Chelsea

Yes... Chelsea... They are my

I've been following Chelsea for my fourth season already. But I only turned fanatical since last year. I used to support Chelsea only because I didn't like the rest, and when Chelsea was taken over by the Roman Abramovich, yes I used the article the on him, I started to feel this sense of pride of playing fantasy football, see really good players coming in, suddenly the spotlight's on the team. Thanks to the man~



Under his billions, Rainieri managed to construct a Chelsea team that could finally break the strengthold of the might of the traditional powerhouses. Manchester United and Arsenal were the ones to watch, Liverpool was on the decline, now, with the emergence of Chelsea, every other fotball club in comparison seem to be on the decline. wahaha~

But still, the frst with the arrival of the Abramovich billions did not do much damage in the premiereship. Chelsea came in a second, but that was only due to Arsenal's season long unbeaten run and the rapid decline of Manchester United in the matches running up to the end. In the Champion's League, Chelsea although sis persist further than any other English team, but it was still a season of the unexpected. Chelsea could only go as far as the semi-finals.

I did admire Rainieri. He was amiable, kind and nice. But that's all about him. he's too soft to coach a big team. Chelsea at that time was chocked full with big name stars, stars who used to play first team football in the usual clubs but was sold to Chelsea because of the big bucks. Of those poor (as in my symphaties going out to them), I really pity Scott Parker the most. He was from Charlton. A great young English player, I should say. I was really glad that he was going to Chelsea and Chelsea could really use someone like him, but now looking back, his worst mistake was going to Chelsea. He lost his chance of playing first team football, got sidelined until I'm not sure where he is now (Newcastle? The team of rejects...), but that's his fate.

But for Chelsea to really accomplish big, I think the club did the wisest decision in bringing in Mourinho. Mourinho is argubly the most worthed it signing using the Abramovich's billions. Yes, I did think that Rainieri did a good job, second in the premiereship and semis in the Champion's League are very good results, but he is the man.



He created the Chelsea of today. Almost single-handedly.

Mourinho brought in the formation of today's football which is so lethal that everyone else in the industry is absolutely jealous of him. He brought in the players who could play his style of football. And more importantly, he brought in the kind of management tactic which can not only control the players but also command their respect. Ferguson used to be able to do that to his fledgings, but after the selling of them one by one to other clubs and his mellowing, I'd say, he's no more liao. Today is the world of Mourinho. One thing I truly believe that the reason behind Mourinho's arrogance is that he wants to keep media focus off his players and shift it onto himself so that his players can perform better on the pitch. And this has been very effective. Under Rainieri, we are used to media reports on the Chelsea boys being big gamblers and reports like these really affected their on pitch potential, now there isn't any reports of these, but reports on the arrogance of Mourinho. It just has to be calculated.

To say that Chelsea is built upon the billions of the Abramovich, I'd think that it's abosolutely wrong. I'd like to think it as a legacy of Chelsea being bettered by Mourinho. The billions just came in very handy. Someone said before, he hated Chelsea and her billions, but if his team was to have billions being sponsored by someone else, then it's a different story, the billions would be welcomed by him. That's man for you, all so biased. And because Chelsea is my team, so I ain't complaining about the billions thrown about by the Abramovich though I think that some money was really wasted, especially those money that Rainieri spent. Wasted. Mourinho did a great job in doing cleaning up, to give us the team of today.



We have Cech and Cudicini in goal. I think Cudicini is great, but Cech is slightly greater. They are both top goalkeepers and it takes really a good team to have to solid keepers behind. With my heart, I'd like to say that goalkeeping duties should be rotated since both are great keepers, but then again, rotation will create disharmony. I like Mourinho's present arrangement in that Cech is the number one, but Cudicini helps out during heavy weeks. Chelsea is a team going on for all four trophies, so resting Cech is only something good. Another thing about Cudicini is that he is not an international, so during international weeks, Cudicini would be a very good relieve. But Cech does have his age for him. He's young and will stick around Chelsea for years to come. I was a bit glad that Mourinho bought Cech after the Euros cos previous season Rainieri did have a minor goalkeeping crisis, though Chelsea did came out of it unscathed, it's always better to keep a great space one at bay. The current decline of the top teams start from the back. Arsenal's Lehmann sucks... (okay, I'm biased, I'm a Kahn-supporter) Man Utd's Van der Sar is well, he's only here this season and his supposed to be the saviour which means that his predecessors sucked. Let's forget about Dudek, he's been replaced too.

Of the backline of Chelsea, we must remember that Terry is a product of the Chelsea youth system.



Yes, he is my favourite Chelsea player. He's the protector of Chelsea while not forgetting to help up with his headers and create important goals for his team. He leads by example. He is Chelsea. And I think that he should be a natural choice for England's centreback position. And he's young. I like young men cos they can tahan in the game for years to come and I like my loyalty to last long and into the future. Actually the present backline is created artificially by Mourinho. The players are brought in by him, mostly, except for the Terry. They are good, except for the erratic Johnson whom I think is too immature, but nevermind, the others are good can liao le.

