Academy Season Review Part 2: U21's League

Moving on with the end of season reviews at academy level we come to the U21's league. This is a brand new format for this year replacing the old Reserves league. This would take the same format as the U18's league, an initial group phase followed by second phase with the groups being split depending on where the club finish and then a play off scenario for the winner of the league. As with the U18's Chelsea's phase one group consisted of Liverpool, Wolves, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Man City and Crystal Palace.

Traditionally this level of football is a very tricky one for Chelsea, apart from the 10/11 season where we won the league after a penalty shoot out against Blackburn, with the combination of players going out on loan and players coming up from the U18's it proves to be a very unstable squad changing on a regular basis. At the outset it was thought that the idea of the new set up was to keep your better youngsters at the club and have them playing against the best youngsters from the other clubs to create a competitive atmosphere. Unfortunately it seems that certainly for Chelsea that philosophy was not adhered to. Comments from Dermot Drummy near the end of the season seem to indicate that he feels a little let down by the fact this was not played out and we will have to see if that philosophy changes at all for next season.

First game of the season saw the league start with a bang and a 5 - 0 thumping of Wolves, that proved to be a one off though at took us until November to record another win. We then went on an impressive run of 6 wins from 7 which was almost enough to take us through to the Elite stage of the second phase. However we just missed out on that spot and instead went through to Group one. The best game of the first phase was indeed the 5 - 0 thrashing of wolves, highlights here:

The second phase of the league saw us drawn against Everton, Aston Villa, Fulham, Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Sunderland. This time of the season also saw more players depart on loan in the shape of Billy Clifford, Sam Walker, George Saville and Lucas Piazon. Also the cup competitions at Academy level the FA Youth Cup and the NextGen series would also deplete the squad at times leaving us very thin.

In the end we managed to finish in the middle of Group 1 having picked up 5 wins from 12 games and losing 5 in the process. The pick of the games from this section being a 3 - 2 win over Middlesbrough at the bridge, highlights of which are below. Obviously finishing in 4th place meant that there would be no place for us in the pay offs at this level and the season would finish with a 1 - 0 win over Blackburn Rovers.

As far as appearances go Lewis Baker made the most this season with 16 starts out of a possible 24 games played across the 2 group stages. Baker is followed by George Saville with 15 starts and then Nathan Ake and Billy Clifford follow up with 14 starts. A total of 41 players played a part in this seasons league including first teamers, Marko Marin and John Terry. Islam Feruz finished top scorer at U21's level with a total of 8 goals followed by Lewis Baker with 6.

As i said it is been interesting to see how the new system will work and i will be very interested to see if Chelsea approach it any differently next season with regards to players kept around to play in this league.
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Carefree & KTBFFH!

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NOT FOR MOURINHO! Could this Brazilian be on his way out of Chelsea?

I am referring to rumour and speculation of course this week but in the past few days, in addition all the speculation about players coming into the club, it's seems that there is one particular player that could suffer as a consequence of Jose Mourinho's impending return to our football club!

David Luiz has been linked with a move to Spain ever since he came to Chelsea and has himself, spoken of the attraction of playing over there.

So far, Chelsea have rebuffed any interest in Luiz and during the past season, Luiz happily signed an extension to his contract to keep him at the club for a while yet!.

However, I have seen a couple of press reports this week asking questions of Luiz playing under Mourinho and what the future would hold for him here.

Reports claim that Mourinho likes to have proper defenders at the back, solid, strong and influential and he has cast doubts over the players ability in that position. There is even talk of Branislav Ivanovic reverting back to right back for the coming season.

We have all seen what Luiz can do in midfield when he has been pushed further forward and the options he gives us there. His range of passing is different class, he can read the game in front of him and most importantly of all, is two footed.

Now I personally believe that the reports are rubbish and Mourinho would love to work with someone like Luiz who can offer him cover in more than the one position. Remember how Jose used to utilise the likes of Michael Essien and Geremi back in the day? Luiz would be the same.

Luiz is a better player by far now than he was when he first came to the club and he IS getting better defensively. Working under Mourinho and his back room staff, he would improve even further as no one can forget the defensive record we had in those first two seasons at Chelsea.

Mourinho likes to build his teams on solid foundations and luckily Chelsea have plenty of defensive options. Gary Cahill will also improve leaps and bounds working with Jose and so would Ivanovic.

I just wonder if Mourinho would see David Luiz different to how the press believe he does and would transform him into another Xabi Alonso type player in midfield as he has utilised the ex-Liverpool man in Madrid?

One thing is for sure. David Luiz is a class act with the ball at his feet and has the potential to be World Class!

Surely Jose Mourinho can see that?

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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LUKAKU: KEEP OR LOAN NEXT SEASON?

With all the rumour and speculation doing the rounds at the moment about potential signings at Chelsea this summer, I wanted to concentrate on the players we do have and am asking the question of Romelu Lukaku. Do you think he should be heavily involved in the Chelsea first team next season under Mourinho OR do you think he should have another season out on loan?

It will be very interesting to see the general opinion amongst Chelsea fans to this post because we need to consider our playing style now and the way we could end up playing under Mourinho.

Think about it for a second, Lukaku wants to play as the main target man up front. He has pace to burn,  he is strong and if anything, is another Didier Drogba in the making isn't he!.

