Chelsea who the **** are chelsea ') ....We have a squad who can challenge anybody in any league in any part of the world. You will be a brave individual to bet your life with the outcome of any one we play. We are up there with the best and i believe we can give anyone a game and win.....Of course we will lose games as that is part and parcel of the game as sometimes things just don't go your way.What you got to realize is we are a premiership side who look more established than teams that have been there longer than us. we don't look anywhere near relegation fodder and that is not me saying it it's top pundits who say we look the best of the rest......Me personally i take no notice of such rubbish as i believe we are as good as any of the big boys and it is them that has to beat us because as sure as eggs are eggs we are good enough to beat them...
Hazard has also picked up a knock on international duty . Even if Costa and Hazard play , ithey will be less than 100 % , every little bit helps.
There's a piece on bbc with Monk saying he'll shake mourinho's hand. Apparently mourinho didn't shake his hand last time. What wss that all about then? Don't recall anything at the time.
Chelsea 4 - 2 Swansea City Venue: Stamford Bridge, London Referee: Kevin Friend Date: Saturday the 13th of September 2014, 3pm kick off. Goal scorers Chelsea: Costa 45', 56', 67' and Remy 81' Swansea City: Terry (OG), Shelvey 86' Bookings Amat, Taylor and Shelvey Injuries Chelsea - Chelsea have slight doubts over Diego Costa and Eden Hazard but otherwise José Mourinho has the rest of his squad available. Costa suffered a hamstring problem earlier this week whilst Eden Hazard has an Achilles issue. Should the £32 million striker not be fit to start we could see Loïc Rémy make his Chelsea debut in this game following his arrival from Queens Park Rangers late in the transfer window. - André Schürrle is back after missing the 6-3 win at Everton. Swansea - Wilfried Bony fitness to be checked for Swansea ahead of Chelsea clash - Bafetimbi Gomis stands by if striker is ruled unfit following internationals - Marvin Emnes set to return from hamstring strain - Leon Britton ruled out for further four weeks with injury Lineups; Swansea -------------------Fabianski------------------ ---------------Amat-------Ash--------------- Rangel----------------------------------Taylor -------------Shelvey-------Ki---------------- ---------------------------------------------- Dyer---------------Siggy-------------Routledge -------------------Gomis--------------------- Bench; Tremmel, Amat, Tiendalli, Carroll, Montero, Emnes, Bony. Subs: Fernandez for Amat (HT), Montero for Routledge (66'), Bony for Gomis (76') Chelsea ------------------Courtois-------------------- -------------Cahill-------Terry---------------- Ivanovic----------------------------Azipilicueta -----------Fabregas---------Matic------------- ----------------------------------------------- -----Schurrle------Oscar------Hazard---------- -------------------Costa---------------------- Bench; Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Ramires, Salah, Willian, Remy. Subs: Ramires for Schurrle (HT), Remy for Costa (72'), Salah for Fabregas (82') MATCH STATS Chelsea..........................Swansea City 56%.................... Possession...............44% 29.......................... Shots ................. 11 9 ......................... On target .............. 2 7 ........................... Corners ............... 4 12 ........................... Fouls ................. 11 KEY BATTLES; Diego Costa vs Federico Fernandez (or Amat) - Cahill vs Gomis (or Bony)- Ki vs Fabregas. Gylfi Siggurdsson vs Matic Schurrle vs Taylor (or Tiendalli) QUOTES Garry Monk (Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month for August 2014) On the Chico sending off at the bridge last season and Mourinho's refusal to shake his hand as a consequence of Monk's complaint of Chelsea putting pressure on the referee to book Chico for a 2nd time... "It's not a big deal for myself," Monk said. "I'm probably not the only one who he hasn't shaken hands with. "I like to shake hands and finish well but I respect him highly, he's a top manager, a very respected person in football and in that bracket of the very elite." "They're one of the powerhouses of the league this season," Monk said. "They've got quality all over the pitch and there's a lot more strengths than weaknesses. "They'll be favourites for the title this season and they'll be a good test for us. "We have to give our best performance in order to warrant winning any points." Jose Mourinho - (Courtesy of ProjectVRD) “Swansea have a good team,” said Mourinho. “They had a good team (last year).... they've had a good team for a couple of years, since they were promoted in the Premier League. They've always represented themselves in the Premier League with a good team, playing good football for a while. They have good players and I don't think they've lost any good players. If they lost any, they weren't important players. They bought, bought well, and invested seriously buying quality players. “Federico Fernandez is an Argentina player who was on the bench in the World Cup final. Bafetimbi Gomis was a top striker in France. Gylfi Sigurdsson went back and is a very good player too. They did well to keep their good players and bring others in to improve them. They are doing very well and Monk to win the manager of the month is deserved.” “I would expect them to have six or seven points, not nine. But everybody knows that, in the Premier League, any result can happen. They