ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Chelsea- Season to forget, future exciting

Posted by David Kyle on 02/15/2011

There's only so many times that I can come on here and dig out the same players for the same old things.

What we saw on Monday night was an example of some extremely positive signs of the future ahead for Chelsea.

We all know that players like Lampard, Malouda, Essien and Drogba have been far from their best - God only knows I've written it enough - but they will always come good for a bit longer, form is temporary class is permanent.

Luiz, great debut. Better hair! ©Getty Images

It's the new batch we should be excited about.

We have the Lisbon Lions, Ramires & Luiz. We have the young lions, McEachran, Van Aanholt, Bruma, Lalkovic and Chalobah. And we have the new lion - Fernando Torres.

If anyone comes on here spouting about our new number 9 being a flop they are Liverpool fans still bitter about his transfer. There is no doubt that Torres will be an excellent signing.

He needs to get that crucial first goal though, his confidence is low for sure. In life there is a weight of expectation, imagine carrying that as a single person knowing the media and the fans are gunning for you as the £50m man.

Once he has that first goal I have no doubt in my mind it will lead on to many more, at 26 he has a major part to play in our future. Next season is where he will influence things more, he still has a new team to get used to.

The same happened with Anelka, granted he wasn't a major national press story but he only managed to notch up a couple of league goals after signing him in January.

Then? Next season - Premier League top scorer. Season after that? Double winner. And, yes Liverpool fans, the rest is HISTORY.

Luiz looks worth every single penny of his 2.15 billion pennies, quality on the ball, aggression off it when tackling, and Brazilian panache. Just what we needed to add that extra bit of cover at the back.

You have to be a quality player to make such an impact in defence on your full debut, even his 20 minute stint against Liverpool last week was impressive. Not often will you see a defender get Man of the Match on their first outing for a new club in a new country.

Ramires too is continuing his rise up in form. When signed he initially looked out of his depth and out of his league. Yesterday against Fulham he was exceptionally good, his spirit and his endeavour something from the Chelsea of past and something we have missed from his older counterparts.

By no means am I saying that Lampard et al are past it, they're just not what they used to be. Lampard could only sustain his exceptional injury free form for a while, as you get older naturally things take longer to heal.

The major disappointments this season have to be Essien and Malouda (although he had a wondrous start). Essien was claimed this season to be like a new signing when he came back from a long term injury this season, unfortunately I'd rather we signed the old Essien back. His passes are off and his strength on the wane. It's shocking to think that he would ever come in for any criticism, always such an awesome talent to have in the team, let's just pray his form returns.

And to touch upon the youngsters coming through, McEachran is no doubt the shining star. A great performance for the England under 21s the other day saw him get some well deserved exposure. Chuck Kakuta and Sturridge and other aforementioned players to that list and we have an extremely exciting future to look forward to.

So thanks for the memories, here's to the future.

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High

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Comments

Posted by BluesForLife on 02/16/2011

I couldn't agree with you more. Although I was really hoping Torres would net his first goal against a lower tier team such as Fulham - but we did play them away. I hope Carlo starts him for our CL fixtures coming up as I can definitely see him scoring. Rest Drogba during the CL and let Torres play out 90 minutes. I think its important that Torres gets all 90 minutes of playing time because once Drogba and Anelka are past their peak we're going to rely on Torres for 90 minutes to net goals for us. I'm extremely excited for Luiz as well - it's sad that his signing was overshadowed by Torres because Luiz, if all goes well, could be better than JT in his prime Chelsea years. I'm enjoying seeing McEachran play and Sturridge has been finding the net consistently for Bolton - hopefully when he returns to Chelsea he'll be a refined product. I am still confident we can make a run for the CL trophy and finish as high as top 3 in the EPL.

Posted by robben2003 on 02/16/2011

As Chelsea fan we never lacked tactics but Ancelotti lost it for awhile, we need to use our best players skills and we don't have that i mean we don't have skilled wingers let alone talk abt the front! bring Neymar or Robben back!

Posted by Alish Up The Chels on 02/16/2011

Wel said Lads. No worry of present if the title gone, jus think about the future. Sturridge is doing very well in Bolton but its very sad he got lesser appearance in blue shirt. He wil rise again in Bridge soon. Chelsea wil Sure Rise Again
KTBFFH

Posted by ali on 02/16/2011

The Liverpool and Fulham games shown time of possession was good - 63% & 57%, and total shooting was 20 & 25. But we leak on target just 1 (Liverpool) & 3 (Fulham).
So,this shown we can't win the games if still continue like that.
CA hopefully you has better idea to convert the total shooting to total on target for next games.
Good jobs for David Luiz, keep up your performance. Torres, you are best striker, proof to the fans that "YOU ARE THE BEST".