Without question, he has proven himself under fantastic management by Stevie Clarke at West Brom and everyone at the Hawthorns has seen just what he could do. However, you need to look at and understand the way West Brom play their football. Would you say they play the same way as Chelsea?

I personally do not think they do and I just wonder if Lukaku would thrive or struggle to play as the man up top with Mata, Hazard and Oscar in behind?

Would he get the game time he so obviously deserves now and if he doesn't isn't it best to give him his second full season on loan playing week in, week out in the Premier League? West Brom have said on record that they would love to have him back if that happened.

The problem we have with Lukaku and it's the same with Kevin De Bruyne, is that until we give them a go in a blue shirt for a sustained period of time, we will never know but that could be about to change.

As I posted yesterday, if reports are to be believed, Jose Mourinho's remit for his second spell as Chelsea manager is to encourage and promote exciting youth at the club including players such as Lukaku and KDB. Whether or not he does that immediately is another thing but surely anyone that has seen him this season will admit that Lukaku has done more than enough to earn a place in the squad and has put himself in serious contention for a start.

I am led to believe that Mourinho will want to bring in two or three of his own players and a main striker is one of them. As each day passes, stories appear and rumours change but it now seems like we are going to miss out on Falcao and Lewandowski with Edinson Cavani being a realistic target instead.

With Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Cavani, you would imagine Lukaku would be deemed as surplus to requirements next season and would be loaned out again.

If you ask me, I would have Lukaku over Demba Ba any day and we will have to wait until the summer to find out what happens.

So getting back to the whole point of this post I will ask YOU the Chelsea fan reading this the question:

Lukaku - Keep at Chelsea or loan out again next season? 

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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TORRES: WOULD YOU KEEP HIM AT CHELSEA?

After his best goal return for a season in a Chelsea shirt, scoring 22 goals, the future of Fernando Torres at the club remains unclear. In light of the speculation that will build right up to the beginning of next season, I want to ask YOU the Chelsea fan reading this no matter where in the world you are, just one question:

Would you keep Fernando Torres at Chelsea?

We all know the problems Torres has had at the club in his two previous seasons. We all know that he had to live in the shadow of Didier Drogba even if the two of them championed them playing together more often.

We know that he had struggled with fitness and looked like he had lost that extra yard of pace he once had. We know that the team struggled to supply him with the service he needed, as a result he dropped deeper or moved out wide and that was not where we wanted him to be.

Finally, we also know that when he did have chances he snatched at them, had little confidence and at times looked nowhere near scoring (Old Trafford away last season for example).

However, and you do have to give Rafa Benitez credit for this, Torres has had a real change of fortune towards the latter part of this season and ever since he took a whack in the face that broke his nose at Stamford Bridge on our way to winning the Europa League, he has been a different player.

Compared to his previous record, Torres had done quite well up to that point scoring goals in all competitions but, in the Premier League he still struggled although his overall contribution to the team was still really good.

That's the thing about Torres though isn't it. You can see how hard he works in games, his movement is still fantastic but he never got the rub of the green until the latter part of the season. His goal in the Europa League final was the Torres of old playing off the shoulder of the last defender (which is exactly where we want to see him!) and his pace and strength to get passed the last defender, hold off the challenge and round the keeper to score was good.

He finished the season with his first Premier League goal in a long time on Sunday with the winner against Everton and it shows that his instincts as a striker and finisher are back as without hesitation, he struck the ball low into the bottom corner. If he was in the same position a couple months ago, he would have tried to take a touch first!

I can't help but wonder if the revitalised Torres we are seeing now would feature as part of Jose Mourinho's plans? I keep reading differing reports. One says he is and Jose believes he can get the best out of him, another says he isn't and he wants rid of him!

I personally would love to see Torres stay at our club. I want to see him work with Mourinho to see what happens.

What do you people think? Would you keep him at Chelsea?

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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MOURINHO'S REMIT - PROMOTE EXCITING YOUNG TALENT AT CHELSEA!

Last night, Jose Mourinho took a massive step towards his return "home" to Chelsea. He negotiated his exit from Real Madrid with President Perez. Perez confirmed that his exit is by "mutual consent" meaning that Mourinho will be a free agent as of 2nd June. No compensation needs to be paid for his services.

This is massive because it would have been a major stumbling block for Roman Abramovich. If reports are to be believed, Chelsea would of had to pay around £12m in order to release Mourinho from his contract and after having paid him and his back room staff around £18m when his services were terminated in 2006, it's something that could have been a real problem.

So everything looks as though it is falling into place for Jose Mourinho to be confirmed as Chelsea's new man in charge by the middle of June, taking over on the 1st July.

According to press reports, even though he has two games remaining at Real Madrid, Mourinho has studied Chelsea's recent games, the players and has already identified potential signings for next season.

However, this time Mourinho's focus is different compared to his first stint at Chelsea. The focus this time will be on promoting exciting young talent, rather than spending big money on a whole host of players.

This is will be music to most Chelsea fans' ears as it's obvious the quality we have at the club and out on loan. Whether or not the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Josh McEachran and Kevin De Bruyne will get a a chance under him remains to be seen but it's believed that Mourinho's remit is to build a dynasty at the club just as Sir Alex Ferguson did at United.

That's the clubs long term goal with financial fair play in mind and if you look at our current first team squad, Roman and the Board have already worked hard to slowly but surely, put a squad of exciting talent together.