had a surprise result in the opening game of the season at Old Trafford and after that they did what they had to do, winning two home matches against teams with the same kind of ambition. They did well. “They had one result which was unexpected for almost all of us, but they have nine points, they are top of the league - respect.” John Terry - “We have started brightly. “You always hope that your new signings come in and hit the ground running and our players have done that. Diego Costa has scored four goals and got off to a flyer. We are hoping he is available for the weekend against Swansea but he has made a good impact so far.” On the season's goals “No player should stand there when seeing another team succeed and not feel hurt,” Terry told the Evening Standard. “We came so close in the League last season, Liverpool probably feel the same." “When you play all those games and just lose out at the end, it’s disappointing, it’s heart-breaking. This is what you work all season for, it’s what you live for. I want to win trophies, last year we didn’t. We’re not more determined because we always are but with the signings the owner made, we will go for it again. “For me the hunger is there from not winning the league. We need to get back to winning the title. It has been four years since we last did it but I believe we have the squad to do it. We are so driven.” “I think we have a bigger squad than last season and it is going to benefit us,” adds the 33-year-old. “The Champions League kicks in next week and then there is the Capital One Cup after that. It’s going to help us that we have a bigger squad. Manchester City benefited from having that last season and we will this time, too.” On the defensive performance at Everton “I know some people have been talking about that,” Terry says of the result at Goodison Park. “We went throughout last season not conceding many goals and probably not scoring enough. We go up to Everton and score six and concede three but everyone is talking about the defence rather than how good our attacking play was. Before that we had only let in one against Burnley. “We are only three matches into the season and not had much chance through this period. I was the only defender in at training for much of the last two weeks. Everyone else was away on international duty. For me it’s nothing to get concerned about yet. If it (conceding too many goals) happens three or four weeks on the spin, then it is an issue and I’m sure the manager will take a look at it. There are no qualms or problems for me at all. “People can look at it that way but I think more should be made of the fact we scored six goals at Everton and how well we played going forward.” Players we share in common Roger Freestone, Scott Sinclair, Frank Lampard, Josh McEachran and John Hollins (who played for them and managed us)....anymore? RECENT FORM Burnley 1 - 3 Chelsea -------------------- Man Utd 1 - 2 Swansea Chelsea 2 - 0 Leicester ------------------- Swansea 1 - Burnley Everton 3 - 6 Chelsea --------------------Swansea 3 - 0 West Brom HEAD TO HEAD: - Chelsea have won all three Premier League home matches against Swansea and are unbeaten in the last six league meetings home and away (W4, D2). Swansea have scored just three goals in those six matches. - The Blues won both meetings with Swansea in the league last season 1-0. - The Swans did win 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup in January 2013, however, with Michu and Danny Graham on the scoresheet. - Swansea's only league victory at Chelsea came in the very first meeting between the sides back in 1925. - The Swans' last league win over Chelsea was a 3-0 Division One success at their old Vetch Field home in April 1981. - This is only the second time in Premier League history that the top two sides in the table have met as early as this in the season. Then-leaders Chelsea beat second-placed Tottenham 2-0 in August 2005. SUMMARY (From the Evening Post) IT is the New Wizard against the Special One, the team in the film against the side packed with A-list stars. It is the club who everyone expected to be somewhere close to the summit of the table versus one who nobody fancied. Not since Swansea City said goodbye to the Championship three years ago have they featured in a top-of-the-table clash. And the fact is that whatever happens against Chelsea tomorrow, they will not be scrapping with such heavyweight opponents throughout this season. Monk may be a New Wizard, as he was dubbed by respected Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport this week, but he does not have that kind of trick up his sleeve. Football finances dictate that a club of Swansea’s stature cannot compete with a behemoth like Chelsea across the course of a campaign. While the Blues will scrap it out with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal for the Premier League’s top prize over the next eight months or so, Swansea will be jostling for position in a sub-division of the top flight. A month ago, various pundits were telling us that Monk’s team were in for a difficult season. Plenty went further, stating that Monk’s inexperience — plus the loss of a number of players in the summer — would leave Swansea fighting a losing relegation battle. Four successive victories later, and the experts’ views appear to have changed. Robbie Savage tweeted during the demolition of West Brom a fortnight ago that Swansea’s fans were “getting boring”. He insisted he had “never said Swansea would be in my bottom three” before the season started, only that they were “one of 13 