Chelsea fan hits back at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United
Contributing author Soupdragon2 takes a suicidal swipe at Chelsea-haters.
Is Carrick worth two-thirds of Shevchenko (18.7 million and 29 million respectively)? Is it such an exorbitant sum for the best centre forward in recent history (Henry was going to Barcelona for the same fee before he had a change of heart, and is the same age)?
Would you rather get Senna for seven million, or Ballack, a proven world class midfielder for free? (Granted the wages are different, but that reflects the quality of the players) If Ferguson is talking about Chelsea relying on ‘pensioners’, the press should call into question his decisions. Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have all been crucial members of his team, and are all older than Ballack and Shevchenko.
What is a better deal? Chelsea selling Eidur Gudjohnsen (age 28) for eight and a half million or Man Utd selling Ruud Van Nistelrooy at the same age as Henry and Shevchenko for around ten million?
- Chelsea have spent 50m and sold just under 22m worth of players this season.
- Liverpool have spent 14m, and sold 5 million pounds worth of players.
- Manchester United have spent 21m million and sold just over 11m, after Glazer was allowed to take over the club and use it entirely as a financial pressure release (Ferguson apparently wants two more high profile signings before the window closes).
- Arsenal have spent 397m on a new stadium and Rosicky, but I am not sure of the sum they received for the sale of the land at Highbury (I assume it would only slightly recoup the loss).
The figures are pending the sale of Ashley Cole from Arsenal and the sale of Robert Huth from Chelsea.
According to the public and the press, it is a terrible threat to football to pay massive sums for assets that could guarantee a good financial balance for a football club in the long run. Spending money on players makes for entertaining football.
Agreeing to sell your valuable players (Ashley Cole, Henry and Reyes) and relying on young players is bad for the supporters and is damaging to the clubs standard of football and reputation.
I wonder which club is really looking to provide entertainment for the fans?
Is it more damaging for the English game that Chelsea are selling players at cut rates to other clubs and making and spending money at a similar ratio to other top clubs. Chelsea are bringing the best players and new sponsorship interest to our league. Man Utd and Arsenal have attempted (and in Man Utd’s case succeeded) to sell the two most prolific strikers in our league for financial gain.
Chelsea have bought young players from smaller sides such as Leeds etc, and the space devoted to the alleged tapping up stories coming from Chelsea’s bitter ex-chairman has been huge, one day had 3 pages of coverage in one tabloid paper. Arsenal allegedly taking advantage of legal loopholes with their player’s pay packages and an unusual financial relationship with a feeder club gets 2 small paragraphs 3 pages in on the same day, the next day, more Bates hate is printed on the back and inside back page.
Barcelona’s disgust at Wenger taking another young player prior to the signing of professional contracts gets 3 paragraphs and is touted as “shrewd business� rather than saying he is a “Shyster� like they quoted Bates about Chelsea.
Matt Lawton in the mail stated that a Liverpool at 50 percent beat a full Chelsea team, in direct opposition to Mourinho’s statement that Chelsea are only at 50 percent and Liverpool are ahead in their preparations for the season (The 50 percent was referring to their fitness levels, but of course as it suits the journalist’s argument, he talks about the number of first team players on the pitch without considering that Liverpool introduced all of their key players with 20 minutes to go against a tired Chelsea).
Chelsea started without 3 crucial players who were expected to start the season in the first 11, and lost another when Ballack limped off (Joe Cole, Petr Cech and Makalele).
Of course the mix ups between the John Terry and the left backs for the 2 Liverpool goals means that the press call Terry’s leadership skills into doubt the day after their favourite Steven Gerrard is ‘pipped’ at the post for the England captaincy, co-incidence? “There’s nowhere to hide� they claim.
2 comments critiquing the England setup (Gerrard was played out of position and was ‘disgusted’, and he “was angry� that Walcott went) in the World Cup from Steven Gerrard are analysed fairly and no-more is said the next day, it is just his opinion after all.
Frank Lampard makes 1 critique, in which he stated that he AND Rio Ferdinand were doing something to combat the lack of training and words from a fellow professional are widely publicised that Lampard is a “coward� for complaining and not taking the blame. Reading’s centre forward. Will anyone be calling Gerrard a coward, and if they are will the papers and websites run it as a story?
Gerrard has worse statistics since Lampard has come to the fore at Chelsea in the last 2-3 years in the premiership and in international competition. The stats did not matter then, and people were of the opinion that Lampard and Gerrard were of an equal standard. The first time Gerrard slightly out-performs Lampard (Gerrard scored 2 goals and Lampard didn’t get any) and suddenly the numbers are what counts and Gerrard should be the England captain because he’s such a hero. That would makes Gerrard the one who should be granted protection from substitution while Lampard would be likely to be dropped if there was a midfield re-shuffle, oh and what of John Terry, arguably the strongest and most influential club captain in the world?
This is not meant to be an unbiased article as such, the facts are in there, and my opinions on the facts may leave you with varying feelings about your previous Chelsea-related perceptions.
Perception relies on positive or negative focus. If the papers (aka. “The people’s voice�) focus on how much worse off the Premiership is for Chelsea’s wealth, it becomes worse off in everyone’s opinion.
Feel free to express your opinions.
*Pulls on flak jacket*
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Hilarious article. Keep smoking those drugs my friend, you seem happy enough.
I’d go through this point by point, but my god, take off the blue glasses!
Just as an aside, Arsenal didn’t try to sell Henry, so I have no idea as to why you would suggest that. The issue was whether he wanted to stay or not…there are many other holes in the facts throughout this article, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to address them now.
What an absolute pile of rubbish you write.
Henry is younger than Shevchenko and had less time on his contract - Barcelona were looking at paying 15 million euros, not 50 million euros.
Playing youngsters is damaging for the game?
You could only dream of watching the decent football Arsenal’s youngsters conjured up last season.
Remember -
1 Not so long ago Chelsea really sucked.
2 When Abramovich walks away - WHICH HE WILL - your boys will be screwed.
3 Please stop writing - your style is appalling and your thought process incoherent.
Before this one gets out of hand :), I’d like readers to notice something:
The author says, towards the end:
This is not meant to be an unbiased article as such, the facts are in there, and my opinions on the facts may leave you with varying feelings about your previous Chelsea-related perceptions.
Perception relies on positive or negative focus. If the papers (aka. “The people’s voice�) focus on how much worse off the Premiership is for Chelsea’s wealth, it becomes worse off in everyone’s opinion.
Now my take on this is that:
1) You can twist facts to support your own beliefs - almost all fans do it.
2) The media, to a large extent, influences how people think. Chelsea’s meteoric rise has fuelled resentment in other clubs because a) they don’t have that sort of money and b) their clubs are not winning the Premiership.
Result? Asshat tabloids and broadsheets play on those emotions by printing anti-Chelsea rhetoric. Write what sells, and by god it does. Not only that, it fuels the hatred even more, and instead of other clubs saying - ok, here’s a new challenge, we have to improve ourselves - everyone is bitching about Chelsea’s money and how they are ruining football.
The article is biased - the author says so himself. But the point he’s making is spot on.
I showed this stuff to a couple of my mates who support Chelsea and even they had to laugh, shaking their heads. Nice work, knobhead!
Prat. The most rediculous article I have read in some time - and I have read some bad ones! If you cannot discuss football objectively then why bother? Man Utd built the most succesful Premiership side of all time around youngsters but doing so kills the game!? Buying young promising players (SWP) just to prevent your rivals signing them and then not playing them will ruin the game - not to mention the lads career and above all else flies in the face of sportsmanship - something of which Abramovich has no concept.. Running a club at £150M loss per annum will ruin the game. Arsenal and Man U have “attempted to sell” Henry and Van Nistelroy. Arsenal did everything in their power to keep Henry and ultimetly succeeded. Van Nistelroy wanted out becuase he couldn’t play second fiddle and becuase he is the most hated player in the Premiership. I can’t be bothered to go through your article point by point but its pathetic, ill informed and suprisingly bitter for a fan who’s club has won back to back chamionships. What’s up? Craving that thing that money can’t buy? That Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool have in abundance from across the world? Want a little respect do you love? Well not even £12B will buy you that Chav boy.
