CHELSEA FOREVER! - Home of the Champions!

[FF]

Atletico Madrid play on Friday last. Real Madrid get a bye, as dem had Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Premier League really don't care nah...

[elan]

Manager should be able to pick whatever team he deems most appropriate for the club - hate the sanctions against fielding weakened teams - leagues are played over 38 matches, so win the others and any one won't matter nearly as much :p

You have to blame the FA, is years now managers and clubs have been complaining about adjusting the schedule to assist FA teams in the CL but they are yet to budge.

Same thing in the 2nd leg vs PSG. PSG got to play their game the Friday and got the extra day of rest, whereas Chelsea had to play the Saturday game.

[Tiresais]

Yea the FA can take some of the blame, but I think it's a British football culture thing - "deal with it" lol

[elan]

Yea the FA can take some of the blame, but I think it's a British football culture thing - "deal with it" lol

That's why this summer when they're "home before the card" I hope "they deal with it".

[Tiresais]

Yea the FA can take some of the blame, but I think it's a British football culture thing - "deal with it" lol

That's why this summer when they're "home before the card" I hope "they deal with it".

Yuh talking plenty, lets see how it goes down in Brazil If we go out early the media will be brutal of course.

[asylumseeker]

Opportunistic goal by Ba ... they count too. I would pay to hear the conversation in Liverpool's dressing room.

[Bitter]

[Socafan]

A master tactical display by Chelsea....thats how it must be done...

[lefty]

pity we trip over so many "weaker" teams this season this coulda be sown up long time

[elan]

Beat every "big" team in the EPL this season. All, and still playing in Europe.

[elan]

Blue is the color.

[elan]

Chelsea finally agree to sign Diego Costa in £32million transfer

They have been chasing him for months, and now Chelsea have apparently got their man after finally agreeing to sign Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid.

Costa, who scored against in the Blues in the Champions League this week, is Jose Mourinho’s number one transfer target – and it appears he’s landed him early.

According to reports in Spain, Chelsea have wrapped up the transfer after agreeing to meet the striker’s £32million buyout clause.

Costa has also accepted personal terms on a five-year contract, with the move set to be formally announced at the end of the season.

The 25-year-old told reporters yesterday that he was aware of offers from other clubs, before going coy when asked if he was west London-bound.

Costa will reportedly pocket about £200,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge, while Chelsea will hope to offset some of that expenditure by clearing out forwards such as Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o, both of whom are high earners.

[injunchile]

 Good Buy and GoodBye to Torres and Etto. With the Belgian goalkeeper and Lukaka back from everton.
 If we can get Pepe to replace Terry, then Chelsea good to go. watch the phonies become race horses

[lefty]

so what would that mean for lukaku? to everton permanently.....heard BA wants out as well so..............

[asylumseeker]

so what would that mean for lukaku? to everton permanently.....heard BA wants out as well so..............

The sad thing is Ba could be cultivated, but Mourinho has marginal to no interest in cultivating him. The net of that is it places Ba in a kind of career-derailing position of possibly becoming a PL journeyman. Let's see what happens ... he's made key contributions in silence. Pained me to watch Schurrle deal with him kind of disrespectfully. He needs nuff minutes at a not-obscure club where he will settle for a few seasons. Right now, the best he can expect at Chelsea is a Kalou experience.

[lefty]

so what would that mean for lukaku? to everton permanently.....heard BA wants out as well so..............

The sad thing is Ba could be cultivated, but Mourinho has marginal to no interest in cultivating him. The net of that is it places Ba in a kind of career-derailing position of possibly becoming a PL journeyman. Let's see what happens ... he's made key contributions in silence. Pained me to watch Schurrle deal with him kind of disrespectfully. He needs nuff minutes at a not-obscure club where he will settle for a few seasons. Right now, the best he can expect at Chelsea is a Kalou experience.

I hear yuh dey..........as I have said before....I think it was a mistake to marginalize him in favour of torres...even in the face of torres' lack of productivity, even Rafa, the one who brought him in was doing it which was weird because Ba scored a double on debut and seem to always be visible when playing.

[Mad Scorpion a/k/a Big Bo$$]

so what would that mean for lukaku? to everton permanently.....heard BA wants out as well so..............

The sad thing is Ba could be cultivated, but Mourinho has marginal to no interest in cultivating him. The net of that is it places Ba in a kind of career-derailing position of possibly becoming a PL journeyman. Let's see what happens ... he's made key contributions in silence. Pained me to watch Schurrle deal with him kind of disrespectfully. He needs nuff minutes at a not-obscure club where he will settle for a few seasons. Right now, the best he can expect at Chelsea is a Kalou experience.

