MrExcalibur100

Disgusting. Another decent game destroyed by a poor refereeing decision.

I doubt he's bothered by that. It's more to do with the poor atmosphere robbing off on the players and leading to slow-placed, sluggish starts. Many of the "proper" CFC fans have been priced out of home games by the extortionate ticket prices and have been replaced by tourists with their flashy cameras and iphones and the atmosphere just gets worse every time. As far as the prices go, you can't eat your cake and have it too. It's a problem that other big clubs have as well, Etihad, Anfield and Old Trafford. It's something that I feel should be discussed indoors only. Coming out to say that is pointless and solves nothing.

"Everyone knows how much I feel connected to this club and the fans,” he told talkSPORT. “At this moment it’s difficult for us to play at home, because playing here is like playing in an empty stadium." Ballsy comment and I don't know what to make of it . But I guess it has some truth to it. The media are going to run with it for sure.

I can't believe some people (mostly rival fan trolls) are arguing the legitimacy of the penalty. Stonewall all day long.

Bayern vs Dortmund! The Armenian guy just missed a fairly easy chance for Dortmund. He tends to miss a lot of chances, that guy. Anyway, I'm expecting a great game!!

Great CAM? Only problem is his finishing? Willian > Oscar? ( ) Willian is neither a great CAM/winger and his only problem is certainly not his finishing. I still haven't noticed any improvements in his play this season. Just the same ol' Willian thus far. And that's good enough to start ahead of Schurrle and Salah. That says more about those two players than Willian.

Not our best game by a long stretch but 3 points is 3 points! Pressure on City tomorrow.

I can't wait! It's been a while since we had a full strength Chelsea side playing together.

I won't be surprised since it's a recurring injury with Draxler. He just recently did his hamstring a month or so ago. Luckily for them, there's an international break coming up for majority of the time he'll be out for. He'll most likely be back vs us.

Wow, Uchida is a beast! Always liked the look of that guy.

Aye. I just assumed it was. Too bad Draxler got injured, I was looking forward to watching him. I'll just settle for Meyer

RDM's first home game , I think and Draxler is hurt himself. It looks like a hamstring injury.

I think Cahill has been brilliant since he's joined us. I'm not sure which system this is but it's clear we're playing more open this season with more emphasis on being expansive and less compact. If you want to make an argument for the system making players look better or worse, then the same can be said for Ivanovic, Azpilicueta and even Terry. They've had periods this season when they've been less than convincing. And I don't know how anyone can say Cahill is a mediocre defender. He's not absolute world class level, but he isn't far off. Pique will be a fairly huge downgrade.

Pique can't run, can't tackle, can't jump. He had two good seasons in Barcelona but has since descended into being a laughing stock in Spain. Barcelona have gotten weaker and Pique has gotten exposed. He was so bad, he got benched in the WC, I think. He's a classic case of the system and strength of team making a player look better than he actually is. Still, thank God there aren't any reputable sites reporting it. I also doubt Barcelona will want to lose such an experienced player in January. Barcelona also have the transfer embargo to deal with. We had a chance to go for Benatia in the summer but we weren't really pressing for a centre-back. It makes little sense to press for a far inferior one in Pique now. He makes Ben-Haim and Boulahrouz seem competent.

Cahill is a billion times better than Pique, mate. Pique is actually a mediocre defender, insanely overrated . I'll rather have David Luiz back than Pique. The only reason why we might want him is because he's a good ball playing CB, but like Luiz, he can't defend. He'll get exposed badly in this league and this team.

There aren't too many top CB's in world football and Benatia is certainly a top CB. One of the best in the world, he has everything you want in a defender. As for Pique, surely it must be a joke, right? I won't even want him for 5 million. He's an awful defender.

Maybe average is too strong but he wasn't surrounded with the same talent as Messi has with Argentina. Of course you have nothing else to add to the discussion, that's what normally happens when you stop reading when you don't like something you've read.

Judging from my experience, most Brazilians will disagree that Messi is better than Romario. Messi had the chance to prove he was the best ever at the WC but couldn't. Others like Maradona and Romario carried average teams on their back and won the World Cup for their country, Messi had his individual moments but often looked laboured and all too easily shackled by defenses. The so-called best ever player wasn't even the best player on his team. His free-kick in the dying minutes against Germany just summed it up. There's really no reason for me to rate Messi higher than Romario, for instance. Romario has more goals (it's unlikely Messi will ever eclipse his tally), and IMO, roughly the same amount of quality and ability, Messi being more explosive and a better dribbler while Romario had more flair, flashy skills, better movement and was a lethal finisher. He's arguably the greatest finisher of all time, though some will say Muller or Puskas were better. This is the most important fact. Messi has had the privilege of playing in one of the strongest teams in European football history for virtually all his career, ahead of the Xavi and Iniesta duo and alongside forwards like Eto'o and Villa who made space for him with their movement and runs. Now that he has neither, he's not looking as dominant as before. Maradona for instance never played for such a dominant team but still distinguished himself as the best of his era, be it Napoli or with Argentina. I personally won't be surprised if Ronaldo surpasses him in the next 2-3 years as the absolute best of his generation. It's mostly the younger generation that think Messi and Ronaldo are the best players ever when this couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, there are some respected footballing people that have said Messi is the best ever, but for as many have said that, there are even more who say otherwise. Mourinho doesn't believe it, neither do I.

It's true though. Messi is one of the all time greats but is not the all time great, and we don't need to speak of Pele or Maradona to know that.

Phenomenal player, Messi, the best player since the days of Zidane and Ronaldo but best of all time is hyperbole. We don't have to go back to Maradona or Pele. Messi is not better than Romario was. Certainly not. And arguably not better than Ronaldo in his Barca/Inter days before the injuries.

Another thing I've noticed is that since Jose's come back, we've been getting only away fixtures in the cup competitions. In the league cup we had: Last season: Swindon away, Arsenal away, Sunderland away. This season : Shrewsbury away, now Derby away In the FA cup we had: Last season: Derby away, Man City away The only home games we've had under Jose have been Stoke in the Fa Cup last season and Bolton in the league cup this season. So that's 7 away total and only 2 at home. That's weird.

thanks

Is the semi-final played at Wembley or not?

Mr Pellegrino given a tactical beat down by Alan Pardew. A small club with good players playing like a small team.

Mangala : Mistake prone defender who has always relied on physicality and speed of recovery than actual defending skills. I'm glad we gave him a miss.