v. WBA - Villas Boas first home game as manager.

Far from convincing. Thats all that i can say. Playing at home, the fans we expecting a comfortable win with few suggesting that Fernando Torres after playing well for us in the first game will open his goal scoring account for the season. But that wasnt the case and WBA has other ideas.

From a mistake, WBA took the lead after only 4 minutes through Shane Long. Chelsea control the ball after that and try to find the equalizing goal. Possession was control by Chelsea but the team failed to carve up an opening. The team was slow moving and controling the ball, passing sideways with no penetration at all and clearly lacking creativity or idea. Chelsea went into half time trailing 0-1.

In the second half Chelsea did improve and get the equalizer from Nic Anelka with a slight deflected shot. It was a deserve equalizer after Chelsea knocking on the door a couple of time. Didier Drogba came on for Nando to try and get the winner and 10,9 minutes from time Chelsea finally get the second goal when Malouda connecting with Bosingwa low cross after the right back good work down the right.

The final wisel came to a sign of relief from the home supporters. A game that was not confortable at all and could have gone wrong. AVB recorded his first ever win and he knew much need to be improved. 3 points all that matter but things cannot continue like this.

The transfer windoew is less than 2 weeks before its shut. Today Valencia already accepted a bid said to be around 26mil for Juan Mata from Chelsea. The lack of pace, craft and quality was seen the last two game and lets hope this signing will improve the team performance. Chelsea also linked with Luca Modric but Spurs are playing hard to get on this one. Lets hope we get our man before the windows close and maybe we can give a run to Man Utd and Man City who really look impressive after 2 weeks into the new season. KTBFFH

Kick Off 2011/12 EPL Season

A bit late on the post... so the new EPL season has already started with the blue of Chelsea disappointingly failed to get all 3 points away at Stoke in their first game. Interm of management, lots have change at the Bridge since last season. Carlo Ancelloti was sacked after a trophyless 2010/11 campaign with new manager Andre Villas Boas (AVB) appointed with a few more changes for the backroom staff. Most noticeably the return of former player Roberto Di Matteo as AVB assistant. Not much change for the squad with a couple of youngsters coming in with less than 2 weeks before the transfer window close.

A new season with new hope and expectation. Ready for a ride full of joy and despair? So here goes:

League finish:
Not being pessimistic here, but based on our current squad of players and the reinforcement made by our main rivals it doesn't look good for us. I'll be happy if we finish in the top 4 with Man Utd as usual and Man City with their rich owner to claim the title. Hope I'm wrong and much can change with the transfer windows still open. A few quality signings might change everything.

Expectation:
We all know RA expectation and his high hope of winning the Champs League. To be honest the European biggest honor seems going further and further away from us. AVB has great potential and i hope he will be given a fair amount of time to build his team and maybe after that we can have a brighter chance. Top 4 with a trophy FA/Carling Cup will do for me.

Signings:
We've made 3 signing already but none of them look to improve the current squad. Looking forward for the 3 young players to improve and become a vital part of the club's future. After the draw against Stoke, its seems like we're going to sign a few more players with De Bruyne, Modric, Nasri and Juan Mata all in the mix linking with a move to CFC. I do think we need a creative midfielder and a winger. Hope more will come in, cause City and Utd do look strong this early stage.

Talisman:
Hope Fernando Torres will get back to his best after a disappointing half a season with us. Lampsy despite his age still an important player for us and we need him playing well with an injury free season. Expect to see more of young Josh McEachren, he is the future and hopefully he got more game time / experience under his belt.

Enjoy the new season and keep the blue flag flying high.

Balotelli Failed Show Boating Attempt Against LA Galaxy

A bit busy the past few weeks and didn't have the time to post new entry. But thanks to Mr Mario Balotelli, I just have to put all my other works aside and make time to wrote this entry.

Its preseason ahead of the coming 2011/12 EPL season and Man City is away to the US for their summer tour. In their friendly against LA Galaxy, Balotelli was put through one on one with the goalkeeper. Instead of just sliding the ball into the back of the net, the Italian perform a slick turn before back heeling the ball which went wide of the goal. A show boating move that many said disrespectful to the game. Mancini the City managers also describe the antic was unprofessional.

Who do he think he is? After what had happen, he has the guts to argue with his manager when he was taken off straight away. Save yourself from the embarrassment son.



Modric - Drogba swap deal?

A few weeks before the pre season starts and still without a manager, CFC have been links with a whole lot of players.... as usual. Pastore, Neymar, Sneijder and Modric are some of the big names thrown as potential summer targets. But the one i've read this morning is something that interest me... CFC will offer Modric 130k per week, almost triple his wage at Spurs right now and Didier Drogba to become a makeweight to any deal. Most of my fellow blues will straigh away say no. Can understand that after what DD has contributed to our club.

If you really think about it, it could be a great piece of business from our side. We've just spent 50mil for Nando in the January transfer window and from what we have seen, DD and FT might not have the chemistry to make a great partnership. Yes, partnership takes time to build but time is what we dont have with DD already at 33. Maybe the club recognize FT is the main man now and want to built the squad around him. Could work with Modric supplying the telling passes and changing the way we play from the DD days that was based on physical strength and power, to suit FT style and strength.

