1st Fixture - August 17, 2008 - Chelsea FC v. Portsmouth [R]

[Kerry Dixon's Boots]

at least its better than Gisseppi Franco

that guy creeps me out.

Oh god no!!!!

http://www.hotfootblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/giuseppe.jpg

[fernb8]

http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=508966

nice words about Scolari

just wanted to put it here ahead of the game

[Randy36]

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1773_3975891,00.html

John Terry in praise of Deco!

[fernb8]

Lamps also signing the praises of Deco

thus I think he will almost be a cert for the first team, with Ballack still regaining his fitness

[Quaresma]

Terry and lampard praising o Magico.

Where are the haters now biatches:D

If he adapts well he can be a bargain for a mere 8 million.

[adri]

Terry and lampard praising o Magico.

Where are the haters now biatches:D

If he adapts well he can be a bargain for a mere 8 million.
hate.

VD, VD. on Him. something itchy.

;)

[Cris 09]

Terry and lampard praising o Magico.

Where are the haters now biatches:D

If he adapts well he can be a bargain for a mere 8 million.

:rolleyes:
.

[Cheyne]

Nice enough lineup, in an ideal world Malouda and Deco would not start.. but they probably will. If Bosingwa is healthy, start him, and Beletti on the bench I suppose over Ferreira, but not over Alex - we need a CB on the bench, just in case ;)Alex at centerback-- AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know neither Ferreira nor Belletti play that position. But, honestly, does Alex really PLAY centerback. I have to believe Chelsea has a better option than that. I definitely believe either A. Cole or Bridge could if they needed to. Anyone know if Ivanovic has experience in the middle? Truthfully, if Terry or Carvalho went down I think our best option would be to go to a 3-5-2 with both Essien and Mikel playing defensive mid- anything to keep Alex off.

I actually am of the mind that Deco will help Chelsea greatly. Whether you like him or not (and yes I am angered by his flopping too, but remember Drogba used to pull that junk regularly-- Terry will tell him to stop, and I believe Deco will listen) he is an incredible playmaker and could really bring out the best in Joey, Essien, Anelka and whoever plays left wing (Malouda, Kalou [when he is back], Sinclair). Even Drogba may benefit from his vision.

[Cheyne]

Alex is a good CB.Yes, Alex is a "good" centerback but not nearly the quality a top premiership team should have. Every game I have seen him in he has shown he is too slow to play in the prem. His reflexes just are not fast enough causing him to constantly make late and awkward challenges. He is a liability as his late challenges can easily lead to freekicks and PKs. In my humble opinion he is the worst signing of Mourinho's era (I don't count Sheva as Jose clearly never wanted him). I know most on this board will say Malouda, but who would say Alex was 2nd? Wait we also signed Pizzaro and Ben Haim (though I don't believe Jose had much say in that either). We have had some REALLY bad signings. Okay, who agrees that Alex should not be at a top prem club?

[Cheyne]

[Ivanovic] plays in the middle for Serbia.

I heard on Chelsea TV that Essien is not fit and did not train yesterday, they did not say how long he was expected to be out.If this is true I would much rather him on the bench than Alex as a backup for centerback.

[Macksam]

Alex plays CB better than A. Cole, Bridge or Essien ever has or would.

[blackjack]

Yes, Alex is a "good" centerback but not nearly the quality a top premiership team should have. Every game I have seen him in he has shown he is too slow to play in the prem. His reflexes just are not fast enough causing him to constantly make late and awkward challenges. He is a liability as his late challenges can easily lead to freekicks and PKs. In my humble opinion he is the worst signing of Mourinho's era (I don't count Sheva as Jose clearly never wanted him). I know most on this board will say Malouda, but who would say Alex was 2nd? Wait we also signed Pizzaro and Ben Haim (though I don't believe Jose had much say in that either). We have had some REALLY bad signings. Okay, who agrees that Alex should not be at a top prem club?

:confused:

Alex is good enough that when JT was coming back from injury last season, some people on this board were suggesting that Alex and Carvalho should remain the starters until one of them lost form.

I didn't agree with that then and I don't know. But the only time in the last 5 years that an EPL team has had a better third-choice CB than him is when we were sitting Carvalho behind Terry and Gallas. To suggest that he's not good enough is patently absurd.

[The_ChelseaSupporter]

Alex is class. Cheyne, you're crazy. He'd start for most Premier League teams and is definitely good enough to be our backup CB. Pure class tbh and tbh you're off your rocker.

[Bruckner283]

He had a terrible game vs Milan (?) but I think it was more rust/fitness more than anything. I wish he had a little more pace but he is a fantastic backup for JT. Plus, I for one wouldnt want to get in front of one of his free kicks......

[Cheyne]

Oh yea, the FOUR goals we gave up to Villa were a great indicator of how effective Ricardo and Alex are in tandem. (And yes I remember Alex's cracking shot that game, but a goal by a defender does not make up for leaking goals left and right.) Even that huge blunder by Cech was immediately precipitated by Alex giving the scorer way too much room on top of the box and then uselessly lunging after taking too long to notice the player cut into the middle. And Villa's first goal was as close to 100% Alex's fault as a goal gets. I have the whole game on my comp. But here is a link to watch some highlights. http://www.troodi.com/media/4348/Chelsea_vs_Aston_Villa_26_December_2007_England_Premier/

In addition to the first two goals that made me fear our unbeaten home run was over he also looks completely lost in the play that gave Barry the PK for the equaliser.

If it wasn't for Sheva's unusually good play the central defense pairing you and others are saying is good enough for us would have led to us losing at home for the first time in about three years. Sorry, but allowing four goals to Villa at home is not my idea of good defense.

And Carvalho picked up a three or four match ban from his atrocious tackle in this game. So I do not believe there were many games when they actually played together.

[Cheyne]

Plus, I for one wouldnt want to get in front of one of his free kicks......Yes, he does kick hard.

[Cheyne]

Alex plays CB better than A. Cole, Bridge or Essien ever has or would.I don't know whether to categorize your argument as a red herring or false quadlemma. I don't know if any of these three would be better than Alex in the center. However, I do know A. Cole is definitely better on the left than is Alex on the right. So to say uncategorically that Alex is better than A. Cole would be in the middle seems presumptive. Anyhow, I would not want Cole or Bridge in the center. I just don't want Alex there either. See above for four good reasons. And I certainly did not suggest Essien for the job. I said if we really don't have a better 3rd choice than Alex I would rather see us go to a 3-5-2 with Mikel and Essien playing as defensive mids. That is an entirely different position. It sounds like Ivanovic could be an option as well.

[Dear_Claudio]

So Alex had one 'poor' match in a game that Mikel Reilly cost us 3 points and all of a sudden he's not good enough to play for Chelsea and we should slot Mikel in the back four? Fecking mental this forum is sometimes.

[adri]

Alex is class. Cheyne, you're crazy. He'd start for most Premier League teams and is definitely good enough to be our backup CB. Pure class tbh and tbh you're off your rocker.
agree on all points. Alex is quality. to suggest that he's not good enough to be a Sub for us is just nuts.

[Andy F]

Crazy talk, Alex was superb whenever he played last year. Would be my overwhelming first choice to step in whenever one of JT and Ricky are out.