I hear yuh dey..........as I have said before....I think it was a mistake to marginalize him in favour of torres...even in the face of torres' lack of productivity, even Rafa, the one who brought him in was doing it which was weird because Ba scored a double on debut and seem to always be visible when playing.

That call came from Roman breds.  Allyuh eh realize dat yet?  When Shevy came and was not producing didn't he get ample opportunities too just like Torres?  When RA make an investment he will press to see that it brings some kind or return.  That's why it was best Lukaku went on loan because he wouldn't have had any chance to show the form he did at Everton.  He actually have Wenger to thank because if not for bagging Ozil, is Ba who was gone and he woulda be dey suckin salt!


assylum I hoping Lukaku comes back to be option number 2 behind Costa.

[asylumseeker]

I listened to Costa's post-game comments ... and one of them ...  in response to the Chelsea interest was "things are not always what they seem".

[davidephraim]

a terrible purchase for me. Hate that guy and ah does normally reserve the word hate for the scum of the earth. I DONT LIKE THAT GUY!   Dont like his attitude, dont like his face, dont like his style - Im sure they need a go-getter type-a player I just dont like this one.  I would take Baloteli on the cheap right now and would still have change to snatch Pogba and bring his ass back to the EPL. Instead, we wind up with a 200k/wk ASShole!

There I said it!  (Now how do I get this to Jose)

[elan]

Fabregas joins Chelsea from Barca


Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed his interest in Cesc Fabregas at a pre-World Cup event for Yahoo! Sports
Cesc Fabregas said he has "unfinished business" in England as his transfer from Barcelona to Chelsea was confirmed.


Fabregas, 27, who has signed a five-year contract, also said he had "rejected offers" from other clubs to move to Chelsea in a deal reported to be worth 33 million euros.

The Spain midfielder's return to the Premier League had been expected after three up and down seasons at the Camp Nou. Even last summer he took his time before deciding to reject a reported big-money offer from Manchester United and stay for another season in La Liga.

A switch this summer appeared imminent after club and country colleague Gerard Pique was caught on camera last week telling national coach Vicente Del Bosque that a deal had been agreed.


The confirmation was announced by both clubs on Thursday afternoon, with the new Blues No. 4 saying that he had chosen Chelsea due to the club's ambitions, their strong squad and manager Jose Mourinho.

"Firstly I would like to thank everyone at FC Barcelona where I enjoyed three wonderful years," Fabregas said on his new club's official website. "It was my childhood club and I will always be proud and honoured that I had a chance to play for such a great team.

"I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier League and now is the right time to return. I considered all the other offers very carefully and I firmly believe that Chelsea is the best choice."

They match my footballing ambitions with their hunger and desire to win trophies. They have an amazing squad of players and an incredible manager. I am fully committed to this team and I can't wait to start playing."

Barcelona's statement on the move thanked the player for his efforts during the last three seasons and wished him the best for the future.

“I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier League and now is the right time to return.”

"FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC have reached an agreement for the transfer of player Cesc Fabregas to the English club," the statement said.

"FC Barcelona wishes to publicly thank Cesc Fabregas for his professionalism and dedication during his years at the club, which will always be his home, and to wish him all the very best for the future."

This is the second time that Fabregas departs from Barca -- having first left the club's youth system as a 16-year-old back in 2003 to join Arsenal.

Following eight seasons with the Gunners he returned to the Camp Nou in 2011, but never quite seemed to be a leading figure despite playing under three coaches in Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova and Gerardo Martino.

Fabregas did however win six trophies during these three years, including the 2012 Copa del Rey and 2012-13 La Liga title, scoring 42 goals in 151 games.

Barca are now expected to soon announce the signing, for around 20 million euros, of Croatian playmaker Ivan Rakitic as an replacement for their departing midfielder.

Fabregas is a key member of the Spain squad at the upcoming World Cup, where he will feature alongside new clubmates Fernando Torres and Cesar Azpilicueta, as well as reported Chelsea target Diego Costa.

[mukumsplau]

GoT fans would get this...

[soccerman]

LOL unfinished business GOT style

[Sam]

Chelsea finally agree to sign Diego Costa in £32million transfer

They have been chasing him for months, and now Chelsea have apparently got their man after finally agreeing to sign Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid.

Costa, who scored against in the Blues in the Champions League this week, is Jose Mourinho’s number one transfer target – and it appears he’s landed him early.

According to reports in Spain, Chelsea have wrapped up the transfer after agreeing to meet the striker’s £32million buyout clause.

Costa has also accepted personal terms on a five-year contract, with the move set to be formally announced at the end of the season.

The 25-year-old told reporters yesterday that he was aware of offers from other clubs, before going coy when asked if he was west London-bound.

