Kostas

Turnbull, Bosingwa, Terry, Mikel, Lampard, Mata, Drogba

Sounds about right. I expect Lukaku to lead the line and Sturridge to play on the wing.

A mere rep point doesn't do this post justice

That's a strange definition of defensive midfielders. Of those 3 I'd rather call Mikel a holding midfielder while Essien and Ramires are Box-to-Box midfielders, who don't have to be always defensive. This may sound like semantics but we should be more precise when we're arguing their uses.

Of course, Ramires' miss was at a much more crucial point of the game.

You don't actually have to post every single shitty article you find you know..

Amazing stat. Seems like those thoughts will never leave my head. If he can get over than miss then I don't see what could possibly ruin his confidence. We'll have to wait until his next start and trust our 2 Torres experts until then.

There are a few things about Liverpool and their supporters to like but their stance towards the Sun is commendable. Don't see why the rest of the football fans don't follow through. Lipton and the Mirror? They have tried hard enough but they don't deserve my attention.

Lampard holding could only work if he had one "destroyer" next to him, meaning only in a 4-2-x-x.

Kinda preferred Ancelotti's approach with the referees but history has shown us that being passive about such things may be more honorable but you'll be at disadvantage against those who put pressure on refs. I think it's more about developing and maintaining an approach to football rather than being attacking for the sake of it. Now if we had to beat Barcelona I doubt AVB would play right into their hands.

Lovely topic. I play mostly as a deep lying midfielder but I can slot in at central midfield and CB due to my build. My mates call me Kazalelé but I see myself as more of a Alonso/Ballack hybrid

Scored in an official game? Was he in the starting line-up? Any links to the goal?

Can't forgive Ramires for his miss so it has to be between Mata and Torres for me. Went for Mata because if he had a 7.5 game Torres' was 7.49. Ouch

Too true. I'm surprised no one else mentioned it as it gets in the way when you're trying to view many images.

Since even Tommy posted his thoughts I might as well round-up and finish a post that I started writing a few minutes after the final whistle. Being 2 days late I doubt much of what I'm writing is new but this frentic game deserved more than the usual paragraph and I couldn't keep it short. You can run out of words like busy, extremely open and entertaining before you give the game justice. A game which Chelsea lost hasn't been that exciting in years and while AVB may get much of the credit for the way it turned out I can't possibly believe he could have planned for something as crazy as that. Some weak marking and the linesman created the first goal but I found we completely controlled the game from the that moment until Ramires' miss and from shortly after the 2nd goal (haven't seen enough replays, definitely Meireles and to a certain point Mata at fault but could Cech have done better?) until the stroke of luck that reminded me who we were playing with and formed the harshest HT derby scoreline I can remember in recent years. At half time I was as gutted as any Chelsea fan but I was probably more positive about how the team played than most of the users here. When 2 out of their 3 goals were either an offside or a lucky deflection anyone who can't see why we laid the blame on our luck rather than our performance is being an asshole for the sake of it. While we absolutely didn't deserve to trail after 45 minutes of football we could have conceded 3 more goals in the half that we actually won, if that doesn't sum up the game nothing does. On to some individual aspects and specific players: Contrary to our attacking play our defense is beginning to look like the weakest it has been in eons. In both halfs our central defenders were drawn out of their positions too often and we always needed at least two players to disposes any of their attackers. As much as I love Brana I'm not convinced about being paired with Terry as they have the same strengths and weaknesses. Ashely Cole was busy throughout the whole game and lost quite a few battles, while I don't buy any of the talk of him turning shit this was his weakest performance since our game against United in last year's Community Shield. Bosingwa unsurprisingly didn't convince me and was troubled more often than not but we somehow didn't pay for it. Our midfield mostly worked and Ramires contributed more to it than both our other midfielders in the first half and could hold it his own in the second. Ironically he unforgivably missed our most important chance of the game and that is something that can't be overlooked. Starting Meireles over Mikel did make sense as far as I'm concerned cause Meireles is more mobile and he actually did do some important work but let AVB down in Nani's goal. While I won't join the crowd who demands Lamps being exiled to the stands I think we've seen enough to be confident about him needing to start more games on the bench rather than on the field. Juan Mata may have not been the star we've grown used to seeing as he was not as imposing as in previous games but he was involved in pretty much everything we did and was once again one of our best players. On to Torres. Where does one begin? I may have too often pointed out his lack of service and defended him against some of the stupidest arguments thrown around by CFC fans but I up until this derby he was in all but ~5 of his games for us a waste space. Finishing aside (and I do count his very well taken goal) he had his best Chelsea game and had nothing to be jealous of his Liverpool days. Granted United's CB pairing was weak/inexperienced but he did tremendously. Despite feeling I shouldn't discuss his miss I will because it left me speechless and very worried, not so much because if the game was more important it would have been worthy of a fine cause it would make even Kalou embarrassed and people (me included) would (rightly) ask for his head but because if that doesn't demolish his confidence for at least next two months nothing will. It was always going to take either an injury or that to ruin the run of form he seemed to be going on. After having 2 contenders for miss of the season in one big game and being unable to properly enjoy a Rooney penalty miss (think we all know why) I would usually curse the hour I decided to watch the game but thankfully it wasn't the case, that is an achievement in itself . Of course the general consensus would have been different had the game been in April/May or in CL knockout stages but I think if we succeed in strengthening our defence, which (RB aside) shouldn't be too difficult, this game will be remembered as the beginning of something really exciting.

The boy has scored more goals than Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll combined. The world is going mad.

What exactly was the point of this post?

I also have the double quote issue, didn't happen until a few weeks ago.

Kinda wish it was Liverpool for yet another year instead of the Arse but I can't complain.

Your average post length must be thrice the forum average. Keep it up.

I thought Spuz disappeared as soon as Ancelotti got sacked. Styles overreacted to a few views in a political discussion, as LDN I hope he reconsiders. And as far as lionsden is concerned I think Chelsea have won too many games in row and are playing too well which obstructs him from having a whine.

Finally had a chance to read this after having it on my Read Later list for a month. Fantastic interview with plenty to focus on. Shame such a small percentage of managers have so interesting interviews. Mourinho's early stuff, Guardiola's analyses and AVB's views are similar in that way.

The best as in the most talented footballer of the most effective? If it's the former I can think of a few players over the past 15 years who could challenge him, if it's the latter he's got quite a shout to be thy bestest evar. Nevertheless at 23 he's already earned a spot in the top 10 or even top 5. Club and and NT achievements mean fuck all to me in such debates, can't believe people still confuse how good a player is with what he has won. Ronaldo never won the Champions League. End of discussion. On another note, I admit being biased but I just can't get over the human hormones thing.

Fair enough. I, on the other hand, believed that he was a much more complete footballer for Liverpool than what your posts seem to suggest and it'll take more than a few months to change my view on his real quality, nevermind his type.

Did you believe that back when he played for the scum?