GodZola

It is exactly the same with Mikel's staunch supporters - they defend the indefensible, so it works both ways......

Welcome to the modern era of supporting Chelsea Barbara, top post by the way. Unfortunately there are too many fans nowadays that simply do not see the bigger picture, they have been largely spoilt in the Roman era & one knock back they are out sharpening their knives! Jose didn't have to explain himself to anyone but has come out with an intellectual insight into where we are heading & in there he is also protecting his players which should be enough for the detractors...........The fact is he wants the flair players to work harder 'off the ball' not just Mata, he is slowly introducing a different style which I already said will take time, there will be some 'blips' along the way & fans will have to get used too & deal with it but once everybody has bought into Jose's philosophy then I'm 100% convinced that we will see the fruits to his labour in about a year/18 months time. Fans doubting should just look at our bench now as an example as opposed to the previous 3/4 seasons and actually beyond that - its a pleasure to look at it now with mixture of experience & youth full of talent. I wouldn't get too down about some of the comments you will get used to it after a while & learn to ignore the majority of it, keep smiling! :-)

Ramires & Mikel were both fortunate that Bent didn't take his chance otherwise both would of been slated & the end result could of been different, however no more than a workmanlike performance. Congrats to Mikel for finally hitting the onion bag, scored at the right time, took the pressure off at exactly the right time.

Movement is pivotal to whichever player has the ball, whether that is infront, behind or horizontally and thats why I touched on that when concurring with members before about the lack of quality that Mikel had around although I wasnt entirely convinced and made my point that we both agree that he is too slow in his distribution. For me and many will disagree I much prefer Luiz to be played in this position (just my opinion peeps and not for discussion in this thread) because he has vision, he can see that decisive pass, has 2 great feet, sure sometimes he is over zealous with his distribution but he tries - this is something that most believe Mikel has in his locker but for some reason or another doesn't let it out of the closet? If he has the talent then he must be encouraged to use it or take the bull by the horns and take responsibility which unfortunately he rarely shows. Fact is we both agree we now have the personnel for Mikel to finally show us that he has the tools to perform, the experience, a world class manager that has today spoken about the need to change our style, all this will benefit Obi but by the same token he has to produce, there are no longer any hiding places. Think we all know its make or break time for him this season - mikel too, that should be enough to inspire him to the performances we expect at this club now, I await with interest what he brings to the table this season?

Just 2 games ago the world and his brother were creaming over our superb performance against the EC who happen to be a top class side and worthy Champion's league winners, we created numerous chances against them and payed the penalty - no pun intended! We should of thumped Everton and had the game in the bag by the time Basel got involved so its not hard to pin point our current problem, yet the ignorance and impatience currently shown by some fans have left me shell (sorry!) shocked. The annoying thing is, its not just jonny-come-latelys either that are bashing jose already, I heard a few on the radio last night wanting jose out?!! Ffs after just a couple of defeats (which we should of won) fickle fans that have supported the club through years of shit are saying this, unfucking-believable. I hope these so called fans fuckoff and find another club to whine about. Do I think jose is making mistakes? Yep, I sure do. Do I think he will get it right? Absolutely, think it will take longer than most are expecting - this is a very young side with huge potential that along the way we will have to replace some legends (yet to replace Drogba) but once this team hits the high notes we can dominate again, one good win and the fickle fans will be changing their tune. Let's give the man time to build a dynasty, judge him at the end of the season not after 2 defeats ffs, my belief it will be some time next season when this team will gel but I hope I'm wrong off course.

A couple of things.... Long before Kojo and the like got involved I stood virtually alone about Mikel's flaws as the majority of this forum were pro Mikel, its obviously changed now but my point is back then when I gave a logical respectful argument regarding his weaknesses members kept coming back with stats about his pass completion etc, so I find it a little nauseating to say the least that the pro Mikel camp are now refusing to accept stats - don't get me wrong stats are misleading but you simply cannot have it both ways? In my discussions I pointed out that Mikel was simply too slow in everything he does - speed of thought, pace, awareness, ball distribution, this is why he would never make a top class DM, Makelele 99.9% of the time was in the right place at the right time, winning possesion then his ball distribution was swift to start our attacks, it was then argued that Mikel didn't have the quality infront of him that Makelele had at his disposal - a little ott but fair'ish comment, now my second point would be that we now have an abundance of quality players in attacking positions that he can get his teeth into, taking his defensive duties to one side all I ask is that he starts finding these creative players with quick ball movement on a consistent basis, now do all the pro Mikel supporters believe he can do that?

