilshire but watch out for Miyaichi. He is a phenomenal talent with great vision and skill and at only 19 (maybe 20 now) he will be quite destructive to opposing sides. In fact, Theo will lose his place to this kid probably next year because he will run him right off the park... Japan is going to be a dominant force for the next few years and its going to put they're players on the map in terms of superb talent. That's just my opinion, we will see if it comes to fruition...

Kagawa and Honda would be ideal, imo... For all the reasons you already mentioned...

But do we even deserve it? Personally, I hope we don't, that way we can get a proper clear out this summer. If we somehow back our way in by another clubs mistakes than it will be an excuse for those fools, Gourlay and Buck to keep what we have and we will have another sh*t season next year facing the same challenges except the players will be a year older. If I am RDM, I would be playing the young guys now and trying to get a head-start on seeing what they can do and uncovering what we need over the summer. He won't because he's trying to do well for maybe this job or something else next season... At this point, why not play Sturridge up top or Lukaku and maybe even Fereuz, play Bertrand, Piazon, and the others, see what they can do. I personally would rather see us beat with kids out there giving it their all than play this sad style of play by our senior group... As I mentioned earlier, it would give us a lot of transparency to what we need and who is shown the door this summer...

Dismal performance, quite pathetic seeing Chelsea flopping looking for free kicks and penalties but I guess when you can't even get a few shots on goal at home, that's what one should expect. This squad doesn't deserve 4th with the play this season... It's been horrific and hopefully Chelsea can move on from this next season. Just can't see the squad rising up here in the next few weeks... Seems like nobody even cares out there either...

Tough defeat here today... Essien is certainly not the player he was... Shame what's become of him because of the injuries... Ramires should've picked up Nasri instead of looking for the offsides, Lampard was lost and couldn't keep up and needed cover. Two major mental meltdown and it cost us three points! Heartbreaking loss!

Well assuming we get past Benifica (no easy feat, by any means) anything could happen... I still think that we can play with them and have proven that as probably their toughest opponent outside of Madrid. And who knows Xavi steers that ship and maybe he gets injured before then? It's a reach but the point I am trying to make is that there are so many possibilities that have potential in happening. Personally, if we get through Benefica and are even in the semi finals playing Barca or Milan, I will be ecstatic! Anything beyond that is simply an elation that cannot be described! With that said though, I would take 4th and the FA Cup and lose to Benefica given the option. But all three would just cap this troubled season as a great one (perhaps our finest for coming back) and it would dispense all the harsh criticism and shut them all up...

...And just to piggyback on that... On Wednesday, right after the historic win over Napoli, Lampard and Terry were giving their interviews together and at the end Terry expressed his sadness and condolences for those kids that died in the bus crash in Switzerland the previous night... Living in the States, I had to Google what he was talking about... Now, others would do the same, I am sure but for a guy who is so villafied in the media it should've resonated more. Of course it didn't and the media will go ahead and write whatever it wants about him however it appears that most who have crossed his path seem to have an utmost respect for the man.

Yep, been on Timbuktu where there is nothing but rainbows and unicorns and where we all skip through the endless Lilly fields on warm sunny days... It's marvelous!

Oh, I'm stupid? Hmm, ...and this thread you started? You know what don't answer, you don't have to...

Wow, the hatred... Why not just send him a birthday cake laced with hemlock? I admit he hasn't been the best of players but what exactly were you expecting from the guy? It's not like he is Modric or somebody...Played pretty good today and may have gotten Torres jumpstarted...

Sturridge has definitely been a bit selfish even prior to this match but certainly not on the level of how Nani... Perhaps its because he wants to be a striker, he's dropped enough hints recently. I think he's just young and ambitious, wants to prove his worth for the National Team... He'll come around eventually...

Agreed... In fact if I was RDM, I would've pulled him today and bring on Lukaku and paired him up with Torres... Sturridge has all the talent but doesn't appear he is playing for the club. Chalk it up as being young and ambitious but he needs to learn to be less selfish... Apologies for the incomplete double post... Think theres a gremlin in my phone... Or more likely user error...

Agreed... In fact if I was RDM, I would've pulled him today and bring on Lukaku and paired him up with Torres... Sturridge has all the talent but doesn't appear he is playing for the club. Chalk.it up as being young and ambiti

No brainer here today, Torres even before he scored two goals... Like to see Drogba and Torres paired up again... Both are hungry and playing well and they seemed to may have found their ability to play alongside each other in the Napoli match...

...And we're moving on while they're clubs aren't... Must be terrible to hate and suffer from jealousy...

That disease "Hate" is a highly contagious one, better stand back...

Let's not forget it was Cole who cleared that ball off the line late in the match two weeks ago though. Without that we wouldn't have had much of a chance at Stamford Bridge last night...

Cannovaro was quoted as saying "We could barely hear anything on the field tonight. There was a little confusion on Chelsea's second goal, it was a shame" Well done to the Stanford Bridge faithful tonight! It was quite loud from where I was sitting at home on TV and as somebody else already pointed it out, the cameras were a bit shakey as well! Must've been wonderful!

Rors, were you ay the British Bulldog? I too live in Denver... Maybe a pint one night?

Yes, let me STRONGLY emphasize it was not my money... If I had that cash, I'd be at the Bridge celebrating... It was an Institutional trade, not even a single investor....

No USD mate... Shares of Apple! And it was an approximate value, about 3.8 and I don't get them all the time...