BlueLion.

Pretty clear Hazard, Gaz, JT and Dave will be on the poll then!

My nominations: 1. Cesar Azpilicueta 2. Eden Hazard 3. John Terry

Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, John Terry and Eden Hazard have all been nominated for the TalkChelsea Player of the Season award. The four players were selected from the entirety of the Blues squad to make a four-man shortlist. Eden Hazard is the favourite to win the award, with his 17 goals in all competitions this season elevating him to the lofty status as one of the world's very best players. Defensive duo John Terry and Gary Cahill have been integral in maintaining the Premier League's best defensive record, whilst Spanish international Cesar Azpilicueta has also been nominated after forcing his way into the team at the expense of Ashley Cole. The winner will be announced on Thursday 10 April. Click here to view the article

You are right, there is a very good chance you will go through, but if you think it will be easy at Stamford Bridge you are wrong. I am confident you will lose on Tuesday, but I doubt we will beat you by the requisite number of goals. If you progress, you will be exposed by whichever team you come up against. The best team you can hope for will be Barcelona or Atletico, because Bayern or Real will quite comfortably dispatch you.

You need to win the second leg against us yet. Napoli in 2012 were a far more impressive team than your side. If you go through it'll be because of our goalkeeper having an incredibly poor goal and the fact we don't have a suitable striker to play. Your weaknesses will be exposed against a side with forwards.

Watching him made me feel happy yesterday. I've never seen a footballer play with such a smile on his face. His love for the game is immense.

In a game where you're going to have a lot of possession, Bran is the worst full-back to have on the pitch as he has no idea what to do with the ball. In matches against the big teams you need him for defensive solidarity. I hope José has recognised this and goes out and buys another right-back in the summer. It's clear Azpi is his left-back now, I doubt he'll ever start a game again on the right.

I doubt that'll ever happen, because unlike most Spanish players he can actually defend. There's more of the typical Italian full-back in our Cesar. Reminds me of Zambrotta in his later days.

Spot on. Imagine if we had a striker... we'd be 4/5 points clear at the top by now.

I think Ba, Torres and Lukaku will all be sold, and Eto'o will look for a final pay cheque somewhere warm. And I can't blame the guy, good luck to him. Mourinho wants Costa. He probably also wants Mandzukic. Bamford won't come and play in the U21s for a season with his form, he should be loaned out to a Championship side or possibly even a lower Premier League side. His confidence and development would be stunted by sitting on the bench once every three games and starting one in fifteen. Which makes me think we'll go for a proven Premier League forward as a safe and relatively cheap option - Javier Hernandez for instance. Either that or we convince Eto'o to stay another year. But it's clear Ba is 100% off, Torres is 90% likely to go and try his luck elsewhere and it's painstakingly obvious that José doesn't fancy Lukaku.

We all have to realise Cech is a phenomenal keeper. However we can't let sentiment disguise the fact that he's made a number of high profile howlers this season, or at least a greater number than he or any keeper usually would. His form has dipped before and he has always come back stronger, and I fully expect him to do the same once more here. However, rather than oscillating between good and sub-par like Cech, Courtois is going from strength to strength to strength. Even I, one of Cech's biggest fans, thinks it is stupid to keep a 32 year old whose form isn't great (is Cech suffering a crisis of confidence? I see no conviction in what he does...) when waiting in the wings you have an absolute freak of a 21 year old who is probably already almost as good as Cech is! The way we have to see it is Cech would be able to keep goal for us for another 2-3 years. We'd get the best out of 10 years with Courtois and it won't cost a penny.

I did until I saw a close-up. The Spiderman panelling on the torso is awful. Might as well have copied Janot's kit from 2007:

The last collared shirt we had was fucking cursed.

The false 9 experiment has been utilised twice, and failed twice. I doubt we'll ever see it again.