Dont think the deal will happen though. But worth blabbing about it. Cheers! ktbffh

True fans wear original jerseys?

Notice 2 fans debating on how fanatics they are supporting their clubs. One of them said that true fans only wears and buys original merchandise of their club. The other said that its a waste spending hundreds or dollars on original stuff. Here what i've got to say:

Edy Dee & Faiz Hakim Chelsea : fanatik xsmti beli ori and beli ori (yg mahal) tak semestinya membazir. Real fans is more that what they wear. Its in their heart and can never be put into words. If you have the money, why not buy the original one cause it will go to our beloved club. If cannot afford, its ok to buy the siam one. Wear your heart on your sleeve and you're already a true fan. ktbffh

Foreign Club vs Local Club

The final episode of Bola @ Mamak last week bring up an intresting topics, we should support the local clubs more rather than supporting foreign teams thousands of kilometre away. Had a few banters with the other fans that agreed on the topics. Some of them said that wearing foreign club jerseys that come to tours here instead of the local or national shirts make you unpatriotic. Here what i got to say:

I was there in 2003 Bukit Jalil and 2008 Shah Alam to see the team i supported since 1997 CFC. Both times i wore the Chelsea shirt. Wasnt an issue back then. This time around, i was made to feel guilty if i dont don the national calours because of a few issue made up such as the one discussed on the final episod.

Such issue shouldnt arise at all for me. The love for my county and my local football team (Selangor) never dimish or wear off since i started supporting foriegn clubs. If i'm being honest, i become a more EDUCATED football fan. We learn more, about how the game is played, the management and development they had over there. And that isnt a bad thing for me.

I still go to stadium to watch Selangor or Malaysia. Whether its football or hockey, badminton, SEA games, Commonwealth games, etc i still and i will forever cheering for my Malaysia. I even go to PJ every now and then to support the National Junior League and see the future of Malaysia football and impressed with what i saw. Such opportunity was never there or limited during my times. Kudos to the developement programme we had now. We have learned, not only the way we develop young players, but the way we think, the way we talk and the way we support (Ultras) Kudos to them too.

I will be wearing my Chelsea shirt and holding the Malaysia flag this 21st July. Does that make me less patriotic? tepuk dada tanya selera.

Season review 2010/2011

The 2010/2011 season has gone to a closed. A topsy-turvy season that takes us into a roller coaster ride that end with a casualty, the dismissal of manager Carlo Ancelloti. The man who brought us the first ever FA Cup and League double in his first season , a true gentleman, a nice guy, but was sacked after failed to win anything in his second.

The season start brilliantly for Chelsea, continuing where we left off last season by winning the first 5 games and scoring for fun. At that point, people were suggesting that Chelsea would easily retain the title and that look likely after the first 3 months into the season. Out of nowhere, early November Chelsea FC announced that asst coach Ray Wilkins contract will not be renewed and he was released by the club with immediate effect. The decision bring shocks to the managers, players and the fans, until now nobody know the real reason behind the sacking.

It was hopeful that off the pitch problem would not distract the performance on the pitch. But that wasn't the case when Chelsea recorded the worst ever run in the club history starting with a 3-0 home defeat to Sunderland (first game after Wilkins sacking). Chelsea struggle to regain the early season form and injuries to key players hinder the recovery process. It was a long and dreadful period for us, Chelsea drop to 5th place in the league standing early February and the unthinkable of dropping out of the Champs League spot is starting to creep in my mind.

In the January transfer window, Chelsea went on a spending free. A move to halt the awful run in the league, to strengthen and show sign of intent that Chelsea will go out and try to win the Champ League. Chelsea broke the British transfer record signing Fernando Torres for 50mil. The club also spend another 21mil on a centreback, David Luiz from Benfica. It wasn't a good start for Chelsea new star, in his first game against his old club, we suffered another defeat that add to the woes. The new Chelsea no 9 also struggle to gel with his new teammates and struggle to find the back of the net. Fernando Torres finally broke his goal drought against West Ham. That was the only goal he scored for Chelsea this season.

A 2-1 win against Man Utd in mid February followed by 7 wins in 8 games saw Chelsea made a late push for the title. Chelsea trailed Man Utd 3 points with 3 games to go with a visit to Old Trafford coming up on 8th May. A win for us will see us leapfrog United on goal difference with 2 games to go. A possible greatest comeback ever was on the card. It wasn't to be, we didn't turn up that day, lost the game and certainly end any hope of winning the title.

We were second best to United for the whole season. We went out of the Champs League semi final also to the Red Devils after being beaten home and away. Carlo Ancelloti manged his last game for Chelsea against Everton on the last day of the season. He was sacked two hours after the game. It wasn't the best season for Chelsea, a season that start brightly that suddenly turn sour.

Thank You for the double and all the sweet memories.
 We wish you the best in your future wherever it maybe.