I’ve no issue with articles written by fans of a club that have a certain level of favourtism with them but at least try to make some reasonable points! Arsenal did not try to sell Henry, in fact it was quite the opposite and to even claim otherwise is frankly a bit embarassing. And here’s a hint for all you Chelsea fans outthere - don’t even try to justify your club’s spending with, it just wont work. Fact is you have spent your way to success and the sooner you lot accept that the sooner you can enjoy it for what it is - a short term gain that could cost the club quite severely in the long run.
As a non-England fan i can tell you that with the exception of perhaps Ashely Cole and Lord forbid Rio the entire England team played pretty crap at the world cup. Steve G was poor but Lampard was far worse but that is no surprise as anyone could see that his form had been poor for the last few months of the season as well.
Where do you start with all those factual errors. For example you claim United have only sold £11 million worth of players yet £12 million alone arrived from Chelsea only a couple months ago for the sale of Obi Mikel. You maths are equally flawed regarding our £14 million signing (Carrick) whom you quote at £18.6 million - this figure may eventually be true but if you agree with it then presumably you are stating that United will be winning most of the competitions we enter (the higher figure does have conditions, if your quoted figure is correct then that must mean we will win the Premeirship this season etc). As for the “alleged” tapping up incidents, why call them “alleged” when Chelsea themselves have been found guilty by the FA.
Regarding Chelsea’s injury woes that doesn’t really stand up does it … http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php - all short term and there are plenty of clubs with more to deal with. When you average 6 or more players injured week in week out with many of them first team players, and when you club is run as a business rather than being artificially (and unsportingly ?) propped up by money leached from the Russian populace (with respective record annual losses of £140 million to the clubs balance sheet) perhaps then you may have more of a point.
Mate you need more than that flak jacket
Your comments are full of rubbish.
Ha ha Abramovich spent millions on superstar players and still cant beat a buget team like Liverpool. Excuses, excuses, Players not fully fit just came back from world cup. Every top teams also have players in the world cup. Dont all professional players, particularly your “superstars” are physically fit at all times. The league is only one week away and still not fit then your team is still on holidays!!!!! MONEY CANT BUY SUCCESS!
thats a facts…u think that henry will cost less than shevchenko??c’mon la herdee, if barca want to pay just 15 billion euros…the hell arsenal will accept..
dude wat r u smoking..chelsea plays the most boring football..
Let’s not forget Ballack’s wages, which are likely to add up to 20+ million by the time he’s finished rolling around premership pitches.
Chelsea are nothing short of a bizarre joke. It was actually pretty good just before the start of the Rouble era that they were putting together a decent side and a bit of form, but frankly now not one person in football likes them.
Apart from the incredibly crappy football they manage to churn out with a list of superstars, it pretty well says it all when their new-found “fans” can’t even be arsed to go and see them play in the season opener.
Arsenal probably had more fans in Croatia!
And as for your laughable comments: “Agreeing to sell your valuable players (Ashley Cole, Henry and Reyes) and relying on young players is bad for the supporters and is damaging to the clubs standard of football and reputation.”
Agreeing to sell unsettled players at a profit when you have more than adequate replacements is a measure of the talent in our ranks. However, at no point did we ‘agree’ to sell Henry - which is why he’s still with us, in case it slipped your notice.
As for the standard of football and reputation - give it up son, you haven’t had either since 1957!
LOL
Quite amusing. You obviously didn’t think too hard regarding your comment that chelsea is doing the premiership a favour because they are selling players at cut rates.
firstly buying a player at inflated prices and selling him for less is not cut rate, just bad business.
secondly stating that chelsea are spending and making money at the same ratio as other top clubs? get real. how much did they lose last year? how much have they forked out in 4 years on players? and then comparing what chelsea are spending on players to a fantastic stadium for arsenal? get real!
regarding the cole situation, chelsea made their bed and should sleep in it. Paying man-u 12mil for a player who have never kicked a ball for them, and then refusing to pay the asking price for one of the best left backs in europe. i hope arsenal sticks to their guns.
da hanif -
15 BILLION Euros - Arsenal will accept.
15 million would have been an offer they would have to accept if;
1 Henry insisted on the move.
2 Bearing in mind he had just ONE YEAR left on his deal.
Prices are determined by contract length.
The difference in spending lies not in the amount of money but in the fact than Man U, Arsenal and Liverpool spend their own hard earned money whereas Chelsea just ask their dad for more. If you haven’t earned it you’re not worth it whichever spin you try to put on it.
This kind of article just adds to the feeling that all Chelsea fans are johnny-come-latelys who know nothing about football. Mis-informed opinion is the tell-tale sign of the armchair supporter. Interesting that Chelsea’s fan base is rumoured to have quadrupled in the last two years, that’s a lot of new-to-football commentators. It’s about time that more of the media stood up and pointed to the Tsars new clothes.
BILLY SMARTS CIRCUS……Welcomes a new Clown SOUPDRAGON2
Nobody likes your team, nobody respects the fact that you bought the title and nobody, except your own fans will give you any credit for what you win! It’s futile to even try to justify anything as everybody whose not a hammer and sickle can see your club for exactly what it is!
Lay off the pipe, crack kills!
I think the factual inconsistencies have been taken apart by most comments before mine.
But there is one point I’d like to make regarding a statement you felt so strongly about that you chose to put it in bold:
“Agreeing to sell your valuable players (Ashley Cole, Henry and Reyes) and relying on young players is bad for the supporters and is damaging to the clubs standard of football and reputation.”
That “reputation” was what prompted the France U-21 Captain Diaby to reject Chelsea’s offer, and made Walcott choose Arseanl over Chelsea. And you speak of “standard of football”?
I don’t even need to name the team that has been regarding by nearly everyone to play the most entertaining football in England.
And as for the supporters, Chelsea are the club having problems selling tickets, not Arsenal, United and Liverpool. I suggest you get Kenyon to poach a few more execs to help nab more 12 year old gloryhunters.
You sound like a 4 year old complaining about how the other kids don’t like you because you’ve got the most toys. Diddums.
It’s growing up time for you and for Chelsea.
The rest of the football World does hate Chelsea.
Fans in England hate Chelsea because there’s no competition any more, and because Chelsea are attempting to bully smaller clubs (you mentioned Leeds) and in many cases are actually succeeding and also to destabilise bigger clubs (The meeting between Cole and Chelsea, anyone?)
Football fans in Germany hate Chelsea, because of Chelsea’s behaviour over Ballack.
Football fans in italy hate Chelsea, because of Chelsea’s behaviour over Shevchenko, their repeated attempts to destabilise Milan.
Chelsea are ruining competition, that essential part of football. Without competition, we’ll all stop watching. And that’s bad news for the premier league, for Serie A, for the Primera Liga, for Sky, for Man Utd, Liverpool, Bayern, Barcelona, Read Madrid. And also for Chelsea.
The only good thing I can see about Chelsea flashing so much cash is the few clubs who are prepared to take the p1ss out of them. Chelsea approach Arsenal for Ashley Cole and are told the price is £26m. Ridiculous, say all Chelsea fans….and they’re right. So Chelsea go and ask Lyon about Abidal, and they’re told the price is 30m euros (£22m). Well done Arsenal. Well done Lyon.
Not sure about the facts u use but the pro liverpool bias in the mail is certainly true. Jeff Winter is a die hard fan, despite growing up in London. On the day of the announcement they printed the back page with the words BRAWLER GAMBLER ENGLAND CAPTAIN?? despite him being the only sensible choice. Gerrard carries liverpool. He could not do the same for England
You clown. I started to read thinking you would be hitting back at some of the accusations we have made against the new enemies of football. Instead, all I get is a bleating diatribe attempting to show how hard things are for Chelsea because everyone is against them.
Yawn.
dear K..
at least henry give credit to chelsea…say no more…
I can understand the way you feel about all the comments that are made against your club. and i admit, like Arsenal, all other clubs are finding their way on the edge of the law. Still, the main thing I hate about your club, is that it’s all so fake! Even the smallest amateur club somewhere in Latvia could buy the same players and be champions with the same cash Abramovich has spend since he took over the club. It’s not for nothing that your club is called PRF… think a while about that and then read your article again…
Its funny how you use Arsenal’s stadium costs in your maths to justify the amount of money they spend. Perhaps its because your little research showed you just how over the top Chelsea really do spend on players and you panicked!
