Ashley Cole reject new Chelsea contract?

It been reported that Ashley Cole has rejected a new one year deal from Chelsea as he has only been offered a 1 year deal and he is looking for longer length deal after previously stating he wants to finish his career at the club.

For me Chelsea should really be giving him what he wants and getting the deal over an done with before he can be offered deals from other clubs in January. He is undoubtedly the best left back in the world and has been so for many years now so if we let him go I think it unlikely that we would find anyone close to his level for any price that would make letting him leave for free make any sense.

However the problem that Chelsea seem to be facing is that Roman Abramovich has a policy where he doesn't give players over the age of 30 any deals which exceed 1 year in length which is pretty much the reason we ended up seeing Didier Drogba jet off to China this summer even though he was the main reason we won both of the competitions we did last season.

I get that once you get to a certain age your physical attributes tend to diminish however I think the length of contracts should be judged upon the players ability and fitness as when you see players like Ryan Giggs and Scholes still playing at the highest level right into their late 40s it shows that if you are good enough your age shouldn't matter. Obviously I get that not everyone can be put into their bracket but I think that Ashley Cole is definitely someone that can be and if Chelsea are to let him slip away over the length of a contract I think it would be terrible mistake on their part. Hopefully sense prevail and we see Ashley Cole sign a new deal with Chelsea soon.

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John Terry retiring from international football

Today John Terry retired from international football after 9 years playing for England after stating that he felt his position for England had become 'untenable' after FA decided to continue to press charges over the racial case between him and Anton Ferdinand ahead of his FA Disciplinary hearing.

For me, this is a huge blow for England. Whether you like him or respect him as a man, there is no doubt that he is a great leader with a die hard spirit on the field and a top class defender. Without him the defence for me doesn't look as strong. I know we still have the likes of Cahill, Lescott, Jagielka and Ferdinand but they don't fill me with the same confidence as they would partnered alongside Terry. Terry retiring does however give these players the chance to show that they are good enough to step up and prove that they are good enough without him and when Smalling and Jones return back from injury they may be able to show that they are the future of England making Terry's absence not feel so great.

Whilst this isn't the best news for England fans this is great news for all Chelsea fans. This could potentially extend his Chelsea career by helping to prevent injuries and general wear and tear. A fit John Terry alongside  either Luiz or Cahill always makes me feel a lot more confident going into any game then when he isn't there so this is superb for Chelsea.

On the whole, John Terry has had a great England career making 78 appearances and scoring 6 goals for his country however his off field antics have tarnished his reputation as a great footballer and now have him the butt of jokes. But putting antics aside he did a great job for his country and will be missed greatly for the courage he showed on the pitch, hopefully in years to come that is what he will be remember for.

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Chelsea's Oscar winning performance spoiled by Juventus

Chelsea vs Juventus was very good European match to watch, filled with moments of highs and absolute amazement which was then later equalled with utter frustration.

The game finished 2-2 after Chelsea had taken a 2-0 lead, first through a deflected effort from Oscar to open his Chelsea scoring account on his starting debut, which was then doubled moments later with what can only be described as first, a magnificent bit of skill to lose his man and then a fabulous curling strike which flew into the net leaving Buffon completely helpless. But even though Chelsea had managed to take a 2 goal lead the result never looked like a foregone conclusion as Juventus had up to the point of the first goal been right in the game, creating many chances themselves, mainly from Marchisio being able to run off of Ivanovic and get behind the Chelsea defence. So it wasn't much of a surprise when Arturo Vidal pulled a goal back for the Italian Champions just four minutes later with a great left footed finish from just outside the box which brought the game to 2-1 at half time. From a Chelsea perspective it was a poor goal to concede as he wasn't closed down well and found himself in a lot of space which is something you just can't allow for a player of his quality.

At half time there was a sense that the game was still any ones to win, so it would have been a great relief when Chelsea made a great start to the second half, controlling the possession well, pinning Juventus in their own half and creating some decent opportunities. But as the game started to go one Juventus started to find themselves more and more in the game becoming a constant threat on the break.  In the 70th minute Oscar was replaced by Mata who received a standing ovation after such a great performance and Bertrand was introduced for Ramires yet again to play in midfield. Juventus were also making changes themselves, bringing on Quagliarella to devastating effect. A mistake from Obi Mikel, where he gifted the ball to Juventus in the Chelsea half under very little pressure, lead to Quagliarella being played through on goal as Terry tried to play offside. Quagliarella went on to finish his chance well, placing the ball through an onrushing Cech to tie up the match at 2-2. It was a deeply frustrating moment for any Chelsea fan to endure as they had seen a 2 goal lead at home disappear through unnecessary mistakes and even though Juventus had been piling on the pressure it seemed like we would be able to hold on for the victory.

