DYC.

I honestly don't think he's selfish. He just suffers from serious tunnel vision when in and around the box. And he loves to shoot, that's always been his game. Whereas with Hazard and Willian, you wonder why they don't take a shot multiple times during a game. Obviously something he really needs to work on. Become a superstar first before you start going for goal at every opportunity. Someone made a point of him trying to impress the boss, that definitely plays a huge part too.

Play by Cesc for the third goal was incredibly sexy.

5:10 The importance of handling quickly (when required). Playing that pass first time took out 3 (!) players. Control the ball first, maybe taking an even extra touch, before passing and the space and time for the receiver is gone, something we see quite often. One of the main reasons of the struggles when facing a defensive team. Loved that pass.

Boring. PSG again. I preferred Leverkussen, oh well. This won't be easy at all. PSG went out of the competition twice because of away goals. They're tough to beat. Going out this early sucks so the boys will have to be focused and perform.

Yeah I'm clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff. But you would assume they know what they're doing, yeah. I do wonder though, would the quality of the games improve if the players played less? As a fan of football, I enjoy the many games I get to see, it's great. But if less games meant a higher quality of games, I would prefer less games. Football can be great but it can also be incredibly boring.

161 starts + 37 sub appearances according to ESPN, over the seasons 12/13, 13/14 & 14/15 for Chelsea, Brazil and Internacional (including friendlies). Crazy. Whether it's good for them, I don't know. EDIT: 143 starts + 27 sub appearances for Eden.

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/the-match/60/post/2183892/premier-league-chelsea-better-off-now-that-unbeaten-run-is-over-michael-cox Some nuance. And I completely agree, the Invincible talk was annoying. Winning the title will do.

I have and I have seen him in action. And yes, I've heard John praise Desailly countless times. But what JT has achieved for over 10 years now, puts him above Desailly. He's been an absolute rock, alongside whatever partner, and has lasted a lot longer than I thought he would. An iconic leader.

Fair enough. Though tbh, I don't like comparing current football to that era and further back. Watching matches of 10-15 years back and further, you can notice quite a change. That's why I only mentioned 'Abramovich CBs'.

Disagree. Carvalho was the better defender for me. Even if he messed up, far from a frequent occurrence, he still had his recovery pace. And Carvalho was not flawless of course, though saying he got away with so much in the penalty area is a bit over the top. Desailly was the better leader but I did say looking purely at defensive abilities. And I'd say Terry surpassed his teacher.

Forgot about him. Looking at performances for Chelsea, Cahill is above Luiz. Though Luiz has the higher ceiling imo, he just didn't hit it nearly enough.

Blasphemy. Carvalho is the best defender I've seen at this club, looking purely at defensive abilities. For some weird reason, he doesn't quite get the recognition he deserves. Out of Carvalho, Terry, Gallas, Alex and Cahill, I rate Cahill the least. Agree with Robguima, these mistakes don't surprise me. I don't rate him highly and that's why I don't blame him. He gives his all but he's simply limited. So yeah, he made a mistake but he's not to blame for the loss.

Super fans? Haha I'm anything but that. I said it's impossible for me to dislike Chelsea players. I don't rate certain players but I can never dislike them. They play for Chelsea. Kalou for example drove me crazy but I can't help but like the guy.

That's the worst. Really annoys me. I hear what you're saying. I've had similar feelings. But this is not a bad position to be in, widely rated as part of the 'big 4', with all that room for improvement. I do agree with you on the CL. I really want a CL win but I don't think that's happening. You can't rule it out though.

To be honest with you, I don't dislike him, let alone hate him. As a person, he seems pretty decent. Still doesn't change my opinion of him being an all-time great in the world of flops.

I will agree that the counter-attacking is not the best and there's definitely still room for improvement. Maybe the team still needs time. It's not that bad though, scoring goals hasn't exactly been a problem. This team is not the fastest though, I think that plays a pretty big part in the quality of the counter-attacking. When the ball is won in deep areas, it takes quite a while for the players to get forward.

The thing that kills me the most is that certain fans obviously dislike some Chelsea players? Are you serious? Maybe it's just me but it's damn near impossible for me to dislike anyone wearing that blue shirt.

As for Willian, he's a 'team player'. He's like Duff back in the day or a more recent example, Pedro for Barca (before Suarez arrived). When you're winning, it's all good. When you're not winning, things suddenly become a lot darker. I personally don't think he'll get better and that's okay, he's a useful player. I don't think Mou is expecting (much) more from him than he is providing right now. Next summer we'll see whether Mourinho wants an upgrade. And Oscar is without a doubt the better player. 2013/2014 is over, let it go. He's enjoying a fine season.

