After my piece in defence of Aaron Ramsey on Sunday, it seemed only fitting that whoscored.com would publish this piece today, which looks at the Premier League's most creative players since 2007.
It divides the number of minutes played by the chances that a player created from open play, producing a mixture of expected and surprising results.

I wondered being honest, how long it would take until we heard from either Nico Anelka or Alex after their departures from Chelsea back in last month's transfer window and it hasn't taken long.
The Sun over here in the UK leads with an interview Anelka has given about the end of his Chelsea career and claims he was left to rot with the reserves.

I wondered being honest, how long it would take until we heard from either Nico Anelka or Alex after their departures from Chelsea back in last month's transfer window and it hasn't taken long.
The Sun over here in the UK leads with an interview Anelka has given about the end of his Chelsea career and claims he was left to rot with the reserves.

To anyone who follows the beautiful game, Anelka's move to Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua did not make sense. What is even more interesting is Anelka's recent revelation that he snubbed PSG and a chance to re-unite with former coach Carlo Ancelotti for a little known Chinnese team.

Well after signing Gary Cahill, it hasn't taken Chelsea long to get their business done before the game tonight as the Belgian side have announced that we have signed Belgian International Kevin De Bruyne on a five and a half year deal for a reported £7m. DeBruyne will remain with Genk on loan until the end of the season.

When Wenger first came to England, the other title contenders had more or less sewn up the scouting network on the British Isles, the next George Best or Denis Law was going to be snapped up by United or Liverpool.

He had his connections in France and other parts of the continent... he stole a massive march on Fergie and Co by signing the likes of Anelka and Fabregras whilst the rest were scouting on a cold evening at Turf Moor.

Ducky's Note: Rathna Prashanth looks at a novel way to solve Torres' striking problem. By getting rid of Drogba!

Legend, proven goal scorer, leader on the pitch- these are some of the terms that describe the powerful Ivorian Drogba, aka the Top Dog of the Bridge. At 150 goals and still counting, not only has he been an amazing goalscorer for Chelsea, he has also been a tremendous athlete.

Morning all,

the dust has settled somewhat following Sunday's drama, and if anything illustrates how quiet things have gone from the club's point of view, it's that one of the main stories on the official website is the news that Luis Boa Morte is joining South African side Orlando Pirates of the Caribbean.

Nico Anelka, speaking ahead of his "new adventure" in China has taken the time out to release a statement thanking the Chelsea fans for their support in "four wonderful years" at the club. The statement in full says:

"I want to thank you all for the support you have always provided.

It's headlines like this we wake up to this morning with The Sun claiming from their so called "Chelsea source" that there is player unrest and AVB has lost the dressing room.
The basis of this information has come about because apparently Nico Anelka was banned from the club's Xmas do by AVB so the players organised a separate one and didn't tell AVB for Anelka.

By Andrew Crawford, writing from Shanghai. Andrew has written for The Independent and When Saturday Comes, while also maintaining Wild East Football the only English site covering Chinese football, and he'll be featuring "Letters from Shanghai" on AFR to help track the growth of the league, as well as the stars playing there.

NICOLAS Anelka's departure from Chelsea to Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua got me thinking: how far the game has evolved in the world's most populous Country?

Ever since the formation of China's top flight division in 1994 and its subsequent re-branding 10 years later (From the Jia-A League to the Chinese Super League), the far-east nation has pumped vast sums of money into its Football Association and the results of this are now beginning to show.

Everton are bringing back USA star Landon Donovan in January. Nic Anelka is going to China. And Mario Balotelli is in a fight in training once again. Tons of news around the Premier League, but as the fixture list gets ... Continue reading →

AVB in his comments about Didier Drogba leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January made a point that I believe to be quite interesting. He said:

"Of course, Anelka will not be available anymore but we have Sturridge, Lukaku and Fernando competing for that place when Drogba will be away.

