Claudio Ariel Yacob (Cost: Free, Market Value: £2.5-£3m)
25 years old: Right footed defensive midfielder
Strengths: Yacob’s best traits are his vision and anticipation. Yacob is an above average long distance passer. He also has above average heading ability. Other strong qualities include stamina, strength, marking and work rate.
Weaknesses: Yacob has a really high cards to games ratio. Continue reading
You couldn’t possibly have seen this one coming. For years, Manchester United and English national team defender Rio Ferdinand has dedicated himself to ridding soccer of its ugly and pervasive racism. Recently, he has seen his brother, Queens Park Rangers defender Anton, embroiled in an ugly did-he-or-didn’t-he case involving Chelsea (and England) star John Terry. Terry was ultimately acquitted of racially abusing Ferdinand the Lesser, although he is now being hauled up on charges by the FA, whose authority apparently supersedes that of the Crown. Continue reading
Let me preface this by saying that I am a pretty strong admirer of Robert Lewandowski. I’ve spent a lot of time in these last few years scouting the wonderkid Mario Gotze and it has given me a great opportunity to check out the rest of the team, including Lewandowski.
To keep it short and simple, Lewandowski is a Polish Hernandez (or van Nistelrooy, if you want to get nostalgic). Out of the 30 goals he scored last season, not a single one of them was outside of the box. Nearly every single goal was assisted by another player setting Lewandowski free. Nearly 90% of his goals are in or around the six yard box. He’s a poacher. Continue reading
You couldn’t chip him.
In this section I’ll help you learn some of Chelsea’s lesser known players who were fan favourites, great servants or just special characters at the club.
1. Kevin Hitchcock – Goalkeeper, penalty king.
Our Kev was at Chelsea for thirteen years and only got himself 96 appearances. This wasn’t because of a lack of ability. He first caught Chelsea’s eye when he saved a Kerry Dixon penalty during a league cup match whilst playing for Huddersfield and we signed him 18 months later following a terrible run of form that cost John Hollins his place in the Chelsea hot seat. Continue reading
Caption this!
The FA Cup and Champions League trophy were on display at the pre-game fan fair in Seattle. And, as you can see, they were allowing anybody who wandered in off the street to pose with them. Anybody. Continue reading
If I could describe the first-ever RMBs trip in one word, that would be incredible. The entire expedition was something that every Chelsea supporter should experience at least once in their life. The trip wasn’t completely perfect, but it was sure enjoyable.
I was accompanied by my understudy, Anthony Preston, and Sam Carty. Both Sam and I have been to Chelsea games before, but this was Anthony’s first and you could tell he was excited from the start. Continue reading
Clockwise from top left, that’s Sam, Sam, Natalie, Mario, Andy, Anthony, The Restraining Order, Fearless Leader, Keira, Michael, Sam and The Restraining Order (Salt Lake Chapter). Not pictured: Spot.
The original geezer!
I wrote a piece last week on the case John Terry had to answer for against allegations of racism where I used crude humour to make light of a situation I thought was a waste of taxpayer’s money. If the verdict is to be believed then I would say I am justified in that choice. But let me be clear – racism is something I have abhorred since I learned what it was.
I don’t consider myself a Chelsea fan. It’s more important than that. I am Chelsea. It’s in my blood. I was born a fan and have been wearing royal blue since before memory serves. Continue reading
Looks like we’re missing out on some serious elbow rubbing opps. Here Julian “The Restraining Order” Bravo stalks RdM.
When people think of Chelsea’s rivals they usually think of Spurs, West Ham, Leeds, Millwall or Arsenal, United and Liverpool (usually depending on when you started watching Chelsea). One rival you don’t think of is Seattle, but there is still a lot of resentment from Sounders fans when it comes to Chelsea. Continue reading
