Was reading somewhere that our purchase of Torres may be signs of a squad rebuilding exercise, what with most of our players on the wrong side of 30. David Luiz looks a buy for the future, while Brana's decision to stay on looks like one for the future as well.

There was already speculation in the media that some of our oldies may be sold over this summer, with the likes of Didier, Flo and also Jose B being mentioned. Much like our clear-out last summer as well, when the seniors like Ballack, Deco and Belletti moved on.

we've just been linked with Neymar again.

it might be a rebuilding exercise but our midfield is quite weak at the moment. shouldnt we be looking for a midfield player? most prolly Josh will be the future number 8 but right now I dont think he can carry so much weight on his shoulders, or can he?

Indeed. Neymar target refreshed. IMO Josh is the future 8 depending on how he develop, how highly we gonna rate him and how CA going to put him into his formation. I really hope that by next season he can play at least 20 games + substitutions and 30 games in overall competition. Hopefully this time we won't throw away young talents like Scott Sinclair, Ben Sahar, Di Santo and to be name a few.

This post has been edited by Belphegor: Feb 11 2011, 05:15 PM

Di Santo couldnt make into the team for his standard now. I am not sure if he is a late bloomers. As for Sinclair, he got the pace, but his finishing wasnt really that good. The best youngster crops that we have is our current youth and reserve squad, in my opinion. Not only that they managed to won the Fa Youth cup, but also their participation in their respective U21/U19 team.

As aw13 was saying earlier, we might be clearing out our squard and rebuilding from fresh. Although the like of Neymar, Lukaku, Van der Wiel and several others promising prospect being linked to us, I do think that our current youngster like Sturridge, Kakuta, Bruma, Aanholt still has their future in our team, say 5-6 years from now.

And in lastest CA interview, he mentioned Luiz going to start, he doesnt confirm whether he;s going to play CB or fullback.

'The players came back [from international duty] yesterday, everything is okay, just Bosingwa has a little problem but I hope he recovers for Monday's game,' Ancelotti said. 'The other players are in good condition, some players played 90 minutes but we have time to prepare the team for the Fulham game.

With a similar squad to pick from as that which was beaten by Liverpool last weekend, Ancelotti says he is likely to press on with the two-up-front formation that combined Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba for the first time.


its time for ashley-jt-luiz-ivanovic
he want to use 4-4-2 i tink ... hope he can find the best solution for monday's derby.. in CA i trussssttt tau ...

Seems like CA going to stick with 3 man forward for the time being.

sauce

And Alex should be back during the second leg of CL fixture against Copenhagen.

This post has been edited by Belphegor: Feb 12 2011, 12:53 AM

Cech
Iva,Luiz,Terry,Cole
Essien
Lampard,Malouda
Anelka
Torres,Drogba

This lineup may feature in the Fulham game...i hope this will be our winning formation...

FA Youth Cup Chelsea 2- Barnsley 1

McEachran getting better and better now. Same goes to Lalkovic.

Hopefully next season Lalkovic can appear as occasional substitute.

Btw, always see Sala in our matchday squad lists. He don't get bored? Sitting in bench knowing he won't get to play no matter what.

i will saz why not, doesnt work well with Reds doesnt meet its the end...

yep we're taking it step by step, with the acquisitions of luiz, ramires, and torres indicating that the owner realises we need to rebuild. if we do that while integrating the youngsters, it would be fantastic. with that in mind, i think flo and bosingwa can be retained with a view to slowly phasing out the former in favour of kakuta or maybe even tore. didier's contributions will always be etched in the club's history, but i have a feeling marseille will again attempt to bring their prized golden boy back in the summer, and we'll finally relent if the price is right.


one of the sagas that never really died, and with malouda's recent comments about a last 'swan song' in brazil, a malouda + cash bid might well be on the cards!
well..i may as well put two and two together, before the papers do. lol however, i think he still has something to offer to us, with the right kind of attitude. if we end up sending him back to france and throw kakuta into the first 11, i don't think that'll be such a bad idea either.

true, a creative midfielder is what we're lacking but when u factor in malouda's age and kalou's inconsistency, an attempt to bring in neymar actually makes a lot of sense for our wing-play. with a strong brazilian contingent consisting of alex, ramires, and luiz now, i'm sure we suddenly appear to be quite an attractive proposition (if we weren't already) compared to last season. kakuta on the left, neymar on the right in an attack minded 4-3-3 anyone? lots of creativity to go around, with both more than capable of playing at the tip of the diamond if need be!

i admire your optimism concerning the diamond, and i wouldn't be too quick to ditch its effectiveness as well. 4-3-3 won us trophies last season, but we may have to accommodate torres now, and our attacking trident has been looking stale in all the matches prior to sunderland. a whole lot will depend on how nico performs at the tip, but just as crucial is the movement of the players around him, especially the midfield and strikers. if there's nobody to pass to, don't expect nico to go on a mazy run, beating 4-5 players and rounding the keeper for a goal. he's just not that type of player.

therefore ramires's name has to be first on the team sheet because he's such a bloody hard worker (compared to EVERYONE ELSE in our team at the moment) when it comes to making runs and space for himself. let's see if carlo agrees.

but if fulham replicate liverpool's tactics and we're stuck at 0-0, i suggest reverting back to the 4-3-3 AT HALF TIME, take didier out, put kalou on that right wing, and malouda on the left. i'm quite confident kalou and malouda can cause some havoc out wide.

This post has been edited by Kerplunk: Feb 12 2011, 05:00 PM

Chelsea make approach for eden hazard

Why liverpool no give wigan 5 defender to face one? It worked for their last game.

Ps: I have a grudge against Pool for the time being.

he's like WOW in fm2011. a must buy player (in fm. )

let them ... international week spoilt bla bla .. lucas bla bla bla .. players bla bla .. sack manager bla bla .. torres bla bla ..

later we draw or lose we can say almost our 1st 11 goin' out international week .. penat la , fark sepp blatter la ..

my lineup for tuesday's morning game

-------------------p.cech----------------
b.ivanovic----d.luiz---j.terry----a.cole
--------ramires------------essien-------
------------------lampard---------------
--------drogba----torres----malouda--

Er, my formation is a lot different with yours.
Drogba and Essien do not deserve a start. I would give the chance to Kalou and Anelka.

-------------------p.cech----------------
bosingwa----d.luiz---j.terry----a.cole
Lampard---------Ramires----Malouda
-------------------Anelka--------------
----------Torres------------Kalou------

Malouda and lampard to provide some width play. I would like to see Bosingwa to play if he fit.

Sub drogba in if Kalou do not perform. Remember the effect in Tottenham match? Drogba turn into a beast

If Anelka is tired, sub Essien in and form
--------ramires------------essien-------
------------------lampard---------------

Looks like we have plan B already.
And I would like to see more rotation in our squad, Carlo said he will rotate the squad for next few games. Looking forward for how our squad to make change.

yeahhhh ur 1st tactics looks like more speed pacey game n i like it too .. but i prefer ivanovic as RB for now ..

hope Mikel not playing as starting line up, he's not that helpful on the pitch after seeing few match he played. Lacked of hunger to win

if we leading by 3 or 4 goal difference..he will play...but now..we still struggling with the end product...the goals...

This post has been edited by Ichighost: Feb 13 2011, 12:33 PM

Hopefully buying Torres will provide us more goals in a game, then when leading by 3/4 goals, Carlo will use these youngsters.

I'm very sure Carlo said he'll stick with Drog, Anelka and Torres.

Drog Anelka Torres can be a formidable upfront if we can play 4-3-3 Narrow...but that will exposed at the back? risky but better than diamond...