Costa will reportedly pocket about £200,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge, while Chelsea will hope to offset some of that expenditure by clearing out forwards such as Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o, both of whom are high earners.

What is waste of buy for Chelsea, Diego Costa is lame, another over price goat.

[elan]

Chelsea finally agree to sign Diego Costa in £32million transfer

They have been chasing him for months, and now Chelsea have apparently got their man after finally agreeing to sign Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid.

Costa, who scored against in the Blues in the Champions League this week, is Jose Mourinho’s number one transfer target – and it appears he’s landed him early.

According to reports in Spain, Chelsea have wrapped up the transfer after agreeing to meet the striker’s £32million buyout clause.

Costa has also accepted personal terms on a five-year contract, with the move set to be formally announced at the end of the season.

The 25-year-old told reporters yesterday that he was aware of offers from other clubs, before going coy when asked if he was west London-bound.

Costa will reportedly pocket about £200,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge, while Chelsea will hope to offset some of that expenditure by clearing out forwards such as Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o, both of whom are high earners.

What is waste of buy for Chelsea, Diego Costa is lame, another over price goat.

Coaching makes the difference Sam. We will see. Costa has what we need, maybe the Special One brings it out.

[asylumseeker]

Elan, I thought you would be the first to welcome Drogba back to his home.   

[Tiresais]

Interesting Article from Football 365;

Chelsea Arrivals Again Leave Lukaku Out In The Cold
Football 365 (Daniel Storey)

"The transfer market closes on August 31 and we close our market on July 19. We finished the market today" - Jose Mourinho, July 19.

"This summer, we've bought new players and we are trying to build for the next decade" - Jose Mourinho, July 24.

Taking Jose Mourinho's words as the gospel truth has long been a foolish pastime, but to disprove two claims in one move is an impressive feat even for Jose, a man who almost prides himself on an ability to make people erroneously take his words as verbatim. In signing Didier Drogba on a one-year contract as a player (with no future coaching plans included), Mourinho at least partially invalidated his claim that he was building for the future. The departure of Romelu Lukaku now seems an inevitable occurrence - this time his parting will be of a permanent nature.

Mourinho's treatment of Lukaku has been a bone of contention for some time. When the Belgian claimed in December that he would like to remain at Everton for another season, the Chelsea manager was quick to put him in his place. "Maybe there is a new rule in football where when the season finishes every player is able to decide their own future," Mourinho said sarcastically. "Romelu likes to speak. He's a young boy who likes to speak." Stones can be heard hitting the windows of a glass house.

Lukaku's continued disappointment is at his lack of opportunities at Stamford Bridge since arriving for around £18million in August 2011. He has played just 199 Premier League minutes for Chelsea, loaned out to both West Brom and Everton on season-long deals, and evidently feels that he has been unfairly rejected by the club despite meriting an extended chance to impress.

It's difficult to disagree. Lukaku only turned 21 at the end of last season, and yet the only current Premier League player with more PL goals in the last two seasons than the Belgian's total of 32 is Robin van Persie. That Lukaku achieved such a feat whilst playing for Everton and West Brom, where service (particularly away from home) was occasionally scarce, indicates just how comfortable he is playing as the central striker in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation, precisely the approach Mourinho may well utilise at Chelsea next season.

A comparison of the number of league goals scored by the age of 21 sees Lionel Messi with 57, Michael Owen 55 and Wayne Rooney 44 - Lukaku has 65. This may not yet be the complete striker, but at such a tender age nor should he be - what he has demonstrated is that he could be one of the best forwards in the world in three or four years' time.

It isn't as if things have been going swimmingly for Chelsea in such an area, either. It is likely that the title would have been won last season had Jose Mourinho had a competent striker at his disposal. Samuel Eto'o scored nine times (before being released), whilst Demba Ba and Fernando Torres managed just ten goals between them. In each of the last two seasons, Lukaku has outscored Chelsea's top Premier League goalscorer.

The contrast between Lukaku and Torres is the most striking, the Belgian managing more league goals in his last two seasons (at Everton and West Brom, remember) than Torres has in his last four seasons at Chelsea and Liverpool. Lukaku's shot accuracy of 62.5% and conversion rate of 20.83% dwarfs that of Torres (48.65% and 13.51%), and yet it is Torres that will remain at Stamford Bridge, his high wages and pitifully low output making him a less than tempting proposition.

Mourinho has attempted to rectify his striking woes, recruiting Diego Costa for £32million from Atletico Madrid. Costa was continuously excellent for Atletico in both La Liga and the Champions League, but has only ever scored more than ten in a league season on one occasion- Lukaku has done so four times. His accuracy (57%) was also lower than Lukaku's last season.

