Archive for October, 2010

Yossi Benayoun Injury Is Concern For Chelsea

There has been a lot of focus on the Yossi Benayoun injury situation as the Israeli is unlikely to return to the Chelsea side until the final stages of the season after his initial injury has been found to be a lot more serious whilst on international duty.

The media has suggested that the Chelsea medical staff were at fault for failing to diagnose the seriousness of the midfielder’s condition. Particularly after 3 MRI scans the club performed failed to spot a large tear in the players achilles.

This is worrying if we put this together with the similar story of Chelsea Youth striker Phillip Prosenik who VITALFOOTBALL report suffered a similar fate recently with a knee injury that will keep him on the sidelines until March.

The home of the championship shows that Chelsea are the best club in the country, therefore we should have the best medical facilities in the country at our disposal. Players should be injured less and recover quicker due to the expert help that is on the club’s payroll, the cases of Prosenik and Benayoun puts the ability of our medical staff into question. 

With players being paid ridiculous sums of money, their well being is paramount both on and off the pitch. With the level of competition at home and in Europe it is essential that the club is not understrengh unnecessarily. Whilst Prosenik is a youth player and not likely to make the first team for at least a few years if a all, Benayoun is in the first team squad, whilst not in the starting XI his signature this summer shows he had a role to play. 

What if this had happened to John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard of Didier Drogba? The uproar would have been deafening had the success of our season been jeopardised by preventable medical mistakes,.

Injuries are part of football however wherever possible Carlo Ancelotti should have all options available to him and therefore our medical team are vital to our success.

Finally I think I speak for every Chelsea fan that we hope that both Yossi and Phillip recover quickly and are back to full fitness and playing as soon as possible, however long that may take.

Chelsea Sign 11 Year Old Michael Gyasi

Chelsea made a suprise signing today by announcing we have signed an 11 year old from Northampton Town a  youth product Michael Gyasi for an undisclosed sum.

Although the exact figure is not known it has been suggested that this deal will be structured around whether the young player develops and makes the first team.

Little is known about the player outside of youth football circles so it may be a few years before we know if this will amount to anything significant as the club sifts hundreds of players through trials and short term contracts if Michael Gyasi is the cream that rises to the top only time will tell.

Signing players so young is a gamble but buying a player so young suggests that someone in the know has seen something they like and who knows with our injury worries Micheal may be required to line up against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Why I Hate International Football Breaks

I am a patriotic person yet I cannot muster any excitement for any international football outside of major competitions. 

This patriotism is at its most vehement than in a sporting context, regardless of the sport or our nations chances. Whilst in the UK football attracts the most the English media, like many I try to get behind any English competitor, regardless of the  sport or my understanding of the rules. 

I have lost  enthusiasm for the England Football team in recent years, don’t get me wrong I still follow the results and hope we do well but the fervour is not there as it was in the lapsidasical days of my youth and this is why.  

Lack of Success

England are the Liverpool of international football, they have been around for a long time and were once a dominant force in the game. The Three Lions are always tipped to rise to the fore on the eve of every competition but end up leaving both fans and players in tears when the business end of the tournament arrives.

Too Many Friendlies

These money grabbing dead end affairs are boring in the extreme and Chelsea players are exposed to potential injury in games that achieve little if anything apart from bleeding the wallets dry of the fans once again

Cost

It is no longer to watch all England games on terrestrial TV in the U.K free of charge, this goes against the principles of sharing national sporting competitions with the nation. As I said previously with diminishing interest the likelihood of paying to watch our national team is remote.

Cheap Caps

15 caps for less than a whole games playing time is not what international caps should be about. In the days before endless friendlies and millionaire players, caps were earned with blood, sweat and sometimes even tears. This is no longer the case 10 minute wonders such as Beckham over last couple of years, these mean that records earned in a bygone age of integrity are being stolen and the prestigious nature of these records is diminished.

Reduction in the Importance of International Competition

Yes the World Cup was a huge tournament but the increased spread of coverage for the European leagues worldwide coupled with many large nations failing to qualify. For example India and China have never entered a World Cup meaning that Champions League and other competitions are starting to encroach on the World Cups claim as the biggest footballing competition.

Boring Football

Let’s be honest with the exceptions of the Latin American heavyweights Argentina and Brazil international football is a drab and pale comparison to the Premier League. Negative tactics and a slower tempo, mean that 90 minutes can feel like 120 as the games become chess games.

