BlueLion.

Carlos Tevez > Sergio Aguero

Could be something to do with the fact he touches the ball about half as much as the likes of Aguero, Costa, etc.

Sorry, that's my dad's username! :lol: The old fart hasn't been on for about 90 years though.

If he's going to get this many minutes, he may as well leave, and we better bring back Cole.

There's a difference between missing (i.e. Kiessling) a penalty and having a very good penalty saved quite brilliantly, like Koke.

Imagine if we were Man City and we weren't performing and we weren't getting results! Be thankful for what you have! It makes me laugh how Sky are going all Billy Big Bollocks about Liverpool's 13 game unbeaten streak. Sure, it's a tremendous feat and they're doing great. But the nonsense about "if the league started at Christmas, we'd be top" is laughable. "Oooh look, we've got ten more points than Chelsea in the last 13 games". So what? We got about 20 more than them in the games prior to that. My point is this - you can play gorgeous football and win matches. But can you do it over the course of a whole season? Its very, very difficult. There have been patches this season where we looked unstoppable, playing good football and scoring some sexy goals. But Liverpool, City, Arsenal, even United have had those same little patches over the course of the campaign so far. Nobody has done it consistently this season and I think that links, in part, to the fact that the PL is as competitive as its ever been. Be off your game for even 45 minutes and you will be punished, as City found out at the weekend. Good results breed confidence, and confidence leads to improved performances. We've not quite got the results recently, and having also been knocked out of the UCL it is little surprise we're close to running on empty psychologically. A fault of Jose's is his relative lack of rotation, which again means we're running on empty from a physical point of view. But get one or two wins on the bounce and things will look a little rosier. After going four years without a league title, I wouldn't mind if we 0-0'd and 1-0'd our way to the title this season, I really wouldn't. I can understand that people want to see more bang for their buck, but let's just win this league title, and next year let's try and defend it by playing some sexy football.

I accept your arguments, especially about team rotation. But I have never said Mourinho doesn't deserve criticism. I said it twice yesterday alone. My argument is that our squad is nowhere near as good as people on here think it is. Mourinho is making a fist out of a hand that is relatively decent, but by no means world-beating. For me, Mourinho is rebuilding the mess that was the short-term fix represented first by Grant, then Scolari, then Hiddink, then Ancelotti, then Villas-Boas, then di Matteo, then Benitez. It might have brought about some short-term success, but there was no long-term vision for the future. There is this time around with José. It will be a frustratingly long journey, but he will make us one of the world's best teams again in the not too distant future. And as far as I'm concerned, we've taken positive strides this season. A League and League Cup double is a fucking phenomenal achievement given the quality of the competition in the PL this season. It's as competitive as ever and for me this is a very positive indicator of things to come. Mourinho doesn't get it right every game, I accept that, but if he gets it right over the course of a season - which we almost always does - he wins silverware. I'll take that.

If anyone thinks our performance in the second half yesterday wasn't "good", they're mistaken. We were excellent and unfortunately their goalkeeper played a blinder. It happens. People have to realise football is a results business. I'd happily take a cagey 1-0 every week if it means we win the title. People remember what you win, not the football you play.

And remember the string of 0-0s and 1-0s? I do. My whole point is winning is more important than entertainment. If you lot are all content with 4-4 draws then I'm fucking buzzing for you. Give me a scrappy, shitty 2-1 any day of the week.

No, it just SEEMS I'm the one being rational. There's a reason he's the manager and we're all typing our thoughts on a website. I'm going to log out because a lot of members on here are clearly spoilt by success.

If you want to win trophies by playing good football I suggest you follow a Spanish side, it rarely happens in England. Our football was utterly abysmal at times in 2009/10, but 7-0 and 8-0 wins here and there disguise that fact. And what about our football under Mourinho the first time round? Yaaaawn. It doesn't say LEAGUE TITLE WINNERS - CHELSEA, BUT THEY PLAYED SHIT FOOTBALL in the record books, does it? Just be grateful for what we have, our would you prefer slick football and no trophies, á la Arsenal?

We have 64 points and ten games remaining. 30 points available. City are on 58 with nine games remaining. 27 points available. 85 points is their highest achievable tally. We need 22 points (7 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats) from our last ten games to beat them to the title. Arsenal are on 57 with nine games remaining. 27 points available. 84 points is their highest achievable tally. We need 21 points (7 wins, 3 defeats) from our last ten games to beat them to the title. United are on 56 with nine games remaining. 27 points available. 83 points is their highest achievable tally. We need 20 points (6 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats) from our last ten games to beat them to the title. 7 wins from 10. Our last ten games (five at home): Hull away - WIN Stoke home - WIN QPR away - WIN United home - DRAW Arsenal away - DRAW Leicester away - WIN Palace home - WIN Liverpool home - DRAW West Brom away - WIN Sunderland home - WIN That would give us 24 points. That would give us the title. Plus throw in the fact I am convinced we'll beat at least one of United or Liverpool at the Bridge. But my greatest confidence comes from the fact City still have to go to Old Trafford and White Hart Lane. They will not pick up maximum points. If they do, then fucking fair play. But it is totally in our hands and I am not panicking after a draw against a team in sixth that has only let in 21 goals all season.

