The Pride of London: From Weeds to Winners

[Steve@Chelsea]

From Weeds to Winners

It's been a long pre season in FFO.

Weeds had sprouted around Chelsea's Cobham Training Centre, such had been the length of time since season 3 wraped up. It felt like an era as long as the last iron age had passed as we waited paitently for season 4. None the less, it won't be long now. Only a couple more weeks to go...To that end, the new Chelsea manager Steven K Talbot has bothered himself to start his daily helli-commutes down into the capital to get the group of players he signed way back in April & May together finally for some training and tactical work.

Talbot's initial task was to clear away the overgrown weeds. Always a man to delegate any difficult manual tasks if at all possible, he assigned that labor intensive work to the unsung hereos, the blue collarded workers of a football club, "the squaddies".

"Give them useless pricks something to do, other than be wage stealers", Talbot shouted at his assitants.

Next up, Talbot worked on a couple of formations and tactics for The Blues. Talbot learned that although the team has improved leaps and bounds during the bonanza AND gone younger, they are no Real Madrid quality wise, so he may have to temper his normal tactical outlook at the Bridge. But we will see on that matter.

With the tactical work out of the way, let's take a look at the Pride of London's first 11, after a whirlwind of a pre season which contained 35 transfers out, and 34 transfers in.

Goalkeeper

D_Henderson 28 eng 25 1 1 1 24 30 1 1 1

A solid 25 rater keeper is not to be sniffed at.

Looking at the all player list there are only 10 25 rated goalkeepers not counting captains (as the all players list doesn't at the moment). Henderson is a big improvement on Uni Simon who was a low 24 rated keeper. Henderson arrived from Barcelona in a swap deal involving defender Y_Berchiche also arriving at Stamford Bridge in exchange for Simon and former Roma defender Nacho. Talbot was suprised that Sam Bradwell took the offer, taking on the weaker Simon, but he didn't stand around to question Sam's decisions and quickly sent in the paper work to bring Henderson to Chelsea, he will be a big help to the club this season.

Defenders

Y_Berchiche 34 ESP 1 22 18 14 22 1 878 396 886
A_Wan_Bissaka 26 eng 1 21 17 12 23 1 803 380 49
D_Dalot 25 por 1 21 19 13 27 1 345 289 834
T_Tomiyasu 25 jap 1 21 17 14 28 1 90 81 129
T_Lamptey 24 gha 1 20 19 14 22 1 384 697 890
R_Sanches 26 por 1 19 20 15 28 1 340 640 136

It appears has though Talbot has taken the classic managerial view point of sorting out your defence first.

5 of the 6 defenders are in the 24 to 26 year old age range, apart from the new captain Y_Berchiche who becomes a 22.87 rated defender with the black arm band. Berchiche could hit 23 rated before the mid season and Talbot will hope he can marshal the talented new look Chelsea back line as they develop. All have decent to excellent passing, and almost all have very good shooting. The style Talbot likes.

Dalot was an auction signing after the club failed in the first round for forward Marcus Rashford, and is an excellent passing defender and a decent consolation prize. Tomiyasu was swapped from Leeds for the older/better Spinnazola as the club looked to the future and to establish an age range band for the team. Lamptey was a somewhat bargin signing from PSG, as Talbot worked a 3-way with West Ham and the Paris club that saw the blues sign Lamps for the services of A_Christensen and £17.5m.

Sanches was perhaps the most expensive signing of the bonanza, as Talbot was bent over a barrel by Lazio boss Ryan Field and forced to give up basically a 2 for 1 for him with young Elanga and Hecke heading to Italy in exchange for the multi skilled DM, with £10m and a squaddie coming back alongside Sanches to Chelsea. Sanches is good enough to play both DF and DM and has excellent shooting for a defensive player. A lot paid, but a big talent.

Midfield

M_Odegaard 25 nor 1 4 21 19 27 1 400 572 763
M_Mount 26 eng 1 2 21 18 27 1 551 350 289

The midfield is a little light, but you could add Sanches in this department too. Odegaard was an astute signing from Leeds while Mount came from Liverpool. Both are decent midfielders in the right age range for the clubs directive. Odegaard is the gem here but Mount is no slouch, although if Talbot was looking to improve in the future, it would probably be with improving on Mount so the lad is under pressure this season to deliver and showcase his abilities to the new gaffer.

Forwards

Saint_Maximin 28 fra 1 5 17 22 28 1 392 578 350
F_Chiesa 26 ita 1 5 18 22 22 1 387 795 100

The one big area the club could do better in, having failed with their auction bid on 23 rated Marcus Rashford. Alan Saint Maximin and Federico Chiesa are not world class strikers, but they are very servicable and top 8 quality, and come equipped with good passing. Talbot will look to improve this area whethers it's in the market or on the pitch, but it could take some time. Chelsea will not be built in a day, although Talbot gave it a good go in the bonanza.

