SoccerBlogs

Looking at QPR's first three league games this season it's obvious they have had their defensive problems. Two main areas stand out for me where they have appeared to be weak and I am about to show you those areas. They are:

• Covering the late run from midfield
• Centre backs getting caught ball watching, being sucked towards the ball and leaving strikers unmarked in the box.

Sir Alex Ferguson has had his say (as he does on most things) about Chelsea overnight and has already tried to put pressure on us for this season. Fergie, like most football fans will know, Chelsea had been fighting to win the Champions League ever since Roman Abramovich took over as owner and now we have won it, Fergie believes there will be even more pressure at Stamford Bridge.

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After looking (and proving as it turned out) at how Chelsea could beat Spurs, looking at Barcelona and their weaknesses which proved to be right again, I am now having a look at the big game tomorrow.

Arsenal had been on a fantastic run of late but defeats to QPR away and Wigan at home last Monday have cost them.

Let's be honest here. For the past couple of seasons it has comfortably been a two horse title race without question. We have seen the challenge from Arsenal fade into the distance along with the challenge from Liverpool and have been safe in the knowledge of that.

This season after seeing the first few games, I think we all can agree, Manchester City are now in the hunt for the league title and this season has become a three horse race.

Juan Mata hasn't even officially signed for Chelsea until later today but he has already endeared himself to Chelsea fans all over the world. Featured in The SUN this morning, Mata has revealed that Chelsea wasn't the only Premier League club interested in him this summer but for him. He said:

"I want to come to England to win trophies - and that's why I accepted Chelsea's offer.

Roy Keane is featured in the media speaking of the title race this season (after realising that he can't cut it as a manager in the Premier League or now the Championship for that matter) and surprise, surprise he has gone for United to win it "comfortably".

However, it's his opinions on Chelsea that have caught my eye.

I have to admit I have been surprised with the press and media's take on Chelsea this season. Ok we do hear now and again people speaking of Chelsea being strong and have experience but the general consensus of opinion is that we will have a fight to finish third this season.

Surprising to me I have to say but it's nice to hear that Patrice Evra has revealed that despite Man City looking to strengthen their side for this season, he and his United team mates still fear Chelsea and believe WE ARE their main challengers this season for the title.

When you look at what has happened to Manchester City in recent seasons being Chelsea fans, I can't help but think back to how it all happened for us and draw comparisons. The thing is as much as we look at City, the money they have been spending and the huge amount of players that have come into the club, we still think they are some way off from being realistic title contenders.

We all know Manchester City's transfer policy of not selling anyone of their players to a club they see as a direct rival to them so let's forget all this talk about Carlo Tevez now. With City winning the FA Cup and confirming their qualification for the Champions League next season, it's pretty much certain that we will see an exodus of players leaving Eastlands and their owner splashing the cash on big big names this summer.

Carlo Ancelotti followed Sir Alex Ferguson's Press Conference this afternoon and spoke of preparing for this game like a final and he believes that character and personality of the players will be more important on the day than the formation they are playing in. He said:

"Obviously it will be very important to choose the right players but it is not the team shape that can decide this game, It will be decided through the character of the players, and we don't have to be worried about this.

Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken ahead of the game Sunday and believes that home advantage will be key to getting a result for United. Fergie, as usual seems to forget that in the League we have a great record at OT and also, Chelsea will be in our tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation for this one. He said:

"Everyone's aware of the magnitude of Sunday's game and it's one we're looking forward to, Last Sunday's result has certainly brought an awareness to us of how important this game is and I think it's one of the reasons I had to pick the team I did on Wednesday.

Sir Alex Ferguson, realising his blew his chance yesterday after losing to Arsenal, especially after speaking of not worrying about anybody else as long as you win your games, has accepted the fact that Chelsea are now right back in this title race after being written off by everyone, including me!

Speaking after the game on Saturday, Alan Pardew was quick to lavish praise on Eden Hazard and believes that he is bringing Torres back for form and has given Chelsea an extra dimension compared to last season. He said:

"You can see why so many top clubs were chasing Hazard and he has certainly given Chelsea an extra dimension in the first few games of this season.

Roberto Mancini ahead of the game tonight has spoken of Danny Sturridge and has made it perfectly clear that he can't believe that Sturridge was able to leave City because he would be a first team regular if he was still there now.

He said:

"I know Sturridge very well, I have watched him many times because he grew up in Manchester and someone let him go for almost nothing.

We are just a day away from the Champions League final and once again I have decided to take a look at the opposition to try and discover their weakness. I have done this previously on two occasions, The FA Cup Semi Final against Spurs and against Barcelona and I am proud to say the weaknesses I identified were spot on!

