CHOULO19

Depends on what the ref writes in his match report. If they charge him, he'll most likely miss City, unless we appeal then it might be postponed to later matches.

I just wonder if Jose will set up to not lose this match first and foremost instead of going all out to win it. I mean we all want to see Chelsea win, but while a draw would probably be disappointing, a loss would be absolutely disastrous. An away draw to Schalke is not that bad, tbh, because beat them at the bridge and we're basically through to the round of 16.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x166bva_espanyol-1-0-atletico-madrid-o-g-courtois_sport#from=embediframe That looks very bad, but it's a very tough ball to deal with because you can't know whether or not the player will get a touch. Very unlucky for Thibaut, but it happens to the best keepers, I'm sure he'll dust himself up and get a CS next match.

Have you seen Hummels play?!

That's all very well, mate, but this isn't baseball; stats can't tell the whole story. The reason why his numbers look bad compared to JT and Cahill is that whenever he's played, David has been given a different role than them. He's been given the freedom to leave the back four and pressure the opponents higher and attempt to intercept the ball. The last line of defense will always have the best tackle% because the opposition player will have much less space in and around the box than 20-30 meters away from goal where Luiz is doing most of his defending. They'll also of course have much more clearances. But can you tell me how many interceptions does Luiz have as compared to the other two? I agree about the aerial duels, though. I think he's been bad in that aspect which has always been his weak point. Which is why JT is always the one that steps-up to head long balls when Luiz is next to him. Those squawka and whoscored rating mean absolutely nothing because they are based on dry statistics. I've watched Luiz against Everton, Norwich, Tottenham..etc and saw that he had some great performances. He did incredible well in reading the game and anticipating plays and snuffing out the danger before it happens. But in Squawka, a missed pass from the opposition that finds it's way to your feet is the same as anticipating a crucial pass on a counter and making a 20 feet sprint to cut it out before it reaches it's target.

I'm sorry, but you just can't criticize Luiz for making mistakes and then go and praise Hummels! Hummels is basically a David Luiz with less natural ability on the ball and more defensive mistakes.

Over the past year, David Luiz has been our best and most consistent defender. That's not even debatable, it's not an opinion, it's fact. It was one bad game, people!

In the case of Ronaldo, he was clearly the best player, but 99% of the time it's not that black or white though. Players move to a club because they believe that they are good enough to be playing at the club and go there to prove it. And that's true to all players. All players have to go there and show the manager that they deserve to play. Even if you begin as a starter, you'll always have someone who is challenging for your position regardless of how well you've done in the past; the Mata situation this season highlights that. No player keeps getting selected despite playing badly (except for Torres of course!) We currently have 22 players fighting for a starting spot. None of them was guaranteed a starting spot before they came here even though they're all excellent players. The notion that a player refuses to fight for a starting spot and just wants to be given one is highly unprofessional and just ridiculous at this level of football. (Just to clarify, I don't that that's what Thibaut has been saying, it's just what some people are interpreting it as).

Would he start if there was someone performing better than him in the same spot?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSogBZbuMpQ

He might not be creative on the ball, but Mario's movement off it creates a lot of space for his teammates. Anyway, that's another prime example of managers preferring complete strikers over ones who just score. Mario's scoring record is phenomenal, yet Mandzukic has won the starting spot off him last season because of what he brings to the team.

I think it's interesting to note that his best performance with us in a while came when Bertrand was playing behind him instead of Ash. Ryan, for 60 mins, made forward runs in every single attack, often making overlapping runs to stretch the Cardiff defense. He kept at least one of those two defenders on the right (our left) occupied and gave Eden more room to work with while when Cole plays and rarely makes supporting runs, Eden is left double-marked most of the time. Not saying that it was all down to that, just that it might have been big factor.

I thought he was lacking chemistry with the teammates in front of him, especially Hazard, which is expected given that he hasn't played with them this season. But I thought his mere presence in the final third through constant forward runs gave Eden more space than he usually has when Cole plays because he rare goes forward and make that overlapping run next to him leaving him double-marked.

No player in the world can be guaranteed a starting spot at a top team before he has played a single match for that club. You don't just "get" a starting spot at this level, you fight for it. Even if Cech is sold, Thibaut will have to come here and battel with Mark for the starting spot.

And now PVA has scored in the dying seconds of added time to complete the turn around! I didn't watch it but it sounds like it was a great match.

Scored to when his team was 2-0 down. 2-2 now with 10 minutes remaining.

Just win! Expect to see Oscar, Hazard and Schurrle if fit because he know Schalke and German football the best.

Very very good today. Excellent passing; linked the defense to attack very well. His best performance so far this season.

The best thing about Petr, is that he seems to come up with the biggest saves when we need them the most. The amount of times each season that he comes up with incredible saves to change the outcome of the game is just ridiculous.

No, not necessarily. Take Fulham for example, Jol picks Berbatove for his overall game play rather than Bent who is a much more prolific goal scorer. Same with Long over Oddemwingie at WBA last season. Welbeck over Chicharito at united. Walters over Jones at Stoke....etc

Probably on the same level in terms of acceleration, but when it comes to pace Willian is clearly faster. It's not just that he's fast, but that he seems to do it effortlessly. Just glides on the pitch.

In 1990 maybe, but today strikers are first and foremost players in the team. They have defensive duties. Their offensive duties are not limited to scoring but to linking up with other attacking players and creating chancing for others. All managers prefer a complete striker than a poacher. Of course there are exceptions where the striker's ability to score by far out weighs anything else like Falcao at Athletico, but those are just examples. Most strikers that are just poachers find themselves on the bench and get brought on when the team is chasing a game.

People are still expecting him to live up to the performances of last season when his role in the team is different. I thought he was decent today. Juan is still our best passer in the final third, imo. His vision to find someone with a bit of space in tight areas is second to none in our squad.

Very bad game, yeah, but it's his first bad game for us since last December! And now everyone on social media and even some of the experts are saying that he's had an "awful start to the season" after ONE bad game

Solid as ever. Just what you'd expect from Ryan.