As far as the negative publisity goes towards Chelsea it is completely justified. Chelsea have done everything in their power to bend the rules and at times have even broke them out in the open wth a smile and a wave from the hidious Uncle Festor that runs the (club?). The know that all they will get is a fine that means nothing to them so why should they worry?
Chelsea can have Cole. They deserve one another! Reyes has never settled and is even getting worse so he will not be missed! Henry will NEVER leave the club he loves with all his heart.
Now to touch on Mourinho’s stupid comments after the Charity Shield against Liverpool. He said Chelsea were behind Liverpool as far as fitness goes. I tend to agree even though Chelsea played a relative first team with some noticeble absentees from the Liverpool setup. He then went on to call the Shield a friendly and even though a trophy was involved it meant nothing. Lets go back a whole year earlier when a much fitter full strength Chelsea beat a young second string Arsenal 2-1 in the same competition. Mourinho’s comments then made no mention of the weakened team they had played. No mention of the relative unready and unfit Arsenal team and only spoke about the joy and importance of winning another (Major?) trophy!
Chelsea are everything that is wrong with football. The manager and Directors treat their own players with disdane and have no regard for their feelings. This is why so many current and past players want tp leave. I remember Drogba saying he wants out. Mourinho responded with something to the affect of. He will not be allowed to leave because he has a contract. Either he will be happy and play, or he will be unhappy and not play. he needs to decide because either way he will be a Chelsea player. They dont care how their players feel and they dont care how their fans feel. But then the Chelsea fans dont care either because they are as plastice as their team.
You must be very stupid to try and compare Shevchenko with Henry. Shevchenko is not in Henry league. Let me make one point clear if Henry had left he would have being the most expensive player in the world (over £47 million that was paid for Zidane, £50 million). This were the bids that came from both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Don’t even try to be stupid by comparing our finances with Chelsea’s because it is dumb. Since Arsene came, Arsenal have never made a loss. Going to a new stadium was so that we could be a strong club in transfer market but more importantly so that more fans would enjoy the beautiful game not even Chelsea can buy with billions. As you know Arsene hardly spend money so it is not necessary the transfer market.
Chelsea have spent some stupid amount of money like £30.6 million pounds for Shevchenko, don’t try to justify it. Cesc, Eboue, and Sanderos were given a chance and look at how well they have done. I am looking forward to the new season, I just hope you are not scared because if you are then Jose is on his way out because if he don’t win a tropy he is out out and out. Arsene is immune even if we finish 10th. Go get a life and enjoy the money while it last.
the only part that makes any sense in that article is… oh well I guess there isn’t one. as far as I’m concerned Chelsea’s fans should be more proud of their team as a whole back when they had players like Zola for example. you were playing football back then. both on and off the field. now your team is a joke in my eyes. not that it matters to you but it looks like I’m not the only one of that opinion.
I pray you have the problems Arsenal had last season with injuries then you would know that the injuries or players unavailable are nothing.
How many goals did Lumpard score at the world cup? How many shots? The guy is lucky to be in the England squad IMHO. He should have been dropped over Beckham. By far and away the WORST player for England over the summer. Face it, Fat Fwank was exposed for the player he really is, average at best…
Typical attempt at self-justification. Football has lived quite happily without Chelsea and will be certainly be happier after Chelsea has gone.
Chelsea seems to be hell bent on ruining football, as Sepp Blatter, Beckenbauer Ferguson and countless other leading figures have stressed. Don’t try to justify your behaviour in the context of what United, Liverpool and Arsenal are doing; you have no long-term place amongst the elite. Chelsea is behaving like a prize winner at the Oscars. Pretty soon your own garish, oafish, crass behaviour will bring about your demise.
Enjoy your short stay while it lasts. Your opinions count for nothing.
wot a MUPPET! Chelsea bought the title and thats the end of it.
Ha ha, nice one SoupDragon2. Hilarious to see how easy it is to wind up the bitter and the biased!
Poor li’l Arsenal and Liverpool not getting their league titles recently, ah diddums. You can take your respect and fuck it in the ear. Champions!
seriously, l got to about the sixth line before l realised what a prat you were making of yourself, arf!
Ahmed Bilal, your as plastic as this site. I have been reading your posts for a while now and ive watched you go from an avid United supporter to a maybe the grass is greener in west london. I am utterley dissapointed in the fact that you try to justify this switch of allegance with denial through failed attempts at fancy writing. More and more pro Chelsea articles are popping up here and I will bet soo enough the red above will be replaced with blue. You even go so far as to try and justify your views by posting as alter ego’s supporting your views! I would not be surprised if it were discovered that the article above were in fact written by you.
Just come out the closet princess! If you want to support Chelsea then do so! Stop the BS posting once and for all because that article is a failed attempt at reason when the last two years clearly show what a sadistic and unprofesional club Chelsea has become.
I dont know to if i need to cry or laugh with this article. Its like a 3 year old trying to cry everything about the world to his mother within a couple of minutes. I think you’ve been taking too much vodka drowning your sorrows after getting your butts kicked by Liverpool again, which spends a fraction of your beloved chelski’s budget. Dont worry though, get used to it, as its going to happen more often this season with the likes of other clubs winning more against your cry baby manager:)
HAHAHAHAHA HA HO HA
Although you have tried to put together a rational, logical argument, you have failed.
Yes, of course Chelsea are trying to bring ‘ahem, Entertainment’ to the premiership. Hence the chants of ‘boring boring chelsea’ last season. You’ve spent ridiculous amounts of money on average players, Kalou, the ‘free’ Ballack and the ludicrously expensive Shevchenko (just an attempt to buy the champions league - it won’t work). But well done, with the purchase of these players, you’ve ensured, due to wage commitments that your precious club won’t be self-financing until 2010, by which time you still won’t have won the champions league, Roman will get bored and piss off, taking his red army blood money with him. It’s about time you startet appreciating real football, you nugget. P.S. The money paid for Shevchenko & Kalou was almost enough to buy Aston Villa, you still don’t think there’s something wrong with this cash cow?
Shiggsy - Aston Villa deal - 64 mil. Sheva plus Kalou, max 35 mil. Your maths is way off.
Normski - Maybe the reason you’re seeing more ‘pro-Chelsea’ articles on this site is because we have a Chelsea fan as a contributing author? You idiot…
hehe
Whoever observed the Mikel discrepancy deserves a pat on the back. Apologies for the mistake there.
It’s interesting that the Arsenal fans are concentrating on the fact that Arsenal weren’t trying to sell Henry. They were willing to sell at a price because they thought the player wanted to leave. There is no point denying a player a transfer if he wants to go when you can make a good sum.
The comment about the youngsters should have read like this, “It is damaging for the club’s current status to be playing inexperienced youngsters”. I thought that looked a bit off before I posted the article.
A few of you have commented on Chelsea’s behaviour in this instance, and Chelsea’s behaviour in that, quite frankly you’re not writing a school report.
I was merely cherry-picking facts to point out some discrepancies in the press treatment of Chelsea. I said it was biased, and I get 30 posts complaining about how biased it is.
Good response though. lol
Ahmed, how dare you print pro-Chelsea articles! These people only want one side of the story!
Peter - spot on.
Soupdragon2 - I was about to mail you and ask you to get your ass here and deal with the 30+ comments
Now that you are here - for the record, you’ve got several facts wrong. However, you made an excellent point about perspectives, although I doubt that anyone really understood it
Excuses, excuses, to spend billions of dolllars and not even get close to a CL trophy is pathetic. Its a failure!
Some of the points are questionable, I didn’t say this was an unbiased argument, but how often are Chelsea represented in the press in a positive light? Bloody rarely. I’m quite certain, due to the opinions you all hold that you will happily read an anti-Chelsea article and accept every word of it without considering the parallels with your own clubs. So why don’t you afford an article highlighting some of the positive points about Chelsea the same credit?
Ballack came on a Bosman, and gained a largely inflated wage.
Sol Campbell went to Arsenal on a Bosman, and gained a largely inflated wage.
Does that mean getting players of their quality for free isn’t a good deal?
Sure you can all nitpick (It seems like the Mikel fee and the fact that Henry wasn’t leaving are the only discrepancies you’ve all noticed) but when it comes to dealing with your Chelsea-phobia, you’re all in denial.
Just out of question, if you’re all so concerned about objectivity, then why is there only one post out of 40 that even took the time to consider that a few of my points are valid?
Did any of you read this post thinking… “I am going to take an open-minded view of this.”
