Rome Bound Part 5

This post has more to do with Chelsea and their recent rumors than Champion's League, but I suppose that changes in the club directly influence their success in CL, so I guess it's appropriate.

Recently there have been a huge amount of rumours going around about all kinds of things, some of them being Luiz Felipe Scolari being fired, Roman Abramovich selling the club, Ivanovic transferring [could happen], Terry transferring, Malouda transferring, Drogba being kicked out, Valencia being bought and Robinho coming to Chelsea. Of the above a few are likely, some could happen and one or two are NEVER going to happen. I'll take a look at each, give my opinion, and then put my own opinion out there as to what I think Chelsea should do.

Before we start, I would just like to say that I believe, and the general consensus is that Chelsea need new players, if not now then before next season, simply because the team have had so many injuries, as well as having a slightly 'thinner' squad than in previous years, and indeed than most top flight clubs. Chelsea have 25 players in their first team squad, while Manchester United have over 30 and Real Madrid have nearly 40.

Rumor 1 - Luiz Felipe Scolari being fired.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is a very successful coach who is clearly very good at his job, but has fallen victim to some unlucky times due to player injuries. The team haven't been performing well in the last 6 - 8 weeks, and as a result he has come under fire. Theoretically he is only the second coach since Abramovich bought the club [Avram Grant doesn't really count], and so there really isn't any evidence that Chelsea fire their managers if they don't win immediately. But people talk, and their was a rumor that he would be fired if the team didn't beat United, which the didn't do. Luckily for him, he still has his job and the team are doing 'better'. At the end of the day he's a great coach and I really think it would have been dumb to have fired him.

Rumor 2 - Roman Abramovich selling the club

I have no idea where this one came from, but it's unlikely that it'll happen soon simply because he's put too much money into the club, and there's no one who is likely to pay $1 bn for Chelsea during this economic climate. And if some Saudi family did buy the club, that would be a good thing, not a bad thing, because they would have hundreds of millions of pounds to flash around buying players like Ricardo Kaka, or Lionel Messi or whoever tickled Scolari's fancy. At the moment's Abramovich is suing a newspaper, so I don't think he's going to sell anytime soon.

Rumor 3 - Ivanovic transferring

This one could happen, because since moving to Chelsea, he hasn't really impressed much, even though he's a great defender, and I don't think his style of play really works for the club. There's a rumor that Inter Milan are trying to buy him, and apparently so are Manchester City [no surprise there...] but I think it's more likely that he'll move to Inter Milan because they are prepaired to give Chelsea another Portuguese defender, as well as money which is nice. If I remember correctly the Portuguese defender [I can't remember his name] has worked with Scolari before, and is very good, so this deal looks like it will go through in the next week...

Rumor 4 - Terry moving to Manchester City

Mark Hughes really has lost the plot, bidding 40 mil for Terry. Besides the fact that he'd never move, I don't know if 40 mil is enough. If you're willing to spend 263 mil on Kaka, then Terry is probably worth a little more...

Rumor 5 - Malouda Moving

People say that Malouda has been a flop ever since joining Chelsea, but I don't agree with that. He may not have been what people were expecting but he's a great right wing, and I hope the club don't sell him, or at least not now. I guess if they choose to sell him after the season, and they get a good price, it may be worth it. But I like him, he's second string behind Joe Cole, and he's got a great eye for a cross as well as making some really energetic runs.

Rumor 6 - Drogba Moving

I really don't know what's going on here. There are so may rumors going around that Scolari hates him, he hates Chelsea, he's in love with France etc. Personally I don't want him to leave because he's a better striker than Anelka [my opinion] and he's had some injury problems but he's all good now so I can't see him not playing really well. I say keep Drogba until his contract runs out, and if he's not playing well in 2 years time sell him, otherwise please keep him because he's awesome.

Rumor 7 - Valencia

I think this one might be true, because since the beginning of the season when the club lost out on Robinho, they have been struggling on the left wing and central midfield. As a result I think the team needs at least one more wing player and one more central midfielder, and I think Valencia will be a great addition to the team.

Rumor 8 - Robinho

People are saying that Robinho is unhappy at Manchester City, but I don't know what's happening there. All I can say is that it sucks that he didn't go to Chelsea, and it woud be great if he ends up there soon.

Rumor 9 - Teves

Chelsea have put a bid in to buy Teves from United, and I really want him to join the team. His contract ends at United at the end of the season, and with him playing second string to Rooney and Berbatov, I reckon he'll move no qualms. Apparently Real Madrid have also officially registerd their intent to buy him, but I think he'll want to stay in England, that is why he chose West Ham in the first place...


Ok, so here's what I think. Chelsea are a great team with great facilities. They have a few great players who are you and are not the best in the world now but will probably be in 3 years time and I think they need their chance to train with the best and play in the squad. Having said that, you still need stability within the rest of the squad, so I think they need one new winger, Teves if I had my way, and one new central midfielder or a new left back because if they get a new left back then Belletti can play in midfield instead of right back, where Paulo Ferriera has moved from.

If they can get a new left back, then Ferriera can move back to right back with Bosingwa, so the central midfielders would then be Lampard, Ballack, Belletti and Deco. Wings would be J Cole, Malouda, Kalou and one more, and strikers would be Drogba and Anelka. Di Santo and Stoch play on the wings, Kakuta plays central midfield and Mancienne plays full back.

I don't know if it'll happen but it'll be great if it does...