Posted by Yezen on 02/16/2011

I wouldn't be so excited David, I mean i seriously doubt Lampard,Essien and Drogba are ever going to get back to their form of old

Posted by Stuart on 02/16/2011

Yes, let's write this season off and just look at the promise in the team now. Everyone said we needed to rebuild but when we do we are criticised. Fulham game showed what the future holds, they need to click as a team but when they do I know they will be class to watch. Not sure why old Ancelotti feels the need to play 3 upfront but it's hard to leave anyone out when you look at the players available. We seem to have lost a bit of speed this season, with Ashley not prepared to take anyone on down the left and so play stalls 25yds out. I noticed when Luiz came on at Liverpool, how he played the ball always ahead of the recipient, which pushes play forward at a much better pace. That is what we have lacked since December. I think he will make a couple more signings at the end of the season and the old guard will watch most games from the dug out in 2011/12... Just a shame that Hiddinck won't be available....... Now THAT would be a good signing!

Posted by flyingblues on 02/16/2011

Excellent analysis of the CFC performance.. David Luiz is certainly the future although felt really bad for him when he conceded the penulty.. Still not sure about Torres and remembered first couple of months of Sheva at the bridge.. I hope he is NOT the next Sheva..
What worries me most is the LAMPS form and replacement to him.. Do we have anyone that could be his mirror image in the future? And also Essien.. where is that Essien who scored some memorable goals agst Arsenal, barca, Juve and many more.. We need him back and that too quickly for UCL success... I hope CA continues for next few seasons (eventhough he fails to win any trophy this season) now he has got a team for the future we are good to go for next few seasons and yes McEchran, Sturridge are growing.. Hope Torres starts fiing soon.. Never had imagined CFC would be fighting for 4th spot after winning double last season!!! Blues are the BEST...

Posted by George on 02/16/2011

It seems to me that the big problem with the Chelsea attack is that it is very static. When we get the ball and move forward, 3 to 5 players run to forward positions and just stay there waiting for the ball. There is no movement. You can have the best players in the world and this kind of tactic would never be successful. Also, Kalou is a drain on the team. Granted he has scored some goals this season but he is totally inefficient and he loses the ball more than anybody (by far). I would trade him for a diet pepsi.

Posted by Tyler Cox on 02/16/2011

I agree with what everyone is saying. This season (as far as the league goes) is probably lost, and that is something that I think Chelsea fans can accept. Right now we should be focusing on possibly a third FA Cup and of course there is the CL. We should be pushing a great deal of our energy and resources to trying to bring home the European Cup. Thats not to say that we should lie down in the league, just try and focus on other trophies.

Posted by Abdu on 02/16/2011

I agree with most of this. But seriously, ramires was awful against fulham. Hes ok when chelsea are in control in fact sometimes hes really good, but usually hes been average at best. Im not labelling him a flop, hes obviously got lots of pitential, just hasnt showed enough for me, maybe its the formation i dunno. Maybe its the fact that nobody, including him, knows what his bloody position is. Point is im worried about him, agree on everything you said about torres.. Oh and other thing, its time to give up on mikel, hes just not chelsea standard we have to admit it. I dunno maybe makelele spoiled me, but its been 5 average years from him..

Posted by Alex kitheka on 02/16/2011

Ca got it right to sighn david.it wud be good if he can talk pato and cavani to join us upfront.josh is a great hit and so is the guy at bolton.keep it up ca and i can see next season we wl go all the way for pl and cl

Posted by Steve on 02/16/2011

I agree with many points made but still contest that Carlo is not up for the job! Having over fifty years of supporting the Blues I am sad to see the same old mediocre team that we had before the Ambramovich years. We have come too far to fall back into the middle of the BPL pack. I am sure that Mr. A will get involved when we fail to make CL for next year, and lose major revenue!
As for Torres I dont blame him; I just think he could fall into the Crespo, Mutu, Shevchenko, Sutton category and not be a fit, I hope not! As for Essien, Terry, Lampard and gang maybe they are not motivated by CA, maybe the motivation came from another source like Wilkins who seems to have been the lifeblood of our team.
Talking about rebuilding and writing off the season is ridiculous, we need to get a new manager focus on winning the CL & FA and scaring the S**T out of the other teams for next season, not curl up in the fetal position admitting defeat. BLUE IS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, THE COLOUR

Posted by Fritz on 02/17/2011

Lampard, Drogba, Anelka, Essien, Terry all going down hill...

And who cares, Chelsea will just splash some more cash around... BS team...

Dortmund uber alles!

Posted by BluesForLife on 02/17/2011

Its pathetic that a Dortmund would come and talk shit on our blog. You can talk shit when you are a relevant team in Europe.

One a more legitimate note, I am genuinely worried Torres might end up like Sheva. It seems like Torres was Romans decision just like he decided to buy Sheva. Sometimes Roman does treat the team like his personal fantasy team, which leads to terrible decisions like Sheva. I only hope Torres can prove the critics wrong.

