Blue Armour

Its a number 11 who scored...fitting, eh?

See the advantage of an IN FORM STRIKER?!!!!

I certainly hope not...I do NOT want to see a repeat of the Scolari season, even if it means Guus Hiddink will return and take us to a CL semi-final

Alex totally lost it against Liverpool this Tuesday though...He's normally solid and one of the best we've had in recent seasons, but this season he just seems so slow and lumbering on the ball..Reluctant to bring the ball out of defense and generally disinterested...Its a shame as I thought he could have been a solution to our defensive problems this season... Anelka on the other hand probably deserved more chances than he has got..seeing as how he was far from terrible whenever he played this season

Guys, drop it...just watch the game and hope whatever first 11 is out there does their best..

Not to the point where you're going to lose everything, namely top 4 and progression to CL knockout stage..AVB probably made a mistake in experimenting with his starting 11 for too long since the start of the season (its been 4 months now)..If he was going to use Torres he should have stuck with him for the month of November...more rotation at this stage will not be good for the team and certainly won't be good for the season.. Abramovich might be more lenient with our new manager , but if he screws up this season royally (in Roman's eyes, not mine) then he will get the chop (which will put us in an endless cycle) ..I think AVB also realises this and is looking to make amends..

Can understand them not training together, as he will have to get the team used to playing without them, but isolating them completely? Anyways, like I said earlier, this could just be a massive exaggeration...

I thought a manager is supposed to make the best use of the squad he has, and not pick names just for the sake of it...I'm not saying his team selections are always right, but this "respect for the club" is something that has cost a few of our previous managers their job...he should just get on with his job and choose whatever works best (and I mean whatever wins matches) for him, I feel.. This team has dropped too many games and points to afford experimenting this season...

Not saying he was better...was just contesting the "fact" regarding his first touch... Ah hell..its a worthless argument anyway...

Its also possible that he doesn't give a sh** about Torres...He's not the manager that bought him anyways...

Please don't exaggerate.. I agree he's been below-par this season, but its his so-called "horrible" touch that has led to at least two goals in the past two games, namely the one against Bayer and the one that set up Mata's against Wolves..He can still bring down the ball from the air better than anyone else I've seen this season

IF its true, then yeah, it will not go down well with the rest of the squad....

I expect the media to question AVB regarding the matter in the press conf. if there's any truth in the matter.... This whole thing might be exaggerated of course, but if its true, we should find out soon enough

Apparently the media have picked up on it as well: Nic and Alex axed Source: The Sun (Maybe they have a spy on our forum)

Its funny that we have this debate about who should lead the line, when its the defense that screws up game after game....

I wouldn't call him a cunt, but yeah, he looks very disinterested this year and his body language is terrible... Anelka's leaving..no doubt about it,...I will miss the variety he can bring to our play, but on a plus side his departure will create an opening for someone younger....

Schwiensteiger...would have been a welcome addition.. But m'afraid the time to acquire him has long gone...

Hope to see this, but its unlikely... Alternatives: Either Mikel for Meireles, Malouda/Anelka/Kalou for Ramires and Torres for Drogba...

Well, he did say that he had made a failed bid for Alvaro Perierra, so at least he was aware of what we needed..Whether he looked hard enough is another matter, though...

That may or may not be the answer, but what I was trying to say was that our crop of players look nothing like a Mourino team...it just has face and names from that era....

He wasn't that inactive..He bought a lot of targets that are intended for the future, and at the same time was unfortunate to miss out on an important target in Modric. People will argue that he should have off-loaded someone, but removing players without proven replacements will only weaken the squad, which was already very weak after the 2010 season...

Call me crazy, but I like that formation!...I don't think we'll concede, we could easily win back possession and Cole and Bosingwa can transform into wingers to trigger counter-attacks!... Sigh....what a depressing state of affairs...

Yeah true...in fact the first time they played together, against Liverpool, Drogba had sent Torres through on goal...If it hadn't been for a sliding Jamie Carragher, Torres would've scored with his first touch for Chelsea, Drogba and Torres might have established a strike partnership..and we might have won a trophy... Anyway , everything looks good in hindsight I suppose... As for the Drogba-Torres partnership, even if fans are interested in seeing if it may work (I was at one point), I don't think the manager has any faith in that combo..Besides that, it will most likely push Strurridge into the background and, at this point of the season its a very risky experiment...

I'd say whatever spirit of Mourinho was still there has vanished now... The team has lost it guts, desire and winning mentality...