Judging by your replies, you’ve started reading and decided to pick out one little part you don’t agree with to discredit the whole theory.
I don’t mind, it’s my article and my opinions and I am glad people feel strongly enough to respond with so much passion. It doesn’t mean that I am ever going to accept the unfair negativity surrounding the club I care about.
normski - I think you maybe right about the alter-ego, it would explain everything.
I’m always concerned when a Chelsea ‘fan’ can’t spell ‘Makalele’ correctly: it’s ‘Makelele’!
I suppose it’s easy to follow all manner of Premiership clubs when you’re sat out in Pakistan, unaware of it’s like to SUPPORT a club… Probably never even been to Old Trafford.
Don’t worry mate, Chelsea is managed like in the old Soviet manner, dictature. They are talking about Cole and Reyes unhappiness. Reyes wants out at Arsenal because he’s got problem with life style in England. Ashley wants out because Chelsea unsettled him with their millions.
In opposition to that, you have Drogba, Gallas and Robben(?) who are desperated to leave; but Morinhio wants to keep them like in a concentration camp. The players have offers from various clubs. But you don’t want to release them. That’s too bad for clubs and players relationship.
Drogba was last season the most hated player among Chelsea fans. He scores goal, he doesn’t even get applauded; instead, he received words like ‘Drog’, call it what you want, but really bad for a player to play with any kind of happiness. Gallas is arguably Chelsea best defender. He wants reward for his hard work on football pich, but no one out there is prepared to listen to him. He had enough, then he wants out. You want to keep him at any cost. John Terry, an average player to me who is costing nearly three time more than Gallas(£40,000 time 3=£120,000, Terry).
I could see last sundy why Drogba wasn’t much involved in the game as he usually does. There I think you, Chelsea supporters, tou’ve got problems.
George - yup, never been to Old Trafford mate, but I’d happily put 6 months worth of wages to finance a trip to see United play next year.
What’s your point mate? that only those people who are able to go watch United play are true fans? In that case, I have nothing polite or publishible to say to you, so fk off.
SD2 - fair points.
Sounds to me like alot of you just read the title and made your mind’s up.
Only 2 of my points have recieved direct criticism, what about the rest?
You all feel strongly about the cherry picking of stats, and the biased opinions in my article. Imagine having a CREDIBLE journalist detailing the same tripe every day about your club in a national newspaper.
I know some of it hits close to home and offends you, hence the aggressive reaction.
The real fans don’t deserve to get it in the neck.
am not too surprised about people ‘hating’ morinho’s chelsea, we all know who rules england in the past ten years.man.u and ofcourse arsenal.suddenly this man from russia emerged and chelsea became a force.i really understand these fans pains but de way they are going about it is simply ‘jealousy’.chelsea is setting a starndard and the only thing they can do is hardwork. they should work veryhard to reclaim there lost crown rather than gossyping. for ferguson’s comment, its just a shame but i think he is already surrendering in the ‘fight’. we all know who is the first to reach the 30m pound mark in england,Rio Ferd. and red cardprone Rooney. so be the JUDGE.
Be back later to respond to some more of your comments.
I find it incedible that every time the soupdragon posts it follows just after a post from ahmed. Perhaps you are one in the same? Am I right Peter?
Before I write my repsonse to this article, I will admit that I have been an Arsenal fan for 22 years and will be for a very long time.
Chelsea are an anomaly in world football. The huge financial muscle that the club has is unprecedented, if not unknown (remember Blackburn’s title). This year’s tranfers by Chelsea represented the best business that the club has done in the Abramovich era, with a deficit of around only £20 million. However, do not forget that in the last two years, Chelsea have recorded deficits of well over £100 million a year. When you think that Leeds went under heavily with debts of £80 million, you come to realise that Chelsea is relying completely on Abramovich’s billions, which are by no means a guaranteed future income. I respect Peter Kenyon for trying to buid a business model for Chelsea to become self sustaining, but given that a)they are unable to sell all their seats, b) even if they could they are unable to expand their stadium to match Arsenal and Manchester United and c)they are spending way above what they are likely to be able to afford even if they did start turning out a profit, it would seem that any business model would have to set a realistic target of over 10 years. It is true that Chelsea are seldom painted in a positive light in the papers, and continued allegations of tapping up make the situation worse. It is unfair to accuse Arsenal or wrong doings regarding their feeder club Beveren, when they were found innocent. Chelsea have been found guilty of tapping up Ashley Cole - a factor in his current state of indecision.
It is a plausible, if somewhat simplistic, arguement to say that they have bought the title, but while they have adopted the Real Madrid superstars principle, they have still failed to win the Champions League or emanate their success over the past 10 years.
This year I feel that Chelsea will probably win the title again. Arsenal do look strong with some amazing talents and play well as a team, and will grow, but in my opinion their is a worrying lack of depth. I do believe, unbiasedly, that Arsenal will finish 2nd purely on how the team plays as a team. Arsenal have not changed their transfer policy since Chelsea arrived in such force. For years we couldn’t match united in the transfer market. Arsene Wenger proved very shrewd in finding players, keeping them if they succeeded (Henry 3.5m, Viera 4.7m or letting them go (Nicolas Anelka - bought 3m sold 25m to Real, Overmars + Petit - bought 10m sold 27m Barcelona). In his ten years in charge, AW has a positive balance sheet, important when you consider that we operated from a very mediocre sized stadium. It is unfair to factor in the cost of the new Emirates Stadium into the affair, as the spending of that has been secured in loans outside the transfer market. With Chelsea coming along, AW has had to persevere harder to find young talent. He knows he can’t match the finances of Chelsea - he was once famously quoted as saying ‘When I like a player, I tell the club to check with Chelsea, and if they don’t want him, I’ll buy him’ - and there was a period when every player AW was interested in, so were Chelsea. This in itself is bad for the game - Clubs artificially inflate the price of their player if Chelsea are interested, knowing full well that they will pay, but his prices other clubs out of the market. I praise AWs commitment to youth, and while it does prove incredibly frustrating, it is beginning to pay dividends. Henry never wanted to leave, he wanted AW to prove he matched his ambition, and the CL final did that. As for selling Reyes and Cole, it would be such a shame to see that talent leave, but at the end of the day, if they want to go and it makes good financial sense, why not.
Manchester United have been crippled by the Glazers and are a shadow of themselves and I believe that Micheal Carrick was yet another panic buy by Utd in the mould of Saha. As a team they seem to have lost both direction and purpose and for the first time in 20 years, Fergerson seems all at sea without the preverbial paddle.
Liverpool look strong, not because of the players they have, although some are undoubtably talented, but because they have a cohesion that Chelsea have always lacked. Although Mourinho was rightly saying his team was unfit, there was a distinct lack of teamwork. Liverpool are thriving under Benitez after so many years of mediocracy. Good on them.
I think chelsea should congratulate themselves on their achievements, but should step down from their pedestal until they truely are a great club. Until they have a treble, or even appeared in the Champions League final they have a long way to go - and at present it appears that their achievements are being driven by money. They are still not as good as Barcelona, Milan, or possibly Real Madrid, and unfortunately for them, a team will get them there not money
lol - that’s probably because I’m moderating all the comments so I tend to reply to what I feel needs to be replied to / commented on.
Idiots…
scubawyclef - your belief that Arsenal will be second is out of your bias for the club, but hey, at least you’re not as optimisitic as me (I think United will win this year…).
At the end of the day you’re trumpeting Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy and putting down Ferguson’s, while ignoring the impact SAF has had on the club for the last 2 decades. Recent buys have not been as good, but they have come after a period of long-term success - Carrick is overpriced but when you consider that a player like Carrick (Riquelme, Pirlo, Ballack) would have come for much, much more (Ballack was being paid more by Chelsea, while Pirlo and Riquelme would easily have been 20+), we might have a very good player suited to the Premiership, albeit for 5-10 mil higher than we should have paid.
You’re pandering to the same storyline as the media is - United is in crisis. A club in crisis does not finish 2nd. If that’s a crisis then please give me more of it.
I took a little more time with article:
1st. Carrik is not worth 18.7 million. He is not even worth the 14 million that United paid for him, however, Spurs did not want to sell and the boy had a decent contract binding him to the club.