The likes of Ramires, Luiz, Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Cahill, Moses and have all been brought in and have played their part this term. If you add our loan players to that squad with the likes of Ferreira, Malouda, Benayoun and possibly one or two others leaving, we have the basis of an amazing squad for Mourinho to work with.

I really hope that these reports are true and Mourinho will work to promote exciting talent. Chelsea now have fantastic players in our Academy and if anyone can man manage these youngsters it's him.

It's going to be an exciting summer and I can't wait to see him sitting at a Press Conference at the Bridge telling everyone he has come home!

What do you people think of his remit this time around? Do you think it's about time the club had this vision and do you believe Mourinho is the man to make it work?

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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BET VICTOR : "DOING A LEEDS"

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CHELSEA IN AMERICA - FREE TO VIEW

The action never stops for Chelsea as at the end of the season we will be travelling to America for a double-header against Manchester City, and Chelsea TV will be bringing you LIVE coverage of both games FREE TO VIEW!

• Chelsea v Manchester City - Thursday 23 May, Busch Stadium, St Louis, kick-off 7.30pm (BST 24 May 1.30am)
• Chelsea v Manchester City - Saturday 25 May, Yankee Stadium, New York, kick-off 5.30pm (BST 25 May 10.30pm)

Simple tune in to Sky Channel 421 on the dates above to watch the games live on your TV, or register your details in advance online and login on the day to watch the games live on your PC.

*Please note that due to rights restrictions this content will only be available to view for fans in the UK and Ireland.

Outside of the UK and Ireland?

Then don't worry as we've got you covered! Chelsea TV will be bringing you daily updates and videos straight from America. We'll be with the players from the second they step on to the plane with exclusive access like no other sports channel! We will make sure you don't miss out on any of the goals or action with extended match highlights of both games.

So head to Sky Channel 421 or get registered online and watch Chelsea take on Manchester City FOR FREE!

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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AN HONEST AND OPEN LETTER TO RAFA BENITEZ.

Rafa,

This is one of the hardest posts I have had to write on my blog and being honest I was undecided on posting it. I have not been your biggest fan since you came to the club and ask anyone on here, they will tell you the same! I want to start by telling you where I WAS at when you were appointed as Interim Manager to a couple of months ago.

I have taken a lot of stick from some people on here because I personally do not like you. I am sorry but put yourself into my shoes and think back to those Liverpool games and the things you said. I hear you when you say that at the time you had to do your best for the football club you were working for but you have to understand that you personally insulted us.

We support our football club and have been here from day one. We will remain Chelsea supporters for a lifetime and it's as simple as that. Owners, Directors, Board Members, Managers, Players and staff will come and go but one thing remains and that's the Football Club and it's supporters.

You questioned our integrity, you criticised us and made a mockery of our support and for some people that can never be forgiven. I was one of those people! Surely by now you can understand the reaction to your appointment whether you like it or not?

Moving forward and you have to hold your hands up and admit that you had made mistakes here. Chelsea dropped a ridiculous amount of points this season from winning positions in games and dropped points to sides we never should have done. You made the wrong substitutions, team selections and decisions that cost us.

We were so close to the top of the table when you took over and all of us could see us slip further and further away into the distance. As a result, our title challenge faded into the new challenge of ensuring we finished inside the top four and a Champions League place.

As paying Supporters, we have every right to express our opinions and we could see what was happening, didn't like it and expressed our frustrations. This all came to a head at Middlesborough with your now famous rant at us.

For a second time, you questioned our motives and questioned our support. That was never in question as no matter what, we always want our team to do well but once again conflict. I will be honest, I wanted you sacked and expected it to happen. If everyone is honest, even people that did support you at the time, we all thought we would wake up to the reports that you were!

Now looking back it seems as though it was a turning point / a masterstroke as it signalled a change. Those same supporters still sang their song about you but not as much. They still felt the same but were not as vocal. If anything, they did exactly what you had asked.

Six months on from your appointment, with Champions League qualification directly through to the group stages AND the Europa League trophy won, people still have differing opinions but that's life though isn't it. No matter what you do, there will always be someone who sees things differently and that's just something we have to accept.

There is the opinion that you were asked back in November to achieve a top four finish and to win a trophy and all you have done is exactly that, all you have done is achieve what has been asked of you. Their view is that you have not exceeded expectation at all this season. Looking at the bigger picture here, you can understand why these people think like that.

I would like to state now on record where I am now. I can appreciate that it's been difficult for you but as I explained earlier, you had to expect it. But, you have kept your head down, worked hard and carried on with what seemed like an impossible job.

I look at the players and the way they have embraced you of late and to me that talks volumes. I can see that they are all in for the fight with you, want to play for you and for each other and that is a credit to you.

You turned things around when it seemed to be heading down the pan. You continued to work hard, realised that playing Hazard, Mata and Oscar together was the way forward and we started to turn things around, winning some big games.

With our fixture schedule being a total nightmare, you have done a great job managing the players and rotation and as a result we finished unbeaten in ten games in the Premier League. The form of the players has improved week by week, despite the difficult run of games and it's important people realise that.

I would like to end this post by saying "Thank you". I have respect for you and the job you have done here.

I wish you well for the future.

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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CHELSEA'S STRONG FINISH.

Chelsea finished off their Premier League season strong with another win at the Bridge yesterday to finish a strong third place and automatically qualify for the Champions League group stages. Credit goes out to the players and also to Rafa Benitez - more on him in my next post.

