The Official Chelsea FC Thread

[Holymiky]

Hello all and Welcome to the Chelsea FC thread.

Decided to make this thread for everyone to post and discuss information about Chelsea FC if they wish to.

I would love to know how many others are Chelsea fans on the board aswell.

I will try and keep the thread updated when i can with news and such.

Happy posting

[Holymiky]

Here is some of the gossip from the BBC Website today regarding Chelsea FC.

"Chelsea have made a bid of £49.3m for Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, 26, after the Italian club rejected a lower offer that would have seen Fernando Torres head in the opposite direction."

"Napoli are determined that a release clause of £53m in Cavani's contract will be triggered before they let him go, and have been given a list of fringe players from Chelsea to choose from as part of the deal."

"Barcelona will move for Chelsea defender David Luiz, 26, if the Catalan club fail to convince Thiago Silva, 28, to leave Paris St-Germain."

"Chelsea are prepared to take on Arsenal in an attempt to sign Wayne Rooney from Manchester United if new manager David Moyes decides to sell the 27-year-old striker this summer."

"Striker Romelu Lukaku, 20, is keen to stake a claim in Chelsea's first team next season after talking to Jose Mourinho and deciding against another loan spell away from Stamford Bridge."

Any thoughts?

[Crimey]

I think Cavani is such a risky move, he's done very well in Italy but so did Shevchenko and he might struggle to adjust, Chelsea do not seem to have learnt from the Torres + Shevchenko deals.

They'd be better off buying a natural finisher like Gomez and letting Lukaku have a go.

Torres and Ba aren't good enough for them I feel. One can be the back up forward and one should be sold. I imagine Ba would be kept as he will be on much lower wages than Torres.

[Holymiky]

Here are todays Chelsea FC rumours from the BBC Gossip Column:

"Chelsea hold an advantage in the race to sign Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala, 22, as Manchester United manager David Moyes - who is interested in the player - is currently on holiday."

"Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho plans to sell striker Demba Ba, 28 after just five months at Stamford Bridge."

"And Mourinho is planning to sign strikers Edinson Cavani, 26, from Napoli and Hulk, 26, from Zenit St Petersburg for a total of £90m."

"Chelsea may also move for Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso, 31, who has yet to agree a contract extension with the Spanish club."

"New Everton manager Roberto Martinez is considering a £10m move for Chelsea forward Victor Moses, who used to play for him at Wigan."

"Chelsea's plan to relocate to a 60,000-seat stadium in Earl's Court could be back on after they were invited to bid for a 17-acre plot in the area that is scheduled to be put up for sale at the end of this year."

Also Jose Mourinho is apparently targeting Mario Gomez aswell, thats what i have read from the Gossip Column.

Any thoughts?

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Demba Ba was done no favours by Chelsea but I doubt he'll care. Still, I think a consistent place would have seen him score a lot more goals. I'd really hope Arsenal went for him, he would score them goals an contrast a little with their style enough to be a different threat.

[Crimey]

I think the signing of Demba Ba was also going to be a short term stop gap before Chelsea went for a truly world class forward in the summer. I'd have thought the original plan was Falcao, and now they're going for Cavani who is a fairly similar player to Falcao.

I'd be more wary of a move for Cavani who has been very successful in Italy, but a lot of players who do come Italy struggle to adapt to the Premier League. The likes of Crespo, Shevchenko, Veron were all very successful in Serie A, only to flop on their moves to England, so Chelsea should know this better than anybody.

I think Gomez would be their best move, they could get him cheaper than they'll be able to get Cavani, especially if Lewandowski moves to Bayern. I also think Chelsea need a striker who is prepared to stay up and top and allow the attacking midfielders to create and finish chances. Torres is often too eager to get involved with the build up play which leaves Chelsea with nobody to put the ball in the back of the net. I think Gomez would be an excellent signing for both the club and player.

What will be interesting if Chelsea do sign a new striker is what will happen with the ones currently at the club. Lukaku is strongly rumoured to be actually used this year, Torres is being mooted for swap deals or being sold back to Atletico and Ba might be on the move as well. Chelsea will surely want a minimum of three strikers, to cover injuries and to rotate across the four competitions. But if they sign a new striker like Gomez or Cavani, they'll be first choice. Then the options is to send Lukaku out on loan, which might be a bad idea if they ever want him to settle at Chelsea. Or sell one of Ba or Torres. The problem is that Torres is on such high wages so they'd want to sell him before Ba, as they can be happier leaving Ba on the bench. But Ba might not be happy to sit on the bench either so I've bought themselves into a corner.

[Holymiky]

I think the signing of Demba Ba was also going to be a short term stop gap before Chelsea went for a truly world class forward in the summer. I'd have thought the original plan was Falcao, and now they're going for Cavani who is a fairly similar player to Falcao.

