Viper22

I came into this thread just to read Barb once again enthuse about our little Spanish magician .

I thought Azpi was good, maybe a 6 was harsh. But whether or not Hazard was tracking back well he still needs to be a bit better. Maybe I set high standards for him cos I think he's one of the best FBs in the world but didn't have his best game in a Chelsea shirt, was caught out of position a few times more than usual.

Courtois - 6 - Had nothing to do but still imperious at collecting crossed balls into the box. Looks so damn calm all the time. Azpi - 6 - Made a few great 1 on 1 tackles but Uchida had a little bit of joy down his flank. Terry - 8 - Captain's performance from the captain. Outstanding header for the goal and always looked great in defence. Cahill - 6 - Simple game due to a great performance from his captain alongside him. Ivanovic - 6 - Good going forwards as always, could have scored the goal of the season if that volley had gone half a foot lower. Matic - 9 - Another ridiculously good performance from the beast. Nothing gets past him. Fabregas - 9 - Sprays the ball around at will. Swear sometimes he doesn't look before playing a 40+ yard ball straight to someone's foot. A joy to watch. Hazard - 7 - Not his best game by dribbling standards but made some great runs off the ball and some great 1-2 passes with Oscar and Fabregas. Oscar - 7 - Great game from Jose's favourite player. Great in attack, great in defence, so glad he's back in form. Willian - 9 - Easily his best performance in a Chelsea shirt, created a goal, scored a goal, some great runs with the ball, but needs to have better decision making in the final third. Costa - 8 - Quality game. So unlucky not to score. Ravaged the Schalke defence all night. Santana will check under his bed for Costa before going to bed tonight. Drogba (sub) - 8 - What a cameo from the King. Arrive, Goal, Assist, Leave. He loves playing CL football on German soil doesn't he? Ramires (sub) - 7 - Great leap for his goal, didn't have time to do much else! Schurrle (sub) - 5 - No time to make an impact, won't get near the squad if Willian keeps up this form.

Barcelona have tiki-taka football. Bayern have possession football. Netherlands had total football. We have Kelly Brook football. Absolutely stunning.

They will NEVER win the CL. Not a chance. So the longer they stay in is better for us.

Where in the hell would City be without Aguero? 3-2

Tbh you could probably unpick this Schalke defence with ease with Fabrepass behind you and Hazard and Willian on each side.

Surely we want City to win? No midweek games will help their league campaign...

In the words of JR....: Bah Gawd, Stop the damn match! These guys have a family!

Holy shit we're good. Feed the Ram and he will jump 6 feet in the air. Dear god.

Good lad Willian. Finally made the right choice! King DIDIER!

We are playing gorgeous football. Like Kelly Brook gorgeous.

I'll assume you're not deliberately misconstruing my comments so i'll explain myself: We should not make our CL campaign hard for ourselves. On our day we can beat ANYONE, I truly believe that. But our chances of beating teams like Bayern/Real/Barca/PSG are not as high as they would be if we faced teams like Olympiakos, Basel and Monaco. We need to beat the best to be the best but why face harder teams when you can skip them and let them knock each other out before the later rounds? You say we have to beat them, no, we don't. We just need to beat the teams put in front of us. We could top the group and face no team better than Monaco or something and still win the CL. Unlikely I know but you should always give yourself the best chance you can, and in this case it is by topping the group. So my comment was that we CANNOT lose as this will put us 2nd place in the table and make our lives a lot harder in the CL. If we draw 2-2 or above then we only need a point against Sporting to top the group, would take almost all of the pressure off.

I don't have twatter, someone else will have to do it .

Cheers for that. This hilarious image will be in my head for ever more now.

Well yeah of course, the old cliche that you have to beat the best to be the best... but I wouldn't feel overly confident about playing Bayern or Real, got to be honest! And games against PSG, Atletico or Barca would be touch and go. Yes I also have confidence, but I would be very worried if we lost this match. A score draw with at least 4 goals would be perfect.

Best ever PL CB's at their peak IMO (in order): Adams JT Vidic King Campbell Ferdinand Hyypia

Yeah but going through 2nd is an absolute minefield in the CL. We'd get one of: Real Madrid, Atletico/Juve, Bayer Leverkusen, PSG/Barca, Porto, Dortmund, Bayern. Only Leverkusen can be seen as relative pushovers there, wouldn't want to be facing any of the other teams so early. Not saying it would definitely be over, but it would almost definitely be. On this topic, Arsenal are shafted, lol. Anyway, that's why a draw would be fine, especially if it's 2-2 or above as that would mean we'd top the group with a draw against Sporting too.

Not usually one to exaggerate or get emotional, but will genuinely be really upset when this hero finally hangs up his boots. It'll be like a family member dying... I hope he goes on forever, and with the way he's playing ATM I can't see the end in sight just yet. CLL.

Would take a draw now, all day. But we have to go out for the win. A loss would almost definitely mean the end of our CL campaign so we must, not, lose.

It's all just stats. That Arsenal team were stunning going forwards and great in defence. Our 04/05 and 05/06 teams were ridiculously hard to beat, would socre 1 or 2 then shut the game down. Might not be popular but I think that the Man Utd treble winning team of 98/99 was the best PL team so far. I'd rather win a treble than go undefeated for the PL season or get the points record, and I think Man Utd did it very well that season, begrudgingly. But yeah, I agree, our 04/05 team was better than the 03/04 Arsenal team, and 1 loss in that season doesn't change that.

You've not really understood this have you.... I'm saying that being top scorers does not give you the title. It's the most points scored. And they are not always the same teams. Take the 08/09 season: Man Utd (68 goals scored) - 1st. Liverpool (77 goals scored) - 2nd. Chelsea (68 goals scored) - 3rd. Arsenal (68 goals scored) - 4th. And that wasn't close, there was an 18 point gap between 1st and 4th.

I don't think people will be happy until we end up losing a game from 2-0 up you know. What do you do when you're 2-0 up against 10 men with at least 2 games a week for the next 6-7 weeks? You cruise through to a 2-0 win, that's what. Trying to put more goals past teams purely because some think we can (or should) is disrespectful and frankly stupid. You win games by scoring more than the other team. You win leagues by winning more than other teams. You don't win leagues by being the top scorers in the league. Would you all rather win 1-0 every week or win 5-1 for 4 weeks then lose 4-3 on the 5th week? I hope that's a simple answer, if not then you're beyond saving. Another 3pts, top of the league 7 points clear. What could you possibly complain about? KTBFFH.

Sorry couldn't select unlimited players . And did it to the best of my knowledge. Put in Courtois and Costa.

Looking forward to @zolayes's reply here, seeing as he's been around for most of the club's existence!!