Petr Cech Interview

How are you feeling now?

I am okay. I feel better and I am improving and I am happy to be here at the training ground to see the lads and after the mood is getting better as well.

Your hair is beginning to grow back but you have got a big scar.

Yeah, because I don't have so many hairs, I think everyone can see it, so I hope it is going to grow really quickly. But I am just happy that I am improving in all aspects.

How are you day-to-day? Do you get headaches, do you feel sick?

Sometimes it is difficult because you wake up and you have a horrible headache so you have to take your medication and it is very strong. So it is not the best because after you feel really tired really quickly. You want to walk and you want to watch the telly but after five, ten, fifteen minutes you are really tired and you have to stop. I just try to live with that and I hope that everyday it is going to get better - and it is better because when I was able to go home, the mood was better. When you are at home, your family is there, your wife is there, your dog is there and you have got so many visitors and so many cards that wish me the speedy recovery. I can feel that there are so many people behind me and wishing well, this is the best thing you can feel, and that is why I feel really relaxed now at home.

Have you been surprised by the reaction to your injury?

I think it has been fantastic from everyone. It has been the players, the managers, the staff, it was everyone in Chelsea - supporters. I got so many cards and letters from people outside, not involved in Chelsea. Just supporters of other teams, and so many goalkeepers from international leagues. It was brilliant for me and I think this is the energy you've got.

Who are some of the goalkeepers who have contacted you?

I've got letters from every goalkeeper at Portsmouth. I've got one from Ricardo who plays for Sporting Lisbon and I have got Shay Given who texted me a message. It is brilliant as well because he is injured, he knows how it feels, and he sent me a message wishing me a speedy recovery so I was very happy with that. And I could keep going with that so it has been brilliant

How important has your wife, Martina, been to supporting your recovery?

She was the most important person together with my family. Because she was every day in the hospital, even days I couldn't remember her. She stayed there 24 hours and she was really tired. She had a lot of things to do but she showed me the love every minute and I really appreciate it.

What is your schedule and agenda from now?

I hope that everything will improve. Soon I have got a medical meeting with Bryan English, the club doctor, and all the medical department and they will tell me the schedule, what I can do and hopefully start growing the muscles. It will be really difficult because I can't move for a long time, the most 15 to 20 minutes and then I am exhausted. So it will be difficult, even with the metal in your head you need some recovery. They will prepare some programme for me, massage, little walks, these kind of things so I start maintaining my body and I hope I will be able to go back as soon as I can.

You must really need a holiday?

There is one possibility that I will go with Martina somewhere away. For me it is difficult when I am watching football, every day. You are sitting at home and you can't hardly move and you see your colleague play for the three points, difficult games, Champions Leagues and things like this.

Sometimes it is difficult because you know it is not going to be the case for you for at least three months. You have to accept this.The schedule was really difficult. We had the World Cup, Champions League, I had the shoulder operation, all in the last three months so I think now it is time to relax a bit and especially to be with Martina because she deserves it.

During your holiday in the summer you couldn't move your arms because you had the shoulder operation and now you can't move your head too much! You've got to give her a holiday that she is going to enjoy properly.

I think she will enjoy the holidays anyway. I hope so. I hope we will have a little time together so I hope everyone will allow me to go with her for two weeks. For me it will be good relaxation, I will forget about football and I will get back the energy and when I am back, I will be ready to start the rehabilitation and all the work on the way back.

Do you remember anything what happened at Reading?

I have tried to think about this and the last thing I remember is the shaking hands before the game started. I remember the warm-up, I remember all the way from the hotel to the stadium because usually I always take the programme and I read a little bit. I go around the pitch, I want to see what the pitch is looking like and I did. After I remember the warm-up with Silvinho, Carlo and Hilario. The last thing I remember is going out of the dressing room, ready with the kit. The shake hands is the last thing I remember because JT lost the toss and I had to run to the other side and that is the last thing. I don't even remember the kick-off.

Have you seen the challenge again on the television?

I have seen it once and I was surprised in the way that I thought it happened on the other side of the head. So that just proves that I don't remember anything.

What did you actually think of it?

I have seen it only once and I don't want to speak about this for the moment because even for me it is difficult - but the club is dealing with that and I will leave it with the club for the moment.

Have you seen the Carlo incident at the end of the game?

I have seen the Carlo incident as well. It is always difficult to see yourself on the floor but still I could see me speaking to the doctor and moving.

When I see Carlo and he was looking like that, it was really horrible. When you see your colleague, or any professional footballer lying on the pitch like this, it is very horrible.

Hilario has done very well standing in for you and Carlo?

