The first away game of the season is against Wigan who despite capitulating on the last day of the season defeated Chelsea at the DW stadium last time Chelsea were the visitors.
Chelsea will be hoping for a much improved performance on that 3-1 defeat this Saturday when the club is again the Saturday evening feature.
I would expect that Carlo Ancelotti will make few changes from the side that decimated West Brom with Paulo Ferreria and John Obi Mikel the only players whose place in the side is at risk.
After a poor performance against West Bromwich Albion, I would expect Ferreria to make way for the reliable Branislav Ivanovic at right back, whilst the arrival of Ramires may mean that Mikel misses out, although he may survive for this week at least.
Likely Team to Face Wigan
Cech, Cole, Terry, Alex, Ivanovic, Mikel, Lampard, Essien, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka
Wigan have had a poor start to the season with defeat to Blackpool on the opening day in a humiliating 4-0 defeat.
Although their manager Roberto Martinez likes to play attractive football he has little resource to get the players into the team to help him with this goal and his side faces an uphill battle with relegation this term.
It is likely that Wigan will play a defensive game despite being at home and it will be up to Ivanovic and Cole to provide the width that can allow Chelsea to break Wigan down.
eChelseaFC refuses to make predictions, but anything other than an away win will be considered a shock.
View from the Shed
Due to low attendances from home fans, Chelsea have received a large allocation meaning that the atmosphere is normally pretty impressive as everyone who wants one can get tickets.
The evening kick off makes it easier to get to the game without a ridiculously early start.
Chelsea FC started the 2010/2010 in style with a domineering six goal rout of newly promoted West Bromwich Albion to ensure they start the season as they finished the last, atop of the Premier League.
The result will have lifted the spirits after an unnerving pre-season that failed to inspire confidence or show the fitness of a post World Cup squad.
The game itself was a rout despite some of the goals being scrappy, Chelsea were dominant throughout with only Paulo Ferreira’s poor marshalling of Jerome Thomas to concern the home side as only a Chelsea victory looked possible after Florent Malouda’s opening goal.
Six goals is also an impressive statement to be making to the rest of the league on the opening day, Chelsea may be champions but have no intention of giving up their title in a hurry.
The season is long and this is no time to get carried away, West Brom were poor and some would say ‘lucky to get nil’
eChelseaFC player rankings
Petr Cech – N/A – Unfair to rank this spectator who had little to do except remember to change ends at half time
Ashley Cole – 8 – Offered plenty going forward and looked composed in defence with some deft touches and sublime turns
John Terry – 6 – Little to do in defence but did whatever was asked, some frailties as shown in community shield exposed from long ball.
Alex - 7 – Same comments as for John Terry, however this understanding should improve with games and fitness.
Paulo Ferreria – 4.5 -Played poorly and was exposed frequently against Jerome Thomas, expect Ivanovic to replace him in the first team imminently.
Michael Essien – 7 – Great to see him back and his performance did not disappoint.
Frank Lampard -8 – Excellent performance capped off by a well worked goal as the England hangover was put to bed.
Florent Malouda – 8 – Two goals and a professional performance from the Frenchman
John Obi Mikel – 6 – Overall a good performance but clumsy in possession at times which will be punished by better opposition.
Nicholas Anelka – 6.5 – Performed well at times and is a perfect foil for Drogba, however he will have more of an impact on other days.
Didier Drogba – 9 – Free kick created the first goal and he got 3 himself even if the last one was fortuitous, starts the season as he finished the last in blistering form.
View from the Shed (Well… Mathhew Harding Upper this time)
Evening kick offs are great as gives alot more time for pre-match preparation in the pub and it was great to see all my Chelsea friends around the Bridge again.
Like many fans I was caught out in a pre game downpour that soaked those queuing to get into the ground twenty minutes before kickoff, fortunately the weather was relatively warm and the rain was unable to dampen the fans pre-game spirits even if I did have to give up my coat to a friend in the front row.
After digging out some old Chelsea shirts the day before I elected to wear the 1993 away shirt to the game, as this was the first Chelsea kit I ever owned and I got nostalgic looking at the shirt I first wore when I was 7, I think I have stumbled upon a new first game tradition.
A great day and a fantastic result, next up Wigan away.
Ramires has been confirmed as a Chelsea player after signing a 4 year deal with the club after completing a medical according Chelsea TV
The young Brazilian midfielder impressed in Benfica’s title winning side in Portugal last season. Having moved to Lisbon from Cruzeiro last summer, the ‘Blue Kenyan’ (as he was nicknamed in his homeland) has become hot property on the European transfer market.
Chelsea’s midfield has lost Michael Ballack this summer and with Michael Essien picking up more and more injuries; it might be time to invest in a midfield which has carried itself without major investment for practically five seasons.
Moreover, Frank Lampard is now the wrong side of 30, meaning that he will surely begin to miss more games as the strain of Premier League, Champions League and International fixtures keep racking up on his body. Not to mention the fact that Joe Cole has swapped Chelsea blue for Liverpool red.