Overall

Overall, Talbot will be confident that Chelsea will obtain Champions League qualification in Season 4. The goal will also be to progress out of their Champions League group which also contains PSG, Newcastle Utd and Sporting Lisbon. The big goal will be for the Pride of London to claim the status of the top London club in FFO, but they would need to usurp rival London teams Arsenal and Spurs in order to do so who are of a similar quality, with Arsenal in particular have more recent pedigree. Much will depend on Talbot's tactics as in, will be go for the highest league position possible or will he go a more developmental route with the goal to still obtain Champions League football, or perhaps a mix of the above.

For sure, it will be an interesting season in the Premershhip which has seen a host of changes in management with the likes of Edwards in at Liverpool and a Leeds team that are clearly gearing up towards challenging the two Manchester teams for the title again. Most pundits seem to be placing Chelsea around 4th, 5th or 6th best in the Prem which would seem about right. Chelsea won't be contending the title, but could they be the true Pride of London?

Words: 1,047 (with player stats removed)

[Steve@Chelsea]

Premiership R1

Chelsea 0 - 0 Crystal Palace

The "kings of London" dominated the game against fellow city rivals Palace with 20-6 on shots, and 10-1 on target, flipping between E and A, but we couldn't get that end product our play deserved i.e goals! A disapointings output for the debuting gaffer Steven K. This should have been 3 points on the board 9 times out of 10, but today it wasn't thanks to a resolute defence from Palace. We will review the game and analyse what happened and see what the next game brings. GG Palace

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July running total: 1678 words obtained

[Steve@Chelsea]

FA Cup - R1

Reading 2 - 8 Chelsea

Chelsea played an open game verses a third tier team in Reading and got rewarded with a big win, despite Reading playing a solid 541P. ASM grabbed a hat trick, two from Odegaard and one each for Chiesa, Mount, and Sanches. The majority of the teams who should win, did win in this cup so plenty of spicey ties available to be drawn in round 2. Milwall away anyone?

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July running total: 1754 words obtained

[Steve@Chelsea]

Premiership R2

Newcastle United 5 - 5 Chelsea

A ten goal thriller at the Toon, as the West London spice boys once again show they are the most exciting team in the Premiership. Chelsea looked to seal 4-5 win but with seemingly the last kick of the game the geordies equailised to scupper our hopes for our first three points of the season.

2 draws to start the new season is perhaps under par for where we want to be, but on the other hand we are still undefeated. GG Chris.

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July running total: 1844 words obtained

[Steve@Chelsea]

Premiership R3

Chelsea 1 - 1 Southampton

Saints are a good team and we just couldn't really get going in this match. We took the lead but was then pulled back level quite quickly, and after that the game was quite drab with not a lot happening. Felt like I was watching England for a minute. Chelsea are still unbeaten, but we need to start picking up wins and 3 points.

FA Cup - R2

Coventry City 0 - 2 Chelsea

A relatively comfortable win over Coventry on the road to progress into the third round, with goals from Odegaard and Lamptey. We showed the world another side to us tonight, we can play another formation. We are not one trick ponies and into the hat we go. We expect a few teams will be wanting to draw us to leverage the social media clout that we obviously bring. A couple have already called us out, of course. Just having their club name alongside ours on the marquee will be such a boost to the brand of those kind of teams, so I can't blame them for wanting to hold onto Champagne Chelsea's coat-tails. Bring it on!


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July running total: 2038 words obtained (All done)

[Steve@Chelsea]

*Reposted from Discord Media for credits

"Right Said Fred" stays right here, says Talbot.

A Chelsea spokesman, aka Talbot wearing a faux bald head wig, 80s dangler earring, tinted light brown shades, white string vest and a leopard skin coat appeared on the clubs social media channel earlier today. Talbot announced that "Right Said" Fred is an integral part of the Chelsea squad, and is becoming a bit of a cult legend amongst the Spice Boys. Talbot has heard the rumours of Fred being recalled from his loan earlier than his agreed contract but dismissed the rumours as just media speculation and fake news. Talbot said that he has two half season loans agreed with respected managers Simon Marsh and Jon Banks, and takes it as a given that both men have the highest of integritys and that he bets that it wouldn't even cross their minds to do such a dastardly deed to a club that has overachieved on their loan transfer expectations. Talbot lowered his shades, did an exaggerated wink and then performed for the cameras doing a little jig and wiggle to the early 90s hit that began to fade in

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August running total: 188 words obtained

[Steve@Chelsea]

Premiership R4
Chelsea 1 - 0 Man United

The last time I faced SteveO it was in the semi finals of the CL with Madrid, and we soundly beat them. However, I'm not at Real Madrid now and I always see Outten as a good challenge for sure so we definately took the time to plan for this one.

The prem report media by Tim summed up the game better than I can to be honest.

Chelsea suffered an injury to key defensive mid Sanches, but took the lead through our buy from PSG Lamptey, before our goalkeeper also got injured 1/3 of the game in. Despite this we held on to win the game and secure our first three points of the season, although we are still unbeaten - however this might change now looking ahead.

It was an odd game in that Man United must have got most of their shots on target in on our first team keeper, but then when our sub Ratti came on United was wateful and wide, failing to take advantage. Man United themselves though showed in the Champions League final a couple of seasons back that it is possible to win with no issues with a sub keeper, and we did that today verses a good team so I am very happy with the result.

