Definitely true but there were 2 exceptions, Diego Milito and Benni McCarthy. But Jose didn't exactly stay for long at both those clubs so the sample size is only one season which makes you wonder if they could replicate it in subsequent seasons.

Just have a look at Drogba, only for ONE season had he managed a decent goal return of 33 goals in all competitions under Jose. He was mostly used as a battering ram to bring others into play instead of as a scoring outlet.

Even Eto'o under Jose at Inter only managed a total of 16 in all competitions. Now 4 years on he has managed an even better goal per game return than from his time at Inter so statistically he still is the same if not a better player that won Jose his 2nd CL title.

The only striker who had a pretty good scoring rate for more than a season under Jose was Benzema. But I would prefer to discount his inclusion in this discussion because that Madrid team had some other worldly talents namely Ronaldo who demands so much attention it makes life so much easier for others playing alongside him. It is also important to note that Jose preferred Benzema over Higuain who had a better goal return because of his ability to link up with the midfield to bring Ronaldo into play as the main scoring outlet.

My conclusion is Jose has never really fancied out and out goalscorers and instead preferred his strikers to play a more support role with goals coming from midfield therefore us seeing Hazard scoring more than ever this season.

This post has been edited by Cloud0890: Apr 21 2014, 08:04 PM

Chelsea is lacking a striker is probably a myth half true at best. Instead of blaming the strikers they should be asking why aren't the midfield scoring more goals.

During Jose's first stint at Chelsea, Drogba was averaging 15 league goals a season. Then there was Lampard easily chipping in at least 20 league goals alongside the likes of Robben, Duff, JCole with at least 10 each.

Compared to what they have this season? Schurrle 7 Willian 3 Oscar 8 Ramires 1.

Nowhere near good enough compared the the old Chelsea Jose had.

No he is gunning for a league title fingers crossed.

Will the Kolo blunder cost us? 2 valuable points right there.

Goal difference will only matter if we lose and that is by a minimum of one goal so the goal difference will be 5. At that point we will have 2 games left to catch up. Assuming City continue winning all 4 remaining games by just 1 goal they will be ahead by a difference of 9 goals. We will then need to win by a total of 5 goals in each of the 2 matches to go ahead by 1 goal difference.

So if it comes down to goal difference we are practically screwed. All we can hope for is Everton and Palace to do us a favour in the next 2 matches to give us some breathing room.

This post has been edited by Cloud0890: Apr 22 2014, 02:38 PM

Roy Keane to takeover! Now that is a REAL SLAP to Old Fergie's face!

Legend!

Hmm wasn't there a rumour of Daniel Levy looking to replace Sherwood with Van Gaal at the end of the season? If so did Manu just jumped ahead of the queue? Haha Levy must have wished he sacked Sherwood sooner then.

Thanks for all the hijacks Levy, you are about to get a taste of your own medicine!

This post has been edited by Cloud0890: Apr 22 2014, 09:52 PM

He is not their manager. Giggs is their mate, their brother. Mmmmmmm....says Giggs.

Even more bad news for us. Mirallas is confirmed to be out for the rest of the season.

Today is a sad day.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is ready to make wholesale changes to his starting XI for Sunday's crucial Premier League encounter with Liverpool.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech will not play again this season after suffering a shoulder injury in the first half, with captain John Terry facing a similar fate after limping out in the second period with a foot problem.

Midfield duo Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel were booked during the match, ruling them out of the second leg in west London next Wednesday.

The Portuguese coach will consult the Chelsea hierarchy before deciding which players to field at Anfield, with his preference to opt for those who will not feature against Atletico next Wednesday due to the proximity of the matches.

"I can't decide by myself," Mourinho said.

"I think that's a decision I have to listen the club. I'm just a piece, I'm just the manager and no more than that.

"I have to listen to the club. I think the fact that the match is on Sunday I think puts the problem not in my hands.

"We represent English football and we are the only English team that is European competition. Spain has four and gave them all the conditions to try to have success.

"I know what I would do, but I'm not the club. I have to speak with the club.

"I would play with the players that are not going to play Wednesday."