I'd be more wary of a move for Cavani who has been very successful in Italy, but a lot of players who do come Italy struggle to adapt to the Premier League. The likes of Crespo, Shevchenko, Veron were all very successful in Serie A, only to flop on their moves to England, so Chelsea should know this better than anybody.

I think Gomez would be their best move, they could get him cheaper than they'll be able to get Cavani, especially if Lewandowski moves to Bayern. I also think Chelsea need a striker who is prepared to stay up and top and allow the attacking midfielders to create and finish chances. Torres is often too eager to get involved with the build up play which leaves Chelsea with nobody to put the ball in the back of the net. I think Gomez would be an excellent signing for both the club and player.

What will be interesting if Chelsea do sign a new striker is what will happen with the ones currently at the club. Lukaku is strongly rumoured to be actually used this year, Torres is being mooted for swap deals or being sold back to Atletico and Ba might be on the move as well. Chelsea will surely want a minimum of three strikers, to cover injuries and to rotate across the four competitions. But if they sign a new striker like Gomez or Cavani, they'll be first choice. Then the options is to send Lukaku out on loan, which might be a bad idea if they ever want him to settle at Chelsea. Or sell one of Ba or Torres. The problem is that Torres is on such high wages so they'd want to sell him before Ba, as they can be happier leaving Ba on the bench. But Ba might not be happy to sit on the bench either so I've bought themselves into a corner.

This is a very interesting response, thank you

I understand the points you made. I have been thinking that i would love Lukaku to stay and play as one of our strikers for the season, but if he feels happier going out on loan then that is completely fair enough and i can see him being in the future of the club for sure, regardless of if he goes out on loan or not. I think that if we sign Cavani i think it will be interesting to see what happens to the other strikers at the club. I would be happy for them all to stay but usually we play with 1 striker so say for example Lukaku does go out on loan then we would have perhaps 2 strikers on the bench at one time, which is fine but i could see the 2 that arent playing the most getting a little unhappy with that whoever it might be which is understandable.

[Guest]

It will be interesting to see what happens to Demba Ba if, as expected, Cavani is to join. Demba Ba was upset at Newcastle because of him being played out of position but funnily enough, we are now looking to sell Cisse because firstly he`s not very good and secondly because of this Wonga situation. Apparently, the Senegalese pair did not actually get on either. Its evident that Demba Ba`s future probably lies away from Chelsea and seeing as he hardly plays, goal record has dropped and he's been subsequently dropped from the national side, probably means he's unhappy deep down. I would take Ba back in a heartbeat, but would Pardew?

[Crimey]

It will be interesting to see what happens to Demba Ba if, as expected, Cavani is to join. Demba Ba was upset at Newcastle because of him being played out of position but funnily enough, we are now looking to sell Cisse because firstly he`s not very good and secondly because of this Wonga situation. Apparently, the Senegalese pair did not actually get on either. Its evident that Demba Ba`s future probably lies away from Chelsea and seeing as he hardly plays, goal record has dropped and he's been subsequently dropped from the national side, probably means he's unhappy deep down. I would take Ba back in a heartbeat, but would Pardew?

I can see him returning back to Newcastle if they were interested. With Cisse likely to be sold, Ba can return, especially if Newcastle can get him for about the same price they sold him for.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Id happily take him as a Carroll alternative, was easily the best striker we had at the club when we went down, Avram Grant's wonderful management saw Ba spend a lot of time on the wing with Cole or Keane up top. Uncle Avram was a braindead thing

[GSC]

If the Wonga sponsorship is a problem for Cisse, then it'll be a problem for Ba also no?

[Nakatomi Plaza]

I think this Wonga storyline very dodgy. Surely Cisse would have had the same issue with Virgin Money? Looks like an agent concocting a story to try to get him out of the club.

[Guest]

Yeah, the Wonga/Virgin story is rubbish, just the agent trying to move him on to the interested Russian sides, namely Anzhi, where the money pays big for him and his client.

Not sure if people saw it on the summer transfer section but the interview, that I was told about on saturday, showing Cavani stating he wants to play under Mourinho has been released. Apparently, Chelsea have met the £53m release clause as I was told, however the deal is being kept under wraps until after the confederations cup where Cavani is playing. It will be interesting to see whether Mourinho goes for Cavani, Torres & Lukaku next season or Cavani, Lukaku, Ba. If no one is willing to pay around £25m for Torres then I'm sure Demba will be moved on, probably back to us or Russia.

[Holymiky]

Yeah, the Wonga/Virgin story is rubbish, just the agent trying to move him on to the interested Russian sides, namely Anzhi, where the money pays big for him and his client.