Premiership R5
Barnsley 5 - 3 Chelsea

I skulked off last night after our defeat trying to avoid the press, but yet we are the first to face the media. Come on Prem lads!

Took this game as a free hit with us deploying a 19 rated goalkeeper. The plan was to nick the first goal with our superior outfield players, then tighten up. It went the other way though as Ratti could not repeat his heroics from the Man utd game and we were soon 5-1 down against Ant's Tyke army. To our credit, we showed some grit and came back into it in the 2nd half and despite easily winning the stats doubling the home teams shot count 14-28, the goalkeeper was the difference and we will take our first defeat of the season like a man on the chin - and hope for a better display from Ratti in the Champions League!

CL Group B R1
Chelsea 2 - 1 Sporting Lisbon

This was a game in which it was vital that we didn't lose even at this early stage. Deploying a 19 rated goalkeeper didn't fare well verses Barnsley so our hopes were tempered going into this one. We went behind in the game on 32 minutes and we feared the worst. Thankfully we restricted Lisbon's shots, and Odegaard and Berchiche scored for us to turn the tables our way mid way through the second half. A 25-8 shot count shows a solid enough win, but with the chink in your armour between the nets, you can never be confident so we are delighted to pick up three points from our first game in the group.

Premiership R6
Chelsea 2 - 0 Liverpool

A far cry from the El Clásico and my legendary back and forth with one of the better managers in the game in Edwards. But a different setting for the heads up contest makes for a fresh coat of paint on the rivarly. Edwards was just back from holiday and might have been a little rusty as we managed to control the game without much output for our dominance, however two late goals from ASM secured three points which puts us back up into the Champions League spots. Our main keeper was back for this one and it showed as we was much more comfortable. Hopefully we can put a bit of a run together now. Until next time Graeme.

Premiership R7
Everton 2 - 2 Chelsea

The TA ebbed and flowed in this match, but we had the advantage the most I'd say and usually a 28 shot performance away from home would warrant a win (20-28). However, we lost ASM to an injury on 40 minutes and this perhaps cost us the full three points as with 2 strikers on the pitch surely we convert more chances. ASM will now miss 2 games including the tough away trip to PSG who shockingly lost at home to Sevilla, so it can be done there is hope. JB will be happy though as Right Said Fred got onto the pitch and made 6 key passes to see him almost hit his loan ab requirements already - Talbot knows what he is doing when it comes to squad management - see, it was never in doubt!

CL Group B R2
PSG 2 - 0 Chelsea

With ASM out for this one and being away to 1 of the 2 best teams in the game, I didn't expect much out of this one. However, I walk away from the game feeling a little disapointed as we actually had the better of it putting in a good tactical showing and actually winning the stats 10-11 on shots and having 62% possession. I guess the difference maker was the fact that we got 3 of our 11 shots on target while PSG got 7 of 10 on target. That and the fact that they have better shooters. The game changed on 65 minutes when PSG used their vast resources to do a double sub to bring on a couple of quality players and "Rat" immediately scored the opener. The only option we had to bring on was Right Said Fred, and we chose not to on this occassion prefering to get some minutes into the legs of Stepanenko. We were actually a stronger team with Stepanenko in DM rather than Fred so I have no second thoughts on that choice for tonight. GG Ed. The 2 subs and the shots on target made the difference, well done. Now that we have PSG away out of the way, hopefully they can continue to beat everyone else in the group also and it could come down to ourselves or Newcastle in this group for the runners up spot.

Premiership R8
Chelsea 2 -3 Arsenal

The first big London derby under my reign ends in disapointment. Right when the whistle blew I asked where can we report a robbery, as 2-1 up on 74 minutes we ended up 2-3 losers despite winning the shot count 24-9, 70% possession and 7 corners to 1. Throughout the game we had mostly had the tactical advantage, and when our oppnents changed tactic we immediately switched to regain the advantage. So an annoying loss, as you do everything your supposed to, but you still lose. Just one of them games that you have to chalk off. To be honest though Arsenal are a quality team and manager so having so much of the stats was a bit of a fluke anyway. GG Darren,


Premiership R9
Man City 3 - 2 Chelsea

Despite getting pelters in the press this was a good performance away from home. A close game away to the best team historically in the league and a draw would have been fair going by the stats with the shot tally showing 21 - 20.. Chelsea are certainly not getting the rub of the green but we're experienced folks at Chelsea. No panicking over an unlucky 23% start to the season.

Hmm do we carry on with our tight aggressive style or go full champagne Charlie for the remaining 77% of the season? It's probably best if we at least give it another 2% before we decide. GG Nick.

FA Cup Round 3

Chelsea 3 - 0 Barnsley

Chelsea are back to full strength for the moment and are thinking on their feet tactically. The Spice Boys caught Barnsley napping opting for a Passing style of play as the old rock, paper, scissors thought process worked out for once. Goals from KDB, Odegaard and ASM sealed the win which was well deserved following a 26 - 10 shot count. Credit to Barnsley though because they are always doing far better than they should, but tonight was just our night. Into the quarter finals we go, plenty of good teams still in the competition though, and also their's Milwall.

