Blue Armour

We could really try to use the next 2 fixtures to our advantage: First this semi-final against them, and then there's the PL game when we face Southampton at home on Tue, before Spurs play Crystal Palace away on Wednesday. Let's see how they like playing a fixture one day after we do.

Seesh....they should really ban these kinds of activities. They make such a big fuss about players going on two-wheelers, and skiing on holiday...and then they go and schedule side activities like these during crunch time.

Sounds to me more like he's a bit rankled by the fact that this defeat was because of Mourinho more than anything...the way he keeps referring to the 'last season'. Didn't look like how he normally does on the touchline barking instructions. Both him and the squad need to forget about this game and get back into focus. Hope the upcoming FA cup semi final can do that

If Bats can't come on ahead of RLC in a game, then I doubt he's going to start anytime soon

No. We are still the better team and the table doesn't lie. If we were having that unbeaten run, that we had in fall 2016, right now instead of back then, I'm sure you would agree as well. This game was always a banana skin, the way it has been shaping up for months. United have been unbeaten in 21 games in the league, and also gave us a tough time in the FA cup in the last encounter...what were the odds that we would be the ones to break their unbeaten streak? IMO, 1 point was realistically what we could have got today at most. We have just 2 away games remaining, toughest being the trip to Everton. Even if we wrote that one off, we would still be in front. And not to mention the games that Spurs have to play against United, Leicester (away) and Arsenal. I had a feeling that this could be a repeat of our 2-0 disposal of Liverpool at Anfield. Mourinho sets his teams up to play strong in games like these when they have backs to the wall. It was almost set in stone with those freak injuries to Alonso and Courtois The opportunity we have right now is the FA cup semi-final against our title challengers. The result of that game could well affect of the moods of the two teams when they resume the rest of the PL campaign. We are still in the driving seat, and I hope that Conte, Holland and JT can drive that point into the heads of our players.

Haha, if you watch the complete video online, the camera shows Willian in the background having a laugh.

Haha, yeah he doesn't seem to have a big enough 'leap' in him. Just about wins headers with his sheer height alone. I've come to accept that watching other 'big' players...another candidate who is average in the air for his size, is Lukaku. Also, after watching Drogba and JT for so many years, a lot of players look pretty average when it comes to headers these days

Getting ready to perform his party piece again for the end of the season it looks like.. 14th PL goal for the season.

^^^ His goal record against the top teams speaks for itself. Heck if you want to inflate it, you could even include the goal against Bayern in the European super cup, and the goals scored in the friendlies against Barca and Real. For me, today was almost a captain like performance. Leading by example through performance, rather. The way he kept pressing for the ball in the first half even after the equalizer showed how much he wanted to keep the tempo of the game going. His post-match interviews are also top notch, including how he spoke about the Courtois mistake. Has the most MOTM awards as well for our team, right? That there says a lot..

Kante himself thinks Hazard has been the difference maker....Its not just him in the team either, Pedro has also made the same comment. Players are those who usually make more rational judgments in this regard. I would say Kante has been an excellent supporting act. Probably the best in the business.

Its 90% likely to be fake. Other websites that report on these, such as footyheadlines.com claim as such. Plus, the more obvious reason for it to be fake is that the 3 kits don't match the color scheme that was 'officially' leaked. I'm leaning towards the leaks from 'breatheChelsea.com' for being the real thing

The goal scoring records are one thing, but I still wonder how he would fit in our system. I agree that he would have uses for our squad, especially if we're playing on the counter, because of his tendency to wait on the shoulder of the last defender and his tremendous speed when he moves into space. His link up play has also improved But week in week out? Most of the teams that we play at the bridge don't like to give us space. They pile up their defenders around the box, and harass our attackers. Now that we're at the fag end of our season, that's the only thing opposition teams seem to be doing. Can Lukaku tolerate the kind of abuse Costa received at the hands of Shawcross and Martins Indi, and still be a threat? (Granted he would not lose his head like Costa, but I'm not so sure about him winning the physical battle). I can't see him being the main man, or a constant member of the starting 11 because of this. Would he be content being second fiddle? We know how that turned out last time. As has been the case for the good number of years from the last decade, Chelsea have always thrived on two things: A good defensive midfielder and a good target man up front like Drogba. In my opinion, Diego Costa and Batshuayi are better when it comes to the latter.

I think Hazard has a bigger connection with Chelsea than most fans realize.., and I think its mostly because of his connection with the last generation of Chelsea players, and appreciation for what they've accomplished here. Joe Cole and Didier Drogba were a big influence on his decision to come here (not discounting our win in the CL the year that he joined). He also looks to get along well with Frank Lampard and JT. When you listen to recent interviews with Lampard and Joe Cole, I think they definitely see him with having great potential to carry their mantle forward for the next generation of Chelsea players.

The game might still be too soon for Zouma...I think he's had some trouble dealing with aerial challenges in the few cup competition games he's played in, even though that's one of his biggest strengths when fully fit. Realistically I think Zouma will 'return' only next season after proper conditioning.

Well said. Echoes a lot of my sentiments really.

Really important save. I would have fancied United to shut up shop if they had equalized

Little N'golo

Even if it was largely due to Hazard's outrageous bit of skill, not many players would have had the presence of mind or the ability to pull off that on-touch finish like Costa did. Its because of things like this, that I think he's entitled to exceptions. And for your last statement, we could easily turn it around and ask how many chances we create simply because of his off-the ball movement.

Regardless of what he does when he tries to 'dribble' or his stray first touch, you can't deny how much his hold-up play and attacking runs help the two attackers behind him. Its stuff like this that mostly goes unnoticed To me the performance put in by strikers like Costa and Drogba is satisfactory. Virtually 'anonymous' for periods of the game in terms of output, but can make the difference when it matters.

I would be surprised if Conte wasn't paying attention to those runs. Fabregas is easily our biggest goal threat from central midfield. And that's an asset to any top team.

Don't think it has to do with the overall 'strength' of the team,...rather, it depends on the type of team (and their strategy) we play against. If you look at the City game this season, he was very influential. He just needs some players around him in midfield to relieve pressure and do the dirty work. Enter Kante, Pedro, Matic, Willian.

Its not just from this video, but if you look at his reaction to Aguero's tackle on Luiz, Chalobah seems to get along very well with the rest of his team-mates. We need characters like that in the dressing room moving forward

Diego Costa: Didier Drogba the inspiration behind my success at Chelsea http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/02/09/diego-costadidier-drogba-inspiration-behind-success-chelsea/