i knew studge could do it!! good finish to get his 1st goal in europe. much is expected from him this season, and from his recent interviews u can see that he's a young man with his head screwed on right, despite all the attention he's getting. nico had a wonderful 1st half and dropped off a little in the second, but take nothing away from his positioning and clinical finishing for both goals. deserved praise from carlo.

yuri overshadowed malouda imo, with some mazy penetrating runs which zilina struggled to deal with. had a very very strong penalty shout at the end of the first half where he bamboozled the defender with some quick feet, only to be taken out completely with the ref inexplicably ignoring the incident. kakuta had another steady extended cameo, showing some good touches and runs, and his tap in which was disallowed looked suspiciously onside.
mceachran managed to get some time, so he'll be pleased with that.

terry and alex were amazing in the middle of defence, with the latter providing some last minute body on the line sliding blocks which are fast becoming his trademark.

mikel and essien are now establishing themselves as the hard men in our midfield, although the bison had a few loose touches in the second half. the first goal which essien thumped in though was a work of art, in terms of the build-up and emphatic finish. at the rate mikel is going now, i wouldn't put it past him to usurp our great maka in the near future. do keep in mind maka was already at quite an advanced age when he showcased his best, and mikel is already on the right track in showing maturity within his game.

not pleased with cech though, as his confidence seemed to crumble after deflecting a harmless cross to the head of ivanovic, and gave zilina a free goal.
the goalkeeping coaches have a job on their hands in addressing this. last but not least, i was quite disgusted with espn whereby key incidents in yuri's strong penalty claim and kakuta's seemingly onside goal were not replayed even ONCE, but mundane and 'useless' scenes like whether alex let the ball trickle out for a corner were given extended focus in dynamic slowmo. smelled some strong anti-chelsea sentiment there, but maybe its just me. regardless, it's still filed under rubbish broadcasting.

This post has been edited by Kerplunk: Sep 18 2010, 03:30 PM

hands up those who were expecting more goals in the second half?

our midfield came out trumps today. the defense was a bit loose, and our front three could've done better in the second half. a lot better in fact.
we seemed to take our sweet time in pulling the trigger when in advanced positions, and u could almost feel the crowd urging the players on to get the fifth goal. take nothing away though from our first half blitz, where blackpool were the true personification of 'deer caught in the headlights.'
we looked liked an 18-wheeler truck mercilessly mowing them down, but that 18-wheeler somehow took one pitstop too many in the second half.

fastest goal so far this season, and its a record that will take some doing to break.

blink and you'll miss iva's great flick towards the backpost for kalou's finish, and that set the tone for our subsequent goals. salomon scored one and was heavily involved in creating 2 others. however, he could've had at least another goal and needs to work on his finishing when facing the keeper one on one. his defence splitting pass was received by didier who drove into the box and squared it for flomo, showing once again he's one of, if not the most unselfish striker in the business.

third goal was pure class from the bison and ashley, the former pinging a 50 yard pass for the latter to cut inside the defender with his first touch, and square it for the drogs who scored via a slight deflection. good balance shown by our top striker to get the shot away.

final nail in the coffin was hammered in by flomo, after good work again by kalou from the right hand side. the pass that spread the play was provided by didier, who returned kalou's earlier favour. best goal of the match for me. ramires deserves a special mention with some effective movement and showing he too has an eye for a quality long range pass. mikel and essien as usual proving why they're in the first 11.

that last ditch tackle that was made on didier is a stonewall penalty. ref instead blowed for fulltime out of pity more than anything else, and u could see drogs was already envisioning getting another goal from 12 yards delicious flick for flomo in the first half btw!

carlo has already declared our first real test will come at city in the league. i couldn't agree more. however let's enjoy our youngsters' performance vs newcastle first!

there was one passage of play when mikel was surrounded by two players and he did this neat dragback + shimmy to create space for himself, and i was like "whoa crap he can do that?!" he actually has pretty quick feet, but only showcases it when there's an absolute need for it. sadly supersport hd didn't think it was worth a replay.

i'm quite pleased to see how we're coping without lampsy though. good job by carlo who's integrating ramires/benny, while maintaining the rhythm of our game. remember there was a time most of us thought life would be unbearable without our no.8!

hmm maybe handed them to stamford the lion? haha

did u notice when ramires was replaced, as he was preparing to take a seat on the bench, JT was uttering something to him (probably good job or well done if i had to take guess) but our brazilian boy ignored him COMPLETELY. u could see more than a hint of annoyance on JT's face as he realised ramires was more concerned with sitting his arse down.

hmm i think JT is more of the motivator type, not one to berate new players in front of the coaching staff.
highly doubt ramires can speak english either. sooo it could've been a case of the old fashioned language barrier!

hmm i was thinking actually essien is the one most likely to take up lampard's role in the short term. however in the long term, toni kroos? how exactly does he play ichi?