Post game in the presser Talbot announced that the Champagne Charlie's had signed Brazilian footballer Roberto Firmino from AS Roma in a straight swap for Chiesa, with the switch set to go through following Round 10's games. Talbot knows the player well from when he used to manage him at Madrid (Known as The Ox back then before a player rename) and SKT seemed to be delighted to tell us all about the capture which he says beyond a shadow of a doubt, improves the Chelsea forward line. Firminio will all being well, make his debut for the Blues away to Lecieser City in round 11 of the Prem.

Premiership R10
Chelsea 1 - 0 Cardiff City

A "comfortable 1-0" victory for the Spice Boys with ASM getting the only goal of the game in the first half. We should have had more really, but we were happy to take any win to be honest after our recent misfortune. A much needed three points see's us climb up into 12th place and within striking distance of the teams above and around us. Meanwhile towards the top City lost to Barnsley in a surprise, it really does look like we might have new champions this season with Leeds United absolutely steamrolling the league at the moment with 9 wins from 10 games. It's a very interesting season so far.

Premiership R11
Leicester City 1 - 2 Chelsea

Bobby Firmino made his debut for the Blues after his big swap deal move from Roma a couple of days ago, but it was his strike partner Saint Maximum who stole the plaudits by scoring his 10th goal of the season in the 7th minute, which was followed up by a 16th minute goal from defender Wan Bissaka. We didn't add any more goals though, and our clean sheet was spoiled in the 90th minute when Henderson have away a penalty which the Foxes tucked away. Truth be told, maybe Henderson was lucky to only see a yellow card and not a red one there, but we've already had our fair share of GK bad luck so I'm happy to fade that one. Up into 9th position now and ready to position ourselves into the CL slipstream.

CL Group B R3
Chelsea 1 - 0 Newcaatle Utd

The first of the triple header in as many weeks against the Geordies goes the way of the Spice Boys by the smallest of margins. In what was a tight game Bobby Firmino scored his first goal for the club early on and there was no further goals in a game in which the shot count was 14 - 9. An important win at this stage of the Champions League groups. The win see's Chelsea sitting in 2nd place but Newcastle will have a chance for revenge next at St James Park in a big group game 4 for the blues.

Premiership R12
Chelsea 4 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur

A London derby win for Chelsea as we catch the Spuds with their pants down. The North Londoners turned up with their naughty N expecting us to play our attacking brand of football but that wasn't the case as we caught them off guard with an attacking-C with a 3 man defence. Firmino got his 2nd goal for the club on 7 minutes before Dalot made it 2, on 42... The 2nd half we reverted to the usual attacking ways and added two more goals from Sanches and young 19 year old Zefi scored his first professional goal on 77 minutes coming off the bench. 18 - 5 on shots indicate this was a deserved win for our first London derby scalp. The Spice Boys have also quietly moved up in the Champions League spots and sit just 1 point behind 3rd place.

Premiership R13
Burnley 6 - 6 Chelsea

A twelve goal thriller at Turf Moor!

We went one nil down early on, but once we equalised we was always in front, leading 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6 at various parts of the game. Twice we got ahead in the final back stretch of the game and I would have expected our C to hold out for the win but not the case as Burnley pegged us back every time. A very entertaining game, but one that we should have won really with a shot count of 22 - 29 and 60% of the ball. Still a point at Burnley is not to be sniffed at, they seem to be in a bit of a false position at the moment towards the bottom. We climb up to 6th with the point and things are looking much better than they was a couple of weeks ago.

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August running total: 2,354 words obtained

[Steve@Chelsea]

"Right Said Fred: A One-Hit Wonder's Short-Lived Stint at Chelsea"

Well, it turns out that even Talbot’s best dance moves couldn’t keep Fred at Chelsea. Despite the club’s confidence, Bayern Munich put the pressure on, and Fred's loan was abruptly canceled by the club in disgust of the situation. In the end, Fred was sent back to Bayern, leaving Chelsea scratching their heads at what was ultimately a waste of time of a loan agreement as Chelsea got the player his required minutes early and rated him up for Bayern to sell, but was short changed when Munich cashed in early meaning Chelsea didn't even get the benefit of the cover they thought they were going to get for the first half of the season..

Let's be honest, though—much like the one-hit wonder that inspired his nickname, "Right Said Fred" was never going to be more than a fleeting novelty. While the Spice Boys might miss their cult legend, the truth is Fred’s brief stint was more about the novelty than the substance. Talbot might need to find a new tune to dance to because, at the end of the day, some hits just aren’t meant to last.

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August running total: 2,552 words obtained

[Steve@Chelsea]

CL Group B R4
Newcastle 0 - 1 Chelsea

A very big win for Chelski on the road to the double over the Geordies in the CL which could be pivotal to progression to the quarter finals. An early goal from us via Lamptey sealed the win ina game that ended with a 6 - 14 shot count. Newcastle obviously expected the A which was good scouting, but we have been mixing it up a bit lately with Cs and we caught them off guard with a tactic that only really works vs A and E.

