I'm going to attempt to keep this short because, quite frankly, spitting viciously vile vitriol is not how I'd like to spend my Saturday afternoon. Virulence really isn't going to get us anywhere.

But, shit, I'm fucking pissed.

Don't worry, it got much worse.

We've had a week to digest what happened against Manchester United. Plenty has been said and written about last week but now is the time to look forward and focus on Goodison.
Roman Abramovich has been at the training ground this week and it will be interesting to see the level of performance from Chelsea today, to see if his presence has given the players a kick up the arse to refocus their efforts on climbing up the table.

By Josh Clarke

On initial inspection, similarities between Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea and Edgar Allan Poe seem most abundantly clear in a shared propensity for an excruciating and painfully drawn-out narrative (think Fernando Torres and The Pit and Pendulum).

What was a dream at 3-0 quickly morphed into a nightmare near full time for the Chels, as Manchester United with a helping hand from good friend Howard Webb clawed back to secure a 3-3 draw in a breathless encounter at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Yeah, that's a difficult result to accept.

Manchester United head into Sunday's fixture at Stamford Bridge off the back of three consecutive victories in the Premier League and an opportunity to back on level points with City.

Penalties from Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov either side of half time on transfer deadline day lead Manchester United on their way to 3 points as Manchester City were being beat at Everton thanks to a strike from former Red Devil Darron Gibson.

It looks like the forecast is clearing up in London. That still doesn't mean we'll play, but it's enough reason to have a rant at least.

Team news and the like from 2:30pm EST.

Team sheets
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Manchester United
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Liveblog: Follow along with Jack @ The Score

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Help me, I'm having nightmares. More, after the jump:

Cold as ice

I'm not even sure this match is as important as what's transpiring around the orbit of England's Once Brave (Twice-Removed) John Terry- henceforth known as EOBTRJT. Jack cooked up some brilliance on the matter, as always, which I recommend you all read at once.

Big game at the Bridge on Super Sunday. Personnel decisions are likely to play a significant role in the outcome. So, let's channel our inner Andre Villas-Boas and sort this one out.

Cool? Cool.

I see you.

Andre Villas-Boas faces all kinds of issues entering our match against Manchester United.

Fresh off a transfer from the struggling Bolton Wanderers, defender Gary Cahill is reportedly already unhappy at Stamford Bridge. Cahill found himself on the bench for Chelsea's recent match against Swansea City, as he was hoping to fill in for the injured John Terry.

Goal.com is reporting that an inside source close to the Chelsea training camp noted that Cahill looked as if "his head has gone," but noted that Cahill has not filed any official complaint with manager Andre Villas-Boas.

It's a massive game on Sunday and two sides in contrasting situations. Chelsea are not playing as well as we would like to see them playing and are still struggling to create chances and feed Fernando Torres. We find ourselves 12 points behind United.
United, with plenty of injuries are still picking up vital wins and are now back on level par with City.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is extremely impressed with Swansea City's home record and suggests that the toughness of the Welsh outfit at Liberty Stadium should ensure survival in the Barclays Premier League.

Following last night's 1-1 draw with the Blues, the Swans are now nine points clear of the relegation zone with a little over a third of the season left to go.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

FIFA is considering a number of rule changes that could have a major impact on the international game going forward.

The major proposal that FIFA's board is facing would allow teams to use a fourth substitute in extra time in an attempt to cut down on player injuries.

By Alan Duffy

Swansea City 1-1 Chelsea Premier League 31th January 2012

A last-gasp Neil Taylor own-goal saved Chelsea from another disappointing defeat on Tuesday night, after Swansea gave the home fans another superb display of pacy attacking football.

Chelsea drew with Swansea tonight 1-1 with a late late Jose Bosingwa goal. Ashley Cole was also sent off for two bookable offences!. Not the result we were looking for!.
Here's the goals.
szólj hozzá: S1-0C
szólj hozzá: S1-1C
KTBFFH

People have complained that this website is dominated by WAG's so to counteract our lager-swigging, tit staring, lad-mad reading hard exterior shell, we have decided to give something back to the ladies... Andy Andrew Cole break it down... And don't worry ladies... Related posts:Should Cheryl Cole Take Back Ashley Cole?