I am happy for him because when he came to Chelsea, everyone told he would be the third choice goalkeeper. It is never easy to accept this role. Even so, he said he would work 100 per cent to do the best he can if he has a chance to play. His chance arrived and he did very well.He was under huge pressure against Barcelona because maybe the whole world was watching him to see if he can play this kind of game, and he played very well. After that, Portsmouth - three points, yesterday at Blackburn - clean sheet, and I think we can be very happy with him.

Have you got a message for the fans?

The message is that I say thank you to everybody who supported me the whole time I was in hospital and I say thank you for everyone who will support me on the way back. I will do my best to come back even stronger than before and I hope they will support the team as best they can because the team needs the support and I hope the team do the best they can for the supporters as well. And I hope that at the time I come back we will be first, sitting far in front of the others and still in all five competitions.

You had been playing brilliantly, in the form of your life at the beginning of the season. It would be a fantastic achievement if you came back even stronger?

I don't know if I was in the form of my life. I was not happy with the goal against Aston Villa and the goal against Charlton. I was a little disappointed that I conceded two goals. I was very happy with my performances because it was after my operation and you never know when you restart playing if you will play worse than before, but actually because I felt so much better than before because everything was solved, for me it was a pleasure to play. I really enjoyed every minute on the pitch and I think everyone could see it.

from Football365.com

Blues' blues.

This fucking incident deserves a fucking post. I am still fucking mad at what happened last Saturday.

The First Injury: Hunt assault on Cech

The injury was so intense, Cech had to be brought to the hospital and go through a surgery. He suffered from a fractured skull and may be out of football for at least 6 months, as suggested by a neuro. Rushing him back to play could prove to be fatal. Taena! And what happened to Hunt, the idiot? Nothing! He didn't even receive a yellow for stupidly smashing his knee on to the face of our goalie under the FIRST minute of the game! What the fuck was that! He was running fast, fine, but even before he did what he did, he already saw the ball in Cech's hands. Where was the effort to even stay away from the incident? NOWHERE! According to Jose, he even saw the idiot laughing after Cech was carried away. FCUK. Our mighty mighty goalie could be out for a loooong time. All of a sudden, he became a favorite for me. Talk about appreciation of talent.

The Second Injury: Sonko on Cudicini

As if the first one wasn't enough! Reading wasn't satisfied getting rid of Cech. Strategy to equalize? Bull shit. They played very well indeed but playing very well doesn't call for a very physical, controversial game! That moronic Sonko, if you watch the video, charged with all his might as if he were invincible, trying to perform a header. It was visible how there was no attempt of slowing down or minding the people in front of him. What mattered was, they equalised! The idiots! All for scoring, forget about safety??? Bitch! Cudicini was brought out of the hospital the same night but he still needs to return to total fitness. So he's not playing tonight against Barca. Barca baby! Our third choice Hilario will be taking their place. I wonder what would happen if he suffers from the same injury. Under the first minute. Terry on the post! Ridiculous!

Chelski, win for Cech and Cudicini. For our goalies.

Drooling over shirts

I've been dying to get Chelsea kits. I hate it that Adidas doesn't sell it here. Crapness. I really don't have much to say about this except that I'm dying to have them. Just look:

This polo shirt looks very clean. It's worth £23.
To be exact, it's at £22.99. I say not bad.

Then this is Chelsea's home kit. Their away kit's in white.
Doesn't feel as Chelsea-ish as this one. Blue is our colour!
Costs around £30

SWEEEEEETTTTT!!!!!!!!!!

OMFG! That's shite!

This is just plain stupid. Robbo could have chased the ball, I believe. But heck, we would've lost still.

Come on England!

I worry for England tomorrow in an away game against Croatia. The latter has remained unbeaten in home for the past 16 years and given the bad condition of many England players, I don't know how the team will survive. Their game against Macedonia last Saturday ended in a nil nil draw, a very disappointing result. Very bad passes, bad tackles, poor attempts to goal. The only good things were the defence and well, the GK. Let's give credit to Robinson for keeping a clean sheet for England.

Anyway, tomorrow, Gerrard doesn't play after receiving his second yellow from the previous match. Add to that Rooney's and Gerrard's slump forms. Then Rio Ferdinand's coming from a back spasm which led him to miss last Saturday's game; we could only but presume that he still ain't 100% fit. Johnson's still out of the squad, a complete bummer. Don't forget Downing's undeserving spot in the XI. Parker's playing, I think. At least we got someone in very good form to play in the midfield. We all hope he plays well. Carrick, paired with Lampard in central midfield, i think is okay. Although there have been criticisms of him not really doing much as well (at least not as worthless as Downing). Oh, Bring-Beckham-Back campaign's still ongoing!

