27 minutes ago, Argo said:

But that's what leadership is about just as much as being vocal. For me there's no better way to lead then setting an example to the rest both on the pitch and off it.

If throwing your weight around was the main requirement to be a true leader Warnock would have been an elite manager.

Aye some would say Dave and Lamps were/are the same type of quite, lead by example players Kante is.

This group needs JT, Wise or Ballack type leaders to 

 

Different for a manager though, Gerrard and Lamps were both great leaders in my book but neither appear to have what it takes at the top as a manager.

I’m asking myself what exactly the point is in trying to pull off a miracle beating Real when City are next. They’d have to make a new word for whatever is more miraculous than a miracle.

32 minutes ago, Snedger said:

I’m asking myself what exactly the point is in trying to pull off a miracle beating Real when City are next. They’d have to make a new word for whatever is more miraculous than a miracle.

Exactly why we can just relax and enjoy this game. Enjoy the moment if we beat Real, because we can be fairly sure if we do, over two legs, we ain't getting near City.

                          Mendy 

           Fofanan silva koulibaly

James kante  Enzo. Kova.  Chilwell

             Havertz.     Felix

In a way, the first leg is about damage limitation. If we go away with a goal or even 2 goals deficit, we could turn it around with a bit of luck at home. Beef up the middle field, play on the counter, hopefully we take the chance when our moment comes.

How far we have fallen in such a short time that this former player turned hater can say this and we cannot disagree:

 

Past the front 3 I think Real Madrid are there for the taking, dont really have a recognised left back if Mendy is injured and Nacho filling in with Carvajal and Rudiger in defence. I wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea win the home leg, IMO I dont think Kroos and Modric would be able to take the premier league pressure of Kante, Kovacic and Enzo. The biggest problem for Chelsea is they dont have a Drogba who can take a sniff of a chance into a goal, if somehow we can stop the front 3 from scoring then we might have a chance to hope Benzema comes down with the flu.

Whilst we keep our fingers crossed that we can get something out of the first leg tonight, let’s not forget exactly why the club are in the turmoil they are in. Yes Potter was a new manager hopelessly out of his depth, and yes Todd Boehly doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s doing, but the current problems can all be traced back to one man, the charlatan Boris Johnson who forced Roman out, causing the chaos that followed. Without that Govt directive, we would never have had to suffer what we are going through now, and what has happened over recent times.

Transfer bans, no ticket sales etc and a huge black hole period of complete uncertainty surrounded the running of the club following the start of the war in Ukraine. Make no mistake, we’re still reeling from this decision to remove Roman from power. No other Premiership club has been affected in such a manner. There are many reasons why not to vote Tory at the next Election (their ruination of the economy by repeated lockdowns since March 2020 is the prime one), but their despicable treatment of Chelsea FC can be added to the list. 

What edge do we have over Madrid? 

Technical quality? Kroos, modric, benz and vini are so good technically, why do we want to compete with them in this area. 

I saw comment saying watching gallagher running around like headless chicken against Madrid will be painful. Nope that is exactly what we need to do. Run Madrid to the ground, that has been our key against madrid. Kroos and Modric are technical lord but they are not athletic nor young. Speed up the game, pressed them hard and make the game about running and athleticism. We could not sustain it last year as after 60 min both of our midfielder were gassed and we had nobody on the bench (I don't have to remind you what happened when we bring jorgi). This will make vini extra dangerous but we have Fofana and James at the back. 

 

 

Match Day !

Come On Chelsea!!

19 hours ago, evissy said:

Real isn't a possession based side at all. Not sure if that is how it goes...

That’s why we should play that way. 

11 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Aye some would say Dave and Lamps were/are the same type of quite, lead by example players Kante is.

This group needs JT, Wise or Ballack type leaders to 

 

Different for a manager though, Gerrard and Lamps were both great leaders in my book but neither appear to have what it takes at the top as a manager.