Not sure if people saw it on the summer transfer section but the interview, that I was told about on saturday, showing Cavani stating he wants to play under Mourinho has been released. Apparently, Chelsea have met the £53m release clause as I was told, however the deal is being kept under wraps until after the confederations cup where Cavani is playing. It will be interesting to see whether Mourinho goes for Cavani, Torres & Lukaku next season or Cavani, Lukaku, Ba. If no one is willing to pay around £25m for Torres then I'm sure Demba will be moved on, probably back to us or Russia.

Thanks for the information John - I did see the the statement from Cavani earlier on Sky Sports and then i also read your post on the Summer Transfer Topic. Do you think that if Torres is sold he will go back to Athletico Madrid?

[Crimey]

Benitez is supposedly interested in working with Torres again. Although I have a feeling that might just be lazy journalism.

[Guest]

Definitely lazy journalism, just like the 'Sneijder to Chelsea' story that appeared. If Benitez has told Napoli he wants Torres, then Napoli would of wanted cash +Torres for Cavani, however all information released has stated Napoli are not interested in any deal involving Torres for Cavani.

Torres has a lengthy contract at Chelsea and I think he might want to stay. To me, it's only really Atletico where I could see him going, they also have the finances to do a deal, following Falcao's departure.

[Holymiky]

So today one of the first training sessions of pre-season took place. Chelsea TV had an interview with Lukaku and it seems to me like he is staying for the season. I know that he could still go out on loan but he did say he had a chat with Jose Mourinho but he did not want to reveal anything which was said which is understandable in my opinion.

I have also watched the interview with Van Ginkel and saw a highlights video on Youtube of him playing and he looks like a very promising player and the passes he seems to pull off are immense. Here is the link if anyone wishes to take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5750qt43AL8

[Holymiky]

This is an article from the official Chelsea website with quotes from Jose Mourinho.

"MOURINHO: BIG EMPATHY

Posted on: Sat 17 Aug 2013
On the day he returns to the Stamford Bridge home dugout, Jose Mourinho has expressed his desire to stay at the club beyond the length of his current contract.

The Blues boss will oversee his first competitive game since returning to the club when Hull City visit Stamford Bridge this afternoon, our first match of the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season.

Mourinho, unsurprisingly, is hopeful his side can maintain our impressive record on the opening day, when we haven't been beaten since a 2-1 defeat at Coventry City in 1998, but regardless of what happens over the course of the next few seasons, the Portuguese is hoping to remain in west London for the long term.

'I'm happy to stay until the club is happy and I'm happy,' he said. 'I don't see myself in Spain coaching another club, I don't see myself in Italy coaching another club than Inter. I don't see myself in other leagues because these are the leagues I love the most and where I was most curious to work in.

'In this country my connection is with Chelsea Football Club. I will try to make the club happy with me until the end of my contract, which is a long contract, and I hope at the end we both want to stay together.

'When the club spoke with me it was an immediate impact and an immediate feeling that I wanted to come back, but a decision is not made in two seconds, you have to listen to the club's ideas.

'I listened a lot and the same analysis of the team's profile we made together, or they'd even made before me, to call people back from loans, prepare other young players in the Academy with the next generation coming. For example, next season [Nathaniel] Chalobah will probably be with the first team squad and so on. They need some stability and in this moment the club are ready for that and I am ready for that.

'When you work with big empathy, and at this club we have big empathy in between the different sectors of the club, I think the trophies will arrive naturally, without obsession, based on stability, so I'm happy with that.'

The returning manager went on to explain the role he believes the senior figures can play in helping some of the less experienced players realise their full potential.

'I think this group, especially the older players, are ready mentally to cope with everything,' said Mourinho. 'They've coped with everything at this club; success, failure, changes in managers, new players coming, other players going. So from a mental point of view they can cope with it.

'They are in a fantastic condition to support the young kids. For the kids it's a big change; [Marco] Van Ginkel goes there (Stamford Bridge) and he doesn't know where the changing room is, it's the first time he's faced a situation like that in the Premier League.

'With the older generation, they are here because they have a lot to give as players, but also to help these young boys become top players.

'I think a coach is not a teacher, a manager is not a teacher, but at the same time you have to create empathy, you have to praise people. Feedback is important; you have to play with the negative feedback and the positive feedback, it's important.

'You have to teach them how to cope with high-pressure situations and difficult situations, I have to protect them and play them when I think it's the right moment to play them. It's more difficult if they are playing in a tough moment for the team so we have to think about it a lot because it can be important for the future.'

While Mourinho has, so far, exuded a calmer presence than he has at times in the past, he admitted that his competitive edge and will to win remain as strong as ever.

'I think part of the stability is to show them that I am a very stable person, but you can be stable and emotional at the same time,' he said. 'We were playing in a friendly against Roma and I was emotional in the way I was coaching my team, and it was just a friendly in DC.

'If you are winning 2-0 you want to win 3-0; if you are losing 2-0 you believe you can win the game 3-2 until the referee stops the game. These are points which help the kids build their character and help the team create an identity.