It wasn't the best performance we have ever seen and Chelsea weren't exactly at their best but at the end of the day a win is a win and we delivered the three points when it was needed.

There is an argument that Chelsea under Benitez have turned into one half wonders of late and I can understand where people are coming from. Look at Villa last week, Benfica last Wednesday and other games I am sure you can all remember, Chelsea took a while to get going. The frustrating thing is, when we do get playing, I believe we can beat anyone.

But, in saying that, Chelsea have dug out results and you have to credit the players for that also. You can see that there is a fantastic spirit around the squad and everyone is together. It looks to have been that way ever since Jose Mourinho first took over and created that siege mentality. It's still current and the likes of Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard have alot to do with it.

I have been really pleased to see Fernando Torres get the plaudits he deserves finally and to his credit he has worked hard to put things right. You may or may not know but Torres had been given his own personal training programme to work on his fitness, to get him sharp and to find that yard of pace he had been missing.

His goal on Wednesday night against Benfica took us all back to how we knew him from his time at Liverpool. Playing up on the shoulder, beating the defender for pace, having the strength to hold off the challenge and to take it round the keeper to score.

With his goal yesterday, I believe a couple of months ago he would have tried to take a touch first before trying to get his shot on goal. A striker never loses their instinct and he finished well yesterday to win the game for us. It's so good to see Torres where he is now - confident and happy, scoring goals, working hard and playing well. I just hope these rumours of him being sold in the summer are not true.

There has been stand out performances from virtually everyone in the team of late that has won us games and we look at our squad and the potential we have here and can only be excited for the future.

Here's looking forward to the Champions League next season. I can't wait!.

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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Academy Season Review Part 1: U18's League

Another year comes to a close and it has been another very successful one for the Academy here at Chelsea. Only narrowly missing out of massive success at the last hurdles but it has still been one full of young players and huge prospects. This will be the first of a 4 part season review of the academy and the first is covering the U18's league.

Usually the league tables never look good reading for Chelsea, this is down to the fact that the club put much more emphasis on player development than results and especially the second half of the U18's leagues usually fall off. This season it seemed like that trend could have been stopped. For the first time we have seen a new format in the U18's with the season being split into 2 parts, the first part saw the teams split into 3 leagues, in Chelsea's league was Fulham, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Wolves, Man City and Middlesbrough.

Things could not have got off to a better start, our first game was to be against Manchester City and what looked like a tough opener, it proved to be anything but as Chelsea ran out 6 - 1 winners. It was a perfect start and it set the tone of what was to come as Chelsea powered their way to the top of group 3 and that is where they stayed having won 9 of their 12 matches and only losing 1 in the last game to Fulham.

Highlight (6 - 1 win over Manchester City):

Phase 2 of the league saw Chelsea in the Elite group among the best teams from the other 2 leagues, these were  Fulham, Reading, Everton, Man Utd, Southampton, Bolton and Crystal Palace. This was going to be there interesting part as we would see how Chelsea would cope against the best in their age group and potentially fight it out all the way to the final and be crowned U18's league champions.

However as previously mentioned with players at this time of year moving up to the U21's squad and involvement in the U19's NextGen series and U18's Youth Cup some players saw very little league action which meant an even younger team. Inevitably this affected the results with the only highlight coming in the shape of a 5 - 1 away win over Crystal Palace.

Highlight (5 - 1 win over Crystal Palace):

The league would finish with Chelsea in 6th place having only won 4 of their 14 matches in this round and as such very much missed out on being able to go into the play of phase 3 for the right to try and be champions. Still there was a lot of positive to be taken from the season as a lot of young players were once again used. Left back Kevin Wright was the top appearance make in the league this season followed by Jonathan Muleba.

Top goalscorer was Alex Kiwomya with 10 goals, followed by Jeremie Boga and Connor Hunte with 5 each. A total of 39 players was used at U18's level this season which is a big group of players.

So all in all a mixed bag for the U18's league season but still a very positive one with some young players stepping up to show they are big talents. Players like Boga, Hunte, Colkett, Wright, Loftus-Cheek and many more showing that there is still plenty of huge talents coming through.



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Carefree & KTBFFH!

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Mourinho will win Chelsea the title next season - AVB

It's more or less certain now that Jose Mourinho will make a dramatic return to Stamford Bridge this summer. Personally, I cannot wait for that to happen. We look at our Chelsea team and see the fantastic quality we have. The current squad has won the Champions League and Europa League but has failed in the Premier League and we find ourselves a long way off challenging for the title.

According to Andre Villas-Boas, if Mourinho does return, Chelsea will be the benchmark for the season. He said:

'I think Chelsea will be the team to beat next year, bearing in mind the manager we expect to come in and the strengthening of a very good squad. The reference will come from Chelsea. Next year could be a good year to throw yourself into the race for the title, bearing in mind the changes at the top.'

I agree. The changes of manager at United and City could benefit the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal to make a real push for the title. However, with the squad Chelsea has, we HAVE TO be challenging, especially if Roman pays out another huge amount on compensation for Mourinho, his backroom staff and potential signings.

How do you feel about what AVB has come out and said? Do you agree that under Mourinho (provided he does come back) that we will be the benchmark?

Carefree & KTBFFH!

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Chelsea Amsterdam - Gate 17 Films.

