DYC.

Was really looking forward to this game.. What a disappointing result and what a poor, poor performance. Sigh. How I miss the days of Stamford Bridge being an unbreakable fortress.. And I think the diamond formation should only be a option against the weaker sides of the league. It's too easy to defend for the top sides. Liverpool beat us twice with their worst team in i don't know how many years, they must be having a party.

One positive from this game, Luiz is going to be huge hit. A defender with the skill and grace of a classy midfielder, love him already .

It's so sad Mikel never performs in big matches. Just don't get it. Come on Chelsea. Losing to Liverpool is shameful, losing to them twice is a disgrace.

No! Bosingwa has been solid and he's the only RB we have who can provide us constant width and he's solid on the ball. He's been one of the three Chelsea players who were actually solid.

Poor first half, not creating any chances. And whenever Liverpool got forward, they were threatning. Fernando has been very poor. Bad touches, poor passing and pretty invisible. Terry and Essien have been our best players. The rest needs to up their game, we won't get anywhere playing like this. COME ON CHELSEA !

I think I've found him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPNN94VLWaw&feature=player_embedded And he did this all in one week.. No, I don't hate Kalou. Just having some fun.

Damnit I switched to the Fulham game to watch Kakuta. Happy to see he scored the winner. Keep up the good work DS.

That's true. He isn't the Drogba of old who used to be the highest man on the pitch at all times. That's the most important thing and that is what I was slightly concerned about. I just hope players don't get forced into the starting line-up.

A Sturridge - Torres partnership sounds good indeed, hope it'll happen in one or two years.

I have to say I agree, that was my concern too. A two-striker system with two pure strikers has never worked out, one will have to adjust the way they normally play. And I doubt if they one of them will want to do that or more importantly if one of them can do that without performing at a lower level.

Eto'o - Milito failed. Mourinho changed the system after a month or two because of that and Eto'o played as a left attacker/midfielder for the rest of the season. Btw, I actually like the the goal.com line-up but it would be unfair to pick Malouda over Ramires judging on current form. But if Malouda does play well, that midfield could become great. That midfield has skill and work rate. The only small problem is the fact that Frank always plays on the left and could be less effective on the right. Some may say that small things like that don't but it really does.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/02/arsene-wenger-chelsea-transfer

There's one thing you can't take away from Salomon and that thing is the fact he is something special. Agree with the team and bench looks good indeed. Wouldn't play Terry on the right though. Why? He never plays on the right and Terry - Cole just works so why change it. And with Ivanovic on the right, Luiz will have a very defender next to him who'll help him out a lot at the back since Ivanovic doesn't go forward as much as Ash.

He played behind the strikers today, think Kaka in his Milan days.

I don't believe it's a reaction to the signing of Torres. It may have had some effect but I think it's because he simply played in a different role, a role that fits him much better. .

Where are the people who said Anelka would become 'The Sulk' again ? Very true. But I was confident we would get back and win the game, you could see it in the way we played.

1st Feb 2011.

Agree. Cech Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole Mikel Essien - Lampard Anelka Kalou - Torres We will destroy Liverpool if we play like we did today, especially if Anelka plays like he did today. And he's right. You don't buy a striker for 50 mil and play him on the sides. Would make no sense at all.

Now that was Chelsea Football Club worthy performance. Had to say it again, i'm so happy .

Lampard wasn't that good IMO. I'll change it to a 7. But I agee about being too hard on Kalou and Anelka. Drogba was really poor. No way he deserves a solid 6.

Good performance Chelsea! Haven't enjoyed Chelsea's play in ages. The second half performance wasn't as good as the first but it was still very solid. Should've scored more but i'm happy. Mikel didn't enjoy a good second half but he was pretty solid in the first (horrible defending at Sunderland's goal though, the only huge weakness in his game). Bosingwa and Drogba were really poor today. Drogba can't afford these performances anymore, he doesn't deserve to start vs. Liverpool. Kalou had a good game and got a goal. It's so obvious he's a striker and he plays a lot better in his natural role. Essien was good too. The diamond formation really worked today and that was mainly because of Anelka with a Man of the Match performance. He was fantastic. The role behind the strikers fits him perfectly. I really enjoyed his performance and I hope he'll perform like this again against Liverpool. Cech - 6 Bosingwa - 5 Ivanovic - 6 Terry - 7.5 Cole - 7 Mikel - 6 Essien - 7 Lampard - 7.5 Anelka - 10 Kalou - 8 Drogba - 5

We're really playing good football.

Yes yes, a good performance . We were passing the ball well, our off-the-ball movement was like hundred times better, pretty much every player was confident on the ball and (therefore) creating chances. Sadly I tuned when Sunderland just scored. But after seeing our play I was confident we would get back into the game, simply because we were playing well and it happened.Then Sunderland scored again, what a stupid goal btw, but we were still playing well so i'm confident about us eventually winning this one. Did anyone notice we were playing the '4-4-2 diamond formation'? Anelka has been great. I just knew Anelka would play a lot better in a free role behind the strikers (check my post in the tactics thread). His movement is fantastic, passing the ball much quicker, dribbling forward (with pace at times) and always available to receive a pass. Lampard lacks the movement for that role and that's why he failed in that role. All he needs to do now is get forward a bit more and start shooting. Two other players who have been great too are Essien and surprise surprise Kalou. Kalou is really enjoying a good game. His passing is solid, his touches are (surprisingly) very solid and his movement is good. Last season I said Kalou would play a lot better in a central striker role, preferably in a two-striker system. And he's really proving me right. Keep it up Salomon. But about his goal, you either have to be very confident or very stupid to shoot from where he stood. It would be much easier to tap the ball to the left a bit and shoot it into a empty goal. But who cares, it went in . I'm so happy right now . Keep it up boys.

That's true but you can always bring in Ramires or Essien if that becomes a real problem. Every line-up/system has it's flaws, up to the coach and players to mask those flaws.

He's right-footed. But his weak foot is just as good as his right.