Petr Cech, Tactical Genius
So, as you all hopefully know by now, Chelsea drew Serie A Napoli for the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League. This news isn't great - any team that can knock out Manchester City as well as hang with Bayern Munich, Bastian Schweinsteiger edition is one to be respected* - but it's not the end of the world either. Chelsea are still favourites to progress, and we have every chance of making it to the quarterfinals at the end of our two matches against Edinson Cavani and company.
*At one point, Napoli had scored as many goals against Bayern as the entire Bundesliga had all season. They then injured Bayern's best player. Make no mistake, the Partenopei can **** you right up.
But you don't come here to read what I have to say. You came to hear from Batman himself. Here's Petr Cech on Napoli:
It's a very dangerous game because at the moment they are flying high. But the game is in February and in football things can change quickly. The away game in particular will be very tough, their stadium is known for having one of the best atmospheres in Europe and it will be bouncing, so I'm looking forward to it.
I played against Marek Hamsik for Czech Republic against Slovakia, he's a very good player but as a team they are very strong and I feel that is their biggest strength. (emphasis mine)
-Source: ChelseaFC.com.
Right from the horse's mouth: Napoli's biggest strength is that they are a very strong team. I bet I know Napoli's biggest weakness, too: Sometimes they are weak. Anyway, now that we've thoroughly sussed our opponents, we should get Cech to come up with our game plan. I predict it will go something like, "We should try to score more goals than Napoli, but failing that we would like to go through on away goals, in extra time, or on penalties".
With this sort of information on our side, how can we possibly go wrong?
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I suppose Petr Cech's future career lies somewhere outside of management...
Of course there’s always the backup drummer position for Coldplay…
Standard dumbed down comment for general use
On Chelsea fc.com I’d like to think cech has a greater tactical knowledge than this considering his career
by Lampard8 on Dec 17, 2011 12:11 AM GMT via mobile reply actions
They use a central midfielder smaller than Juan Mata
I’d be surprised :)
by Graham MacAree on Dec 17, 2011 12:24 AM GMT up reply actions
Aww, poor Cech
He’s said some things like this before, but then, most of the guys have when they are asked for quotes.
The press will still find a way to turn even such an obvious quote into a story about how things are amuck with Chelsea. “Cech says Chelsea is divided while Napoli are a ‘strong team’”.
Didier said Chelsea were separated and Cech said Chelsea were divided!!!!!
Separated and divided … divide and conquer …
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Saw this today. Thought it was hilarious.
by aaronv0501 on Dec 17, 2011 5:19 AM GMT reply actions 3 recs
Hey guys need an opinion
Dont you guys feel Mata is better than Messi?
I was going through their skillsets,and realised the only good thing Messi does is a body feint
Mata imo is far better
by RamStamford on Dec 17, 2011 3:40 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
Why mate?
Its nothing new that I hate Messi but still from a neutral view I feel Ronaldo>Neymar~Mata>>Messi
by RamStamford on Dec 17, 2011 3:53 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
Objectively better, no way, but...
…I think Mata is the better player for Chelsea. I don’t think Messi would anything like as good at any other club. I’m not trying to dismiss what he does by saying that. Greatness in a team sport is all about being in the right place to utilise talent, and not just the talent itself.
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
by Kevin Kostka on Dec 17, 2011 4:12 PM GMT up reply actions
A great player is one who can play equally great in any team
Messi cant even play well for his NT
Mata played well for Valencia,Plays well now for us and Spain
by RamStamford on Dec 17, 2011 4:48 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
As you name Ronaldo as the better player
is Ronaldo playing so well for his NT either? Not that he doesn’t have any good games for thei NT, but he is terribly inconsistent there
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Wait, wait, wait.
Mata’s a better player for Chelsea? Uh, what?
by Cablinasian on Dec 18, 2011 12:01 AM GMT up reply actions
You admit to a strong bias ("hate Messi"), so any view you purport to be "neutral" is suspect at best
Messi is faster, quicker, more agile, is a better dribbler, is a better finisher and has the same excellent vision as Mata.
Salaries aside, anybody who wouldn’t trade Mata for Messi straight up, is crazy.
Add me to the crazy list
Ask Messi to star for Argentina
He cant
As he needs a team to play for him,Xavi,Iniesta et al play balls to Messi all the time
by RamStamford on Dec 17, 2011 4:47 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
To be fair
I read a comment AVB made about the Torres/Drogba selection crap recently, and he said something to the effect of “Torres is doing extremely well in training and that gets him nearer to the selection, more than if it was the opposite”. Thanks captain obvious! ;)
I think AVB and most managers and players make incredibly obvious statements… less room for the press to try to make shit up about it. But some of these folks manage to make their obvious statements in a more eloquent way, with enough frilly words to confuse people into thinking they have said something profound.


















