Last night saw David Luiz take up the role of defensive midfielder again, something that he has not been asked to do for quite a while. I thought he had a mixed game; we saw the best and the worst from him. Some very strong tackles were made, but then he was also outsmarted on more than one occasion.
One of the most surprising thing about this season has been Chelsea's lack of flexibility when it comes to tactics. We may have seen a slight tweak to the 4-2-3-1 formation from time to time within games but nothing much that stands out.
With Oriol Romeu the only player out injured, we have a full strength side to pick from now and I am on a mission to establish what Chelsea fans all over the world thinks is our best and strongest eleven.
So, the African Cup of Nations and the hilarious defending it exhibits is finally over, and coupled with this will be the return of Moses and Mikel. What this holds for the former is reasonably straight forward, Moses will be going straight back into the team and into the rotation policy of Benitez, as it was before.
Career stats for Claude Makélélé at Chelsea: App: 217 Goals: 2 The numbers don't exactly jump out of the page when you read about the diminutive Frenchmen who was once famously (prophetically?) defended by Zinedine Zidane after being criticized by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
OK people here we go as we start to build up to Friday night. Chelsea travel to Monaco (watch out
for the prices of local booze by the way!) to take on Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup and
it's the first major trophy of our season.
We are waiting for injury updates on Marko Marin ahead of this one.
Come on Chelsea fans I want to hear from as many as possible on this. With no disrespect to Wigan
or Reading, Newcastle is our first of the bigger games this season especially as we still have what
happened at the Bridge towards the end of last season fresh in our minds.
Chelsea have started with two wins from two and will be looking to take another three points
against Alan Pardew's good Newcastle side and as we all know, this is far from being a home banker!
Come on Chelsea fans I want to hear from as many as possible on this. With no disrespect to Wigan
or Reading, Newcastle is our first of the bigger games this season especially as we still have what
happened at the Bridge towards the end of last season fresh in our minds.
Chelsea have started with two wins from two and will be looking to take another three points
against Alan Pardew's good Newcastle side and as we all know, this is far from being a home banker!
Next up after beating Wigan on Sunday is Reading at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night with another
three points needed. You have seen just how important it is to get points on the board early doors
in the season and tomorrow is a game where Chelsea need to respect Reading, be professional and to
get the job done.
Pre season has been disappointing to say the least. The performance at Brighton at the
weekend was a disaster and although it's far to early to be judging people, it was still an eye
opener.
With Juan Mata and Oriol Romeu back in training today, things will really take shape this week as
RDM prepares the side to take on Manchester City at Villa Park in the season's curtain
raiser.
Nicks' note:Some Chelsea stuff for those of you who bend that
way. Krish Prashanth looks ahead to next season, and gives his verdict on each of
Chelsea's midfielders. You can follow him on twitter at @krishprash
Back in 2001, when the team was in dire need of rebuilding, Claudio Ranieri acquired the
services of a particular youngster from West Ham United who eventually turned out to be one of the
most talismanic midfielders of the PL era.
After the big news yesterday, after winning the Champions League and FA Cup last season,
it's now time to put everything behind us and focus on moving forward.
Without question this is a massive month ahead for the football club he prepares for the new
season. We have made two signings as we know so far in Marko Marin and Eden Hazard and I just
wonder if now Di Matteo is back from his holidays, the pursuit of Hulk intensifies and Chelsea get
a deal done sooner rather than later.
Here is my outlook on the midfield hope you enjoy it .
Abou Diaby. Average player does his shift some games other games he's just unreliable and prone to giving the ball away.
Should he stay or should he go?
Tomáš Rosicky. Great player but he seems to have lost his way since the injury set back, can be unplayable at times but this season we have not seem him at his best.
Here is my outlook on the midfield hope you enjoy it .
Abou Diaby. Average player does his shift some games other games he's just unreliable and prone to giving the ball away.
Should he stay or should he go?
