lionsden

Cahill is a major reason we struggle to control games better because he dwells on the ball, panics and then hoofs it virtually everytime. i cannot stand his game.

Is this Ramires best game this season? I think so.

Wow unlucky ramires

Get remy on for costa please

Who was marking sakho there. He was left completely free

Thibo just saved costa from the criticism of the chance he screwed up for now

Costa has to do much better there. You have to take chances like that especially away from home

Oscar is playing well so far

Wtf was that from costa

The goal is similar to the one against city at the etihad

Beautifully worked goal

That was poor from jt. Luizesq

We have started really well

I don't understand how selling, a player that has passed every test thrown at him, a natural born goalscorer and homegrown, benefits us. Some maybe getting carried away with our recent activities in the transfer market. We don't always have to sell every bright, talented youngsters.

Clubs sign average and overrated players all the time. Especially those with decent reputation and body of work i.e "brazilian no 10 and 2nd best player for the national team" as he's been marketed. Clubs will also point to the amount of games he's played for us over 3 years I.e "he must be the second coming of zico to have played and started that many matches for a big club like chelsea" which couldn't be more further from realityThere will also be some clubs who will blame his inconsistency and poor performances on the club, the manager, the formation, the stock market etc and will believe they can make him fulfill whatever perceived potential they feel he's got.

And what would that prove? The only way the last two pages backfires is if his consistency and overall performance over the course of 90 mins of games i,e first touch, passing,decision making etc improves dramatically. That's what will need to happen in other for him to be considered good enough to be a regular starter for a club like ours. If he scores in the next coming games, we will still need an upgrade in the summer so it changes nothing

Coutinho has always being far more talented than Oscar that it's not even debatable. Coutinho is a superior dribbler, passer, better vision,superior first touch, more intelligent. As a matter of fact, the only aspect of the game where Coutinho and Oscar should ever be mentioned in the same sentence is defensive contribution and finishing because the former is well ahead in every other department by a huge margin. If coutinho keeps his consistency up, the comparison will look even more foolish than it currently is. It's like comparing Pjanic to Guarin even though the colombian actually has better goals and assist stats overall this season but you only need to watch them play to know who's better and more consistent.

Yet there's no evidence that another style (a more balanced style) wouldn't work or be as effective with the type of players we have. We have the quality to win big games without going the ultra defensive route. and no one is advocating a gungho style neither but to attack and defend sensibly rather than full on defensive. So players like hazard and Fabregas, who aren't suited to that style of play, have to adapt but the manager shouldn't try to be more tactically flexible to get the best out of them?

And I get that but the issue is most posters are suggesting his ultra defensive football is our best and only chance of winning against big teams. this might be the case for the smaller teams operating on limited budget but not a top team that aspires to join the very elite in Europe. We shouldn't be approaching every game against top 6 teams domestically and in Europe with the same set up and mentality as a team like Leicester city for example. This approach is not too bad every now and then when it's actually necessary but not literally every time. He's not using the squad to its full potential and capacity imo. Zlatan said it best, to paraphrase him,when you buy.have a ferrari, you don't drive it like a fiat. the more balance approach will be to allow the attacking players attack and the defensive players to defend and depending on the situation, roles can be reversed or mixed.

Why is it that every other top teams in Europe with comparable transfer budget to ours are able to balance success with attacking style of play in big games but it's apparently an impossible mission for us to achieve. What's the point of buying and having array of technically sound players if we intend to continue parking the bus. Football is just as much about success as it is about entertainment. ultra defensive football is tolerable when we win like on Sunday but looks beyond ridiculous when we lose like against Atletico last season. There's absolutely no empirical evidence that disproves the link between quality/attacking football and success. The idea that our chances of winning a big game is weaker with attacking football is a myth invented by those who support everything jose does blindly. If this is how we want to approach every big game moving forward then we should just replace the likes of fabregas,hazard et al with highly mechanical and efficient players who are more suited to a defensive style. Haven't said that, in reality, we weren't ultra defensive on sunday especially after JT's goal, we counter attacked spurs at every opportunity and it being a final makes it more justifiable but the problem is this is how we always approach every big or semi big game under jose. There has to be a balance.

Maybe, just maybe it has something to do with his consistency and importance to the team?. Why aren't the likes of Hazard,matic,JT et al going through the same predicament. The reality is Oscar is nothing more than a squad player at this point and rightly so. We can't be giving out handouts to perennial underperformers. Every player should earn their place in the team and Oscar hasn't done enough to earn a regular starting berth. And God knows he's had ridiculous amount of chances over the last 3 years to cement his place as an indisputable starter.

Ramires has done far more for Chelsea than Oscar ever as. the disrespect of the former is quite shameful. He was the players player of the year in 2012 and many thought should have won the chelsea POTY that year instead of Mata. he was also quite instrumental in our CL win and has performed consistently well for us bar his first couple of months here and 2nd part of last season. He has proven to be a much more reliable and valuable asset for the team than Oscar. If it came down to it, there's no logical reason to keep oscar at the expense of ramires. in layman's term I will sell Oscar before i ever consider selling ramires.

He was part of the cringe worthy "three amigos" "mazacar" so you are definitely right.

Very shaky and clueless in the first half, understandable given he was playing completely out of position, but grew into the game in the 2nd half. Before this season I use to genuinely rate kalas and omeruo as better players but he's changed my mind

He will be an amazing fit for any top club period. It makes sense given city's status as perennial underperformers in europe. He has the right credentials but it will be a shame if he joins a rival team in england as he's my favourite manager, personality and character wise and would I.e be weird rooting against him.