Blue Armour

Technically he never said anything insulting about them, so I'd like to see how the FA can prove otherwise. The mongs are probably just trying to ruffle Mourinho's feathers. And is this any surprise? With United on the wane (for now at least), the FA would no doubt want to promote their next biggest item (in terms of league titles and fan-base) Liverpool

Don't forget rest. Plenty of rest. The number of games played for Brazil and Chelsea played over the past several months have taken their toll, no doubt.

Should have been replaced at half-time. Mourinho was probably giving him game time thinking he wouldn't get any...but he's not the right person to have on the pitch when the opposition sits back. From his body-language in recent games, you can sense his frustration most likely borne from his poor form and that frustration isn't helping him at all.

Agree with that..and I think if he hadn't had those two injury layoffs this season, that form could have continued.. Still, not a good enough excuse for his current form and Ba fully deserves to move up the pecking order.

True the safest option is Eto'o for most games. Don't want to sound ungrateful, but the best thing about Ba is that he can make the most of half-chances. Take away that goal against Swansea (and Vorm nearly pulled a save from that one), and there's not much to talk about except maybe for that back-heel flick which helped put Salah through on goal.

True...said it before, the system doesn't really suit Torres or Ba..at least the latter can still make himself useful by scoring from half-chances.

I think its mostly because, in what seemed a rarity in the past, we can now take out a key player from the starting 11 and still achieve results.

Seriously, comments about us playing "boring" football are getting quite frankly, boring. Chelsea have more fixtures than anyone else in Europe, and you can't expect them to be playing like ballerinas every match...If our finishing was sharp today, the critics would be at a loss.

Not to mention Milito, and Ibra...the thing that Argentine doesn't get is that you need the right type of striker for the right system of midfield. If Mourinho was solely at fault, why didn't we have golden-boot winning strikers when AVB and RDM were here? We have an existing midfield that is not suited to the likes of Torres/Ba. Eto'o fits the midfield better, but at his age there's only so much he can do.

I don't know....after having old man Eto'o...definitely wouldn't mind having old man Ibra around here...

If he really did have PSG in his mind going into the match, he must be surely having different thoughts about them now.

I never used to mind his previous comments, as I considered those as part of his opinion....but when he comes out with sh*t like Mourinho losing the dressing room, based off of one CL match post-interview...you have to wonder why people regard his comments any higher than that of Pele...

I don't know if Lukaku will make it big here, but after seeing Mata perform for United and Sturridge for Liverpool...I don't want to think of another "what might have been" scenario with Lukaku.

I think what Ancelloti said was that Drogba would do away with mentally weaker competition like Torres (and Schevchenko) in the squad. This was back in 2012 withAVB, when people wondered why Drogba was being preferred to Torres...

Mata has really started being influential for United, and I wish him all the best for his performances.... But I really, really cannot see him doing the stuff that Salah and Willian were doing today, with their defensive work-rate, pressing and eagerness to run with the ball. It might have worked in a different kind of team, but not in the one we seem to be building for the future.

Azpi actually went over to the right wing at one point...it probably confused Charile Adam & co..(when they really didn't need much to do so)

Real nice work on the wallpaper

Maybe at 3-0. Not when we had to double the lead at a crucial part of the game.

And people said at the time, it was a tidy profit we made from his sale...smh.

Initially thought that this guy was all about pace, but he does have a good head on his shoulders...kept thing ticking, and always made the right, simple decisions to build up our attack....And yet another hard worker for the team with his pressing...looks like a real bargain.

His frustration could almost be cut with a knife today..., as the game wore on, he was concentrating hard to make even simple decisions regarding whether to pass, or run or shoot. I guess it was pity from Mourinho that allowed to stay for the full 90 mins for this match

Hate to burst the bubble, but we had Drogba to score against Stoke AND Napoli.

For our midfield the viable option is to have an attacker who works like a slave for the midfield behind him...That's essentially what Didier Drogba did, dropping deep, making the most of average service and contributing anyway he could....apart from the two seasons when he could delegate some of his work to other forwards like Anelka and Schevchenko, and actually score goals.

Yes, there many reasons actually...and they're not really down to Ancelloti. Drogba's other 3 good seasons happened with Mourinho, and he would have probably had his best in 2006-2007 if it were not for injury. Coming back to the problem with strikers and service....its a problem that has long lasted in this Chelsea,. Like I said in another thread...unless its someone who can hold up play like Didier, or work their asses off like Anelka/Eto'o, no forward is going to have much joy playing here..with the way our midfield has been setup (and tbh, that's how we successfully control games.in most matches).

Curious...was this your opinion during the city game...never thought we were overly defensive against West Ham either...considering the result But yes, might have been overly cautious for a few of them..