Chelsea temporarily returned to the top of the Premier League with a convincing win over in-form Stoke City. After a week of extreme disappointment following away defeats to Crystal Palace and Paris St-Germain in the Champions League, it was pivotal that the Blues addressed their alarming slump in form with a much-needed win. The visit of Mark Hughes’ Stoke side to Stamford Bridge may, on paper, have seemed a simple assignment for José Mourinho’s men – but three successive league victories for the Potters saw the visitors come into the game with the superior form out of the two sides. But the ease with which Chelsea dispatched their Midlands opponents, who recorded a shock 3-2 win over the Blues in December’s reverse fixture, will be a welcome reprieve for Mourinho and his under-fire team. Last weekend’s disappointing showing at Selhurst Park looked to have all but put the Blues out of the title race, but this professional performance will remind Liverpool and Manchester City that Chelsea still may have the last laugh. Though their stay at the top will be brief – Liverpool travel to face West Ham on Sunday lunch-time knowing that they will supplant the Blues should they avoid defeat – this comprehensive result will only serve to buoy the team’s waning confidence. The win piles pressure onto fourth-placed Arsenal, who face a difficult trip to Everton tomorrow, but more importantly it will give Chelsea the morale boost they need ahead of Tuesday’s second leg against Paris St-Germain. With that fixture in mind, Mourinho opted to rest Eden Hazard – the diminutive Belgian’s absence opened up a place in the starting eleven for January signing Mohamed Salah. And the young Egyptian was crucial in a consummate Chelsea showing; scoring the opener, winning the penalty that allowed Frank Lampard to notch the 250th goal of his club career, and then later setting up the Blues’ third. Willian, equally excellent, then added a layer of gloss to the scoreline with his first Blues goal at Stamford Bridge - netting a gorgeous curling effort from range, to send the adoring capacity crowd home delighted. But it was the beleaguered figure of Fernando Torres who had the first real opportunity of the game as he flashed a low drive just wide of Asmir Begovic’s goal. The under-fire Spaniard is without a league goal since mid-January, and he came close to ending that run when his instinctive prod on goal moments later was superbly blocked by the Bosnian goalkeeper. The chance had materialised when Stoke defender Erik Pieters chested the ball down for his goalkeeper to collect – Torres stole in, but was foiled by Begovic’s brave spread. Salah himself then went close as his shot from Lampard’s pull-back was comfortably saved, before Begovic, at full stretch, managed to claw away a deflected strike from Willian as the Blues started strongly. Lampard himself had a shot blocked before Salah opened the scoring. It was Nemanja Matic who assisted the Egyptian as he powered past two defenders before tidily setting up Salah for his second goal in as many home games. With the goal their assertive start had warranted now secured, Chelsea looked to capitalise and – but for a good call from the linesman – almost had their second as Branislav Ivanovic’s header was chalked off to end premature celebrations. Hughes made a brace of changes at half-time with Andy Wilkinson and Charlie Adam coming on his side. The latter made his presence felt just four seconds after his introduction with a foul on Cesar Azpilicueta, whilst Wilkinson enjoyed an equally torrid welcome to the game as he upended Salah for a Chelsea penalty. Begovic guessed the right way and did well to save Lampard’s effort from the spot-kick, but the England midfielder was first to the follow-up to prod home the landmark goal. From that point it was a case of how many goals Chelsea would score, but with Tuesday’s European tie clearly in mind, the Blues were a little reserved in their search for more goals. That attitude did little to stop Mourinho from introducing Hazard from the bench, whilst David Luiz came on to replace goalscorer Lampard with twenty minutes remaining. Within moments of that change, Salah had fed Willian, who exquisitely curled home Chelsea’s third from 20 yards. It was a glorious, lofted effort into the top corner for the Brazilian’s third Blues goal. Ashley Cole later came on to a rapturous reception after a six-game enforced absence through injury as Chelsea comfortably played out the final moments to record their seventh win from their last ten league fixtures. Petr Cech’s shut-out at the opposite end continued his run of eight games at home in succession without conceding. That run, you must feel, surely has to be maintained on Tuesday for the Blues to have any chance of progressing in Europe.

Got to be honest and say that if the GK shirt was plain red, I'd have already pre-ordered it. The awful Spiderman panelling on the chest totally ruins it.

