Footballover

Have not seen us play like this for years. Frankly, we look like a real big team. Jose liked to talk about "where this team belongs", but we have not played like a big side after that defeat at the Lane. It surely got to the players' minds and Conte deserves a lot of credit for what he has done. Put aside the tactics and watch the mental side of our game, how comfortable we are, how confident are the players. If Jose was still here and tried to use the same 3-4-3 I'm sure it wouldn't have worked the same. Matic is bossing it, Azpilicueta is a fucking rock at the back, and of course Eden and Diego who are currently playing, for me, the best and most consistent football of their Chelsea careers. Can you even recognize the players they were 6 months ago? We still need some upgrades to be made to really have a go for the title IMO but as I said - except for his great footballing ideas, Conte did great by implementing the idea that Chelsea is a big side again, as in the minds of our players and as for the other teams in the league.

The amount of negativity in here is too damn high! You make it look like we played like a second division side against a world class Liverpool. In fact, we started the game very slowly, were unprepared and lost the game tactically. In the second half we improved, got a goal back and with better decisions from our manager, could easily equalise. To say that Conte is a fraud and that we need to get rid of half our players is absolute nonsense. You are forgetting one thing - Liverpool is a much well trained side than us because Klopp managed to fix what needed fixing after the horrors of the likes of Rodgers and co. He implemented his tactics and his idea of football but it took him more than a year, one summer transfer window and one 8th place. And yet, they have so much to improve given the fact they don't have a LB, Henderson is bang average and their bench is pretty poor and narrow compared to the big guns. *And you can say similar things about every team in the country (maybe aside of City...), every one of them has much room for improvement and I believe that on our day we can take on and even be better than most, if not all of them, even with this group of players. We on the other side, have Conte, in his first season abroad, in a new league and after five games in charge people are already criticising him. Yes, of course he needs to learn but let's not judge him just yet. Imo he is the manager with the toughest job in the league and we can only assess him next season. The club chose him and we need to stick with this decision, our only job as fans is to encourage the team and the players and it will be very hard with these loads of negativity. After all, Conte is not a magician and I think everyone knew we are going to have troubles this season even though we started well. Top 4 should be the objective and I think it's possible. I, personally, am sticking to the positivity.

You can work your socks off every training session and prepare as best as you can for each game, but as long as players like Ivanovic and Oscar are starting, we shouldn't be surprised. One manager was sacked because he thought he knew better, let's see if Conte can reach the same levels of ignorance, because the last two games really had me wondering. Outplayed and outclassed in every department, this team still has a Mourinho cloud hanging over them. Very similar performance to a couple of them last year. Bottom line - I think Chelsea didn't know how good they are, and how, well, not so good, we are. Conte has a lot to learn and a lot to prove. Let's pray he will come to conclusions. Up the Chels.

Nothing like Chelsea's transfer policy At first I was really against this but as the time passes and the rumours keep popping, I can't help but getting excited. Yes, he was always a liability of some sort but all in all and after all - he is a good defender and a great character. I know that some of the people online consider themselves as the biggest experts, but there is a reason why he keeps his place in the Brazil NT and Paris, there is a reason he was bought for 50M and there is a reason we are buying him back, and it's not his curles... (Well, not just his curles). I don't think it's a panic buy, he just wasn't our first option. Also, the fact he is still connected to the club surely decreased the price tag and this fact is important for itself, even though he celebrated against us like crazy, I do believe he is still attached to Chelsea. This is probably the best option we had all summer, imo better than signing a 50M unproven CB in Koulibaly. He will improve us, mentally and on the pitch. I still remember how many of the fans predicted him as our future captain. I will gladly welcome him home.

The only real significant change I see from this Chelsea compared to last season is the magnificent amount of work the players make without the ball. I craved for Mourinho's Chelsea to do that for 2 years and thankfully we can see it under Conte, it wins you games. Westham and Watford created two (well, three at max) real chances, and they both had two insane shots to beat Tibo, apart from that they weren't really able to create anything. Most of the credit goes to one N'golo Kante - an absolute beast in midfield. He was my fantasy last year and if I had one player to choose this transfer window it would be him. We really lacked Cesc's creativity in those two games, Oscar is better at pressing the opposition but that's it, he has got nothing on Fabregas. I also think you are a bit harsh on Ivanovic. He had a decent game against Westham and although he is at fault for the goal today, he wasn't bad as last year and wasn't below the standards the team put up today. I do believe he needs to be replaced, as is JT, who will suffer greatly against stronger sides. (Cahiil might work alongside a WC CB). Still a lot of work to be done but for now, let's celebrate! Up the Chels!!

