BlueLion.

Absolutely Tom. They're both world-class keepers, but if you have one who is arguably better, or at least just as good, as another goalkeeper but also 10 years younger, you play the younger one.

I thought he was average at best in Barcelona's midfield (there's a reason they let him go in favour of Busquets) and besides one outstanding season last term, he has been horrifically inconsistent throughout the rest of his time in English football. Beast one game; anonymous moaning twat the next.

I really, really, really, don't think he is. José is simply being smart and playing the GK with age on his side in the hope he will continue to grow.

:lol: Don't come in this thread then....

That's no excuse for someone of his ability. He should be finishing these chances he is making for himself.

He's a moaning cunt of a prima donna who had one outstanding season last year and has now faded into obscurity with meagre performances since the start of the season. A nearly 32-year old and £250,000-a-week step down from what we already have in Matic.

Easy. Surprised by how comfortable we were, 2-1 flatters those Scouse cunts.

No, just making a point. Ivanovic is consistently capable of brainfarts where he just goes to sleep.

Regarding Bale, IMO, yes. Second point, yes he can do it, but you're missing my point if you think I'm saying he can't. I'm saying he doesn't do it as often as he should going by the sheer number of chances he has. He should be in double figures this season already.

This guy is the best player in the Premier League at the minute.

If he could shoot on the run, á la Messi, Bale or CR7, he'd be the fourth best player in world football. Sadly he can't, or at least not at the rate he should be. It's the aspect of his game that is actually somewhat disappointing. Otherwise he was fantastic again today.

No. Ivanovic is a fucking nightmare defensively. Always goes walking, switching off defensively. Imagine having Reus or Alexis in front of him lol:

Goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa gave Chelsea a thoroughly deserved victory over Anfield to pile the pressure on the chasing pack in the title race. With Southampton and Manchester City kicking off later on Saturday, the Blues move temporarily seven points ahead of Ronald Koeman's side, whilst City could be as nine points behind Chelsea should they lose to Queens Park Rangers in the day's evening kick-off. Liverpool took an early lead when Emre Can saw his strike take a massive deflection off of Cahill to leave Thibaut Courtois wrong-footed, but the Blues instantly hit back when Cahill made amends by firing home from close range. After a series of half chances, mainly falling the way of Eden Hazard, Chelsea were finally able to score the goal their dominance warranted when Cesar Azpilicueta crossed for Costa to rifle home his tenth league goal of the season. The hosts, looking a shadow of the side that slipped up en route to potential Premier League glory in this fixture at the tail end of last season, rarely troubled Courtois, and Chelsea were, ultimately, relatively comfortable in playing out the game's final throes. To a man, José Mourinho's men were better than their Liverpool counterparts in every department, with Mario Balotelli his own trademark style of anonymous. A three-point haul for the Blues means Liverpool are a massive fifteen behind Mourinho's charges, and even at this stage of the season their title tilt appears to be over following a masterclass of a Chelsea performance at Anfield for the second time this calendar year. Cahill, subject to criticism from some sections of the Chelsea crowd for his habit of backing off when one-on-one, did little to appease said frustrations when his half-hearted attempt at a block allowed Can's strike to deflect past the stranded Courtois, though his contribution at the other end certainly went some way to restoring confidence in the England vice-captain. Just five minutes after that goal, from Cesc Fabregas' corner, John Terry rose highest to direct a header towards goal - Simon Mignolet did well to react, but the Belgian could only parry the ball towards Cahill who duly smashed home, albeit with the help of the Goalline Decision System. Both teams had opportunities from that point onwards, though it was mainly Chelsea who looked the more threatening side as Hazard was foiled twice when well-placed by his own wayward finishing. Courtois had to make a smart low save from Raheem Sterling's fizzing effort as Liverpool threatened shortly after the break but that was the last serious involvement involving the big Belgian as Chelsea tightened the noose. Azpilicueta showed great composure to burst forward down the left and cross with the outside of his foot. Mignolet managed to half-parry the ball beyond the arriving Oscar, but the ball fell kindly for Costa to rifle home his first goal since returning from injury and hand the Blues both the initiative and eventually the spoils. Liverpool had a shout for a penalty when Cahill appeared to handle a Steven Gerrard shot - though the defender's arms were arguably by his side, there was certainly contact and it was the sort of decision that is a tough call for referees. But following the Blues' own horrendous luck when it comes to being awarded spot-kicks in recent weeks, there was certainly an element of karma involved as the Mourinho juggernaut goes marching on.

