francozola

Agree but which one of them that plays affect how the other two perform imo. Torres is one-dimensional so every pass is aimed at him and he doesn't really contribute in terms of teamwork like what Drogba can bring to the team. Drogba comes so deep that he sucks defenders along with him which gives Danny the chance for a one on one against the fullbacks. I don't think Sturridge will be able to play this well if Torres is playing as the striker Anyway. Mata and Sturridge should be the first names on the team sheet.

AVB on Luiz yellow card: "Maybe Mike (Dean's) decision went our way. But with 10 or 9 men we play even better!"

what happened?

I'd rather see Drogba play than Torres atm. We are a better side with Drogba. Both are shit in terms of actual goalscoring but Drogba playing allows more space for Danny!

Torres was quite woeful after he came on His first touch is just atrocious. And that run from which Kalou ultimately scored... the old Torres would have scored that. He's become more of a team player now because he has no confidence in his own abilities to take defenders on so chooses to pass now

Didn't think Drogba was as bad as some of you say he was. He was miles better today than Torres was against Liverpool. He's lost a lot of his qualities but he's still putting in some effort which I'm pleasantly surprised to see. And I think Sturridge wouldn't be getting so many chances if Torres was playing instead of Drogba. Drogba sucks the defenders back with him

Oh and I'm glad AVB didn't just sub Luiz off like what Carlo did last season. He did well in the 2nd half. I hate how the commentators just keep going on and on about him. When JT or A. Cole do some of the things he does, they don't say anything. But when it's Luiz, they can't shut up. So fucking annoying

Wonderful performance. They hit the post twice but take nothing away from our performance. Newcastle away is one of the most difficult places to go and we went in there and attacked brilliantly, defended okay in the 1st half superbly in the 2nd Of course there are going to be times where they are putting us under pressure but we dealt with most of their attacks really well. JT was just marvelous. Good decision by AVB to take of Lamps. Woeful performance by him. Romeu, well done! 2nd half you could see he was struggling a bit but still really good display Drogs did okay too. He misplaced a lot of passes in the 2nd half which was frustrating but you could see that he was absolutely knackered. Mata - sublime! Absolutely sublime. Danny what a monster!!!! And I am also happy for Kalou lol

There must have been some kind of bust up because wasn't Anelka left behind in London when we travelled to Germany last week? And the official website clearly said that it wasn't an injury but because of "personal reasons" or something? Also I agree, Alex's body language has been really bad this season. Definitely something must have been going on but unknown whether the players or AVB started it

went off as in subbed off or sent off? lol

yes but this applies to every half-decent English player lol

Ah, right. I remember you posting about the Hilario injury so I trust your source as well. Anyway moreso than badboy's "source" during that whole 'Modric is at Stamford Bridge right now' bullshit prank on deadline day

L O L

who?

Terrific lad. Wish him all the very best for the future and I hope to see him being a Chels first-teamer or even if he can't make it here, hope he gets some regular football elsewhere. He deserves it

That's strange. Why would the club make them do that? I mean everyone's known for ages that these two will be leaving

I know what you mean regarding him being booed but it didn't look serious at all. The first time he went down I thought he was just trying to waste time because Mata hardly touched him and he was rolling around on the floor. Only when he signalled to the bench did I think it was more serious. Anyway you know that if it was lampard in that situation at anfield he'd get booed too.

Was just about to post that. I really do think that Roman has given him time and unless we reach extraordinary lows, he won't get sacked

I meant icon in the way that he has impacted fans and people that have an interest in football. People in Asia for example which is where I am, were crazy over Torres after that season. Let me put it this way, he's the biggest name to come out of the Prem along with Ronaldo in terms of global appeal. Those you mentioned did more over a longer period of time, but still Torres has become a bigger household name

His second season was amazing. Some of the stuff he did was glorious as much as it pains me to say it. And he is the biggest name and icon to come out of the Prem in recent years along with Ronaldo, definitely.

Jesus Christ

Didn't know that, thanks!

