Adnane

This was posted in The Hiddink thread but I am bringing it here because I find it relevant to the Mourinho saga. If I understand right, the board were already giving up on the season, and only acted towards Mourinho when things got really, really bad, e.g. one point above relegation zone. Does that mean that had Mourinho stayed 14th or 13th for a few additional games, the board would be willing to give him the chance to end the season ? I would like to think so. This is really huge if true, the board were ready to give him as much time as he needed and were ready to tolerate a second half of the table finish I guess, but once things got really really messy, they had to act. And rightly so, look at the team in the last week, and that was coming after a really good Hiddink spell ( relatively ), just imagine if we were in March with the same methods, team selection and game plan, what could've happened ? We'll never know, and i've always defended Mourinho even when we were one point above relegation, but he is as guilty as the board and the players for this nightmare season, and since we can't sack everyone...

Great, the sooner the better.

Of course it was going to be Lukaku.

This is one of the worst refereeing performances of the season. Kenedy deserves a yellow and there has been at least 5 clear fouls not given for us.

Exactly. It's basically HIS hair reimplanted on top.

Those are implants, not fake hair.

Breaking from France : Verratti not even on the bench.

Is it just me or are more people from rival clubs supporting us today ? It looks like every Liverpool/Arsenal/United fan I know wants Chelsea to win this particular one.

Oh come on already, can we just get on with this game ? Can't take a day of waiting...

WTF ?! I was emphasizing that no matter how much luck we might have had in games like Everton for example, Guus still managed to break the record with a side that had lost 9 of 17 before he came. Which means that his record is really worthy of being recognized, beyond the few bonus meters we might have had in Terry's goal for example. I guess you're answering the wrong person.

Exactly, we'll give them their well deserved guard of honor and smash them 6-0 in the process, while resting Costa Hazard and Fabregas for the Champions League and Cup final

He had a couple of lucky draws, but he also did it with a side that had lost 9 in 17 before he came...

Betis have an option to extend his loan for an additional season and judging by how impressive he has been for them lately I doubt we'll see him in a blue shirt before 2017.

Yes manpe, I was thinking more about a U21 side as i stated in my first post. But the general idea isn't to know if our youngsters can play in the Premier League, it is more about detecting our best prospects, putting them in a fantasy XI and imagining how the would cope.

Good night =)

88% should be standard for our midfielders/wingers against inferior opposition like us. But you got a point, he did a good job tonight.

We often talk about giving our youngsters a chance, but i suggest we first take a moment and imagine what our best young XI would be. The aim is only to determine who are our best prospects, or at least the ones we as a community think that we should be counting on for the future. We do know that if our recent experience is to be trusted, there is little to none chances of seeing our academy products ( or young talents simply put ) flourish with us, but I think that RLC and Traoré recently are as close as a youngster has been to breaking through since John Terry, so that gives us little hope. So let's imagine this XI, where we would have enough talent and top level experience to compete in the Premier League for example, and aim for, let's say, a top 10 finish. I do follow the Chelsea youngsters here and abroad, but I don't really know every young talent in detail, so there are spots I have no idea about, but let's try and do it. I would imagine something like this ( Concerning age, i'm thinking about an U21 side ). XXX Aina-Christensen-Kalas-Rahman Chalobah-Aké Kenedy-RLC-Boga Traoré What do u think ? Enough to honorably compete in the Premier League ?

I don't think people realize how messed up this premier league season is. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/35692857?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_match_of_the_day&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=sport We are in a world where Leicester and Tottenham are playing mind games for the title.

I suggest we rotate 2-3 in this one, and 2-3 different ones against Stoke in order to have all our squad for PSG. We can avoid to lose a couple of points if that makes us ready for PSG, which is, let's face it, our biggest game of the season. Now what do u know, win the next 2 and might be not just in a Europa League spot contention, but in the actual top 4 race. Oh yeah and keep Baba, needs to restore confidence. ( Against Norwich ) Courtois Azpi-Cahill-Iva-Baba Fabregas-Matic Willian-Oscar-Hazard Costa ( Against Stoke ) Courtois Azpi-Cahill-Iva-Baba Mikel-Matic Pedro-Oscar-Kenedy Traoré

5-0 Chelsea, send a signal to all the league, we're here to win it Seriously, will be good to keep the positive momentum and our unbeaten run in the league, but I'd rather see us go at them the whole game and unfortnuately risk to lose 1-0 than play cautiously and get a frustrating 0-0 at the end of the game.

Why are people talking about his performances in the Bundesliga and against U19s when he single handedly humiliated the whole Real Madrid defence at the Bernabeu last year ?

I never implied it was 100% on Guus. We will never know if it is Mourinho's departure, the player taking their responsibilities, Guus' choices or a simple continuity to the progress we had been already showing under José, though I think it is a combination of everything. But you can't help but wonder, what would've happened if Mourinho had made a few choices in the start of the season, like bringing in Mikel to the team ? Using natural Fullbacks ? Calming things down in pre-match pressers ? We surely would've done better right ? Well, that's what Guus is doing =)

Worst case scenario is fit by March 1st, without Champions League and FA Cup qualification we will still have 2 months and a half of football worth at the very least 12 games.

Imagine having prime Hazard and Willian together...

Well, just sw this : Progressed two rounds in the Cup, and has a slight disadvantage midway through the Champions League last 8 but a home game to play. Fair to say Uncle Guus has done a pretty good job again, didn't do miracles, nobody was expecting him too, but did steady the ship, and I don't know about you, but 3rd, 2nd best attack, 4 away clean sheets in the last 10 matchs and the longest unbeaten active streak ( longest of the season for all teams actually ) is really good if you ask me, means basically that bar Southampton and Tottenham, we have done at least as good or better as the rest of the league.