This week’s report is a bumper fortnightly look at not only the young Blues out on loan, but also at those who represented their countries at junior youth levels over the recent international break. We’ll kick off with the national team action, which was headlined by England’s Under-21 team qualifying for next summer’s European Championships in Denmark after coming through a tough two-legged tie against Romania. Michael Mancienne captained the…
A Point Gained Or Two Lost?
Never an easy place to go, Villa, as our record over the last ten matches shows. Yet with two strikes of the woodwork in the second half, should we have come away with all three points? The team lined up as Ancelotti had stated a day before kick-off, with options for changes limited at best due to the withdrawal of Didier Drogba due to a virus, Lampard still not recovering from his…
No Drogba For Villa
As the injury problems at Chelsea finally looking like we’re over the worst, yesterday brought more bad news in the shape of our super striker, Didier Drogba, due to a fever. With Benayoun now looking like he’ll miss the majority of the season, and with Kalou, Alex & Lampard all still not yet ready for first team action, the Villa match sees us play something of a ‘weakened’ team for…
Injury Blow For Young Blues Duo
For Philipp Prosenik and Jeffrey Bruma, the 2010/11 season started with much promise. Recent news on the injury front has, however, threatened to de-rail their plans for the campaign, one more seriously than the other. With John Terry and Alex both already battling problems which could keep them out of the weekend trip to Aston Villa, Dutch international Bruma may have been in line to partner Branislav Ivanovic for his…
Under-18s: Chelsea 0-3 Arsenal
Chelsea’s sluggish start to the Under-18 season continued into the month of October with a 3-0 home defeat against Arsenal on Saturday morning. Second half goals from Kyle Ebecilio, Alban Bunjaku and Josh Rees put a gloss on a scoreline not wholly deserved by the Gunners, who had goalkeeper Damian Martinez to thank for keeping them in the game in spells. After using such a settled team for much of…
Didi Does It Again
Sometimes I wish I was a betting man, because Drogba scoring against Arsenal is now, it seems, pretty much a forgone conclusion. It was no surprise then, that in the 39th minute, up stepped our super striker to do it again, and deflate Arsene Wengers pre-match bravado that this would be the year they beat us. Every season it’s the same, it’s becoming as iconic as Liverpool’s ‘we’ll win it…
The Loan Report: September 27 – October 3
In this week’s instalment of the Loan Report, a ten-goal thriller at Chesterfield for Rhys Taylor takes centre stage as we check up on Chelsea’s young loanees. Crewe’s Welsh goalkeeper has been in fine form so far this season and has been one of the reasons for the club’s impressive unbeaten run, which continued on Saturday despite dropping a three-goal lead to end up drawing 5-5 in what was an…
Force Or Finesse? We’ve Both, Arsene!
The only thing I love more than beating Arsenal, is listening to the musings of their slightly senile manager. Unless he didn’t see it, that is. A lot has been made of our physical strength, and whilst we are the tallest and heaviest team in the league, with Arsenal being the shortest and lightest, it’s disingenuous of Wenger to suggest that’s all we have in our Arsenal. When asked about…
Under-18s: Ipswich Town 0-0 Chelsea
Outings in previous seasons away to Ipswich meant those expecting an entertaining morning’s academy action were left disappointed. Dermot Drummy’s boys secured a third clean sheet of the season in a goalless draw which was unremarkable for almost the entireity of the match. Anton Rodgers’ second half dismissal was a rare talking point, and a disappointing one to boot. Chelsea started with Jamal Blackman in goal behind a backline of…
Reported To UEFA, Already?
Reported to UEFA already and we’re only two games in, some things never change. Just like that of European referees, this time Belgian Frank De Bleeckere who seemed intent on continuing what almost feels like policy now, in making what we’ll kindly refer to as ‘odd’ decisions. This time though, it’s not a manager, player swearing or criticising officials, the opposition or UEFA in general, but our stadium security staff….