Starman60

Pedro has not enhanced this squad one bit. Tonight he cost us the first goal, and he all round general play was pathetic. Taking Fabregas off and bringing on Matic was a pivotal moment which proved costly for us. We were coping fine and attacking before that. I would have expected that tactic from Mourinho, but not from Gus. Cost us two valuable points. But realistically, a draw against WBA is the level we are currently at, We have shown nothing out of the ordinary to prove to me that a genuine top four charge is possible. If we finish in the top ten that is about the best we can hope for now....And a miracle in the cups, because currently this team has no edge.

Thiis will be a tricky enough tie. But I think we will triumph 2-0. Would really build confidence if we can keep another clean sheet and score a couple.But I just hope Ramires doesn't start. The guy is starting to be a liability in our own penalty box. If Oscar is out I would like to see RLC given a start. Lets get a good look at what he may bring to the team

We won the match, RLC, Kenedy and Traore got a run and we kept a clean sheet,,,Job done, now for round four. I know people are saying it was a bit of a flat performance after we scored the first, but in all honesty what did we expect? I felt that we could have steamrollered this lot if we wanted, and that we never needed to get out of second gear. It was a good solid performance without having to overstretch ourselves. They never threatened our goal at all, and as for the penalty shout? Whether they got it or not would have made no difference to the outcome. We may have won by even more had it been given and scored. But what it did show was the ill-dicipline of Ramires who at times can be a liability. Bring on round four

Cant see Pep coming to Chelsea. Too much bad blood following his days with Barca. I'd love to see him come but I think we may have burned that bridge some years ago

Bit of a shaky start, but we deserved the victory. Costa back to his best. Willian had a quiet first half but he exploded in the second. My man of the match is a player who I have condemned on numerous occasions in the past, and that was John Obe Mikel. I thought he brought a bit of steadiness to the team and was rock solid.He was immense and thoroughly deserved his start. Lets keep this going and you never know, we might even make the top half!!!!!!

I would love to see Bamford given a game. OK he's inelegible against Palace, but he should be given a run in the first team. Falcao is not one for the future, looks like Remy has had enough, so lets give the guy a chance off the bench soon. In all fairness, can he do any worse than Falcao who is costing us an arm and a leg? As for the Palace game.....Dont play a false nine, it doesn't work...Shows the opposition our hand and when we play it we dont score. I seriously think we can get a result at Palace, but we must play Costa up front. Courtois Aspi Zouma Terry Baba Matic Fabregas Willian Hazard Pedro Costa I'm going to give Fabregas ONE LAST CHANCE to prove he's the star he's paid to be........DONT LET ME DOWN!!!!!!!!!!

You are totally missing my point. We have a very successful youth set-up. We have numerous strikers out on loan, and we can't even put one of those on the bench? What signal did that send out to Man Utd? That we were there for a draw...What signal did it send out to our youth?..We don't have a recognised striker fit, but none of you are good enough to even make the bench. We should have brought one striker from the youth set-up. We were done for if they had scored, because we had no back up plan. And a striker from the youth scheme would have shown a lot more drive and enthusiasm up front than say Oscar in the last 15 minutes, and given the opposition a different problem than they had to cope with previously in the game

Jeez Guys!!!!!!Hiddink has been in charge for 2 games !!!!Give the guy a break will ya. He really has no choice at present but to play the "old guard". You can watch all the videos you like but it doesn't cut it like watching the real thing. And in all honesty, did you expect to see the youth played against Man Utd at Old Trafford? If we had lost this game playing the youth we would have kicked up a shit storm.The guy hasn't really had much time to evaluate the squad. Judge him after another 6 league games. United always raise their game against us. We are in the bottom half of the table after losing 9 games already, and we took a point with a clean sheet and we didn't even have a striker on the bench!!!!! Yes, I am sad at the state of our club, but a point is a point, and as Styles (I think) said before. "Baby steps guys...Baby steps"....And can we stop the comparisons with Jose? He's gone, and he's not coming back, so lets move on people.

