Blue Armour

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...

Now take it easy guys...at least its not as negative as the rest of the tripe he puts out...

I wonder what's become of a certain Miroslav Stoch...

Lol..that sounded very funny But on a more serious note, its depressing that it has come down this...hope Sturridge and Mata can stay clear of the plague that has been affecting our club in recent seasons...

True, what we really needed back then was a supporting player like Aguero, or at least have given Sturridge an opportunity...At the least the latter benefited from it....

Drogba and Dzeko are proof of this...

Couldn't give rep because of the quota limitation, but fully agree with your post

Don't forget the +1 rep I gave you on your arrival here! :eyebrows: Just kidding, welcome to the forum friend...

What do you think about a formation that pairs Drogba and Sturridge upfront (Mata behind), rather than the conventional 4-3-3?

Maybe not world-class, but we definitely could use someone like him right now...

Well, we definitely need one, like Modric..(but if December doesn't go well, then he won't have any incentive to join us)..hope Essien's return (however long it lasts) can take care of whatever else we're lacking in midfield,

Doesn't look like its going to happen, considering how he defends it to death in every interview... But you have to admit, the players can definitely take more care. They know that this type of tactic requires them to be alert for the entire 90 mins, but yet again the same kind of mistakes...especially for the first goal Bertrand (who was largely faultless for the rest of the match) switches off and allows Bellamy to get behind him, Luiz plays him onside, and Alex was nowhere near Maxi when the guy arrives for Bellamy's cross.

Yes, but I think he would perform better with a strike partner down the centre, perhaps with Drogba (who links up with him well)..something similar to how he played off Kevin Davies at Bolton

Was pretty lackluster, although we should have had a penalty in the first few minutes of the game.... Other than that the game was going no-where till Craig Bellamy and Maxi exposed the lack of pace in our high line of defense. Alex was NOWHERE when Maxi arrived in the box to pick up Bellamy's cross

I don't think that alone will work this season, but we better beat the small teams if we're going to retain our top 3 spot...

New CM, or right winger... someone to lessen the burden on Mata/Sturridge and the full-backs to create and score.. Survive with Drogba and Torres/Anelka as backup till the end of the season, when real changes can be made...

That is worrisome, since Drogba's energy levels are not what they used to be....