Chewie

I've got this sneaky feeling - based on nothing more than a hunch - that this is going to be a partnership that will prove itself in the centre of the park....I really am dubious about Zenden but now that the chips are down and both will get a run of games I wouldn't be surprised if this coincides with us showing some good form and winning games (our fixture list will help this by the way)... anyway - nothing more than a hunch but almost precisley because its a partnership that no-one would have picked I reckon it'll work - both have something to prove in there and in a sense the expectation is off.... watch this space! YNWA Chewie

bad for momo and us that he'll be out again... the irony is though that Momo has looked our best player this year, in no small part due to the fact that he had a rest in the middle of last season due to being injured (think of Gerrard, and Alonso, last year following the Champs league season during which they both had lengthy spells on the sidelines....) I expect Momo to come back and really help push us on in the latter half of the season and then to be absolutely on top of his game in 07/08 (not advocating losing a player through injury just cos he'll be strong and fit the following year - just highlighting the fact that whereas others have looked tired Mom has looked - as they say - BOSS!) Get Well Soon Momo, YNWA Chewie

hope Rafa gets one heck of a reception at the start, beginning and end of this match regardless of the result...flippin' heck think of the support and time given to predecessors without a modicum of the glory that Rafa has brought.... in the summer we were all made up at the signings made and the expectation was high, maybe too high, but regardless of whatever debate we could have on the reasons as to why this has yet to be realised please give Rafa a reception like he's never had before - a few banners asking for the Judas to be outed wouldn't go amiss either!! YNWA Rafa Chewie

went once to old toilet to watch us get beat by the mancs 1-0. Sat in the family enclosure near the tunnel dividing us from the Stretford end. My mate was a manc but we both knew the score...it was one of those games in the mid-90s when we always played well against em but seemed to get beat...had to watch Backham (I think) score in the Stretford end with that centre half they signed from Blackburn - David ????? - getting mom cos they spent most of the time defending.... anyway - bit of a strange experience...you kind of have to adopt an impassive tourist like approach - as if you are attending a football game to appreciate the stadium, the game and the atmosphere - without ever allowing yourself to be a part of any of it. Can be a bit of a sterile way to watch a match...but you can pretend to be interested in 'football' or in the game - as if you are some sort of neutral observer who can say 'they're playing well though', or 'good pass'...but you have to do it for both sides - only you will know that when you refer to us it is in support and when it is the scum it is merely a factual observation that you would hear at any match....you do have to clap if they score - almost in recognition of the fact that you have seen a goal (the way Roman did when he first came to Chelski), but if we score you could remark that you had seen it coming.... anyway - on the outside I was a neutral observer delighted to be at a premiership match, inside I was busting a gut for us to win...the first bloke was right though - the irish accent will help - we were both from norn iron...if any manc gets talking to you just talk about George Best, that they've named an airport after him, ask if they ever saw him play...blah, blah, blah.... hope you can enjoy it - I felt strangely detached from the occasion even though I was part of it...the wife owes you big time!! Make sure she understands not to say anything - my mate knew the score and so there was no problem on that front - last thing you want is a wife who things - sure what does it matter, it's only a game (sorry if that sounds patronising!!) YNWA Chewie

girl I know went to her first football match on freshers week at Uni in Scotland. Anyway, ball came into the crowd and banged her one right on the head...she needed a metal plate inserted.... I'ld go with Cam's advice - duck!! YNWA Chewie

he has a valued role in the team is fair enough but in a sense that is my point - he has a valued role in a team that is playing well...he looks a great player when everyone else around him is on song. That in itself is not a criticism as almost all players look great in a team that is playing well and where good players are playing alongside them...however, for many years now we've witnessed in football a recurring phenomenon......creative attacking players and goalscorers cost more, get paid more and generally speaking are harder to find.... almost all pros talk about how this is the hardest part of the game and you can see this simply by observing the difference between your average Sunday league team or even half decent semi-prof league and the top leagues...look how much time and space are allocated to full backs and deep lying midfielders...when we get the ball the opposition drops into their own half, when they get the ball we do likewise...finding the key to unlocking the door in the last third is what separates good attacking teams from great attacking teams and this is why these players cost the most money... in Crouch we have distinctly average who can on occasions look good...imho that is not enough at this level to make the difference we need - he is neither a link man in the vein of Rooney or Bergkamp or Zola, nor is he a line leader like Shearer.... he was always bought to be plan B - that is how we justified his purchase at the time - and I for one will be disappointed if he becomes our plan A without any apparent improvement on his part to justify that change YNWA Chewie