btw, did anyone read ian holloway's glowing review of our team after the blackpool game? i admire his sportsmanship. his team did get walloped and all he had to say were good things about our team. i've seen managers who somehow slip into a state of denial after getting thoroughly outplayed, refusing to offer any sort of acknowledgement whatsoever to their opponents. this holloway dude however, deserves a chelsea jersey a.s.a.p!

quick update on our reserves : brilliant comeback win away vs newcastle (lalkovic x2, adam phillip (pen)) 2-3, and a loss against spurs away 4-2, (drew level at 2-2 but conceded late goals which flattered the yids) todd kane, bobby devyne the scorers. jamal blackman saved a pen.

hello wawawa! well imo the trademark we miss most from lampsy is his late runs into the box which are so difficult to track. essien's goal vs zilina demonstrates that he can take on that duty if need be, but the bison spends most of his time in the middle spraying passes and powering into the opposition half. unlike lampard, he's a bit reluctant to make runs beyond our strikers, mainly because he's more comfortable in the middle of the park.

yep i think its great that our boys play with a lot more smiles on their faces nowadays, even during matchdays. that's a sign of solidarity and obviously they're in good spirits. i have no doubt it'll be a war against city, and the closeness within the team ensures that they're going to fight for each other, and CFC.

hmm a bit sad as the youngsters have lost their number one avenue to get more time on the pitch. will make sure to catch a replay of the full game. it was quite a comback, but defensive mistakes cost us. turnbull is turning out to be one heck of an odd purchase eh

watched the first half and from what I can see, carlo’s philosophy is already beginning to be understood even among the youth. It really is about playing a specific system, where players can gauge and seamlessly adapt to it with time (happens to be wenger and fergie’s policy too). their movement and ball retention isn’t really too far away from what we see in the first team, and that’s a huge compliment for our youngsters involved.
I’m really loving the positive optimism shown by almost all of u guys, but I still say we have to manage our expectations with regards to josh.

Watched the vid, and was very impressed by his ball control, confidence and quickness of thought. Being closed down by defenders just doesn’t faze this boy, and it’s an instinct developed by players with natural skill. Just keep in mind, josh needs time and don’t expect him to dribble past everyone in the next game he’s involved in.

p. s: I’m also annoyed that nobody bothered to compare his finesse to our very own zola, and kept mentioning iniesta intead!shame on u guys

hidzwan gets my vote for post of the day. lol

terry and alex in the middle for me with iva pushed out to the right. but i wonder if bosingwa can make it..would be a massive boost, although in hindsight it wouldn't be a wise decision considering his match fitness. i'd ilke ramires instead of yuri in midfield, but the attacking verve our russian assassin can bring sure is interesting. the former is the safer choice though.

our trusty front three to bring the pain. no change there. studge will get the role of supersub if he's needed, although he didn't do too well in the second half vs newcastle? only watched the first and he was pretty low key. not his usual self for sure.

two of those shots that went in were certainly saveable. the tevez shot ESPECIALLY. c'mon big pete! c'mon bison! i think mikel is also going to be crucial in this game. he needs to control the tempo, and his positioning has to be spot on. an early goal will do us wonders so let's hope we can get one like in the previous matches.

don't worry i think malouda, nico and didier will provide the FAIYA POWAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! essien will provide the extra GUN POWDAAAAAHH!
if we win, they can all have a CHEESEBURGAAAAAA!! (can't help it, i saw rohney's avatar. yum )

good question about borini from eeki. injury perhaps? i don't remember seeing him play in our recent reserves games

chill mate! malouda's the one on top form right now, and he's earned his starting place. yuri to come in as a super sub, if he's needed. but you're right in saying if this continues, we're likely to see the back of him soon. that's bad news considering kakuta isn't quite ready yet, and has shown some vulnerability towards minor injuries. let's hope they don't persist.

most of the media have been waiting and waiting for roman to suddenly lose interest and desert an empire he's helped build. i think our owner's going to keep them waiting for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to come. and when that happens, he might actually 'desert' us, and let his son take over instead.

i actually feel sorry for liverpool. our titanic clashes with them throughout recent years have been unforgettable, and i'm hoping they continue no matter what happens. the worst thing for them is there's no clear end in sight, and that slowly eats away inside the hearts of their fans. that feeling of uncertainty can sometimes be even worse than defeat to your fiercest rivals.

just think back when we were heading for financial disaster under ken bates..if the wrong person took over, it could so easily be us in pool's situation right now...

woahhh u guys are really harsh on ramires. i don't think he was as poor as many here have described..he made some fantastic tackles when we were being countered, and did get into good positions with smart runs into the box, except nobody actually managed to thread a pass to him. maybe it wasn't as often as many here would've liked but please bear in mind this is only his what..3rd start? i won't excuse his mistake that eventually lead to tevez beating cech, but u also have to look at how poor we were at closing down their most dangerous player. ashley cole i'm looking at you. should've been much,much closer to make the block.

