Blue Armour

Hardly blaming Chelsea...more like blaming the fixture list in England because of which you play a game every 3 days. Just a shitty title made up for the article by the Fail.

Oscar gets into good position and elects to shoot. I also remember something similar happen from the right wing as well, earlier in the game. Why we don't do enough cut-backs or low crosses across the goal-mouth in these type of situations, is a mystery to me.

I still maintain what I said a few pages ago. Regardless of whether Oscar has a higher ceiling or not, we were playing our best football around the time when he was one of the first choice. Our last high scoring game came, when he probably gave his last good performance, against Swansea. Mourinho is starting him in every game, probably desperate for him to recover his early season form. And tbh, we better hope that he can recover some form for the rest of this season. Some people mention playing Willian in the middle, but then that means our RW would be occupied by Ramires/Cuadrado which doesn't sound too thrilling atm.

And don't forget, Ivanovic also has a tendency to keep backing off from attackers...ala Gary Cahill. Don't want to put Ivanovic in a central position anytime soon.

It looks too obvious now in hindsight, but I had a nagging feeling back in Oct-Nov last year that we would struggle to progress equally well in CL, PL and other cup competitions..mainly because our Schurrles, Salahs, Remy's and Luis's were not being played enough to affect the results of our season. In the double winning season of 09-10, even Paulo Ferreira who was our 3'rd choice right back played a series of very good games, crucial ones at that. Essien who was the Matic of that season, was replaced comfortably by Mikel and Ballack when he got injured. Deco and Joe Cole, although out for most of the season would be brought on to influence games. That level of involvement from the whole squad is what we need if we need to achieve anything as ambitious as treble, or PL/CL double.

He's in a real irritable mood right now, with the press. Almost Ferguson-like in that aspect

Agreed, I want to see more team spirit in the way we play with the ball. Not this.

Don't think so..We do have a tendency to surround the ref in games and this has happened before. Its like Terry said., he goes to talk on behalf of the fouled player and immediately 5-6 team-members accompany him. Plus, its not unique to any team. Anyone remember Barca's antics?

Jose should take responsibility for last nights result, but the way some people react here is as if we lost 3-1 at home to Monaco

Normally, I thought you wouldn't be in the mood to type in a summary of the match, especially after one like that...but full credit for being up for it.

3 of our our best headers near the ball, and it stil gets through. Why is it that when we screw up a set-piece, it happens in the most comical way...

He bungled up big time there, as he said afterwards, but it didn't help that the fans were on his case before the equalizer. The man scored one of the good penalties in our CL final, FFS...and a crucial one at that, right after Mata's was saved. He did NOT deserve those boos, even if he tried to play crappy mind games before the match.

Again, this happened in Jan. We were in peak form in 2014. Our current form is incomparable

Not questioning Zouma's addition,...just wondering why Matic was taken off

Could have and should have won the penalty in the first half. That dribble in the box deserved one. I refuse to blame this one on Costa, or any single player. Failing to outperform ten men has to go down as a bad team performance and nothing more.

I was thinking it was a real daft decision to take him off for Zouma, but I suppose this was the real reason why

Funny thing is Cahill's body language makes him look like he wanted to attack our goal instead of defend it. Not sure where he was rushing to. Little surprise that Terry got bamboozled.

How typical. Just because of one match, PSG now look like they got a steal, by getting Luiz for 40m..... This was just a shitty matchday, almost designed to bring all the fans down to earth..with bizzarre substitutions from the gaffer, clueless performance against 10 men.. Another reason for the press and rival opposition to gloat. The worst feeling is we will never know what this squad was really capable of, with it not playing at its best when it really mattered. Just terrible.

So to answer that thread: "What happened to our early season form?". Simple. Oscar was in form and in the starting 11 back then.

His off-the-ball movement is still very good though, despite what can be said about his technique on the ball. That in itself is should be a big benefit to the three players behind him.

Gerrard and Lampard really went over the hill only after 32/33. I don't think its that often that players have a rapid decline in form after age 30, especially if they have had a fantastic season. At least, it shouldn't be that case for defenders unless they are absent for long periods due to injury. And I remember the Malouda case clearly. He did NOT lose form after signing the contract. In fact, for a while after he did, he was playing in his best form. He lost form right around when Lampard and Benayoun succumbed to injury and he was the only one available as a creative focal point for the team. Too much pressure, and he clearly wasn't the type of player to carry the entire team on his own. In fact, after these players returned, his own form was back and he finished the season as the team's top scorer. I will concede that a 4yr extension at this stage may not be the best, but I don't see the harm in offering a 2yr extension.

Yeah, having that kind of policy for over 30yr old players is ridiculous...Drogba had his best season ever when he was 33, and I remember at the time he had obtained a 2 yr extension..Plus age is not the only factor. They should look at how crucial he is to the lineup and the impact he has on matches. Its not as if he's coming off the bench to influence the odd game...

He was fantastic for the amount of time he got yes..but can't help but feel how much better he would have been with full backing. Another common factor is how all three players were not played in their natural positions...Sturridge was tossed onto the right wing...Salah the same, and atm he's playing well in a free role for Fiorentina...even Schurrle was kept away from his preferred left wing role more often than not.

Like I've said before...political correctness. Same reason Matic got banned for a push, while Barnes got away scot free

Have to agree with that..players like Sturridge, Schurrle and Salah were under too much pressure to play with full confidence, unlike for their current clubs where they are more or less guaranteed to start. That's the problem when you have a star studded squad. There will always be victims.