BlueLion.

You could tell it's been a long time since he played at CB - he almost looked nervous. Really wouldn't mind it being given another go though, having Dave and Luis maraud forward was a joy to see.

I agree. I said it a couple of pages back, against teams where we're going to have 60+% possession, Luis should play. His crossing, shooting and free-kick abilities means he is a more of an offensive threat than Azpilicueta and Ivanovic.

No way would we loan him to Liverpool. I wouldn't even have given them Bosingwa ffs.

Arsenal fans must feel so fucking butthurt right now. That's 3 goals and 15 assists in 22 appearances.

1) His goal confirmed it 2) I used his name for the alliteration in the title - "Schurrle sends Chelsea through to League Cup semis"

On the bench.

Chelsea saw off Steve McClaren's stubborn Derby to book a place in the last four of the Capital One Cup. After a sedate opening period, the game burst into life when Cesc Fabregas pounced upon an error by Derby skipper Andy Keogh before feeding Eden Hazard, who duly netted his ninth goal of the season. Filipe Luis then scored a sublime second-half free-kick after Didier Drogba was upended by Will Hughes, but Craig Bryson soon pulled a goal back for the hosts with a measured finish beyond Petr Cech. The game was marred late on by a diabolical decision by John Moss, who sent off Jake Buxton for the most innocuous of tugs on substitute Loic Remy, before Andre Schurrle converted a third for Chelsea after Remy's initial shot had been saved by Derby's Lee Grant. A win here means the Blues are through to the semi-finals of the League Cup - a stage they last reached in 2013 when then manager Rafael Benitez saw his side unceremoniously dumped out by Swansea City. The Blues are joined in the draw for the last four by Sheffield United, who drew on all their reserves of might to see off Premier League high-flyers Southampton, whilst Newcastle and Tottenham and Bournemouth and Liverpool will, on Wednesday night, fight for the right to join them. Progression comes at a price for José Mourinho, who saw Kurt Zouma taken off on a stretcher before half-time after a hefty aerial collision with Cech, whilst Drogba limped off late on with what appeared to be a twisted ankle. Mourinho took no chances with his team selection, choosing a strong starting eleven almost unrecognisable from the likes of Michael Essien, Ashley Cole, Samuel Eto'o and David Luiz, who all started in the FA Cup third round tussle between the two back in January. And two of his all-star cast combined with 23 minutes on the clock to give Chelsea the lead. Derby skipper Keogh was forced into a rushed clearance that Fabregas instalntly brought under his spell. The ex-Barcelona man then threaded the ball to Hazard, who showed immense composure in taking two touches before cleverly firing the ball across Grant and into the bottom corner. Keogh made amends shortly after with a superb block tackle to deny Drogba, who looked a sure fire bet to convert Schurrle's well-disguised cut-back - but the half then reached a painful conclusion for Kurt Zouma, who was caught by a trailing glove by Cech as the goalkeeper cleared a dangerous delivery by Hughes. Zouma was knocked unconscious and after some much-needed encouragement from Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta, a stretcher team finally was able to escort the groggy French centre-half off the field, with the former St Etienne man thankfully having recovered consciousness. The game turned on a sixpence for Derby in the space of five second-half minutes. After Hughes had seen a side-footed effort turned aside through a combination of John Mikel Obi and Cech, Chelsea went up the other end and saw Filipe Luis open his account for the club with a quite exquisite free-kick, which had been won when Hughes upended Drogba twenty yards from goal. Those small margins epitomised this contest, with Chelsea and all their Premier League quality looking comfortable but never truly in absolute authority of this League Cup tie. And they were made just that little bit more anxious when Bryson fired a measured effort beyond Cech in off the far post to set up what appeared to be a grandstand finish - only for Moss to intervene and take centre stage. Loic Remy, on a substitute, was played in on goal by Fabregas but was beaten to the ball by Grant - who clearly slid out of his penalty area with the ball in his hands. Yet instead of dismissing the goalkeeper, Buxton was shown a straight red for being adjudged to have fouled Remy even before Grant's accidental hand-ball - a questionable decision indeed. That left Schurrle with the simple task of making the final throes a formality when, after Remy had seen a shot saved by Grant, the German was on hand to swipe home the rebound and send Chelsea through to the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup. Click here to view the article

Looking back in May we might well end up identifying some of the games and events we've selected in this thread

If you offered me the League Cup and the Prem as our achievements for this season I'd snap your hand off.

For me, it's a crying shame we didn't win anything in last season's shirt. Even the Supercup would have been a fair enough achievement.

Do it, fuck me we should pay them to get him off our hands.

That's why it says in the title "so far". Truly, people on this forum couldn't be more pedantic if they tried

Done

When did this happen?

Dat backpass I'm sure he was trying to pass it back to Courtois tbh.

I know we are very early into the season and there are sure to be many more great moments to come, but what are your top moments/memories of the 2014/15 season thus far? For me, there was nothing more satisfying and enjoyable then beating those Scouse bar-stewards at Anfield!

In all seriousness I agree, we need a second deep-lying playmaker, perhaps an older statesman who wouldn't necessarily mind being second-choice and acting as a squad player.

Derby were extremely poor against Middlesbrough on Saturday so they will be looking for an instant reply on Tuesday. They normally play with quite a dynamic system, with a lot of late runs from midfield by the likes of Bryson and Hendrick. They lack creativity whenever Will Hughes plays though, but when he does they are usually more susceptible to being caught on the counter-attack. One thing Boro did brilliantly yesterday was press Derby's back four. They like to play football, and pass it out from the back, but their four defenders are fucking awful on the ball and panic whenever they're closed down (remind anyone of a certain Englishman?). The best thing we can do is play someone who will occupy their centre-backs with two hard-working midfield players. I wouldn't be surprised if Schurrle, Ramires, Matic and Oscar all started.

Every time I see Oscar:

Yep, Willy had his first bad game in a while yesterday, and when Schurrle came on he was still clearly buoyed by his goal and good performance against Sporty Lesbian in midweek. Needed to take the shot on first time though.

It's because he is an absolute fucker I'm amazed he hasn't already been sent off. I think that's exactly why we have two class replacements in Loic and The King, just in case he headbutts a referee.

Yep, even little magicians need the occasional rest!

Why should we rest too many players? The players have a six-day break between this and Stoke away. Cech Azpilicueta - Zouma - Terry - Luis Matic - Rambo/Fabregas Schurrle - Oscar - Hazard Drogba Diego, Remy, Salah, Willian, Ramires, Branislav and Thibaut on the bench in case things go to pot.

No genuine Chelsea fan wants Cahill to fail and make mistakes. The fact is his performances are poor and certainly not up to the standard he was consistently reaching last year. That is a concern for me.

Bloody typical how MOTD focus on our diving yesterday and didn't mention Chester's epic handball.