DYC.

You guys are wayyyy too harsh on Bosingwa. He's not offering a lot at the moment but he's okay. Ramires, Bosingwa and Ivanovic will do fine on that right-side. And about Alex, you don't bring a player, especially a defender, back in the starting line-up after being out for so long in such a big game. Defenders need game rhythm. And Terry and Alex (Alex not so much over distance) are amongst the slowest of defenders, especially the first few yards, and could easily be exposed by the quick Rooney and the very very quick Hernandez. Not to think of the fact that most players always need a few games to back to full speed... CA leaving Alex out of this is fully understandable.

Yup, those are the only mysteries left. Agree with you about Zhirkov but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Malouda starting (I think he's blackmailing CA). I would personally go for Drogba and Kalou up front. Putting money on Anelka not performing in a big match is pretty much a safe bet. With Kalou you never know and he has been doing a fine job in the second striker role and with Kalou switching systems is easier, to a 4-3-3, when needed (since he doesn't drift inside as much as Anelka and doesn't slow down our play. Not to forget that when the team get the opportunity to counter-attack, Kalou will actually run with the ball. Sadly Torres has proven to be pretty useless without someone to provide that final ball behind him or when the counter-attacks of the team aren't that sharp and fast. There's no room for excuses here, especially since we're playing at home where we absolutely need a good result, and that's why I'd rather have Drogba since he can do a lot better with a lot less (as in the current service for our strikers). I also loved his attitude and effort in the Stoke game, he really looks up for it again and has a point to prove. Bring on Torres, Anelka and Benayoun in the second half when we're pushing for a goal. Plus add the fact that Anelka and Torres started in our previous match vs Man Utd but sadly didn't do much for us. And come to think of it, I would start with Mikel to free up Lampard and provide a extra man at all times at the back(or give Essien strict orders to stay in front of the defense). With Rooney, Hernandez, Nani and Valencia up front, Utd have some serious pace up front and could therefore be lethal on the break. So one of the two CMs will need to stay back at all times.

Surprised to hear you complain about the the tempo. Our tempo in build-up play is just as slow . Seriously.

If it wasn't for him being out injured for at least half a season (three quarters in the PL) every season, I would put in some of my own money to get him. What a player he has become though. Always knew he was going to be a world-class player when he was at PSV but never expected him to become this good. Too bad he's made of glass.

Robinho proves once again he's nothing more than a decent player. To think we almost bought him for what 30 (?) mil pounds.. Thank you City.

The fact that i'm not even that upset sums up our season. Let's hope we'll somehow play a lot better against Man Utd. And almost forgot, Malouda plays like he's 55 years old. If it was up to me, he'd be warming the bench for the rest of the season.

Wow that was too long of a time without Chelsea. Can't wait for the match to begin :cfc:.

Even though I would be happy if he joined us, I'd rather have Sanchez. He's far more complete player as he can pass, link-up well, he's stronger and has loads of energy (stamina), he's a very hard-worker and he's a real team-player. He has all that and he's flashy player too with tricks, serious pace and a lot of charisma so in a commercial sense, he would be great buy too. And he's also player that can play the supporting striker and winger role with ease, he even played as attacking midfielder at times. Sanchez was always criticized for one thing, not scoring enough goals. But he's been showing he can do that as well. They would both cost about the same amount of money but I'm much more sure of him succeeding in the league than Neymar, who I think is better off in Italy or Spain. But that's just my opinion though. Getting both (and a playmaker) would be ideal but most likely won't happen.

Drogba scored two goals for Cote d'Ivoire, must be great for him to score again. If it wasn't for Torres' price tag, I would definitely play with him as our main striker (and no, not because he scored two goals voor his country).

I hope Ramires (gets to) attacks more at Chelsea like he did in this game. He was everywhere and was very confident in everything he did. He should've taken his time with that shot though, could've easily scored that. Great energy and an intelligent player, I'm starting to grow fond of him. And Neymar is class. Hope he grows into a international star in the near future. We need more exceptional players in football and he's very entertaining to watch. And ohw yeah, his hair is cool .

Who's watching the Argentina game? Argentina is playing phenomenal football! They should've scored a lot more but the ball isn't going in. Always been a huge Argentina fan and it's great to see them play some great football again. Messi is really shining and Cambiasso and Banega are playing great as well.

Fixed that for you . It's a shame really. He's such an amazing player when on form. It looks like he's slowly coming back though, he was great vs Hamburg two weeks ago and saved Bayern vs Freiburg I think last week.

Wow that's weird, he gets nothing but praise in Holland.. oh well.

