Blue Armour

Drogba at the end: "awww look at them..."

Hah,...the way it loops over and over with the music makes it funny

Tbf, I think Cahill's tendency to back off will be reduced in midfield, seeing as he knows that he will not be the last line of defence. DESPITE that, we cannot afford to have someone who has poor ball retention and passing in the middle of the park.

If the number of matches in which Matic didn't play were far greater, then the stats might paint a slightly different picture.

Seeing as he probably never reads from the English press, he might well be using the Mail as toilet paper.

Yep, love the sauces they use with it.

Nah...too bitter

Haha, forgot about Ivanovic. But yeah, the first eleven is bound to include him and or others from the pic. Whatever the formation. I doubt it will include anyone other than those 11 (and Ivanovic). The 3 CB nightmare is more likely than Ake/RLC in the middle.

Think he's a big anime fan..

I'm not sure why people are so optimistic about Ake/RLC playing after having next to zero match practice with the team.. If Matic/Mikel are not present I wouldn't be surprised to see:

I know, they are an extreme case, but that doesn't mean we have to be the polar opposite. Costa is far from below average when coming to heading and height is NOT an excuse. The lad is only an inch shorter than Terry and Drogba. And I'm not just talking about high crosses, I'm talking about low ones, cutbacks, et al.

I don't know if he was operating under some instructions to keep pushing through the middle...never seemed to make an attempt to beat the wide man and put in a cross. In fact, I recall only 1 cross from him the entire game (which led to a corner). Also, I don't know why we never attempt to do something basic, like push out wide and swing in a cross. Now we have a player that can do it and he just tries to exchange passes through the middle. Whereas teams like United keep swinging in crosses like mad.

More and more I feel that red card was a symptom of this bullshit age of political correctness we live in.. Matic nearly getting his ankle snapped doesn't matter, but him pushing Barnes to the floor warrants a red card because it was viewed by many and sets a bad example to kids.. And I won't be surprised if the FA show their hypocrisy in the matter... "Technically" Matic did commit a breach of conduct..but they had no trouble throwing technicalities out of the window when it came to Costa 'stepping on' the legs of Liverpool players

I swear the clown received instructions through his headset to wave off the first penalty appeal.

I'm sure he would be disappointed, but he's intelligent to know that there's always going to be a vocal minority. He's not naive

Stupid in hindsight, but it was a gamble nonetheless..and I believe he mentioned this before the game. There are quite a few weeks until the next leg, for the non-performers of this one to pick up their form.

Fact: Racism doesn't depend on the color of your football jersey. There's a headline for the tabloids

"....its time to stop the madness" Exactly, Neil Ashton. Shut the f**k up. Its as simple as that.

I don't think he needs to show anything. He did fine against United at Old Trafford, and well against Tottenham essentially setting up the win for us. He's 37. These kind of games like against Villa will come, and everytime he starts its a bit of a gamble. But Mourinho should know when its most appropriate to take that gamble, and that's what I think he's doing.

He hasn't really been "back" for a while now, and Simeone knows it. That's he why doesn't start him all the time, and isn't unafraid to hook him at half time. The fact is, Torres is playing decent and under no pressure, thus making him a good backup to Mandzukic

Terry is different from Cahill/Zouma in terms of experience and motivation, and plus he's needed for organization...And even his sharpness can get affected albeit to a lesser extent. There have been a few games this season where even he hasn't been at his best. But the difference is Mourinho doesn't have convey to Terry to always be on his toes, because he expects him to be always doing that. He will still need to make sure he gets that message across to Zouma/Cahill

Really? I hope he keeps juggling between the 2 CB's as and when he can,.. in that way that neither CB becomes complacent and loses their sharpness. This is the mistake that happened with Cahill earlier in the season.

Throughout the match, was begging for the full-backs to push forward more...and in the second half, lo, Azpi and Ivanovic combine for the winning goal

Lool...Costa on a high there!