Daniel1980

I don't think any player should be untouchable, but it's unlikely unless he has a drop in form. He's the only player in the team that regularly makes defence-splitting passes. Yesterday he created 2 clear-cut chances for Costa with through balls, nearly created another chance for Eden if Howard didn't get the ball outside the box. Even when Cesc is isolated, he's more effective than most players. That said, no player should be untouchable, including Cesc and Eden.

If he had to go on loan anywhere, I'm selfishly glad it's Milan. And he should get plenty of playing time there. Muntari & co are shit.

So far this season we have the most chances created (41), most goal attempts (50) and shots on target (21), most goals (11) and most successful dribbles (43) in the league.

Yeah, it's going to be tough, considering that all 3 games are important. At least we play Swansea and Schalke at the Bridge, so we won't have to travel between those games. I expect to see a lot of rotation or the players will be exhausted by the time we face City.

You are making a mountain out of a molehill. You're making a fuss over nothing because Cesc didn't immediately defend his teammate who taunted and insulted another player. Cesc did pull Costa away, which was the right thing to do. If you want to blame someone for the incident, blame Costa for being a dick and getting a silly yellow.

Think we'll go back to our default formation 4-2-3-1 with Matic-Fabregas pivot and Oscar as #10. Hopefully no one gets injured/fatigued during the international break.

I think it's pretty clear why he didn't join immediately: being actually next to Costa, he heard what he said to Coleman and felt uncomfortable because of that. At least he looked pretty uncomfortable to me. Other guys who ran to Costa's defence probably hadn't even heard what Costa said. Whatever you say, Costa was a cunt there. If you think there's nothing wrong with mocking and taunting someone, well... Diego is the one who should be blamed for that incident. Cesc isn't exactly an angel himself, so to make him uncomfortable Costa must have been a total arsehole there. Anyway, you're really making mountains out of molehills. In all other incidents, Cesc has demonstrated that he's very committed to defending his teammates. Costa simply didn't deserve it there, tbh.

Did it occur to you that he simply might not have liked that Costa abused Coleman and that's why he didn't want to be part of that? Frankly, it was a dick thing to do--and stupid--by Costa. He shouldn't have done that. There have been plenty of occasions both in preseason and this season when Cesc was very quick to defend a teammate. I remember when Costa was about to receive his first yellow card, Cesc was the first to go to the referee to defend Diego. When Fabregas thinks he's right, he's louder than anyone when he defends a teammate. I love Costa, but he wasn't right there and such dick behavior might cost us.

Very far from his best game, but no player can be amazing every game. Luckily for us, we have other players who can step up when Eden doesn't(and vice versa).

First game for Chelsea as the #10. Didn't like that he was caught on the ball a few times, but he didn't make as many mistakes as Ramires and Matic, though it doesn't really say much, considering how sloppy they were. Defensively, it was very far from a flawless performance by Cesc and the other midfielders. It was obvious that physically it was a very hard game for him--a few times he practically stopped walking to catch his breath. Yep, it's not La Liga, Cesc. But I have to say our midfield looked far more disorganized and poor in possession than when we played Matic-Cesc in the pivot. Ramires-Matic was supposed to bring more stability and make us stronger defensively, but the opposite happened. Matic-Cesc-Oscar was far more balanced, and Cesc allowed us to slow the game and control possession when he played in the pivot. It can be argued that Everton is simply a better team than the other two, but while it's true, Leicester is a pretty good team too(they had a draw against Everton). Some said Cesc played it too safe against Leicester, but his incredibly accurate pass distribution allowed us to slow the game and control the midfield in that match. Today with Matic and Ramires responsible for the ball distribution we were very poor in possession and it made everyone nervous and caused more mistakes by pretty much everyone. That said, the few mistakes aside, Cesc made a few defence-splitting passes and created more chances than any other Chelsea player in this game. Right now he and Sigurdsson have most assists in Europe: 4 assists in 3 games. As expected, Cesc is also leading the through-ball chart: 4 accurate through balls in 3 games. (Costa is also the top scorer in Europe with his 4 goals.) All in all, our new signings have been very influential for us.

Ramires was very poor defensively too, but with Matic it's been a tendency this season; that's why it worries me.

Defensively he wasn't exactly great, though. Made many mistakes. Pretty much everyone did, but he's a DM, he's supposed to be our rock in midfield. So far this season he hasn't been, regardless of who is his partner in the midfield. Very worrying.

Terrible defending from both parties, but great result for us. Costa my MOTM. Awesome performance. Special mention Ramires, though he wasn't great defensively. Costa 4 goals in 3 matches. Cesc 4 assists in 3 matches.

Also, Matic-Ramires haven't exactly been impressive defensively, especially Matic. Once again.

Have to say Hazard out Andre in.

You should ask that Chelsea's twitter. Weird if true. I expected 4-3-3.

Except Chelsea's twitter says that it's 4-2-3-1 unless they're wrong:

I hope so, but I'm not liking that semicolon after Fabregas, Matic;

Wait, is it 4-2-3-1 with Ramires as an AM?

Must be the reason he didn't play well for us. Now that he's back to red watch him set Serie A alight.

Must be the Italian sun: The guy is finally free.

Always thought they needed a world-class CB who can distribute the ball and a true CM/DM more than they needed Di Maria. He obviously strengthened them and he can play in midfield, but their squad is very unbalanced right now. They have too many attacking players that don't work well together(RVP, Rooney, Mata) and there's no "glue" between defence, midfield and attack.

Yep. They're terrible, and as expected, buying Di Maria, no matter how good he is, won't fix their problems.

United earned a very important point against a tough opposition. Or something.

My eyes. But I actually think he'll do better at Milan. Fresh start, slower league, no huge expectations. Think he might score at least 10 goals.