Blue Armour

There are too many weird celebrations to think of, but I remember my reaction to Drogba's goal against Napoli, when I refused to celebrate. I was almost repeating to myself aloud: "Job's not done yet..."

I honestly don't know what to make of Torres' fit of rage when being subbed. What you have to remember though is when a player shows anger, it doesn't meant that its necessarily directed towards the manager.

For now I'll just assume he's trying to "bed in" the more youthful members of the squad as slowly as needed....Otherwise there would be no reason for him to start with both Ramires and Bertrand in midfield against a team like QPR You must remember that he beat a similar team 6-0 at home last season. I feel in due time, he will be having Oscar, Marin, Sturridge and Mata starting regularly. My real concern is what happens when we face bigger, faster teams. Our double pivot, which is the most integral part of his 4-2-3-,1 needs to be sorted out or dropped altogether

Dull match. Positive about us is we've kept the ball, haven't given them a good chance to score, and a couple of penalty shouts. Downside...hardly enough creativity. Don't like the fact that Ramires AND Bertrand have to be deployed in the wings against a team like QPR.

Just hope Ji Sung Park doesn't turn up like he usually does against us...

He can't do much wrong by playing alongside a midfield destroyer like Mikel or Essien. But then again, he won't be able to do much good either. His passing range is decent but not great. And we won't be able to use his pace on the counter.

I don't know for sure whether we'll have another captain like Terry, Lampard or Gerrard. To have someone like that, the player should be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Always. To become someone like that, its not just about having the ability, but its about performing consistently to set an example to fellow players. From the current crop its a bit too early to decide who has those attributes. Then there's the question of character, but I'm not part of the Chelsea dressing room so...

Clearly Mikel wasn't critcizing Lampard. He was just talking about his own defensive duties. But you're right in saying Lampard has made too many forward runs ( pushing well into the opposition d-box in some of the recent games), leaving Mikel isolated in the counter-attacks. Lampard did do well in the recent England game though, and his runs yielded results. But how often do we play teams like Moldova, who hardly put pressure on the midfield?

True...If anything, we've done Paulo a favour by allowing him to play...much better than sitting on the bench and watching Ivanovic and Cesar do the rounds...

Ramires on the wing...I hope not!

Anyway...what's done is done. Hopefully Lyon will come calling in Jan, and that move will finally happen. Even if what the club did was wrong, its not like Malouda could have contributed much with the amount of attacking talent ahead of him.

It was either that or he would remain a free agent for life. And don't talk about performance stats, it wasn't as if he covered himself in glory during his last season. He did get more starts though...how many did Malouda get? Anyway I don't want to turn this into a Ballack/Malouda debate. Whether the move was bold or not, fact remains we have a player on high wages and we're going to get nothing out of him this season. EDIT: And also, who's going to get impressed by that move? Is it going to encourage more players to come here? I don't think so...

When he has nothing to barter with, a player can get desperate. I'm not saying Ballack was just being desperate, but you can't really compare his case with Malouda's. What's to say Malouda won't beg for a pay cut (unlikely after what happened now) and ask for a contract extension at the end of next season? He didn't want a pay cut when a new club was making a move for him...but what player would reduce his wages AND move into an obscure club? Ballack wanted to stick around, and that's just what Malouda's doing. The difference is, in his final year, Ballack wasn't shoved into the reserves. Whatever the player's motive, it won't disguise the fact that club made a stupid move that isn't going to benefit anyone.

Ballack was also out of contract.

But now he's being paid, and is of no use to us at all. This move isn't going to benefit either him or us. They should have at least tried loaning him.

That's all fine and dandy, but is that what Malouda really wants? Granted the club has the right to do what it wants with its players, but to shove him into the reserves for still sticking around? This, and the Anelka/Alex incident are not going to generate positive vibes from the playing community.

Not necessarily bad...When Anelka played in the 4-3-3 he was allowed to roam around the attacking third...Even Malouda would tuck into the centre on occasion with Ashley Cole doing an overlap.

The more appropriate question is; Will Meireles+Essien be missed...If we had only given up on one of the two then it wouldn't have made too much of a difference...But now the squad is certainly lacking depth, considering the number of games to played, and the African cup of Nations which should take away our current first choice DM for a month

Get him back, is what I would say under the circumstances. But is the club really going to bend over backwards?

What did you expect, everything was going right for the club over the past few months...it was time for things to go downhill,,and when things go to heck it all tends to happen at once.

I'm not sure...As far as I know, contrary to what most people think, Romeu is much more of a sideways passer than Mikel.

And just when you thought we had the strongest squad in years.... Anyway it looks like the club is genuinely concerned about the FFP rules and breaking even....and thus looking to cut costs by ditching its expendables... But it still begs the question: Of Malouda, Essien, Benayoun and Meireles,,...why is Malouda the one to be retained? I have nothing against Malouda, and still feel he is a good squad option, but we're really lacking in the CM department. In other words, we should have retained either one of Essien/Meireles

I just hope RDM realizes he can ditch the double pivot if he wants to...He took too much time to make changes to the team, seeing how they were battered within the first 30 mins of the Monaco game. Then there's the strategy of playing Bertrand and Ramires on the wings..useful at times, but there's no need to play so defensive all the time. Not when there are good options on the bench.

IMO the squad is pretty big overall, but way too deficient when it comes to Strikers and Central Defensive mids. CDM's have been an integral part of our formations over the past few seasons, and now we have only two players for that role (and that doesn't include Ramires). We've strengthened the squad greatly this season, but that loan deal for Essien really soured this transfer window. I can't believe we gave away for free, a player that Mourinho and Real Madrid consider important for their squad. We should have either retained him or sold him for a profit.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you were also mourning for Mourinho a few months ago...or was it just because of AVB?