Chelsea FC

[chris louie II]

Nice articles there. What a nice stadium too

Promising start for Chelsea and Ancelotti.

[King-Osgood-1690]

Very promising, but I've never been an optimist so I'll be reserving my judgment until the season starts

[chris louie II]

That's understandable. Hopefully they can get off to a good start in the Community Shield.

Deco as a defensive midfielder in a 4-1-2-1-2 though?

[King-Osgood-1690]

Originally Posted by chris louie II

That's understandable. Hopefully they can get off to a good start in the Community Shield.

Deco as a defensive midfielder in a 4-1-2-1-2 though?

I don't think we will be seeing much of Deco when Joey Cole and Michael Ballack get back on their feet, but he's a good player to have on the fringes if his heart is in it.

Nurturing Mikel is more of a priority in my eyes anyway, stunning last season so for his sake i hope he has a big part to play in our campaign.

[Holminho]

Lol i loved that while watching it on CTV, every 2 minutes they cut from showing the gameplay to giving us shots of the massive screen and the stadium. Almost like they were trying to advertise the stadium to be used at a world cup ....ahem...

Great game from our boys, especially the second half. Di Santo impressed, So did Shev, Mancienne, Hutchinson. But i thought Malouda was MOTM. Absolutely godly, he was the center of every attack, almost like he played more centrally in an attacking midfielder role to...so i think he might be giving Carlo some hints that he isn't just restricted to the wing

Carvalho was fantastic, i think he could actually regain his spot in the first team considering Alex has had a sub par pre season. So he'll play next to the money grabber

And speaking of that khunt, did anyone see his interview about the whole City thing? Talking out of his ars* IMO. He made it seem like it was impossible to release a statement because of other things but i reckon he wanted to leave. That basterd, and i know a lot of people agree with me that he's ruined his reputation with the fans quite a bit with all that and needs to earn it back again IMO

Deco was quite and i agree osgood mate, i think if his heart is in it, he's not a bad player(Deco)

[King-Osgood-1690]

The statement did sound fairly manufactured, i wonder how much input he actually had, because it sounded like it came straight from Peter Kenyon's nib

He was tempted, simple as that, proves he's human really.

"To be in the Champions League is massive," he said. "You never know what the England manager's response – Mr Capello's response – would have been had I not been playing Champions League football. Listen, I'm delighted and I'm sure he's happy."

Of course I respect [City manager] Mark Hughes and the people at City, [coach] Eddie Niedzwiecki as well," Terry said. "These people were at Chelsea with me, they were at my wedding and I respect them. There were even stories about him [Hughes] coming to the Bridge and coming back to manage. I respect him for what he's done as a player and as a manager. I wish Man City well and it's exciting times for the Premier League with what they're doing and what their chairman is willing to do."

"When stories were written about me meeting them in Dubai, I was there anyway with my family and my kids," he said. "I've seen Kevin Hitchcock [another City coach] in Dubai for the last five years and Mark just happened to be there. We had a drink around the pool. But nothing was spoken about and then suddenly stories were coming out about meetings."

"It was clear from day one that they didn't want to sell me and I've been at the club for years and never wanted to leave," he said. "Peter made the phone call and informed me of the offer. He felt it was right to do that and he just said: 'Look, when you're back...' I was away on holiday at Tenerife at the time with the kids. I said then that, in three or four days, I'll be back and I'll come and see you, Peter'.

"It was nice and relaxed. I think things got blown out of proportion a certain bit. But when Roman's out of the country, Peter Kenyon's out of the country, it's difficult for all of us to sit down and talk. We did sit down on a couple of occasions, once in the UK and once over here [in America] to go through everything. Of course things move around, but the lads and the staff were all around me.

"We have come away on a really good trip, the manager as well, friends and family all know my situation. They know I love the club so much, and that side of things, so it's never an issue."

"I have said before that that's a possibility," Terry said. "But I have still got a good few years ahead of me as a player." Those years will, it seems, be at Chelsea.

We never had any of this nonsense to deal with when Wisey was at the helm

John just needs to keep quiet and get his head down, that's what will earn back respect, not continuously bleating on to the media with the tired "Mr Chelsea" rhetoric.

[We-R-Chelsea]

godly, i bet the only reason he accepted chelsea is because of this "Peter made the phone call and informed me of the offer. He felt it was right to do that " more money terry..

