Friday, March 11, 2011

Blackpool 1 - Chelsea 3 - Have Chelsea turned their season around?

Following their 2-1 win against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, it seems like things are starting to look bright for Chelsea again! There was a huge expectation before the Man United match, which had to be won because of their position in 5th place in the Premier League, and most importantly the win didn't only take Chelsea up to 4th but it also inflicted a defeat to the league leaders, Man United. Thus we are inching our way back to top, slowly but surely!

So all we had to do now was to build up on that win and put up a run of wins - starting with the match against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road which we won 1-3 at! A strong collective win with goals from captain John Terry and two from vice-captain Frank Lampard was enough to ensure the much needed win! Terry scored a early header from corner in first half, while Lampard scored two in second half - one from a penalty after Kalou got fouled in the box and one from open player when Kalou plays him with a through-pass inside the box to slot it into the low left-side of the goal with confidence!

Lets hope the lads keep it up and continue the winning run!

John Terry scoring
the opener from a corner header.
Frank Lampard celebrating
two goals and a assists against Blackpool.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Fernando Torres and David Luiz - How the new January signings have done!

Fernando Torres, 27 years old striker - the €50 million transfer from Liverpool FC and David Luiz, 23 years old defender - the €25 million + Nemanja Matić from Sport Lisboa e Benfica. A transfer window which had Chelsea spend the most they have ever spent in the January window, who were currently in a bad position in the league, showing their ambition in getting the most highly-rated players in the world like in the old days of Roman Abramovich.  


Fernando Torres
poising with a Chelsea shirt.

David Luiz  
poising with a Chelsea shirt.















There was much excitement from the Chelsea fans for the signings of arguably the best striker in the world and arguably the best young defender in the world. There doesn't need to be much introduction for these two highly-known players, as Fernando Torres has already shown his class in Atlético Madrid, Liverpool and Spain - scoring 91 goals in 249 matches for Atlético Madrid, 81 goals in 142 matches for Liverpool and 26 goals in 82 matches for Spain, with one of them being the only one in the Euro 08 final between German 0 - Spain 1.   



The winning goal  
against Germany.
Celebrating a goal in the 1-4  
destruction against Man United.








                                               

David Luiz, however, doesn't have that much of a spectacular career as his fellow new teammate, Fernando Torres, has had. However, that doesn't mean he isn't good! In fact, he is unbelievable good! Luiz is already a world-class defender at the age of just 23! He can play anywhere from his main position in central defence to left/right-back and even defensive midfielder! Luiz is already a Brazil international as well, which is very rare for young defenders of his age, while he has had great experience from his time in Benfica in both domestic and european competitions such as the Europe League and the Champions League. 
  
David Luiz in action for Brazil.

David Luiz taking Torres down  
in a Europe League match.














Enough with the introduction, lets see how these highly-rated players have fared so far! 

Fernando Torres, our 50 million signing, has yet to find the goal in his 5 appearances so far, stating that he is currently in a process of finding his form and settling in to the side. This has pretty much made alot of headlines, as you`d expect a 50 million signing to score goals from the get-go, even if they came in January! This can`t be helped, as Torres is already a proven striker in the Premier League, but he is starting to find his fitness and form that he had lost at Liverpool before the transfer to Chelsea. Game by game, he is improving and understanding the way Chelsea play and how they fare on the pitch. Game by game, he is getting more fit, faster, involved and better at position himself. The only thing left is goals, its a strikers job after all! Ancelotti, the Chelsea coach, however, says he doesn't tell his strikers to score goals, but to play for the team - and Torres has certainly done that and hopefully he will only get better as we highly await his first goal for us! 
  
Torres in action  
against his former club, Liverpool.
Torres against Copenhagen   
in the Champions League.
Link to Torres vs Copenhagen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci-QzNgYJus

David Luiz, however, has taken the Premier League by the storm! Not only with his hair but with his defending, skills, dribbling, passing, movement, air-battles and shooting! Despite being only 23 years old, coming from a league in Portugal, he has already established himself as a 1st team starter in Chelseas central defence, which is not what you`d expect any 23 years old to do! He oozes with confidence and calmness on the pitch and has surprised the world of Football by being Chelseas Man of The Match against Liverpool, Fullham and Manchester United out of the 4 appearances he`s had so far! 