2nd. It is debatable whether Shevchenko could have been cheaper because it is understood that the offer was 30 million+ from the get go. A rediculous amount of money for a once super star who has one decent season left and will never be as good as he once was. Henry would not have been sold for that price, as far as I can remember the price was under 20 mil. The perfect example of how overpriced the Ukraine was is the 10 mil Madrid paid for Van Nistlerooy.
3rd. Chelsea selling Gudjohnson was a mistake. You just got rid of the one player that opposition fans had a bit of respect for. Chelsea are now filled to the rims with m oney hungry kindergarden kids. + he was a bloody good player. Barcelona got him on the cheap!
Your reasoning behind the four clubs spending is completely flawed on the figures and I feel that in order for it to resemble a sense of correctness you should include the wages for the duration of those contracts, kick backs agreed between clubs on goals and performance, remove the stadium costs of Arsenal because as you stated you have no idea what the sale of Highbury would bring in. Also you would have to factor in the Sponsorships generated by the stadium, season tickets, boxes and gate reciepts per game and match that against the biggest player contract signed by Chelsea which I believe is 4 or 5 years. Impossible task, so remove it. Then you will unfortunately see that the figures related to Chelsea are very embarresing to the way the club does business.
Your dig at Arsenal for investing in youth is a pathetic attempt to justify Chelsea’s own disregard for nurturing talent unless they are already proven or wanted by an opponent in the Prem. SWP is the perfect example of this who should have been representing England at the World Cup but because of Chelsea’s policy he wasnt even considered. How do you think his reaction was when Theo Walcot was picked? The first goal he scored for Chelsea in pre-season showed exactly how disalusioned he had become at Chelsea. His celebration was over the top and his charge to the bench was not to his team mates and manager to thank him as the media stated but rather an act of sheer defiance. You would have though he had scored the winner in a CL final. My heart bleeds for the kid.
If anything, Arsenal have reached in the last two years, with an investment into youth, a 1/4 final Carling Cup and a semi final. Won the FA Cup. Finished 2nd and then 4th in the league and reached a Champions League Final beating out two of Europes most ilustrious teams. Entertaining? You decide? United winning the league three times in a row with kids! Entertaining? You decide.
You call Chelsea selling players like Duff to Newcastle for 5mil a good thing. I call it sensible because he isnt worth more than that. Its the fact that Chelsea have paid so much for these players that once again highlight the policy of the club and the fact that its owner did not earn any of his money because he shows no humility to his riches. He squanders it and doesnt care.
One more point that you keep raising that is not true. Arsenal did not attempt to sell Henry for financial gane. They have made him the highest paid player in the history of the club. He signed a new contract and will finish his career at the club he loves.
Chelsea have been found guilty of tapping up Ashley Cole. When the whole thing popped up Mourinho laughed it off as tabloid BS. As a matter of a fact he said and i can quote “I have never met the boy. I was in Milan at the time” LIAR! The media latched on to Bates allegations because he knew they would and the greedy bastard wanted money from Chelsea more than he wanted penalties. I see the story has somewhat now dissapeared? Did Chelsea pay?
What about the tapping up of the Spurs Director? The tapping up of Robben? Arsenal have taken only one player from Beveren to date. Eboue. They were cleared of all alegations which was simply a smoke screen to bring Dein into question days before the realections for the FA representitive. He lost by the way, so it worked! If Spain want to stop clubs from grabbing their youngsters then they need to change their rules on contracts. Dont try to judge Wenger on this because Marida was a player that Chelsea also tried to grab but the kid chose Arsenal.
I have already commented on the Charity Shield and I have no comments on the World Cup apart from the fact that England suck and they dont deserve any praise for the pathetic attempt at football. Gerrard and Lampard should not be playing in the same team.
The point I want to make is that there’s no apparent passion for one club on this site - in fact there’s little passion at all. (And football is all about passion!) You give it all the ‘objective, intelligent, fact-based analysis’ bollocks, but there’s no PASSION! There are a number of very good club blogs that are ‘objective and intelligent’, the only difference is they come across as FANS of their clubs. You claim to be a Man Utd fan yet wrote an article about considering switching your ‘allegiance’ to Chelsea (http://soccerlens.com/why-i-seriously-considered-being-a-chelsea-fan/1749397.html) because they’re currently the best club in England; that’s little short of blasphemy amongst club supporters in England (and elsewhere obviously).
It’s little wonder that visitors to this site are starting to believe you’re writing all the articles - especially the articles about Chelsea AND Man Utd - under different pseudonyms.
Apparently ‘Soupdragon2′ also wrote this article - http://soccerlens.com/can-jose-keep-chelseas-superstars-happy/1227457.html - and called Jose Mourinho ‘insufferable’. 1) A Chelsea fan shouldn’t be calling his own manager, a bloody good manager, ‘insufferable’. And 2) It has all the elements of your own writing.
Show some passion for your club man!
What’s the Chelsea and United support like in Pakistan? I’m genuinely interested.
FAO Hardee string
It was 50million euros you muppett. Find out the facts before your criticise people
Yes Normski, we’re all the same guy. Cos god forbid that three different people should think that you’re a moron…
Scubawyclef, all good points and well argued but I contest that ‘Chelsea should step down from their pedestal until they truely are a great club’. We’ve not put ourselves on any pedestal - that’s been the media, who compare our achievements to Real Madrid and Barcelona in a way that is rarely done with anybody else. It’s everybody else who says ‘you’re not as good as Real Madrid, yah boo’. Does anybody say, ‘yeah Man U may have won eight title, but that’s irrelevent cos they only won the European Cup once’? Or that Arsenal’s doubles are meaningless because they choke in European finals (admittedly, this is better than choking in semi-finals)?
But what Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd fans, in their position of smug superiority, simply cannot comprehend is the background that Chelsea have come from. We’ve watched players so bad you wouldn’t believe (you think Gus Caesar was bad - he’d have been our captain!), seen numerous relegations and almost gone bankrupt - and, in a perverse way, we’re proud of that, it’s our history, to us one that’s just as glorious and lovable and honourable as your trophies and trinkets. If we wanted all that crap, we’d have supported your clubs in the first place - simple as that. So we don’t see Real Madrid or even Manchester United as something to aspire to, we’re perfectly happy being us, but, you know, actually winning stuff for a change. And if that pisses off the snobbish elite who have lorded it over the rest of the football for generations, well ha ha ha, let’s cock a snook a-plenty.
(Oh, and to say Chelse have always lacked cohesion under Mourinho is, in my opinion, flatly wrong.)
I’ve tremendous respect for Arsenal as an institution and what Arsene Wenger has done at Arsenal but you have to admit he was helped massively by inheriting the best defence in the league from George Graham. Without that, I wonder how successful he would have been? That’s a moot point, but it does interest me.
Oh hell, I’m posting right after Peter, does that mean he’s my alter-ego?
George - Passion does not equal to myopic ranting, and if you think it does, then you are better off at places like ArseBlog which is overtly and decidely biased.
I setup Soccerlens because I was tired of hearing biased drivel, AND bullshit rumours even from the broadsheets. Journalism has sold out to market forces and at the end of the day, if you can’t trust your news sources you really don’t know what’s going on.
So yes, there is a focus on “intelligent analysis”, but if you have read any single one of Rocky Dixon’s posts (or read my United articles), you’ll know that we would die before switching club allegiances. The Chelsea article you refer to was a testament to the success they have acheived and it’s allure - if you actually bothered to read the discussion in the comments you’ll know what I meant with that article.
At the end of the day, if you don’t like what I have to say mate, get out of here. But don’t accuse me of lacking passion for my club or for the sport. It’s one thing to disagree with what I’m saying, it’s quite another to tell me I don’t love United.
About United and Chelsea support in Pakistan - Almost all Chelsea fans have become Chelsea fans after Mourinho came and they started winning. As far as United fans are concerned - I figure that most of them started watching football around the time United were winning, so that’s how it caught on.
How you judge me (and Pakistani fans) is your business - one thing I know though: fans everywhere are passionate about their clubs and are decidedly unreasonable when it comes to logic. Fair enough. I’m pretty unreasonable myself - you’ll never hear me say that England or Manchester United can’t win the title. However, if they play bad or make mistakes, I will blast them for it.
And for your reading - http://soccerlens.com/everyone-wants-to-kick-manchester-united/2002392.html
btw, if anyone’s interested in what Mourinho says, here you go:
http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?hlid=409511&m=8&y=2006&nav=news&sub=latest+news
Ahmed, don’t print that link - there’s nothing for anybody to get their knickers in a twist about!