Ramires has a knack of scoring goals with runs from deep, as well as an eye for a killer pass. The fact that he is just 23 means that the future of the midfield at Stamford Bridge could be secured for several years, as he will join the relatively youthful pairing of John Obi Mikel and Essien as well as the highly rated youngster Nemanja Matic.
Carvalho in his last game in a Chelsea shirt against Frankfurt
It seems now inevitable that the curtain is about to fall on Ricardo Carvalho’s illustrious six year career at Chelsea as the club and Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid have agreed a £6.7m fee for the 32 year old defender.
After amassing an awe imspiring 9 honours including a hat trick of FA Cup and League Championship medals, he held the line during what is the most successful period in the clubs history.
Arriving shortly after his new employer at Stamford Bridge from Porto he quickly ousted William Gallas as the preferred partner to John Terry in the centre of defence and earned a reputation as a cultured and talented defender. Always a danger from set pieces he scored a suprisingly low 11 times for Chelsea but doubtlessy created many more by the nuisance he caused in opposition penalty area.
It is with little doubt that Chelsea and in particular John Terry can attribute a great amount of their collective success to the defensive capabilities of Ricardo Carvalho and a tribute to his talent that he has became such a vital part of an incredibly successful Chelsea team.
He has earnt the admiration of the Chelsea faithful and whilst it has seemed inevitable for a long time now that he would at sometime rejoin Jose Mourinho, he will be sorely missed.
The only upside of this departure is that at 32 the defender is entering the twilight of his career and £6.7m represents excellent value to Chelsea providing Alex and Ivanovic can step up sufficiently to fill the Portugeuse internationals shoes.
Finally I would like to propose a toast to Ricardo Carvalho, a true Chelsea legend.
After some poor pre-season goalkeeping displays, it would not surprise me if Carlo Ancelotti has lost faith in his two back up options Ross Turnbull and Henrique Hilario.
A series of gaffes by both goalkeepers has left the Italian with a selection headache he could do without as Chelsea seek to retain their title.
The current transfer rumour is that former Portsmouth number 2 and Tottenham target Begovic will be coming to Stamford Bridge from Stoke to shore up what is normally one of the strongest areas of the Chelsea line up. [guardian article]
If as the rumours suggest, Ancelotti is now looking to bolster his options then surely this will mean the end of Henrique Hilario and possibly Ross Turnbull’s ambitions at the club.
Whilst being understudy to one of the top goalkeepers in the World is nothing to be embarrassed about, if you are unable to inspire confidence to cover 3 or 4 games a season, then as footballers these players must be wondering why they bother.
Sure not having any work to do and earning a large wage on the bench may suit some (infact to many this has been Hilario’s Chelsea career), yet if there is no possibility of breaking into the team, even as a back up, then you should be looking for a lower level to play your football and at least get games.
Sad but true it appears that Hilarious and Turnbull just aren’t making the grade despite some decent covering moments from Hilario at least in the past.
If the confidence is gone, the question is who should be Chelsea’s number two?
Chelsea were beaten in the 2010 Community Shield by Manchester United, the performance and the seemingly unfinished pre-season will undoubtably weigh heavily on the minds of Chelsea fans everywhere.
Despite the disapointment of the loss, this was also an opportunity to catch up with my footballing friends for the first time since the FA Cup Final in May. In truth the actual Community Shield match tends to play a minor role in a day of singing, drinking and catching up with familar faces.
Due to recent success Chelsea fans may have become a little blase about visiting Wembley, with the Community Shield not a definite on every fans to do list, maybe having played there every year since 2005 has meant that to some the focal point of English football is losing some of its magic and aura.
Trips to Wembley however are a great excuse for a day out. My day consisted of a few beers, singing and throwing celery outside the Globe pub in the hours leading up to kick off.
The trip down Wembley way was punctuated by singing and banter, with a largely friendly group of Manchester United supporters, I always enjoy this and find it refreshing when football banter, does not lead to football stupidity.
Another pleasing aspect was that once in the ground I only heard the buzzing of one or two rogue Vuvuzela’s, I do not think that English football will ever be ready to embrace this phenomenon of the World Cup.
The most frustrating part of the day however was the pathetic booing of the England players from both sides, I am not quite sure what it achieves and it grates me that it is regardless of the action taking place on the pitch, maybe I am just hypersensitive in my old age, but its a little bit boring.
Ultimately the trip to Wembley ended in defeat, I will be honest and say that I havent really given it the slightest bit of consideration in the fact that we lost, just that our performances need to improve.
This was a very brief review of the Community Shield but the season starts properly on Saturday at 17:30 and lets hope that the team and not just the fans turn up this time.
It seems that Carlo Ancelotti and Roman Abramovich have been reading eChelseaFC, as in the coming days it seems likely that having agreed a fee, Chelsea will sign Brazilian midfielder Ramires.
Ramires has been one of the signings that eChelseaFC and Richard French have been advocating since the transfer window opened.
