manpe

It's very simplistic to blame player power for a clusterfuck like this. You think after a title-winning season the players instantly decided enough is enough, let's riot against Jose fucking Mourinho out of all people, we don't want to win anything anymore until this guy is here? I don't think so, they have their own careers to think about. You have been an avid defender of Mourinho for a long time now, time to open your eyes. Jose shares equal blame with the players and the board, it's clear as day. The team I would play: Courtois Azpi - Zouma - Cahill(JT if fit) - Baba Cheeks - Matic Hazard - Willian - Kenedy Remy

Cheap attempt at emulating Essien against Arsenal. It was almost as bad as that John O'Shea shot that went out for a throw-in (EDIT: Scratch that, just rewatched the video, nothing comes close to O'Shea's shot going closer to his own goal). Another big sigh from the crowd I remember was when Fabregas played a non-pass in the box for a goalkick. Zero cohesion.

This season is making last season's title feel worthless tbh. If we lose to Porto I will go from 'undecided' to the 'yes' camp and will stick to it until it happens.

Jose is a short term manager, I have to start accepting this. The fact he's persisting with a visibly declining mercenary (Fabregas) in the hope he might produce a few assists to help us short term instead of giving all this time to a player who the club has invested the most faith in since Terry, shows that he has no deep care for the future. So he prefers a declining Fabregas who could have some short term benefits if he happens to hit form, to an up and coming academy boy itching to show as a fan to the fans what he can do. I can imagine how much further he would be in his development already if he'd played instead of Cesc or Oscar this season.

Why was he so orange today? From all the tangerines he's been eating?

Wow, that was bad. Still as many points gained as there are games played (15), AND IT'S ALREADY DECEMBER! Heads have to start rolling, responsibility has to be taken and that includes the likes of Fabregas, Oscar, Ivanovic, Matic, Costa and Mourinho mainly.

Essien

In that team I would only change Robben for Essien, just to provide more power in midfield. And one thing I especially liked about him was that he always played with a smile on his face.

Irrelevant. Defensively it was our best.

MOTM vote?

Was posting my line-up and realized it was exactly the same as yours. This really should be an opportunity for Cheeks at home to a weak opponent. I can't see him playing any other role than a time-wasting sub at 90+ minutes if he doesn't get significant time here.

Poor Willian, two hard smacks to his face Seemed to have trouble shaking off the last one. Oh and Fabregas was shit, can't remember anything of note other than a tackle on Dembele.

Not gonna happen. Jose recently said he had a different idea to Hazard's of what a no.10 should be. Oscar is the better defender, therefore he will not be preferred in a position with less defensive duty. I thought the team played well defensively, but offensively we were pretty much the same except we did have some sparks, but no end product yet again. The situation where Oscar nutmegged a defender and ran into the box only to end up making a hopeless shot because we didn't have anybody in the box (Hazard was in a bad position), showed that we are better off playing with a natural striker who would make runs into the six-yard-box in cases like these. It's a shame Remy had to be on leave, he's our closest bet to a true non-bib-throwing striker. Begovic saved our ass, as did Lloris for spurs. Both teams had an excellent chance from wonderful crosses, but squandered them. All in all I think a draw was fair, but considering we had significantly more rest and preparation time I am a bit disappointed that we still failed to convincingly grab the game by its neck for extended periods. Could have used Rami, shame about the injury.

Diego not really helping his case here, is he. Expecting Remy or Hazard at no.9 again the next game.

Let's not be defeatist. We need 3pts from every game from now on, a draw isn't an option anymore. Rather lose fighting than draw not even trying.

Good, let that filth stay away from him. He's ours.

Wholly agree Barbara. There is especially one certain privileged member on here who has been antagonizing and provoking others for years, some have got banned due to him. Won't mention any names, no point.

I think Terry's forced sub screwed Cheek's chance. Pedro and Remy obviously came on to preserve Hazard and Willian. I have a feeling he had the same plan with RLC for Fabregas, but it didn't happen. Still, would have been nice to see RLC get his academy day, but I can understand why he didn't.

Yep, he did, I saw that too.

How is the chances created stat put together anyway? If we are talking about real chances, then on the whole the team has created ~5 of them this season so far.

It's a must not lose, then we qualify. This is all you really need to know amidst all this combinations brainfuckery that people are calculating here.

We will win. Begovic Azpi - Zouma - Cahill - Baba Mikel - Matic Willian - Cesc - Hazard Remy

Anybody have a gif/video of the overhead skill he did at one point? I don't remember the minute or anything, but he basically lifted the ball over a defender to retain possession. That was class.

What did Jose tell him in the dressing room? Source of Costa fighting back?

Just goes to show how much we have been lacking quality crossers in the team if people consider this something extraordinary. Those kind of dangerous crosses are a fairly regular thing for top teams except us.