Saturday Liverpool - Manchester United 7:30am - Fox Soccer A highlight encounter in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, even if Liverpool are 7th in the league to United's 2nd. "Liverpool have been struggling for form recently, and if we play like we did at Arsenal then I can't see why we can't get a very positive result," former United striker Ashley Cole told the club's official site.

Remember Yuri Zhirkov? The man with a big reputation as one of the upcoming stars of European football joined Chelsea for a fee of around £18m in 2009 and being honest, did little really to cement his place in the team or force his way in. I think we could realistically, count on one hand the amount of games he played well in for Chelsea.

It was, in short, a poor afternoon. Let's just say our trip to Spain couldn't have come at a better time. More, after the jump:

Begging for Mercy

I'm a hazy mess. Well, not a mess per se. But, disappointed by what was without a doubt a toothless display of our ineffective style that sums up our season.

Another frustrating day out and about for the Chels, who, despite a heap of possession and a fair few scoring chances, failed to break down a resolute Norwich City side at Carrow Road. Good result for them; us, not so much. That, as we said in our innovative preview, is another golden opportunity wasted.

We're off to Carrow Road tomorrow. My suggestion? Take the morning train.

It's a fixture that promises to be kind of fascinating. For one, it wasn't easy at Stamford bridge at the end of August; it sure won't be easy in Norfolk, either, with Norwich undefeated in four and currently in ninth.

In the summer of 2006 Manchester United were written off. Chelsea had just won the league with ease and added one of the best players in the world for each position to their squad. Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko joined them, whilst in contrast we sold our top scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and didn't replace him, and brought in Michael Carrick, who was hardly the midfield general the fans had been hoping for.

With the news that Gary Cahill has finally signed for Chelsea and after already asking you guys what the signing of Cahill means for the likes of David Luiz, I am wondering what you the Chelsea fans believe is now our best starting back four.
It's important to remember that AVB intended to play a high line in the Premier League with defenders who are also technically gifted.

It's official Chelsea have completed the signing of Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill. Cahill was repotedly bought for a fee believed to be in the region of £7 million and is set to be presented at Stamford Bridge sometime this week.

It is still not clear whether Chelsea gave into Cahill's obscene demands of a £100,000 weekly wage in addition to a £4 million signing on fee as the fine details of the deal are yet to be revealed, however, what is certain is that Cahill is happy with the deal.

It has indeed happened. We have reached the magical plateau of 40 points, and are thus unlikely to be relegated. Three cheers. As for this fixture, it was a right odd one, with the Chels looking equal parts sterling and benumb, particularly in defense. Chances, there were a fair few for both sides.

By Chris Wright

With charges, arrests and general controversy beginning to stack up, we are once again indebted to Taiwan-based media group NMA who filter out all the bull plop and present us with nothing but the clear facts using their trademark subtle blend of retina-searing imagery, dizzying overly-literal metaphors and featherlight grip on the actual incidents being discussed.

By Chris Wright

As I understand it, the salient bullet points are as follows: Chelsea want to buy Gary Cahill for £7 million; Bolton want to sell Gary Cahill for £7 million, Gary Cahill wants to join Chelsea; Gary Cahill's agent asked for £120,000-a-week wages (presumably on the basis he scores more often than Fernando Torres); Chelsea aren't stupid.

After watching Fernando Torres' performance yesterday for Chelsea I thought to myself "He's had a good game today". Then I saw the report of Ex-Liverpool Phil Thompson on Skysports "Soccer Saturday" and couldn't believe what I was reading!. Thompson is quoted soon after the game saying:

"He's not anywhere near.