We really could use Matic in the second half... Mikel was absolutely useless in the second half, probably couldn't overcome the fact he scored a fucking goal. Overall I think we did well against such a strong, confident and dominant side. We were sublime between minutes 20-45 even though they managed to score. We deserved our goal and it was pretty clear we would concede in the second half, so I'm not too concerned about it, I'm glad we conceded just one. I actually think that for us, losing 2-1 away is far better than returning with a draw (Atletico, Barcelona in 2009 and PSG last year), we are better when we need to attack. Azpilicueta and Baba were great, they bring so much to our game... The spaniard was my MOTM. Cahill and Iva were also fine, good and well fought performance. Cesc was sluggish on the ball and Mikel was awful. Willian great as always and Pedro finally stepping into gear. Costa and Hazard - not good enough, we need so much more from them in the second leg. The tie is open and anything can happen. I know one thing - if we want to go through, we need our place to be rocking, unlike last year.

This year I realised one important thing - we will never conquer the world with Jose Mourinho. In order to be the best there is we have do be a dominant side, we can't rely on Jose's counter attacking / defensive tactics and modern football will agree with me. Ten years ago teams just didn't know how to handle it, nowdays it seems we don't know either. In this second Mourinho spell all I hoped for is that he will be able to transform us to this kind of team, a team that plays a fluent, attacking and entertaining football, a team that dominates each opposition and a team that its home is no less than a fortress. It really looked like we were going the right way at first, 2013/14 was a rebuilding season and we progressed as the season went. We reached our peak in the middle of 2014/15 and in this point I thought we were on the right track to the very top of world football... But the critics were right, the speculations aboud Mou's second and third seasons turned out to be true and who knows, maybe he could of changed things if he had been given the time, but I don't think any club in any situation similar to ours would have kept him. Nothing can justify our situation and even if the manager is not completely at fault, it is absolutely clear that he is no martyr. Maybe all of this is for the best, maybe we can finally let go of the Jose Mourinho cloud that hung over this club for the past decade. Every manager that came here tried to justify the fact that Mourinho was sacked in 2007, maybe his second coming and PL trophy are a closure for him in the history of this club. I can't be happy with letting him go, he is a legend in this club and always will be remembered as such. I wish him all the best in the future and hope he knows how much the Chelsea fans love him. I won't celebrate it and I won't cry, what needed to be done is done now, c'est la vie, Jose Mourinho - the special one.

Was a great experience for the local supporters and it was nice to see us win comfortably. We played some nice football in the first half but still not good enough in the final third, we have to stop trying to walk the ball in, these endless one-twos in the penalty area are really starting to frustrate me personally... In the second half, as Jose said, we fell asleep. They created problems for us with 10 men and it is absolutely shocking the fact that we don't know how to control a game being one man up, a recurring problem for us from last season. Only after we felt some pressure we managed to subdue a really weak opposition which MTA is. But all in all, a good away win which will probably grant us some needed confidence. Willian MOTM, Baba is close second. Up the Chels!

So excited about this game, being able to watch my Chelsea playing in my homeland is like a dream coming true... There will be approximately 100 fans from the Israeli supporters club and I hope many more will be there to support the team (we will teach you some local banter ?)! Hope to see us win, it is vital for us to finally build up some confidence. Hope Jose will take this game seriously because Maccabi can cause us some problems especially with the tremendous support they will have on Tuesday. Come on Chelsea!

Best thing about that game was Matic's performance. I think he is our backbone and the most important player alongside Eden. We are getting there but we still need to gain some confidence, we need this shots that hit the woodwork to go in, we need to win comfortably a match or two, we need some luck. Willian continues his fantastic form, Cesc was all right, Rambo and Matic - excellent. I thought our defence and Begovic in goal were really solid and I think that this goalie organizes them pretty well. Zouma is no right back but he was a good choice and hopefully these experiences at different roles on the pitch will eventually transform him to a better CB and all around player. Overall it was a good performance and we need to build on it. Onto the next one! COYB!