Maybe. £40m, I'd guestimate.

New contracts are usually only offered when other clubs make an offer. He probably signed that because he was approached by another club in the summer. Ultimately money talks and if we offer the right amount then Real will sell.

IMO there is only one player we should be looking to sign right now and that is a centre-back. We're incredibly weak there. Varane would be an ideal signing.

Sanchez is miles ahead of Willian and Schurrle offensively and his workrate is also hugely impressive. But would he be more of a goalscoring threat than what we have now? Our system is clearly skewed to allow Hazard more freedom on the right (hence why we have an out-and-out left back) whilst on the right we have a more attacking right-back and a more defensively-orientated right winger who has a huge defensive duty. Would Sanchez be able to do that? If we had Hazard and Sanchez we'd be wonderful to watch but we'd lose a lot of defensive solidarity. Maybe Schurrle and Willian's attacking instincts are just being curtailed by José so that we don't go into attacking overload. Being the best team isn't about having the best individual players (as Man City demonstrate) - it is about having the best collective balance and dynamism. Schurrle and Willian are thusly better suited to us and our system than Sanchez, and indeed Reus, though if we wanted to be even more attacking then, yes, I accept your point - we'd have been stupid to have gone for Reus should he become available.

Feel free, I'll write one back to you. In the meantime: Alternatively you can just accept that these types of images incite flame wars. You don't have to like it. I don't expect you to. I'd rather we could all be grown ups and discuss it properly, sadly there are those individuals that deliberately post provocative content relating to an impassioned subject that is naturally going to piss people off. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a civilised discussion with intelligent members rather than sift through substantial volumes of verbal diarrhoea. The Lampard topic is locked because it is a stain on this forum, every time I read a page of it it seems to corrode through every good debate that's ever taken place on TalkChelsea.

Agreed. I think we all wanted him to get more of a chance at the start of the season, and he started like a house on fire. Maybe he's playing with an injury? Whatever the matter is, he's well below par atm, and it's sad to see.

Football isn't a vocation you necessarily enjoy. Maybe Kalas will realise that now. If you want to make something of yourself in this dog-eat-dog venture, you have to be prepared to do stuff you don't want to. That means playing out of position though it feels uncomfortable; going out on loan to maintain fitness and sharpness though you don't want to; doing things on the pitch you don't like doing. Frankly, I don't like how my workload seems to get bigger every day without getting a pay rise but I don't bitch about it. And I'm not on £30,000 a week.

At the start of the season, and after the World Cup, he was like: Now he's like:

This game reminded me of the 1-1 draw with Genk. We weren't great that night either. But we all know what happened at the end of that season.

It's fucking arrived hasn't it

Prices make a huge impact. For me to go and watch Chelsea costs a bomb. My fault, yes, for living in Nottinghamshire, I know. It costs £50 in fuel, £15 to park, £3 for a programme, anywhere between £35-70 for a ticket dependant on the fixture, yet when I was younger I used to go a lot more often. Now I barely go, I can't afford to. To put it into context, I have a season ticket at Trent Bridge, watching one of the country's best domestic sides every game for a one-off fee of £75, and that allows me discount on England tickets as well. Probably costs me a fiver in fuel to get there. That's the difference; last cricket season I went to watch 30-40 days' worth of play for £75 - last football season I went to 3/4 home games and a couple of away games and it cost me around £600. Again, fair enough, living so far away doesn't help. but even if I lived locally, I'd find myself going to the Oval or Lord's more than the Bridge to watch the domestic cricket for an eighth of the price.