BlueLion.

Well I fucking put a hoodoo on that one...

It just shows where we'd be if Cech was injured.... probably mid-table

Fantastic article, I must admit. I've never been overly fond of Martin Samuel, but that is an excellent read.

Newcastle vs Chelsea 28 November 2010, 1330 KO - ECL, St James' Park MATCH CHAT HERE

Chelsea vs MŠK Žilina 23 November 2010, 1945 KO - UCL, Stamford Bridge MATCH CHAT HERE

Goalkeepers with best saves-to-shots ratio in Premier League (2010/11): Goalkeeper Team Saves Made Saves to Shots Ratio Gordon Sunderland 9 90.00% Cech Chelsea 46 85.19% Fabianski Arsenal 24 82.76% Stockdale Fulham 16 80.00% Hart Manchester City 39 79.59% Schwarzer Fulham 34 79.07% Begovic Stoke City 18 78.26% Cudicini Tottenham Hotspur 13 76.47% Foster Birmingham City 51 75.00% Jääskeläinen Bolton Wanderers 38 74.51%

Don't you remember the time we lost 3-0 at Middlesbrough?! Surely that ranks as even worse than this...

The Daily Fail are a bunch of liars.

It stays open until kick-off of the next match... so no.

The good thing is these injuries will barely affect our chances in Europe or the FA Cup. However I think we're being far too premature to write off our title chances. United may be undefeated but they are very suspect defensively, Arsenal are beatable and City are as inconsistent as they were last season and I don't see them as much of a threat. If we're being realistic we'll see this as the biggest test of any Chelsea squad in years and if we can come through it by January with Alex, Lampard, Terry and Essien all back in the team and still top of the league, we'll have done fantastic. I have faith in these players and our manager!

Tommy makes losing seem so much more enjoyable with his little reports.

The last time we had injuries this bad (06/07) it cost us the title. I don't think the same will happen. Whoever wins the title this season will be the team who is literally the least shit out of us, Arsenal, United and City. I say that because this league is so god-damn competitive at the minute! I can see us losing again this weekend.

I'd rather see us sign Mexes on loan till the summer and bring him in permanently in June when his Roma deal expires.

I don't see how Mancienne will solve our defensive woes. We are now going to be forced to play Ferreira or Bruma with Ivanovic at centre-half until January at least. We have to bring in a centre-back this transfer window!

Well the midfield duo of Mikel and Ramires could see Mikel play the deeper of the two - I do genuinely think it could work. Malouda played brilliantly as part of a 4-4-2 at Lyon and I can't see why he can't do it again at Chelsea.

It’s a formation that many have criticised in the past for various reasons; some say it doesn't get the best out of certain players whilst others say we don't have the players to field such a formation. But with the injuries we currently have and the impotence of our attack, for me its clear we need to change system. With no Lampard or Essien, there is neither the spark nor drive in the midfield. Zhirkov is a great wide player, whilst Ramires is still settling in. We all know Mikel is hardwired to play in a deeper role, whilst Zhirkov is playing in an unfamiliar position. Similarly Ramires is still acclimatising to the league. I think switching to a 4-4-2 would work because it compliments the players we have at the moment. The diamond wouldn't work without Lampard or Essien, but a 'flat' midfield might just solve our problems. We're losing players in certain positions - particularly central midfield - and so until Lampard and Essien are back we should switch to a 4-4-2: Petr Cech Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Alex, Cole Malouda, Ramires, Mikel, Zhirkov Drogba, Anelka A lot of people say Anelka and Drogba don't work well together, but in my opinion when they are both up top they are brilliant and compliment each other well. Zhirkov and Malouda are wide men and playing them centrally just doesn't seem to be as productive, whilst having Mikel and Ramires in the centre could mean one player is sitting and the other can be more adventurous. It might not be ideal but I think that this formation could be the answer to our injury problems. The 4-3-3 is becoming predictable to play against, and due to Ash and Bosingwa offering most of our width, we're left extremely narrow when they are being pressed as they were against Sunderland. I also think in a 4-3-3 there is a massive gap between the midfield and the front three, emphasised massively due to the absence of Lampard. Essien's drive means we are able to gamble and have one less man in the middle of the park - but without those pair we look very, very ordinary. Thoughts?

A good alternative, but I'm not sure Essien in the most vocal. Come to think of it, besides Terry, there are very few vocal players in the squad. Even Lampard is quite quiet. Ballack was always the most vocal player on the pitch last season besides Terry, but with him leaving there aren't any other clear choices. For me, Cech would be a good option. You need a captain to be inspirational and the form Cech has shown this year is better than 2004 to 2006 in my view; he's been simply brilliant.

He should be looking for some toothpaste... those fuckers are yellow!

Still not sure on Alex's fitness. So we're likely to see: Cech Bosingwa, Ferreira/Bruma, Ivanovic, A.Cole Mikel Ramires, Zhirkov Anelka, Drogba, Malouda I don't think Carlo will change the system. Again.

We should never have sold Carvalho without buying an experienced replacement. We need some experience in, I genuinely do not think Bruma is ready yet.

I think we need to revise our third captain to be honest. Drogba simply does not do it for me. He isn't vocal enough and his acts of half-heartedness and petulance at times does not strike me as leadership material. I appreciate he is seriously ill at the moment but we need someone who is more talkative and encouraging on the pitch. The only person who falls into that category in my view is Malouda.

We'll look back on this day in May and laugh.

Fair point, I appreciate we've been poor recently.

Ahh come on guys. Its one game. And an almighty wake up call! I think Carlo will now realise that midfield three just does not work. Godspeed Lampard.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/1938465.stm