Playing Style

Whilst not as attacking as Ashley Cole on the other flank he has done his best to provide the attacking width that we crave in our narrow formation, providing four assists in the Premier League.

He has been reliable all season and can be forgiven his one major blemish when giving away the penalty in the Europa League Final.

One of our most used players he made 55 appearances across six competitions including 43 starts making the starting right back position his own ahead of versatile Branislav Ivanovic.

Leaving in a couple of weeks most Chelsea fans will be glad to wave him off, however despite the disdain of fans he will feel vindicated after delivering one trophy in the form of the Europa League.

He has improved his standing after a brilliant May and therefore the question is can we call a truce with Rafa as the players have suggested?

My Reaction

I am unsure how to react, my instinct will be to ignore him and cheerfully celebrate him leaving our club and instead celebrate the achievements of the club after all there is more to a team than one player or the manager.

That being said I dislike him with a passion and continue to believe he was the wrong appointment.

He has continually shown disdain for Chelsea Football Club its management and fans both before and during his time at the club and has stumbled through the season with management and tactics beyond questionable at times.

That being said he finally got us over the line in the league and we have won a trophy something that should not be sniffed at, whether it was the players or his management that achieved this is an entirely different debate.

To ignore him runs the risk that the club will decide that should we fail to get Mourinho that he is the man for the job something that remains unthinkable.

Success Of Rafa?

By winning the Europa League he has met the absolute bare minimum by winning a trophy (one of six available) and securing a top four finish.

He has continued to antagonise fans with his outburst after the Middlesbrough FA Cup game and insistence on using Yossi Benayoun a player who has made his desire to leave and disdain for the club clear.

Tactically poor he got many of his acclaimed “rotations” wrong with draws and defeats to the bottom teams meaning we had to fight until the final day to secure Champions League football.

Rafa is leaving in the summer we can all breathe, I will try my best to ignore him, but I make no promises!

Do not get me wrong, becoming the first club to hold both European trophies and first English club to have won every European trophy is great.

The League Cup Of Europe

But look at the opposition and the attitude of the fans and players and we can in many ways categorise this competition as the League Cup of Europe and only winning this competition as a failure.

To reach the final we beat teams that would be mid table or below in the Premiership and only our fellow finalists Benfica can claim to have any real talent or European pedigree.

Poor Domestic And Champions League Form

Chelsea have finished in the top four, something that should be regarding as an absolute bare minimum standard to achieve.

Without looking at which manager was responsible for what and being objective struggling in the League so many points behind Manchester United is a limp and disappointing result.

We failed in the Champions League under Roberto Di Matteo in a campaign that turned on losing a 2-0 lead to Juventus at Stamford Bridge

Lost Finals & Semi Finals

This season Chelsea lost three technical finals in the Community Shield, World Club Cup and Super Cup and two domestic semi finals.

A case of so near and yet so far for Chelsea looking second best in all of these five games.

Importance Of Winning Trophies

Winning trophies is important (we do not want to become Arsenal) and this season we bagged one, however we have fallen near the end on five separate occasions and  failed to compete at the top of the table.

All in all with the talent we have, would you categorise this as a poor season?

10 hours out on the beer with family and friends in a foreign city before and after watching Chelsea win a trophy is my idea of perfection, it was so good the sun even came out.

The game itself was a bit of a blur, but with both goals at our end it was a fantastic atmosphere and great to celebrate another European trophy.

Here are some of the pictures from the day.

Once in the final the value of the competition becomes irrelevant and this trip is a bright beacon in an otherwise difficult and gloomy season.

An allocation of just 10,000 tickets mean many loyal Chelsea fans have been unable to get tickets, but with many going anyway for the atmosphere I am sure this will be a great occasion.

I will be making the trip tomorrow and I can barely contain my excitement!

Let’s start with the Swansea game. I was fortunate enough to meet up with a Chelsea legend who took me under his wing for the day and made sure I got the best possible experience (as part of a birthday present). If that wasn’t already enough, the seats turned out to be the finest I’ve had in my many years of visiting Stamford Bridge. There’s something about being there that allows you to analyse the game properly.

Subsequently, my verdict is that Lampard is Jesus. Seriously though, when you watch that man live, it really is something else. This was also my first sighting of Hazard, who again looks incredible on TV, but even better in the flesh. I’d go as far to say he’s the best dribbler in the league. As for Mata, I saw him play one of his best games in a Chelsea shirt last season when we thrashed Spurs 5-1 at Wembley, so I was pleased to see him a year on – even better.

Sitting in a family area with my girlfriend meant I wasn’t able to vent my frustration at Oscar, who for some reason winds me up. I don’t think he’s quite there yet, but he’s certainly coming along. Anyway, he scored, and he’s making a habit of that lately. I’m going to put that down to quality service. Speaking of which, his assister, Lamps, made my heart flutter once again as he scored on my birthday for a third consecutive year. Up the arms went. 3 points in the bag. Easy.