Although a Brazillian international with high profile, this signing is welcome relief from the rumours that we were going to fritter away money on over valued superstars such as Fernando Torres or Kaka.
£18m seems like a very good price for a Brazillian international, with both strength and technical skill.
In the coming days we will be profiling the player, once the picture on his signing becomes clearer, we don’t want to do a Robinho and start printing shirts with his name on just yet you see.
With the lack of first team players available and the slow build up to the season, Chelsea have had a difficult pre-season losing all of the matches at reserve and senior level so far.
Whilst these games are more about the return to fitness than the result, I am sure that the confidence of the players and fans alike will receive a welcome boost should Chelsea get a result in either of the two games that precede the start of the Premier League season.
The first game up is in Germany against Hamburg in a game that I expect will feature the strongest side of the pre-season too far.
However the headline game of the week ahead will be the Charity Shield this Sunday, for Chelsea fans in the U.K there will be no need to provide directions or a guide of the venue. With 7 appearances in 3 years, Wembley can surely now be known as Stamford Bridge II.
This means that this Sunday I will be following my Wembley routine, arrive in London early and head to the Globe on Baker Street, spend 3 hours with the 200+ Chelsea fans that will congregate, singing songs and drinking beer, before taking the short tube journey to Wembley.
Failure to win any games in pre-season will not mean the club is doomed this season, but it would be nice to start the campaign on the right note against Manchester United.
As everyone with more than a passing interest in the game will be aware Chelsea won the Premiership on the 9th of May.
Hopefully you wont mind if I reminisce on my day watching Chelsea win the league.
The day started with an engineering works affected train journey to London, coupled with two cans of lager to settle the nerves.
I arrived at the first pub of the day at midday to start proceedings with the boys from the Chelsea Football Fancast.
This was the more reserved part of the day chatting to the podcast crew, musing over what the day had in store and feeling the nerves. However a few pints, a reassuring chip butty later and Chidge’s optimism made me feel as though we couldn’t fail.
Next up was O’Neils an Irish themed bar near Earls Court; this was to meet my Dad, who had the all important ticket and his adopted Chelsea family. I was predictably late and had received a couple of only half joiking texts from him saying he was just moments away from selling my ticket to his mate Clive.
The banter in the pub as with the fancast crew was one of quiet optimism, although this is where I heard the first songs of the day. The pub occasionally belted out renditions of ‘Carefree’ and ‘Who the F%^K are Man United’ to punctuate the discussion that we couldn’t possibly throw it away, could we?
As game time approached we left O’Neil’s and after a short walk through West Brompton cemetery, I was through the turnstiles, with enough time to get a jet pack beer, and join in’ the liquidator’.
Coming out of the tube earlier and on the approach to the ground it was obvious that this was a huge game, the obvious barometer being the plethora of illegal football touts, whose buy and sell’ whispers echoed through the streets.
I had a perfect seat for the game, four rows back bang in the middle of the Shed End, the atmosphere before the game was electric but obviously tinged with nerves and excitement.
For the first time I can remember the old Shed terrace was back, everyone was stood up and roaring the team on, the whole ground was standing up uninterrupted by safety stewards, or others who seek to minimise the entertainment of football spectators.
This is what every football fan loves about football and we had waited three years for another shot.
The game itself was one of true nerves for only 6 minutes, when Anelka scored, the tension eased significantly, however once Frank Lampard fended of Didier Drogba to make it 2-0, the party began in earnest.
At half time anyone caught asking the Manchester United score was laughed at, we were storming to victory, few people seemed to care what Alex Ferguson’s men were up to a couple of hundred miles to the North.
As the second half got underway and the goals rolled in to extinguish any vague hopes of a Wigan revival, this allowed the party to start early and let the fans went through the whole Chelsea song repertoire. Although to answer one query from the home fans, I think those watching in Manchester may have turned off their TV in disgust a long time before the score resembled that of a rugby match.
Not that anyone was aware of the time, but all too quickly the the final whistle and pandemonium. After 3 years of near misses the title, was back at Chelsea and there was nothing that the moaning and mind games of Alex Ferguson could do about it.
First of all the crowd swayed to ‘One Step Beyond’ before belting out club classics such as ‘Blue Day’ before bouncing to baggy trousers.
Whilst this was going on the youth team paraded their silverware, the FA Youth Cup to a rapturous reception, then one by one the team made its way to the podium for the eruption upon lifting the trophy.
After the trophy was lifted the fans belted out the Queen classic and other champion based songs as the club paraded around the stadium. The music drowned out occasionally by the fans chanting the names of both John Terry and Carlo Ancellotti.
At this point I fought my way through the crowds to find my Dad’s seat and give him a massive bear hug as the celebrations continued. As we eventually left the ground we were confronted by the pandemonium of the Fulham road, all the pubs were full so after a quick trip to the off license we joined the fans partying in the streets.
I however was not as brave as the fans climbing lampposts or swirling their tops around their heads, after over an hour of singing we made our way home, knowing that we could be doing it all again next week.