The unnecessary mistakes made by Mikel raise the question yet again as to whether he is good enough to play in the defensive role as however well he plays, there is always the sense he is going to make an error. It also highlights the lack of depth in his position after letting Michael Essien and Raul Meireles leave as there isn't really much competition for his place other then Ramires as I don't think Romeu is ready yet. With that said even though Mikel did lose the ball cheaply when he really shouldn't have the defences inability to react to the situation was more worrying in my opinion as there was still plenty of time for them rectify the situation.

On the whole it was a great game to watch and even though the result was disappointing there was many parts of the performance from Chelsea that we can take positives from. We just need to cut out the silly mistakes and I think we are looking good. Bring on Stoke this weekend!!

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What should be Chelsea's lineup against Juventus?

This Wednesday Chelsea start their defence of the Champions League against the Italian Champions Juventus and the question of what line up Chelsea should be playing against them has come up again after the teams failure beat QPR on the weekend and Torres outburst when being subbed off.

Knowing Di Matteo, I expect this to the be the line up he goes with. Employing Ramires on the right wing, playing Fernando Torres upfront and partnering Lampard and Obi Mikel in the middle again. I wouldn't say that this would be disastrous be any means however we have seen already this season that it isn't quite working at the moment and maybe a little change is in order to keep certain players on their toes.

I think that the time has come for Sturridge to get his chance to start up front. He is a young fearless character so I don't think he would find the tie against Juventus daunting, if anything I can only imagine he would just see it as challenge and raise his game accordingly. This would also help to refocus Torres and remind him he isn't the only striker in the team and hopeful give him that kick to start scoring again.

Ramires on the right wing is not a bad idea as his work rate and defensive capabilities could be affective in the game however I think they would be better suited to the middle of the park helping to close down Pirlo and stopping him from dictating the game, so I would look to play him in the double pivot with Lampard.

Against QPR in Chelsea's last match Di Matteo played Ryan Bertrand on the left wing which I really don't understand when we have so many better attacking options in the team. I think that Victor Moses should be playing on the wings from the beginning so that we take an attacking initiative in the match instead of having to react and bring players of the bench to try to win the game. 

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Has the time finally come for Sturridge to start upfront?

After Torres' recent outburst on the weekend when substituted against QPR has the patience of the Chelsea fans finally started to wear thin? When Fernando Torres first signed for Chelsea for £50 million I don't think there was a Chelsea fan happier then me as we had just signed one of the best strikers in the world and I could only see great things in future for him at Chelsea.

However fate has had different idea and Torres' time at Chelsea hasn't been anything like expected with him struggling to find form or score goals regularly. I wouldn't say it has been down to a lack of desire or effort but with an in form Drogba in front him and his own confidence on the floor he has found it hard to find his scoring touch consistently like he was doing at Liverpool. Even though his form in front of the goal as been poor for Chelsea the fans have stuck behind him, showing great support when many others would have turned against him, but I think that it could be now time to give Daniel Sturridge more of starting opportunities he craves so much.

I know a lot of people say that Sturridge can be greedy and yes I would agree that it can be frustrating when he takes shots from distance when he could have been slipping someone threw, but you must remember he is a striker who was being played out of position on the wing and upfront his direct style and selfishness is something all top strikers have and we seem to be missing this with Torres upfront. To be honest I think that if Torres didn't have such a huge price tag hanging over his head Sturridge would most probably be starting a lot more games as a striker for Chelsea as his form over the last 2 years for both Bolton and Chelsea has been considerable better then Torres'.

Recently Torres has found signs of getting back to his best, winning the Golden Boot at the European Championships and scoring a couple of goals this season, but I think his Golden Boot was slightly tainted by the fact that for majority of the competition Spain played Fabregas, a midfielder, upfront instead of him which  I couldn't see happening if David Villa was fit, which definitely shows that Del Bosque had major doubts as to whether Torres could do the job. 

I hope Torres does return to his goalscoring form of his Liverpool days but at the moment I can't quite see it, so think that even though Torres will continue as are main striker this year Sturridge should be given more chances upfront to show us his quality.

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Does Lampard still have a role to play in Chelsea's 4-2-3-1 formation?

Since Roberto Di Matteo has been the manager his definite preferred formation is the 4-2-3-1. We have had great cup success since switching to it, winning the Fa Cup and the Champions League as a result with Lampard and Obi Mikel deployed as the two holding midfielder's.