Mark Worrall and the Gate 17 boys have kindly put together some videos for YOU the Chelsea fans all over the world to watch and feel the atmosphere in the ground last Wednesday in Amsterdam.

Chelsea are Champions of Europe again - Are you watching White Hart Lane!

 


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Carefree & KTBFFH!

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Special Recognition Award - Frank Lampard.

Super Frankie Lampard received a Special Recognition Award at the Annual Player of the Year awards last night and it's also worth mentioning that he was on the shortlist of four players for the main award of the evening.

Just days after Lampard broke Bobby Tambling's all time Chelsea goal record, Tambling himself presented Lampard with the award. Tambling talking of Lampard described him as "Chelsea's best ever!" and I have written THIS POST on the Official Chelsea Blog Site here so make sure you read that too!.

Lampard spoke after receiving the award, of breaking the record and said:

Getting the equalising goal on the day and drawing level with the great man himself was a big deal for me. It was such a huge game for us, and I kind of felt it would be the day after scoring the first one.

'I can't really explain it. I thought it would be good when I done it, but I didn't realise quite how good it would feel. To have the fans at Aston Villa and my team-mates celebrating with me at the end was quite emotional for me, so thanks to all the lads.'

 Frank Lampard, Chelsea Legend and all time record goal scorer!.


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Goal of the Season 2012/13 - Oscar's 2nd vs Juventus.

Oscar's second goal against Juventus at Stamford Bridge was voted Goal of the Season by Chelsea Supporters around the world and he received his award at the Player of the Year Awards last night.

Here's a quick reminder of why Oscar won the Award!


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Juan Mata - Chelsea Player of the Year AND The Players, Player of the Year!

Juan Mata last night was named Chelsea Player of the Year by the Chelsea Supporters all over the world for the second season running and in addition, was also voted Players, Player of the Year for the first time.

Speaking of being voted once again by the Supporters and now the players, Mata said:

'I feel so happy, It's my second season here and winning the trophy two years in a row is amazing for me. I just want to say thank you to all the supporters and all my team-mates.'

Here is a couple of reasons as to why, Juan Mata has won both awards this season!


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Benfica 1-2 Chelsea: Ivanovic strikes late on to win it for the Blues!

It wasn't a classic and to be honest apart from a Frank Lampard belter, Chelsea weren't at the races in the first half! Chelsea turned the screw up a notch second half, got plenty of attacking possession and finally created decent chances. Thanks to Fernando Torres, Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill, Chelsea lifted the Europa League and became the first club in history to hold both trophies at the same time!.

Of course Benfica overall were the better side and looked much more dangerous that Chelsea did but who cares! We are in a results business and it's what goes in the record books that matters. Chelsea rode their luck at times as Benfica wasted their chances but in big games such as these, you MUST take your chances when you get them.

Chelsea for the most part defended well. Gary Cahill was outstanding and his last ditch tackle at the feet of Cardozo not once but twice, won us the trophy.

Fernando Torres' goal took us back to days of watching him in his prime. He pounced on a long throw from Cech, flicked onto Torres by Juan Mata and he was on his bike. As Luisao came over to close him down, he used his strength to hold him off, drew out the keeper and rounded him and slotted the ball into the net.

Cesar "Dave" Azpilicueta was penalised for handball just inside the box and rightly so. Cardozo scored the penalty as he blasted the ball past Cech down the middle to make it 1-1.

Interestingly enough, Benfica made all their substitutions during the game but Rafa never made a single one. The Chelsea players looked to have plenty left with Ramires, although not having a great game, causing them problems down the right hand side for the whole second half.

Frank Lampard once again late on hit another 25 yarder onto the crossbar with a couple of minutes to go. He has a habit of doing that doesn't he!

So, we move into three minutes added time. Benfica have a corner that comes to nothing and an attack. Chelsea move the ball forward and again that man Ramires is played in down the line. He makes sure he wins a corner off the defender.

So here we are, just as in Munich, in the dying moments of the game, Chelsea have a corner. Juan Mata swings the ball into the box and Ivanovic moving towards the back post, only has eyes on the ball. Surprisingly, no defender tracks him or closes him down until its too late. He rises high and heads the ball back across goal towards the far post and the ball loops into the net with the keeper beaten. We've won it 2-1!!

Once again it was a fantastic team effort to never give up, keep plugging away and to create some chances. Once again we took them and that was the difference.

Credit the players, credit Rafa and credit our football club for creating history!

Champions of Europe once again!

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Carefree & KTBFFH!

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Pick the Chelsea starting eleven for Benfica!

Tomorrow night Chelsea take on Benfica in Amsterdam in the THIRD major European final in SIX years. After having injury doubts over Eden Hazard and John Terry, both have travelled today and a decision will be taken by Rafa Benitez after our training session tonight.

Hopefully both will make it through and will be available to bolster Rafa's options but ahead of the session tonight, I wanted to ask the Chelsea faithful their thoughts on who should start the game?

What I am asking YOU the Chelsea fan to do is take it that everyone is fit and available for selection and give me the best and strongest starting eleven Chelsea have to give us the best chance of winning the game and the Trophy. (Remember that Demba Ba is cup tied and not available for selection.)

Does that include Frank Lampard and John Terry? Would you play David Luiz in midfield for this one? What about Oscar? Would you play Ramires on the right and side and stick Luiz next to Lampard?

