Shakez

José saying he's going to select the best team, im curious about wich line-up he thinks that is. Would love a start for Luis

Would swap him for Schürrle in a heartbeat, on the other hand this guy deserves to go too a place where he's guaranteed too start. He's not Chelsea starting level yet.

Who is better is the wrong question imo. Tbh, Hazard is probably our most "talented" player. Matic, Fabregas, Costa are more necessary for our "sytem".

Ideal match to start Luis at leftback and Dave on the right.

From God to peasant. The time when attackers attack and not defend and fullbacks sit back and hold tight is over. There is a little thing called overlapping. Just look at Bayern: Lahm and Alaba can play at the back, in the center, on the wings and in Alaba's case even in the friggin 10 position. Dave is well behind in that regard, seeïng a bombing fullback like Ivanovic this season was a welcomed sight to me because honestly the Premier League is getting stagnant with their views in how football should be played. Real, Barca, Dortmund, Bayern and Atletico are all currently a step ahead in that regard.

I rather take that kind of dumb, than a player like Schürrle who only focuses on runs and forget's to back the team in defence.

It is funny that if you look in the Schürrle thread after last week against Swansea, and now here in Willians... Some players just get way more flack than others. Schürrle had an equally bad performance last week against weaker opposition while beïng a defensive liability. They both had basically no preseason's but Schürrle got the starts against weak opposition's. Willian was called upon at Everton, Schalke and City. Not really the easiest fixtures to come into the team and gel with Fabregas/Costa/Hazard, while coming from a WC where he barely played + a 2 week holiday. I also want to remember people that he was instrumental in the quick 0-2 lead against Everton whilst keeping his side of the pitch defensively safe. Hazard's side got bombed that game and this resulted in a goal with Hazard not marking his player, something that got overlooked because we won in the end. Schürrle did basicaly the same thing yesterday, but somehow they get sugarcoated by most fans. Also in this game Willian got fouled 7 times, it is almost a miracle that he didn't get an injury. These fouls where also partly the cause that breaked most of City's momentum and was a much needed release valve for the team. Zabaleta even got sent off after yet another foul on Willian, after wich we then proceed to score against 10 men. Though this lead was eventually nullified by everyone's favorite german. Hater's gonna hate i guess... Willian was bad this game and there are no excuses for his passing rate, but this hate crusade by some fans is plain disgusting (not only towards Willian, but Oscar too), even Branislav get's more hate than the person who was responsible for the Lampard goal. Luckily Mourinho has a clear eye on things.

We lost like 2 big games where he started in. Namely against City in the FA cup, and Atletico at home (where he created the chance wich put us 1-0 up). His track record is very good in the big games. Anyway, today he was very bad. Kinda an atypical performance, because in most games he holds up the ball very well. Currently his spot is up for grabs but none of Schürrle,Willian, or Oscar are making good cases of themselves in why they deserve a spot. Kinda sad also that people are quick to blame players, and overlook/not mention things like Willian getting fouled 7 fucking times in one half, im kinda surprised he isn't injured.

This gif sums up Schürrle's game and current standing in the pick order for the first XI. He really needs to step up defensively because at this moment the right spot is up for grabs, a defensive liability is the 1 thing Mourinho hates the most though.

Can't be of much use when the striker doesn't convert the chances they create...

Tbh, people are overeacting way too much. José got his tactics wrong but hey, it's early in the season and now we know Drogba is our 3rd option striker. The thing José got wrong was probably starting Ramires instead of Oscar, Ramires wasn't bad but this is not the type of match suited to his strenghts. I guess Mourinho wanted to test the formation we most likely will play against City but was wrong in playing it against Schalke. They where happy to let us come to them, and hardly pressed us. Oscar would've been a better option from the start, using him as a sub was wasteful because he's hardly an impact sub. The only real negative (besides Drogba) was the way Huntelaar got his goal, our defence need a cracker up their arse, unacceptable! Anyway on to City! They lost btw against Bayern.

Seeïng Drogba perform like that is heartbreaking

Was funny seeïng Hazard beïng angry at Drogba. He was in the zone in the first 20 mins, sadly Drogba stepped in at the wrong time .

Tbh, bring in Costa/Remy for Drogba and Oscar for Ramires. Not that Ramires was bad but i think this game suits Oscar more. Hope the lads come guns firing out of the gate and add another goal. the main objective should be a clean sheet though, to add some defensive confidence ahead of the City game.

First match full hd on my tv, im ready

Schürrle was expected after that dreadful Swansea performance, Salah though...

We have such a good youth team

Where is that footage from?

I think it is more of a point that he's notorious for not beïng defensively disciplined throughout his career. This is also 1 of the main reasons he didn't replace Xavi in the Barcelona central midfield, these mistakes aren't random and they happened in almost every match we've played thus far. Mistakes where also made by Matic but he sticks to his role (marking and such) and is most of the time defensive solid (he was a rock last season). The way Fabregas leaves space open will be a huge issue when we play against the likes of David Silva. I think it is hard to iron out these things so we probably need some alternative to circumvent his flaws because we can't miss him in the starting IX.

Fantastic analysis from Neville, a 4-2-3-1 atm currently is a no go in big games. But we need to find a solution for it, dunno if Fabrégas can get the discipline but that's something Mourinho should drill into him. Otherwise when are we ever going to play Oscar in the big games unless we put him on the wings (not his best position). For this reason i would like to see how we fare with the following line-up against high pressing opposition, with Willian as our most defensive winger (and a pretty capable presser), seeïng that Schürrle lacks some key defensive attributes atm and is a bad presser. I don't think we have seen that line-up yet this season: Costa Hazard - Oscar - Willian Matic - Fabregas Azpi - Terry - Cahill - Ivanovic Courtois

Well he didn't exactly get a vote of confidence last season in the big games.

Interesting points from José in the Chelsea tv post-match interview. Normally our right wingers (Willian, Salah, Oscar) tend to cut inside, wich leaves space for Ivanovic to operate in. When he's playing with Schürrle though he's much more restricted in his attacking play because Schürrle tends to stay out wide.

I suspect he'll get more chances going forward.

Probably my second favorite player atm , let's see if he delivers against Man City.

Fuck me, why did i have to work today. he's a gem alright