my problem with Crouch (amongst many) is this... when he was signed he was supposedly a useful Plan B - someone who offered us something different, especially in away games when we at times would need a more direct approach.... somehow along the way he's seemingly become Plan A - not in the fact that he plays every week or even that he is one of our top two strikers but in the sense that when he plays we know we have to play in a certain way to accomodate him. He is not the aerial presence his height suggests, and he is simply not quick enough off the mark in the box to be a clinical finisher...when Crouch plays the whole team needs to be playing well for him to have a good game. He will never be the player that drags a team that is not playing well and adds something extra to make things happen.... as for the 'he's got a good touch for a big man' I would suggest that he has an ordinary touch that is made to look good because you don't expect it from a big man. Further, yesterday he was trapping a ball further than I can kick it so when his supposed good touch let's him down he is an absolute liability. Also, he supposedly brings 'so much more to the team' than goals - but what is this - pace, heading strength, beating a man, playing a through ball, is he a line leader or a link man.... Crouch does give us something, but is that something enough? To be fair the team is not playing well at the moment but that in part is my concern - when your team is not up to scratch that is when you need something that little bit extra to lift everything out of the mire.. if the team is playing well Crouch will look good, if the team is not playing well Crouch will not be the man to make the difference. Kuyt has not had much time but so far it seems that he does try and make things happen. He looks more athletic, seems to have good awareness of those around him and he attacks the ball the way a finisher should - to be fair he too has been part of a team that Rafa tells us has created more chances than anyone else but are not putting them away (Rafa may have a very valid point but I hope this is not the start of the Houllier statistical excuses....) Bottom line is that if you are creating loads of chances and not finishing them then the players paid to score goals ain't doing their jobs well enough or are not up to doing their jobs - and on this score no-one is blameless (though Kuyt at least should be given more time) So there's my thinking on Crouch - when we play well, so will he, when we don't he will look like rank....the last comment to make is that this may be how Rafa sees it and indeed how he wants it...in a sense if the team wins as a whole due to their style of play and system it is the manager who takes enormous credit, if your team has one brilliant individual then they get the attention...we've seen glimpses of this with the whole Gerrard scenario - there are loads of points that could be made here but this is a Crouch thread so I'll try not to detract from that.... YNWA Chewie

another thing about the doc is this.... although a player's contribution and career is more than simply what you see in the highlights package and although there is infinitely greater coverage nowadays the clips of Gerrard's career are really quite spectacular - more so than the King's. Some of the goals Stevie has scored have been truly awesome - including belter's, headers, and mazy runs at pace into the opposition area...added to that is the range of passing of Gerrard and the fact that he has scored in the final of the league cup, FA cup, UEFA cup and of course the Champions league - the only player to do this - and there is a real argument to say he is now or will be in the future considered to the be the greatest.... although many current players have made it into the top 100 based on the fact that they have played in the premiership era - perhaps at the expense of some greats - the top ten really started to whittle down to the very best I wonder if the fact that Stevie is still current counts against him being considered the best ever - it is hard to better nostalgia.... many of the commentators on the doc when speaking of Stevie suggested as much when they said that he has years ahead of him and could well become the best and greatest - as if the only thing standing against him is the passing of time... I reckon that if he holds aloft the league trophy then he will have won everything in the club game and may well be seen, in time, to be the best ever...of course he hasn't been that hot in the opening games of the season but we're talking a minor blip... anyway - if you get a chance to watch the clip it is impossible not to be bowled over by the magnitude of Gerrard's play and contribution, and incidentally, it has only just dawned on me just how good a cushioned and positioned header that was on the 25 May 200 and glorious 5..... YNWA Chewie

