Frank Lampard – The Oldest Guard

When you mention the name Frank Lampard to any Chelsea fan, one of the first words to enter their head would be legend, and quite rightly, Lampard is a modern day legend of the club, a pioneer, a gentlemen and a role model.

With another legend Didier Drogba recently leaving the club for a lucrative offer from the Chinese club football revolution, this now makes Lampard the oldest member of the squad, and the ‘oldest guard’

Turning thirty-four recently Frank Lampard has continually received criticism from fans, pundits and the media questioning whether he still has what it takes to be play at the highest standard. Lets take a look at some of the concerns raised so far.

We’re not allowing opportunities for younger talent to come through such as McEachran?

He spent last season on loan with Swansea City not really getting too many chances their and is likely to go out on loan again this season. Now I believe he is good enough to come in to the Chelsea first team and grow in stature, but his lack of chances has not allowed this as yet, he still has time and I believe he can be Frank’s replacement, he has to stay determined and focused and in the next two seasons will get more chances with the squad rotation.

He's still very fit and his performances justify that.

Lampard is too slow now?

Many critics have claimed that Frank has lost his pace. This is natural when you get the wrong side of thirty. But, his match engine and stamina seem as good as ever and he still hits both boxes on that pitch many times in a match making him still to be a brilliant box-to-box midfielder. Frank will be the first person to tell you that he feels as fit today as he did when he was twenty-four. Players play for longer in this day and age, their diets are better and they work a lot harder in the gym.

He’s had his run, time to move on, he’s too old now?

Is he though? Does he not still cover as much of that pitch as any other player on the field? Does he not still show the same desire and passion as when he joined us from West Ham in 2001? Does he not still prove on a daily basis that he has the work rate, the passing ability and the goal scoring finesse to still be one of Chelsea’s finest current players? I believe he does.

He often comes off from the bench and scores match winning goals.

But he’s not providing as many assists as he has done previously?
True, but he has still provided us with sixteen priceless goals from midfield. To his standard, that is also lower than average. But you simply have to look no further than our tactics last season, gone was the storming attacking play and in came this new defensively solid unit as a team. This meant Lampard playing a much deeper role and leaving the creative side to the more advanced Juan Mata. In my opinion, Lampard played the deeper role more than affectively providing help for John Obi Mikel in the holding role.

You only have to look at last season’s victorious Champions League campaign to see how important the old guard are. When the going got tough, we needed to dig in, and Lampard put as much as their heart and soul into winning every ball, chasing down opponents and pressuring the ball than any other player out there. He is Chelsea through and through and bleeds blue blood.

True Blue Through and Through....

  Lampard is surely a player who would stroll into any of the best midfields in Europe and do a superb job. He has the technical abilities that will match any other player in the league and wears the number 8 shirt with pride and passion.

I fully believe Lampard still has two/three good years left in him at Chelsea FC albeit in a different role than he and the fans have been used to. I believe the deeper lying Frank Lampard will be hugely affective within the next couple of seasons and he will provide the base for faster and creative players such as new signing Eden Hazard and Spanish genius Juan Mata so get forward and cause havoc. With more signings expected at the Bridge this summer I do feel that Lampard will be rotated more and game time will decrease, but so will the whole squad.

Frank Lampard has a part to play in our resurrection back to league champion contenders.

Super Frank, number 8, machine, legend, true blue

#SYP (CFC360)

Till then KTBFFH as always....

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Blues Not Giving Up Yet On Battersea

The reigning European Champions had officially made a bid last month for one of the most iconic sites in West London. Unfortuntately the owners of the Battersea Power Station chose Malaysian consortium as their preffered bidders.In the latest step forward, Chelsea have produced a selection of images with the help of development partner Almacantar and architects Kohn Pedersen Fox as a way of seemingly applying pressure on the current preferred bidders.

The following was published on the club's official website-

View of the West Stand integrated on the Power Station. The single tier "shed end" is to the left (south) and the image shows the stadium is rectangular in shape and not elliptical. (source: Dailymail)

Artist's impressions of the stadium Chelsea FC would propose for the Battersea Power Station site have appeared in the online property press today. These images were jointly produced by Chelsea FC, our development partner Almacantar and architects Kohn Pedersen Fox.It is important that our fans understand that Chelsea Football Club is not currently in discussions with the sellers of the site. The sellers have selected a Malaysian consortium as their preferred bidders, and we understand negotiations are continuing.