'I'm emotional, yes. I was a bit when I played here with Inter, but what I need to control is emotions, I'm not nervous. I want big matches; I don't like friendlies or pre-season, this is what I've been waiting for since I arrived."

[Holymiky]

Also, here are the provisional squad numbers for this season.

1 Petr Cech
2 Branislav Ivanovic
3 Ashley Cole
4 David Luiz
5 Michael Essien
7 Ramires
8 Frank Lampard
9 Fernando Torres
10 Juan Mata
11 Oscar
12 John Mikel Obi
13 Victor Moses
14 Andre Schurrle
15 Kevin De Bruyne
16 Marco van Ginkel
17 Eden Hazard
18 Romelu Lukaku
19 Demba Ba
23 Mark Schwarzer
24 Gary Cahill
26 John Terry
28 Cesar Azpilicueta
33 Tomas Kalas
34 Ryan Bertrand
40 Hilario
46 Jamal Blackman

[Crimey]

Surprised nobody has been given the number 6, clubs normally like to fill up their first eleven numbers, Bertrand or Cahill could have taken it.

[Sam]

Surprised nobody has been given the number 6, clubs normally like to fill up their first eleven numbers, Bertrand or Cahill could have taken it.

Maybe that's a sign that Mourinho wants another CB in? Baring in mind Ivan was at RB at the weekend.

[Sam]

Thoughts on tonight's game? I'm going for a 2-0 or 2-1 Chelsea win.

[JDizzle]

Interesting to see how many changes we'll see from Saturday too.

Maybe something like: Cech, Cole, Terry, Cahill, Azpili, Ramires, Van Ginkel, Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Lukaku?

[jimmyinthewell68]

being a villa fan Im going 2-2 and we would be very lucky to get that . its not going to be the 8 nil slaughter tho from last time . that was embarrassing  

[jimmyinthewell68]

well played chelsea . 2 - 1 lost is better then eight nil .still having nightmares about that  

[Sam]

well played chelsea .  2  - 1  lost is  better then eight nil  .still having nightmares about that  

Not surprised!

What are everyone's thoughts on the game Friday? Who do we think is going to play?

[Sam]

Willian confirmed from right under Spurs noses.

Not completely sure we need him, yes hes yet another quality attacking midfielder, however some of these players are going to have to sit on the bench and miss out on the squad all together.

[JDizzle]

Think Jose will mix it up a bit, won't go with a complete second team and will definitely want to win but I'd imagine Van Ginkel, Schurrle (in his best position on the left), De Bruyne and Lukaku will all probably start. Hopefully Mata will get some game time under his belt too to quash the rumours of him moving on.

[Guest]

What odds on TORRES leaving now? Clearly Jose doesn't rate him (or certainly not as highly as Abramovich did when he shelled out £50million) so will Nando go back to Spain or will he knuckle down and earn his spot in the first team at Chelsea?

Seemingly dark days ahead for the lad.

[Sam]

Think Jose will mix it up a bit, won't go with a complete second team and will definitely want to win but I'd imagine Van Ginkel, Schurrle (in his best position on the left), De Bruyne and Lukaku will all probably start. Hopefully Mata will get some game time under his belt too to quash the rumours of him moving on.

Totally agree about Mata, Oscar has played well in that position but feel Mata could have made an impact against United - along with Lukaku for that matter.

Would like to see:

Cech

Dave, Ivan, Terry, Cole

Lampard, Rami

Mata, Oscar, Hazard

Torres

Think we will see a similar team to the rest of the season though, so perhaps:

Cech

Ivan, Cahill, Terry, Cole

Lampard, Rami

Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard

Torres

Would like to see some of the new signings off the bench, feel we should give the team that won the Europa to play a part in the super cup as they got us there.

[kingraf]

I only just heard that Eto'o has joined the Blues was the premier striker in Europe from about 2004-09, the physical attributes may have diminished, but his nose for goal is unrivalled. One of the greatest strikers ever imo

[Sam]

I only just heard that Eto'o has joined the Blues :yahoo:was the premier striker in Europe from about 2004-09, the physical attributes may have diminished, but his nose for goal is unrivalled. One of the greatest strikers ever imo

I'm happy with that considering its a free transfer, only 1 year deal so perhaps we will go for Rooney next year. Expect Ba will be moved on (as rumored).

[Sam]

Of all the strikers to move we let Lukaku - our top goal scoring striker last season (while out on loan) to go on loan again! Should have tried to move Ba on earlier in the transfer window.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

#JOSEOUT

[JDizzle]

Think there's a bit of confusion in Jose's head at the moment. He needs to decide what his best side is and how they are going to play. Chelsea were very like the City of last year tonight with no real width to their play and with the three AM's switching just for the sake of it.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Any of you fellas making the trip to glorious Norfolk on Sunday?

Prepare to get Leroy Fer'd  

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