Squeaky FUN Time: Goodbye Manchester, Hello Derby Week

Pictured: The Devil's Smile 

Today, at Old Trafford, Chelsea achieved their least spectacular (yet most important) result of a dismal season - a 1-0 victory, courtesy of Juan Mata, Phil Jones' powers of deflection, and a hilarious red card to Rafael da Silva.  The Blues are sitting pretty in third place, a point ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand.
So, let's talk turkey/Tottenham.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea, A Tactical Preview

Ba Ba Black Sheep, Will you score more goals?

It's Chelsea vs. Manchester United time again. For the fifth time this season, the two teams meet. Chelsea currently lead the series 2-1, with one drawn game. Chelsea have the impressive feat of having the most wins at Old Trafford, at 5, ahead of City and Boro, both at 3 each.(Stat Courtesy: Chelsea Stats on Twitter). Few years back, this game used to have an influence on where the title went. Now it's just a dead rubber for United and a clash to keep themselves in the top four for Chelsea. Somewhere down the line, something went very wrong for us...

Hooligans and Headaches: Sport's Universal Problem

With Yossi Benayoun announcing that (to the surprise of no-one) he would not be renewing his Chelsea contract when it expires at the end of the season, the English media took delight at rehashing a theme that reared it's head as recently as our last game at Anfield - that Chelsea fans chased Benayoun out with anti-Semetic chants and are the worst football fans EVER. Unsurprisingly, this claim has been met with much anger in the Chelsea community - surprisingly, though, it has it's parallels in another recent event at another struggling club, Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays.

Schurrle You Jest: A Note On Summer Transfers, the Bundesliga and Pep

Chelsea have played an astronomical number of games this summer, and the holes in our squad that existed back in August have become even wider than they were at the beginning of the year.  The largest hole, as always, is the seemingly bottomless void on the touchline - a manager capable of filling the shoes left by Jose Mourinho so many years ago - while on the field, the gap in central midfield has become a chasm, and the less that is said about our striker situation, the better.  So what does this have to do with the Germans?!?

The David Luiz Song

The Saviour when he was a kid.

Poor David Luiz. All he wants to do is to stay happy, he wants more geezers, happy people. But all this cruel world gives him is sadness, pain and two-footed lunges. Despite all this, he seeks solace, finds fortune and gets glee in the tiniest acts of goodness that happen around him. After the sadness of blasts in Boston and Bangalore and the Iran earthquake, he cries, cries hard, cries very hard. But then, he remembers, that he is The Saviour, and puts on a brave face and goes about cheering the world. But how does he do that? Here is the song that, Harry Harris' sources claim, make him see everything in a positive light.


*THIS SONG IS PURELY CREATIVE AND IS ORIGINAL, DOES NOT INVOLVE PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND

This song is just my an effort of mine, but considering I'm not a wordsmith of any sorts, I'll welcome others to make their own and share in the comments. For best results, hum it in the same tune as Louis Armstrong's 'What a wonderful world'.

I see teams in blue, red tablecloths too,

I see them search, for a break-through,

And I think to myself.....

What a Wonderful World !!!

I see QPR poo, in the Stadium of Light,

Lee (Cattermole) hacks me up,

Walters says "FIGHT!"

And I think to myself....

What a Wonderful World !!!

True colours of Aguero, ugly, in the fly,

Also the shitty face, of Yaya, going by,

I see refs shaking hands,

Saying "How do you do",

They're really saying,

"Love Man U".

I see Suarez lie, roll on the floor,

He'll fake much more,

Than I'll never know,

And I think to myself.....

What a Wonderful World !!!

The curls of my hair, so pretty, ooh they fly,

And the skills of Boga, in the youth does he ply,

I see JT and Lamps,

Saying "How do you do",

They're really saying,

"I Love You !"

I see Torres try, and Chelsea win,

They're gonna win much more,

Than L'Arse'll ever know,

And I think to myself.....

What a Wonderful World !!!

That might have been downright awful, but it's actually the precipice for the Wilde in me. Now that the cornerstone's been laid, be creative and leave your songs in the comments section.

Always smile and love like Luiz. In the growing times of terror, maybe all people need is a bit of Luiz-ness, bringing smiles on others' faces. While you can't stop the sadness around you, try to lighten things up with some love. And yeah, pray for a better tomorrow, like Lord Luiz always does ! So go, and SPREAD HAPPINESS GEEZERS !

Fulham vs Chelsea: A Preview

As the battle for the top 4 intensifies, Chelsea will be looking to secure all 3 points when they take on Fulham tomorrow. Of the 7 remaining Premier League fixtures Chelsea have, Fulham should be the easiest and anything short of 3 points will really be a disgrace. A disgrace! Everton and Arsenal played to a scoreless draw earlier today and it’s all up to the Chelsea players to capitalize on this golden opportunity. I really can’t convey how disappointing it would be if Chelsea failed to get all 3 points tomorrow. Leaving Craven Cottage* without the 3 points puts us in a situation where we MUST get 3 points versus Liverpool this weekend, and as you may have observed, that has become increasingly difficult in recent seasons.

* The name of Fulham’s home ground makes me giggle. *giggles*

One year older and wiser (*coughs*), what does Rafa have in store for us?

FA Cup Semifinal Preview : Chelsea vs. Manchester City

Gosh, I hate all three SO much !

EL CASHICO TIME !!!!!

Know Your Opponent : Manchester City

The Beauty and The Beast.

The Champions of Europe face off with the Champions of England vying to book themselves a berth in the prestigious Chelsea Cup Drogba Cup  FA Cup Final at the Wembley against the likes of either Wigan or Millwall. While we all know how potent a team Manchester City have been in this off-season of theirs, let's take a look as to what specific threat they bring on to the fore.