We do not know if those negotiations will be successful or not.As per our previous statement, and as these images show, we believe the prospect of developing a new stadium on the site could be very attractive for the club, and would have the potential to become one of the most iconic stadiums in the world, offering many benefits for Wandsworth, for London, and, of course, for Chelsea fans. We firmly believe our proposals could address the unique challenges presented by the site.

View looking southwest to the single-tier stand (source:Dailymail)

The design would integrate the stadium with the power station in a sensitive, unique and powerful way, with all significant historical aspects of the power station to be retained. In creating an iconic world-class stadium we would preserve the four chimneys and wash towers along with the historically significant west turbine hall and control room, all to be restored and retained in their original locations.As previously stated, it is not appropriate to give further details at this stage of the process but we will keep our fans advised of any further material developments as appropriate.

Here is how the proceedings happened-

On 4 May 2012, Chelsea announced they had submitted a bid to acquire the 39-acre site, with the club's property development partner, Almacantar, with a view to build a 60,000-seater stadium, on their Official website. With the club also saying they would restore the Power Station's four iconic chimneys and wash towers, and also the west turbine hall. On 7 June 2012, Knight Frank announced that administrators Ernst & Young had entered into an exclusive agreement with Malaysian developers SP Setia and Sime Darby, who were given 28 days to conduct due diligence and agree the final terms of the deal.

Chelsea stated via their website after being informed of this: "We are disappointed not to be selected as the preferred bidder for Battersea Power Station, as we believe we can create an iconic and architecturally significant stadium on the site in a scheme which is commercially viable and of great benefit to the Wandsworth community and London generally." On 11 June 2012, Chief executive of SP Setia, Liew Kee Sin, told: "We don't know what will happen over the next 28 days."

Chelsea have the smallest stadiums out of the so called big four and surely need a new stadium for cementing their position in Europe's elite. The vision the Club has in mind for the Battersea Power Station is really a profound one and the images prove that. If acquired the site would really benefit Chelsea FC in every manner financially,on the basis of competing with other clubs and increasing the club's over all fanbase.

The club had a meeting with the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) some time ago about the possible expansion of the Bridge but their were more cons than pros.

You can read the full extensive report here

Expansion of the Bridge is not a viable option for the club.

Conclusions of the report-

It is clear to the Board of Chelsea Football Club that a complete new build of a 60,000 seat stadium at Stamford Bridge has little chance of acceptability. We believe that, after our discussions with the council they have come to the same conclusion. A 60,000 new-build would cost over £600 million and require the club to play away for at least three seasons and, even if the economics were acceptable, the planning risks would likely be insurmountable.

Expanding Stamford Bridge to 55,000 also has a number of challenges. The cost per seat of expanding the stands is very high. The incremental revenues provide an unsatisfactory level of return, would not even cover the hypothetical financing costs, and the planning risks are significant. We believe the council recognises these challenges.

The club's exercise over the years has been to analyse a large spectrum of possible expansion options, even some which would appear to be unworkable. The Board recognises that our work will not satisfy every fan, but the Board also believes its work has been thorough, appropriate and in the best interests of the club and all of our fans.To reiterate what was said at the beginning of this summary, the club are not in any way stating we have made a decision on the need to move.

Till then let's hope the Blue God's  help Chelsea in mariculously securing the bid for Battersea Power Station.

KTBFFH till then as always....



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Our Best Champions League Matches of the Season

Today we recap some of the most amazing matches of last season as the BLUES marched on and became European Champions....

No one except Chelsea fans believed it was possible. That is why, when we finally won the Champions League on May 19th 2012, Chelsea fans were beyond jubilant. Our tireless faith had paid off, & we became Champions of Europe for the 1st time in our history.The win wasn't a "fluke", by any means. The team worked extremely hard to win the trophy. We may not have had the best team in the tournament, but our desire & never-say-die attitude eventually came through. Let us now take a look at the 5 best matches we played in the Champions League:-

Chelsea celebrating the 3rd goal vs. Valencia

1) Chelsea vs. Valencia, December 6th 2011- I believe this match was the turning point for us in our Champions League campaign. Chelsea had to win this match in order to qualify for the knock-out stages, but that was easier said than done. Results weren't exactly going our way, & there were rumours of dressing-room unrest between the players & the manager. The performance that we saw was nothing less than magnificent. The team played mostly on the counter, allowing Valencia to play their game. The tactic worked wonders. Didier Drogba chose that night to show Chelsea that he still had it, producing a fine performance that included 2 goals & 1 assist. Chelsea won the game 3-0, & that match was the moment that Chelsea fans realized that this could be our year.

