The Skipper

And you've been blocked. Don't understand why you can't get it through your thick skull that I wouldn't have selected Mikel for this game either.

Outstanding today. Tried to be our go to guy but obviously just didn't go for him. Commend the effort though.

Would've been perfect to bring him on today. Shame.

Don't blame him, again Mou shouldn't have picked him. Not the game for him at all.

Exactly. If anything, people should blame Mourinho for selecting him because he wasn't what we needed today. He's an anchor man, not someone that's expected to contribute when going forward.

Didn't catch the first half but Mou has to start more positively in these games. Mikel shouldn't have started, nor should've Ivanovic (who had a horrible game). Surely Mou knew Wet Spam were going to sit and park the bus - added to the fact that they practically have no pace up front... This was a great game for Lampard to start in, and also a great game for Ashley to play in after he linked up well with Hazard against Stoke... It's annoying because we played quite well but just couldn't score that one goal. The result makes a win against City more vital though.

Lampard is old.

Why is Ivanovic still on the pitch ffs.

Agreed. From what it sounds like, Matic should be playing to help the transition in attack. Likewise with Ashley not playing and the stupid Azpi at LB experiment.

I don't know why Ivanovic started though tbh, it's obvious that you need more finesse in the team in games like these so it would've been better to go with Cole on the left and Azpi on the right... Oh well.

Not watching the game but from what I'm reading it's been expected. West Ham to just pack their half with 11 men whilst we try to break them down. Have we created enough though?

I feel that if we do have a long term manager, one that stays for longer than 3 years, we'll definitely see youth being integrated more.

Ramsey doesn't play AM - also Rosicky will be off if they sign Draxler IMO since he has 1 year left on his contract.

He wasn't comparing current Eto'o's ability with Ibrahimovic's... All he said is that had Eto'o stayed in a good league he would've been sharper. Nothing wrong with that. Also, question: if we could get rid of Torres would you?

Yeah definitely. Personally I think Mourinho is going for a hybrid Dortmund/Madrid style for us. Should be exciting times.

Why 3-0?

It would be outstanding if he made it here. He's got a great eye for goal.

You don't remember that season when Malouda was on fire? Our title winning season under Ancelotti...

His second goal was immense.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind keeping him if we sold both Torres and Ba. His experience is already rubbing off on certain players like Eden, that alone makes it worth it IMO providing we can sell the other two.

It's virtually impossible. The club posted a feasibility study about it not too long ago. The link:http://www.chelseafc.com/fullwidth-article/article/2629432 Enjoy.

Reminds me a lot of an in form Malouda.

He's definitely more matured in his game but he isn't as good as you're making him out to be. He's been very influential for Vitesse due to his great attacking ability and Vitesse's system of overlapping fullbacks but defensively he still gets found out, even in the Eredivisie. That's my main problem with him - I'm not very sure he's able to stay solid defensively in the PL. He's one of the better players but not the best because his defensive game isn't as complete as his attacking game. If we are selling Bertrand I would like him back though. I wouldn't mind having something like Shaw/PVA as the LB options. Doubt the club are thinking along those lines though.

The Eredivisie is not as strong as it used to be. RVN was signed by United ages ago when it was still a pretty respectable league, likewise with Van Der Sar. RVP and Robben did okay in the league but were signed because of their huge potential more than their performances. Vertonghen (who is overrated) and Alex (who was part of a very strong PSV side that consistently qualified for knockout stages in the CL) are the only recent defenders who have made a good transition to the PL. I don't think it's viable to use someone's success in the Eredivisie to prove that one is better than someone who has been playing well consistently in the PL. Of course there are talents there as showcased with the likes of Suarez and Strootman in more recent years but it's the exception rather than the norm. It should speak volumes that Piazon is one of the best players there right now. I'm not saying PVA is bad, offensively the guy is brilliant but we've always known that. What he hasn't really been tested on however is his defensive game - something I'm still skeptical about as he hasn't really shown great improvements there (it's hard to do that when you're in the Eredivisie to begin with).

Which is all fair enough, but that still doesn't prove that Luiz - Cahill is better than Luiz - Terry. The latter have had far more good games as a partnership than the former, that's my point. There have been plenty of games where the Luiz - Cahill partnership has been absolutely dire, not sure you can say the same about Luiz - Terry.