Community Shield: Chelsea vs. Manchester United starting lineups

Chelsea v Man Utd

Teams
Chelsea	Man Utd
1 Petr Cech (G)	(G) Edwin Van der Sar 1
22 Tal Ben Haim (D)	(D) Wes Brown 6
6 Ricardo Carvalho (D)	(D) Patrice Evra 3
3 Ashley Cole (D)	(D) Rio Ferdinand 5
2 Glen Johnson (D)	(D) John O'Shea 22
10 Joe Cole (M)	(D) Mikael Silvestre 27
5 Michael Essien (M)	(D) Nemanja Vidic 15
8 Frank Lampard (M)	(M) Michael Carrick 16
15 Florent Malouda (M)	(M) Ryan Giggs 11
12 John Mikel (M)	(M) Cristiano Ronaldo 7
24 Shaun Wright-Phillips (M)	(S) Wayne Rooney 10

Ferguson had said that he was going to shelter the young'uns for the first couple games and use them sparingly. He held true to that as both Anderson and Nani are out of the line-up. It looks a 5-3-1, but it will most likely operate as a 4-4-2 as both Patrice Evra and Wes Brown will push forward on the right and left sides at times. It looks like Frank Lampard's hurt toe was immensely exaggerated as he will be starting in this match-up. Other surprise is NO John Terry, instead Glen Johnson who last year spent his time with Portsmouth. Florent Malouda will look to have an immediate impact in hopes of solidifying a starting spot. John Mikel will help Lampard man the middle as Michael Ballack is out with injury.

More interesting than the line-ups are the substitutes for each team (Chelsea's on the left, Man Utd's on the right):

Substitutes
23 Carlo Cudicini (G)	(G) Tomasz Kuszczak 29
40 Henrique Hilario (G)	(D) Phillip Bardsley 26
39 Harry Worley (D)	(D) Gerard Pique 19
19 Lassana Diarra (M)	(M) Chris Eagles 33
9 Steve Sidwell (M)	(M) Darren Fletcher 24
14 Claudio Pizarro (S)	(M) Lee Martin 30
17 Scott Sinclair (S)	(M) Luis Nani 17

No Anderson for Man Utd which means he must be nursing a little bit of a knock. Chris Eagles seems to always be on the bench up until the start of the season, when they eventually concede that there is nothing better to do than send him out on loan. Some young'uns for the Red Devils - Gerard Pique (a first-team defender in a year's time or so) and Lee Martin (solid attacking mid). Philip Bardsley is the Glen Johnson of Manchester United - having spent time on loan much of the past two years. For Chelsea - Claudio Pizarro - who is probably itching to get in this game, will sit first. Same with Sidwell. The young'uns to watch for Chelsea, though, are Scott Sinclair who has already shown a lot of promise and Harry Worley. I do find it funny that Jose Mourinho has thrown two more goalkeepers on the bench as it seems a little excessive - but then I remember last year's Chelsea/Reading clash and the injuries to Cech and Cudicini which led to John Terry being thrown in goal.

Happy watching.

Don't look too much into it: Rangers 2, Chelsea 0

Spaniard Nacho Novo and Filip Sebo knocked home two late goals to dispatch of a much-stronger Chelsea line-up. You wouldn't have guessed though as Rangers' new acquisitions Carlos Cuellar and Lee McCulloch delivered some nasty tackles on the Blues. Though just a friendly, many see this as proof that Rangers have effectively strengthened their squad this offseason and look primed to de-throne defending champs and bitter rivals Celtic. DaMarcus Beasley did not start but got decent work in after both sides entered 8 new players each at the beginning of the second half. Beasley acted as a one of two wingers supporting former Wigan Athletic man Lee McCulloch who sat alone up front.

The win against the Premiership runner-ups should serve as a confidence booster before their Champions League qualifier, this coming Tuesday, versus FK Zeta.

Match Report from Chelsea's website.

LINE-UPS:

RANGERS: McGregor, Alan Hutton, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Barry Ferguson, Brahim Hemdani, Kris Boyd, Charlie Adam, Jean-Claude Darcheville, Carlos Cuellar, Lee McCulloch

Subs: Smith, Carroll, Thomson, Novo, Sionko, Gow, Burke, Murray, Beasley, Broadfoot, Webster, Sebo

CHELSEA: Petr Cech, Glen Johnson, John Terry, Tal Ben-Haim, Lassana Diarra, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Steve Sidwell, Florent Malouda, Andrei Shevchenko, Didier Drogba

Subs: Cudicini, Hilario, Cole, Carvalho, Obi Mikel, Pizarro, Sinclair, Wright-Phillips, Hutchinson

Chelsea re-sign Terry until 2012, but is Ballack sticking around?

Defensive stalwart John Terry, despite previous reports of a move out of London, has signed on for another 5 years at Stamford Bridge. Though no real figure was reported, his new contract likely makes him one of the highest paid defenders (if not player) of all-time. Is the man worth it? With Ryan Giggs-like loyalty and a keen form of leadership, I'd have to say yes. You can't quantify influence, respect, or determination. This guy has all of them and he has always wanted to keep himself at Chelsea. From Eurosport.com...

"I hope that the fans can see that we are all trying to build something special here, both for now and for the future, and I want to be a part of that.