Ivanovic (right) after scoring the winner

2) Chelsea vs. Napoli, March 14th 2012- 3-1 down after the first leg. Andre Villas-Boas sacked. Club in total disarray. No one expected us to make the quarter-finals. The match started, & Didier Drogba proved his love for the big stage once again by putting Chelsea ahead. Later, John Terry scored from a corner to make it 2-0. This scoreline was enough to see us through. But Napoli pulled one back. 2-1. Now Chelsea needed 2 goals to go through. When fans were beginning to lose hope, a penalty was awarded to Chelsea for handball. Frank Lampard stepped up, & showed us all exactly why we call him Super Frank. Into extra-time, & Fernando Torres, who had come on as a sub, missed a chance to put us ahead. But it didn't prove too costly as Ivanovic scored what was to be the winner. Chelsea won 5-4 on aggregate & were through to the quarters, against all odds.

Drogba scoring the only goal of the match

3) Chelsea vs. Barcelona, April 18th 2012- The first leg of what promised to be an interesting and intense semi-final. The match had special significance for Chelsea fans after what had happened the last time these 2 teams clashed at Stamford Bridge. As was expected, Barcelona had most of the possession, but that was exactly what Chelsea wanted. On what seemed to be our first chance to break, Didier Drogba (who else?) scored right before half-time. Barcelona came out all guns blazing in the 2nd half, but nothing they did seemed to break down a stubborn Chelsea defence. Chelsea went into the 2nd leg at the Camp Nou with a lead to protect, albeit a slender one.

Torres scoring in injury-time

4) Barcelona vs. Chelsea, April 24th 2012- The second leg of the semi-final. Chelsea had a 1-0 lead after the 1st leg, but that lead quickly disappeared when Sergio Busquets found the back of the net in the 35th minute. Minutes later, John Terry was given a straight red card for a foul on Alexis Sanchez. Iniesta then doubled their lead in the 43rd minute, & it appeared to be all but over for Chelsea. However, a delightful chip by Ramires made the score 2-1, & suddenly the tie was back in our favour. The next half was spent mostly trying to defend our slender advantage. There were some scary moments, like the penalty Drogba conceded. But Lionel Messi failed to convert the effort, & Chelsea kept digging deep, simply refusing to yield. Then, in injury time, a Barcelona attack was cleared down-field, & the ball found substitute striker Fernando Torres, who was clean through with only the keeper to beat. He went around Valdes & calmly slotted home, hence ending any hopes Barca may have had of beating us. Chelsea were through to the finals.

Drogba scoring the winning penalty

5) Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich, May 19th 2012- A day Chelsea fans will never forget for as long as we live (we'll even remember it in our afterlife). This was the day we'd all been waiting for; the finals. Bayern Munich had most of the chances throughout the game, but only scored in the 83rd minute through Thomas Muller. Normally that 1 goal would have sufficed, but Chelsea's stubbornness to let go of the Champions League shone through & Drogba managed to equalize in the 89th minute. Enter extra-time. Bayern had a penalty given to them after Drogba fouled Ribery inside the box, but Robben's kick was poor, & Cech saved. Extra-time finished, & it was down to penalties. Lahm scored Bayern's 1st kick, but Mata's penalty was saved. Cech was in sublime form though, & saved the penalty of Ivica Olic, before Schweinsteiger hit the post. The score was 3-3, & up stepped Didier Drogba. With amazing calm, he slotted home. Chelsea became Champions of Europe.  

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The Chelsea Way: The only way Chelsea can play?

This is a trend that’s been around ever since after the first leg match Chelsea won against Barcelona in the Champions league semi-finals and much was emphasized since our Champions League glory. It’s a trend where people everywhere say, that Chelsea can only play the boring and defensive football style. If what they’re saying were just to highlight that we can play well defensively, I’d have no problems with that. But in this case, the majority of people are saying this to degrade the qualities we possess as a football club.

This has spread everywhere, every social media and every news media. I have read so many times in social medias where people say, well basically, Chelsea is a team that can only play defensively. Here’s a conclusion I made on all the tweets and comments that are having a say on this:

Both Marin and Hazard were signed to bolster our attacking qualities

“Chelsea have signed Hazard and Marin, and now are going after Hulk, Ben Arfa, Schurrle etc. Why are they trying to sign all these attacking players when they’re just going to turn them into defenders?”

