(Late) Rant Box: Seattle v Chelsea
By: Jack | July 18th, 2009So I had this rant box written up for today’s match, and forgot to post it when my pops offered to buy me a car. Sue me.
Here it is anyway. And, yes, I know we won 2-0. A recap is coming — big up to Sturridge.
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It’s go time, people.
Chelsea’s preseason tour of the United States kicks off tonight — and so with it the managerial run of one Carlo Ancelotti as a Blue — with a friendly visit to the home of broke a** Beckham wannabees (calm down, Freddie). The Sounders have been burning up the MLS in their inaugural campaign, but will no doubt view this little friendly as a monumental piece of their early history.
And why shouldn’t they? Chelsea is the best team in the world, afterall.
Let’s have it boys. It’s time to get to work on the quadruple.
As always, let me know your thoughts and feelings right here. Haters, feel free to hate.
Team news and the latest from Chelseafc.com
“Carlo Ancelotti has selected a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield for his first Chelsea match.
Deco will play an unfamiliar holding role with Frank Lampard as the most attacking midfielder.
The back five are the same as in the FA Cup Final while with no Africans considered to start, Daniel Sturridge begins his first Chelsea match up front alongside Nicolas Anelka.
Please note that Chelsea squad numbers are for pre-season only and may change for the season proper.
The Sounders name former Arsenal and Spurs pair Freddie Ljungberg and Kasey Keller in their side.
Chelsea will line-up in a 4-1-4-1 formation as follows:
1 Petr Cech
17 José Bosingwa
33 Alex
26 John Terry (c)
3 Ashley Cole
20 Deco
13 Michael Ballack
15 Florent Malouda
8 Frank Lampard
39 Nicolas Anelka
23 Daniel Sturridge
Substitutes: All the rest of the travelled squad.
The Sounders are expected to line up in the following 4-3-3 formation:
Keller; Riley, Hurtado, Marshall, Wahl; Ljundberg, Alonso, Zakuani; Montero, Vagenas, Jaqua.
The referee is Alex Prus.”
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Tags: Chelsea Team News, Fixtures, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Match Previews, MSL, preseason, Rant Box, Seattle, Seattle Sounders, TourSubscribe
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Comments | Add your comment
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This was a good win for us. Although we could have scored more goals, I’m much happier that we did not concede because I am more defensive minded. And I also like the formation (4-1-2-1-2). I just hope (Daniel) Sturridge will be scoring a lot more in the Premier league.
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United States
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I am thrilled the off-season is coming to a close as well as with this afternoon’s performance (particularly the first 45 minutes). Sturride looked hungry (and youthful!) and took his goal brilliantly, and using Deco as a deep-lying midfielder may have been the first glimpse of Ancelotti’s tactical acumen. While he has lost a bit of pace in recent years, he’s still capable of making those absolutely killer passes, and I’d like to think he’ll be more effective in a similar role instead of inhibiting Lampard’s effectiveness as the true attacking fulcrum.
Does anyone know if Zhirkov will feature in any of the preseason matches in the States?
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I’m almost positive Zhirkov will join the tour at a later stage. Not sure when that will be, however.
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Nice… hopefully he’ll make an appearance against AC Milan. I’m anxious to see if his performances for Chelsea will be as good as those for Youtube.
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Good game today…the second half was hard to watch with Pizarro and Schevchenko playing at least Di Santo showed some potential.
What car was your dad offering to buy Jack?
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Terry in turmoil with Acelotti
Adebayor given hero welcome in manchester..Wenger blames fans!!!
http://footballfraternity.wordpress.com/
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Di Santo did look good, though he had to have been ready to slap Pizza Man. Also liked what I saw from Danny Boy and Deco — still, can’t get too excited about any of this.
Pops got me a new Civic coupe with leather. Can’t complain at all. Thanks for asking, bro.
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Chelsea starters warmed up ten yards from my seats. I think I hyperventilated.
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Can’t wait till we get Di Santo on loan. Very excited.
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chelsea is the best team in the world? come again?
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Oh yeah Sinclair also looked pretty solid yesterday despite losing the ball once.
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Apparently, I’m one of the 2 people in the world who thought Sheva looked fine out there. The other being Sheva.
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jon are you sure you just weren’t all lathered up by his fabio haircut?
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I actually thought Sheva looked fairly good. Then again, it was against a shambles of a defense. Sinclair in a CM position, yikes.
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I’ve always been a huge Sheva fan, so it was more blind admiration.
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I hope Shevchenko comes out guns blazing and scores a shit ton of goals this season. The man has had a tumultuous time at Chelsea, and he’s taken it like a true professional. In a way, he deserves to have it pay off. But realistically, I don’t see it happening.
The Blues have looked pretty good so far, despite a few substitions here and there that probably wouldn’t feature in the regular season and Champions League, which is fine as far as I’m concerned – that’s what preseason is all about. However, I was uncertain of Deco in the holding midfielder position simply because that’s not a position he’s accustomed to playing. I’d much rather see Essien in that role, even though Essien is very known for his driving forward runs. We’ll see though, we’ll see.
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yea, essien better be in the starting line up for the A-team…
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Deco did make some great passes, but did no one else realize how our midfield lacked defensively without Essien or Mikel? Deco did little to stop the ball in his part of the field, once Seattle got into the Chelsea half they almost always got it to the back line, forcing Terry or Alex to make crucial stops.
Also big ups to Ljungberg for shackling Lampard, our biggest midfield threat. He made Lampard seem like he wasn’t even there for much of the first half. It wasn’t until Frankie slipped into the box amid Seattle’s awful CBs that he got space.
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@AJR Lampard is my favorite player but he does tend to disappear sometimes when the attack isn’t going so well. And that’s not always his fault. Though he is the catalyst and playmaker for the Blues, he often relies on a solid defensive midfielder who can break up the opposing offense’s passing game and get him the ball. Lampard himself isn’t a tackler, though he has made some crucial tackles in his time. That’s why a pairing with a physical, dominating midfielder like Essien and Ballack is so powerful for the Blues because it allows Lampard to get forward and into the box, allowing him to score many more goals than most midfielders.
In my head, Deco and Lampard are essentially the same player. Deco is better with the ball at his feet, and can create opportunities with some incredible short range quick passing and offensive flair – Lampard has unparalleled vision and distribution, and can literally land a 60-70 meter pass right on the foot of a streaking forward or winger. The reason I prefer Lampard? He scores way more goals than Deco, and he’s the epitome of the modern midfielder…box to box play, great vision and distribution, good position, great passing both short range and long range, excellent long range shooter, clutch at the penalty spot, and a leader on the field.
We just really need Essien in there instead of Deco. Maybe Deco/Lampard/Essien and sit out Ballack?
Posted from
United States
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