The only disappointing thing for me was we should of won the game in normal time, we had all the chances but didn't stick them away, Bayern had plenty of possession but created next to nothing. I said after the Utd game people just need to be patient cus we will get better & better as the season progresses & this performance against the EC that dicked Barca 7 nil bodes well for the rest of the season, you can only look to it as a massive positive despite the cruel way we lost. Some fantastic performances & to think we have some top quality players to come in that have yet to play........ Nothing but admiration for team and strangely enough this defeat will make them stronger for it. Detractors need to bury their heads in the sand and come back in May when the trophies are handed out!

Defensively Oscar has the superiority over Mata, I cannot question that, he has a good engine and will get 'stuck in' also will improve after a years experience in the prem but my belief is he needs to improve ball retention - he losses possession too often for my liking and shoots when he could pass to other players in better positions, this is the area where i feel jose can up Oscar's game to another level, thankfully jose is playing him centrally as opposed to stuck out on the wing - thank you Mr Benetiz! Offensively he is not a patch on Mata, in every way shape or form bar physique, Mata is clearly streets ahead of anyone at the club as a playmaker or N10 or whatever position they call it nowadays, so I totally disagree with your comment on the ball but concur off it. We may see Mata benched for games like City as for reasons you've stated but I still expect to see him to play the majority of our important games this season, there is still a possibility that he may well be sold so renders my post useless, however I just cannot see a manager of Jose's calibre selling arguably our best player. The good news is we are rich in the midfield attacking area's and our bench looks so much stronger now, we can look to it with some confidence which cant be said for sometime.

Would like to say that I'm surprised at the pessimism regarding last night's selection/performance but I've seen it all before, most of those posts have been defended vehemently so not going to waste my time but will just add some logic. First of all I can understand some frustration as we all know we can play much better and criticism is fair when it is justified, however Imho some members are being far too impatient in condemning the selection and performance, we simply could not go to OT gung ho and get carved open with the most lethal finisher in the league possibly in Europe ready to be supplied, our team is in its infancy and finding its feet, I have no doubt as the season progresses we will get better and better and by the time we face Utd again we will see a different Chelsea, by then the team will be in its stride finding its rhythm and jose will start to let the brakes off a little, then and only then will I understand some criticism. Now as for the flack Frank's been getting, his role was to play as a DM to provide a shield to stop the supply to Rooney amongst other responsibility's which for the large part I thought he done admirably, his passing could be better but then he wasn't alone, let's not get confused with his role as an AM. Neither side wanted to lose and a game that was ruled by defences, going into the season I was more worried about central defence than a striker that is obviously paramount but that performance fills me with some confidence which is a positive to take away from last night. Patience people please........

Mikel will always divide opinions on here, why I rarely post on this thread, from where I'm from & when I chat to fellow supporters at the Bridge rarely any of those fans rate him as what I would perceive as a top level performer. This is the problem with many members in here who offer excuses for his below par performances, like he needs a quality player around him or he is played in the wrong position or now its Chelsea's fault! Ffs get real people, top quality players don't need excuses they shine through consistent performances week in/week out, something Makelele & Essien (pre injury) had in abundance.......... Now I stated before last season started that if Mikel plays regularly we won't win the league & I still feel the same way, however I have also stated that I will trust Jose judgement & if he selects him as first choice I am happy to be proved wrong, my gut feeling is that Mikel will be sold. I think he is prob better than what I have described in the past but unfortunately he is no where near the player we need to dominate again, hence my feeling that he will leave.

All the discussion is already in the Courtois data base as the debate has been going on in there for the best part of a year where Zolayes and I have remained steadfast about the situation, not sure why this thread wasn't/hasn't been amalgamated? Anyway I'm not going to go over all the old ground but I will just add that Jose has been successful in his career because he hasn't allowed sentiment into his thought process when making tough decisions - this one will be no different. If this is not managed properly then we could see Courtois leaving on a free probably to Barca in a couple of years, let's hope the club tie him down for the long haul first and let Jose handle the rest.

