Chelsea Vs Fulham

ghimpheng SG

Fulham need self-belief against Chelsea - Coleman
tribalfooball.com - December 28, 2006

Fulham boss Chris Coleman admits his players need to show genuine "self-belief" if they're to upset Chelsea this weekend.

Coleman said: "We have got a chance 11 versus 11 - but their home record is as good as any of the top sides in Europe.

"We know it is going to be tough, but this season we have beaten Arsenal, although we have lost to some of the bottom sides as well.

"What is most important for me is that we have to compete over 90 minutes - that is all I can ask for going into this game.

"If we go in with self-belief and our sleeves rolled up, anything can happen."

Coleman added: "(Manchester United boss) Sir Alex Ferguson has come out and said that both United and Chelsea will drop more points - and they will.

"It is possible they could drop points to us in this game, we know that."

The Fulham manager feels his team can learn a lesson from Reading's creditable performance at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day, but also knows they could face a backlash.

He said: "Chelsea's draw against Reading could work both ways.

"Either, the longer it goes on and we are still in the game, they will get nervous, or they will come out and try to put right what went wrong against Reading."

ghimpheng SG

Drogba: Chelsea quickly losing fear factor
tribalfooball.com - December 28, 2006

Didier Drogba accepts Chelsea cannot continue to give teams the "belief" they can get the better of the Premiership champions.
In the continued absence of goalkeeper Petr Cech and skipper John Terry, who could face an operation on his recurring back problem, the Blues have looked somewhat shaky in defence.

Drogba said: "It is something we have to think about.

"We cannot give the other teams the belief that they can score, that they can win.

"Last season, and also two years ago, we were very strong when we scored one goal and they other teams could not think about coming back into the game," the striker told Chelsea TV

because petr cech and john terry is injured that why

dragg SG

chelsea's problem arent just in defence.

it is their inability to score a lot of goals in a match.

ghimpheng SG

did you even get your stats right ?

chelsea was the top scoring club and concede the least last season and best goal difference team and 2nd top scoring club in epl last 2nd season and
currently 3rd best scoring team and 2nd best goal different team in epl

and we came out with 3 goals each in away games and 2 goals @ home

8 goals in 2 away games and 1 home game

stellazio SG

not score goals, is creating chances. i dun see shevchenko getting chances at all, no wonder he seesm frustrated. nobody is feeding him.

bryanseb SG

chelsea defence and attack sucks.....................................

Shevchenko cant score. Joe Cole and Arjen Robben injured. How to attack.

Petr Cech, Carlo Cudicini and John Terry all kenna injured. Defence very lack of depth.

All their replacement kinda sucks man.

dragg SG

i am wondering why they are blaming him.

why is he always in the midfield trying to create chances for himself? how do they expect to score? he is a superb finisher but no maradona.

i notice drogba's eagerness to outshine him is causing problems too. many a times when sheva called for the ball at a good position, drogba conveniently gave him a miss.

i have a feeling drogba is doing it on purpose.

dragg SG

i am talking about this season. 35 goals in 20 matches isnt a lot. it averages only 1.75 goals per game. and your have to consider the fact that they let in 15 goals too.

how often do chelsea win by a big goal margin, even against minnows?

in any match a 2 nil lead is never safe, let alone a one-goal lead which is common as far as chelsea are concerned.

how many time have chelsea ended up losing or drawing after taking a one-goal or 2-goal lead?

chelsea have the bad habit of slowing down or sometimes sitting back after taking the lead. and frankly they are not creating and scoring enough. man u certainly dont do that!!!

being better in goal difference than the rest of the teams in the premiership is a must. anything less than that is a failure. you must remember that chelsea spent a few hundred million on players, others team didnt!!!

stellazio SG

thats why, the press is blaming him, when it isn't he's fault. he doesn't get the chances at all. against reading, he hardly had a sniff at goal.

