DYC.

His beard was awesome! Still a slight a chance he'll stay. I hope he stays. He still has a lot to offer as a squad player with his experience and as a mentor for the new LB (assuming a new one will be bought).

Oh dear, it's like the Fellaini and Guarin thread. Hope another bullet will be dodged with Paulinho.

I absolutely love Ash. I'll miss him.

Add Pepe to the mix and hatred would be killing non Chelsea fans left and right.

At Benfica, he thrived playing as some sort of a half right winger/half centre midfielder, in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation. He played in a similar for Brazil before, under Dunga I think. Di Maria played in a similar role on the opposite side. A role he also plays for Argentina since Sabella took over and now he plays in that role under Ancelotti. He's playing his best football and it's not a coincidence. Of course with a completely different style of play. What I'm trying to say is that he's not playing in his natural/best role. He not been able to adapt his game to suit playing in the middle. not the required level that is. He was the runner, enjoying the freedom to get up and down, hassling opposition player and stretching defences. And when he got forward, he was a goal threat because he's a suprisingly good finisher when given little time to think. But the key was not to get him to too involved build-up play, use him as a decoy. Because of his technical limitations. A classic case of a footballer who is at his best without the ball. He simply doesn't suit the current system. He makes a good squad player as a centre midfielder though imo.

I completely agree with this. Roll back to the start of the season and hardly anyone would be crazy enough to say they would want to trade Chelsea's team/squad for Atletico's.

Yeah it's because he's new and shiny. 'The Special (Sime)One' I read somewhere. If he manages to stay succesful, he'll also have his fair share of haters within a few years. I do wish him luck though, I doubt Atletico will get a chance like this any time soon.

Annoying how the media and football fans (most of them anyway) are having a field day right now. They just love to see Mourinho and Chelsea lose. But he'll probably have his opportunity next season to shut them up with a trophy.

No thank you. The team lacks players with genuine skill and vision. Last thing the team needs is another athletic type. The club was so close to signing Modric a few years ago.. how I'd love to see him play for Chelsea.

And they learned how to do that by hours of practice on the training ground. Look at Everton, they went from a power team to a team comfortable in possession, with precise passing, clear patterns of play and strong movement. I find it shocking that a team like Chelsea are so poor with the ball, unless they're on the break. It's unacceptable.

Painful loss. Mourinho's gameplan completely backfired. Hopefully next season matches won't be approached in the same way anymore. Hope Atletico get the double.

Man that felt like a blow to the stomach. It's still possible but man is it going to be hard.

Don't like the line-up at all. I mean, 6 defenders? And again no Schurrle. Less excited about the match, will have to wait and see.

Steven Gerrard

Awful football. Can't stand this.

I find Schurrle far more useful from the start than as a substitute. And Ramires does absolutely nothing for me on the wing, simply awful. The defence must be very vulnerable if you need Ramires on the wing with David Luiz, Lampard and Mikel in midfield. Not to mention Willian's defensive contribution. But I guess we'll have to see how things pan out.

You make a good point but the matches against Atletico are far more important than the Liverpool clash imo. The title was lost against Sunderland, no way both City and Liverpool will mess up. If you're gonna pick a game to play Ramires on the wing or whatever, it's against Liverpool. Especially in his current form. But that's just the way I see it. Schurrle didn't start against PSG (home) either for example, even though Oscar has been struggling for months. There must be something Mourinho doesn't like about his game and I can't figure what it is.

Don't understand why Mourinho doesn't trust Schurrle. To have Ramires picked over you.. feel sad for the guy. Don't like the line-up at all but let's see how the match will play out first.

I've personally never understood why he hasn't ever been tried as a right-back. I've wanted to see him in that position for a long, long time.

I just knew City would mess up. There was a lot of pressure on actually winning those games in hand. Liverpool with their offence and lack of European football were the ones to be feared. Win the final 4 games and the PL trophy is blue. It won't be easy but definitely possible. I have full confidence in a win at Anfield. Winning the CL as well would be mind-blowing but that's possible too. Crazy weeks ahead and I'm loving it.

I guess we see things differently. Hazard has been great but he hasn't put in enough stand-out performances to compare him those players and others. He's been consistently good and has definitely had some great performances but like I said before, others have shown better. And it's not about goals. The likes of Ronaldinho, Zidane, Rivaldo etc were never the greatest goal-scorers but they all had periods in which they stood out. Or even more recently Xavi, I thought he was simply amazing during Euro 2008 and the following 2008/2009 season. He was so ridiculously dominant, I even rated him as the best player that season. But I don't want it to sound like I'm somehow discrediting Hazard. Again, Hazard has been fantastic but I expect more. A possibly better and more balanced team next season should help.

Human nature. One stellar performance and everyone will remember his importance again. I still expect a lot more from him though. Others have shown you can do better. Suarez this season for example, Van Persie in the previous two seasons, Drogba in 09/10 and other greats before. Truly carrying their teams in brilliant and consistent fashion, with some big moments. This season he's been more like Cristiano Ronaldo in 06/07. Great but not phenomenal. Would be great if he were able to pull it off next season.

Surely Bayern won't reach the final three times in a row? 4 times in a space of 5 years.. The gods of football won't let that happen so I'll take Bayern.

It's the other way around, Ronaldo plays on the left and Bale plays on the right. Think the match against Dortmund today had a lot more to do with complacency, thinking it would be a easy. And they still had plenty of opportunities today. When the focus was there in the first game, they showed how dangerous their attack is and how easily they create chances. Any opponent will be extremely difficult anyway.

It's ridiculous how quickly players are written off nowadays. I think everyone realizes he's having a poor season but it's not the end of the world. If every player were to be sold after performing below standards or expectations, hardly anyone would last more than 2/3 years at a single club. Every player deserves the chance to redeem himself after a poor season. And many players would complain being moved around in different positions but David doesn't seem to mind and will do anything to help the team. Love his attitude. Good overall performance.