If there was a game for Iva to change his luck than this is it. He is having his worst period as a Chelsea player atm but don't forget his previous contributions in big games such as this, don't forget that he is a true warrior and a great player when in form (which was not that long ago). Mou believes in him and I can see why, I am also a bit disappointed by the fact that he is practically irreplaceable in the starting XI but if he plays then we must support him. Anyway, no bad period of his will ever tarnish what he did for this club and you should pay more respect for him than you do with your somewhat ungrateful comments. KTBFFH!

This can potentially be a game that will affect our whole season. Win this and we are back in business, lose this... I don't want to even begin thinking about it. I think that our main problem is confidence, we need that one nice win to get us going. It will come eventually but I hope sooner than later. Mourinho has to drop some of his over appreciated players such as Fabregas, Ivanovic and maybe even Willian. It's just unacceptable the fact that we look the way we do and every player still manages to keep his place in the starting XI... The first two I mentioned just have to go, don't care who plays instead. I would like to see a new formation, maybe go with two upfront, I liked the way we played with both Diego and Falcao, maybe even start Remy to give Costa a wake up call. I am glad Terry is back for this one, we really need his organization and physical presence to face Lukaku and Kone who started the season in great fashion. Hope to see Baba on the left and Azpi on the right, Cahill in the centre and I hope he can play the way he did against Palace (wea great, really doesn't get credit here sometimes). Overall I think we can get a result there but it depends on the way we will be mentally fit for this one. We have the players, we have the manager and also the right one to walk us out of the difficult place we are in at the moment, we just need one good match (or an in form Eden Hazard ). Come on Chels!

Not probably, it's very harsh. People already forgot that Azpi had a run of almost half a year in the starting line up of Benitez which gave him a real chance to prove his worth, he wasn't remotely close to his level now, and Filipe needs to be treated similarly. IMO Luis is the better LB of the two, and frankly, I don't think Azpi will ever reach the hights that Filipe reached last season with Atletico (just take a look at his performances against Barcelona and us in the CL). That being said even though I love Azpi and think he is a terrific defender. Luis still needs time and much more minutes in the starting 11. It will be tough for him to dethrone Azpilicueta but if he won't recieve the needed amount of game time, we won't be able to judge him.

Haha, what a bunch of kids you lot are. We played great football today, dominated the 2nd half completely and were very unlucky in front of goal (and were robbed by the ref). We had many chances even though we didn't convert them to shooting opportunities and it was really a one game thing because we shoot more than most of the teams in the league. The amount of BS that was written in this thread is beyond belief, "never play Schurrle, Luis is shit, Iva is shit"... Ridiculous. We are in a better position now compared to the same moment of the double season and you are still bitching. Shit happens, great game today, roll on to Spurs!

I think it's early to judge our away form against the smaller sides just yet, because as Styles has said - it was our real first test this season against a kind of team that cost us our last one. Actually, it was our real first blooper in the league this season and only the second in all competitions if you count the Maribor game. It can still be a one time thing. I really think that the fact that we had an away CL fixture in midweek was crucial, add to that the great form of Sunderland yesterday and I think that not many teams would have gotten away with more than we have. It's a fair result and a win against the Spuds will certainly put things back in order. We will have a similar test next weekend and we will see what we are made of.

I think all of our plastic fans would leave, which is nice.

I guess you are right. I'm sorry if you got offended, I wasn't trying to attack you in any way, even if it came out a little bit offensive.

Well, after polo7 posted: "sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong", the belgian dude replied with: So yes, I'm still saying you should have read the whole discussion. To the matter: Maybe you don't see what's wrong but try to look at this from a different perspective. I don't think that Cech is alright with this statement, imagine yourself in his place - you give your best for your club and do absolutely nothing wrong, you are one of the best and most experienced keepers in the world and here comes this very talented but a bit overly confident newbie and practicly tells the world that you can go look for another club, that you are not as good as him. Even if it's true, this is none of Courtois' business and it would have been undoubtedly better if he kept his lips sealed.

No better feeling in the world. But to say the truth, it's the first time in ages I kinda enjoyed the NT break. Israel beat Bosnia 3-0 and it's probably was the biggest win and best game of Israel since the early 90's... But who gives a fuck, I would trade it for a Chelsea win over WBA on Saturday

This is just not true. The situation between him and Chelsea FC was obvious and the choice was Mourinho's to make. He would become Chelsea number one even if he didn't say a word. You know mate, you could read the full discussion before making a post. We are not talking about the comments he made regarding his fellow NT players, it's about the ones he made regarding Chelsea and Petr Cech. The fact that I'm not comfortable with his slips of the tongue doesn't mean I don't support him. On the pitch he is immaculate but, yet again, it doesn't give him the option to say whatever he wants off of it.