It's a move that has left former Chelsea coach (and current Real Madrid assistant) Paul Clement not entirely convinced. "Costa's aggression and nastiness is the key, as without that he'd be a fairly average player," Clement said. "I'm not surprised Mourinho has signed him as he's the kind of player who'd die on the pitch for his team-mates, but he won't find it as easy to bully defenders in England as he did in Spain." Chelsea have taken a gamble, of that there is no doubt, the financial burden at least eased by Paris St Germain's unfathomable decision to pay £40million for David Luiz.

The bizarre conclusion, however, is that if Mourinho wanted a physical presence to lead his line, that is exactly what Lukaku constitutes (with the added bonus of Premier League experience and success). He won 38% of his aerial duels (compared to Costa's 21%) and was dispossessed only 1.7 times per game in the Premier League. Costa's figure of 3.6 is markedly higher.

That is certainly the opinion of Joel Robles, team-mate of Lukaku at Goodison last season: "He's a lot like Costa but I would say he is even more physically powerful," Robles said. "He is a player who fights a lot and has a goal in him, like Costa. Lukaku is a player who always faces up. He never hides if a game gets ugly, and has a lot of character."

And so, whilst one of the Premier League's most potent strikers will be allowed to leave at the age of just 21 without Chelsea even making a meaningful profit, with both Atletico and Real Madrid reportedly keen on a move.

All eyes now turn to Costa, Chelsea's second most expensive ever purchase. If it works out anything like the Spaniard above Costa on that list, supporters will be rightly questioning why Lukaku is being permitted to leave. What's more, why did he never even get a meaningful chance when other clubs rate him so highly?

[asylumseeker]

Chelsea 2 Real Sociedad 0: Jose Mourinho hails Diego Costa as £32 million bargain buy strikes twice

Jose Mourinho has claimed Chelsea have bagged a £32 million bargain in striker Diego Costa.

Costa gave notice that Chelsea manager Mourinho has solved his team’s goalscoring problems on the brink of the new Premier League season.

It took Costa just 57 seconds to score his first Stamford Bridge goal in a Chelsea shirt in the final pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad.

With eight minutes gone, pink-booted Costa had grabbed a second by tapping the ball into an empty net after Andre Schurrle had rattled the post to complete a 2-0 victory. It may have looked like the easiest of goals, but Fernando Torres, who replaced Costa from the bench after 61 minutes, has missed those kinds of opportunities in a blue shirt.

Strikers — Didier Drogba excepted — have found it difficult to justify their expensive price tags at Chelsea in recent years, but early indications are that Costa looks well worth the money.

When you look at the market, it is crazy and the value of strikers is even more,” Mourinho said. “Diego has won the league in Spain, played in the final of the Champions League and is still just 25. We consider the price as very much in our favour considering the values of the market.

“Diego is a team player, who works for the team. He is not just about goals, he works for the team and defends well.

“This is the player we were waiting for since last season. The player why we didn’t buy a striker in the last winter market. The Premier League should be happy because sometimes we lose important players to other countries.”

Costa added: “I hope my actions on the pitch and my feet will do the talking and then people can decide if I’m a good player or not, if I’m improving or not. All I can say is I love playing hard and fairly. Joining was an easy decision for me. We have some of the best players in the world, the best manager in the world and it’s a club with great history. I want to improve, not only as a player but as an individual, and I believe this is the perfect place for me to do that. That’s the reason I chose Chelsea and why I want to defend this shirt.”

Other than getting excited over the prospect of watching Costa every week, the Chelsea faithful were given a big hint that a new era has started at the other end of the pitch.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois started what was Chelsea’s showpiece pre-season friendly ahead of Petr Cech and, significantly, was the only player to remain on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes.

When both men have been available, Mourinho had previously given Courtois and Cech a half each, but the Belgian may now have the edge in the battle to start against Burnley on Monday.

Chelsea’s 25-man first-team squad that was listed on the back of the match programme still contained one too many foreign players to meet Premier League and Champions League rules. Selling Cech may yet prove to be the easiest way around the problem.

Mourinho admitted he has decided on his first-choice goalkeeper, but claimed he will keep Courtois and Cech guessing until the day before the Burnley game.

“I have my first-choice keeper in my mind,” said Mourinho. “The players do not know yet. I will tell them on Sunday.”

(Source: The Telegraph)

[elan]

Elan, I thought you would be the first to welcome Drogba back to his home.   

Man licking my chops with Drogba and Costa leading the line. 

[Mad Scorpion a/k/a Big Bo$$]

Elan, I thought you would be the first to welcome Drogba back to his home.   

Man licking my chops with Drogba and Costa leading the line. 

Torres go look like even more shite now lol

[Bitter]

Let the beat-down commence!