But what shocked the Premier League the most was his performance against Manchester United, where he was defensively world-class and unbeatable! Although he was rash and brutal as well, what surprised everyone the most was his execute volley inside the box in the second half which made the score go from 0-1 to 1-1, with the match ending in a 2-1 comeback win for the Blues with a penalty goal from Frank Lampard after Zhirkov gets taken down by Smalling in the box. 


Luiz clearing the ball and Rooney away.

David Luiz - The Chelsea Hero celebrating his goal against Manchester United. 



Link to the goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EFyRjiyrq4 

With no further need to say, David Luiz is already becoming a cult hero in Chelsea! The passion and work rate of 200% each match only proves why he was rated as one of the best young defenders in the world - he might even be the best in the world, and no one can say he can`t be either if he continues performing match-winning performances at the highest level in Football! 

So with David Luiz being our most successful signing in many years, we highly await for Fernando Torres to show his class as well as soon as possible, because when he is on fire then there is no stopping us and the rest of the team with their fitness back and raring to go!   

Friday, October 29, 2010

Chelsea FC - A club in the path of glory (part 1)

Chelsea FC, founded in 1905, had gone through a lot before they made history as they became one of the six clubs in England that achieved the Double (Premier League and FA Cup) in the 09-10 season - their most successful season in Chelseas history!

The first Chelsea team in September 1905.
                                                                    
Back in the first days of Chelsea, when they were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (today known as The Butcher's Hook), they were struggling to win trophies. They would have to wait 50 years before they would go on to win a major trophy, which was the 1954-55 season, where they became the First Division (today known as Premier League) champions under manager Ted Drake, with 52 points out of 42 matches, with second place having 48 points.

This was the start of their emergence as a Football club, slowly but effective!

Sadly Chelsea didn't keep manage to protect the title and fell all the way from 1st to 16th just after one season! But they did, however, win the 1955 FA Charity Shield (today known as FA Community Shield), which is a competition where the reigning champions of the league meets the reigning champions of the FA Cup.

Chelsea won the 3-0 against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge and won their first FA Charity Shield.

The Chelsea team of 1955 - Champions of the First Division and FA Charity Shield.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UxMICrv-jg

They would later go on a couple of years without trophies until 1965, when they won the Football League Cup (today known as Carling Cup) against Leicester City in the final.

A two-leg match that ended with Chelsea winning 3-2 at Stamford Bridge and drawing away to Leicester City at Filbert Street. The end result being 3-2 to Chelsea, meaning they won their first trophy since 10 years ago!

A hard-fought win and a memorable moment for the club and its supporters!

The Chelsea team of 1965 - Champions of the Football League Cup.
Again, they would go a couple of years without any trophies, but this time it came faster than last time! In 1970, just five years after, they won the FA Cup for the first time in the clubs history!

A two-leg match against Leeds United (during their glory years), with the first one ending 2-2 at Wembley and with the second one ending with a climax 2-1 win at Old Trafford for Chelsea, after having been down 0-1 in the 35th minute.

Chelsea did a heroic comeback in second half, with The King of Stamford Bridge Striker, Peter Osgood, leveling up the score in the 78th minute with a diving header from a Charlie Cook cross, before they would eventually go on to win the game on after time with a 104th minute winner from defender, David Webb, who headed in the winner from an long Ian Hutchinson throw-in.

The Chelsea team of 1970 - Champions of the FA Cup.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHCtjWSvIPc

Following their trophy win and 3rd place in the league, they secured them a place in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (today known as UEFA Europe League) for the 1970-71 season - which they eventually went on to win! A back-to-back trophy from Chelsea, this time from an European competition!

Chelesa beat Real Madrid in the final in a two-leg match, the first one ending 1-1 in the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens, with Ossie (Peter Osgood) scoring after 56 minutes, only to be denied by a late goal from Zoco. Thus they had to replay the match two days later, in 21 May 1971.

Chelsea won that match two goals coming from first half, first one coming from Ossie and second one from John Dempsey. A goal from Fleitas in second wasn't enough to stop Chelsea from winning their first European competition in history - in their first European run as well!

This was one of the biggest nights for Chelsea as a Football club and everyone associated with them, a night like none for the fans and players of the club to celebrate and enjoy!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4kxu9t2LUw&feature=related 
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDIcKdkjg24&feature=related

End of part 1, be sure to look out for part 2 in the near future!

The Chelsea team of 1971 - Celebrating the European Cup Winners' Cup Final.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Welcome to the Chelsea FC - The Pride of London blog

Here we like to talk about everything related to Chelsea FC and wave the blue flag high and proud!