IF CHELSEA ARE “really looking to provide entertainment for the fans” THEN HOW COME ONLY HALF OF THEIR ALLOCATED 25000 TICKETS WERE BOUGHT FOR THE COMMUNITY SHIELD LAST WEEKEND? AND LIVERPOOL EXCEEDED THEIR ALLOCATION? ANY SELF RESPECTING FOOTBALL FAN WOULD HAVE WANTED TO HAVE SEEN A GAME AGAINST THEIR MOST HATED ADVERSARIES. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE FANS, LET ALONE THE CLUB? HOW MANY FANS FILLED THE KINGS ROAD WHEN CHELSEA WON THEIR FIRST PREMIERSHIP IN 50 YEARS? 200 000. HOW MANY LIVERPOOL FANS FILLED THE CITY WHEN THEY WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THE SAME YEAR? 750 000. ONCE AGAIN, WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?? CHELSEA WANT SO DESPERATELY TO BUY THE HISTORY THAT LIVERPOOL HAVE, BUT THEY NEVER WILL AND THEIR FAIRWEATHER FANS KNOW IT. CHELSEA CHARGE MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE PREMIERSHIP FOR TICKETS AND GIVE THE LEAST ENTERTAINMENT. £49 FOR A DISABLED TICKET?? OUTRAGEOUS.
FINALLY, FOR ALL MORONO’S TALK OF LIVERPOOL PLAYING BORING DEFENSIVE FOOTBALL, THEY HAD THE SAME AMOUNT OF SHOTS ON TARGET AS CHELSEA AND EXCEEDED IN ALL OTHER AREAS, CORNERS ETC. THEY PLAYED FLOWING, FAST PACED FOOTBALL ON THE FLOOR, WHICH WAS COUNTERED BY CHELSEAS DESPERATE LONG BALL TACTICS. ITS WAS ALL THERE FOR ALL TO SEE.
GET READY FOR THE RED REVELUTION TO STEP UP ANOTHER GEAR AND USHER IN LIVERPOOLS LONG AWAITED PERIOD OF DOMINANCE.
Read this for a kind word on Chelsea’s support at the Community Shield :
http://www.koptalk.com/detail_subtitle_listing.php?link_id=4000&subid=2&sticky=0
I wonder which club is really looking to provide entertainment for the fans?
Hmmmmm, you now say this with your 1 dimensional tactical approach the last 2 seasons…. The same tactical approach which the supposed lesser side (Liverpool) have worked out how to play against. Benitez has got Mouronho running devoid of ideas. The last 2 times you have played us he has had to change tactics, and some idiotic ideas have come from Jose’s teamsheet. What was with the 4 man square with Essien in attack and Ferriera in midfield all about in the FA Cup last season???? And what was the Robben, Sheva and Drogba combo up front all about?
You now have to realise that Mourinho is losing touch. He doesnt have a plan B and is about as tactically astute as Sven… The only things your success for the last 2 seasons were based were a solid defence and your wing play. The Manager has sold Duff who in my opinion was a great player for you. Admittedly Joe Cole is class, Ill give you that. Robben seems to have lost his wow factor last season. Wright Phillips just should never have gone to stamford bridge in the first place.
If Mourinho thinks that playing 4 central midfielders is going to bring him silverware he is wrong. The lack of balance to your side was apparent in the last 2 meetings against the mighty pool and that is why you lost.
With regards to Gerrard. It is widely known that this guy is the best thing since sliced bread. Can Lampard run back the length of the pitch for a last ditch tackle. Can Lampard score the kind of sublime goal in the last minute of a cup final. Can Lampard actually score any goals in the massive games, when it REALLY matters….. The same could be said of Terry….
Its all well and good producing a good performance week in and out in the Prem. But to be honest international football isnt anything like premiership football. The style of international football is more typical of champions league or cup football. And we all know who the main man is when you need something special in that type of game.
Oh and by the way, what is Lampards record since the start of 2006? He really has been on fire hasnt he???
Lampard will be shown up time and again this season in Europe as will Terry. Gerrard on the other hand will go from strength to strength, and WILL be England captain before you know it……
Okay, I’m not Ahmed. I’m a Chelsea boy, and he’s a Man Utd fan.
Thank you for your reply subawyclef, you seem to have actually considered what I have said. It is refreshing to read a well thought out argument.
Normski, you are just fuelling my perception of bias, and validating my article. You aren’t arguing with the facts, you are just trying to undermine my theory by questioning my opinions.
1. From a business perspective, 29 million for the best striker in the world is far better than 18 million for a player who is unproven in European competition. I wasn’t arguing whether either play was worth the money, i was making a comparison.
2. The quality players at Chelsea demand high wages. As i said in the article. Young inexperienced players dont command high wages. I’ve looked at the money situation and Arsenal are in a state because they’ve taken out too many loans. Ashburton Grove has forced Arsenal to take 390 million worth in loans, facilitated by an “anonymous” investor. I’d call that an extreme business plan.
3. Shauny Wright ran to the bench to celebrate the kit-man’s birthday, they had a sign saying thank you for taking them out. You idiot.
4. Arsenal were good in the Champion’s league. Man Utd were unbelievable in their respective primes. I actually wanted Arsenal to win the champions league final last year, was gutted when the lost. Of course you can win with youngsters, i mean being forced to use inexperienced youngsters doesn’t always provide the most attractive football. If anyone can do it, Wenger can. I would rather watch my team full of the worlds best players this year than Arsenal’s kids. That’s just my preference.
5. Ask a Newcastle fan if they think 5 million for Duff is a good deal. LOL
6. I didn’t mean they wanted to sell him for financial ‘gane’ mr. literate. I re-examined that in two of my replys saying that they were almost put in a position where they were going to HAVE to sell Henry. For the right price, they would have HAD to have done it because Henry looked like he wanted to go, and then changed his mind at last minute. (Quotes on the net, go search)
7. Chelsea got in trouble for Cole. They have not been in trouble for any of the other tapping up allegations.
You can’t say Chelsea are so terrible for the tapping up of Arnesen and Robben if you then say that because “Wenger hasn’t been charged” he’s done nothing wrong.
You’re just a little annoying hypocrite. Next time stick to calling me a fucking twat like all the other biased children who decided to deride my the article.
ps. I have directly apologised for the 2 factual discrepancies in my article Ahmed, yet you have said a few times that alot of the facts are off base. The facts are from the internet mate (official club sites etc.)! My opinions however I strongly encourage you to dispute. This is, after all, a football blog :D.
Why does everyone think we’re the same person lol?!
Dear George.
The term insufferable means “difficult to endure”. I don’t find him to be insufferable, the man is a genius. The general public consensus is that he is annoying , and therefore I felt it would strengthen the objectivity of my article by referring to him as insufferable. If everyone else thinks he’s annoying, I will not pretend that my opinion is overriding (regardless of the my opinion that Mourinho hating is all part of this unhealthy anti-Chelsea philosophy that is damaging the game).
You ask for objectivity? You’ve got it.
I have been a Chelsea fan since I was born, and have had season tickets since I was eight years old. I don’t feel the need to lie to prove how much of a “real” fan I am. The people who do that are new fans, aka. The majority.
DONT BE PROUD OF YOUR BIAS, IT IS THE CALLING CARD OF SOMEONE DESPERATE TO PROVE THAT THEY AREN’T A FOOTBALL DUNCE (again, the majority).
Ahmet & Soupdragon:
In your opinions, what do you think of Liverpool’s chances of landing the premiership title this season?
I myself support Watford so am very pleased we will be playing prem football this year. Due to the fact that I do not support any of the top four clubs, I feel it is only right that there is at least one unbiased opinion in this blog. Here I go…..
Man U: There is no doubt that Man U have been the best team since the premiership begun. They have a manager with an immense track record and have been consistent for the last 15 years. More importantly, they have also done well in Europe and won the treble which includes the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE! I agree that some of their decision in the transfer market have been questionable but overall a great team!
Arsenal: I love watching Arsenal play football. Even when they won the league it did not make me envious, it made me appreciate exactly why they call it ‘the beautiful game’. In addition, they managed to reach the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE final last season with a depleted squad. Credit where credit is due! They keep acquiring great young players. It is truly unbelievable how Mr Wenger keeps finding young superstars.
