DYC.

There's just one thing I don't get. Willian, Cuadrado, Moses (Traore?) as options for the right, yet it's Ramires. Why Ramires?

To be fair, with all the stick I gave them for not winning anything for years, it's better than nothing. I just hope the boys are fired up for next week and start the season strongly.

Big games are purely about results. I'm sure that won't change under Mourinho.

FA Cups and Community Shields, baby!

He has a very hard time performing when the tempo is high. He continued to struggle when the tempo dropped, but at least he produced a couple of good plays. Mou might have to consider benching him in certain games. Doubt he'll do it though.

Wenger was bound to get a win at some point. Losing the streak in this game is fitting.

That would mean Chelsea won the shield in 05, 06 and 07 and 09? I'm pretty sure that's not true.

Almost falling asleep here. Falcao's ball control is worrying. I thought Oscar had a positve impact. Zouma and Moses coming on as subs... I thought you were allowed 6 subs in this game?

Willian has been good.

Arsenal keeping the spaces between the lines really tight. This is where the weak possession play hurts. This team can't handle it at all. But fair play to Arsenal, their positioning off the ball is really good. But it's still baffling how an elite team struggles so much possession wise. They're not even pressing relentlessly. Probably need a set-piece goal to get back. Maybe some Hazard magic.

Imagine Vidal being in there instead of Ramires. Ramires over Oscar is purely a tactical choice? Oscar isn't injured?

Really looking forward to this. Missed the friendly games so it's been a while since I've seen my Blues play. Like Mou said, this is more than a friendly and less than a competitive match. But this is Arsenal so it means a bit more. Hoping for a good performance and especially looking forward to seeing my boy Eden. A good day for a win and cause some heart ache to those Gooners.

Get Rodriguez and start Azpi on the right... Not happening but I would love that. Aside from his offensive abilities he's a proper defender as well. And at his age, he still has a lot of room for growth.

I obviously don't know Benitez but I know I wouldn't be happy with my wife running her mouth like that. It wasn't even a reaction and I still don't understand why she matters. But who knows, maybe Benitez tried to speak through his wife, hoping Mou wouldn't react haha.

I wasn't naming players in the same league as Hazard. Just examples of players who can change games without scoring or assisting. But saying Silva is not in the same league as Hazard is simply not true for me. Silva is briilliant. Cazorla is not as good, but I find him very underrated. Fantastic player.

In my mind, he's already added another dimension to his game. I never knew he was so good at dealing with PKs. He goes to the right corners most of the time, gets down very quick (extremely quick for a guy his size). His size and presence seems to intimidate the players as well. Tibo is starting to grow on me.

He's getting closer and closer to perfectioning his FK technique. He seems to have the power and swerve right, but the accuracy is just a bit off. If he finally manages it, he could score 3-5 FKs in a season, force plenty of corners and some rebounds. I would love that. Barely any FK specialists in the Abramovich era. Frank was always a bit hit and miss. Drogba was excellent for just one year for some strange reason. Mata was good but left soon after he was just starting to become a genuine threat.

His delivery was very good at the start of the 14/15. I'd say the entire first half of the season. But it dropped off after and even the likes of Oscar and Willian, with their poor delivery, started to take more and more corners and indirect FKs. Set-pieces would be close to clear-cut chances with a real specialist here.

The question is why? Why not improve the quality of the squad?

Can't disagree with that. Eden is absolutely brilliant for me. Players like Silva, Cazorla, Ribery etc. have an effect on games that goes further than goals and assists. James Rodriguez is another player I absolutely love and has a similar effect on games. Not on Eden's level though (yet). But Hazard feels/knows he can do better. I think he wants to become a proper (football) legend and to do that, he does need to do better.

Wow. Why is this woman's opinion even relevant enough to end up in the media?

I agree with your point. But Eden himself has stressed his desire to score more on more than a couple of occasions. He definitely has the talent and vision to combine that thirst for scoring goals without sacrificing his natural game. He can work on his shooting for example to improve in this area. He seems to have trouble combining accuracy with real power. When he goes for accuracy, aiming for the corners, his shots tend to lack power. It's weird how he's hit some screamers out of reach for the GK with his left foot though. I don't expect him to hit Messi numbers but 25 goals and +/-15 assists is something he can aim for and achieve I think.

There's no contest anymore. The quality, the style, the charisma, the personality... and to make things even better, he wears the shirt with that crest. He is hands down my favourite footballer now. Absolute perfection. Good ol' Eidur used to be my favourite sight in Chelsea blue but Eden has taken over. I'm in love.

Makes sense. Just look at his stance and his feet when striking the ball. Take 10 pens like that and at least 6 end up in the faces of little kids.

Fair point. I don't understand why Chelsea don't buy two (or even three) English star talents very early and loan them to the 'parent club' for two or three years. Like they did with Courtois at Atletico, allowing the player a stable environment. This English tax is getting out of hand. There are players like Stones outside the PL but they're not English. I do understand the need for English players though.