Chelsea Youth Academy : Failing or Thriving ?

Chelsea FC have, currently, roughly 25 players on loan to other clubs. This is a staggering number, unmatched by most clubs. Most of these on-loan players represent the youth, more or less, and most have, at one point or another, been billed to be in the future reckoning for the first team. But it doesn't happen this way, does it?

Rubin Kazan 3 - 2 Chelsea: Match Report

Well then. We're through, and that's all we wanted. Even better, we didn't really have to push very hard, and got to rest most of our important players "away" to Rubin Kazan, who were playing 500 miles from their home in front of a crowd of only a few thousand. It's never nice to lose, of course, especially through such poor defending, but we never really looked in danger. There were very few moments where Chelsea felt pressured to the point of breaking. At the end of the day, we coasted home in 2nd gear and through to the Europa League Semifinal.

Match Preview : Rubin Kazan vs. Chelsea

No one cared who I was, until I put on the mask.

Moscow. The word brings about memories, sad ones at that. The same ground where our Captain infamously slipped while taking a penalty, and slip did the Cup as well from our hands. Last May in Munich, it was all about that unfinished business, knotting together those broken ends of the rope of Chelsea and Roman's European dream, REDEMPTION.... Now, after successfully defying all odds in Munich, Chelsea have the opportunity to become the only club ever to hold both European trophies, the big-eared Champions League trophy as well as its younger, slightly uglier sister, the Europa League trophy.

After All These Years: A Return to the Luzhniki Stadium

May 21st, 2008. Chelsea, reeling after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho earlier in the season, yet still a dominant force in English and European football, face the evil empire  Manchester United in the final of the Champions League - reaching the Holy Grail of European football.  A Didier Drogba red card, a missed penalty by John Terry and Edwin van der Sar's powers of perceptions ensured that the red Mancs walked away the victors, leaving fans worldwide (including a fourteen-year-old Canadian) heartbroken. Fast forward 5 years, and Chelsea return to that same stadium, this time to face Rubin Kazan in the Champions League's less attractive sibling Europa.  But what of the players who took part in that dreaded final?

The Daniel Sturridge Delusion

A young striker, plucked from the smoky depths of Manchester, nurtured at Cobham, coming of age at Bolton , with the world at his feet somehow now plys his trade in Liverpool.  Just what happened to Daniel Sturridge, and what does this say about Chelsea?

A unique blog and a unique writer

Hello and welcome to the blog, Chelsea fans. You may be asking yourselves: “Aside from the spectacular name, why should I read anything written on From A to Zola? What makes it better than any other Chelsea blog?” That is a shrewd and totally warranted question; so let me attempt to give you an answer. From A to Zola (FATZ*, if you’re into abbreviations) aims to change the game. We want to offer Chelsea fans a totally different outlook on what it means to support the club. We won’t pander to our readers (Hi, mom!) by writing about the things you have seen a thousand times. We will offer new, incisive, rich content unseen anywhere else on the internet. With FATZ, Chelsea blogging has been reborn. With that said, let’s talk about Torres and how bad he’s been.

*Personally, I wanted the name of the blog to be RAFA (Roman Abramovich’s Fleeting Army) but that was dismissed right away. Sadly, I don’t have much say around these parts.

Ankle injury For Demba Ba

An awful Craig Gardner tackle on Demba Ba yesterday in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Sunderland had left the striker writhing in pain in his ankle, before being subbed for Torres at half time. What slips past me is how Gardner isn't sent off for that tackle ! For me, it's a red card even before he touched Ba.

Torres, Shevchenko...Falcao? Does Chelsea Need a Big-Money Striker?

Chelsea have a habit of spending big on strikers, and also spending big on players who have played well against them, and the lovely fellows in the press have attached our name to Radamel Falcao at seemingly any opportunity.  But what do we really know about this man from Colombia who absolutely destroyed us in the UEFA Community Shield Super Cup? And how does he rank compared to our last big name striker purchases, Fernando Torres and Andriy Shevchenko?

Chelsea 2 - 1 Sunderland: Match Report

After fielding what is basically his strongest team, Rafa Benitez had Chelsea fans convinced they'd see something spectacular at home against Sunderland. They were kind of right, but, I imagine, not for anything like the reasons they expected. Both teams started out somewhat sloppy and lethargic, though Stephane Sessegnon could have put Chelsea to the sword inside five minutes, either by crossing to Connor Wickham for a tap-in, or by engineering a better shot than he ultimately did. He hit the side netting only.

From A To Zola: An Introduction

Hello! Welcome to From A to Zola! We're four Non-Britons writing about Chelsea Football Club. That's not your traditional football blog staff, but it's what we have. Deal with it! We're hoping to bring a unique set of voices to the Chelsea blogging scene. It's a crowded area, yes, but we feel there's room for us. Only you can decide whether we're worth it though. We'll have a bunch of fun content coming up for you in the days, weeks, and months to come, including humour, analysis, and news. From transfer rumours to Twitter scandals and everything between, we'll be here covering it for you!

Match Preview : Chelsea FC vs Sunderland

Oh no, not again....

Every moment that elapses taking me closer to this game, I'm getting increasingly sick with memories. In 2011, when Carlo Ancelotti was our manager, an extremely young, fast and vibrant Sunderland team visited the Bridge. Right after we had conceded the first goal, I realised that I was burning hot with fever. By half-time it worsened, and the last thing I remember was Sunderland scoring their second. I had fainted. Thankfully, dad noticed and next morning I woke up in the hospital, diagnosed with dengue, that left me bedridden for weeks. The worse news was that Sunderland had beaten us 3-0.