Mourinho does not create teams to maintain possession and tire the opponent with quick and precise passing. That's not how he sets his teams up, especially in big games, he does not buy the players suited for such a game. If you don't that, you can't play that kind of football. So it's not an 'inability', it's a choice. Don't expect it to change.

End of a long wait for ChelseaPublished: Thursday 4 December 2014, 9.45CETChampions Matchday recalls Chelsea FC's debut on club football's greatest stage in 1999, 44 years after they turned down the chance to play in the inaugural European Cup. It was a long 44 years since Chelsea FC had declined the opportunity to enter the inaugural European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1955. But having finished third behind treble winners Manchester United FC and Arsène Wenger's Arsenal FC in 1999, the Londoners finally made their first foray into the UEFA Champions League with a qualifying tie against serial Latvian champions Skonto FC. Manager Gianluca Vialli was only 35, but he named a team crammed with leaders in the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, of his starting XI, Dan Petrescu, Didier Deschamps, Gustavo Poyet, Chris Sutton, Dennis Wise, Albert Ferrer and Gianfranco Zola would all become head coaches. Ferrer, Deschamps and Marcel Desailly had already lifted Europe's biggest prize and nine of the squad, including the manager, had featured in Chelsea's 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph – not to mention Deschamps, Desailly and Frank Leboeuf's 1998 FIFA World Cup winners' medals. In a way, Chelsea could be described as the most experienced debutants in European history. For Skonto, it was their fifth time in the competition. They had defeated Luxembourg's AS Jeunesse Esch 10-0 and Romania's FC Rapid Bucureşti 5-4 in the earlier rounds. Aleksandrs Starkovs was the man in charge and the visitors possessed a core of players who would feature for him in Latvia's UEFA EURO 2004 campaign – the country's only major tournament appearance. Future Skonto chairman Vladimirs Koļeņičenko and Arsenal FC defender Igors Stepanovs were on the bench as the game kicked off in west London, but Juris Laizāns – later part of PFC CSKA Moskva's 2005 UEFA Cup-winning squad – and captain Vitālijs Astafjevs, who would earn more caps than any other European player with 167 for Latvia, both started. The Blues had an unbeaten European home record spanning 27 matches in the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup, yet they took a while to click against the Riga-based club. Skonto were reduced to ten men after 33 minutes, but the contest remained scoreless until two substitutes combined with 14 minutes left. Tore André Flo chested the ball to Celestine Babayaro – who five years earlier had become the youngest-ever UEFA Champions League player while at RSC Anderlecht – and the Nigerian struck low and hard into the net. Two minutes later Poyet rounded off a fantastic passing move by curling past goalkeeper Aleksandrs Koļinko, before Sutton made it 3-0 with a smart finish on the turn – his first Chelsea goal. Afterwards Vialli said: "I'm happy with that: 3-0 is better than 2-0. We can go to Latvia with confidence." A fortnight later in Riga he rang the changes, with six different players beginning the return leg. In front of 5,000 home fans brandishing airhorns, the English team saw out a 0-0 draw, the most notable aspect being the introduction of Carlo Cudicini, who replaced Ed de Goey late on. The Italian keeper had been on the bench for AC Milan in the 1993 final, while his father Fabio had won the tournament with the Rossoneri in 1969. Vialli said: "We have some exciting times to look forward to." He wasn't wrong. The Blues would score 22 goals – including eight from Flo – and overcome Milan, Feyenoord, Olympique de Marseille and Galatasaray AŞ en route a thrilling 6-4 aggregate loss to FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals. Chelsea would be back in 2003, with signings including Damien Duff, Juan Sebastián Verón and Geremi starting their first game against MŠK Žilina – heralding the dawning of a new era under Roman Abramovich. http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2190396.html?rss=2190396+End+of+a+long+wait+for+Chelsea The club has come a long way. Barely recognised Babayaro.

There's no way Zouma's only 190cm. He's huge. He has to be in that Cahill (193) and Matic (194) bracket. Some measurements seem off. Remy is listed at 185 cm, I always thought he was around 188cm. He has that Henry build. Cesc, listed at 175cm, looks more like 178/179, like Oscar (Willian is 175cm). Luis is listed at 188cm . Quite a few giants at Chelsea.

He was following the ball a bit too much for me haha, but you have to love his enthusiasm. And it was understandable when you think about it, trying to impress the boss and all. Proper athlete this guy is.

Aguero has scored 30 goals in his last 33 PL games. Look out Messi and Ronaldo.

DROGBAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

That was unexpected. You'd think the 0-5 win would've given them a (major) boost, and it looked that way after the first 6, 7 min. But the team looked exhausted after that; Hazard of all people looked incredibly slow. Made it even worse by constantly attacking through the middle. Boring game. No win. Move on.