bombayblue™

Put it as mildly as you like, Cahill was at fault for the first goal, let his man get away from him. He did make up for it with a fantastic strike though. Ivanovic was sloppy at times, ofcoure he did score the goal, but he is there primarily to be solid defensively. Torres when close to the action got well involved, when he drifted away, he seemed like a lost soul. 5 of our 6 goals have been either penalties or scored by defenders in open play, sixth one being offside. That is a worrying sign about what we're doing in the final third after all this possession and attacking play. This may seem like a doom & gloom post, but what I'm trying to say is let's not get over excited. Hazard is a class act took to the PL like a fish to water, Oscar shows signs of brilliance but isn't ready yet, needs to adapt to the pace and physical nature of the league. I'll still say we look destined for making the CL next year and anything above that is bonus for me.

Luiz says on twitter, he won't be playing tonight due to a knock on his knee.

Super Cup Club World Cup Top 4 with being back to best team in London! Exit in CL only to a powerhouse

Marin is so talented yet so selfish, once inside the box he always looks to shoot. May be I'm being harsh and he is just trying to impress.

You may be asked to provide proof that it is made out of Fire Retardent material.

Yes, he has. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2849259,00.html

Firstly he hasn't signed yet. Robinho? Secondly, if he does arrive, we will have players leaving so other numbers open up like 15 of Malouda.

Look where Moneyball got Liverpool. On a serious note, I agree with what you say to a certain extent, but where does it end? If you intend to judge players from all perspectives over all the concerned factors, surely you'd want to account for the team they played for as well. Would Desailly have done better in this team, or would Carvalho and Terry push him to the bench without the armband. Again, if the question is who is of more worth Terry would be ahead of Carvalho. But I doubt that's the question, for me it was about ability.

Alas, your arguments against others' judgments of 'assuming things' lead you to make the same for mine. I have followed him over the years and trust me, 3 years back I would be the person most excited at his signing. My verdict isn't based on he is not a big name, neither having Kalou's 21 and nor because we didn't spend a lot of money I have seen him, much like I've followed the Bundesliga, he was reduced to a bit part role at Werder Bremen last season THAT forms the major reason of my assessment apart from the fact that we have Hazard, Mata, Sturridge(Adapted to the league and more physical), Ramires and the impending arrival of Hulk as his main competitors for the 3 positions he can play viz. RW, LW AM(hole).

The topic seems to be about best defenders in Chelsea history, which at face value would suggest judging on abilities rather than longevity. Surely, if we were to go by your logic, Ron Harris would be the best defender we've ever had and also make Eddie Mcreadie with 410 appearances a better Left Back than Ashley Cole at 261.

Desailly only played 156 in the PL and was an automatic choices as captain, quite like JT. Carvalho on the other hand had to break Gallas' partnership with JT and has had to compete with top defenders like Alex and Ivanovic for the chance to partner JT. JT over the time Carvalho was here played 195 games in the PL, that's just 10 more games every season after being an automatic choice. So I don't agree that judging the player on his number of games makes sense,

Carvalho and Desailly for me Carvalho and Desailly are both better defenders than John Terry but Terry alongwith his leadership qualities makes for a better pick in a team.

I can only see him being a Super Sub kind of role

Cech has to contend with a high number of 1 on 1's thanks to our high defensive line and we aren't talking abt the 1 on 1's which start with the striker getting free inside the box. Won't swap him with anyone else in the world atm, Casillas is suspect at free kicks and crosses

AVB said that when the players score and turn round, they will see the bench celebrating as much as them.