[WallerWalla]

Meh, im just happy he stayed. Its just human nature to be tempted by more money.

[King-Osgood-1690]

INTRODUCING BRUNO DEMICHELIS

Carlo Ancelotti has brought one member of staff over from Italy with him, someone who knew the new Chelsea manager as both a Milan player and the club's coach.

Bruno Demichelis will act as assistant first team coach, overseeing the human performance/scientific/medical side of team preparation. Ray Wilkins's responsibilities as assistant first team coach are the football/technical side.

Bruno was with the team throughout the tour of America and it is about time Chelseafc.com discovered more about him.

Born in Venice, his excellent English stems from time spent as a young man working in an English-speaking glass blowing factory in the city and was advanced while studying in the States. It also comes from listening to The Beatles, claims Bruno, and is useful in aiding Ancelotti with the language in his early weeks.

Bruno joined AC Milan's backroom team in1987 and aided the club during its golden era. He was behind the famous MilanLab set up there. He has his own sporting past too, as visitors to YouTube can see for themselves.

But he is here to develop this generation of Chelsea players, and he is about to explain how.

Please give more detail on your role at Chelsea

My job is a scientific co-ordinator as I was in my previous job in Milan. Personally I am a sports psychologist so generally I will assist the coach in order to co-ordinate all the activities that are provided to the team and individual players to help them reach their highest performance level.

Was your job unique to Milan or common among top Italian clubs?

Let's say we advertised very much what we did at Milan with the MilanLab. MilanLab is an application of a very simple idea, which is putting the person at the centre and trying to have a holistic approach to working on injury prevention. It is trying to be really proactive which means trying to predict and prevent injury as much as possible instead of reacting when they are injured.

It is trying to be professional in every area. We will try to be more scientific so we try to make decisions based on data and information rather than opinion - that is in the tactical, the technical, the nutritional, the biochemical, the psychological etc.

In performance at this top, top level the difference between a winner and a loser is based on very, very little details sometimes. A 100th of a second; a few centimetres. It is little details. Of course you need quality, you need a solid base, but then you need the little details. That is what we will try to do because I have found in this club already that they have an extraordinary solid organisation and a team of professionals that are at an outstandingly high level.

I was expecting to bring more because I had ignored how well this club was organised. That was because you didn't advertise the fact very much. You had a very understated profile so we didn't know what we were to find here, and as a matter of fact I find it will be even easier here because so much is done.



So what does need working upon?

We need only to implement something in the mental area which will be looking at stress and all the instruments we use to assess the nervous system to see if the players have recovered from fatigue.

All top clubs know very well what I am saying, they try to cover all the areas and have an integral and integrated approach to performance. That depends on how advanced and how accurate the procedures are.

I think that we can bring experience because I was in the last 20 years in a club that was very successful and the same we will try to apply here because we strongly believe that this club can really achieve. That is because it was so close in the last five years, and I know how frustrating it is to come to that level and not succeed.
So we want to turn this frustration into positive energy and a fury - and help them to succeed because they deserve it.

It must have been a big decision to leave Milan after so long there?

Yes, it was a big decision but I took it in a fraction of a second. When Ancelotti said I'm moving, do you want to come with me, I didn't know exactly where but I said yes. That is because I like very much the guy, I worked with him the last 10 years and I knew him since he was a player.

We are close friends too and I love very much the approach he has. He is a very intelligent person, very loyal, very simple, he delegates very much so he also gives a lot of satisfaction to everyone who works with him.

They feel really appreciated and he is a caring person too, so he is a perfect manager to work with in my opinion. It was a big decision but my family is happy and they came with me. My nine-year-old granddaughter that I am bringing here has already booked herself into an English school to live this experience. I am very excited and motivated, and I am very proud and honoured to be here.



Who from your family has come?

My wife and my older daughter and my granddaughter with her, because my daughter is going to study for a masters degree in positive psychology in London. So I have part of the family and I am happy.

You used to be a top level sportsman yourself.

We are talking about 30 pounds [less in weight] and 30 years ago! I practiced for about 20 years very intensive karate and we can call this sort of practice professional, not because of the salary but because of the time invested. I used to train seven or eight hours-a-day for 19 years and I was several times national and European champion and I was twice silver medallist in Tokyo [in the world championships]. It helps me cope better with a team because everyone who has practiced sport can relate better with other sportsmen.

