toddandrewblue

Perfect - thanks!

Very choppy - keeps cutting out - anyone else having the same problem?

NICOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sit the "regulars" in the league to make a point, and let the kids (+Torres, at least for a little while) play a few. If they don't play as shit as the usual starters, let them keep playing. Maybe put the old guys back in for CL games so they're fresh and have something to prove. Use those CL games to see who wants a spot for league matches. I believe there will be a massive shakeup this summer, but I do not think Ancelotti needs to go. He needs to stay and build his own team. I have always resisted the notion of letting Drogba go, but the money he would bring would help the club pay down debt and invest in other players. Sell him while he has some worth. Wouldn't surprise me to see many of the following gone this summer: Drogs, Anelka, Kalou, Mikel, Malouda, Zhirkov, Bosingwa, and Ferreira out this summer. It will soon be time to say goodbye to JT and Lamps as well - can't be sentimental and keep them to the detriment of the team. Keep Ancelotti and rebuild - may take a few years to get back to the summit, but Carlo needs the time to give it a go.

Looks utterly lost on the pitch. Not the same player by far right now...

Nico has earned his place I believe...

Danny's pic is at the bottom of the article...

Hence my apprehension at acquiring Torres... I know they are fantastic players, just hard to get by the pain they've inflicted. Weird thing happened to me regarding Iniesta. The day of that CL game I had watched the first half then had to take my son to Greek school (wife's Greek). I was waiting in the car for him to get finished, and out of nowhere the name "Iniesta" enters my head, and I can't stop saying the name. Didn't really know him that well at that point at all. I was doing a "radio silence" thing since I had the game on DVR and was going to watch the 2nd half when I got home. I had my Chelsea shirt on and one of the other kids' dads sees me in the car and says, "You're happy today - Chelsea beast Barca". And I told him I hadn't seen it. He said, "Oh, sorry - yeah, it's over they won". So I check my phone and see 1-1, Barca wins on away goals. ????? Get home, watch the second half, and see Iniesta's goal, and realize that the time of his goal would have coincided, to the minute, with the time I was sitting there and heard "Iniesta" in my head for no reason. When I saw the father that told me Chelsea won, he apologized and said, "I didn't watch the added time before I left the house. I really thought Chelsea had won!" Oh well, like you said, he's quality, and would certainly help us now.

Hearing the name Iniesta will always hurt - don't know if I could handle seeing him in blue...

BBC confirming terms agreed on Torres pending only a physical

Was the cash+Anelka and cash+Sturridge deal for Torres squashed? Would hate to see either player go, especially Sturridge. I may be in the minority, but I'm not that high on Torres to Chelsea. I'd rather Carroll right now, or wait until summer to reconfigure the entire squad when you have more time and more available talent.

Ramires 5.5? Were you watching ths same game I was? Ramires MOTM! Showed great skill with the ball, explosiveness on the counter, movement off the ball, nearly scored the winner - great game for him. Malouda 3.5? Unduly harsh. I felt he had a very good game, was surprised it was him going off for Kalou. Played with a lot of strength on the ball and never gave up in the face of challenges. And to give our backs 5,5,5 and 3.5? Again, unduly harsh. We conceded on a corner, Terry's poor marking, but overall the defense served to keep them out of the goal in open play. Overall I saw it as a good performance. Couldn't finish, but away to Everton it was an acceptable result.

FT 7-0! 90:00+3:01 The referee signals the end of the game 90:00+2:34 Corner taken by Frank Lampard played to the near post, Marton Fulop makes a save 90:00+2:16 Nicolas Anelka takes a shot. Save made by Marton Fulop 90:00+1:38 Nicolas Anelka decides to take the corner short 90:00+1:03 Branislav Ivanovic takes a shot. Save by Marton Fulop 90:00+0:43 Short corner taken by Frank Lampard from the left by-line 90:00+0:32 Gael Kakuta takes a shot. Save by Marton Fulop.

60 seconds + ET

Are they? I think that's a huge part of the problem - a lack of professionalism on the part of many of the players. I love Ashley Cole, but it was not very professional of him to stand flat-footed and hope for an offside call on Villa's tying goal. What would have been professional? Take a few steps and cut that cross out so we can seal the 3 points!