Liverpool: Without question, they have a spirit and a passion unrivalled by any other team in the world. Every Liverpool player wears their heart on their sleeve. They have one of the top 3 managers in the world who managed to win the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE in his first season at Anfield with a team of misfits. (Biscan, Smicer, Baros, Traore, Cisse, Kewell etc….) I truly believe that Liverpool will be the next dominant force in the premiership under Benitez. He is a man who commands respect and does all his talking on the pitch as opposed to his pram.
Chelsea: There is no doubt that winning back to back premiership titles is a great achievement. There is no doubt that Romans millions are a significant contributing factor. There is no doubt that the manager is like a child as all you two have spoken about is other peoples responses to your posts being unfair and not open minded, what about Mourinho?? For the first time on Sunday he admitted they lost to the better team on the day. It has taken two years for his balls to drop giving him the courage to be honest. The money has gone to your heads. The only players at Chelski that I exclude from this are Terry, Makalele & SWP. They are the only 3 humble players left now that Gudjohnsen has left. Finally, you have never won or even gotten to the final of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. This is eating away at all Chelski fans. Roman will keep splashing the millions on the best players in the world but you will never win the most lucrative and prestigious competition, namely the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
Finally, just to say, I was truly upset to see Barca win it last year as it would have been great for English football if the best comp was won by an English team in two consecutive years. I urge all Chelski fans to buy the DVD of Liverpool’s champions league triumph last year and imagine what it feels like. Yes it was a goal and yes they deserved it and yes they will win the league title this season.
Happy blogging!
Firstly, i am surprised that so many people have responded to this article, it certainly has touched a nerve with a both genuine and “plastic” supporters. It seems that Chelsea fans would like the respect they have “deserved” for their recent success, but how has this success been acheived?
The most obvious factor in Chelsea’s rise to the top is the massive financial backing of Abramovich. Any club in their mind would not refuse such investment but it is the way in which the players are selected for transfer that is most dissapointing. Yes Chelsea have looked to strengthen in certain areas this season, which they have done, but they also look to prevent clubs from improving, there seems to be a “if that player will improve our closest rivals team we must attempt to sign them ” mentality at Chelsea, SWP being a prime example and more recently Mikel from United.
We are also seeing more cases of “tapping” up in the papers, some are purely fabricated by papers to sell more copies, others are not ie Ashley Cole gate, this will always be part of the game and i’m sure it has been for a long time, however until suitable means of punishment can be handed out to the guilty parties where will it end? in most cases a fine may be a deterent but when a club has largely unlimited funds this cant be considered a punishment, a season long transfer ban may however might influence the serial offender to think twice about unsettling players with illegal approaches.
just a few other points:-
If Henry rather than shevchenko had moved to Chelsea would he be considered the greatest modern day centre forward by Chelsea fans instead? granted Shevchenko is up there amongst the best, however before you answer consider the fact that Henry has consistently proven himself as the best forward in the Premiership consistently for a number of years and the premiership probably being the most difficult league to adapt to, lets just see how Shevchenko performs over the coming seasons before we label him the greatest.
Not so long ago i remember Chelsea attempting to lure Gerrard to Chelsea for two consecutive seasons and trying to move heaven and earth to do so, pretty much the same appoint as above really, would you still be so critical towards Gerrard and his ability to command respect in the tabloids? Honestly, i would much prefer Terry as England Captain to Gerrard only because of positional reasons, the game becomes easier to read from the back due to lack of pressure from opposition and therefore can allow a defensive player time to organise a team during the game with greater affect than an all-action midfielder who rarely has time to consider which player is doing what, Gerrard makes a great Liverpool Captain and has proved his Leadership skills as has Terry for Chelsea, give the player the respect he deserves, everybody else in the country manages it.
Your point about Sundays game, no excuses, you have what most consider a squad that could field two premirship teams, three missing players hardly consists of a major injury problem for a team of such depth. Ballack limping off, who did you have on the pitch to play his position - Lampard, who did you have on the bench to bring on and re-shuffle the pack - SWP, John Obi Mikel, Wayne Bridge and Solomon Kalou! with 6 substitutes to play, 2 of which experienced in the premiership should this have been such a problem for the special one? I see no mileage in your “fitness” excuse, most liverpool players have now been playing for nearly a year solid with the early Champions Leage matches last season, the premiership, the FA cup run, the World Cup and the game against Maccabi Haifa last week, and did so by being 1 of two teams to use the least amount of players last season, i consider that some achievement by any teams standards!
What was the point you were trying to make about money used to transfer players in and money made from transfer’s out? was it was that Chelsea were the club witht the biggest financial loss from these transactions? Most obvious is that of Liverpool, a loss of 9 Million pounds so far, is that before we consider the £8 million from sale of cisse in january making a total loss of £1 million pounds in comparrison to Chelsea’s £28 million so far? Arsenal are attempting to improve the place where their many fans watch them and to generate cash because people are willing to watch them play regardless of their current form and recent amount/lack of success, this is what opposition fans respect, Man Untd have done the same with their groung because they have a loyal fanbase, Liverpool are attempting to do the same as they have the support to, Chelsea have all the fmoney but a lack of true fans to support such growth at the moment although that big pot of gold is certainly starting to bring in the glory hunters!
Chelsea have put themselves amongst the big boys by use of excessive amounts of money and underhand tactics in the transfer market and now the constant moaning about lack of respect is laughable, if you want respect go back to trying to improve by hard work, hard work earns respect! Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Und have a loyal fanbase that has spanned the the lenghth of the history of football in this country, if i were to judge Chelsea fans by your standards i would only conclude that the fanbase has not even been round since the Turn of this Century, thankfully i know there are proper Chelsea football fans out there who do know a bit about football.
Finally, any club who has a manager who calls themselves the special one is never going to be liked!
I look forward to you putting me straight on my biased reply!
To Gareth and Mark,
Seeing as you both provide such an unbiased opinion, let me respond in a similar manner.
1. Chelsea aren’t the most expensive club, Arsenal are. Check out the new figures. Mind blowing. Oh and, 49 pounds for a disabled ticket is a lie.
2.The reason I and the rest of the blue army didn’t bother travelling to the community shield is because we have suffered through the most boring games ever against liverpool in recent seasons, I for one could not be bothered to watch you park your team bus in front of our goal and wait to hit us on the break a couple of times. You and Everton have played the most conservative, boring and ugly football I have seen for the last 3 years at stamford bridge, (and that is including Portsmouth the season before last, which is saying something)
3.I went to both home legs in the champions league encounters and every home match in the league. In the league you were desperate for points and actually tried to get out of your own half more than twice, getting ripped to shreds in the process. (Hence the recurring chant… “YOU ARE SHIT, YOU ARE SHIT”). In the Champions League you sat back and prayed for a breakthrough, stifling any kind of attacking play, and making the most exciting competition in world football the most boring matches I have ever bothered to travel to watch. I also travelled to Old Trafford (nice neutral ground) for the FA cup semi final, where you got a prime free-kick for a ridiculous foot-up and your players went in late on every tackle for 90 minutes. Good goal by Garcia, but it was an ugly boring game. Hence why i, and thousands of other fans couldn’t bring myself to watch your pathetic team again. If it had been Arsenal or Man Utd, the ground would have been full, because unlike the scousers, they play football.
4. Lampard scored against Portugal to send the game into extra time at a crucial moment (Euro 04) Lamps has scored more goals than Gerrard and has been in the England setup for less time. Gerrard has never scored a game changing crucial goal for England. LOL. Oh yeah, and lamps doesn’t have to run back to make last ditch tackles at Chelsea because WE have good defenders.
You’ll come fifth this season. ENJOY.
Ibsta, agree on most points. I think Tottenham have a good chance of breaking into the top 4, in fairness they probably should have last season. Stomach flu on the last day… lol.
Good point about Benitez winning the Champ’s league with that crop of players though, the man deserves credit.
The comment about Mourinho is questionable, tell me that Benitez hasn’t stoked the same fire? Rafael has taken liberties recently. His fued with Mourinho has become one sided because he knows the public hate Chelsea and he will be worshipped for speaking out against the club that is ‘damaging football’. He just can’t resist poking fun at Chelsea’s money. He’s really starting to sound like a typical mid-seventies working class misfit who hates everyone richer than himself.