However I think that the effectiveness of the formation may have been over hyped, as in the league Chelsea fell from fourth to sixth in the league when using it last year and much of the success of the formation was down to how uniquely great Didier Drogba was at playing up front by himself and doing the remarkable.
Now that Drogba has gone to China, Chelsea are now trying to change their style of play from very defensive to a more attractive brand similar to the likes of Barcelona and Arsenal and questions are starting to be asked about whether Lampard should be a starter in the 4-2-3-1 formation for the blues any more especially with addition of Oscar to the squad.

So far this season Lampard and Obi Mikel have partnered each other in the middle as the two holding midfielder's and the team have had some decent results, however the two performances against Manchester City and Atlectico Madrid have seen questions arise as to whether the two can play alongside each other throughout the season and help lead the team to glory this year. I personally don't think as a two, Mikel and Lampard compliment each other well enough to be a consistently good pairing in the middle for Chelsea. They both lack and pace and neither are what I would call exceptional defensively. For me, if Lampard is to have any part to play in this formation it would have to be alongside Ramires as they seem to compliment each other better. Ramires has the legs to cover all the pitch and isn't scared to get stuck in and Lampard has the technical ability and football brain to start attacking moves and get the team moving forward so that to me seems like the better option.

I think that Lampard's technical ability and football brain is very vital to any success Chelsea could have this year, but I am aware that a lot of fans want to see Oscar get a chance to show what he is all about as they see him as the future of the Chelsea midfield. In this case Lampard would have to drop to the bench in my opinion and Oscar would play alongside Obi Mikel as this seems like it would be a  good balanced partnership with Mikel being the more defensive minded of the two and Oscar the more technical getting the ball forward, making driving runs through the centre and creating chances. Oscar's also has great work rate and closes down well which is also a great quality to have in the centre of the park, so this partnership could be as equally as productive as the Lampard and Ramires one.

That said I definitely believe that Lampard has still has a big part to play for Chelsea in the 4-2-3-1 formation, however not in the partnership he is currently being deployed in. We have seen recently for England that if he is played right he is such a great creator and goal threat, but at the same time I understand there are other options for Chelsea's midfield this season and if he isn't playing to his standards then changes should be made.

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Torres storming down the tunnel when subbed?

Chelsea drew 0-0 with QPR on Saturday in which was a sub par performance from the blues. Both teams had their chances and Chelsea were denied two definite penalties however the team just didn't do enough to clinch the win.

In the 80th minute of the game Di Matteo decided a change upfront was needed and replaced Torres with Sturridge. Torres reacted by storming down the tunnel instead of sitting with his team mates and watching the rest of the match. Torres' performance wasn't awful by any stretch, however something different was needed as his movement off the ball was far to static, he couldn't hold the ball up and struggled to consistently put his stamp on the game. For me it was the right decision to take Torres off as he wasn't having much of an effect on the game in the second half and whenever Sturridge plays he always offers something with his movement, trickery and pace and is most definitely not afraid to shoot.  Torres' decision to storm down the tunnel was totally out of line. I understand he has been made promises that he will be the main man upfront this season now that Drogba has left however he must be able to understand that he isn't the only good option and if he isn't playing well he can't just play for his own selfish reasons. He needs to perform consistently because he has Sturridge right behind him in the pecking order who I think if Torres didn't have this £50 million price tag over his head would be starting ahead of him just on performances over the last year. I know he has found a little goalscoring form with a couple of goals this season so he might feel a little hard done by, but he should show a little more respect to the fans who have been 'extremely' loyal to him through his dry spells and remember he is a highly paid professional who should handle his emotions better.

I hope that this whole incident was just a heat of the moment thing and it doesn't have an effect on the team negatively but I truly think Sturridge should get a lot more starting opportunities this season as he does deserve the chance to prove himself especially if Torres isn't firing

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QPR vs Chelsea: LetsTalks Match Review

Even though the game finished as goalless draw the game itself was pretty action packed with both teams creating numerous chances which on another day would have resulted in a goal.

Before the game even started the much anticipated 'will they or won't they shake hands' finally played out with Anton Ferdinand not refusing to shake John Terry's and Ashley Cole refusing to shake Ferdinand's. To be honest I didn't expect any less from either parties, as they didn't take the bigger picture in mind.

Any way enough of that rubbish lets get to the game. Chelsea started the game very well in the first half catching QPR on the break when Ramires was released down the right wing by a threw ball by Torres, which he squared to Hazard who shot first time and drew a great save from Julio Cesar. Torres not long after made a promising run beating two players before cutting back onto his left foot, letting off a decent shot which was saved by the keeper again. Chelsea then should have been awarded two penalties, first from a foul on hazard when he drove into the box and was taken down by a clumsy Wright- Philips challenge and  then when Terry was dragged to the ground by Nelson but the referee felt differently. After this QPR gradually got back into the half mainly through Zamora's hold up play and Andy Johnson's off the ball movement causing the Chelsea defence some problems.