***Breaking News - Eden Hazard WILL MISS the game!***

I personally would like to see the following eleven start the game:

Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Lampard, Ramires, Oscar, Mata, Moses and Torres.

What do you think?


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How will Benfica's loss affect them for Amsterdam?

How many of you watched the Porto-Benfica battle which would effectively decide the champion of the Portuguese league on Saturday? If you didn't, I genuinely feel bad for you. It was an absolute cracking match. As they had the advantage, and a win or draw would essentially see them winning the league, I expected Benfica to sit back, try to snag a goal, and park the bus. This wasn't really the case, however. Benfica scored off a (lucky) deflection to go up 1-0 before Porto equalized 7 minutes later. It looked headed

for a draw, until the magic struck. Substitute Kelvin buried a beautiful half-volley into the bottom right corner of the net in the 94th minute to seal the victory (and effectively, the league) for Porto. As an aside, if you haven't seen the highlight you should check it out. [Seriously though - click HERE, and start watching at about 4:20 - If the universal eruption of that stadium as the ball hits the back of the net isn't enough to send chills down your spine, you are likely not human. In any case, it's worth watching just to see Jorge Jesus drop to his knees, a broken man - as I hope he is again on Wednesday night].

As you know, we will face that same Benfica team in Amsterdam on Wednesday night, in what will be our last opportunity to bring home silverware this season. I know it's not as glorious as the Champions League, but damn, I want us to bring that trophy home. 

The way I see it, the outcome of the Benfica-Porto match will result in one of two things: 1) Benfica knows they've lost out on the title this season, inspiring a "cat in a corner" situation where they come out with nothing to lose, grit their teeth, and fight to the death to bring home the Europa League trophy; or 2) the fashion in which they lost to Porto after such a hard-fought battle has broken their spirit, killed their confidence, disrupted their momentum, and they show up a little lackluster. Either way, I hope we can burst out of the gates, still riding on the high of both securing a top-4 finish, and Frankie breaking the record (Congrats again, Super Frank!), take it to them hard, and kill the game off early. We need to bag one quick to further break their spirit, and take control of the game. 

What do you think - How does Saturday's loss at Porto affect Benfica? Is it going to spur them on, or is it going to leave them feeling totally gutted and drained?

Let me know what you think down below, and be sure to include any tactical opinions you may have!

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FA Youth Cup Final Preview

Tonight will see the end of what has been another impressive season at the Chelsea FC Academy. Not only have they made it to this final tonight but they had also made it to the final of the NextGen Series which was a U19's Champions League style competition with Europes elite clubs at the first time of asking. The league forms have been mixed but i will cover that at a later date with some end of season reviews, tonight is all about 90 minutes of football to walk away with back to back FA Youth Cup titles.

Chelsea have been begun to dominate this competition much like the first team do having won it last year and in 2010, and in between those years making it to the semi finals only to be knocked out by eventual winners Manchester United. The football that is on display by the Chelsea academy is of the highest quality and will certainly entertain today.

 The final of the FA Youth cup is unusually a two legged affair, tonight is the second leg to be played at Stamford Bridge and the game currently stands at 1 - 0 to Norwich. The first leg at carrow road was one that was dominated by the Chelsea youngsters who were unable to put away the chances that were presented to them on the night, Islam Feruz who is usually so lethal in front of goal missed a few very good chances to put Chelsea in the driving seat, in the end it was a penalty to Norwich in the final minutes of the game, Alex Davey falling over and bringing down the Norwich winger, which decided the tie. Highlights of the first leg of the final can be seen here:

So what can we expect from tonight's game? Well certainly we have to go for it, and with the attacking talents on display we certainly can do that. Norwich will look to sit back and make it hard for us and hit us on the counter. This team can thrive under pressure though and i would expect them to really be up for it.

There will have to be decisions made in the starting 11 with Adam Nditi and Andreas Christensen seemingly fully fit and would be more experienced options for the full back roles, in midfield also there is choices with John Swift having impressed when brought on and Charlie Colkett who has also done very well. However Viveash may decide to bring Boga back into the middle and either push Baker out wide or bring in Connor Hunte who has also had some good performances this season. I assume that Ake will be available to play tonight even though he is likely to be involved with the first team for Wednesday but we will have to wait and see on that one.

The main thing is that we have options and very good ones too and hopefully that will be enough to see us triumph tonight and having had such a disappointing defeat in the NextGen Series final, winning this is something these lads do deserve.

To add to the spectacle there is a big crowd expected, there were 20k at Norwich and whilst we may not get that many it won't be far off, Norwich themselves are expected to bring over 2k which is more than their brought to the bridge for their first team team.

Best of luck to the boys and here is hoping for a good win.
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Has Benitez Been A Chelsea Success At Chelsea?

It’s time to look back at Benitez’s time at Chelsea and decide once and for all whether he has been a success. Let’s put all the hate, tactical moves and all the Benayoun substitutions aside and think about this rationally. To being with, I’m not interested in whether you like him or agree with his tactics because that is not what determines whether or not he has been a success story. Rafa is an issue that is far bigger than results, something that the media never seem to acknowledge, but to start with that is all I want to concentrate on.

For me, to decide whether or not a manager has been a success you’ve got to look at the league position you finish in and what you've won, and put that into perspective given the squad that you have and the competition around you.