Ummmm, I think a phone call from the special one could be very persuasive! :-)

Wouldn't mind either or..............both!

My belief that he is certainly up there with the best in the world, would be 'loving it' if Jose made him one of our signings this summer.

Yeah even JT stated Luiz is captain material elect, perhaps the press are currently bored shitless or it's the work of some agent doing their best to put the feelers out to test the clubs resolve? Even if it is 35m, how do we replace a player of his ability that is so versatile you could play him anywhere and he would still perform admirably? Totally different player to the JT's and Vidic's of this world, prob wont ever be the defenders they were but he has more in his locker thats for sure - wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see Jose elevate Luiz to captain next season when JT and lamps are unavailable and to keep him in midfield.Thanks for the heads up on the spelling - nicely put! Infact and I cant remember their names but I was so impressed with Juve's defence I would be happy for us to sign a couple of their players - strength in depth, build from the back and all that.......

Couldn't agree more, not just on this post but on all your recent ones regarding luiz. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to sell luiz? It is each to their own but to win titles you have to have consistency which we have lacked in the past 3 seasons, luiz has had this in his game this season & how many others in the squad can we say performed with his level of performance & in 2 different positions?! The guy has Chelsea blood running through his veins, this alone should be a reason to keep him - he will give you that extra 10, 20% that is needed when the chips are down. What we need to do is buy another quality CB & my choice would be Cheillini (sp?) A no nonsense defender who also possesses quality. I just dont see Jose dismantling a good squad that have been successful in recent seasons, they have grown together & built up a camaraderie amongst each other, he just has to add 3 quality players & improve things here & there to get that all important 'consistency' in our game to challenge for the titlea again. I will be gobsmacked if luiz is sold!

Before I comment on your post, please explain what you are trying to say?

Thanks, I didn't know that. Do you or anybody else know if he is 'ready' to be Cech's understudy? I've not seen enough of the lad to form an opinion unfortunately.

Just like many other threads, opinions get digested & then spat out & eaten again. Anyway, I have never bought into this notion that Courtois is year(s) away from replacing Cech, imho he is ready now but it is a very difficult situation as big Pete ain't ready to give up that No 1 jersey just yet, full credit to him for keeping his form. As I've said before, the best case scenario would be for us to tie Courtois down to another lengthy contract thus this ensures we keep his services for the long haul, he then gets useful experience in the CL & then WC - he would be eternally grateful to the club for that. We then bring him back in a year. However this can only happen if we acquire a quality back up for Cech, we need to sustain a title challenge next season & that won't happen if big Pete gets injured for periods & we don't have the quality to replace those sabbaticals, we, though do have that option if the club decide to bring back Courtois. As another member stated about Franks new deal - 'I will trust Jose's judgement' & leave it there. Going to be an interesting summer that's for sure!

Must of been him that damaged the FA cup - he's used to letting things slip! Yeah talk about things that come back to bite you on the arse!! Then he steps up like he won the trophy himself, more neck than a fucking giraffe.

Mark my words this will be a stepping stone for future years, the young players like Hazard & Oscar are just beginning their Chelsea journey & tonight will be in their hearts, Jose will drill this home soon enough - can't wait for next season.

I went ballistic when I saw him grabbing the trophy along with JT & lamps, made me cringe, just reminded me of last year with Bosingwa & Kalou - let's hope he follows the same path..............

Yeah let's all be over critical about his performance tonight - why don't ya?! The fact is he ran his bollocks off for 95 minutes, some of you need to play 'devils advocate' & give him the credit he deserves. Yeah it maybe too little too late but he delivered, let's have some fair play ffs!

How any of you can not put Torres as the motm is absolutely & categorically beyond me, he never had a prayer with the formation we played, yet he worked his absolute nuts off for 95 minutes. As with Benitez let's give credit when & where its due, he has taken so much stick from most on here including me at times so come on people let's all eat some 'humble pie' for Fernando!

Give the guy a break, I didn't agree with his team selection, tactics or lack of substitutions tonight but we again brought home the bacon. Not going over board with credit - you only have to look at the FA cup semi final (amongst other games) for a different opinion but I say this, I hope the fans give Benitez a good send off on Sunday, Jose is imminent so I hope the fans can give the man s little respect and at least applaud him in his final home game - let's show our class as individuals & wish him well in his next role.