We are 6 points ahead of Newcastle now with 2 games to go, but we have a game verses the best team in the game (even if the league table does not agree) and then Lisbon and we could do with getting at least a point from one of them to make sure of a spot in the quarter finals which would be a success for Chelsea as I don't believe they have progressed to the QF's much in recent history.

Premiership R14
Watford 1 - 5 Chelsea

Demolition job done on the road to another London team by the spice boys in blue as we smash up another area of London to lay claim to as our own. KDB was the star here scoring a hat trick. It's funny to think that 1 week ago Outten was claiming Phillips was a better goalscorer than KDB, even though we'd only had him a week, the clown. Now KDB is up to 7 goals for the season and Phillips is on 3. So yeah, whatever that point was Outten it was well made haha. We're really mixing it up tactically nicely too, the pre season drills are starting to kick in and click with the players. We play exploitatively and remain GTO unexploitable and it's bloody glorious. I want to bring a sense of fear to this Chelsea team that they didn't have in the past. I want teams to dred playing us. To over think things the night before. We're up to the 5th spot in the Prem which is good considering our early season slips mostly due to the long goalkeeper and striker injuries, but, I think we're better than that so we're looking onwards and upwards. Next up, another London team in West Ham to take apart.

Premiership R15
Chelsea 2 - 1 West Ham

West Ham came for a point with the big D, and took the lead against the flow of play. A first half goal from Kayode cancelled that out, and Lamptey put us ahead on 52 minutes. West Ham stayed with the defensive work even when behind, perhaps hoping to keep it tight and snag another goal. We ended up the worthy winners and I was suprised after to notice that West Ham played 3 squadies of 14 and 15 rated, so this game must have been part of their squad management plans for the season. None the less, we pick up the 3 points and climb to a season high of 4th place. GG Todd.

FA Cup Quarter Final
Chelsea 3 - 0 Newcastle

A relatively even game see's us run out 3-0 winners which didn't really do the Newcastle performance justice. This was the 4th game already between the two teams, with a 5-5 draw at St James Park in the league followed by Chelsea back to back wins in the Champions League. These two teams will be sick of each other by the end of the season. Goals from Odegaard, Dalot and an 8th of the season from defender Lamptey put's the Spice Boys into the FA Cup Semi Finals, which means we hit one of my pre season success benchmarks. Can we go further though and make an FA Cup Final?

Premiership R16
Sheffield Wednesday 1 - 4 Chelsea

Good win on the road despite kayode being sent off in the 10th minute, which meant we played most of the game with 10 men. Dalot, Sanches and two goals from Odeegaard who has been on fire secured a decent three points.

Premiership R17
Chelsea 2 - 1 Leeds United

A massive game towards the top of the league and a big win for Chelsea over Leeds. Two more goals from Odegaard cancelled out an early Leeds goal from old Chelsea player Fekir. Odeegaard himself was bought by Talbot from Leeds in pre season and he sure came back to haunt Tim Davey in this game. Davey meanwhile has been very quiet since this result, although I suspect he is just busy with life.

CL Group B R5
Chelsea 1 - 1 PSG

Facing the best team in the game on paper, we decided to pick the best tactic verses them and stick to it whether up or down. It seemed to work as we took the lead through Firminio on 28 minutes and it was only a late 84th minute Lacroix equaliser that foiled what would have been a deserved win for us. 15 - 9 on the shots in the stats back that up, but we will take the point that qualifies us for the quarter finals of the Champions League. This meets part of the clubs pre seasons objectives for me, so I will mark it down as a success, and hope that we can push further and see what can happen in this tournament.

Premiership R18
Blackburn Rovers 4 - 2 Chelsea

Tough loss verses a team who sent overtures for me to manage them in the pre season. With other results, a win here would have sent us top of the league, but unfortunately we stumbled at that hurdle as we dodged left when we should have gone right, as Blackburn mixed things up tactically to get the win. Congrats to Tony on the win, close game on the stats, but Tony took us a little off guard with the opening tactics and that was probably the difference maker. Dalot and Odegaard scored our goals. That's 5 in 3 games for Ode, enough to see his purple patch of form earn a move to the EFL1 with Atletico Madrid and we will be sorry to see him go as he has really developed under Talbot this season.

Premiership R19
Chelsea 1 - 1 Aston Villa

Villa are a good team, but I will have to look at this as two points dropped at home.

Kayode gave us the lead in the first half, but Villa pulled it back into the 2nd half and despite Chelsea having having the best of it we could only manage the draw. After having such a good run until the last 2 games, a dip was bound to happen. Let's see if we can springboard now back into another run as things are so tight at the moment a run of victories could even see us in contention at the top.

CL Group B R6
Sporting Lisbon 2-2 Chelsea

This was a bit of a dead rubber game for us with having qualified already in the last game with the draw against PSG. That said, it was disapointing not to win although we did give some minutes to a handful of squaddies including a full game for the free youth Zefi. Annoyingly the ref blew the whistle earlier than I anticipated, and with the shorter game than normal 2 players still require 2 whole minutes each. I don't think it will be hard to make those though over the 2nd half of the season.