Tomáš Rosicky. Great player but he seems to have lost his way since the injury set back, can be unplayable at times but this season we have not seem him at his best.
Arsenal played host to the Champions of Europe on Saturday as both clubs looked to cement their places as genuine title contenders. Arsene Wenger today celebrated his 16th year in charge at Arsenal Football Club, and he would have relished taking three points away from a game that featured Arsenal's cross-town rivals.
Bould could very well make or break some of his former charges
Hello and good afternoon. Arsenal back in training and the first pre season friendly in just 3
days, things are starting to look back on the up right? The purple colour on the training
kit/jumper/jacket doesn't look too shabby either.
Chelsea golea al Monterrey, equipo representante de la Concacaf por 3 a 1 con goles de Mata, Torres, autogol de Chávez. Por Monterrey anotó Aldo de Nigris.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech (c); Azpilcueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole; Mikel, David Luiz (Lampard 62); Mata (Ferreira 73), Oscar, Hazard; Torres (Moses 78).
Chelsea golea al Monterrey, equipo representante de la Concacaf por 3 a 1 con goles de Mata, Torres, autogol de Chávez. Por Monterrey anotó Aldo de Nigris.
Los equipos iniciaron asi:
Chelsea:Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole; Luiz, Mikel, Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Torres Monterrey:Orozco; Perez, Mier, Basanta, Chavez; Meza, Ayovi, Cardozo; Corona, Delgado, De Nigris Monterrey jugará por el 3er lugar contra el Al Ahly y el Chelsea la final contra el Corinthians.
In a couple of hours, Chelsea kick off for the first time this season at Stamford Bridge as
European Champions!. It's the moment we have all been waiting for and hopefully it will be a double
celebration with three points against a good Reading side.
Chelsea must be professional and get out there and get the job done.
Unfortunately I have to bring you yet more bad news in what has been a horrendous November for Chelsea Football Club. Before I go into the story, I must stress that John Obi is NOT being punished for making a claim against Mark Clattenburg, this is a separate incident.
It is understood that after the controversial United game Mikel stormed into the referee's dressing room and verbally abused the officials.
Twitter is a wonderful creation for the most part. As a source of information on what you value, there is nothing better. It's also a great instrument for letting yourself be heard if that's what you want out of it. It can be used in a social manner too, however this social element can have a rather nasty side to it.
Chelsea secured a memorable FA Cup and Champions League double last season after interim manager
Roberto Di Matteo led Roman Abramovich's side to a strong finish amid a disturbed league
campaign.
The Russian billionaire responded by spending almost £60 million on players this season, which
should increase further following the expected arrival of Wigan's Victor Moses.
After a thorough investigation, the FA have found Mark Clattenburg not guilty of racially abusing Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel.
This is the full report taken straight off of the FA's official website;
The FA has concluded its investigation into alleged misconduct by Mark Clattenburg during the match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC on Sunday 28 October 2012.
So by now you must have all heard the news, unfortunately Chelsea are right in the middle of another race row. Granted, this is a very sensitive and quite frankly unsavory subject, however i do feel it is important to look back at the allegations now that the initial frustrations from the game have died down.
Football Match just over at Estadio Nuevo Jos� Zorrilla La Liga Home Team Valladolid Goals & Scorers Keeper Jimenez Merlo Jaime Midfield Alvaro Rubio; Victor Perez; Patrick Ebert; Oscar Gonzalez; Julian Ramos Omar; Forwards Javi Guerra; Defense Antonio Rukavina; Jesus Rueda; Marc Valiente Hernández; Mikel Balenziaga; [.
Football Match just over at Estadio Anoeta La Liga Home Team Sociedad Goals & Scorers 61′: penalty Carlos Vela;55′: Inigo Martinez; Keeper Claudio Bravo Midfield Asier Illarramendi; Carlos Vela; David Zurutuza; Antoine Griezmann; Markel Bergara; Forwards Imanol Agirretxe; Defense Dani Estrada; Mikel González; Inigo Martinez; Alberto De [.
