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.

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.

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.

1. At the start of the day I'd have taken a point at Stamford Bridge. We never win there, regardless of which team goes in to the game in better form, so a draw is a decent enough result. Don't forget that City lost there a few weeks ago, so despite some of their drag performances this season, Chelsea are still the 4th best team in the country.

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.

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.

Now before regular readers come and have a pop at me following on from my post the other day after the QPR game, I want to make a point that I am trying to make clear to you all.
My issue at the moment is and has been that we all know we aren't playing well, we know we are a couple of players short of winning the league, we know we are in a struggle for fourth place and have various issues with players at the moment.

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

To the Liberty Stadium! Huzzah!

What could have been

By all accounts, this is going to be a difficult fixture. Face facts, we're playing poorly at the moment, and unfortunately hung up on numbers. Despite our medical staff's best efforts, we're shorthanded and facing the very real prospect of losing another face or two come Tuesday night?

This lunchtime, Chelsea travel to Loftus Road to take on QPR in the next round of the FA Cup but somehow I don't think much of the focus leading up to this one won't be on the football!.
I could sit here all day talking about what happened and what is going to happen in a couple of days time but there is a football match to be won so I would rather concentrate on that!

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.

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.

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.

After reading (and posting) that Gary Cahill is about to sign for Chelsea and is rumoured to have asked for assurances of first team football at Chelsea ahead of Euro 2012, I just wonder what it means for David Luiz.
The more I think about it, the more I can see Luiz being asked to step sideways and play at RB for the remainder of the season to accommodate Cahill in the middle next to JT.

Didier Drogba, Gary Cahill, Andrei Arshavin and Andy Johnson headline the list of Premier League stars who are out of contract at the end of the season according to Goal.com, and could be available on a free transfer this summer.

You could put together a pretty competitive side from this list.

The transfer window is upon us and with a number of players set to move now and in the summer, we would like to take you through a list of the players who could potential leave their clubs when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

At look at the heavyweights making the list across the big clubs reveals that they are set to lose very influential players in the summer.

I think right now as a Chelsea fan we want two things from today. First and foremost we want and desperately need three points and secondly, a performance would be nice!.
No one would have imagined that we would find ourselves in the position we are in at the moment and no one would have predicted the result on Saturday against Aston Villa.

Let's not beat around the bush here and let's tell it like it is. We've seen two managers, drama, controversy, speculation, excitement, frustration and find ourselves at the turn of this year in the exact same position as we did a year ago. Isn't it strange how things have turned out!
This is my review of 2011 and a year on my blog as written by me, a lifelong Chelsea fan giving you my take on everything that happened.

So here we go with the madness that happens every year around the Christmas and New Year period with games coming thick and fast. After a good point at White Hart Lane, Chelsea have a chance to grab six points in the next few days against Villa on Saturday and Fulham today.
This afternoon is our second London derby in the space of four days and will be just as difficult as Spurs was.

It's a simple question isn't it. The reality is that we need our best side out tonight to win this one. We could say a week or so ago that we knew what our best side was based on current form but it's amazing what one poor performance does!
I asked a couple of questions to you all yesterday about the game.

Monday night can't come soon enough for me as we take on high flyers Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have picked up their form in the last couple of games and will see this one as a big opportunity to close the gap and to get their first win over our main rivals this season.
Both sides come into the game suffering mixed emotions this week with Chelsea topping their group and qualifying for the next round of the Champions League and City, despite having 10 points which would normally easily be enough to qualify, find themselves in the Europa League alongside "neighbours" Man United.

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!

At 3pm this afternoon all the talking stops and it's down to those players entrusted wearing our shirt by AVB this afternoon to get out on that pitch and to give everything to get three points.
We are taking a battering from all quarters right now and rightly so. The only thing that can start to turn things round now is a win.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is dumbfounded by the heavy criticism heaped at manager Andre Villas-Boas in the wake of the club's recent struggles, arguing that the manager cannot run on the pitch and prevent errors made by the players.

Cech's teammate Florent Malouda made the same assertion before the disappointing 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last night but Villas-Boas maintained that he must take the responsibility on his shoulders.

In the wake of their widespread criticism in the press following their 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool, Chelsea's visit to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen tonight has much more attention than their manager would like, and a result will prove crucial for a boost in morale.