So through to the quarter finals and anything else is a bonus now for us. Either of the Milan's Inter or AC or my old club Real Madrid will await. Madrid are pretty much unchanged from when I left them as champions and obviously look strong so we will look to cross our fingers and hopefully avoid them and face prefeably AC Milan, although we will fancy ourselves verses Inter too.

Premiership R20
Crystal Palace 1 - 0 Chelsea

Bit of a pisstake result here as we more than double their amount of shots (12-23) away from home, yet walk away with a loss. Started with the E verses the expected C, which did come, and we did score but the goal was disallowed and we couldnt find another way through. Chalk it off as a bad day at the office, and onto the next one.

Premiership R21
Chelsea 2 - 2 Newcastle United

Have played Newcastle 5 times now this season, and although we was unlucky not to win the game based on the stats I guess we have to feel grateful that we managed to claw back a two goal defecit to at least draw the match. Going by how the 2nd half went we really should have got the third goal. Our forms not been great recently, our little purple patch now a memory. We will need to pick it up if we are to make any dents on Real Madrid in the champions league, but we will have a trick or two lying in wait for the EFL1 Champions.

CL Quarter Final - Leg 1
Chelsea 3 - 1 Real Madrid

Big win for the Spice Boys over my former club and the EFL1 Champions from last season. I know just how strong a team Real Madrid are so this was a massive result. Looking at the stats, the win was fully deserved and we did win the tactical battles throughout the game. Real Madrid are a dangerous team though, and a two goal lead while nice, is not a nail in the coffin at all. It's still game on, and we will be fully focussed and with another great game plan for the 2nd leg.

Premiership R22
Southampton 0 - 1 Chelsea

Close game we were perhaps lucky to get the full three points going by the stats, but it looked like the Saints expected our normal attacking play which didn't turn up throughout, but we do always have that tool in our bag as after all attack is the best form of defence they say. Vinicius_Jr got the winner in the first half and is looking like he's settling into life in London and forming a good striker partnership with Bobby Firminio.

Premiership R23
Manchester United 0 - 0 Chelsea

Like Steve Outten said this was a very even game. Man U had the best of the first 15 minutes, then Chelsea had the best of the next 15 minutes. Then after then it was very even, close, tight game with several tactical changes from both teams. A point on the road away to the league leaders you are supposed to be happy with, but at the end of the day a point does little for both teams here. Still, we will take confidence from the clean sheet and thank our blessings that we managed our three players on a yellow still being eligable for the Champions League on Wednesday.

CL Quarter Final - Leg 2
Real Madrid 1 - 1 Chelsea ( 2-4 on Agg)

A tactical masterclass from Talbot over the two legs see's the West London Spice Boys into the dreamland of the Champions League Semi Finals - taking the scalp of the favourites Real Madrid! Talbot dominated Greaves once again with Chelsea having the best of it tactically for 94 of the 95 minutes. An early goal from KDB settled the nerves and Madrid walked right into Talbot's trap, as Chelsea kept things tight but solid and even ended up having the best of the game with 15-19 chances in favour of the away side and 61% possession which was an embarassing stat for the home side being out played at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid scored a late one, but it was too little, too late, and Chelsea was through. Beating Real Madrid over two legs and looking good doing so in both games is no mean feat and the players should be proud. We have over achieved so far with 2 cup semi finals but it's now a matter of seeing if we can do the unthinkable and go 1 or 2 steps better.

I thought I'd already said bye to Real Madrid after winning my 6th EFL1 title in the summer, but as former famous boy band once said, you may hate me but it ain't no lie, Baby bye bye bye, Bye bye Real Madrid!

Words: 2,077

[Steve@Chelsea]

Premiership R24
Chelsea 0 - 1 Barnsley

One game we are knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League deservedly so, and the next game we lose at home to Barnsley. Our season has been too inconsistent in the league, but somewhat to be expected as we use the season to build our team. We will take it as a compliment that Barnsley rocked up, well, like a rock with the big D and did a job on us fair and square although if that disallowed early goal was given it likely ends up a much different game. GG Ant.

Premiership R25
Liverpool 1 - 0 Chelsea

Always a tricky game away to Livi. Especially when they swap half their team to fade multiple injuries and suspensions, but thats good management with big games coming. For this one, we had one eye on other games too and decided to rest our new striker signed from Leeds Berardi with him being on 8DP. Unfortunately it seems that I forgot to remove a conditional when 1 goal up to switch one of our strikers to AM, as we only played 1 FW rather than 2 due to the resting. With the sheet error reported above it seems like we must have scored first in the OG game before crashing it by going 0 strikers accidently. So we kick ourselves for that as in the official game we put in a dismal showing using a new formation and lose an unsatisfying game. That said, I'm a fan of numbers over the long term, not the short term, so we will not bin the new formation and tactic right away.

Goretzka saw a red card too which see's him miss 2 games, including the FA Cup Semi Final which is a big blow, but at least Man Utd also will be missing Porro too so it's equal on that footing. That said despite taking 4 points from 6 off Utd in the league, we still consider ourselves underdogs to them in the semi as Man Utd are a very good team and the table does not lie. So we will need a better showing next game if the Spice Boys are to make an FA Cup Final.

