Blue Armour

Hope he gets back soon, so that we will have our full complement of striking options again.

This. I can't believe so many people still fall for it, and try to justify/criticize what Mourinho says in the papers. The truth is he doesn't give a s*** about what he says to the press as long as it deflects attention from his team.

Time for a few folks to eat a fresh slice of that humble pie!

Match "Day" Preview?

Didn't we have a youth program setup in Asia? (Think it was Malaysia),...might not be too long before potential Asian stars start filtering through into Cobham.

Thanks, but the thing is we're not well equipped to hold back opposition teams for too long, and definitely not a team with United's attacking potential. We did take a 3 goal lead, but there was still a good portion of the game to go. One goal from United could have changed the tone of the match, but fortunately Hernandez's goal came really late. Whilst I wish we hadn't just kept piling on defensive midfielders like Mikel and Luiz to make our attack blunt, I can totally understand Mourinho's need to change the team mindset to protect the result.

I was talking only about the United game in particular, but as for the rest of the games Peppen is right. Just look at how many chances this team puts to waste. Do you remember the countless times this season, when we took a 1-0 lead and failed to finish off the opposition? And how many times that has come back to bite us? Its no wonder Jose is being very precautions, he just doesn't trust our team enough to hold out attacks for long. And the problem arises mainly because, we have been poor at finishing, missing the better pass at the final third, and of course, not having a striker with the right caliber.

What kind of reply? Even without elaborating, its quite clear what I meant. Despite what the table says right now, United have more match-winners and of course league winners in their team to turn things around, even with Moyes in charge. The fact is despite the 3 goals, Chelsea were not playing that well on the day and United didn't take some of their better chances. I personally liked the way we used to score 7 and 8 in a match in times gone by, but the manager does have reasons for setting up the way he did.

Yes. It puts less pressure on players, 75% of whom have no experience winning it. Because United is not Everton.

Agree with that. This City team doesn't look like it will ever go through a bad patch, and there's probably 1 or 2 tough fixtures in their schedule. Chelsea not only need to beat them, but remain super consistent afterwards...Only positive is that Arsenal might start to slip away now..

Yep...Lampard against West Ham, should have been nailed on to start...The Mikel, Ramires pivot offers nothing for breaking down tight defences...especially with no Juan Mata in front of them...

Didn't see this game, but I bet after this result and City's against Tottenham, Jose will definitely go defensive at the Etihad. We need to hang onto City's coat-tails as long as we can..and then yank em when they least expect it.

Haha...I remember Oscar's first interview with Neil Barnett, when he had Piazon alongside him to translate...Oscar told Piazon to just say anything to Neil and get done with it asap...

I liked Mourinho's description for Matic's left foot..."his left spoon"...very apt.

In the past two games, he seems to have recovered some of the attacking mojo he had...when in full form, he is the best full back when going forward, in our team...

All the best, Juan. On a lighter note, does that mean we'll move from Ma-za-car to Ma-roo-sie?

Liked how quickly he moved the ball up the pitch, and was very calm with moving forward with the ball himself. And then there's his physical dominance when on the ball. Great buy.

Its important to remember this, with us going to face Didier in the CL and Mata going to United

Chelsea's heroes are forever no matter what Its important to remember this, with us going to face Didier in the CL and Mata going to United

Why not? In the old system Mata was the best..and I repeat: the old system. Things haven't worked that well this season, although he should have had more minutes. I'm not convinced he can completely turn things around for United, but I wish him all the best.

Hmm..I thought he wanted Torres that season..but oh well, what's in the past...

Well...it didn't give Benayoun any.

While we can debate more about the level of McEachran's ability and whether he deserves to be playing for a top side, I personally feel he plays better around players making better attacking movements without the ball. Granted it was a long time ago, and for a limited amount of appearances, but he hasn't played better than he did for the Chelsea first team under Carlo. Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not saying Everton would have taken him...just that it might have suited him more, if he was given a good chance with them.

No they were not, and clearly they haven't worked out well. So yes, let's sign more next big things.

Like you've said before Ron, the cracked mirror is just on a high after making news on Mata's potential move to United.