LDN Blue

Unbelievable.. http://soccernet.esp...or-L53m?cc=5739

And then Liverpool bought José Enrique & Sebastián Coatés. Arsenal have Kieran Gibbs, yes, but then they bought André Santos who's kept out Gibbs since then. Richards came through, yes, but because he's an extraordinary talent & City had no RB. He filled in & excelled there, took his opportunity. You're right about Cleverly & Welbeck, but remember they came through after their successful loan spells. Had they been inside the academy I don't think they'd have got the look in they wanted. That's where it comes to, loan spells. Sturridge (granted he's not an academy player) went on loan (after we groomed him in the reserve squad), impressed, and came back into our first squad! McEachran will go on loan, so we hope, and if he works hard and is utilised by the manager Villas-Boas will use him. Bertrand is unfortunate because Ashley Cole has been very, very, reliable in the last 3-4seasons. It's unfortunate he didn't get a CL place because in Genk, Cole could've been rested. But Villas-Boas told Bertrand, he wouldn't go out on loan again because he was Cole's understudy. Hence the contract extension in January. I share you're frustrations with lack of homegrown talent & academy talent, believe me. But I also do believe we're very close to giving a promotion to the likes of Bertrand & McEachran.

Blown out of proportion so badly this whole affair. It was even with racist intent, whatever was said. Stupid witch-hunt which has already ruined his reputation. Smfh.

True point. His composure and all somewhat compensate, but he really does need to bulk up. It's why Romeu is being played more often.

Great, now SkySports have picked up on it.

Yeah for sure, slip of the wrists there. Amended OP.

Oh yeah, good point actually. Wasn't specified. Agree with the latter

Will be ignored by all media, guaranteed. Such a shame..

Was on Twitter, apparently Chelsea then released a statement: http://twitter.com/#!/BluesChronicle/status/131492793100144640

You can't make the claim though. New country, new league.

Could say the same for ours too, but I think he doing well in figuring out the right balance. I liked the set up of Romeu, Meireles & Ramires. However I think he realised there was no 'playmaker', hence bringing on Lampard & Mata. They were good subs.

That's a shame. I've been St. Paul's before, it's a truly magnificent building.

Oh, I understand now. You're definitely right, isn't it a landmark or something anyway, so shouldn't they be entitled to funding?

Yeah, there was 2-3 where it was actually a good ball but no-one to convert. He played in Meireles, would've been a good goal. Yes, that's true. Anelka is a fast player, so it was slightly surprising he didn't expose it more. Sturridge used his pace with his first real attack and that should've led to a goal by Lampard.

Loss of Falcao wouldn't have helped either I suppose? -- Too right about the former part though lol

Racist Offensive chants were being said tonight by our fans. Doesn't really help JT's cause, nor does this.. http://www.dailymail...y-race-row.html

Malouda was slightly better, he used his experience to make some good runs. However it's a shame he couldn't make correct decisions about crossing..

For me, Walcott exposed Ashley's flaws. It's no secret he's on his way down, but no-one can say it was inevitable, he's 32. We need to start grooming Bertrand to take over, in January he must be added to our CL squad in place of Ferreira.

Meireles

I don't see his performance as that passionless. Certainly be comparison of the others. He was always looking to be on the ball and look to get into good chances. His assist for Ramires was very good, a perfectly weighted ball. It's not as if his contribution was any worse, on the contrary he was the most effective.

Haha yeah, it's really strange. What do you mean by the latter?

Guys, relax. From twitter: "Fernando Torres had an assist and created 5 chances for Chelsea. The rest of the team combined created 9. The criticism is a little harsh."

Understandable. However he was trying as usual, so can't write him off yet. He's got his instincts returning, it's like the commentator said "he's passing when he should be running & running when he should be passing". Hasn't been easy, with the domestic suspension and all. Keep the faith though, he's still coming back. He's been on worse form.

Haha very good idea. -- Anyway, Torres wasn't so bad. People are quite melodramatic. Decent game, Genk didn't roll over unlike at SB. Cech kept us in it as usual. Sturridge was effective when he came on & Genk deserved it. Time to move on..

Torres should've been taken off for Sturridge. Anelka could've flanked Sturridge.