For 2 or 3 minutes there, it felt like good times again. Fought back, up 3-2, my 8-yr-old son and I jumping around and hugging after Terry's goal. But I felt compelled to say outloud: "I wouldn't be surprised to see Villa tie this thing or even win it". I'd never have had that feeling before this season, and it seems like the team is saying the same thing to themselves. How do they go from being so fired up after the go-ahead goal, to playing complacent football and allowing that 3rd Villa goal? Such a great sight to see the whole team celebrating together with Carlo on the sidelines after the 3rd goal, but their subsequent play renders that a comical image. They got so lazy, like they switched off completely. It starts with Sturridge biting on Petrov's fake (was it he who crossed?) and overcommitting, but at least Danny was putting in effort. Ashley stood flat-footed and watched the cross come over, begging (hoping) for offside. WTF? You don't get paid enough (or simpler still, actually care about your team and your fans) to put in a full 90 minutes? To actually see the game through and play that cross rather than hoping you'll get a favorable offside call? F that! That's the kind of crap my son's team does - not what the current title holders should be doing. Not what any professional team should be doing! It always galls me when teams I follow do things like this. Yeah, they (probably) aren't feeling great about drawing, but at the end of the day they still get their paychecks, and I'm sure that goes a long way to making them feel better about things. What are we left with? Nothing. We PAY to watch these guys play a game, and when they lose, we get stuck holding the check. I love this team, but it is getting harder and harder...

I would rather see a game like today's than the uninspired play of the past few weeks. I felt some urgency from the players, a desire to win. I haven't felt so deflated at the end of a game since Moscow, but I prefer what I saw today to a 3-0 drubbing at home... Overall, we have to take the positives away from this match and move on to the next 2 HUGE fixtures. Before today I could have seen 3 more losses on our ledger from the next 3 games (today included). Now I actually believe we can take points from Utd and Arsensal - possibly 6 points. Lampard is back, Ferreira played well, Drogba may be getting his legs back, Cech is still playing well, Ashley is on his game, Terry was strong, Essien was strong, and the team seemed more like a team. I agree that Anelka's form is poor of late, and would love to see Sturridge start ahead of him, but the team seems to have gotten past the worst of it - guess we'll see over the next few weeks... KTBFFH!

Just finished watching on delay here in the States. Wow. That was just one more ugly performance in a long string with no end in sight. There was one thing I enjoyed about the game though - the camera focusing in on Kalou's bare rear end while he was getting up after the penalty no-call. Kalou's ass is MOTM for me

Where's the passion? Where's the ball control and the calm under pressure? Where's the urgency? How can it just disappear like this? Did it leave the team with Ray Wilkins? I'm afraid this squad is just deflated beyond belief and possibly repair, at least in the League. I know we're only 2 points back of Arsenal, and there's a long way to go, but at this point I'm almost prepared to just say let's make an FA Cup run and a run at the CL title, without much regard for the league. Sad part is, if they play the way they have in the league in the knockout rounds of the CL, it'll be a short campaign. Hard to keep positive in the midst of so many negatives, but we've got to stay behind the team.

My mistake - thanks for correcting me. Either way, so many moans when Nico was announced, but he, in essence, was the key to winning the game. If he doesn't make that sublime pinpoint pass to Drogs, there's no goal there. His touch is fantastic on balls like that.

To all those who hated to see Kakuta go off for Anelka - his touch made that winning goal happen. Kakuta wouldn't have made that pass. No one else in the squad makes that pass the way Nico does. I was glad he came on when he did , and even happier when he set up that goal.

Will be happy with any win, or even a draw, depending on how much youth is in the squad. But what we really need is a good old fashioned hammering. A 4,5, or 6 goal outburst would go a long way to curing whatever it is that ails us currently.

Hope this is a fruitful move. Have to say I don't know much about Michael, but I like his scouting background.

A very strange situation. Really sorry to hear this news - not what we need mid-season while at the top of the table. Distractions like this can lead to dropped points. Best to you Ray - thanks for everything!

Let's hope the medication works as quickly as they say and he's back to his usual form soon. Wouldn't be good to go into the Christmas period without a strong Drogba. Get well soon Didier!