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/9279033/...ainst-Liverpool

Maybe but think about this for a sec. Mikel, Lamp and Matic is ruled out of the 2nd leg leaving Ramires as the only central midfielder? Does that not make Luiz a must to play either in midfield or in central defence? Because of that reason Luiz is a "must rest" player. Mikel, Lampard and Matic will instead play since they won't be playing in the CL.

This leaves Chelsea vulnerable at the central defensive area. Maybe Iva will move back to the middle or youngsters Ake or Kalas coming in if they opt to rest Cahill too considering his rather good performance even in the absence of Terry in the 1st leg.

I would say there was a rivalry between the two clubs but it was more of Rafa vs Jose than Liv vs Chelsea.

Right now though Rodgers definitely have a better relationship with Jose than Jose with Pellegrini.

This is false.

GK Petr Čech (injured)
DF Branislav Ivanović
DF Ashley Cole
DF David Luiz
MF Ramires
MF Frank Lampard
FW Fernando Torres
MF Oscar
MF John Obi Mikel
FW André Schürrle
MF Mohamed Salah
MF Marco van Ginkel
MF Eden Hazard (late fitness test)
FW Demba Ba
MF Nemanja Matić
MF Willian
GK Mark Schwarzer
DF Gary Cahill
DF John Terry (injured)
DF Nathan Aké
DF César Azpilicueta
FW Samuel Eto'o (injured)
DF Tomáš Kalas
GK Henrique Hilário
GK Jamal Blackman

Let's say [Schwarzer - Azpi - Cahill - Iva - ACole - Ramires - Matic - Oscar - Willian - Schurrle - Ba] is currently their strongest lineup taking into account the injuries. Try putting together a 2nd completely different lineup. You will find yourself struggling to complete their back 4 and they are lacking quality in the central midfield area.

Capable yes but what I'm saying is even without injuries you will find it difficult to complete their back 4. That should be their first string lineup at the moment but the second string is filled with holes. I'm only disputing the argument that Chelsea is capable of fielding 2 different lineups that is strong enough to challenge the title.

Remember how their fans drool over the sight of Mata, Kagawa and Rooney playing behind RVP? They talked about how the football will be fluid and exciting with their interchanging positions. When Moyes played all 3 together he was labelled as tactically inept because the team lacked width and too congested in the middle.

I reckon either one of Schurrle or Salah or even both will start against us and I don't want to see them running towards Agger. Agger will struggle BIG TIME against pacey forwards. He's lost a lot of his pace since his injury, maybe due to lack of fitness hopefully it's not permanent. Remember how he had a head start over Soldado but Soldado easily sprint past him? Pace isn't one of Soldado's strongest attributes.

Somewhat related to this article here about the importance of Director of Football in the modern era. DoF these days represent the philosophy of the club is trying to implement.

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcunited/id/14058?cc=4716

The punditocracy in England often claim that Directors of Football buy players a manager doesn't want and therefore interfere with his job. But a good Director of Football would be on the same wavelength with the manager because he would have had a hand in appointing him.

He would understand the profile of player the manager wants and present multiple options. Then they would choose together. As with all things, it's about getting the right guy for the job. A bad one won't help you -- but then neither will a bad manager -- while a good one will make a real, tangible difference.

A competent Director of Football would also be the perfect bridge between the first team and the Academy. Again, what's the better use of your manager's time: Working with his senior players or traipsing off to watch the U-21s and U-18s at every opportunity?

With a Director of Football at the top, you can create a situation where the guys running the Academy and the manager share the same philosophy, because it's also your philosophy. You can fully exploit what ought to be one of your clubs' biggest assets (and, historically, has been) by ensuring that the Academy produces the types of players the manager wants. And, if you get it right, that's exactly what will happen because the Director of Football, Academy director and manager will all have the same footballing philosophy.

Does anyone know if the Centenary Stand and the Kop is expandable? If so is it in the pipeline to renovate those parts in the future? 59000 seems a little lacking to be honest. Was expecting a minimum of 65000 to be compete with the big boys.

Anfield Road Stand will also be expanded by 4,800 seats though. Was just wondering why nothing has been announced of the possibility of expanding Centenary Stand and the Kop or is it just not possible.