Not many players leave Arsène Wenger's Arsenal and thrive.

Look at Alex Hleb.

The ‘new George Best' sold his soul for a Mr Whippy with extra sprinkles and quickly went from Barcelona to the heady heights of Birmingham FC.

Now, still owned by Barca but not wanted by anyone, he floats in the footballing ether, dribbling in mazy circles to nowhere and declining clear shooting opportunities to his heart's content.

Now I want to state on record for the time being that this is just a rumour that has been brought to my attention and is being discussed on various forums at the moment.
Word of mouth that seems to be intensifying this week is that Spurs ARE willing to budge on their stance for Luka Modric but it would indicate that Didier Drogba is part of the deal and a deal could be agreed by the end of the week!

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.

According to Simon Johnson at the London Evening Standard, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is expected to make big changes this summer after a dismal season. It is reported that anybody could be on the chopping block including the likes of Drogba, Terry, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka, and Cole.

Agent Sturridge struck again on Sunday, scoring one of the goals that helped Bolton defeat Arsenal and leave them three points behind Chelsea in third place.

bol1067676 by arsenalist

It's one of the questions we've been asking since Studge went out on loan and started scoring goals constantly – what to do with him when the loan spell is over?

Ever since AVB was linked with the managers job at Chelsea and then confirmed, their Colombian Striker, Radamel Falcao has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
Why is he being linked? Well 39 goals last season under the management of AVB is more than enough reason for the manager to want his star striker to follow him.

Frank Lampard is featured this morning in the Mirror speaking of Roman Abramovich splashing the cash on Torres and Luiz, the Liverpool game and looking forward hopefully to some silverware at the end of the season. He said:

It was a boost for everyone, To sign a world-class player like Torres, and a player like Luiz, who looks fantastic, was a big boost for us.

Written by Harry

The inner workings of Arsène Wengers mind have for some 15 years, had the average Arsenal fan's imagination captivated. We've been spellbound by the intricate passing and mesmeric breathtaking counter attacks, in awe of the array of attacking talent on show, which saw us reach the pinnacle with the Invincibles unbeaten run in 2004, a feat unliklely ever to be matched by another team.

It's time

Teams
Chelsea
Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Zhirkov, Drogba, Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Benayoun, Mikel, Malouda, Ferreira, Kalou, Anelka.

Manchester United
Van der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Park, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez.

Forget everything else, forget all the other scenario's and theories people on different websites are coming up with for me it's all about our tempo and shape that has caused Chelsea the problems we have had in recent weeks. I for one have become more and more frustrated with the way we are playing and the tempo of our play.

As most are aware, I frequently trawl through Liverpool's chalkboards after games looking for inspiration. Stats never tell a full story, but often help color in between the narrative's lines. Today I thought I'd show how Liverpool controlled yesterday's game by using Chelsea's chalkboards.
Average Position:
Liverpool (3-1-5-1):
Sunderland (4-5-1):
Having three at the back was obviously the main difference, man-marking both Chelsea strikers with an additional CB to pick up the pieces, but Lucas' role also blunted Chelsea's effectiveness.

Liverpool and manager Kenny Dalglish have been widely praised for their tactical master class against Chelsea on Sunday, which successfully snuffed out a Chelsea frontline including former Red Fernando Torres for the first time.
His formation though was a throwback to the mid 90s and the early boom of the Premier League.

Even though the transfer window has closed until the summer and what with Roman Abramovich's extravagant spending during that window, the rumour mill remains in full swing and will do so between now and the end of the season.
Kaka's name is being linked with Chelsea once again now. As reported here in the Daily Mail, it's believed that Roman Abramovich wants Kaka at the club to play in behind Fernando Torres and it's believed that the 28 year old could be available at a knock down price of around £25m.

One of the major concerns about Chelsea these past seasons have been the ageing of their senior players. Drogba, Lampard and Terry are all above 30 years old. These stalwarts have been the backbone of the most successful Chelsea side in the club's history.
The rebuilding process have started with the buying spree in January.

Let's be honest here about last night, we were sitting waiting to see what kind of performance Chelsea would put into the game. The world was watching expecting us to slip up, the media were hungry for more Chelsea drama and with Copenhagen not having played for 11 weeks, you could imagine what would of happened if we had!

Nicolas Anelka has spoken to the official website in the last couple days and has revealed that he is happy to accept the new rotation policy that Carlo Ancelotti seems to have adopted ever since Fernando Torres arrived at Stamford Bridge.
A short time ago I featured an interview with Didier Drogba.

Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Hernandez, Rooney

The Glazers are in town. Protests before and after the game South Stand.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Cole, Ramires, Lampard, Essien, Malouda, Torres, Anelka.

"CONFIRMED LINE-UP: United vs Chelsea" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

John Terry believes that Chelsea's attacking options are intimidating the opposition at the moment and believes these guys hold the key to beating United on Sunday.
He said:

"It can be pretty daunting for opponents when they see us bringing on players like Nando, Didier, Nico, Sala or Florent.

