LDN Blue

Wow, when this forum turns.. it really doesn't hold back . Yeah Cahill's culpable today and yeah he's not as good as everyone thought he was when put on his pedestal. It's not his fault that he's limited in terms of ability, lets not forget he's still good. You can still call on him to do his job professionally and most times he will do it without making these sorts of mistakes. As this squad evolves, we'll see that the combination of Terry-Cahill isn't the right sort of set up for what Mourinho's trying to achieve. Good with the dirty stuff, not so good at kick starting the play - kind of the opposite end of the spectrum to David Luiz. I don't know if Zouma fits the profile, but he's clearly our third choice centre back (as seen recently) & he'll keep getting his chance either alongside Terry or Cahill. We probably will sign a CB in July-August 2015 though.

You could argue that it's also because its our first defeat he's going easy. Privately he's probably not happy but it's not so bad that he's going to send a message in public yet.

Arsenal can take their invincibles and shove them where the sun doesn't shine

Hahahahaha fuck off Arsenal you wankers!!! Bojan is a shrewd signing for Stoke, have to applaud whoever brokered that.

Yeah that's true. But like you said, he is intelligent so I kind of expect that he could do better off the ball, especially cos of were he plays? I mean it's okay when he partners Matic because the Serbian does enough that he can cover Fab's defensive duties. But perhaps it's worth having Ramires in when Mikel has to replace Matic, so we have a central 3.

I was thinking as such. -- I want to see that Costa-Drogba combination again. I know our base formation requires 2 cms and 3 ams, but I think today was a great insight into the Drogba knock down for Costa to score.. They can do it for each other too because Costa is quite strong.

Wouldn't say poor, I'd say it's now more noticeable that he's more of a 'pure' number 9 than anything. His defensive burden isn't as huge as other players so you'll often think he's disappeared, traits we ignored because when we could feed the ball to him it didn't matter. Now route 1 (fabregas to costa) has been figured out by opposing players so there needs to be a tweak in the utilisation of Costa.. Which I have no doubt Mourinho will figure out. I loved the link up play Drogba and Costa were developing and I don't think that's without Mourinho's tactics & training.

Today really showed me something about Fabregas. His off-the-ball positioning is almost woeful! Don't get me wrong, I love what he brings to us and I'm not saying he shouldn't play or anything like that, so I'm not being ungrateful to his contributions. But today, alongside Mikel, he showed the one weakness in his ability to play in that position ahead of defenders.. He's seldom in the right position to break up the play or sometimes even make space for himself.

They're different players too, on top of what Skipper said. Mikel did well today, he was actually more positive in his nature then we're used to. He was actually trying to make strides forward rather than rest on his laurels (though that was more out of necessity than anything else). We know Mikel's limited ability, but he's not more liable than others for this loss.

It's so frustrating. Guys like Mikel and Ivanovic attempting long-range shots when they're simply not capable! Yes there's such a thing as 'overplaying', when when we have Hazard, Costa & Fabregas on the pitch there's no need for Ivanovic to try and be a hero like that.

Though I don't agree with the op, saying "we are first" doesn't give the full picture. If we were first by 9 points and within a week we are down to 3 points, that does show a downfall (not that I'm saying this has occurred). There's obviously an evident element of fatigue creeping into the team, which is understandable. We started the season all guns blazing and some of these guys are used to the infamous "winter break." It's not a crisis at the moment, albeit.

Constant rotation isn't the answer, it can unsettle a team at times. You ask for Zouma and Luis when prior to this match our defence was almost 'untouchable' (though I do not like that word). Salah isn't the player that we need at the moment and he plays the league cup games, so there is rotation..

I don't care that our unbeaten streak is over, who cares about that. I'm unhappy because we lost, period. That game was there for the taking when Taylor got sent off, I fail to understand why so many players were attempting long shots when the formula was clear. Into Drogba to tap it down. That was actually working.

Regarding this..?

Fair enough, at least there's some recognition that there are many people who feel negatively (even those that go to the Bridge.. I remember one hero member making SB to be like an Ultra stadium)

Gotta love how Liverpool fans sometimes try to remind us of Terry slipping.. Yet he eventually got his CL medal & PL medals

But we shouldn't dare speak against the Chelsea Pitch Owners..

Not even that. Rumours are flying around that Perez won't sanction big money signings on defenders, he only wants attacking players. Ancelotti will need Varane more than ever.

You answered that point yourself. They don't come close, that's why they're not significant enough to care about (with the greatest respects to them).. They never had the admiration Chelsea fans have for Lampard. He knew that as well, prior to leaving he acknowledged that admiration, that's why he said he wouldn't play for another Premier League club again[1]. He knew that his name would be held in legendary breath alongside Cech, Drogba & Terry and still decided to go back on his word. If classy means saying one thing and going back on that, to your own fans, well then.. [1]http://talksport.com/sports-news/football/premier-league/130520/exclusive-frank-lampard-reveals-he-would-never-leave-chelsea-premier-lea-1979

But do you find that justified or just a case of 'favourite of the month'?

That makes him international calibre? I don't follow..

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11662/9589267/nemanja-matic-interview-chelsea-midfielder-discusses-jose-mourinho-cesc-fabregas-and-his-own-role-in-the-team

I don't deny that, he is a player that benefits from where he is & what he does.. However that doesn't mean he's international cap calibre.

I'd say what would remain is those papers backtracking on what they discussed regarding us not offering him a contract etc. Hopefully they will say we've demonstrated that the squad has evolved and continues to do so from the 'old guard'

Their brand name is, yes. http://interbrand.com/en/newsroom/15/interbrands-th-annual-best-global-brands-report