FA Cup Semi Final
Chelsea 0 - 1 Manchester United

Left this game feeling rather unsatsified. I'd rather lose a 3-2 thriller than go down to the odd goal in a tepid encounter. But that's was transpired, as the two evenly matched teams basically cancelled each other out. The one moment of the game was the brief switch to L from Utd from which Gavi scored his scored, perhaps floating by a player in Rudiger who has been unfairly dragged through the mud in the press possibly affecting his performance. The other notion is that the injured Goretzka would have been the man in that zone ready to shoulder charge Gavi down to the ground.

The game was closed down as United dropped the big D, but the United manager is incorrect in that we did not have any plans to implement that feeble tactic ourselves. It's basically C but with no attacking merit. You won't see any D's from the Spice Boys.

So we lose in the semi's, which is disapointing as I'd have fancied our chancies against Liverpool in the final but we do have another semi final to look forward to in the Champions League. We've over accomplished this season with semi finals, as this season was all about the build, and our team is much stronger now than it was at the start of the season I think thats clear. It's also been made clear by the amount of times we get shown Ds, Ls and Cs by opponents so we will take them as compliments. GG Steve, you eeked out the narrow win and I have no complaints. Your now the clear favourite for the cup, and could perhaps take down a cup and league double, so congrats and good luck.

Premiership R26
Chelsea 3 -2 Everton

Back to winning ways, with Berardi getting his first goal for the Spice Boys. However, we did let a 3-0 lead slip to 3-2 so will need to watch that going forward. Our free youth Zefi got a full game under his belt and good mins also for on loan Stepanenko so good all around round for us. Next up is Arsenal away, and we will need to decide if we rest a couple of the players who are one yellow card away from missing the CL Semi against Inter.

Premiership R27
Arsenal 4 - 5 Chelsea

Inredible attacking game at the Emirates as Arsenal sped into a 3-1 lead before being turned back over into a 3-5 lead for Chelsea. Arsenal pulled one back to make it 4-5 but Chelsea were still looking for a 6th goal as the tie finished and the Spice Boys earned three points over their London rivals. Chelsea took the decision to rest their striker Berardi for this tie, but still comfortably won the stats on the night. A result which see's them inch up back into the CL spots but also only 7 points behind the leaders in what is a tight Premership. Anyone can beat anyone, and it is showing in the table.

Champions League Semi Final - 1st Leg
Inter Milan 0 - 1 Chelsea

We started off brightly in the first half but Inter came back into it and the tie was relatively even at the break at 0-0. The 2nd half belonged to Chelsea as AWB scored the opener and the Spice Boys threatened to make it two. Inter did have a late penalty claim denied and looked threatening towards the end but Chelsea won the stats away which was a suprise and we will gladly take the slim one goal lead into the second leg at the Bridge.

Premiership R28
Chelsea 1 - 3 Man City

Very even game on shots, we edged the passes. Looks like City made more tackles than us, and that was the difference in this one. The extra bit of class perhaps from City was the edge needed. Still looking tight at the top, but Chelsea can now conceed any hopes of an outside bet for the title being 10 behind with 10 to play, and must look to get back to winning ways to tuck back into the pack.

Premiership R29
Cardiff 0 - 0 Chelsea

Chelsea had 5 players walking a yellow card tightrope tonight, with the CL SF 2nd leg in the back of our minds. We rested both of our FWs and also Lamptey in defence. Our skeleton screw were very good value for a win here but couldn't break down Cardiff despite them losing their GK to injury 1/3 into the game replacing him with an 18r in goal - and we walk away disappointed with just a point. Sequeria got a yellow card and misses Wednesday's big game.

Champions League Semi Final - 2nd Leg
Chelsea 2 - 0 Inter Milan (3-0 AGG)

Conventional wisdom said to protect the slim one goal lead we picked up in the first leg at the San Siro - but we threw that out the window and played our own game. Both teams came to attack and somehow it was goalless at 30 minutes when a switch to a passing approach for us got the important first goal for the Blues thanks to KDB on 44 minutes. Inter switched to a Normal set up maybe hoping we'd attack and press for a 2nd, which played into our hands and wouldn't you just know it?The man of controversy himself, Rudiger, then added the killer blow with a rasping shot in the 87th minute to seal the win for the Spice Boys.

Good game to Inter, they have had a solid season and we have a lot of respect for them. They may still yet win the EFL Cup.

But, it's WHITE SUIT TIME BABY!

Time to rock those bad boys in the Champions League Final, against Ed's biblical like team. PSG will come into the final as big favourites. I'm not sure how I've even managed to navigate Chelsea into the final, beating Real Madrid along the way in the QF's. So it will be some test, but we will give it our best shot and as always, we will be confident that with the right game plan we can take home the trophy in what will be the 2nd all DA Final in a row in FFO. Funny enough we was in the same Group as well, which was also the case last season. It's a funny old game indeed!


