Viper22

Anyone still out there still in denial that there actually is a campaign against us? Usually i'm the last person to be all tinfoil hat claiming conspiracy or whatever but it's getting ridiculous now. The Costa 'stamp', Ivanovic's 'headbutt', Mourinho criticizes referees (correctly), numerous blatant penalties not given. vs Nigel Pearson chokes a player, Wenger comes into Mou's touchline area and shoves Mourinho, numerous 50/50s going other team's way, Aguero's double foot stamp on Luiz, Man City & their FFP bullshit. It's beyond a joke now. And it really is going to make us stronger. I will never forgive the FA for this. Like Mourinho is trying to make it, it really is One vs All. As our friend @supporter says, we're behind Chelsea, and behind our leader Jose. He'll bring us the title and we will hopefully hold onto it for many years yet. Fuck BT, Fuck Sky, Fuck the FA, Fuck anyone who's not Chelsea. KTBFFH

Wonder if the FA apologists will still be around if/when Ivanovic gets his customary ban for "headbutting"/daring to play for Chelsea.

He is a god amongst men. Thing is I don't see his performance today as that good because he's (almost) ALWAYS that good. Love watching him make football look easy so damn much.

Indeed. Hazard has shot from range once or twice. Willian and Cuadrado need to a few times. 1 vicious deflection or 1 bit of magic is all you need....

Just being rested I think. I hope. I pray.

Take a wild guess

Cuadrado is to Chelsea like a hand is to a glove. Boy he's settled quick, and boy he IS quick. Meanwhile, Willian has just been fantastic these last couple of weeks. I take all my criticisms back if he continues to play like this. Long may it continue!!

Maybe fair enough, but sometimes FIFA/FM do seem to pluck values out of their arse. Case in point being to compare RVP and Costa from this years FIFA/FM game: (FM / FIFA) Costa RVP Finishing: 17/90 18/91 First Touch: 16 19 (No FIFA stats) Passing: 14/65/48 16/85/75 (FM/FIFA Short/FIFA Long) Balance: 13/62 16/59 Composure: 13 17 (No FIFA stats) They're just the first ones I looked at. Does RVP have more balance under pressure or more composure than Costa? I really don't think so. And even an area where RVP is deffo better (heading), weirdly Diego is better there. They sometimes make very odd rating is all i'm saying, so it's hard to draw anything from them. So while they're sometimes not completely wrong, they also sometimes can be. And so it's hard to take anything tangible from the data both games supply. Not a personal attack, jus' sayin'.

Dude, don't do stuff like this. You're putting forward well structured arguments but so is Chelsea Legend. Attacking the way someone writes (which isn't OTT anyway, e.g. the correct way to do an ellipsis (...) is with 3-4 dots, so he's not overdoing that either) just suggests you're losing an argument and resorting to churlish abusive tactics.

Skipper man.... I never thought i'd see you on the side of someone quoting FM and FIFA stats as fact (or any semblance of it). I love both FM and FIFA and play them a lot. I also get very annoyed at people saying "Where is this possible? FM/FIFA?" to something innocuous like suggesting we could sign Reus/Pogba. But you can't just quote numbers from them game and take them as gospel fact. You just can't. Where has all this talk about Firmino come from? I admit I haven't seen much of him but are we really suggesting that a guy who isn't even a standout in the Bundesliga (he isn't that well known, he really isn't) could be a good option to come in and be better than Oscar? Of course it's possible that he could be amazing, but where are we getting this from? Looking at his info, he's played for Hoffenheim and not to a level where he's renowned (at least in this country) and I like to think I have quite a good knowledge of the players around Europe if they come onto the radar due to performing at a high level. No-one has really put forward a good argument for why there's a very good chance he'll be better than Oscar (there needs to be a very high chance, it's a huge risk to drop Oscar and shell out 20-30M on a player we're not sure about) and not for any other gettable player either tbh. Coutinho is a very good player that I actually rate highly, but at best he's as good as Oscar when they have their best days and he has similar problems with consistency. Unless Real go full retard and decide to sell Isco who is clearly better than Oscar, I don't believe there is an available player who is definitely better than him ATM.

This is the key thing IMO. Yes, Oscar isn't the greatest in the world. But what no.10s around are realistically gettable and definitely better than him? Especially when you consider he's still youngish (23 means he's likely still yet to peak). Unless Real continue their mental attempts to buy a WC AM every damn transfer window and decide to ship out Isco (who is just amazing) then I just can't think of anyone. The only other thing would be to shift Cesc forwards into the no.10 role and buy another CM (Pogba or Koke?) but i'm still not convinced that Cesc is as good in that role as I think he's often marked too tightly to make as much of an impact. For now, I'm happy to persist with Oscar and hope he develops his game a bit more (especially his passing accuracy, his consistency and general creativity on the ball). Hopefully Mou can help him out there.