teams who could struggle”. As Monk would concede, the latter point still stands, for Swansea’s achievements so far this season amount to nothing more than a fabulous start. But Savage does appear to have had a shift in attitude given that before a ball was kicked, he declared on Twitter that five teams — Swansea, West Brom, Southampton, Burnley and Aston Villa — rather than 13, would “really struggle this year”. “Could three of these go down?” he asked. Perhaps, although he seems less worried about Swansea already. Savage is not the only one who appears to have more faith in Monk’s team on the back of their club’s best start to a season since 1923. Back then, Swansea Town began their campaign with five straight victories. Matching that feat will be an extremely difficult task given that Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have been virtually untouchable at home in both his stints as Blues boss. At least one of the two remaining 100 per cent records in the Premier League will go this weekend, and unsurprisingly, the bookmakers reckon it will be Swansea’s copy book which has been blotted come 5pm tomorrow. While Chelsea are odds-on for victory, Monk’s men are distant 11-1 shots to take the points. Clearly, the bookies have not read too much into Swansea’s early-season form — although they are now regarded as favourites to finish eighth this season. That would make them the best of the rest — the 13 Premier League clubs aside from Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Spurs. Should Swansea manage that in his first full campaign at the helm, Monk would be doing cartwheels. But Swansea’s young manager will not let thoughts drift towards the end of the season. His focus is on Chelsea, and on trying to deliver a display to match the one Ashley Williams and Co served up against the Baggies last time out. The cause has not been aided by the international break. Swansea had momentum after thumping Albion, so the two-week lay-off could have been timed better. There was disappointment for Monk when Swansea’s decision-makers opted against pushing through deals for the two extra recruits he asked for on deadline day, and there has been frustration on the training ground with so many important players away. Every Premier League club loses players during an international break — Chelsea had 16 senior stars away compared to Swansea’s nine — but then some managers, like Mourinho, get every signing they want. Even if one or two of Chelsea’s big names are a little weary after playing for their national sides, Mourinho has plenty of others he can turn to. It is the squad depth which Roman Abramovich’s cheque book has brought that explains why Chelsea are widely tipped to win the title this season — and to halt Swansea’s flying start tomorrow. Monk will not be too downhearted even if they do — provided his team produce a performance. Swansea’s early-season successes have come despite the fact that they have not always played to their full potential. The display against West Brom was the best yet, and Monk’s target will be to continue the progress made then. Swansea have conceded only one goal so far this season, and they must get their defending right again if they are to have any chance of stifling Mourinho’s various threats. Manage that and Swansea will have a chance of achieving something special, for Monk’s team always look capable of grabbing a goal themselves. A fifth straight victory is unlikely but not impossible, for Swansea proved they can win at Stamford Bridge in the Capital One Cup a couple of years back. On the weekend that the Swansea movie hits the screens, another success at Chelsea would put the club’s name up in lights once again. STATS: Swansea City (Currently 2nd place) - Chelsea and Swansea are the only two sides yet to drop a point this season (P3 W3). - Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored one and assisted four of Swansea’s six league goals this season. He has assisted as many goals in three appearances this term as he did in 58 for Tottenham overall in the Premier League. - The Swans have already claimed 21 per cent of their entire points total from last season (9 of 42) in only three games. - Indeed Garry Monk’s side have won four consecutive games for the first time in the Premier League. Chelsea (Currently 1st place) - Chelsea have won all three Premier League home meetings with Swansea and are unbeaten in six overall in the competition versus the Swans (W4 D2). The Swans did win 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup in January 2013, however, with Michu and Danny Graham on the scoresheet. - Didier Drogba scored on his one previous appearance against the Swans, in a 4-1 home win back in September 2011. - Diego Costa has scored four goals in three Premier League games; Fernando Torres took 39 games to reach this figure for Chelsea. - Only Eden Hazard (7) and Fernando Torres (5) got more goal assists for Chelsea in 2013-14 than Cesc Fabregas already has in 2014-15 (4). - This is only the second time in Premier League history that the top two sides in the table have faced off as early as this in the campaign (MD4). Then-leaders Chelsea beat second place Tottenham 2-0 in August 2005. ODDS: Chelsea to win: 2/7 Swansea to win: 9/1, 10/1 or even 11/1 with some bookmakers Draw: 9/2 TV: highlights on BBC1's MOTD Stream:
From Scottswan's site "The Swansea Way" View from a Blue This week we have Rasmus of TheChels.Org giving us the rundown on all things Chelsea. Enjoy! 1) Not a bad start to the season! Were you worried when Burnley took the lead in your season-opener? I was very worried for the full three minutes it lasted before we were back on equal terms again. It was the first game of the season, and you never quite know what to expect. My hopes were very high, and I really feel we should be seriously challenging for - if not winning - the Premier League this season, so obviously to go to Burnley and lose on the first day would've been a pretty bad start. However, seeing as we were level within three minutes of their goal (and ahead within seven) I calmed down fairly quickly again. 2) Have you been surprised by the attacking style you've seen so far this season? I have, yes! As I mentioned before, I really think this could be our season in terms of winning the league, but I was half-expecting it to be with the oft-criticised "park-the-bus" method that Mourinho is so often associated with. For us to go and score six goals at Everton was simply unbelievable - I thought we might go there to play for a draw, if I'm perfectly honest! However, it seems that Mourinho's mentality this season is quite similar to the one he possessed while at Real Madrid, where every week he was expected to not only win, but to win with style and with plenty of goals. So yes, I am surprised - but quite positively so, of course! 3) Are there any players we should watch out for in particular this weekend? Diego Costa has really hit the ground running at Chelsea, more than we could ever have expected. Four goals in his first three games is a pretty decent return as I'm sure you'll agree, and now he's just won the Barclays' Player of The Month award - his confidence must be sky-high, so I think he would be the obvious one to "watch out for" because he'll take some stopping. Cesc Fabregas has really settled in well as well, and if you don't keep an eye on him, he'll cause you a lot of trouble. 4) As for ourselves, is there anyone in particular you think your team will need to be wary of? Gylfi Sigurdsson has always been a player that I've really admired, and I was very happy to see him go back to the Swans. He's certainly started the season well, and I think he's your main threat right now, and Nemanja Matic will have his hands full on Saturday for sure. Wilfried Bony is also a player that I really, really like - but his start to the season hasn't been as convincing as Gylfi's. However, I think it's just a question of time before he starts firing, and it would be stupid of us to not keep an eye on him! 5) How do you think you'll fare in general this season? As mentioned, I'm predicting a really good season for us. Many supporters will probably agree with me that if we don't win either the Premier League or the Champions League this season, it has to go down as a failure. The potential is there for truly great things, we have a fantastic squad and perhaps the best manager in the world - so I believe that if we stay clear of major injuries to key players such as Hazard, Costa or Matic we'll do really well this season and walk away from it with some silverware. I'm not going to predict anything like a treble or a quadruple, because quite frankly football just doesn't work that way. In the cups it just takes one bad game to exit the competition, and of course we are capable of losing as well despite our strength in depth. Therefore I'm the most confident about winning the Premier League, as everything is not decided on a single game, but over the full course of 38 games. Having said that, I think we'll do really well in the other competitions too, and we'll definitely be capable of winning one or several of them. 6) Do you think you'll be looking to keep things similar to how you've played so far this season, or will Jose make changes against the Swans? It will be a similar approach, I'm sure. Diego Costa is an injury doubt, but having just brought in Loïc Remy, we now have a decent backup striker. Don't get me wrong, I love Didier Drogba as much as the next Chelsea supporter, but let's be honest - he is past his glory days. Technically he's still a fantastic player and can produce real moments of magic, but the pace is gone. He was never one to rely purely on pace of course, but it does play a big part for any striker. I imagine that we'll be looking to score goals on Saturday, especially seeing as we're playing at home - so yes, expect more of the same. 7) You've been very busy in the transfer market this summer - who've been the stand out signings? All of our signings have been terrific so far. Diego Costa is the striker that we've needed for several years now, Cesc Fabregas the brilliant pass-master in central midfield that Ramires etc never were, Filipe Luis is one of the best fullbacks in the world and will be extremely useful over the course of the season, and Thibaut Courtois (who quite technically of course isn't really a new signing) is the best young goalkeeper in the world. Loïc Remy is as needed as Diego Costa was, purely because you cannot just have one goalscorer in your squad. If Costa was to break his leg, we'd have previously been in big trouble - I like to think that's not the case anymore, as Remy is a very capable goalscorer from what I've seen from him over the last few seasons. I don't think it's fair to really single out one new signing as the main signing - but if you were to force me to answer it, I'd probably go with Diego Costa, as he has taken the Premier League by storm so far. 8) Do you feel there are any weaknesses in the current squad? Our squad is very strong now. We have two good players for every position, which ideally is what you'd want. However, it would be a real blow if someone like Cesc Fabregas got a long-term injury, seeing as none of our other deep-lying midfields have the same range of passing as he does. Having said that, they have qualities of their own - Ramires can sprint up and down the pitch for ninety minutes, Mikel and Matic are fantastic at keeping possession, Oscar could perhaps drop deeper allowing room for Willian further up front... There are options for us, which will be needed as this season will presumably see us play sixty plus games. 