Blue Armour

Seems to be a bit of 'confidence' player. Yesterday he played far better than how he did in the Spurs game, especially with crowd encouraging him to shoot. You can even see it in the way he tries to pass.. Takes 2-3 extra touches before releasing the ball, mainly because he doesn't seem to have the confidence to release it first time (to attackers like Hazard or Diego). But yesterday's game he seemed to improve a lot better in that aspect. Either that, or he's just more comfortable playing like that when he's in a midfield 3 rather than in a midfield of just him and Kante.

Also, do the English press even care about retaining top talent in the PL? I suppose they don't care because its Chelsea, or they just love getting clicks on their pages... They're all just parroting some alleged 'quotes' from a single source called 'Voetbal' . When did Voetbal become the know-it-all?

Haha... We have had players with such colorful personalities....Zola to Drogba to this guy (and of course Diego)...

I like how really means business at the business end of the season. Example being how he rushes back these days to win the ball back for the team. Normally, the opposition don't expect him to do so, so its a big surprise to them when he does do it...catches them completely off guard. And of course, a help to our defense

Need Costa in form for this one. I'm looking back at his performance at game in Goodison Park, when he joined in 2014...Need something similar to get a good result from this one.

Are they allowed to switch armbands on the pitch like that in the PL? I thought it was allowed only when they are substituted....also doubt Terry would have taken it even if it was handed to him.

Not to mention the 1-2's with Hazard....After Mata and Oscar (yes, that Oscar) left, I think Cesc is the one guy on the team that Hazard can count to quickly link up play, (and of course Diego when he's in the mood)

Is there a chance he could get the FWA player of the award this year? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Kante bagging the PFA award (really deserves it, and you don't often see players in his role get it)....but I'm hoping Eden gets some extra recognition this season. (I would also say the same for Diego as well, who was left out of the PFA team of the year..he's going through a bad patch now but his form back in fall 2016 was one of the main reasons why we were able to build up a strong lead at the top of the table)

He has been Mr. Dependable for us this season...coming on from the bench to score (like in the Etihad game), or starting odd games like this one. Very little playing time, but been absolutely professional and making the most of the minutes made available. Could say the same for Fabregas as well.

A couple of points: Advantage of using left-footed LCB in Ake,---easier to buildup play from the back, and linking with Alonso. No need to resort to hoofing the ball from that side. The only disadvantage from bringing Ake in, that I could see was losing 'height advantage' when defending set-pieces. (Although conceding Kane's goal had nothing to do with lack of height) Batshuayi's link up play gives food for thought. I like he how well he distributed the ball from up front. Well aware of the movement of not only his flanking wingers, but the full-backs as well. And he uses his strength well to shield the ball well. Could be really advantageous in setting up attacking midfielders like Hazard or Fabregas.

Well, now we know from his post match comments. Looks like he was resting them for Tue.

Looks like Ake will indeed be starting

+4 Ashley Cole posted a series of photos of the pair both celebrating and commiserating together Cole showed what Terry meant to him and Chelsea, writing: 'What you have achieved at one club is magnificent. It was a pleasure to play along side you: the captain, the leader and the warrior. 'We have shared blood, sweat and tears in that blue shirt. I'm proud of you my friend.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4421588/Chelsea-legends-Cole-Drogba-pay-tribute-John-Terry.html#ixzz4er2BuOtj Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Bring in JT as LCB or Ake?

I was thinking back to that WHL game in 2010 as well. Back then United were the ones chasing us, and Spurs tripped us up, JT got sent off. Just role reversal atm. And back then, we were trying to defend a 1 pt lead and had to play the penultimate game of the season away to Benitez's Liverpool. If you compare that title defense to this one, we were just about edging it back then (although we were thrashing teams towards the end). Just need to remind the players of the position of control they still have. EDIT: To steady the ship, it would be good to have more leaders on the pitch for the next few games. Right now its mostly Hazard trying to direct and do everything on his own. With Diego in the mood he is in right now, I would go with Fabregas to start the remaining games (even at the risk of losing some steel in midfield), simply because he's another player that tries to take charge.

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..