Styles

Food for thought: He's a striker playing in central midfield.

Nasty stuff from Luiz but having seen some of the stuff teams get away with against our players with very little said I don't really give a shit. Terrible first half much better second.

I really don't understand why Ashley Cole wastes so much time and energy getting forward when he adds zero to the offensive side of the game.

Depressing football. Cahill is a very lucky man to still be on the pitch. That tackle after the whistle was a straight red. Need Hazard on.

What I will say is that loaning them KDB and buying Marin is up there as some of the worst business the club has ever done.

That's great and I look forward to seeing him in a Chelsea shirt. I think people are starting overrate KDB because of what he's doing in Germany against weak teams. What has he done against Dortmund, Bayern etc? I'm sure if we loaned Oscar to the Bundesliga he would be putting in great performances every weekend too.

Not true, I rate Oscar very highly.

Irrelevant. Oscar is the future of this club.

Oscar is better than KDB by a very, very long way. I find it amazing seeing all these formations for next season and there's no Oscar. Do people not realise how good he is?

If anybody is going to be the offensive midfielder in the 433 it's going to be Oscar. He is the most suited to being Lampard's replacement in the 433.

Benitez has indicated that if Terry plays a game he is unable to train in the days immediately after the game. Does that sound like somebody who is fit to you? Look at the games against Stoke away and Newcastle away does that look like somebody who is fit to play? He gave away a penalty at Stoke and was at fault for two goals in the other. I think the issue here is that he has been found out. He is so unfit and incapable of doing the basic movements (run, turn, lateral movement) required of a professional footballer that he is beginning to become surplus to requirements.

Any team that plays Barcelona sits deep and plays counter-attacking football. Even the games Mourinho has won against them have followed that template. Giving Mourinho credit for doing what most managers do makes little sense. In fact he got battered 5-0 the one time he tried to play a high-line against Barcelona and hasn't tried to push up against them ever since. But you have to acknowledge Phil Jackson was fortunate enough to coach 4 of arguably the top 10-15 players in NBA history in Jordan, Pippen, Shaq and Kobe. I'd bet on any competent coach leading teams led by those players to glory (maybe not 11 championships but not too far off). Talented coach but fortunate to have managed great players. My point is Mourinho is an excellent man manager (in doubt this season at Madrid) and motivator. Tactician? Not so much.

I know exactly what you're talking about. Oscar has tried it several times with Torres but it doesn't work because Torres is weak and poor technically. It worked against Sparta because Hazard is brilliant at playing with his back to goal and laying off the ball on the first touch. I think Demba can do that as well because he's strong and has a good touch with his back to goal. Hopefully him and Oscar can develop a good understanding. Good to see another Basketball fan too!

Oscar is on another planet.

The Premier League was a 4-4-2 league devoid of any real tactics. Any deviation from that would look out of the ordinary. His tactics weren't brilliant in Italy and they aren't in Spain. He wins because he manages good clubs with excellent players and is able to motivate them to perform to their maximum. He's a great manager but not the tactician that people build him up to be.

This idea that Mourinho is some tactical genius is laughable. Mourinho is more of a motivator than he is tactician.

He has been laughably bad since the minute he arrived, there's nothing new here.

I'm so sorry guys, Mata is the bestest player ever of all time. He has no faults. I apologise fully.

For those mentioning Ozil as a similar player you're wrong. Ozil is 6'0, quick and able to hold the ball up far better under pressure than Mata is. Sure they're both flair players but physically they're miles apart. Not so much the big games but the tight games that require a lot of energy, speed and power. When opponents press us he is one of quite a few players who become practically useless as he can't defend or hold the ball up. But don't get me wrong I like Mata and think technically he is a fantastic footballer. I don't want to think what position we'd be in without his goals and assists this season.

And John Terry has to realise you have to be able to run and turn if you want to play football. I'm sure he's going to be leaving in the summer of 2014 but wouldn't be surprised if it happens this summer instead.

But Mata is a naturally small guy. He could improve his core strength a little but he'd still be weak. That's my biggest issue with Mata, he loses the ball a lot under pressure because he doesn't have the strength to shield the ball or the quick burst of pace to wriggle out of trouble. When teams pressure us he becomes invisible and for that reason I;m almost certain Mourinho wouldn't trust him in the heat of the battle in the big, tight games when you have to earn the right to play first.

He isn't going to grow bigger or get any quicker. Don't get me wrong I like Mata a lot but with people so desperate for Mourinho to come back it's an important question to ask.

I don't think he'd toss him aside I just struggle to believe a player like Mata could ever be an integral member of a Mourinho team. Has he ever had a player like Mata before? I can't recall him having one at Porto, Chelsea, Inter or now Madrid. Maybe the closest was Deco at Porto but he was bigger and stronger than Mata and was deceptively quick, over the first few yards, in his prime.

I wonder what Mourinho would think of a player like Mata. I think he wouldn't be an admirer because of Mata is weak and slow. Quite often against the better opponents he goes missing because he struggles physically. I think about this because most supporters want Mourinho back.

Depressing football. I would sacrifice a lot of things to never have to endure the Ramires-Lampard partnership ever again. Marin was appallingly bad and Torres rubbish as usual. Mata was the epitome of a luxury player tonight. Did nothing defensively or going foward and was largely ineffectual as he's too weak and slow.