In the second half the QPR started off much the better side, dominating possession and creating some great chances mainly down to Chelsea pumping the ball in the air to front men where are lack of size really became evident. Wright- Phillips started getting behind Chelsea's back line but his end product was never quite good enough. 10 minutes into the second half QPR had a great chance to take the lead when Granero clipped the ball into the box from the right which found Park Ji-Sung free but his header was tame and Cech relieved, saved the shot with ease.

To get back into the game Chelsea replaced Bertrand on the left wing with Moses, who for me should have been starting in the first place. I don't really understand why Di Matteo continues to play Bertrand there when we have several better options however that discussion is for another day. With the introduction of Moses Chelsea reverted back to their familiar 4-3-3 formation and where creating chances again. As the game began to approach the final whistle Mikel made a very lazy back pass to Cech which was intercepted by Zamora but he couldn't find the finish thanks to great scrambling from Cech and a lack of conviction on his part. The final chance of the game then came to Hazard who blazed over the bar after great work from Moses down the right wing. He should really have done better with the chance however it wasn't meant to be and the game finished 0-0.

To be perfectly honest the draw was a fair result for both teams. Even though Chelsea should have been awarded two penalties they didn't do enough to secure the win which they should really be getting against QPR. With the first game of the Champions League coming this week against Juventus, Chelsea are going to have to improve if they wish to get their defence of the crown off to a good start as you can only imagine Juventus will offer a greater challenge then an average QPR team. That said the result see's Chelsea remain top of the Premier League which is great.

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QPR vs Chelsea - LetsTalks Matchday Preview

So far this season Chelsea's league form has been magnificent, with the team picking up 3 wins from their first 3 games making them the only team in the English leagues to still have a 100% record and they head off to Loftus Road this weekend to take on their fierce London rivals, which is bound to be filled with incidents not least  the Anton Ferdinand and Terry 'handshake'.


Unlike Chelsea, QPR haven't had the most glamorous start to this year campaign. In their first 3 games they have only managed to pick up 1 point from a possible 9, losing the first game 5-0 to Swansea, drawing 1-1 on the road to Norwich and then inevitably losing 3-1 to Manchester City a week later. QPR have made a lot of new interesting signings this summer bringing in the likes of former blue Jose Bosingwa, Esteban Granero from Real Madrid and Ji- Sung Park from Manchester United who have quality in their own right however you can expect that its going to take a little while for all their new signings to gel so I think this tie could have come to soon for QPR in that respect.

Even though Chelsea have made a great start this season in the league they haven't been short of their own defeats in the two cup competitions so far this season. Firstly losing in the Community Shield 3-2 to Manchester City and then suffering an embarrassingly heavy defeat to Atlectico Madrid 4-1 in the European Super Cup shows that it is very possible to get at Chelsea as we still look a vulnerable at back at times. The only real problem I see Chelsea having against QPR this weekend would be if Ashley Cole and John Terry were unavailable as even though there is cover with Cahill and Ryan Bertrand the back line without them two especially Terry doesn't fill me with the greatest confidence as whenever Luiz and Cahill play alongside each other Chelsea tend to concede a lot of goals.
With that said I still can't look past a Chelsea victory as I think that Chelsea's attacking line of Torres, Hazard, potentially Moses as I hear Mata could be rested and Oscar seems just way to strong and bit of miss match against the likes of Bosingwa, Nelson, Ferdinand and Fabio.

I predict a 3-1 victory for Chelsea from a very action packed game and hopefully Torres can chip in with a couple of goals.


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Should Anton Ferdinand shake John Terry's hand?

This weekend Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers take each other on in what is a pretty fierce derby at the worst of times and to add more spice to this occasion the dreaded 'handshake' debate has risen its ugly head again.


Supposedly the QPR players are going to hold a dressing room meeting today over whether any of the players should shake hands with John Terry at the beginning of the game over the 'alleged' racist comment made towards Anton Ferdinand in the same tie last season. Some QPR players like Bobby Zamora who is mixed raced himself don't have any problems shaking Terry's hand saying, ' I'll shake John Terry's hand- he's still a pal', however Ferdinand doesn't wish to shake Terry or Ashley Cole's hand who was in support of Terry at the trail this year where Terry was cleared of racially abusing Ferdinand.