nobody bothered to mention one of the most obvious reasons we didn't get something from the game? i'll do the honours then: poor finishing. dare i say it, pathetic finishing. essien's unmarked header from a corner, and alex's shocker of a miss from six yards after malouda practically dropped the ball on his head from a freekick. i'd like to emphasise again, both were TOTALLY UNMARKED and quite adept in the heading department. that's just inexcusable imo, considering the setpiece goals we've been getting. i'd separate these two and have them practice their headers for an extra two hours in the next training session if i was carlo.

its true city roughed us up pretty good, and the ref let some really aggressive fouls go when we could've had more freekicks in dangerous positions.
boyata's barge on didier was obvious and quite possibly a pen. even so, all this would not be brought up had we just been more clinical at our setpieces.
their defenders repelled everything in normal play, and freekicks/corners were the only areas we looked likely to capitalise on. sadly we didn't and city deserved their three points. like last season they played to prove a point, and i'm not happy with the lack of urgency we displayed. congrats to them for sending us home empty handed, and not to mention officially becoming our new bogey team.

another thing we found out is nobody can really do lampard's job at the moment. other than that, the only player who wasn't disappointing was petr cech and possibly josh. the fact that we performed even worse than last season at eastlands is a cause for concern. carlo u have some screaming to do, and some teacups to break. that's all i can say.

okay i just forced myself to watch a repeat of the game, and i'm including mikel and terry into the 'good performers' list. for those of u who're wondering why didier got subbed out, i advise u to review the full 90 mins again. CORRECT call by carlo, no matter how bizarre it seemed at the time. the drog was out of it..totally. however nico wasn't too far behind in that sense, and it was basically a toss-up between him and the frenchman, on who should leave the pitch. considering carlo was looking to inject more speed, the decision was a rational one.

malouda was another player who just couldn't get into the game, and yuri deserves to start against marseille as well as arsenal. the russian came on and knew he had to go down boyata's outside and utilise his speed, instantly winning a freekick and drawing a yellow card from the defender. malouda failed to beat the supposedly 'weak link' within city even once. yuri on the other hand looked like a man playing to win a place in the team, with dangerous runs and good link-up play during a short space of time. louda should reclaim his spot only if yuri has one hell of a stinker against the french champions.

QUOTE(Ichighost @ Sep 26 2010, 09:41 PM)
4 Questions

1 - Should Zhirkov start against Marseille ahead of Malouda?
Yes. shake things up a bit, won't do any harm and louda will be fired up. yuri deserves to show what he can do, at his favourite LW spot. depending on how well he does, he might just start the arsenal game.

2 - Should Josh start against Marseille ahead of Ramires?
its debatable if he's ready or not, but one half sounds fair. when u think about it, city was a high pressure game where carlo was practically telling him "we're trailing 1-0. go out there, try and do something about it." he didn't disappoint.

3 - Should Bosingwa given minutes against Marseille?
One half as well, then bring in iva for the second. I want the serbian killer ready for arsenal, where he should start ahead of the boss mainly due to his imposing physique. we need him threatening on those setpieces.

4 - Should we buy Neymar??
many are questioning the brazilian's recent outburst, but surely we don't know the exact reasons behind it. if torres did something similar, would we be opposing the spaniard's arrival too? for all we know he's regretting his decision to stay at santos, after being pressured by various parties.
for a good price and coupled with carlo's experience with the likes of kaka/pato/ronaldinho, i don't see why not. the gaffer will set him straight.

*Referring to studgy’s introduction again, from my point of view our constant (and particularly SLOW) barraging through the middle wasn’t working against city’s defensive wall. Pacey players will cause any team trouble and u could see yuri and studgy’s direct running was making a difference, especially the former’s. I understand the likelihood of didier doing something spectacular, but against city it just wasn’t happening for him. The chances of studge/yuri putting in a killer cross or going on a mazy dribble was just higher imho. fresh legs, fresh impetus.

oh and before i forget, owen coyle helped to take away the pain of that defeat quite significantly

finally borini's back! oh well..at least something to lift the spirits with our 3-1 win vs liverpool's reserves.
carlo said its either kakuta or studge on the right vs marseille. can't wait to see who gets the nod!
but i'm rooting for gael

french trident attaaaaccckkkk!!!

suddenly we've gained so much from letting go of bally, riccy and joey. we've found out the likes of gael, studge and mceachran have what it takes to become first team players. imagine what it would be like if the former three were still on the payroll, and our unpolished gems such as josh and gael became disgruntled with life at cfc. their departure would be an absolute disaster for us. my only hope is they grab this chance with both hands and give it their all. because there's no telling how long the club will choose to continue in the same vein before deciding they have to spend again.

mad..dun la..you're making us look old man. lol

i want yuriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

malouda's strength will come in handy vs arsenal. but i dunno man..i feel yuri deserves to strut his stuff. if only there was some way to incorporate both..looks like carlo hasn't taken up my suggestion on playing either on the right wing, and see how it goes