9) Lastly, what's your prediction for this weekend's match? I'm really looking forward to the game. The only two Premiership teams with 100% records clashing will surely make for an interesting match, and I'm certain that we'll witness some brilliant football. Both sides like to attack, both sides have players capable of producing special things, and both sides will be brimming with confidence. I doubt it'll be an easy match for Chelsea, but I back my side to do the business none the less. We're at home, and we're getting better every game. Everyone seems to be on top of their game and hungry for success. It won't be a huge win, and it will be nothing like the game against Everton. I think our defence will have been told off by Mourinho for letting in 3 goals so easily, despite the fact that our attack scored double that. I'm really hesitating between a 2-0 win and 3-1, but I will go with the latter simply because everyone loves goals, right? [I love goals but I don't like the scoreline! - Ed]. Massive thanks to Rasmus for taking the time to answer these questions. You can follow him on Twitter @ChelseaRumours, and have a look at his website TheChels.Org
it was to do with Chico (again) diving and fouling at every opportunity....the special one stormed off down the tunnel as soon as the ref blew for full time.....He had a right cob on... it had nothing to do with monk ....It's just mourino's way of showing his disgust....
Im expecting something from this game , if we score early . If Chelsea score early, baton down the hatches . Think Tiendalli will get the nod over Taylor , Gomis over Bony and Fernandez over Amat .ill settle for playing very well, its important .
I guess Mourhino wants to be an untouchable, like some of his players . I hate Mourhino, more lucky than special imo
Fabregas Vs Siggurdsson ; http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...lash-between-chelsea-and-swansea-9728967.html
The same approach as the Man utd game is needed where we believe in ourselves, The pressure will be on Chelsea because of who they are and have home advantage. If we play our natural game of trying to keep the ball while moving forward then we can get something out of this game. We have a number of potential goal scorers for once and im confident that should an opportunity arise we will score. I'm also pleasantly surprised how our defence has done so far as i thought we were weak at the back before the season started and im glad my fears have been eased. Like the Man utd game who had a fantastic pre-season we are huge underdogs and there are some tasty odds out there for us to take advantage of and it is definitely worth a few quid of anyone's money...One thing is for sure and that is Monk will have prepared the team well and we will go into the match with no fear and full of confidence in our own abilities.....
I'm not so sure about that roof when you look at his record in 4 different countries. I like his attitude myself as he is a no nonsense manager and he don't care about any other manager as he believes in his own ability and he has the medals to prove it...I like characters that are a bit different and can back it up....
Not true. It was to do with Monk, his players and the bench complaining bitterly that the ref was being hounded by the Chelsea players to book Chico. It was Mourinho's tactic of putting as much pressure on the ref as possible being called out that disgusted him, nothing to do with what Chico did. I too dislike Mourinho. To quote 'One who flew over the cuckoo's nest'...he is "somewhat a ****....he likes a rigged game".
Hes had money to burn since his rise from Porto , he's an arsehole that takes away from the integrity of the game ... its all about him and not about his overpriced players .His " Untouchables " comments only created anxiety amongst his team .. No money , no"Special One " imo . When he was sacked at Chelsea , Grant came in and didnt do anything , the team relaxed and went on to play very well .
24 hours or so till game time and Chelsea are still waiting on Hazard and Costa .It will be great if neither play , but will still be good if they have to play gingerly.
You need much more than luck to have a record like his. He's a top manager, whether you like him or not.
Y ou only have to look at his achievements. It tells you everything you want to know that his managing style has put him at the top of the pile as a very successful manager doing things his way. you cant fail to admire the guy who sticks two fingers up to the norm and goes on to win things....some fans hate him because he is a winner as this country is famous for trying to knock down winners in anything not just sport....
You only have to check the financial backing of guys like Ferguson and Mourhino to see why they get so much credit , you only have to look at Swansea managers since League 1 till now to see true achievements without fanfare
anyone can win things with more money than your rivals. Any good socialist who is repulsed by the amount of money in the game would be able to see that.