For me there is no place for racism in society however I think that there is to much emphasis being put on this 'handshake' between the two players as the media just want something to talk about. To me this shouldn't even be news. I think that Anton Ferdinand should shake his hand whether John Terry made the comment or not as it would show that regardless of what any body with racist intent says or does it doesn't have any effect on you and won't go on to define you as a person. If you think about it if John Terry did actually say what has been alleged then it would have been to throw Anton Ferdinand off his game and get at him mentally and by him not shaking his hand a whole year later this would show it worked. He should just shake his hand and do his best to help his team get a victory this weekend, 'God forbid'  and prove his point this way.

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Malouda's treatment by Chelsea?

Malouda is currently seen as surplus to requirements at Chelsea and the club have made this clear by recently trying to sell him to Brazilian clubs Botafoga and Santos, this being his preferred destination as his wife is Brazilian. However his wage demands have caused the proposed deals to collapse and it now seems that he his going to see out the last year of deal out at Chelsea.

The Champions League squad was announced the other day and Malouda was completely omitted from the 25 man squad which just goes to show that if he thought he may still have a chance to prove him self this year  at the club then that chance just disappeared altogether. However Chelsea have now gone on to make him train with the under 21s and play reserve games for the remainder of his contract which to me just seems extremely petty and reminds me of exactly what happened last year with AVB in charge and the way he treated Anelka and Alex. I understand that you may not see him in your plans any more but to make him go to play with the under 21 squad just doesn't seem to be needed. I'm not going to sit here and say 'Oh Malouda has been one my favourite players since he has been at Chelsea', but at the same time you have to appreciate he has played an important role in are recent successes, whether that be in our Premier League winning season where we did the double and last season when we captured the Champions League and FA Cup so I feel he should be treated with a bit more respect then Chelsea are showing him currently.

At the end of the day Chelsea are still paying his wages so he might as well be training with the first team. Even though we seem to be pretty solid in attacking midfield and wide positions injuries do and can happen at any time so you just never now when someone could be needed to play so to totally disregard him like this could be a huge mistake. I can also imagine it may make people like Lampard and Ashley who are coming to  the end of their contracts think twice before agree new deals with the club as this could be them in a couple of years if I fall out the managers plans, so might thinkwhy should I stick around? Just a thought.

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What to make of the departures of Meireles and Essien?

On the last day of the English transfer window Chelsea loaned Michael Essien to Real Madrid and several days later sold Raul Merieles to Fernabahce.

For me I really felt that letting Essien go was a mistake as he still had a lot to offer the team and that even though he had suffered from injuries over the last few years he could still be a force in are midfield and if given a good run of games is still easily one of the best midfielders in the world, but I could begrudgingly except him leaving as there was still decent cover in his position.  However when I then heard just a few days later that Raul Meireles was also leaving I was completely baffled with what Chelsea were doing. I am not the biggest fan of Meireles by any stretch of the imagination however with Essien already gone on loan you immediately think that he will be battling with Lampard and Mikel for one of the two defensive midfield positions as even though he isnt't magnificent at either going forward or backwards he is more than competent enough to do a good job in that role.

Now looking at Chelsea's central midfield I feel concerned with what could be in store for us this season. As we have seen this season already against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, Mikel and Lampard playing together in the defensive midfield position isn't formidable at the moment. There are times where them playing together is a good idea like against the lesser teams but against the elite teams I can't see it working well throughout the season as neither is great defensively. I feel that Lampard has to be a starter for Chelsea, his intelligence on the field is invaluable and can get the team moving from deep like Pirlo does in Italy as well as contribute with the odd goal. Therefore the player that play beside him has to be defensively very solid and even though Mikel has improved his consistency isn't good enough and doesn't dominate enough. So if Mikel isn' the guy that can play that role all the time, who can?

The only two feasible options would be Ramires and Romeu. Ramires could play the role but he isn't really any better then Mikel playing in a defensive midfield role. He does offer pace and agility which Mikel doesn't and has great work rate but he can be extremely clumsy in a challenge and doesn't quite have the discipline to perform that role consistently yet. Romeu for me has all the mental attributes to play the role in the sense he has the right temperament and understands what you have to do to play the role best out of all four players, however I actually don't think his ability matches this at the moment. He is a decent tackler but he is still pretty weak, slow and not a great passer. As he is young there is a lot of potential for him to improve but this leaves us light in this position. 

Thinking about it more there could be another option that Di Matteo has taken into account which could be playing Oscar deeper in Lampards position which I think could work but then you lose what Lampard gives to the team and still doesn't solve the defensive side of the position.

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