LEAGUE CUP WINNERS AND SIX POINTS CLEAR MOURINHO OUT Fickle bastards. Can't wait to quote a shitload of these posts when/if we win the PL and the same critics are licking his arsehole.

Boo hiss boo, we're only six points clear. Pathetic reaction from some people. We only need to match City's points return between now and May. This weekend we picked up more points than they did. That represents a good point from my perspective. Is nobody else encouraged how, despite us going through something of a blip, we're still comfortable at the top of the league? If we were only a point ahead of City and we drew, I'd be concerned. But we're six points clear. Even if we lose the game in hand we have we're six points clear. Six points. Some of you need to get a fucking grip. LOOOL Mourinho out! You're a fantastic contributor but this post is pure AIDS. I hope its just a knee-jerk reaction. I accept Mourinho has his faults, but if you can name me a better coach in world football I'm all ears. Simeone maybe? Can't think of any more. Imagine if we had Pellegrini LOOOOL Will anyone give a fuck if/when we lift the title? I know I won't.

We could either have Costa, fired up and winding up defenders and at least making space for his team-mates, or we could have lazy-ass Lukaku who walks around for 90 minutes and scores the odd goal to cover up for the fact he is bang average. Your choice.

Fair point, but it says we're online when we've been active within 60 minutes! Ergo we can be "online" but in reality we could have signed out any time in the previous hour. Just saying, we can't be everywhere at once But the twat has been banned twice now. A shame PSG fans can't be more magnanimous/mature about things!

Its harsh but it isn't "unnecessary". He's a Chelsea player and we're allowed to be critical over his performances the same way we are over any player. We can say a player played well but he made a mistake here or there - that isn't an "unnecessary" discourse.

You raise a good point - Europa League football. Even Torres looked a player at that level! Let's just take those statistics with a pinch of salt! I said at the start of the season that all I wanted to win is the League. Nothing has changed. COC is a lovely addition and I'll be doubly joyous if we make it a league and league cup double. Diego has contributed massively to one trophy win (goal in the final) and has contributed even more to our league campaign.

Like a baby? Has Zlatan been slagging the Mods off as well, Mark?!

But Madrid are the type of team to say "fuck it" and offer Dortmund €50 for Hummels. You can't rule anything out with those fuckers!

Meh, thinking about it you can flip that the other way and say Costa in the Premier League = 17 league goals in three quarters of a season, which is more league goals than those lot contributed in the entirety of their time here. 18 goals in his first season is already a decent return.

Sorry, I forgot we got paid to be on here 24 hours a day, cycling through every piece of dirge that's posted when we don't a game It was posted in the dead of night, I'll tell you where I was - in bed!

There is only a limited extent that passion and energy can make up for technical and psychological shortcomings, however. Mourinho didn't see him as a good enough defender (I agree), and used him as a square peg in a round hole (to some success, I accept) in defensive midfield to cover for the cup-tied Matic last season. In essence we sold a player who was our third-choice centre-back and second-choice sitting midfielder for €50 million. He'll have the odd good game here and there but other than that he is strictly average. For every performance such as Wednesday (which I don't even think was that good, he was more interested in getting Costa sent off than trying to help him team, and his admittedly very good goal papered over the cracks of a typical Luiz performance where he was more concerned in his 30 yard passes into the channels than his defensive covering), he has a game such as the 7-1 against Germany. He's lucky he has the best defender in Ligue Un and arguably Europe by his side to help bail him out at times. I could name a dozen defenders who have had better seasons than David in France this season.

The Chelsea figures are important. Scoring goals at West Bromwich Albion, Anderlecht and even Everton, to some extent, is in some ways easier. The team is effectively set up to play to its primary strength, i.e. its strikers, whereas at Chelsea there is no individual strength that it promoted or highlighted in any way. It is harder to score goals as a forward for Chelsea because of the primacy of its midfield players. The great strikers in that time period; the Drogbas, the Anelkas and the Costas (and even the Kalous) still managed to find the back of the net. Okay, Romelu barely had a sniff, but no goals in 15 senior appearances for the club is indicative of his struggles here.

Not normally, but I find this now helps me vent my frustrations.