First you say that there's no better mentor than Lampard, I disagree, you ask me to name some, I do it and now you say they are not with us... It's obvious he can learn those last two things from him but he could those things from most professional footballers and I don't think you can teach somebody how to make the most of their abilities since there are few footballers who actually do that. That has to come from the player self. Come on zolayes, of course you copy the positive things out of someone's game.. And didn't you ever play football yourself? Every footballer copies some things from a (great) player's game. The great Zidane always said he learned a lot from watching Enzo Francescoli, Van Persie learned from Bergkamp. Even Joe Hart admitted stealing a move from Kasper Schmeichel that helped him a lot in his career and still uses that move a lot. That's all true but absolutely not what I'm talking about. I'm purely talking about improving his game and he could (a lot) more from players who are the same type and share the qualities. You're acting as if I said he couldn't learn a thing from Lamps and that's not what I said.

:getyou: You're coming to that conclusion by watching him regularly? Eriksen is a HUGE talent, and comparing him to Stoch is an (huge) insult), and can easily grow out into one the best midfielders around. He's 19 and he's Ajax' best player, performing pretty muck week in, week out. His passing, vision and technique is incredible and something else when you think about the fact he's so young and only became a certain starter since Frank de Boer took over in December. Don't know why Chelsea would turn him down but these things happen. A missed opportunity, though moving to Ajax was a lot (!) for his development.

Players like Fabregas, Scholes, Modric, Arteta, Deco, Xabi Alonso could learn him a lot. And those are just players of who i'm sure speak English (and for all we know, Josh speaks another language like Spanish or Italian). Even Mikel could teach him a thing or two since he has some qualities Lampard doesn't have in the areas of passing and technique. And he could also learn a lot from other midfielders who's game is based on technique and passing like him by studying their game and copying their moves.

Yeah of course but zolayes saying 'there could be no better mentor than Lampard' is not true.

Neel was talking about a 'football mentor' and I'm saying he could a lot more from a player who is the same type. I mean David Luiz could learn a lot from JT defensively but when it comes to ball skills and his offensive game, Terry is not his man.

Frank and Josh are completely different players so there are definitely 'better' mentors out there for Josh. As for Pirlo, still a great player but too old, he can't handle the league physically (and i'm not talking about strength, i'm talking about him not having the lungs), too injury-prone and his game is too slow for the PL meaning he would need time to adapt.. and time is something he doesn't have.

I'm sorry but that's simply not true. Xavi can't play Iniesta's game and Iniesta can't play Xavi's game, you see that when one of the two is out. And while players can share some similarities, I don't think there are players out there who are (exactly) the same. Like the Drogba-Lukaku comparison, when I see Lukaku play, I don't get the feeling that i'm seeing Drogba. But I guess your talking about players sharing similarities and in that way, yes Frank Lampard is in some way unique. But someone like Hamsik has something Lampard-ish about him.

Welcome .

This is what Torres (and the rest of the forwards) is looking/hoping/begging/praying for:

Cheers LDN. About the bolded part, exactly my thoughts after he joined us as I was hoping for a playmaker and a winger (and still am).

I would put him behind Ivanovic, aka Mr. Consistent, too.

Excelled in? No. A solid performance at the very least in all of those big games? Yes. Ramires seems to have settled at Chelsea and has been doing a great job since we entered 2011. After the rocky start he had, I thought he would need at least a full season to settle but he did it much quicker so well done to him. Not an easy job to come to Chelsea, where the pressure is huge, as a relatively low-profile player with a big price tag in a new country and league, and not knowing the language, and claiming a starter place that fast. After a consistent three month period, it's safe for me to 'praise' some of his qualities. Physically, except for strength, he's obviously top-notch but I've noticed that he's an intelligent player. When he first came he seemed to be very sloppy in his passing, his decision-making was off, his link-up play seemed poor (except for some positive flashes) and he was pretty static in team-play and when he did move, it didn't look all too good. After seeing all that, I was afraid the club bought a runner for 17/18 mil pounds. But he's improved heavily in all of those areas and even took it a step further showing he's not just okay or solid in terms of intelligence but very good at the very least. He knows what he wants to do with the ball before he gets it and I was very surprised and at the same time very happy about that. He's a couple of steps ahead 'of the rest' and that's crucial in possession play and it really compensates his lack of any great things he can do with the ball (things like defence-splitting passes, being a ball magician, possessing great vision) Add his pace, stamina, high work-rate and solid technical abilities to that and you have an player that can become a crucial part of the team but will most likely always be underrated for what he brings to the team by the fans (ours and the opposition) and the media. Still enough room for improvement though. For instance, he needs to attack more and needs to be more of a constant presence offensively and in build-up play. Too much of our play comes from the left side and that makes us predictable. He also needs to take it easy with his rushed challenges and needs pick his moments to go for the foul (Nigel de Jong is an example of player that's great at that, you know when he's not acting like an idiot). And the rest of the areas in which he needs to improve will come from playing at this level weekly and from experience. I now do fully believe he can become some player for us if he keeps it up like this. (All we need now is an playmaker to complete our selection of midfielders.)