CHOULO19

On the bright side, we gave up on the foam hands. That was embarrassing..

As I wrote that I was thinking "did he score two or three against Everton?" but was too lazy to check

Games like that where you think "if only both could lose..."

Probably should be Costa against Arsenal but since I didn't watch that live, I'll go for Costa's hat-trick goal against Everton. EDIT: Costa's second goal against Everton*

Everyone has Luis in their XI but I'm not sure he will be available. His knee was apparently bruised pretty badly after the match yesterday from Huddlestone's stomp. Jose confirmed that Zouma will start and I think we might see Schurrle for Willian but I am certain that Hazard will start. He was rested for Sporting and the whole team has two days off after Derby, so we need not worry about recovery.

Actually, I think you need to look at the reverse angle to really appreciate Hazard's run. When Oscar first receives the ball he's still a few meters in front of the halfway circle, and then he sprints all the way into the box and no one could have picked him up.

I LOLed at "Matik"

We should NOT put Jose in charge of contracts...

I really liked his energy yesterday when he came on, even though he should be taking his shots a bit quicker. Maybe it was because he replaced Willian, but I really thought he had a very positive impact when he came on.

Actually, I thought Willian's delivery from the FKs was very good. Probably the only positive from his performance yesterday.

Well, there must be a reason why he's second choice and I think it's exactly those. Actually, if you watch Jose's post-match interviews (especially with CTV) he always gives those reasons to why he brought Drogba on in a certain match. Costa's hold-up play is amateurish compared to Didier, especially linking up with his back to goal. Same for winning first headers when we want to go direct like we did against Newcastle.

Surely he could have stayed fit at any club out side of the EPL? I remember reading a lot of rumors about clubs interested in him on loan. Heck, if it was just about staying fit, he could have trained us for a couple of months. It is very clear that it was always about personal glory. In fact, I think it would be pretty naive not to see that his plan from the start was to join City and use NY to save his public image.

@Barbara, I was being sarcastic, of course we deserved the win...

And agreeing to move to City on loan isn't an attempt to harm Chelsea's title chances?

While that is true, a lot of people were also saying, from the start, that he's an above average defender, but nothing more. Some are saying that the criticism of him is knee-jerk or an overreaction, but that's simply not true. Even during last season, there were plenty of people, even on here like The Skipper, Robguima, myself...etc. who always maintained that, yes, he's having a magnificent season and has deserved his place in the start XI, but he will always be a limited player and moving forward, quality wise, he should not be more than an excellent squad player at this level.

That's because, if we're winning, Didier can hold up the ball and defend set pieces and, if we're losing, Didier offers a different direct dimension to our play.

Especially in the first half when both Matic and Mikel were painfully sloppy.

No he needs to be dropped because he's been pretty terrible of late. While he may well be tired and needs a rest that doesn't completely excuse his current form because some of the mistakes he's made, especially when it comes to decision making, have absolutely nothing to do with fatigue.

Wow, that's too harsh, Ron, too harsh...

He needs to be "rested" for a few games.

Please leave the moderating for the actual staff. You're not helping.

Because you lot are childish and are evidently unable to discuss the matter without turning it into petty fights and personal insults.

Yeah, the diving was embarrassing and totally unnecessary. Hull had zero shots on target and really zero remotely real chances. But we were lucky to win...

Went for Iva for MOTM even though Hazard probably deserved it more, but Iva put in so much effort today and was excellent.

3 points despite a sub-par performance in the first half. Second half was much better and Costa back on the score sheet Roll on Derby.