AVB in his comments about Didier Drogba leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January made a point that I believe to be quite interesting. He said:

"Of course, Anelka will not be available anymore but we have Sturridge, Lukaku and Fernando competing for that place when Drogba will be away.

Just like I said yesterday, AVB has come out and rejected claims made by the media the other night that Chelsea were prepared to listen to offers of around £20m for Fernando Torres.
He said:

"It's not true, he is not available at any price.
Everybody wants to be involved all the time but Fernando is pushing for a place with Didier Drogba.

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou's imminent January departure for the African Cup of Nations, along with the sale of Nicolas Anelka to Chinese Super League Club Shanghai Shenhua has left manager André Villas-Boas facing a possibly head-scratching dilemma.

The loss of these three household names could force goal-shy Fernando Torres back in to the equation at Stamford Bridge, a move which some would consider a risk.

Hold on, calm down, deep breaths.... hear me out, then shout/speak/swear !!

Before I start my reasoning, if you can call it that, I want to say how much I love Robin to bits, he is just the kind of Captain the club needed after being diddled somewhat by the last few. His goals this year, in particular this season, have potentially saved us from a major crisis.

Story featured today in The Sun
It's been confirmed that Nicolas Anelka has signed for Shanghei Shenhua on a reported £6m a year contract for two years. The club released an official statement on the Chelsea website here saying:

Chelsea Football Club and Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua have agreed terms for the permanent transfer of Nicolas Anelka in the January transfer window.

Anelka's Chinese deal done and Shanghai plan Drogba move too

Chelsea veteran will earn £6m-a-year

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-11 11:34:05 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

I love Nico Anelka as I think the bloke is class. I have said it before time and time again on here and posted my tribute to him and his time at Chelsea the other week.
Since then, we obviously heard the news that he handed in a transfer request last week that has been accepted by the club and is now training away from the first team and will not be involved anymore.

I love Nico Anelka as I think the bloke is class. I have said it before time and time again on here and posted my tribute to him and his time at Chelsea the other week.
Since then, we obviously heard the news that he handed in a transfer request last week that has been accepted by the club and is now training away from the first team and will not be involved anymore.

Fascinating article in the Sun Thursday about how today about how Andre Villas-Boas laid down the law to his Chelsea players.

Between the defeat to Liverpool in the Carling Cup and the trip to Newcastle, AVB met with Chelsea's four most senior players: John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.

Fascinating article in the Sun today about how today about how Andre Villas-Boas laid down the law to his Chelsea players.

Between the defeat to Liverpool in the Carling Cup and the trip to Newcastle, AVB met with Chelsea's four most senior players: John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.

• Kop That: Why Spurs can be title challengers and not just pace-setters this time http://t.co/aEjve4ai 23:20:37, 2011-12-07
• Kop That: Rejoice! Peter Crouch has revived The Robot http://t.co/hgmSfzWX 23:20:32, 2011-12-07
• Kop That: Anelka's car is clamped DURING a match http://t.

The Twittersphere was alive last night with the scoreline London 2-0 Manchester, as both City and, more spectacularly, United failed to join Arsenal and Chelsea for the knockout stages of this season's Champions League.

The response from dejected mancs has been that this scoreline is of little relevance; the red and blue halves of Manchester still make up the top two in the Premier League, and the Londoners don't really have a chance of conquering Europe anyway.

The Twittersphere was alive last night with the scoreline London 2-0 Manchester, as both City and, more spectacularly, United failed to join Arsenal and Chelsea for the knockout stages of this season's Champions League.

The response from dejected mancs has been that this scoreline is of little relevance; the red and blue halves of Manchester still make up the top two in the Premier League, and the Londoners don't really have a chance of conquering Europe anyway.

I think if I was John Obi Mikel I would be worried. The fact that Oriol Romeu has come to the club, worked hard and has impressed so much to cement a regular start in the Chelsea side week in, week out - it's no wonder really.
Chelsea fans have a divided opinion of Mikel. For me the defensive instincts and qualities he has shouldn't be forgotten.

