DYC.

Chelsea's counter-attacks suck! Wow.

That plays a big part but I'd look more at the fact that they scored.

I want to laugh but I seriously can't. Not even a smile. At least they have an excuse. I see just two starters (Cech, Mertesacker) and one regular (Giroud) in their team. Ox out injured, Walcott came in and got injured as well. Okay, that produced a feeling and sound that resembles laughter.

There you have it. It was always going to happen.

Who would've thought a new player, a new young player from a different league as well, needed game time to adjust and improve?

Douglas Costa has completely proved me wrong. He knocked me out with a single punch when I called him a squad player, a decent back-up winger. This guy is putting in scintillating performances for fun. An absolute nightmare for any fullback. Lightning pace but he's in full control, that's rare. A constant threat and he has a mean cross. Most wingers can't even cross so that's big. A joy to watch. He's been one of the top attacking players in Europe, no doubt.

Ohw snap. Choulo approvement. Now it's legit.

That was good. Very good. Lacking in the final pass and creating clear-cut chances but then again, that has always been a weakness. Losing Diego will make it harder though. I thought that Stoke chance was going in. It doesn't matter what Chelsea do, they can concede at any time. Mikel has been good. Willian's defensive game has been excellent of late. The work rate was always there but he was never much of a ball winner. I like Hazard in the free role. So a good performance but I'm still not feeling confident. Really need a couple of goals. If not from open play, I hope set-pieces save the day again. Set-pieces haved saved Chelsea staring up from the bottom.

It's not, and I would never suggest otherwise, and I didn't.

Mourinho hasn't given Chelsea anything. Just like Mancini and Pellegrini haven't given anything to City. He's played a part in the succes of the club, just like other managers have. His contribution pales in comparison to Roman's.

So many starters... Makes me worry about the Liverpool game. Not looking forward to this game. I want to be wrong but I don't think it will end well.

Begovic Azpi/Zouma - Zouma/Cahill - Terry - Baba RLC - Mikel Pedro - Oscar - Kenedy Remy/Falcao I think that's a possible line-up for tonight. I have to say, don't really care for this match. The League Cup is a distraction at this point. All the energy has to be put in the league. I'd rather finish in the top 4 without a trophy than outside the top 4 with the League Cup. Leave the cup dreams for the FA Cup. I don't like saying it but I think the matches vs Stoke and Liverpool will be lost. I thought the games against Southampton and WHU would be won but it didn't happen. Especially the Liverpool game, that script is written. Klopp getting his first win at the champions' home, getting one over Mourinho. Bla bla bla.

Arsenal didn't sign a single outfield player but they're not 20th. The lack of good signings stalled and prevented progress but it's not the reason, or even one of the reasons, for the complete meltdown.

A team that is supposed to in the top two or three is 15th in the table. We're talking about nothing but negative ratings here.

I hear what you're saying but if Willian plays like he did against WHU every week, I'm starting a Ballon D'Or campaign for him. I haven't been as impressed as many others by his form throughout the year but that was recent performance was excellent. And regardless of how highly you rate him, Willian is definitely not the problem this season.

With Cesc out of form it's going to be even worse in the coming weeks. He's practically doing 5 separate roles this season. The lack of structure or build up play in this team is mind-boggling. Guardiola would've lost his mind yesterday. Hazard has to do our midfielders jobs for them, take on 2/3 defenders because our fullbacks don't overlap, drift infield into the pockets to assume the role of a #10 and then we wonder why he isn't scoring goals. Difference between now and last season is he was virtually unplayable especially in that 2nd half now he's average (by his standards) Mourinho's rudimentary system and outdated tactics have been woefully exposed. GIve it to Hazard and hope for the best no longer works. Credit to you for the effort you put in (if you did it). I saw Hazard dropping extremely deep throughout the entire match and shook my head. Tactical mess. There's no denying his drop in form. The confidence isn't there and for the longest time, he didn't look good physically. But I'm not worried the slightest bit about him as a player. He will bounce back. I can't say the same about many of his team mates.

Fiorentina - Roma (about to start) Atletico - Valencia That Manchester derby was torture. I turned it off.

True. He flopped, he also flopped at AZ. He went through a dark patch back then. That was a long time ago though. He recovered strongly after. His work at Feyenoord was phenomenal. No funds and he had to make due with youth players. But he managed to turn that team in a title challenging team, punching well above his weight for three years. He did good work at PSV and Ajax as well with the pressure to win, although at a far lower level. The thing is, you can present any manager in the world and you can point out flaws and failures. That goes for Mourinho post-Inter as well. He's been quite ordinary since then. That's why I don't understand the obsession with big name managers.

Perfect description. He's a fantastic player but he hurts your team as well. If he were to go through a barren run of 10 games without a goal or assist for example, he'd actually be a liability. It will be interesting to see if he ever finds that balance in his game.

Me. One of my fantasy world candidates. He's impressed me a lot in the past 4, 5 years.

Everybody has to check this moment out. Look at 1:22-1:27. Watch it a couple of times. He froze time. That was dope. That was stellar. That was magic haha. Willian is playing at a different speed at the moment. Edit: Outstanding performance. Truly. It's a shame he took one touch too many for the disallowed Fabregas goal. He had the chance to play him earlier on, it never would've been flagged for offside if he did. But still, that was Hazard-esque. I was too upset about losing to marvel about Willian but I loved his performance. I even love the fact that he took a shot from the half-way line. It's just a shame that everyone bar him, Azpilicueta and Begovic is broken.

I agree with you a lot of times, I'm not exactly a fan of Mikel either (understatement), and I find it very funny how Mikel pushes your buttons. You respectfully rip him to shreds.

What is it with you and Mikel? I have a feeling you'd kick him in the shin if you ever met him.

I have no idea. I'm not so sure going for an interim manager is the way to go either. It's why I find this situation so difficult. For some strange reason, interim managers tend to work for Chelsea. Grant, Hiddink, RDM and Benitez all did well in the end. But maybe the club should just stick with Mourinho until the end of the season like they did with Ancelotti in 10/11. But I guess the current situation with Mourinho is quite toxic and it's looking more and more like it won't get better. Then there's that stupid pay-off the club have to deal with. That ridiculous new contract truly bit the club in the ass. It's really hard. All I want is for Chelsea to recover, I don't care who the manager is (as long as it's not some old fart).

I agree with your post except for the Hiddink part. He is so past it. He did a good job six years ago but people need to let it go. It's arguably the last good job he did in his career.