Lampard wasn’t a leader. That’s the point. He lead by playing the way he did and was only ever one of the gang albeit the best.  

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

What edge do we have over Madrid? 

Technical quality? Kroos, modric, benz and vini are so good technically, why do we want to compete with them in this area. 

I saw comment saying watching gallagher running around like headless chicken against Madrid will be painful. Nope that is exactly what we need to do. Run Madrid to the ground, that has been our key against madrid. Kroos and Modric are technical lord but they are not athletic nor young. Speed up the game, pressed them hard and make the game about running and athleticism. We could not sustain it last year as after 60 min both of our midfielder were gassed and we had nobody on the bench (I don't have to remind you what happened when we bring jorgi). This will make vini extra dangerous but we have Fofana and James at the back. 

 

 

Maybe but Tchouameni, Vincius, valverde canaviggia are all young.  It’s not last years game in any way. Our biggest problem by far is scoring. A goal would do so much even if we conceded two. 

Just now, ozboy said:

Maybe but Tchouameni, Vincius, valverde canaviggia are all young.  It’s not last years game in any way. Our biggest problem by far is scoring. A goal would do so much even if we conceded two. 

The question is who do you want to limit? Tchouameni +Valverde + Camavinga or kroos + modric + benzema .

We also had problem scoring last year under Tuchel. That problem won't be solved until sign better finisher or better creator. 

 

 

53 minutes ago, erskblue said:

Match Day !

Come On Chelsea!!

Oh god 

Still, it's Chelsea, I suppose anything can happen. 

39 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Oh god 

Still, it's Chelsea, I suppose anything can happen. 

It’s certainly not boring being a Chelsea supporter!😀

17 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Guess the Lamps line up game 2.

 

Kepa

 

Fofana

Silva

Koulibaly 

 

James

Kante

Enzo

Chilwell

 

Mount

Havertz

Felix

                                              Kepa

                     Chalobah         KK        Fofana

James         Kovacic             Enzo      Kante       Chilwell

                                           Felix

                                          Sterling

 

Thats me guessing, not necessarily what I'd have picked 🙂 

Last chance saloon,hoping for a miracle,it's happened before,so you never know.....UP THE CHELS !

Hey, look, I’ve found tomorrow’s match report …

”After a spirited first 30 seconds, Chelsea reverted to type with an unconvincing performance after their first goal with no shots on target unless you include the corner flag as a Kovacik target. Koulibaly’s booking in the third minute affected his game and may have led to his error for the fourth RM goal. Havertz looked somewhat short on muscle, guile and application, whilst Cucurella did a passable impression of a pub footballer. Some might blame Kepa for the second goal but it was quite a hard shot that he couldn’t quite get to. The substitutions in the 85th minute made little difference, although Pulisic looked sharp when he came on until his injury. Chelsea’s MOM was Rudiger. 

3 hours ago, Val Denton said:

There are many reasons why not to vote Tory at the next Election (their ruination of the economy by repeated lockdowns since March 2020 is the prime one), but their despicable treatment of Chelsea FC can be added to the list. 

Brilliant post and totally agree other than the government issue. Far be it to stand up for the Tory government, but it wouldn’t have made any difference who was in, Roman still would’ve been kicked out of his own club!

As far as I remember it was actually Labour Chris Bryant that first brought it up and pushed for it in the House of Commons with Boris walking out on him while he was talking.

2 hours ago, Bob stark said:

What edge do we have over Madrid? 

Fullbacks.

 

Sod off with your politics.

I rarely feel we have no chance but this is one game where it’s hard to be an optimist. 

With Kante and Silva back, this is as good as a team we could put up this season. Don't care if we have to park the bus or live with 20% possession, just need to get something out of this game to take it back to the home leg.

50 minutes ago, coco said:

Fullbacks.

 

Completely agree, it is a bit difficult to exploit though, on paper let's put murdyk one on one against their fb on the other hand there is a big question mark on murdyk defensively