No doubt we should have wrapped up the League Cup given that it was us against Swansea over two legs with an easier match awaiting us in the final. That was a shortcoming of his and the team’s (especially Ivanovic), but to be fair to him he got us past united on the road to the semi-final.

He did well to get past united once again on the way to the semi of the FA cup before losing to City. That is a little more forgiveable  not just because City are a strong team and the defending Premier League Champions, but also because we seem to struggle against them at the moment. That said, with two domestic cup finals you would hope, even expect, to lift one of them and at least reach a final.

I was absolutely gutted not to win the Club World Cup, and once again that was a competition there for us to take. Corinthians just wanted it more though, and as much as you can lay some of the blame on the players (as you will always be able to) that is in my opinion Benitez’s biggest failure.

We have now wrapped up a place in the Champions League, and a lot of the press has gone out of its way to preach what a success this has made Rafa (and how disgraceful Chelsea fans are for sticking to our guns in our distaste for him). Well, back when he took over we would have taken a top four finish I think, so in the sense that he has achieved that now he has been successful.

Should it have been so difficult though? As Guillem Balague said on twitter the other day: “Football management is about maximising potential.” Has our form in the league really represented a manager who has got the best out of this squad??? Take a look at Ferguson, he’s just breezed the league with what is arguably a very average team. Rafa has on the other hand made extremely hard work of beating Spurs and Arsenal to a Champions League spot with what is certainly a superior squad. I don’t expect that many of us thought we’d be battling for a top four spot come the last few games of the Premier League given the position we were in when he took over.

Our results over the last week have put a positive spin on the league situation, but can anyone say they have really been happy, in general, with our Premier League performances and results? To put it as Guillem did, I do not think that Benitez has maximised the potential of this squad.

That said, he’s had a lot of stuff against him.

1. A Ma-hoosive fixture list. The players have obviously suffered from it, and often when some have said that they are playing with no passion or determination, I would reply that it’s been fatigue. It may be their profession, but they’re just humans and they get tired like all of us.
2. He’s been working with a small squad without much depth. When you combine this with our fixture list I think it’s fair to cut him a little slack.
3. The fans have been loudly and publicly against him. We have every right and reason not to like him. I certainly don’t like him, but I don't think that the public abuse was ever intelligent, even if it was justified; there are other ways to make our feelings clear that won't hurt the team. Some people say they pay the money and so it’s their right to have their voice heard. Perhaps, but regardless of whether it was fair it’s only ever going to be detrimental.

For these reasons I think you can cut him a little slack.

Could Europa League glory make up for under-performances in the league? I think so.

However, the teams we have face in the EL have hardly been elite, and making the final given this was probably expected. We’ve been the favourites since we qualified for the competition, and we’ve been the favourites at every stage all the way through. Still, a European trophy is a European trophy, and if he wins it I don't think you can say that he hasn't done a good job. This will be far more controversial if he doesn't.

If I go back to when he took over and you told me we’d have CL qualification and the Europa League……………meeeeeeeh, I think I’d take it, although not be thrilled. A trophy and a top four finish is a good achievement, but still below the potential that we had when he came in.

Now, let me give my own perspective on Rafa Benitez, his success, our reaction to him, and our media persecution.

I really dislike the man, but if it was anyone else but him at the helm we would probably be saying that he’s done a decent job. It’s not been spectacular, there have been obvious failures and terrible results along the way, but having come to crunch time at the end of the season we have improved, become more motivated, and we should acknowledge that. He has left us in a solid position to build from and a trophy may well be added soon.

For most Chelsea fans, I think our dislike for him will never change, and his association with the club upsets us. It upsets me certainly. This is because he is the man he is, and it has NOTHING to do with results. The job should never have been his, even if he was the most talented manager in the world. It’s to be expected from the media, but it’s sad when the club doesn’t understand its own fans.  

Come the end of the season there was only ever going to be celebration over his departure. We should acknowledge though that he has done a decent job. For some, myself to an extent, this will depend on him winning the Europa league. On the 19^th of May we can shake hands and end this poorly thought-out business association.

The primary point of this article was to try and make Chelsea fans see that Rafa has done a decent job. There is a secondary point I would like to make though ( /made on my behalf), because I’ll probably not get the chance to make it again.

There has been a relentless campaign in the news ever since Benitez took over, centred around the idea that Chelsea fans should be publicly declaring their appreciation for him, calling for him to take over next season, and even that we should be asking, nay begging, for his forgiveness over our treatment of him. One's jaw hits the floor.

Well... I’d like to finish with something that was said by Colin Murray in the metro, because he is the only member of the media who seems to have understood the position of Chelsea fans, and even more admirably, stuck his neck out at his own risk against the popular agenda. What is more he has said it better than I ever could:

“Regardless of whether or not Chelsea win the Europa League under the guiding hand of Rafa Benitez, I think a round of applause is in order… for their fans.
Why? Because football has enough examples of hypocrisy.
Isn’t it strange how most managers always seem to spot a member of the opposition diving yet, when it’s their own player auditioning for Bambi On Ice, they more often than not say they need to see a replay of it first before making a comment?
And what about the dangerous tackle that’s blasted by the rival boss, but when it’s their own man they are so sure that he’s ‘not that type of player’. The Beautiful Game is full of baffling BS at the best of times, on the touchline, in the dressing room and in the stands.
We’re all guilty, to some extent, like believing our team’s attacker should receive the benefit of the doubt in a marginal offside situation but, when it’s the other way around, we wag a finger and preach that ‘offside is offside!’.
In many ways, that’s part of the fun of the live game environment, when adrenaline pumps and logic fades.
However, there’s a difference between the heat of battle and the cold light of day, and the fact of the matter is that Chelsea are being managed this season by a guy who accused its fans of mistaking passion for plastic flags.
I’m happy to stick my neck out and applaud Chelsea’s faithful for not warming to Rafa Benitez, a man who gave me one of the best nights of my life when Liverpool won their fifth European Cup in Istanbul.
Oh yes, I can love him, but why should Chelsea fans? They are right not to trade in their strongly-felt standpoint for a simple piece of silverware or a top-four finish.
Yes, it might effect the team’s performance on the field, but aren’t Chelsea often branded Chelski and accused of selling their souls for success? Well, which one is it? Sounds like they can’t win either way.

And believe me, when The Interim One walks out of Stamford Bridge for the last time as Blues boss this season, his reputation grown and his bank balance swollen, I doubt he’ll give a damn about the love of the Shed End. If he does, then he’s the one who’s performed the U-turn.”

Follow on twitter: @cody_bound

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Chelsea's Most Improved Player

As the season draws to a close the voting opens to decide who the club’s player and player’s player of the year is, as well as who scored the goal of the season. These are official awards presented by Chelsea, but what I’m interested in today is who our (unofficial) most improved player is.

I’m going to put forward 5 nominations and let you make you choice between them. However, because I don’t think there are 5 deserving nominations from the first team squad (and to make things more interesting,) I’m going to include our loanees in the nominations.

Cesar Azpillicueta

I’ve included Dave in virtue of his growing performances and reliability as the season has progressed. When he first arrived at Chelsea I thought he was a poor to average player going by some of his displays. However he proved that he was simply just finding his feet in a new and physical league and has since gone on to become one of our most solid and consistent players.

I think the best example that proves how much he has improved is his performance against Spurs last week. Bale started playing from the left hand side of the pitch, but after spending the whole of that time in Dave’s back pocket he quickly moved over to the other side. Nullifying Bale was the way to get a result against Spurs and Dave was a big part of that.

Romelu Lukaku

Wow, he has really turned some heads this season. He went into West Brom with virtually no Premier League experience or reputation, but is leaving with what is likely to be a 33 appearance under his belt. He began life at West Brom coming off of their bench to replace the likes of Long and Odemwingie, but after some impressive cameo performances he earned himself a few starts. He managed to impress in those starts and before we had reached the middle of the season he was a regular in the opening line-up.

He is currently on 14 goals for the season with two appearances still to make. A couple of weeks ago he had the best goals to minute rate in the Premier League but after a recent goalless run he may not have that stat anymore. Nonetheless he has performed above and beyond what was expected of him after a season of disappointment with Chelsea that he spent largely on the bench and in the reserves.

David Luiz

He has come on leaps and bounds, and is the one central defender to survive Benitez’s rotation policy. He may have only been with us for two and a half seasons but already it seems as if he lives and dies for Chelsea. He brings a passion and drive to the team that only the likes of Lampard, Terry and Drogba do / did, which has led many to dub him the future Chelsea captain.

It’s incredible to say for a centre back but he is one of our most technically gifted players, and it’s seen him provide a few spectacular goals and assists, as well as a new adapted role in midfield. He’s not everybody’s cup of tea but it would be difficult for any Chelsea fan to deny that you feel more confident in our defence when he's playing, whereas last season you could arguably say the opposite.

Thiabaut Courtois

We already knew that Courtois was a good player, but perhaps we didn’t realise just how good. He has been absolutely extraordinary in La Liga while playing for Athletico Madrid, and he’s given us a horrible, yet beautiful, headache. What are you going to do when you have two fantastic goalkeepers like Cech and Courtois? For now the solution is to loan out Courtois to get him as much experience as possible, but Cech is still young for a goalkeeper so we may well be faced with a difficult decision in the near future.

So far he has 19 clean sheets from 34 for games (already a La Liga record before the season is over) which is four more than last season in 3 less games. Of course this won him Goalkeeper of the year in Spain too. At the age of 20 he has now cemented his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Perhaps even THE best.

Juan Mata

He has taken his game to the next level, and he was already our best player. He won our player of the season last year, so you might be surprised that I’ve nominated him for our most improved player this time. However, the fact is he has gone from very good to world class. He has stepped up his game in every way that he could have and is very much the first name on the team sheet.

He has 18 goals and 38 assists (the assists stat changes depending on what is counted as an assist) which means he has been directly involved in 56 goals this season (!!!!!). That is a huge step up from 12 goals and 23 assists, which was already awesome, from last season. Let’s hope that Hazard and Oscar can replicate this level of self-improvement.

My Decision

For me, it has to be Luiz. He used to be frighteningly erratic, but he seems to have calmed down and is now far less likely to make rash decisions that cost us, although there is still room for improvement in this regard. He has become a leader in the frequent absences of Lampard and Terry and there aren’t many players that I love more than him. 

I only wanted to make 5 nominations, but special mentions go to:

- Bertrand for some really impressive performances in the second half of the season in the absence of Ashley Cole. 

- Nathaniel Chalobah for an excellent season with Watford.

- Kevin de Bruyne for advancing with his game in Germany.

- And Torres, for going from woeful to mediocre. 

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