Chelsea and adidas have combined to reveal the Blues' stunning new home kit for the 2014/15 campaign. The kit features a two-tone blue-on-dark-blue horizontal gradient with the traditional white trim on adidas' trademark three stripes. The reverse of the shirt is minimalist, with a single white stripe across the shoulder-blades to highlight the player name and number. The shirt has been revealed as part of a striking new advertising campaign by adidas which features five current Blues stars immortalised in plaster cast. Narrated by José Mourinho, the video references the iconic image of Petr Cech saving Bastian Schweinsteiger's penalty in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, as well as Fernando Torres' celebration of his opening goal against SL Benfica in last season's Europa League showpiece. Gary Cahill, Oscar and Eden Hazard also feature prominently. Additionally, the new goalkeeper shirt to be worn by Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois is blood orange with a white trim. The front of the shirt has a slightly darker red panel across the torso and the top of the arm. Both kits utilise adidas' revolutionary ClimaCool technology. They are released to the public on April 30, and can be pre-ordered online. Click here to view the article

Anyone got his number?

To all the PSG fans giving it large - you'll go crawling back under the woodwork when we're finished with you at the Bridge. Pathetic.

Chelsea are facing elimination from the Champions League after suffering a 3-1 defeat against Paris St-Germain. Though the optimists will point the way of the Blues’ incredible comeback win over Napoli en route to lifting the trophy in 2012, Javier Pastore’s stoppage time goal to looks to have put the tie beyond José Mourinho’s men. Ezequiel Lavezzi gave the home side the perfect start when he lashed a brilliant finish beyond Petr Cech with just four minutes played, but Eden Hazard replied from the penalty spot to deservedly restore parity for the visitors - just moments before hitting the post with a splendid volley. But a dismal showing after the break was punished when David Luiz conceded a free-kick out wide for a needless foul on Blaise Matuidi, with the Brazilian heading into his own goal from Lavezzi’s resultant delivery. And things went from bad to worse as substitute Pastore rifled past Cech at his near post to leave Chelsea facing a mammoth challenge at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday. It was a night to forget for Cech, who was arguably at fault for both of the French club’s goals after the break. Though he could do nothing about Lavezzi’s magnificent opener, he mistakenly opted to stay on his line as Luiz hacked the ball into his own goal on the hour mark, though admittedly he was surrounded by a sea of bodies. On his 100th European appearance of the club, the Czech goalkeeper was most definitely culpable as he was beaten from an obscene angle at his near post by Pastore’s late drive to leave the Blues in a perilous situation. This will be a night to forget for Mourinho and his side, who, on the back of a shock defeat against Crystal Palace to effectively end their Premier League title challenge, needed a positive performance and result to resurrect their fading season. Instead, those two second half strikes have consigned the Blues to a damaging defeat that threatens to leave the club trophyless for the first time since 2011. This was a disaster of an evening for Chelsea, though the Blues will take positives from various comeback wins against the odds in the past, and with Samuel Eto’o hopefully restored to full fitness the West London outfit do have a small chance of pulling off an unlikely reversal. With the score intriguingly set at 2-1 heading into four minutes of stoppage time, Mourinho would have been confident of his side's chances of progressing, but those hopes took a significant blow with Pastore's late third. That goal seemed to suck all the life out of Chelsea's players, who were visibly dejected at full-time. Their chances will be helped by muscle injuries sustained by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti late on which may rule them out of the return leg in six days' time, but in truth the tie seems to be beyond the Blues, who were devoid of any invention and flair for large periods of the game. Hazard was the one shining late as he calmly beat Salvatore Sirigu from the penalty spot to level matters, and his magnificent volley mere minutes later was a coat of paint away from nestling in the far corner. But besides the Belgian, Chelsea were lackadaisical in an offensive sense and the way Pastore was able to dribble beyond myriad defenders late on leaves much to be desired at the opposite end of the pitch also. It will take something truly special from Mourinho and Chelsea to turn this around. Click here to view the article

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