ghimpheng SG

united goals scoring record last 2 season has not been better than chelsea and in only a few matches they score alot

why is everyone saying that chelsea don't score enough while the stats show that they are one of the best scoring team in epl and concede the least

dragg SG

i also fail to understand why the special one didnt notice this fact and act accordingly.

dragg SG

we are not talking about last season. who cares about last season? its history.

consider how much it cost to build the chelsea squad - a few hundred million pounds!!! isnt it fair to expect more from the players?

as i asked earlier how often do chelsea win by a big margin?

mcfadden SG

Dun think Chelsea will be like previous season.
Now they goal-shy. Previously, they goal fest.

eemtij SG

Chelsea 4 – 0 Fulham

X-men SG

I waiting to see which is the team to beat Chelsea at home Mr. Green

ghimpheng SG

alot of times last 2 seasons

if history are count for nothing than LFC , United , Real Madrid , Ac Milan Etc Are Nothing

it is not end of the season yet and sheva and ballack are not even performing

ballack i wonder if he really will help improve the squad he hardly even touch the ball when attacking and his defence are only average but comitted to it though

Sheva can see that he play the game well but he seems physically weak and easily get bang off balance by others it is one of the main problem he having and also the lack of confidence keep passing the ball to others despite could have going for a shot

in fact last season Arsenal and Man utd and LFC win less matches by a big margin compare to Chelsea - Stats as prove

ghimpheng SG

Chelsea's Khalid Boulahrouz is suspended while fellow defender John Terry is out after back surgery.

Midfielder Joe Cole may yet need an operation on his broken foot and keeper Carlo Cudicini remains doubtful with a thigh problem.

Collins John has been called into the Fulham attack to replace the suspended Heider Helguson.

Fulham are also without midfielder Claus Jensen (groin) but captain Luis Boa Morte is fit enough for the bench.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chelsea (from): Hilario, Hedman, Cudicini, Geremi, Ferreira, Carvalho, Essien, Bridge, A Cole, Lampard, Makelele, Ballack, Shevchenko, Kalou, Drogba, Diarra, Obi, Wright-Phillips.

Fulham (from): Niemi, Rosenior, Christanval, Bocanegra, Queudrue, Routledge, Volz, Brown, Radzinski, McBride, John, Boa Morte, Runstrom, Zakuani, Omozusi, Lastuvka.

red_amoeba SG

objectively, despite Chelsea's inability to score goals or defense, Chelsea, together with Arsenal are still the only teams in Premiership yet to taste defeat at home. Man U, unfortunately cannot claim this credit. That is something.

Then again, like all of us here feels, I included, we are talking about this season, not last season or season before last. Chelsea may be that great that great but this season, they are not that productive in front of goals. Shev i think puts himself too much pressure & the public gave him too much expectations (I mean who wouldn't if you are transferred on 30mil pounds and paid obscene salary). As a result, he is now under tremendous scrutiny when he is not producing goals.

As a striker, Drogba is only right to be selfish, and its sometimes this trait that reaps goals. Passing of ball is only when you cannot score but its always a 50-50 right? Given Drogba's skill, he has scored a few spectacular goals that would seem impossible for you and me.

This year's problem for Chelsea i feel, is the lack of depth of squad. They do not have the correct replacement for each player. Terry and Cavalho, both central defenders, when one's out, there's no ready replacement. Ditto for the left backs and right backs. Actually strikers as well, if Drogba is injured, who can replace him? Koulou (spelling) ? think he is still too inexperienced. Robben & Cole (when fit) are midfielders, they are not out and out strikers.

I think Chelsea gonna splash out cash this summer. But even if you buy a mega-star, one must recognise that they need time to gel and settle down with the team.

eemtij SG

Anyone wants updates?

Or do you guys prefer to wait for the delayed telecast?

coldzero SG

DROGBA STRIKES AGAIN!

Anyway, who's this number 33 Morais on the bench?