I think all of us have been left tonight with the same feeling about the game today. The feeling we have is that it's typical of our season. We made a great start, suffered a dodgy patch through the middle of the game, got ourselves together and back in the running towards the end but let it slip in the final moments!

I think yesterday's game highlighted something I think we all agree on when it comes to the Chelsea team of 2010/11 and that is that we are lacking a PLAN B when our original plan doesn't seem to be working!.
So many times this season we have struggled to break sides down at home and away and it has cost us.

Romelu Lukaku has spoken out about the constant speculation regarding his future and has stated on record that he wants a decision to be made and finalised by next Monday!. As featured on SkySports, Lukaku has been linked with a move to the Premier League all season long and Chelsea have been linked with him time and time again.

....according to the Press over the last couple of days!.
Now we all know alot of these stories are just pure speculation and I can safely say Chelsea will not sign all of them! So I just wonder who you think we would realistically get this summer and how would they blend in at Chelsea?

Fabregas is threatening to do an Anelka and go on strike if Arsenal do not agree to sell him to Barcelona. The words did not come from Cesc but from one of his entourage and reported in the Catalan press.

Despite Cesc's protestations that he is happy at Arsenal and any move will be up to Wenger to decide, clearly he is lying and if he refused to return to training then he will join the likes of Anelka in the list of hated ex-Arsenal players.

We have all seen the rumours, we have all seen the speculation so it's about time that I put down here on record (as pre season starts today) the players I believe need to impress AVB this week or for the next 10 days. These are the players I believe may struggle to become part of AVB's plans.
Nico Anelka.

We have all seen the rumours, we have all seen the speculation so it's about time that I put down here on record (as pre season starts today) the players I believe need to impress AVB this week or for the next 10 days. These are the players I believe may struggle to become part of AVB's plans.
Nico Anelka.

I was invited back onto the American Radio Show World Football Daily yesterday to discuss everything Chelsea from the lack of movement in the transfer market, the new manager, pre season, formation and who will feature in the managers plans.
Also about current rumours, Essien's injury, the future of Lampard, Drogba and Anelka, if AVB can get the best out of Torres, beating Barcelona in the Champions League and finally a top four prediction for this season.

Chelsea have finally agreed a deal with Anderlecht to sign 18-year-old Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku needs to agree personal terms with Chelsea, but that should be a formality as this deal has been in the works for weeks.

"An agreement has been reached with Anderlecht for the transfer to Chelsea of striker Romelu Lukaku," a statement on Chelsea's official website said.

Romelu Lukaku arrived into London this morning off the Eurostar and was driven straight to our Cobham training ground to have his medical. If as expected all goes well, he will put pen to paper on a deal believed to be for five years with the fee believed to be an initial £13m plus add ons that could rise to around £19m.

Romelu Lukaku arrived into London this morning off the Eurostar and was driven straight to our Cobham training ground to have his medical. If as expected all goes well, he will put pen to paper on a deal believed to be for five years with the fee believed to be an initial £13m plus add ons that could rise to around £19m.

Not the most inspiring display, but we managed to come from a goal down to beat a stubborn West Brom side. But who was your man of the match?

It was an absolutely dire first half. The second half was better but our inability to finish is still alarming. Fortunately we got the goals we needed to snag the three points.

Written by Illybongani

Much has been said about the perceived success (or lack of it), of Wenger's ‘Project Youth', particularly since the move to the Emirates. Arsenal Football Club are now seen as standard bearers in the development of young professional footballers. But is this accolade warranted or is it a misnomer?

Nicolas Anelka to MLS? It nearly happened last month. And it could still happen yet. A team "on the West Coast." Hm... wonder who that could be? As Andre Villas-Boas settles into Chelsea and maps out those players that are his players and those that are not, Anelka was a second choice striker last weekend even as Didier Drogba gets his head screwed back on.

AVB has rang the changes and introduced three youngsters tonight starting against Everton with some big guns on the bench. JT didn't travel along with the suspended Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa. Ramires isn't ready to play.
The starting Chelsea team is as follows:
Turnbull, Ivanovic, Alex, Luiz, Bertrand, Romeu, McEachran, Malouda, Lukaku, Kalou, Anelka.

Squad sheets: Chelsea v Liverpool

It is hardly a crisis for a club to be fourth in the table when there are still another 27 fixtures to come, but the demands are always great at Chelsea. Even if the manager André Villas-Boas can only be concerned by the goals conceded so regularly, there is comfort in both the firepower and some very good days that have ensued.

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.

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.

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.

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.

10 points in 11 games, the best response to me seemed to go into hiding, pray and return when the sunshine breaks through the looming clouds. However, Let the records show that my official excuse for my absence has been insane travelling around the country. It's true, I have tickets to prove it.

I was reading this article in the Mirror this morning and wondered if they were onto something. The article claims that one or both of Drogba and Malouda could remain on the bench this weekend with Danny Sturridge possibly keeping his starting place after impressing against Ipswich last weekend.