MrExcalibur100

Everything's just bouncing off Drogba, predictably. Attacks breaking down with him. It's actually mad Remy doesn't start this game. He's better than 36 year old Didier, ffs and will combine better with our attacking mid's.

Very poor start

Amazing Remy is being shunned so badly.

At least maybe the media will stop saying we've won the league already by November. Bunch of brainless imbeciles.

Untouchable indeed.. It's not only that but subs should have been made earlier in the West Brom game. It was won after 20 mins but no subs were made till the 80th minute mark.

Odd responding to my own comment but can't say I didn't call it.

Azpilicueta continues to convince me that he can't do a job on a consistent basis at left back. Most of the teams we play against play defensively against us, even when they play at home. He offers nothing in these games that Luis cannot! Jose's infatuation with him playing there is really bizarre. I feel bad for Filipe.

Horrific game. It reminded me of the Basel away performance last season where we lost 1-0. We looked incredibly tired which is a worry at this stage of the season. MOTM? Fuck that, we were bang awful all over the pitch. I hate to single out a player but I wonder what the point of Azpilicueta is in games like this. Contributes nothing to attack and his defensive contribution is overrated by some. Either you play him on his natural wing, (which he doesn't deserve considering Brana's form) or don't play him at all and play Luis insted. The rotation has been poor and resting of some key players not named Costa or Fabregas has not been good enough. Oscar, Hazard, Matic all deserve rests as well.

The ball was played out wide and the full back failed to make an overlap with 1 minute to go. What the fuck are you talking about?

2 mins of extra time? Premier league, premier league. Just a shit day all round. Absolutely pathetic.

89th minute of the game Azpilicueta fails to overlap leaving Hazard all on his own to fend off 3 defenders when we're chasing the game. A fucking joke that. A fucking joke.

We're in trouble in this game. I'll be very surprised if we go on to win from here.

This game reminds me of Basel 1-0 Chelsea last season. It's so obvious that the players are tired. Mourinho says he doesn't rest players. Now we're seeing the result of that.

Jose has had opportunities to rest him but he refused to do so. Even in already won games and Capital One fixtures. I'm not surprised he's struggling out there.

We've won 9 straight games vs them in the league. I think we have picked up more points vs Sunderland than any other Premier League side.

Maybe if you mythologize his ability to read the game, but Matic is also incredible in this department, he's one of the best midfielders in the world. He's always in the right place at the right time whether covering vacated spaces for others, positioning himself to make interceptions or closing down the opposition's spaces. Makalele was supreme in both the former but not at all in the latter partly due to his lack of athleticism. The point is Matic a more dynamic player than Makalele ever was and that's what makes him better. He's literally a complete holding midfielder, interceptions, tackling, heading, covering, positional awareness, pressing, even bonuses like passing, vision, dribbling! I can't remember a player like that in recent times since Patrick Viera. Both absolute stallions running with the ball, covering every blade of grass and dominating the centre of the pitch. There are differences between Viera and Matic obviously, but it's a more apt comparison than Matic/Makalele.

There was one moment when one second he's making a defense splitting pass, the next he's closing down the opposition player deep in Schalke's half. Outrageously dynamic footballer is Nemanja. Love the guy.

He plays nothing like Makalele though. Makalele couldn't dream of being able to press the opposition like Matic does.

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50 goals in UCL history makes Drogba the highest scoring African player in Champions League history. Very impressive personal milestone for The Drog.

I'm of the opinion that if Azpilicueta was swapped with Filipe Luis at this instant, it won't make a shred of difference to our performances or the level of the team. Infact, we'll have even more balance as we're playing a natural left back in his natural role. Azpilicueta has done well there but he's a limited player in that position. He's also not as infallible defensively as he's made out to be but that's another story.

Schalke 05

Brilliant job so far, boss. . He's delivered on his promise so far concerning the "evolution" of Chelsea. We are playing with fantastic style and swagger, imposing our will on teams home or away. The contrast of our play in this same fixture last season, where we defended very deep and played on the counter attack for 90 mins and today was there for all too see. We destroyed them this time. I was admittedly concerned after the City game but right now I have nothing but praise for Jose and the way he has us playing football. 21 games unbeaten and we carry on.

Will Jose ever consider even taking Hazard off when a game is already won? We should learn from the fact that's he's gotten injured at the tail-end of the season for two seasons in a row. That's never happened before in his career before he joined us, infact he never got injured. These accumulated mins in every game can't be good for him at all.