Anelka's car is clamped DURING a match

Chelsea striker ticketed after he is refused entry to club car park

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-07 23:00:44 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

As we all know AVB is planning a clear out starting in January and continuing next summer after the club confirmed that transfer requests have been accepted from Alex and Nico Anelka. Over the weekend stories also broke that AVB is prepared to listen to offers for Drogba, Kalou, Bosingwa and Ferreira.

Over the weekend we heard AVB confirm that Alex and Nico Anelka have both submitted transfer requests to the club that have been accepted and they are now training away from the first team squad until a move has been completed.
Yesterday however, news broke all over the media that Chelsea and AVB are also willing to listen to offers for a further FOUR more players in January!

It's official, Anelka and Alex will be leaving Chelsea in January. The Duo have become srplus to needs at Stamford Bridge and Coach Villas-Boas has confirmed that the club had received their offers to leave the club in January.

I would not quite call this a loss for Chelsea, but rather a step in the right direction as both players are indeed past their prime.

Rumours abound that Liverpool may be looking to sign Nicolas Anelka in the January Transfer-Window, either on loan, or to buy him for around £4 million.
The former Liverpool striker, under Gerrard Houllier, is out of favour and soon out of a contract at Chelsea.
Since the arrival of Villas Boas and the purchase of fallen-Red, Fernando Torres, Anelka has found himself way down the pecking order, behind young Daniel Sturridge who is beginning to find the net quite frequently.

Breaking news today on Official Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka and Alex have handed in transfer requests to the club and these have both been accepted!
To be honest it comes as no surprise as both players have been the subject of rumour and speculation lately.
Alex has been talking of moving to Italy since back in the summer and hasn't featured a great deal this season so far.

The confirmed Chelsea line up to face Liverpool tonight is:
Turnbull, Bosingwa, Alex, D Luiz, Bertrand; McEachran, Romeu, Lampard (c); Lukaku, Torres, Malouda. - subs: Hilario, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Ramires, Kalou, Mata, Anelka.
Liverpool XI vs Chelsea: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Coates, Enrique, Henderson, Spearing, Lucas, Maxi, Bellamy, Carroll.

Daniel Sturridge scored yet again in front of AVB at The Bridge against Liverpool last weekend. What more does he HAVE to do to earn a permanent place in Chelsea frontline? AVB has so far persisted with both Torres and Drogba while only allowing Sturridge to shine as an impact substitute or on the right of a front three.

Some pointers for AVB By the end of Wednesday evening and after a 2-1 loss in Leverkusen, nothing could mask the eruption of crisis talk surrounding the Stamford Bridge club. Not even the assortment of face masks on display Andre Villas-Boas's job hangs in the balance and so do the contracts of many of the [.

It's been a long week hasn't it. Two defeats, negative press and immense pressure now being put on our manager and our players.
I have discussed everything with you the Chelsea fans that come and visit my blog each day from whether or not we will finish in the top four this season, AVB adopting a back to basics and defend first approach to games, the addition of TWO defenders in January, giving AVB time to take this club forward, Anelka being World Class but understated, David Luiz being backed by AVB, AVB must now pick his best eleven players and stick with them and the idea of playing Juan Mata through the middle!

Chelsea seem to have lost all direction as was evident when they suffered their 3rd consecutive loss last night. The Blues have now lost 4of their last 5 games and the future is not only looking bleak for Villas-Boas, but also for a number of the club's stars.

Reports now emerging from London suggest that Anelka is thinking about leaving the club in the January transfer window.

Join in for a rant or two on all things Chelsea. Or just some witty banter. We're good at that.

Relive this moment, six times please

Team news forthcoming. And, if the Liverpool match wasn't a 'must win', then this surely has to be? For a ton of reasons.

Sidenote: Anelka has been told by the club that he can leave in January.