The Blues have not won since their 5-0 smashing of Genk over a month ago, and though they currently lead second-placed Leverkusen by 2 points, another defeat would give the Bundesliga side and Valencia (in third spot with 5) hopes of topping the group themselves, and make the rumors about Guus Hiddink's potential arrival a bit louder.

Frank Lampard has rubbished suggestions that he is preparing for a move abroad, maintaining that he aims to be a Chelsea player for the remainder for his career.

Lampard, 33, has been in terrific form for the Blues this season but had to fight his way back into the starting line-up after being benched for a few games earlier in the campaign.

Mighty big match at the Bridge on Sunday. Could be described by some as a must-win. Others, like me, reckon it's only half a must-win. Yeah, I don't know what that means, either.

What I do know is that our tactical approach of late has been heavily flawed, and thus criticized by any and all comers some with a genuine argument, others not so much.

So it's been nearly two weeks since our last game at Blackburn following the international break and the players are back at Cobham preparing for a massive game on Sunday against Liverpool.
For the most part of the season at home we have seen a familiar shape to our play, Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa are expected to get forward and support our attack, a holding midfielder with two midfielders either side with licence to get forward and a front three.

The Prem's early season no-hopers OTP has already given you the best team of the Premier League season so far, but now it's time to look at the other end of the scale. Let's focus on the players that have made us laugh with howling misses and tickled our funny bones with woeful performances. This [..

Following on from yesterday when I asked you to give your opinion's on AVB's start as Chelsea Manager, listing my reports and views on every single one of our games so far, I thought it's time to turn todays focus on the players.
So who do you, the Chelsea fan or football fan reading this, think has been our best and most consistent player of the season so far?

Brazilian midfielder Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite aka Kaka won't be making his much awaited return to the Brazilian national team after a calf injury ruled him out of the Selecao's upcoming friendlies against Gabon and Egypt.

The Real Madrid star who has been in fantastic form for Los Merengues these past few weeks will have to wait a little longer to play his first match for his country in more than a year.

What are the odds John Terry doesn't start against Spain and Sweden? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas insists he won't sacrifice his attacking principles – and that's no surprise when he looks at the defenders he's saddled with. Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole pop out of position more often than Michael Owen's hamstring, David Luiz upends opponents like he's on a tag team and John Terry has recently had his character called into question.

I had never seen De Bruyne play being honest and didn't know alot about him after we were linked with a move for him back in the summer. As you can imagine watching him at Stamford Bridge in person two weeks ago didn't really provide me with anything of note. He has something about him, but along with the rest of his team mates, he looked outclassed and was never able to show us what he could do.

Boring, boring Chelsea. I reckon the talking heads can go ahead and euthanize that once trusted, but now extremely tired and inaccurate saying. We have been anything but boring this season for good and for bad.

Saturday? Bad. Really fucking bad. Somehow, some way, in a match that defied all logic, Chelsea managed to put together a 45-minute performance of such dire abjectness that it hadn't been seen by these eyes before.

Boring, boring Chelsea. I reckon the talking heads can go ahead and euthanize that once trusted, but now extremely tired and inaccurate saying. We have been anything but boring this season for good and for bad.

Saturday? Bad. Really fucking bad. Somehow, some way, in a match that defied all logic, Chelsea managed to put together a 45-minute performance of such dire abjectness that it hadn't been seen by these eyes before.

Today was, for the lack of a better, more elegant, phrase, fucking nuts. There are several moments in the video featured below the jump that mimic many of my initial reactions to some of the ridiculousness that took place in today's astonishing 5-3 loss to Arsenal.

An emotional man

To better help you understand where I'm coming from, I've created a mini-timeline below the series of moving pictures to give you some insight into what I'm talking about.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is fully aware that pundits will rip apart Chelsea's deteriorating defense but the Frenchman believes that today's 5-3 win should be attributed to the offensive quality of his side.

The Gunners looked shaky themselves on the defensive front but their relentless attack on the Blues' goal was rewarded with a hat-trick was skipper Robin van Persie as well as a goal apiece for Andre Santos and Theo Walcott.

So while everyone is fretting over the merits of the John Terry 'race-row', we still have the small matter of a match tomorrow. Against Arsenal. At the Bridge. You know, that stadium the fans fought so valiantly to keep in their control. More, after the jump:

The Business At Hand.