We do need to find quick replacements for Lamps and Terry. I can see some of the younger lads stepping up, but we do need to sign an establish world class player if we're going to continue making runs for the EPL title and CL trophy.

Posted by Tunero on 02/17/2011

the answer to chelsea's recent problem is the replacement of CA with a goog manager with character,charisma and tactical know-out in d mould of Mouriho,Gus Hindink, Dick Advocaat etc.it is obvious CA has past his prime.He cant get the best out of the boys.So he needs to go, NOW.

Posted by John Lyons on 02/17/2011

Drogba and Anelka are amongst the best strikers to have played in the premiership. Torres needs to be able to elevate himself to another level and win us matches single handedly but he can't, this is why I feel he is overrated. He should have scored twice against Fulham.

David Luiz had a great game against Fulham; he is sheer class and a very exciting prospect for Chelsea.

Once we lose to Everton and get dumped out of the Champions League this dreadful season will be over but not before Spurs pip us to a fourth place finish.

Posted by AweSome on 02/17/2011

Come on guys give CA a chance.The guy won a double last season and the very next season we start saying that he is not ready for the job. Well he can not go on the field and start scoring goals. For Chelsea, the chances that Torres missed esp the one with Luiz's thru ball must be taken and if not we are gonna say goodbye to many trophies. Also I feel Ramires was good on the pitch and so was Terry. Terry didnt produce a remarkable performance again. Also Cole is not the player we are used to see. with injuries to Zhirkov and loaning of v Aaholt I think CA is not left with any other option but to play Cole and which makes Molouda less efective. There are problems but CA knows the way to get us outta em most importantly look at the Injury list he had to deal with this season benayoun, Zhirkov, Alex still out Drogba, Lamps, and Terry still aint full fit and Essien, Mikel, Molouda, Bosingwa had their injury woes ole,anelka ivanovic overused and could be injured any time-my season's analysis

Posted by Jasper on 02/18/2011

Definitely, Luis and Torres are exciting signing to Chelsea. However, coach is a worry, losing many games and still keep same team and formation, then when we start winning, Torres come on, and playing his old team Liverpool, a team knows Torres more than anybody else, I think this is not good start for Torres in a new team, yet give times, I trust Torres will be good for us

Posted by Steve on 02/18/2011

Good analysis from AWESOME however, please don't support CA he did not win squat last year as Gus & Wilkins had the team playing like a well oiled machine, and he just inherited and watched. After Ray was let go we saw the CA way, and it hasn't been pretty. He is an overpayed head figure, and has little to no strategy or ability to change games when things are not going well. As for the players, yes we all adore them and expect the best, why not, they are paid anything from 100 to 200 thousand pounds a week??? For that kind of money we expect miracles, not shots on goal that hit the corner post. The BPL is the best league in the world yet see how many players miss shots soooo badly as compared to other leagues, why, it's their job isn't it?
Finally Torres why Torres with all of his injuries and homesick issues, he needs to ge his act in gear very quickly and score or he will become Sheva 2, more money p****d away when we could have signed some serious talent for the future.

Posted by Adeshina on 02/18/2011

We might have lost it this season, but i believe with the recent signings and the young lads in the squad, the future is definitely bright.

Posted by SamChelseaLuv on 02/28/2011

Granted Drogba, Essien, Obi, and the Boss have all suffered injuries/illness but isnt it time to admit Essien and Obi are surplus to team requirements. In the mids we have Yossi, Yuri (soon to leave if he doesnt get 1st team time), McEachran (must be kept in Blue), Lampard, Malouda (struggling), Ramires (lightning) and the much talked about Jacopo Sala. I know what essien can do when fit and perhaps Carlo knows that and is giving him time, being patient. But Chelsea need to look to replace Obi Mikel an give Malouda and Essien ultimatums to perform or step aside. First though, they need to try and have some fun. Is it just me, or do Chelsea look scared to play free flowing football? And why is Lampard so premeditated on the ball? We have a great future, but the immediate future and our success this season all comes down to 1) Drogba 2) Malouda 3) Essien and 4)Obi, all stepping up and Lamps needs to relax and just play.

Posted by BOO!!! on 03/01/2011

should call u lucky to escape the RED CARD!!! BOO!!! even your coach also know you should get red card if not why change you down. should not consider win at least a draw only shameless win

Posted by Chedale42 on 03/02/2011

Listen chelsea is the best soccer teamhere now watch them win every thing!!!!

Posted by charles on 06/24/2011

please, i need to know latest transfer in for the BLUES. please send back to my mail. Thanks.

Posted by BELLOWALE on 06/28/2011

I LOVE VILLA BOAS I WANT HIM 2 BID 4 D.VILLA AND KAKA FALCAO AND SELL DROGBA KALOU BOSINGWA BENAYOUN

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