I love Carra's quote on the documentary Kenny's the greatest football person in the country: Why Well, we're the most succesful club and he's our best player... love it YNWA Chewie

so who hasn't been impressed eh with Kuyt...thought I'ld get the ball rolling on just what it is about him that has the potential to be sooooooo goooooooooooooooooooddddddddddddddddd... 1. at last a player who comes and lives up to all expectations - I just love that...we've been after this guy for so long and at last he's here and we can all see why... 2. the way he really blasts the ball - I know it probably cost a goal against the chavs but I just live the way he simply powers the ball towards the net (people have made comparisons with M Hughes - a player I hated because of his jersey but admired becasue of the way he played...) 3. His workrate....he is so fit and just works so hard for the team 4. The way all of the above has raised the bar for other strikers....no-one wants to look lazy and with a strike partner who is less inspiring than Kuyt you could hide and not look off your game....none of our strikers will be able to hide when playing with Kuyt 5. His link play - its so much more impressive than what I expected...a lot was made of his versatility on the right and I was fearful we were signing another striker who played in a wide position...but all that time doing other things for the team has made him so 'game-aware'. Rafa talked recently of game intelligence and I think he's got it and will get better at it.... 6. His willingness to be a real and mving target for players like Garcia, Gerrard, Alonso etc who have the ability to play a killer ball....remember once hearing Craig Johnston talking about the brilliance of King Kenny and how as amazing as the King was his genius needed willing runners to make the moves into places that only he could play the ball....Kuyt makes those runs - into danger areas... 7. The way he slid in for that goal against Newcastle - it was a real hungry finish.... anyway - I know I'll get no prizes for saying this guy is the real deal but hey...we waited all summer for him to come and it just feels sooo good that he has lived up to expectations.... feel free to keep the ball rolling as I am sure I've missed other great things about the guy since his arrival.... YNWA Chewie

Now that crespo has signed for Inter does anyone else think that Chelsea will start looking for a new striker and that man could just be Kuyt - achieving Moaninho's double whammy of adding to the squad and preventing us from doing the same? Chewie

The only reference to Real from Xabi is "I have heard nothing from Real" from the Sky Sports quote and as others have said there are new reports in addition to the reports and rumours that I heard and read about whilst wide awake for the last week or so... my point is more or less this, Real very rarely miss their man when they set their sights on him. Viera is one of the few and hopefully is the example for Xabi to follow...more often than not though when they turn up the heat other clubs get burned with the loss of their player...what about Xabi when he does hear something from Madrid...I hope the club will pull out all the stops to keep him...I can see Benitez appreciating the need to work within a budget for new signings but I don't think he would suffer lightly the loss of one his key players.... Still Desperately Seeking Assurance Chewie

starting to read more reports about Real and their intent to land Xabi...unfortunately when they go knocking at most clubs they get their man....anyone else worried that if they really start pushing the buttons they will eventually succeed. Xabi only said the other day that he is not thinking about Real 'now' which is fair enough but what about in a weeks time when they really step up the chase? Desperately Seeking Reassurance Chewie

that is genuinely one of the best 'just signed' interviews I have ever read...loved the bit about leaving people at Blackburn to join the club he loves with all his heart - sounds like he is not going to want mess this move up!! Get in Craig...I for one am delighted to see you here cos I always hated when we were playing against you... YNWa Chewie

eh?

Yeah but i am quite sure that when signed the potential for an increase was factored into rafe and the board's thinking. Reckon the days of us paying over the odds in wages from the outset unless they are truly an established superstar are well and truly over. Reckon we could more than outdo whatever he was getting or likely to get at Valencia without hanging ourselves if he proved to be useless or restricting ourselves from going up if he proved, as he has, to be worth paying more to.... would like to think that if he gets a raise its a sign of our better business acumen and player management under Rafa. It always helps cement the working relationship if you give yourself enough slack to 'reward' your staff. From Momo's perspective it will be a pat on the back and make him feel wanted by the club, from the club's perspective they will probably only be paying him what he is worth as an established player... don't see the problem really... good business and player management I'ld say, YNWA Chewie

loved that last line... the boy is a genius! come back Michael..... what a montage and agreed - someone please come up trumps with the track on the background YNWA Chewie The Band is Feeder The song is called Feeling a Moment and is on the One Tree Hill Soundtrack Volume Two (as well as presumably the band's own albums!) Cheers Chewie The Feeder album this is from is called Pushing The Senses Hope that clears all that up then Chewie