I believe, tomorrow, Macca's following a 3-5-2 formation for the first time in 6 years. I somehow worry. Defence is one of the few good things about the team at the moment. Would it be better to apply that formation and bring more in the midfield? Croatia's gonna be tough so keeping the defence intact is one of the most crucial strategies we could employ. Though from another standpoint, it also makes sense to increase people in the midfield, which could mean creating more chances to score and getting past through the opponent's defence.

Well, well. All I could do now is wait and pray for England. A defeat tomorrow could be the beginning of the team's suffering. With the next qualifier still almost half a year from tomorrow, England would just have to end things bright against Croatia. People have been saying that to walk out with more than a draw would be surprising, given the opponent's undefeated home match records. If England could break that spell, then maybe that draw against Macedonia last Saturday could only be taken to be a temporary failure instead of what many predict to be a gradual deterioration leading to a long-term stagnation. (Transformation from a world class footballing national team to merely an overrated, overhyped underdogs, anyone?)

WTF is wrong with England?

In the Euro 2008 predictor game, 6 points will be given if England win, 95 if it were to draw, and 99 if Macedonia win. Points reflect the number of people who believe how a team would perform in the games. The smaller the points, the more people believe a specific team will win. Logic is, fans usually know who's stronger. So it's not worth getting a lot of points for something that could yield an obvious result. However, always there are those who risk and go against what the majority thinks, i.e., believe that the team could still lose to the weaker side, even in a home game. These are the people who keep in mind the unpredictability of the sport, the never impossible victory of the underdogs.

So I didn't get the 6 points. Apparently, I was one of the many England faithfuls. Anyway, it was just Macedonia. In the World Cup, we've beaten relatively stronger teams. We thought this was going to be easy. But Macedonia have proven themselves to be one tricky team. In the last away match, we've won 1-0. This time, England failed to score despite its world class players and was held by Macedonia until the end to finish in a draw.

A draw! Nil nil! What the fuck is wrong with England? I couldn't understand how a national team which is composed of the best players in one of the best leagues in the world could be performing so... average. Every single freakin' time. My very good image of the team was somehow wrecked by the World Cup after they failed to impress me with their games, despite the favorable results. I suppose that among all games, it was only the quarterfnal result that they didn't deserve. Perhaps the rest was down to sheer luck.

McClaren apparently didn't resort to the 3-5-2 formation. I wasn't aware of that until I read the match report from Football365 just a while ago. (Shame on the comment I sent to 606 last night mentioning the 3-5-2 formation.) So it's not the formation to blame, I guess. (Or is it?) Is it once again down to the poorly performing players? (Rooney hasn't scored for the national team for the past 2 years. Stevie G and Lampard are still struggling. Crouchie, for the first time this season if i'm not mistaken, failed to score.) Or to Macca who fails to make a huge difference after succeeding Sven?

Or could Hargreaves be the answer? In 4 matches, this was the first time we lost and this was the first time he's out because of an injury. He hasn't scored but his skills change how games are played. In the World Cup, he made a huge contribution, losing only to Portugal (probably already the stronger team?). Was Owen Hargreaves the missing link last night? Is he the influential player now? I want him back soon. Or we would be suffering.

La Liga, Serie A and Championship, here I come!

I figured following football would be more interesting if I did not limit myself to Barclays. Finding the need to expand my football fanaticism, I ended with 4 other teams (one more coming from the EPL):

Aston Villa. (Currently 6th.)
Real Madrid of La Liga. (Currently 2nd, after Barca.)
The one closest to my heart, Chelsea.
(Currently, second after ManU, only on goal difference.)
Celtics of the Scottish League. (Currently on top.)
AC Milan of Serie A. (Currently 12th.)
and
Southampton FC of the Championship. (Currently 6th.)

If I were to choose a runner up from La Liga, it would have to be Valencia; from the Scottish League, errr, none; from Serie A, Inter; and from the Championship, Sunderland.

Pre Euro 2008 Matchday 3, Modification 3

What makes transfers so attractive is that it allows for tinkering and guessing and promites craving for succes, i.e. point greediness. Not to forget the challenge of having to stay withing the budget limit. Matchday 3 is finally coming up tomorrow, after a lil over a month, I believe. For the last time, I made changes in the squad. Transfers are just so lovely.

Anyway, more than half of my squad was once again modified. The ever fickle me just couldnt hold myself back from choosing and picking, choosing and picking, and choosing and picking all over again. Here are the changes:

Naysmith out. Gunnarsson in.
Schneider, Petrov, and Mintal, out. Stromstad, Lampard, and Gera, in.
Healy and Crouch, out. Litmanen and Nuno Gomes in.

Even before this squad was finalized though, several others left such as C Ronaldo, Casillas and Henry. All good players eh? Well, that's what you call risking.