There has been nothing but encouragement for Chelsea ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday night purely and simply because of comments that have come out of their camp in the aftermath of their cup defeat last weekend.

Like I said in an earlier post featuring the Manager, there will be more coming out of the German camp this week with the media frenzy focusing on the build up but, these comments will have been thought about and delivered in a way to not reveal any signs of weakness.

I want to use today to focus on Bayern Munich and the different clips and comments that have come out of their camp this week as we look to build up to Saturday's final. I will use comments from different people in separate posts to discuss them on here in detail as I am keen to get you, the football fan reading, your opinion.

Following on from my previous SPOT ON analysis of the Spurs weakness that Chelsea exploited I now come to looking at the worlds greatest team and to see if I can spot any weakness in their armour.

I think it's fair to say that most people are of the opinion that the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid have fantastic players going forward from midfield and into attack, but their defences aren't exactly water tight!

Sometimes in football you don't need to say anything to the players as they are sitting there in the changing room waiting to head out for a big game. In this particular instance Gareth Bale, speaking ahead of tomorrow, has given an interview and has stated that he thinks that they "have a better team" than Chelsea.

Following on from my previous SPOT ON analysis of the Spurs weakness that Chelsea exploited I now come to looking at the worlds greatest team and to see if I can spot any weakness in their armour.

I think it's fair to say that most people are of the opinion that the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid have fantastic players going forward from midfield and into attack, but their defences aren't exactly water tight!

After posting my scouting report of the Barcelona weaknesses I have uncovered here, it was also good to hear RDM speak of weakness in their game that he has also seen after watching hours of Barca footage in recent weeks.

He said:

"You look at the way you can hurt Barcelona and create them difficulties.

After a fantastic performance yesterday at Wembley against Spurs, This morning Roberto Di Matteo and his players will quite simply forget that one and move onto Barcelona on Wednesday.

I will be taking an in depth look at Barcelona over the next couple of days to see if there are any weaknesses that Chelsea can exploit (just like I did ahead of the Spurs game which proved me right too!

It's common knowledge that Chelsea offered ridiculous money to try and sign Luka Modric back in the summer and Spurs stood firm and resisted our advances. You have to hold your hands up to them and say fair play to them really. Levy backed his manager, stood by him and look how well they are doing this season so far.

In a time of so much negativity surrounding our club and it's current fortunes at the moment, there is alot of doom and gloom around the place. Questions are being asked of the players and our manager and people are talking of a complete revamp at the club. It's easy to jump on the defeatest band wagon at the moment and suffocate ourselves.

RVP fresh from another season of disappointment at The Emirates has taken the opportunity to have a pop at Chelsea once more because he would rather speak of us than talk about his own sides failures for the SIXTH season running!.

Featured in the Mirror, RVP says:

"People who are watching the game on television and fans really do not want to see these kind of things.

Next week is going to a nightmare let's be honest. Normally the season finishes when there is no major tournament in the summer and the players and management staff go off on their holidays and have a couple of weeks rest before the planning and pre season starts.

For Chelsea the focus of the media will be on anything coming out of the club as Carlo Ancelotti meets with the Chelsea board and Roman Abramovich to discuss the future.

I am as Chelsea as they come, have supported this club from as early as I can remember to where I am now (38 years old) and cannot stand Manchester United as much as they probably can't stand Chelsea, but putting all feelings to one side, we have to acknowledge not only what he has achieved in the game, but how he's done it.

Patrice Evra has tried to rally his players ahead of the massive game on Sunday and you get the sense by reading his comments that United couldn't understand why they played the way they did against Arsenal and if they do that again they know Chelsea will take full advantage!.

He said:

"We have our destiny in our hands.

Over three hours after the match has finished, I still cannot believe what we have seen this afternoon. Luis Suarez is beyond belief. A world class footballer with a suspect temperament. The fact that he has done what he has done today for the SECOND TIME should have huge alarm bells ringing for everyone in football.

I want to start this post as a Chelsea fan by first of all saying that I think all of us have been impressed with the Arsenal so far this season. I don't think anyone thought they would be playing so well this early in the season and their performance against Man City was really impressive. I am as biased as they come about Chelsea as you all know but credit to them.

Jaime Carragher has had a "pop" about Chelsea and our appointment of AVB ahead of up and coming British managers. When asked about foreign managers here he said:

"Benitez, Houllier, Mourinho – they've all got things about them in terms of having won the big trophies. Does that mean English managers don't get a chance at the Premier League?