"I have been at Chelsea all my career and have the privilege of being captain. Now it's time to look forward to the new season, which we are all very confident about."

Chief executive Peter Kenyon added: "This is an important day for Chelsea. This was the right deal for us and for John.

"As a club we are committed to try and keep our players together on long term deals and this was a natural progression from last season when other players also committed themselves for the long term.

"As captain, John is clearly a key player for Chelsea and also a great symbol of the club so naturally we are pleased this has been agreed."

This "building something special", however, might have to come without oft-injured and fading German midfielder Michael Ballack. But is he fading? Or is it lack of playing time and consistency of health? Either way, new Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster is looking to bring his talent to the Bernabeu. Let him go, Jose. You rarely play him anyway. And remember...you said you'd calm down.

Paolo Wanchope to join Blanco at the Fire and guess what? Jose Mourinho plans to chill out!

Paolo Wanchope is one of those guys that you could swear has been playing for 25 years (kinda like Abel Xavier). The Tico-legend has instead taken the globe-trekker approach and gone from Costa Rica to England to Spain, at some point to Argentina, etc. He has played most recently for FC Tokyo in Japan but also has had seasons with Derby County, West Ham United, Manchester City in the Championship and Premiership respectively. Within English competition, the 30-year Costa Rican has racked up a respectable 81 goals to match his equally respectable tally of 45 goals in 72 caps for the Costa Rican national team.
The brief details of the deal were first reported by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune and I am sure he will continue to keep us all updated.

Check out Wanchope's brace against Germany in the 2006 WC (as well as all 4 German goals)

JOSE MOURINHO plans to CALM DOWN

As for Jose Mourinho - his plan for his fourth season at Chelsea is to mellow out and, well, not hog the damn spotlight. Amidst all this talk to Skysports, however, he still managed to get a crack in at Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. Read on...

"I want to be more mellow this year," Mourinho told The Sun. "I am what I am but, at the same time, people use my personality to create something that is not true.

"It is normal if I am emotional or if I react to something that is not fair.

"But people have an image of me that's incorrect and now I want it to be different.

"I won't hug Arsene Wenger because he's not a close friend. But he can say what he wants about us.

"He can complain about a lot of things as he did in the past. I'm not ready to react. I just want to do my work and concentrate on that.

"I look at our opponents because I need to know the way they play but I'm not interested in what they say.

"My relationships with other people will not change. My bottle of wine with Ferguson will still be a bottle of wine, my handshake with Wenger will still be a handshake."

Mourinho also reiterated the fact that he is content with life at Chelsea and is in no hurry to leave the club.

"This is the first time I have started a fourth season with the same club and I feel great," added Mourinho. "I am happy with what we've done.

"I am happy with the relationship I have with my players and with the people who work with me. It's the best place to work so I am happy to be part of the Chelsea future. I didn't want to move.

"I think I did a good job at Chelsea for three years but I want to do more.

"I am loved in Portugal but my life is better in London.

"The way people approach me is different. In London, you have more space. My life is a simple life."

I do think it's good that he even wants to try - Ferguson and Wenger all mellowed out and some point and despite their ups and downs, neither has ever really seriously thought about leaving the UK. One side note: if David Beckham - Mr. Emotional - and Jose Mourinho - a different kind of Mr. Emotional - were the same person, that person would inevitably be the biggest head case known to man. I have to admit, if you watched some of that hour Beckham program (New Beginnings) on ESPN before the game, Beckham cries a lot, more than normal people...Mourinho, on the other hand, will eventually have a conniption if he doesn't mellow out, so watch the guy this year...and let's see if he keeps to his word.

Chelsea's Line-Up vs. the Galaxy

I think they're trying to destroy American soccer, David Beckham, and the Los Angeles Galaxy in one fell swoop. This line-up is phenomenally ridiculous.

GK: Petr Cech

Defenders: Tal Ben-Haim, Paolo Ferreira, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho

Midfielders: Florent Malouda, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Shaun Wright-Phillips

Forward: Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou

Then again - what were we expecting? On the bench - we have the likes of Andrei Shevchenko, Joe Cole, Jon Obi Mikel, Claude Makelele, Glen Johnson (back from loan), and former Bobby Convey teammate Steve Sidwell. BIG ABSENCE (anyone with any news) is Dutch young'un winger Arjen Robben who apparently has agreed personal terms with Beckham's former club Real Madrid.

I knew Facebook would come in handy...

Alecko Eskandarian had this to say about being traded to Real Salt Lake where he'll meet up with former United mates Freddy Adu and Nick Rimando...

"Alecko Eskandarian is in shock.... just found out i got traded from TFC to Real Salt Lake.... definitely did NOT ask for this so im pretty devastated right now"

That's the business of the game. Esky had a following already in Toronto and his blog, Esky's World, is evidence of it. I would love to see Alecko score more goals than Cunningham in RSL, but let's be honest, Cunningham will hit 100 goals this year and has been a consistent goalscoring force for whatever team he has played for. Esky is injury prone but has one of the toughest hearts and work rates in the league.

What do you think? Who got the right end of this trade?

***In Premiership news, young'un and former Arsenal target Steve Sidwell will be leaving Reading on a free transfer in favor of Chelsea. Sidwell is great, don't get me wrong, but does he fit into the same category of Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, or even Jon Obi Mikel for that matter? The only answer is: we will see.