Midfield.
I'm arguing that Chelsea plays a 4-3-3 position so I'm talking about a midfield of three players. My choice today would be Makelele, Lampard, Essien. I personally don't like Makelele because of his whinings way back from Madrid, but he is the greatest holding player in midfield and I seriously think that Mourinho totally transformed him into a strong silent player. I remember back in the Rainieri days, he played by acting and one critic called him a student from the London School of Theatre rather than a footballer, but Mourinho changed him. Now we don't see anymore goals from him, just great defensive work and lots of pushing the ball forward. And no complains from him, and no more play acting from him. now I truly admire him for his footballing prowress. That can only be done by a Mourinho.

I always thought that Essien is not worth his price tag. Tiago can play just as well. Anyway, both are Mourinho's bringing ins. I'm still watching him, so no comments about him. But then again, why are we complaining about Chelsea spending so much money on Essien when Man Utd too spent loads on a Red-carder Rooney?

Lampard.
Lampard is the second link of the backbone of Chelsea. He stands second to Terry. He is not a product of the Abramovich's billions.

he's now the penalty taker for England. that pretty much sums it all. He developed to become the greatest player in England. wahaha~ Another thing admirable about Lampard is his fitness. Injuries and fatigue just eludes him. He can go on an on for matches without resting, and in a team striving on for four trophies, he is just amazing. He's also so amazing that Ericsson just had to say goodbye to his faithful Butt on the national scale. Really, now comparing Butt and Lampard, what the heck is a Butt? Lampard's nearest competitor I'd think would be Gerrad, but seriously, that Stevie whom injuries plague can be compared to our Frankie? No way man...

Then so chracteristic of Chelsea is our infamous wingers. Chelsea brought back the whole ancient idea of having wingers to tear apart the opposition's defence and create holes for the striker and dominating the possession. The original wingers Duff and Robben started the 4-0s for Chelsea but a pity injuries plagued them. This season, with the training of Cole to take over the left wing and the purchasing of Wright-Phillips for the right, there is no more thing as a depleted wing. Cole is versatile so I'm not worried about him. Wright-Phillips I'm a little afraid is too expensive to put on the bench but that's his only place to be. I'm glad Chelsea has the spare cash, just that we shouldn't have bought him for that much. Anyway, all four of them are nice and young men, so more to be seen of them in the years to come I suppose.

The hitman. Drogba and Crespo, and I'd like to give some writing space to Gudjohnsen. In any other team, all are definite first choice hitmen, not to be placed on the bench, but Chelsea is different, we have a Golden bench. Alternating Drogba and Crespo is a good thing unlike alternating the goalies. Alternating the goalies create instability but the striker is different. A striker needs motivation and it is only through alternating them that can give them that extra push. Personally I perfer Crespo, he's more technical and reliable, but Drogba has proved his worth. The only pity I have is for Gudjohnson who lost his identity with the coming of the wingers. In a 4-4-2, Gudjohnsen plays great as the second striker, but now, he has a place with the reserves. Jiayou ba~

Now I can only like Chelsea even more, the direction of where Chelea is going is really amazing and I'm all for them.

Some detractors might say that Chelsea is boring by griding out 1-0 victories, but I'd also like to remind them that we are the team also flattening our rivals with 4-0 triumphants. We can score and defend. When we are unsure, 1-0 for the three points and that would be enough for us but when we have the game in our bag, what's up with flattering our scoreline to something like 4-0? Nothing! And we can do that!

I think defence is very important in a foodball match. I'm the kind who prefers a 1-0 victory to a 4-4 draw or a 0-0 draw to a 4-5 defeat. It's always about the points gained in footbal cos that's how the table works, and if you want to be on the top of the table, you have to respect how the table works. Football is a competition not an entertainment if I should remind the spectators. We want to watch our team win not to watch our team entertain us. If you want entertainment, go to Hollywood, not the football pitch. I think spectators have become too pampered. they think that football is all about them that they so selfishly want entertainment from it. That sucks. I totally look down on you selfish brats who only think about being entertained in football. You aren't worthy of supporting you team if you only want them to entertain you. That's not a competition at all.

With all these, I know where my heart lies exactly and onwards for Chelsea as it was, is, and will always be. I support Chelsea's tactics and will champion for them wholeheartedly. We are now on the top of the table, not just on top of the table, but also on top of the attacking table, so who dares to say that we can't shoot goals?

This season, we will be going all out for another 4 more trophies to add to our cupboard, I've got a good feeling in the premiereship. The Champion's League is not the main focus. Carling Cup and FA Cups our second team can gao dim it no problem. Our second team can beat any other person's first team flat, no problem. Yup~ jiayou~