My cousin had a wedding last November. I'm in the background of some of the bride & groom photos. The photos make a hilarious flickbook. Me talking.... Me subtly getting my phone out.... Me checking the score.... Me hugging my dad.... My mum telling us both off. Genuine true story. I'll never unknowingly not know the score while we're playing. It kills me too much not knowing.

Ew. I almost wish you hadn't told me....

Match Ratings IMO: Courtois - 5 - A few uncharacteristic wobbles from the big man. Hopefully he'll be a bit more solid under the high ball when bumped around by opponents because people will try it a lot now. Ivanovic - 6 - Great finish for the goal, caught ball watching at the corner we conceded from. Typical Ivanovic display. No idea what to think about him sometimes... Terry - 6 - Solid performance from CLL. Cahill - 6 - Decent performance from Cahill. Made one good interception and didn't back off anywhere near as much as usual. Still prefer Zouma though. Azpilicueta - 4 - Pretty poor performance from Dave today, hopefully picks himself up as he's been poor the last 2 games. Matic - 7 - Typically great performance from him. Nothing gets past the Spider. Ramires - 6 - Lots of running, lots of energy, solid display. Hazard - 8 - Stunning finish for the goal. Great play around the pitch and so hard to get the ball off of. Oscar - 2 - The only reason this isn't a 1 is because he didn't give away a penalty or score an own goal. Woeful performance. His passing stats would be a nightmare to look at. Willian - 9 - Quite possibly his best performance in a Chelsea shirt. Great energy, great play and much, much better. Evidently taken the signing of Cuadrado personally. Drogba - 3 - Poor from the Drog. No presence, poor passing, shouldn't be ahead of Remy ever again. Remy (sub) - 6 - Was good after he came on, worked very well with Cuadrado which is a big positive. Mikel (sub) - 4 - Poor passing towards the end but we've come to expect that from him. Cuadrado (sub) - 5 - Didn't have much time but showed glimpses of greatness. Did more in 10mins than Oscar and Drogba did in a combined 130mins.

Match Ratings IMO: Courtois - 5 - A few uncharacteristic wobbles from the big man. Hopefully he'll be a bit more solid under the high ball when bumped around by opponents because people will try it a lot now. Ivanovic - 6 - Great finish for the goal, caught ball watching at the corner we conceded from. Typical Ivanovic display. No idea what to think about him sometimes... Terry - 6 - Solid performance from CLL. Cahill - 6 - Decent performance from Cahill. Made one good interception and didn't back off anywhere near as much as usual. Still prefer Zouma though. Azpilicueta - 4 - Pretty poor performance from Dave today, hopefully picks himself up as he's been poor the last 2 games. Matic - 7 - Typically great performance from him. Nothing gets past the Spider. Ramires - 6 - Lots of running, lots of energy, solid display. Hazard - 8 - Stunning finish for the goal. Great play around the pitch and so hard to get the ball off of. Oscar - 2 - The only reason this isn't a 1 is because he didn't give away a penalty or score an own goal. Woeful performance. His passing stats would be a nightmare to look at. Willian - 9 - Quite possibly his best performance in a Chelsea shirt. Great energy, great play and much, much better. Evidently taken the signing of Cuadrado personally. Drogba - 3 - Poor from the Drog. No presence, poor passing, shouldn't be ahead of Remy ever again. Remy (sub) - 6 - Was good after he came on, worked very well with Cuadrado which is a big positive. Mikel (sub) - 4 - Poor passing towards the end but we've come to expect that from him. Cuadrado (sub) - 5 - Didn't have much time but showed glimpses of greatness. Did more in 10mins than Oscar and Drogba did in a combined 130mins.

Cuadrado on for Ramires now before he gets sent off please Jose....

Mikel on for Oscar..... Breakdown (maybe even rightly) of several forum members imminent.

The way Oscar is playing I don't think i'd even be upset about that..... Even Mikel doesn't give the ball away as much as Oscar.

Willian is our own little duracell bunny.... The gy just keeps going... and going... and going.

And THAT is why Jose puts up with his shitty defending. Can't argue with him sometimes....

Ok now that was poor from Tibo.

Going under the radar here a bit... But Azpi has been nearly as terrible as Oscar and Drogba today.

If Oscar and Ramires could learn to pass....

Well, we all called it.

Indeed. City losing makes me happy. Not as happy as your old profile pic made me though.