A few days later I’m back at the Bridge for the Basel game. Shed End this time – right next to the Basel fans. Safe to say, the seats were nowhere near as good as the previous ones, but being alongside the away fans made for an entirely different experience, and an atmosphere that eclipsed the Swansea game.

I wasn’t too worried when they scored first. I knew we’d win it eventually, but I just wanted to wave them goodbye as soon as possible. It had gone beyond pointing and laughing when David Luiz’s wonder goal went in. Instead I was screaming “Did you see that?!” They knew enough English to chant “You only sing when you’re winning”, so I’m pretty sure they could understand me. I had two hotdogs after the game to celebrate…

Now on to more recent affairs. A hard-fought win against United saw me run out my bedroom screaming and jumping in the hallway, and I smacked my head into my hands about as hard as Ramires’s fall when he failed to convert a counter attack against Spurs. I think we’ve done enough now. Villa won’t be easy and Everton will want to give Moyes a proper sign-off, but I’m confident we have the quality to find at least one more win.

If all this wasn’t enough to bugger my blood pressure, we’re now agonisingly close to bringing back The Special One and consequently agreeing a contract renewal for Frank. If we win Europa and manage to finish in the top 4, the players, manager, club and fans will breath a sigh of relief, as this has been one of the hardest campaigns in the club’s history. When it’s all in the past, we can look forward to the presents the future may bring – hopefully spelt F.A.L.C.A.O.

Follow Chris @CynicalCME

Signing Wayne Rooney would be a huge gamble for Chelsea and is likely to end in a disaster similar to the Fernando Torres situation where we overpaid for a top striker whose powers were on the wane and got stung.

Here are three reasons we should run and hide from this prospect

Star On The Wane

Wayne Rooney is an extremely talented footballer and has caused some of the best defences in the world problems. He is a terrier like player who wears his heart on his sleeve but in the last year or so he has not looked his best.

He could recapture his form but this story sounds very familiar and with his history at Manchester United and his petulance he is unlikely to get as much patience from Chelsea fans.

Price Is Too High

Manchester United will not sell a key player to Chelsea for anything less than a king’s ransom. Anything more than £25m would be a huge gamble.

He would also demand a huge wage that would upset the applecart and set a bad precedent, we have been burnt before and must avoid this at all costs.

With financial fair play coming into force this is not a time to be lining the pockets of your rivals.

Poor Attitude

The sulkiness and attitude Rooney has shown make him toxic as a personality.

He is unpredictable  and poorly advised and signing him would be a bit of a circus and another gamble.

Whilst loyalty is not what it was, threatening to leave every time something does not go your way is not the way to go.

Overview

Wayne Rooney is a tremendous talent but his price, temperament and form mean he isnot worth the risk.

Champions League Football

The stakes could not be higher with victory all that stands between Chelsea and Champions League victory at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

Avoiding defeat would also put us all but a disaster away from a top four spot but we have the chance to banish Tottenham from the Champions League for a second season in a row.

There are subplots a plenty as we face failed manager Andre Villas Boas, player of the season Gareth Bale and a team on a continuous run of games.

Andre Villas Boas

Sacked at Chelsea he has done a reasonable job at Tottenham and beating Chelsea to the Champions League would give him vindication and an increase to his already smug persona.

To deny him would give Chelsea further vindication for his sacking and heap pressure on his performance.

Gareth Bale

As much as it pains me Gareth Bale has deserved the accolades this season, he has single handedly driven Tottenham to where they are when Spurs have suffered.

As player of the year if he does not secure a top four position with Tottenham what would the point be?

Being a big fish in a small pond would really piss in the Welshman’s chips and that would add extra sheen to to what would be a great feeling (if we win).

Concentrating On A Final

If we beat Spurs we can breath for the first time in months and rest players for Amsterdam, lose or draw and we still have work to do against Aston Villa.

Come on Chels, let’s get the job done.

Tickets went on sale to season ticket holders this morning and will continue for the rest of day with the number of points creeping down.

To have secured a ticket in the first round 96 points were needed which means that a season ticket holder would have had to have gone to a large proportion of the Champions League/Europa League games and some away games to ensure a ticket.

It seems unlikely that tickets will be available to all season ticket holders let alone loyal members who could have gone to more games but will be unable to secure tickets.

Juan Mata may not have been credited the goal but he was the star performer as we controlled the game and fully deserved three points.

Mata was man of the match but Lampard, Moses and Ramires all had decent performances as we created enough chances to arguably win the game at a canter.

There was plenty of drama at the end, with David Luiz laughing his head off as he provoked Rafael into a wild swing of the boot, but to focus on this would diminish the performance and the importance it has.

Last week I identified that Chelsea had 3 cup finals in the next two weeks, we have won the first one, avoid defeat in the second against Tottenham and our place in the Champions League will be all but guaranteed.

A rare happy Monday in a season of pain! Now let’s finish the top 4 race with victory other Spurs.