LDN Blue

Where's Phil Driver?

Kind of game you wouldn't mind seeing Torres lead the line. Hopefully starts for Azpilicueta & MvG are on the cards too. On a separate note to UK viewers, I can't believe SkySports are showing a Chelsea third round fixture! It's been a while since they did that.

I didn't jynx it!

Definitely. Today was an awful, awful performance. José's interview keeps me optimistic though, "I agree we are not playing well" & "We played better against Everton than we did today". He acknowledges what we all witnessed, so thankfully this isn't the bottom line for our style of play.

Indeed, this is a very good point. As I said in the post match thread, from the 80th minute (possibly 70th in actual fact) it was more open for the team to play a quicker style of football that allowed Torres to look that sharp. Had Eto'o been on during that, you'd have got the same kind of display. Has Eto'o had a chance to showcase his talent? Not yet, because of the dire nature of today's game. Has Torres earned a start in our next game? Considering it's v. Swindon, perhaps there is a case for that. In any case, I hope people aren't fooled into thinking Torres can lead the line for us just because Eto'o is yet to deliver.

WHERE WERE YOU, WHERE WERE YOU? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN JOHN OBI MIKEL SCORED?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN OBI MIKEL SCORED!

First and foremost.. Happy we won & that we're on top of the table. That being said, what an awful display. Even the second half was dire until about the 80th minute when they knew they'd won and started playing more fluid football. But let's back up a minute.. They didn't play good, flowing, one-touch football until we were 2-0 up. Most people will point to Eto'o failing again, but how many of you actually noticed how little he was able to do because no-one was trying to feed the ball to him? I've never seen Hazard play so poorly. He spent more time with his back to goal than trying to face the right way. If he was a giant and was strong enough to play like that, it wouldn't matter.. But with his back to goal he was rarely unable to turn and the ball ended up at the defenders' feet! Speaking of.. How much possession did Terry, Cahill & Cole have compared to Hazard, Schurrle & Oscar?! Perhaps Oscar had more, but compared with the other two Cahill and Terry looked more like no10's than anyone! This "style" is confusing and, quite frankly, counteractive of what we're actually supposed to be trying to do. I really hope this stage is going to die out soon, because these guys really need to start clicking a bit more.. 26 shots on goal, 10 on target, 2 goals. That return is just not good enough I'm afraid.

Hazard needs to be taken off. Frankly, he's been continuing his poor form and it's damaging right now because there's no penetration from him. I'd get either Willian or Kevin dB on for Hazard and get him to start playing getting direct.

This isn't even about Mata anymore. Players aren't doing the basics, I lost count of how many times Ramires was trying these long passes that just went to a Fulham player! They weren't even intercepted, they were simply landing at the Fulham's players' feet. And the wide players, oh my. Waiting for the ball to come to them?! This schoolboy football for god's sake, they're not running to to ball they're ball watching if anything. If this continues, Bent is going to get 2-3 goals today.

Oh my god. This is so boring, have these guys forgotten that you have to SCORE to win a football match?!

Yep, he's doing exactly what's expected (which is to run off the last defender). His adaptation is evident to see, so it's not like he's stagnating in performances. If Oscar can give him those crucial passes with a bit more frequency and success I have no doubt that Eto'o can put these away.

Makes sense, Fulham have big players in their defense today especially the 2 center-backs. Definitely agree, Cole's crossing has never been that great, but with the lack of support (to defend) ahead of him he's being exposed even further. Ivanovic is quite lucky he's got Schurrle ahead of him today, the German does his defensive duties.

Exactly. People can't get on Eto'o's case this bad and then use that to warrant Torres' inclusion..

No, that doesn't count

Also a lot of harsh reactions to Eto'o being included. Come on, he's still a better option than Torres &/or Ba, and I'm actually glad Mourinho's willing to give Eto'o this extended leash to get into gear. All this being said, there's only so far the striker can go without not scoring to repay this faith.

I still think, for the record, we'll beat Fulham lol. We haven't lost to them since the days of Harris! It's still a strong team, but we need this trio of Hazard, Oscar & Eto'o to click. Schurrle is a brilliant wide player regardless, so I'm not worried about that. Ramires has to concentrate today but Mourinho's given him a license to run with Mikel holding the central-midfield line.On that note, I'm glad to see Mikel in there

He must be aware to Ivanovic's struggles in our last few games. He hasn't even benched Ivanovic to make a case against him (as opposed to giving Azpilicueta a chance)..

But if he's concluding Mata can't be in the squad because of match performance, it's only logical that the same applies to Torres & Azpilicueta. Ivanovic, in matches, has been subpar and isn't as sharp as previous seasons. He can train "better" all he wants, but match performance should outweigh training in these cases.

Yea, I remember that. I mean on the surface it looks absurd to say he's got something against Spanish players. But the evidence...?

Well, Mourinho did just tell SkySports that Mata's performances in the last two matches weren't good enough..

Well, Lampard's on the bench lol

there seems to be something weird going on..

Sigh, what does Azpilicueta have to do to get a game? Forget about this Mata/Oscar debate, at least Oscar has a case for being ahead of Juan Mata.. But Ivanovic has been awful in our last few games, how can Azpilicueta be overlooked again?

Well why don't you get your ass outta retirement and fix it?

Well I assume that was the point of his tirade, not just to Nat but to all the youngsters coming through the ranks of England.