Really says it all about our transfer and youth policies when we cant even get a recognised striker on the bench, never mind the pitch. Even Falcao is only on loan (Thank God). We got what we played for and that's a shame. We knew they were in as much turmoil as us, and we afforded them the whole of the pitch to start getting their confidence back, instead of going at them and putting pressure on their back four. Any forward in the place of Oscar would have at least given them a run, and caused problems. A point is not bad, but in all honesty, we are a shambles, and it really saddens me.

Got what we played for......but it was terrible

I wouldn't have a problem with that either..I just think we need to shore up our defensive frailties. That's why I would go with two DM's. But at the end of the day if we can score more than them we win. Sometimes I think we are overloaded and unbalanced by our midfield/attack. We need to stop leaking silly goals and start restructuring from the back.....Four new defenders is where we should start. At this present time none (including JT and Aspi) are performing to the level expected of them week in, week out. There was a time when once we scored we would be confident we could close out a match, but now, unless we score three it ain't gonna happen, and that not top four form. I really fear for the future of our club. There was a time when we had two world class players for every position on the field, now we dont even have one. No youth coming through since JT, which is ten years now, despite our youth being Kings of England and Europe. Sorry mate, I'm off on a rant here!!!! But getting back to the good point you made. I will be fine with us starting Kenedy, I will be fine with whoever we start, as long as CHANGES are made to the old guard. We really need a complete seed change, and to get the club back on track for the long term, not a short term fix. Our club is in a massive decline, never seen before in the Premiership. We need changes NOW, before it becomes terminal. Rant over :blue scalf:

Change formation and give RLC a berth in the midfield alongside Matic and Mikel (What am I saying when I actually want to see Mikel start!!). Pedro and Willian wide with Remy up front

Dont think it'll happen anyway (the hattrick that is) But one can but dream I do think we will win though :blue scalf:

Unless Remy scores a hattrick against Manure :blue scalf:

To save time let Roman just buy the Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern squads......I'd say we might get a team outta that lot

In my ideal Chelsea side none of the squad would be playing

And I will agree with you up to a point. We are no longer one of the top european heavyweights and wont be able to attract the calibre of the players you speak about. So, for now, Willian is one of our outstanding players, without whom we would be in a lot deeper shit. So instead of calling him unworthy of playing for Chelsea you should be praising him for some (not all) of his recent performances. If we had a few more with his commitment, drive and energy I'm sure we wouldn't be in our current demise

You might want to re-phrase that !!!!!

Would you agree that Willian has been our most improved and most influential player this season? And do you not think that maybe,he might even improve more under the right manager?

Hazard and Costa yes were brilliant last season.......That is now consigned to history, and we can't live on that. Willian IS this season. And as for the IDEAL team? well that's just fantasy my friend. So lay off the players who are excelling this season and find fault with the ones who aren't

Yes, I do. And I hope he stays....The guy has been easily our best player this season by a mile, Should we get rid of Hazard and Costa too, because they have been woefull this season.. As for aiming for levels? We need to look at our situation. We are two points above relegation, away from home against Man U and Palace in our next two games. Lets not even think about Madrid and Barca now because we have taken massive strides backwards this season. We need to concentrate on getting safe this season, making top four the following season and then after that, then we might, just might think about the European arena.

Looking forward to some more of your "in depth analysis" of our players !!!!!! In the words of John Mac Enroe.........."YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS???"

Well I thought we didn't play half bad today......We attacked well, Costa scored twice, we didn't throw in the towel when we went behind and we should have won it. Ok, Matic WTF !!! Absolute stupidity. Oscar poor penalty, but in fairness he did slip! But Hazard or Costa should have taken it. Gary Cahill, where do I start? Should have been closer when attempting to close him down, but that deflection was cruel. It could have gone anywhere, but it went in, just our bad luck at the moment. I felt we put in plenty of effort, and we were just unlucky. The team chosen was the same as Mourinho's in the past, but they did seem to play with more purpose, heart and attacking effort. I think the results will come, but as already said on here (By Styles)......Baby steps guys, baby steps.

Then apologies mate.....My bad