DYC.

The whole Gallas story was so vague and confusing to me.. did he actually admit to make own goals if he wasn't let go?

Yeah Gallas was class in his better years, he still is a very good defender but he's become very injury-prone. Doesn't know the meaning of the word loyalty though.

True. David Luiz' positional sense is terrible for a CB and his decision-making is poor too. We just lack a world-class CB duo. But then again, we do have very high standards, coming from Terry in his prime together with one of the best defenders in the 00's Riccy Carvalho.

That was a good side, kind of like the Everton of a few years back. How I loved Eidur .

He really needs to settle on a starting XI though. The constant changes really harm the building of chemistry between the players. Rotation is good but this is too much.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2011/11/21/2767107/the-ex-factor-how-the-match-was-won-and-lost-as-chelsea-fell

The thing is, even though Puyol's slow now, he's still a lot faster than Terry (Terry's lack of pace is really shocking). But playing a high line isn't even just about speed, it's mainly about reading the attacks of the opposition and about anticipation. Puyol is a lot better than Terry in this which is why he can handle a high line (that and other circumstances like you already mentioned). The likes of Terry, Ivanovic and Alex are penalty box defenders, they're just not the right type.

In the period 2004-2008 Terry was excellent but since then, he hasn't been the same and has become inconsistent. He's still a good defender though but needs to be replaced as we lack a world-class CB, something every big side needs.

Our problem is we don't have the players to play in the way AVB wants us to play (while we also lack true quality). Against the smaller sides in the league it's possible but against the big sides it's suicide. AVB is at fault for that for being so naive and needs to open his eyes and realise he needs to change the style until we do have the right players.

Benz doesn't have any consistency issues. It took him long to perform at the expected level but he's been great and consistent all year long. Higuain the better player(?).. that's your opinion. For me they're of the same level but different types of strikers.

Yeah another quality striker would be good but not just any quality striker, that's how we got Torres, one that fits the game we (are trying) to play. But there are other areas we should focus on first. Yeah he would be a better fit.

Torres and Higuaín are freakishly similar as players. Of course he's done better than Torres has for the past one and half year but he wouldn't do much for us in our current state either. Only Henry and R9 would score like crazy in our current team.

Mehh at least with Torres there's hope, with Anelka you just know.

They were indeed great yesterday, very deadly on the break. And last night highlighted that while Gomez, who's the best pure number 9 around imo, is of a higher class than Klose as a striker, Klose's mobility, link-up play and his great eye for a free team mate still makes him the better choice for the starting CF spot. Simply because with him, they make a better team. And it's not like he's less of a goal-scorer than Gomez for the German NT.. the opposite even. Van Marwijk should be getting a lot more out of this team, his choices still baffle me. Dirk Kuyt is still a starter when he never should've been one in the first place.. he keeps playing two defensive midfielders who seriously lack mobility and never track the players their supposed to mark (it's like having two Mikel's) and it's not like they don't make up for it by doing something else really well.. Sneijder is untouchable for the number 10 spot yet he's always to be found very near to the two DMs which always leaves the lone striker isolated.. while it would all be so much easier with one pure DM (Nigel de Jong) with someone in a deep play-maker role next to him (Sneijder would be ideal for that role). I know he led the team to the finals but everything went right that tournament while the competition was poor except for Spain and Germany, who met in the semi-final. Spain is still my pick for victory. The amount of world-class and class players they posses is unheard of, their only problem is Del Bosque's weird choices as he forgets you can't pass your way into the goal. While he can get so much out of his team by playing with one DM instead of two. They're just the right line-up away from glory imo. Germany a close second for me but their defence is still too weak while their build-up from the back is terrible. Pressure their back-line and the team falls into pieces. Though their effenciency is terrifying..

Captain Fantastic!

What a second half performance by the boys. We would've won if it wasn't for Foy. Incredibly proud.

A good ref is being missed.

Foy was ordered to fuck us up, no other explanation possible. I'm not the type to complain about refs but this is fucking ridiculous.

Fuck it, we're gonna win this.

Come on Chelsea!

If we're playing 4-2-1-1, Mata is the most logical player for the spot behind the striker imo. And he's shown that he's not too lazy to get back and defend in recent matches. Guess we don't share the same views.

Doesn't have players to feed? What about feeding Anelka when he makes runs behind the defence.

Mata off? Please let it be because of (a minor) injury as that's the only way it would make sense. With Mata, I'd say we could still win this. But without him..

This one's deserved. Unbelievable.