DYC.

Not a fan of Khedira personally. And I highly doubt both Willian and Oscar will be dropped. No idea who you're talking about.

The flaming shirts would burn Merseyside to the ground.

Fair point. I agree, the balance is better.

He was a fantastic player. For a midtable side though. I can imagine Willian having a similar impact at that level. I dream of Isco, Koke, Gotze, Reus, looking at possible/realistic options. Or a new centre midfielder and push Fabregas up the pitch, though that's not exactly my favourite option. One of Oscar and Willian is acceptable, two is too much sadly. When the going gets tough, they can't be relied on.

That's not good enough for Willian to be considered technically gifted or possessing very good technique. I read that quite often and I've never understood it. (You know who Willian reminds me of? Steven Pienaar back in the day) This team needs more players with a high level of technique and tactical intelligence. I hope the club stays away from the likes of Sissoko and such.

That's what I said and that's key. Better peforming. I say it's because of the game time. Utd have suffered an incredible amount of injuries. They've had to change their line-up constantly. They don't even having that much quality overall to begin with. A lot of squad players, youngsters even, had to come in and play. They are 9 points behind a pratically fully fit Chelsea and City. Quite remarkable. Schurrle, Salah and Ramires were all better last season, Mikel is Mikel, Remy scored 14 PL goals last season and Luis was a starter for a La Liga winning side, also playing in the CL final. These aren't poor players. They look poor though, but they lack match rythm. And they seem to lack trust from their manager, that affects your game.

I agree on that. But when he keeps it safe, playing short passes and carrying the ball in midfield, he'll rarely loose the ball because of sloppy play. High % of completing passes, low amount of turn overs and all. But yes, in the tick of it, he seems to come up short, sadly. He's capable of producing some good stuff in the attacking third, just not nearly enough.

Yeah, I can see them win at Everton. Liverpool could surprise. Most likely not, but still. Tottenham are usually rubbish against Chelsea! Bastards.

Do they really have the better bench? They have better options at RB, more options at CB but the rest? Fernando/Fernandinho, Lampard, Milner, Navas/Nasri, Dzeko and Jovetic vs. Mikel, Ramires, Schurrle, Salah, Drogba, Remy? It's not that much better. I'd say they rotated better (also because of injuries). They seem more in tune when they play. Easier fixtures, yes. I didn't check the schedule. That definitely plays a part.

I just checked. Chelsea have played 11 away games, City 10. Chelsea 19 points, City 23 points. City do have the far tougher away game schedule though. West Ham and Arsenal are the most tricky for Chels. City have to go to Everton, Chelsea, Stoke, Liverpool, Man Utd and Tottenham. So that definitely makes things more difficult for them. Our team hasn't exactly been performing away from home though. Need to step it up. 6 W from the last 8 away games should be possible. 5 W at the least, with max 1 L. I wonder how long the perfect home run will continue.

What makes Willian's technique very good? He has a fantastic first touch and overall ball control. In every other area of technique he's either decent (decent passing, decent dribbler) or just poor (poor shooter, poor crosser, 0 finishing, poor at taking direct or indirect set-pieces). He keeps possession well but that's mostly a mental thing, and he takes too many touches for me to rate him highly in that area.

You know what's crazy? Courtois, Terry, Azpi, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard and Costa are all top candidates for a spot in the PL team of the year. Terry, Azpi, Matic, Fabregas and Hazard would even make most people's team of the year. The only top candidate and red hot favourite at City is Aguero. The likes of Hart, Kompany, Toure, Nasri aren't at their best and Silva has been in and out of games because of injury. Chelsea and City have the same amount of points. How is that possible?

I've noticed you saying/writing this a couple of times, like it's a stone cold fact. Please provide the quote from either the club or Mourinho stating Lampard was no longer wanted at Chelsea.

That's why I think he was never on the list of targets. I don't understand it but that seems to be the case. The only logical reason for that is Mourinho rating Cahill highly.

It's hard to imagine a player picking Chelsea over Bayern. So if Chelsea were interested, I can't blame the board for not being able to sign him.

Think you should watch a vid of Fabregas' assists this season WHS. Set-piece assists galore. Agree with the rest. 8 point lead; poof, vanished. Sigh...

Unbreakable, unmistakable, highly capable. I've said it before and I'll say it again. This guy is in the top 10. And he plays for Chelsea. When was the last time we saw that? Enjoy.

Outclassed by an average bunch. Embarrassing. Think it's time the squad players get more game time. I was giving Mou the benefit of the doubt on his lack of rotation, because he knows how to win trophies, but it's working against him. Zouma, Luis, Ramires, Salah, Remy, Schurrle (yes he's been awful, but he's better than this) could all use more game time. The likes of Cahill, Ivanovic, Willian and Oscar could use more time on the bench. And if the opportunity to buy Reus this transfer window is there, it should definitely be taken. He can only strengthen the squad.

Maybe this will prompt Mou to stop playing the same XI over and over? Leading to PL victory in the end?!? Straws...

Never mind.

Arsenal would be proud of what just happened. Proper meltdown. I still have hope though.

Fabregas and Matic don't look fit. This is not good.

Mikel won't change that. He's slow and moves very little. Disagree with you here man, Mikel is the last player I'd bring on.

What? Bring on Mikel to score a goal?

Bring on Lampard.