And you can be a bit of a singer too.

Yes, I like it and I knew you have this initiation in the club [when everyone new sings a song] which I really appreciate very much as it helps to socialise. We have a lot of fun and it was good to be invited to sing which I like when I sing my Blues, and also sometimes opera. My oldest son is a professional opera singer, he is a baritone.'

Chelsea FC | Official Site | Latest News | INTRODUCING BRUNO DEMICHELIS

[We-R-Chelsea]

good read, i was wondering who bruno was in the interview with espn after the Ca america game lol

[chels1905]

Who thinks Bruno from the new film looks a bit like Torres? ha

[Aus-Rotten]

[Jamieb08]

seen a better one that somewhere....

[WallerWalla]

So how do you think Joe cole is going to do next season?

The daily mail dont recon to great...
Ancelotti's diamond won't be Joe Cole's best friend at Chelsea | Mail Online


Do you agree with this?

Personally i would rather essien where mikel is and joey on the right, but the only problem being is that essien will play more forward and leave the defence unprotected. at times.

[chris louie II]

I think Zhirkov will play ahead of Malouda.

[WallerWalla]

Originally Posted by chris louie II

I think Zhirkov will play ahead of Malouda.

And this...I forgot that lol

[chels1905]

Cole as a second striker dropping down to nearer lamps anyone?

[Holminho]

Malouda is still more than important to us than Zhirkov imo. He's shown his versatility in the pre season games that he can also playmaker in the middle. I;m pretty sure he will start off as our first choice Lefty anyway so it's really up to him if he wants to keep it that way or just play sheyet and let Zhirkov take over

I saw the whole Joe Cole thing coming, was inevitble with playing with 2 strikers. We can't get rid of Essien - his passing and drive in the middle is too important, we can't get rid of Mikel either as his technical skill and quick feet help keep the midfield composed and without Mikel we wouldn't even be able to keep possession against the weakest of sides. Malouda? Dunno but other than that, there's only Lampard but he's 20 goals of our season. Not sure if Joey can replace that

But i gotta say, i have no doubt in my mind that JC can play the "Kaka" role that Carlo has Lampard playing better than Lampard. Lamps has looked lost at times in that position and it doesn't look natural to him, but Joey would run riot.

I would give Joey a go at it, take Mikel off and maybe bare having to see Essien being wasted at DM for a while to see how it goes

[WallerWalla]

Originally Posted by RerereChelsea

Malouda is still more than important to us than Zhirkov imo. He's shown his versatility in the pre season games that he can also playmaker in the middle. I;m pretty sure he will start off as our first choice Lefty anyway so it's really up to him if he wants to keep it that way or just play sheyet and let Zhirkov take over

I saw the whole Joe Cole thing coming, was inevitble with playing with 2 strikers. We can't get rid of Essien - his passing and drive in the middle is too important, we can't get rid of Mikel either as his technical skill and quick feet help keep the midfield composed and without Mikel we wouldn't even be able to keep possession against the weakest of sides. Malouda? Dunno but other than that, there's only Lampard but he's 20 goals of our season. Not sure if Joey can replace that

But i gotta say, i have no doubt in my mind that JC can play the "Kaka" role that Carlo has Lampard playing better than Lampard. Lamps has looked lost at times in that position and it doesn't look natural to him, but Joey would run riot.

I would give Joey a go at it, take Mikel off and maybe bare having to see Essien being wasted at DM for a while to see how it goes

I do like this idea tbh.

You should be a manager

Seriously though i think this is what Carlo had planned all along, because hes a huge admirer os Joe Cole but hes had to change his plans due to Joe's Injury

[KingAndyXVII]

Love it.
Should really have been our Away kit.
Chelsea FC | Official Site | Latest News | THIRD KIT AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

[King-Osgood-1690]

Looks brilliant, better than the light blue monstrosity and the electric yellow fiasco Adidas have served up this season.

Ok that's a bit cruel, i don't mind the away kit.

Still can't stand the home kit, but the third is class.

edit:

Looks remotely similar.

[King-Osgood-1690]

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I AGREE

Tragic film, utterly poor, and yet i still half lalalalaed myself laughing watching it

[WallerWalla]

I quite like our new away kit...

[Dazzer18]

Chelsea for the title this season?

[Strange Pirate]

I think they've got as good a chance as any. They have a hell of alot of depth in their squad now.