Kostas

Anyone confident enough to make an educated guess on how much Wigan pay us for each game he sits out?

... and my axe

I know they're quite different but those are my 2 favorite posts. I only want to add that I truly despise Livepool.

I take it you didn't watch more than half of our games in 09/10?

It's obvious some journos and "fans" hold some kind of a grudge against Luiz. Chelsea's best defender in 2011.

Post of the thread. Seems strange that some would not even believe that when in fact they put the clause due to club policy.

Looked absolutely terrible last night. Can't know if he's rusty or nervous but he's a got much improving to do. Using his body to his advantage is the least I expect of him.

So damn unlucky you know he's a true blue.

Too...Much..Drama..

Won't Chelsea TV have a replay shortly after midnight (UK time) ?

If that's not fake it simply is the most awesome football picture ever.

I'm not nearly as impressed as most Chelsea fans by the Barca boy but I have to admit I almost like how I don't notice him due to how quickly he moves the ball instead of dwelling on it. He displays calmness and assurance on the ball rare for his age but it's not as impressive as Mikel's On the other hand I'm not a fan of how he -in typical Barcelona fashion- prefers safer passes, to maintain possession, instead of going for the counter-attack. It's most probably an approach AVB likes because it prioritizes controlling the game/tempo but in certain situations it's more frustrating than exciting.

That's the job of a holding midfield/deep lying playmaker, not necessarily the one of a defensive midfielder.

Meireles is everywhere. Also Ramires looks more lively so our midfield is much better than what it's been in a while. Mata is god.

I doubt we're saying the same thing. I meant to say that one of the main reasons he isn't rated is because he doesn't produce stats that would impress idiots who'd rather look at numbers than a football game to form their opinion about a player. I'm not against him being a holding midfielder or the fact that he was converted into one. The only other role I could imagine him performing is that of a Ballack-esque CM, one similar to how Ballack played towards the latter stage of his career.

A few goals, doesn't matter whether its deflected shots, tap-ins, penalties or lucky strikes is all it would take for the media and the most ignorant of our fans to rate him.

LDN,regarding low shots, wasn't Johnson's shot one that could have been dealt with?

What's the use of that? I've not paid as much attention as I used to to the starts and sub appearances of our players but I seriously doubt Drogba and Malouda have featured in our team much more often than Torres, Mata, Sturridge and Anelka have. If we're throwing a tantrum and claim he "keeps using" certain players due to them being -in our view wrongly- used in less than 5 recent games then we seriously need to get some perspective on what overusing players is. Laying the blame on the quality of our squad would be weak and a sign of an amateur, I don't see why he should be criticized for not showing such signs. Can't argue with the last part but I'm curious about what AVB(not the club) did wrong during the transfer window.

I'm sure you're intelligent enough to realise that even trying to give a characterisation based on his 5 months here is unwise.* To answer your question: Yes, I'd suggest that we keep him for another full season not to see whether he's good or shit but because we got bigger issues (squad) to tackle (than continuing our never-ending quest for picking the perfect manager). *The same was true for Scolari. Come to think of it, I know that this argument is uncharacteristically irrational and probably weak but since it all boils down to our opinions I'll be straightforward about being more confident in AVB (and probably excited) that I ever was in Carletto.

Some of the dogshit that is being posted here is worse than our performance, who would have thought?

Maybe AVB would rather place his hopes on whatever link-up play Drogba is capable of rather than Torres' finishing .

I'm struck by the flu so this will be the first time I'll get the chance to watch all 90 minutes of a Chelsea CL game in quite a while. How many points do we need to make the first place of the group ours?

I am not one to prohibit anyone from criticizing whoever his wishes nor do I believe that having been absent for two months (btw sorry about that, busy times) I could have possibly analyzed our problems more thoroughly that you guys but I can't fathom how giving the boot to AVB would be beneficial. In our last few games we've seen how painfully finished some of our players are and we've been let down by individuals far too many times to blame our gameplan or the coach. $0,2

That's all he said?

If this wasn't a mere league game I would have broken something.