DYC.

http://www.espnfc.com/club/chelsea/363/blog/post/2167023/chelsea-out-to-maul-black-cats

While I agree on not seeing Southampton staying on top, I don't think City will beat them. They have the advantage of not playing mid-week, City are in anything but good form and I think they'll (Saints) really be up for the game, making a point of not crumbling as soon as they face a big team (after their good run). We'll have to wait and see.

Don't see City winning at The Saints. Think it will end in a draw, which would mean a 10 point gap (!) if the game against Sunderland is won. And I'm very confident of a win tomorrow so this could be an awesome football weekend.

Confidence is a hell of a drug.

I have to say, he was good. Very good. Happy for him, he really needed a goal. And his stamina is just nuts.

Oscar rocks. Brilliant both on and off the ball, offensively and defensively. His movement in particular today was incredible. Don't know how long he'll keep this up but I hope the movement will always be like this. He's a complete menace because of it.

Great game. May this kind of attitude and intent always be the case against whatever opponent, bar Real and Bayern, and maybe Barca. I've always said it and I'll say it again, this team is good enough to seriously hurt and oppose their will on any team. JT really deserved that goal. He's been unlucky with his headers. Fantastic efforts weren't rewarded with goals. Matic was amazing, he didn't allow Schalke any room for the most part. How you can say that about one player is insane, but it's true. Fabregas once again showing he will perform big as long as the team plays with plenty of intent going forward and gives him plenty of support and options. I don't know what people expect him to do when the tactics are defensive. All because of that big game flop nonsense. His record for Barca wasn't good yeah, and he was poor against Utd for the most part (it happens) but he's the midfield general here, believe me when I say he'll perform for the most part. He's top quality. And Drogba keeps silencing the doubters and more importantly, those who didn't believe he woud add anything and disrespected him. Keep on doing what you do Drogs!

Are you CR's boyfriend? Just appreciate the footballer that is Messi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuXCcnW7i-c

That first half was scary good. More of the same please.

Fab's' jeans are as tight as his girlfriends'. I'm disappointed.

I'd agree with that. Though receiving the ball with back to goal is not a quality you look for a in a winger, that's a bonus. And I'd argue saying Bale can't make things happen is an unfair assessment. All in all, football goes further than that though. I too prefer Hazard but that's because of his style and certain qualities. But players like Bale deserve credit and definitely have their value and that's why I understand why many say he's the better player, even though I don't agree. He's direct, a constant threat and he's very effective. And he's had big moments in his career, very important for a player's status and legacy. Anyway, I just find it a very interesting discussion. Technique vs power. So I'm always interested in different people's (well constructed) opinions.

Fair enough. I like the fact he upstaged him on the end product though. Can you imagine someone copying you in some way, only to surpass you. Haha, he really, really loves CR. I would be seriously creeped out if I were him.

Thanks for posting. Very surprised by the distance he's covered. But he does play at a slow pace, which is where the (lack of) sprints come into play. That said, his distance covered is still impressive.

What is 'most areas'? I'm genuinely interested. He's the far superior FK taker though. Bale's among the best FK takers in the world, his technique is great. CR is decent. I never noticed similar goal celebrations. CR's most common goal celebrations are the boobie grabbing celebration and the 'turning jump with arm movement'. I've never seen Bale do any of those.

Think it has everything to do with the crappy opposition they face most of the time. Turkey is terrible and it wasn't any different yesterday. That's why Neymar looks like the greatest goal-scorer in the world when playing for Brazil (he's quality though). And Hazard isn't a goal-scorer, that's just not his game. Even in his final season at Lille, 9 out of those 20 goals were from PKs, 2 were FKs.

I wasn't looking at his assists to judge his creativity or anything. I'm just talking about his assists. And it's been quite low for a long time now, 11 assists in his last 60 starts. That's a lot lower than other top wingers/attacking midfielders. I find it very surprising. Btw, Oscar has 8 assists in his last 51 starts. Also far from impressive. EDIT: Cesc is on 11 assists (15 starts), and that's just this season.

With all the talk on his finishing and goal-scoring, you almost forget about his assist totals though. He managed 20 assists in 49 starts for Chelsea in 12-13. Very impressive numbers, especially considering it was his debut season. It wasn't Chelsea's best season either. He only managed 9 assists in 45 starts in the following season though. And this season he's on 2 assists in 15 starts. (Stats from ESPN, very legit) So he's been quite disappointing when it comes to assists for a while now. I'm quite surprised actually, thought he did better. I know he 'created the most chances in Europe' or something like that last season, probably up there somewhere this season as well, but they don't seem to be that clear-cut. You could point at the finishing but Chels isn't the only team with dodgy finishing and the finishing wasn't any better in 12-13. It's quite bizarre really.

You're right, the angle in the video I watched was off. Defenders shouldn't do that with long shots imo. Bar the rare blazing shots they can't save, long shots are for the GK to deal with. Instead, anticipate any balls parried back into play.

Just checked the goal again to make sure. Cahill wasn't looking to block the shot, it hit him. Gary was tracking Balo, who was trying to make a run in behind (in the space between Gary and John) and Terry was backing off, while looking at Can moving closer with the ball. It's not a mistake per se, since they rarely go in, but doing so, he gave Can the room to shoot. For me, Terry should've moved up and stood in front of Can.

Disagree. Defenders shouldn't try to block long shots. Long shots rarely go in. They become more rare when a GK like Courtois is between the poles. Deflected long shots go in at a higher frequency. What a defender must do when a player has that much space is leave his position and put the player under pressure.

I have to admit, it's very strange to see a Chelsea team with just two Englishmen. But at the same time, England's stock of quality has decreased. It's easier to compete at top level with English players in your team/squad when the likes of Seaman, Ferdinand, Terry, Campbell, King, Carragher, Cole, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Beckham, J. Cole, Rooney are 'available' (I'm sure I've missed a few names). Not to mention, a good amount of decent players good enough to make the squad. That said, Chels would do well to get some English talent as squad players.

This really deserved a goal. Shame. And I agree, Oscar stepped up. Was happy with his performance.

Is this you?

When was this? I remember a Yaya Toure that was a force attacking from deep, but constantly left his midfield partner exposed due to his lack of discipline and not participating when transitioning back to defence if City lost the ball. Yaya left his will to defend back at Barca.