francozola

Yep and also Mata played much more central today, so he's definitely changing things that aren't working (Romeu in for Mikel, etc)

http://twitter.com/#!/chelseafc

AVB confirms Anelka and Alex have handed in transfer requests and both have been accepted

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

Happy birthday to both!

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.