I see there are growing numbers calling for lampard to be dropped!
I notice Shevchenko has become a true blue, kissing the badge after being there only 5 minutes, why should AC Milan fans be annoyed, their club only made him what he is and idolised him for 7 years!
I agree soupdragon2, liverpool are truly boring, Champions League final was truly boring, one of the worst ever, the FA cup, what a disgrace, i suppose the only cup finals you watch are those involving Chelsea,by the way, how are Essien and Ballack’s injuries?
It’s not about respect. It’s about unnecessary disrespect magicspacemonkey (nice name by the way :D)
I wouldn’t care if the press sat idle, reporting the latest Chelsea news with the same protective approach they afford to Liverpool.
Here’s my challenge for you. Pick up a copy of the Mail and a copy of the express tomorrow. Now, imagine what each of the main football page’s article would be like if they were written by eloquent but biased reprasentatives of Liverpool.. and then eloquent but biased reprasentatives of Chelsea.
Tell me which one is closer to the actual slant they give each article about Chelsea and Liverpool and then ask yourself whether Chelsea are being afforded the common courtesy EVERY top flight football team has a right to.
A nice example for you…
Liverpool’s “fantastic” fans were throwing shit at Man Utd fans on the carefully protected terraces, chanting in mirth at an England international horrifically breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle, and smashing up and trying to turn over his ambulance. That didn’t make the back page.
The next day, instead of reporting on the Liverpool fans behaviour, he wrote an article detailing how Chelsea fans sent emails to one of the writers because he was constantly slating Chelsea(the only thing he wrote about for 2 weeks was Mourinho’s arrogance and how Chelsea weren’t going to win the league). He took a page long article about how we shouldn’t be so angry and that we are all whinging children, mentioning that the “naughty” Liverpool fans were in the minority and therefore should be disgarded as an unfortunate occurance.
The bile in the articles is apparent, reporting on our misgivings in every area of the game, and letting the exact same (and worse) behaviour by other clubs slide by.
As i mentioned (and the press couldn’t avoid this) Arsenal are in MASSIVE debt to a private investor and various banks for loans to support their financial investment in Ashburton Grove. Do you hate them?
I for one, don’t give a flying fuck. Join the sane club you money obsessed lunatics.
Football is about 11 vs 11. If another club bought better players than Chelsea, they would never recieve the same kind of bad press Chelsea get. (Real Madrid were afforded a complimentary nickname. This nickname was used in a negative light when they fell apart. Of course, Chelsea don’t recieve the benefit of the doubt, and are now saddled with the tag already for buying one proven superstar and getting another one on a free)
soup dragon… have you stopped to consider this…
The main reason lampard has scored more goals than gerrard for england is because that sweedish managerial cretin sven kept choosing to play gerrard (possibly the worlds finest attacking midfielder) in a more defensive role… oh yes, they said they would cover each other, if one goes forward, the other drops back… well the problem with that is (especially the last world cup),lampard only ever wants to score… gerrard knew he had to be the one to cover because he KNOWS lampard just wouldn’t… lampard hasnt got the same defensive (or attacking)talent as gerrard. Lampard got found out at the WC…
regarding your comments on the champions league victory, and the FA cup victory, i have to agree that they weren’t the prettiest games of football i have seen played… both teams were very difficult to score against, but you must agree that the chariry shield game was a different story alltogether no? we attacked you from start to finish, and beat you quite convincingly playing good fastflowing attractive football. rafa is finally getting towards having HIS squad, now i think we can expect a much more attractive brand of football from liverpool… i hope the same can be said for chelsea
Ballack, IMHO, is over-rated. Sheva is perfectly suited to the Premiership though….
haha. Very funny!
-Soupdragon, crocodile tears, mate. The vast majority of the press who don’t have a preference for a particular team just write what sells. In Moanie’s first season, there were enough journos about praising him as a breath of fresh air and feeding his special ego. Because he was for many of them, who were tired of writing about Fergie and Wenger beating each other about the head. Fans around England now hate Chelsea, so who wants to read stories in praise of Chelsea, when they are the Goliath and still can’t play entertaining football? What’s there to praise anyway? E.g. Ballack, the rich getting richer? Not very compelling. Instead of “Jens in quit shock,” why not, “Jens to play one or two more years, because Wenger’s looking to buy a world-class replacement?” Because who’s going to click on that link?
-You DON’T have the facts. Difference between Wenger and Fergie raiding Barca and Moanie raiding Leeds is the former was legal, the latter not, if proved true.
-”Agreeing to sell your valuable players (Ashley Cole, Henry and Reyes) and relying on young players is bad for the supporters and is damaging to the clubs standard of football and reputation.” Now that’s just one big verbal mess. And disingenuous at best. You know full well Arsenal never wanted to sell those three. Relying on young players is the utopian ideal. It is far more interesting to watch a player grow before your eyes than to see a player decline. Still play more entertaining football than you do. Don’t see how it is damaging our reputation when several young players have joined us due to Cesc’s example, and at least one chose not to join yours due to SWP’s example.
There’s no disputing you spent the most money, but yet still can’t manage to play entertaining football. How can you claim to be entertaining when you play with two defensive midfielders and fullbacks who rarely cross the halfway line? Unless you consider sound defending and counterattack entertaining? There’s a reason I don’t watch Italian football.
Mate, there’s also the issue of Moanie, Roman, and Kenyon appearing that they think they are bigger than the rules and the rest of the league. Don’t need to go over the multitude of arrogant comments from Moanie, or his inability to ever admit that a team could actually beat his by playing better and not having the benefit of the officials or the authorities. Your PR machine is put behind the 8-ball in having the two most despicable characters in the game as your club’s front men. Contrast this to Benitez’ largely gracious way of conducting himself, and you don’t have to look far in finding why so many hate your club. I don’t think quite so many would have a problem with your success if Rainieri had been the one leading.
Soupy. Firstly, I wouldn’t call you a twat or an idiot because I simply do not know you and if you were stupid for giving an opinion then so would every person be on the face of this planet.
However. You accuse me of being biased, not offering an opinion and simply critisising yours. I came to this site based on curiousity at your article as did every other person that has submitted a comment. If you cant handle critisim then dont post or rather ban every non Chelsea fan so that people can support your views. As my and many many other responses have shown your take on matters are very wrong. Your maths was wrong and your views. You cant admit after the article was posted to a couple of errors in typing and then still argue the points. You are making yourself look a little silly and somewhat immature. I dont believe you are.
I am an Arsenal fan that would die rather than see my club go the way of Chelsea but we are not saints. I have had to deal with the scandals of Adams and Graham. The embarresment of the “Old Trafford Battles” all the way back to the old Division 1. But we rose above all of that and Chelsea can do the same. The problem is you as a fan has to admit that your management are damaging the reputation of your club and you will not stand for it. There comes a time when fans need to take a stand and say enough is enough! Will Chelsea do that? No! Because winning is all you care about. And the fact that you so easily defend your club for those scandals proves that Chelsea fans like yourself feel no shame for what your club are doing. HATS OFF to Aston Villa and Newcastle fans for being shining examples on what it means to take a stand when you dont like something your club are doing. The same can be said to the United supporters that did everything in their power against the Americans!
1, Henry is a year younger than Shev and Arsenal did not attempt to sell him
2, selective statistics can be made to say anything. The cost of the current chelsea squad is almost £230m, the closest figure to that is Man U’s £150m with Arsenal and Liverpool £75m
3, selling cole and reyes, both players who obviously want to leave, is good for team spirit and does not damage the Arsenal’s standard of football or reputation which are both better than Chelsea’s, as shown by the differing attitude’s to Cole and Gallas and the continuing flouting of rules by Chelsea
4, alleged tapping up and allegedly taking advantage of legal loopholes are as similar as stealing a car and buying it. You could call Chelsea’s capture of Ballack as taking advantage of legal loopholes, as Bayern wanted to keep him
5, Chelsea started the CS with their best available XI, unlike Liverpool. To introduce their better players against a ‘tired’ chelsea is a fatuous statement. A Liverpool fan would say chelsea started a full XI against a ‘weaker’ liverpool
6, In the gerrard v lampard debate, statistics can be made to say anything. The fact is that Gerrard is a better player and any team in the world would, if given the chance, sign gerrard ahead of lampard.
I’ve tried to keep your blinkered failings as brief as possible