Madmax

Why Malouda has to be dropped? Because he's a twat. I'm not ashamed to say that he's the first Chelsea player I've actually hated. (And that's got to do with his mentality, not form, before someone jumps at me with the 'you're a fickle fan' line )

To say that our squad is full of world class players is gross overestimation. Except Cech and maybe Ivanovic I doubt any of our players would get into a world XI. On pitch play is a problem obviously but I think most of us are ignoring he fact that there are huge problems in our mentality / psychological condition. The players are too timid. They're not really focused and there seems to be no resilience or desire to take the game to the opponent. We've essentially turned into flat track bullies - awesome when the situations are to our liking but awful when people get in our faces and don't allow us to play the way we want. It's a shocking change and something very uncharacteristic of the Chelsea I knew over the years.

For the umpteenth time - we need creators not finishers.

Essien's athleticism is on the wane. The number of times he's been slow to react to situations is worrying. He gets caught in possession, mistimes tackles and can't pick a pass. Lampard is a problem too but I'd keep him in the side simply because there's no better option available. It's a sad state of affairs really. Lampard can be assigned a pure attacking role in a 433 courtesy of having the machine like Ramires alongside and Mikel to sweep any loose balls behind him.

Our 442 is ineffective. It's not conducive to a centre midfield pairing of Lampard-Essien. Switch to 443 with Zhirkov and Anelka on the wing and keep Essien out of midfield. Cech Ivan Luiz Terry Cole Mikel Ramires Lampard Anelka Torres/Drogba Zhirkov

Wouldn't believe it unless it's on TOCFCW

The contract is for 5.5 years, not 5.5 months. Keep the faith.

Is that so? Fuck me. Sell him off anyway.

He's shit and he has been for a while. Can't defend for love or money. Useless. And there's a pattern in the results Tomo posted, but he is not the sole reason for our defeat yesterday or our bad times this season. I'm glad he's off in the summer.

Much delayed post match rant (I've been in a horrible mood ever since the game) : We were awful, absolutely dreadful. I've just sat through our worst home performance of the season. Yes it was even worse than Sunderland because when you consider the occasion and the opposition, you expect your team to be up for it and they weren't. And I can't understand why.I'm not going to sit here and pretend that the penalty would have made a difference, because it wouldn't have. Of course it was a blatant penalty but it's too easy to blame the result on it. And the people who are doing so can't face the fact that we were utter shite. Fact is, we didn't deserve to get a good result yesterday.Also the talk about us trying to play football while they defend is utter bollocks. We looked unable to cope when United were on the attack and I lost count of the number of times I was flinching and gasping when the ball was around our box. Total mayhem.Chances don't matter, taking them does. Isn't this what we say everytime we beat Arsenal? Why the fuck are people complaining about United's 'only real chance' that went in? They took theirs and we didn't. End of.There was no purpose to our play. Misplaced passes, mistimed runs, overrunning balls...the whole gamut. It was so distorted it was fucking embarrassing to watch.How many poor games is Essien allowed to have? Bloody hell he's become such an inconsequential player it's unbelievable. Oh and Bosingwa shouldn't play a game for us again. I'd prefer Paulo over him. I'm glad he's off in the summer.Barring Essien and Drogba, I thought Carlo got the starting eleven right, though it's not as if he had real different options available. But seriously what's with the substitutions? Mikel for Bosingwa? Throwing that twat Malouda on? Bonkers.It's obvious there's unrest in the dressing room. The French contingent doesn't like Torres' arrival. Drogba didn't pass once to him the entire game, thoiugh admittedly Torres was poor as well. We were playing like two separate teams out there.After HT I thought we'd be up for it-show more passion, bravery, menace, aggression, chase down balls, press them quickly, improve the tempo etc. But it didn't happen. Either these players don't want to play for Carlo or they're putting themselves above the team. Especially Malouda, Drogba. They know it's easier to sack one guy than sack eleven and they're working towards it. I'm ashamed really.I fear for Carlo's job if he can't turn it around in the second leg. That's not to say that I'd agree with it.Having said all that, this is far from over. An early goal at OT and we'll be in business. But things have to improve dramatically, both from the manager and from the players. You can expect a dressing room visit from Roman during the next few days. Out-played. Out-fought. Out-thought. Disgusting.

Won't be around during the match, so COME ON YOU MIGHTY BLUES! :cfc:

@spuz : Nevermind.

Again, read the post. Thank you.

lmao

Sturridge isn't an academy product, so won't be talking about that. And imo Josh has been handled very well indeed without placing too much pressure on him. Kakuta, Bruma and PvA haven't got anywhere near enough time I agree, but then maybe it's down to the coaching staff seeing stuff in training that you and I don't. Bear in mind Kakuta so far has done nothing (in Chelsea colours, before someone jumps at me with the euro u19 star thing) to justify the hype that has surrounded him for the best part of 2 seasons now. I'm not a blind Carlo apologist, I've criticised him in the past when I feel he could have done better. You'd know if you've read most of my posts. If it's 'mainly' the club, then Carlo can't be 'just as bad'. Elementary proportion.

How many academy grads did Mourinho bring through? Or Ranieri? Exactly. Stop blaming Carlo for everything.

Glad someone agrees with me -

Nothing's gone wrong. They will make it here.

Ivan as RB > Ivan as CB.

I don't often agree with him () but tx is right here.

Warning : thread derailed.

Agreed. 6 years is a long time and I can understand him when he says he wanted a new challenge. I'm amazed by the quality the guy still has. Easily one of the top 3 European defenders of the decade.

Most defenders peak after 30 though mind.

Even at 33, he's too big for MLS.