Premiership R30
Chelsea 4 - 1 Leicester City

We rebounded from the dour 0-0 draw away to Cardiff in which we rested key players, with a big win at the Bridge as the Champions League finalists claim the three points and level up a couple of players in the process. KDB got the first goal in the first minute, and rates up to 12-23-22 rated in the process but the star of the day was D_Berardi who scored his first hat trick for the Spice Boys and rates up his passing to 21-23.

Kudas will be leaving the club in a switch for De Jong agreed with Fiorentina, which will make the team stronger. We will also be receiving the services of a young loanee defender from PSG who will cover the spot that the retiring Sequeria will leave as the club cash in on his SHN value.

Premiership R31
Spurs 3 - 1 Chelsea

Outplayed on the day and no excuses we got beat plain and simple. Counting down now until the EOS and the CL Final were we will try to have a shot at glory. Not too fussed about the league at the moment other than trying to level up players. GG Tim.

Premiership R32
Chelsea 4 - 0 Burnley

A first goal for the club for De Jong set us about on our way to claim the full three points with a comfortable home win to enable us to place some pressure on the teams above us. Berardi got a yellow card and will miss the next game which will be a big miss. Burnley are better than their position but as a Blackburn fan I hope they go down, sorry Radan.

Premiership R33
Chelsea 10 (TEN) - 0 Watford

Nothing to be excited about really as we squashed a T Sheet. However we was expecting a big win regardless, but we got a bigger one than we thought we would do for sure. KDB bagged 4 goals and Firminio got a hat trick in an absolute riot. Back into the Champions League spots we climb.

Premiership R34
West Ham 1 - 3 Chelsea

Good away win which moves us up into 7th place, only 6 points behind the leaders in what has been a very close premership season. Lamptey didn't make a tackle and still sits on 999 tackle abs which was annoying. Goretzka made good progress though, not being too far away from 16-23-18 after having a good game. We will aim to finish the season strong and see where that takes us.

Premiership R35
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday

A relatively straight forward home victory over a Wednesday team that Marshy has made much tougher to beat than the Bradwell Boys did. Nothing much more to say really, onto the next one which will be title chasers Leeds United at Elland Road.

Premiership R36
Leeds United 0 - 4 Chelsea

A big away win over one of the title hopefuls which blows the whole race open, as Liverpool stay top despite only drawing. Chelsea were the big movers up into 4th place and incredibly are not out of the title race themselves, at least mathamatically anyway. A 1st minute goal from AWB set the tone, KDB got the 2nd, Bobby Firmino got the 3rd before his strike partner and former Leeds player Berardi rounded it off with the 4th goal.

Words: 2004

[Steve@Chelsea]

Premiership R37
Chelsea 3-0 Blackburn Rovers

A hard fought win over Blackburn with the opener from S_Jovetic who had replaced the rested De Jong. Further late goals from Berardi and KDB sealed our 6th win in a row, for the fabled 'sea of green' badge. Unfortunately a double whammy mishap happened for the Spice Boys, as first AWB went off injured and loan defender I_Fresneda came on earlier than planned and secured 3 key tackles. Lamptey then also got a booking that will see him miss the Champions League Final. PSG then later came into contact post match to order Chelsea not to play I_Fresneda in the last league game or the Champions League final. A shrewd bit of business from Clark, but will Talbot listen to him? He has been known to go rogue in the past so it wouldn't surprise me. Might depend how he feels on the day when he wakes up.

In other results, Sheff Wed lost their goalkeeper at about half time being replaced by an 18 rater, and Liverpool who were struggling to beat the relegated Sheff Weds, just about managed to notch a late winner that could prove vital. A stroke of luck for Liverpool that now means that Chelsea are officially out of the title race, and only Arsenal can challenge them in what will be an interesting final day.

Premiership R38
Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea

With one out injured, and one unplayable due to a loan agreement - both sides had 2 out for this one, but with the Champions League Final in mind Chelsea rested a further two who were a yellow away from missing the seasons showpiece. With results elsewhere we would have nicked 3rd with a win here should we have played a stronger team and been lucky enough to win but as it was we finish 6th which is another season of Champions League football. Not much difference between 3rd and 6th in terms of prize money in the grand scheme of things so I'm happy that we get to the final without further issues other than Lamptey who will be missing and of course the on loan defender who can't play. GG Drum Villa worth the win on the day, and many thanks to JB and all the runners for the seasons games.

Congrats to Tim on the title win, been an amazing Prem season.

Champions League Final
Chelsea 1 - 2 PSG

We gave it a good shot, and had the best of the tactical battle but didn't get the luck on the night verses a superior team. We did take the lead though with a goal from Dalot and tried to lock it down, but PSG were back level within 20 mins or so. A late goal from Ramos on 81 minutes was gutting as we could see the cup slipping away but we did look to have pulled it back level ourselves with a goal from De Jong just a minute later, but for some incredious reason the referee decided to disallow a perfectly good goal and PSG ran out the winners. We can bemoan the disallowed goal and a couple of injuries too, but at the end of the day we was always the underdogs and PSG were the better team on the night so congrats to them on their double cup win.

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