Playing at Estadio Anoeta La Liga Home Team Sociedad Keeper Claudio Bravo Midfield Asier Illarramendi; Xabier Prieto; Carlos Vela; Antoine Griezmann; Markel Bergara; Forwards Imanol Agirretxe; Defense Dani Estrada; Mikel González; Inigo Martinez; Alberto De la Bella; Subs Away Team Zaragoza Keeper Roberto [.
Playing at Estadio Los C�rmenes La Liga Home Team Granada Keeper Tono Midfield Santos Iriney; Mikel Rico; Juan Manuel Palazon Ortiz; Youssef El Arabi; Fabian Orellana; Forwards Antonio Floro Flores; Defense Allan Nyom; Inigo Lopez; Diego Mainz; Guilherme Siqueira; Subs Away Team La Coruna [...]
Match just over at Estadio Nuevo Jos� Zorrilla La Liga Home Team Valladolid Goals & Scorers
48′: penalty Victor Perez;38′: penalty Victor Perez; Keeper Jimenez Merlo Jaime Midfield Oscar
Gonzalez; Julian Ramos Omar; Alvaro Rubio; Victor Perez; Patrick Ebert; Forwards Javi Guerra;
Defense Mikel Balenziaga; Antonio Rukavina; [.
Playing at Estadio Nuevo Jos� Zorrilla La Liga Home Team Valladolid Keeper Jimenez Merlo Jaime
Midfield Alvaro Rubio; Victor Perez; Patrick Ebert; Oscar Gonzalez; Julian Ramos Omar; Forwards
Javi Guerra; Defense Antonio Rukavina; Jesus Rueda; Marc Valiente Hernández; Mikel Balenziaga;
Subs Away Team Levante [.
FC Barcelona and Getafe both won while Sevilla and Valencia had to settle for draws in the
Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) on August 26, 2012.
Osasuna 1-2 FC Barcelona
Barcelona trailed at halftime but rallied with a brace from Lionel Messi. Osasuna defeated
Barcelona last season and looked ready for a repeat as Joseba Llorente scored in the 17th
minute.
Playing at Estadio Los C�rmenes La Liga Home Team Granada Keeper Roberto Fernandez Midfield
Fabian Orellana; Santos Iriney; Mikel Rico; Gabriel Torje; Youssef El Arabi; Forwards Antonio Floro
Flores; Defense Allan Nyom; Inigo Lopez; Borja Gomez; Guilherme Siqueira; Subs Away Team Sevilla
Keeper [.
Playing at Estadio Anoeta La Liga Home Team Sociedad Keeper Claudio Bravo Midfield Asier
Illarramendi; Xabier Prieto; Gonzalo Castro; Antoine Griezmann; Gorka Elustondo; Forwards Carlos
Vela; Defense Ion Ansotegui; Mikel González; Alberto De la Bella; Dani Estrada; Subs Away Team
Celta Vigo Keeper [.
I have gone on record on here before and I will say it again, I AM a big fan of Mikel. He is like Marmite as in the fact that you either love him or you hate him. It's fair to say Chelsea fans are divided when it comes to Mikel and surely our recent defensive performances have proven just how much we take him for granted and just how much we miss him being there.
I think it's safe to say that all of us have been looking forward to John Terry returning from injury sooner rather than later to get back into the heart of the defence for two reasons.
First of all, to organise in there and to be the leader and voice he is to give people encouragement or a kick up the arse during games because without him, it's something I think we miss.
Looks like Moses is on his way to Chelsea finally with Wigan Athletic announcing that they've
accepted a bid from the West London club at the fourth time of asking. Victor Moses will now sit
down with Chelsea to discuss personal terms.
Personally I feel he could have done with a few more years at the club in order to develop, I
can't see him featuring too heavily with Chelsea and when playing at his age you need as many games
as possible to develop further.