This may be fascinating for the technical admirers of the game but turns many spectators off the game. I would say that options too many friendlies, the cost to watch games on TV in the UK and sheer boredom are the drivers behind my distaste for internationl football at the moment.

You cannot beat the thrill of the Premier League, give me a Chelsea game over England any day of the week.

Arsenal Torpedoed! The Chelsea Football FanCast #132

Chidge and the FanCast crew discuss a great game and a big result for us against The Arsenal at the weekend. Hell even the atmosphere was great. One team in London!!!

The boys discuss a great weekend with Chelsea spanking the Arse (well kind of) and Europe spanking the Yanks to regain the Ryder Cup (well kind of). Come on you Blue boys!

To be fair, Arsenal gave us a game on Sunday, but thank fully they still think they can just walk the ball in the net and Drogba and Alex gave them a lesson in finishing giving Chelsea all three points in a big win for us. Even the atmosphere was great. Happy days!

As well as discussing the match, we award our Man of the Match; Chant of the Match; Celery and Guinness moments, and Ross has got this month’s selections for Goal of the Month and Player of the Month too. And as it’s his birthday, we let him talk about the youth team as well!

We’re also joined by a very special guest tonight in the form of Sami al Rais, all the way from Dubai who has been very generously buying us beers all week. Sami tells us all about supporting Chelsea in Dubai – or Carefree in the UAE as he likes to call it!.

There’s another classic terrace song in ‘We’re out show the world the way to sing!’, and the Dr is back in the house to answer all of your Chelsea related questions in Dear Mart. Finally, Chidge reading out the best of your posts in “You’re on CFFC” and reveals the winner of the “Where Are They Now – Chelsea” book competition.

The Chelsea Football FanCast: Arsenal torpedoed!

Chelsea FC A Brief History – 1993-1996 The Hoddle Years

Gavin Peacock the Star of The 1993/1994 Cup Run

When Chelsea sacked manager Ian Porterfield in February 1993 they earned the distinction of becoming the first club to sack a manager in the Premier League.

Despite a slow start, this turned out to be one of the best decisions that Ken Bates made during his tenure as Chelsea chairman as the club appointed Glen Hoddle as player/manager following a caretaker spell from David Webb.

First Season

Despite victories against Liverpool and Manchester United at home, Chelsea had a torrid start to Glen Hoddle’s first season at the club, looking like serious relegation candidates in the run up to Christmas.

However the signing of Mark Stein was the turning point as the striker went on to set the record for number of consecutive games on the mark in a row, which allowed Chelsea to scramble their way to Premier League safety.

One of the other factors behind the turnaround was the confidence of a long overdue major cup run as Chelsea overcame Barnet, Sheffield Wednesday, Oxford United, Wolves and Luton to reach the final of the competition for the first time since 1970.

Despite losing the FA Cup Final 4-0 to Manchester United a match covered later in the series, the club found its confidence for the first time in a generation and hope returned to the Bridge.

Rebuilding

Glen Hoddle spent his time at the club rebuilding the squad and capturing the historic signing of Ruud Guillit, that led to the development of a passing style that was to become part of the mantra of the club for the next decade.

The squad developed under Hoddle reaching the European Cup Winners Cup Semi-Final in 1995 and able to beat anyone on their day. Although league finishes of 14th, 11th and 11th in his three seasons at the club may not be impressive in regards to today’s standard, they brought stability to the club.

1996 and Beyond – Hoddle Leaves for England Job

When Hoddle left for the England job in 1996 having taken the club to a European Semi Final as well as the FA Cup Final the club was in good shape.

The rest they say is history, the revolution had begun when Glen Hoddle’s marquee signing Ruud Gullit became player/manager, star names starting coming to the Bridge en masse and things started to take shape.

Within a couple of years a team of journeyman and functional players had been transformed into a cosmopolitan side that played with flair as well as passion.

Mark Hughes, Gianfranco Zola, Frank Lebeouf, Gianluca Vialli arrived at the club and in his first season in charge the club finished 6^th in the table and won the FA cup for the first time in 30 years.

This was followed by the club lifting the League Cup and Cup Winners Cup trophies with a Gianfranco Zola goal in Stockholm making Chelsea the last club to win the now defunct competition

By the end of the decade, the club had qualified for the Champions League for the first time, but it was 1993-1996 where the Chelsea revolution was born.

Follow the Chelsea FC A Brief History Series

1969 – Chelsea v Arsenal

1994 FA Cup Final