Now this is insulting. By my understanding, what all these tweets and comments are trying to say is 

this: Chelsea can and only knows how to play defensively. Before I start rumbling on how this nonsense is outrageous; now that the Euros are under way, a new term has emerged, The Chelsea way or some say, “doing the Chelsea”. Oh how thoughtful. The Chelsea way is basically a term used for a team using the similar tactic Chelsea used in the Champions League Semis and Final. Here’s an example; as we all know, Trapattoni, the Irish national team manager said they were going to use “the Chelsea way” to face Spain, and we all saw how that ended. Another example is France. They are to face Europe and World Champion, Spain. Reports from Bleacher report and other medias are suggesting that Laurent Blanc’s men will play “the Chelsea way” to face Spain.

Now some are complimenting Chelsea as they mean Chelsea exceeds others in defending, whilst others are just sore fans that for many reasons dislike Chelsea’s success last season. And for whatever reasons they’re saying all this, I finally feel irritated. How is it a team that played using a certain tactic for three matches considered that they could only play that way? So, what people everywhere out there are trying to say is that a team can only play one certain style of play in every match? Heck no. I’m not trying to say that playing defensively is a crime; we’ve had an article before about the beautiful attacking style vs. the boring defensive style, my main point is a team can’t be labeled a defensive team just because they played that way for a few matches. And that also includes Chelsea. We aren’t a defensive team, we exceed in defending, yes. But that’s not the only style we know how. Here’s my answer to those who keep on claiming we are a team that can only play boring defensive football-

1. It was a Tactic that Di Matteo used to perfection

Spot on tactics used against Barcelona and Munich

The three matches that got us the “boring” defensive team was the three matches we played against Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Yes we played defensively. But we did that because we had too. Last season saw us possess the worst attacking quality since the Roman era. Our only quality attackers were Mata, Torres and Drogba. While Malouda, Kalou and Sturridge were under performers. And Lukaku is still to young and inexperienced to be played in these important matches. Compare our atackers to rivals City, United and Arsenal? And we looked ordinary. Heck I sometimes thought Tottenham and Newcastle had better options upfront than us. So what Di Matteo had to do was to apply the best tactic he could. First, I’ll give a definition to what tactic means. Tactic has a definition of a procedure or set of maneuvers engaged in to achieve an end, an aim, or a goal/purpose. In football, I would put tactical aim is to get the best by calculating what you got and your opponents weaknesses and strength. And that’s exactly what Di Matteo did; he got the best out of our quality and took advantage of it. At that time our primary strength was clear: defense. Hence the defensive play against both Barcelona and Munich. Did we play defensively in the Premier League? NO. Did we play defensively against both Tottenham and Liverpool in the FA semis and final? NO. Fact is, Chelsea scored 19 goals since Di Matteo took over on March 4^th. And Chelsea also beat Tottenham with a staggering 5-1 win and a 2-1 win over Liverpool.

Who could forget that season when we broke all kinds of goal scoring records....

2. Stats say otherwise

Here are some stats to back me up. Chelsea until now holds the most goals scored in a season with 103 in 2009-2010 in the Premier League era. Another fact is that Chelsea is placed third among all teams that has participated in the Premier League since 1992-1993 with 1282 goals, only beaten by United and Arsenal with 1541 and 1345 respectively. Chelsea also scored 112 goals in all competitions last season, only 6 below United and 11 below City.

3. Other teams also played defensively

Yes, other teams also played defensively last season. To all Manchester United fans, remember the trip to Etihad? You basically parked the bus too, and worse, you had 0 shots on goal. And to top that, you still lost. Manchester City also played defensively at some occasions. They played defensively when they visited Stamford Bridge, and also when they played Arsenal at both Etihad and Emirates. And to top that, before this season, City was the most defense oriented team. We all know that as a fact.

So with all these, how is it just by playing those three matches, we are labeled defensive and boring? We can play fantastic attacking football and we showed it before. I know this article won’t instantly wipe all the nonsense people are saying out there, but I for one am certainly irritated and sick of all those talks. Roman certainly is showing he means business with all the transfers going on, so with all the signing that has already come, and the signings that will, I hope Chelsea next season will shut the mouths of those degrading and insulting our attack force once and for all.

How do you fellow Blues see it? Well, till then, Keep The Blue Flag Flying High as always....

#HWCFC (CFC360)

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