Can we have a way to identify name changes? Like a "previously known as ___" bar in the info box or something? It takes me a while to realize who's who lol

Telegraph Sport was told that Villas-Boas's appointment at Chelsea was "purely" down to Abramovich and that the club's owner is determined to provide as much support as he can to the manager, whom he still greatly admires. That view is not universally held within Chelsea where there is some concern over the 34-year-old Portuguese and his methods. Indeed there are even doubts as to whether the club will finish in the top four in the Premier League and qualify for next season's Champions League. However, Abramovich is determined to back Villas-Boas and that will include bidding for at least one marquee signing in the January transfer window. It is understood that Chelsea have made a creative midfielder a priority, having missed out on Tottenham's Luka Modric in the summer. A meeting was held earlier this week and a target decided. His identity is being closely guarded but Chelsea are also considering moves for a striker – if they can offload Nicolas Anelka – and a central defender, most likely to be Bolton Wanderers' Gary Cahill, if Alex is sold. Two forthcoming home fixtures, however, have been highlighted as key to Villas-Boas's prospects – next week's Champions League tie against Valencia and, the Premier League match, also at Stamford Bridge, against Manchester City the following Monday. If Chelsea were to go out of the Champions League it would undermine the manager further while a poor home performance against City, would make the manager's position precarious, in spite of Abramovich's backing. Villas-Boas has to improve on what one senior Chelsea official called the "supine" defeat to Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup on Tuesday evening if he is to survive. There are advisers close to Abramovich who have decided that Villas-Boas is not the right man to take the club forward and make the necessary changes. Interestingly, these concerns were first voiced to Abramovich in August but he dismissed them. These doubts extend to the players with some privately questioning Villas-Boas's tactics – the team used a midfield diamond on Tuesday without, apparently, practising that formation – and being confused as to the chopping and changing of his line-up. It is said that he does not know the "core" to his team. However, a source close to the Russian said last night: "The only one who chose this manager was Roman. This was his choice, purely. No one else was involved." That tallies with the confusion over why Abramovich did not offer Guus Hiddink the job in the summer after sacking Carlo Ancelotti. At the time, advisers were suggesting Hiddink, not Villas-Boas, would be hired and there was some shock when the Dutchman was overlooked. However, the source added: "When Ancelotti was selected that had much to do with Andrei Shevchenko. With [Luiz Felipe] Scolari it was [the then chief executive] Peter Kenyon. With Mourinho it was [the agent] Pini Zahavi. But with Villas-Boas it has been Roman. Purely Roman." Chelsea have maintained that Villas-Boas was always their No 1 choice, and Abramovich underlined that view by paying 15 million euros for Porto to release him from his contract as coach, even though that release clause would not have applied next summer. However, it is believed that Abramovich intends to veto bids for Porto players because of his annoyance at the way they negotiated Villas-Boas's release. That may end their interest in Uruguayan international Alvaro Perreira. The manager would like Chelsea to inquire about Hulk, but the Brazilian striker has a prohibitive buy-out clause. Chelsea have also ruled out bidding for Napoli striker Edinson Cavani and, having spent £75 million last January on Fernando Torres and David Luiz and then a further £64 million in the summer, there is not the appetite to spend big again, even though there is an acknowledgement that the ageing squad needs an overhaul. As well as Anelka, Chelsea are prepared to allow Didier Drogba – also in the final year of his contract – and Florent Malouda to go at the end of this season while Salomon Kalou appears to be out of favour with Villas-Boas despite being offered a new contract at the club. Kalou is in the final year of his current deal and could sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in January. At the same time there is growing concern over the poor form of Torres, with Villas-Boas acknowledging that he is now firmly second choice to Drogba. Romelu Lukaku is also struggling to convince Chelsea that he can justify his billing as one of European football's most exciting young players. It had been thought that Villas-Boas's time as manager would be defined by whether he could get the best out of Torres, but it is understood that Abramovich is now considering whether the striker, rather than the coaching, is the problem. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8926958/Chelsea-owner-Roman-Abramovich-vows-to-stand-by-Andre-Villas-Boas-even-after-recent-wobble.html all these "insider" articles are always dodgy but who knows

Instead of Kalou I'd rather see some young kids playing like Lalkovic!