Frank Lampard will grab the headlines. Fernando Torres deserves to share in the spotlight. The maligned striker capped an excellent shift with one more killer pass, this time to Ashley Cole who went on to set up Super Frank for a trademark finish with only minutes to play. I don't want to wager on just how big this result could prove to be, but I reckon pretty damn in the grand scheme.

Frank Lampard will grab the headlines. Fernando Torres deserves to share in the spotlight. The maligned striker capped an excellent shift with one more killer pass, this time to Ashley Cole who went on to set up Super Frank for a trademark finish with only minutes to play. I don't want to wager on just how big this result could prove to be, but I reckon pretty damn in the grand scheme.

Everyone is doing it, so I thought we would too. Here is the OTWT starting 11 for 2011

• Goalkeeper: Joe Hart, Manchester City
• Left Back: Ashley Cole, Chelsea
• Center back: Vincent Kompany, Manchester City
• Center back: Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United
• Right Back: Gregory van der Wiel, Ajax
• Left side: Eden Hazard, Lille
• Central Midfielder: Javier Mascherano, Barcelona
• Central Midfielder: Xavi, Barcelona
• Right side:Mario Goetze, Borussia Dortmund
• Striker: Ronaldo, Real Madrid
• Striker: Lionel Messi, Barcelona

I know everyone does not agree with my starting 11, so let the trashing begin.

Apologies for not producing a killer match preview before this one, but work has been one hateful bitch this week. Anyway, do we really even need to look ahead to this New Year's Eve fixture when we have classic images like the one below?

Yes.

Who: Aston Villa (est.

Tottenham failed to close the gap on the top two after a thrilling 1-1 draw with Chelsea at White Hart Lane.
Both sides were chasing victory to keep pace with the runaway leaders, but cancelled each other out in a free-flowing encounter.
Controversial Chelsea skipper John Terry played 24 hours after discovering he was being charged with racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

No player named Lucas will be on the pitch for Liverpool by the end of January. Though by this time next year there could be two Lucases (Luci? Lucai?) regularly in the starting eleven. And maybe even one Luis Suarez, assuming the English FA doesn't manage to drive him and Liverpool Football Club into the Irish Sea like some unwanted nation state by then.

Five things we learned from the Boxing Day football | Jonathan Wilson

Dimitar Berbatov has still got it but Ashley Cole appears to be losing it and Andy Carroll is just unlucky Berbatov's still got it One of the sadnesses of modern football and the prevalence of large squads is the talent that does not get to play.

IT'S A BOXING DAY WRAP!

Nothing like receiving a brand new Cabbage Patch doll under your tree, eh Ashley Cole?! Jokes aside (or not, depending on who you support!), Boxing Day might as well have named itself 'The Day Of Draws' because five out of seven games ended in dead heat.

A genuinely poor performance it was not. It was, however, a rather terrible result.

A myriad of culpable parties

Chelsea again surrender a lead despite being in a position to record a comfortable win. First Wigan, and now Fulham. What the hell. More bemusing, the fact that this latest setback arrived just days after we put in an excellent shift at White Hart Lane in a game we easily could have won.

Easy goal?

Only because Clint made another fantastic run. There were 20 other players on the pitch who could've got themselves into the area there, but Dempsey again made the right moves at the right time to get where he had to get.

I haven't got time to frame-by-frame this one, but look at the goal here.

Easy goal?

Only because Clint made another fantastic run. There were 20 other players on the pitch who could've got themselves into the area there, but Dempsey again made the right moves at the right time to get where he had to get.

I haven't got time to frame-by-frame this one, but look at the goal here.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-1 Fulham Premier League 26th December 2011

Chelsea's hopes of launching an assault on the Premier Legaue title in the second half of the season were dealt another blow after the Blues struggled against local rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge.

The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, recently accosted the Manchester City player Wayne Bridge for, apparently, seeming to be happy and content at being nothing more than a paid squad member at the Manchester club. Wayne Bridge never features, is rarely even on the bench, and is not highly valued by his coach.