Polo7 is absolutely right, Tibo should learn that sometimes he needs to stfu. He is a very confident lad but he is still a nobody in terms of what he did for our club and it's not the first time he makes comments that are not painting him in the best light. When he was in Atletico he said something like - "If I'm not Chelsea's number 1 next season, I'll leave." What good comes of this kind of statements? Of course he is right and pretty much says the obvious in both cases but being right doesn't give him the legitimation to say whatever he wants.

I didn't say to name him captain JUST because he's English, read the rest of my post. Fabregas also left his beloved Arsenal for Barcelona just like that and betrayed them by signing for us a couple of years later, but seems that counts for nothing with you. I don't know why you think that he is not top drawer because I don't see many better CBs than him in the PL right now (I would also say in the world but I don't want to start this discussion again), I think everybody can agree about the first sentence... I also think you underestimate Cahill and IMO he contributes to his partnership with Terry just as much and even more than JT himself. Just like on Saturday - The Cahill "own goal" was 90 percent Terry's fault, but I didn't see many people blaiming him as they did with Cahill. Terry makes mistakes and many times he gets away with them just because he is Terry, and that's OK, but the thing is that Chelsea supporters sometimes have troubles with acknowledging the quality that thay have in their team. Just go ahead and ask what the other PL fans think of Cahill or check out what is being said about his performances in the press. I respect your opinion and maybe you are wishing for another JT or Carvalho in their prime, but Gary Cahill is almost the best it gets right now in world football and that's a fact. And don't try to sell me the Luiz stories because JT also looked like shit when partnered with this attacking midfielder piece of CB. You are maybe right about the future but right now I don't see a better option than him. Maybe it will change but there is no way of knowing, and you are focusing too much about what could be and on too many "if"s.

And why is that? Many people (and not only Chelsea fans) wanted him to be the captain of the English national team, why do you think he can't be our captain? IMO he has the leadership qualities, of course he is no JT but still... He is English, he is already a veteran compared to the other players in our squad and most importantly - he is a great example of a true professional who built himself up from the bottom and ended up in the very top. Anyway, there is no way it will be Matic, he is not a leader, not by his nature and not by his game. A massive player but I haven't seen any leadership qualities from him by now, I'd even rate Fabregas higher than him for this role.

What a player he is becoming, I wish he had scored his chances against United and Maribor to mark off his amazing form recently. What I am really happy about is that he is getting in those areas, not only cutting through the left flank like last season but coming in from left, right or middle of the park and being right on the edge of the 18 yard box. These are almost the areas where Messi is playing, (whereas Ronaldo plays almost like a centre forward so I'm not going to compare Hazard to him), but my point is that these are the areas where you can score from and just take a look at Messi's goals yesterday, Hazard should have scored two for us as well. And this is what is still dividing the Belgian from the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, because his overall form is undoubtedly up there. He could and should score more goals and he needs to work on that aspect of the game if he really wants to fulfill his ambitions of which he likes to discuss in his interviews. The one big difference from which Eden is suffering is the fact that the team doesn't quite play on him like Barcelona and Real play for Messi and Ronaldo respectively. I believe that will change with time and we can see slight signs of this. Yesterday everyone were looking for Hazard and he was all over the pitch. Long story short - Hazard is becoming a more mature player IMO, a hungrier professional and he can and should score more. Time will tell if he can get up there with the best but I personally, with my optimistic type of nature, believe he can. He is already a world class and our best player (something many of us can agree about), not an easy achievement to accomplish when you are playing in a star packed team like ours. A goal vs. Liverpool on Saturday and I will shut up

Fabregas was so so poor today, his worst game in a Chelsea shirt. Hope he'll get a good rest before Liverpool, he needs it. This game reminded me of last year... Too sloppy in attack, no real attacking build up or game plan, and the shit ref who denied us a goal and a clear penalty on Oscar didn't help as well. I don't worry too much, a draw in Germany and a win against Sporting at home should be enough for us to finish first. We'll make it. Hope we explode against the red scum on Saturday. CAREFREE!