manpe

But who was bored enough to create gods?

Classic knee-jerk article

I said fine

The "arguments" of who is better are silly. We should be thankful we are in a position to even make those comparisons.

Think logically. FA has no jurisdiction over UEFA organized competitions. That's why cards and suspensions apply only to domestic (FA organized) competitions or UEFA/FIFA ones.

Numbers don't tell the whole truth. Against decent teams we've been crap defensively, including not so decent Reading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22WqS9TZDeQ

A good practice match. Torres's goal looked freakishly similar to Drogba's against Bayern.

This game was easier for the midfield double because Stoke mostly bypassed their midfield and played straight from defence to forwards or from wings to forwards. They also got time on the ball 'cause Stoke weren't insistent on actively pressing until we approached their final third. Instead they patiently invited us on to make room on our half of the pitch, illustrated by the fact that Mikel was through on goal at one point. But his performance was encouraging and hopefully he can do more of the same against teams who emphasize middle play and continuous pressing.

It's great to have a HG player of his ability and use. Very clever signing by the club to meet the HG criteria while also benefitting the team. Similar to Cahill in that sense.

Was his flick to Cole deliberate? It looked like a miscontrolled ball to me more than anything.

Noticed that too. Doesn't shy away from a challenge.

Yes, it's become old. It doesn't scratch my eye as long as he's being good, but when he's playing bad, it looks like he isn't taking things seriously and is just monkeying around.

So I understand you have a vacancy in staff now?

Best game so far from Robbie this season imo. The best and most surprising line-up so far, smart substitutions at the right times. I wanted Moses, on he came soon. At the end I was screaming for him to shut the shop and on came Terry, then I was much more confident. And also the first game without inferiority complex, demonstrated by playing Oscar, Mata and Hazard together for the first time. Only thing I might have changed was to play Sturridge, but nevermind that (he's injured?). True, the game wasn't one for the neutrals, but as a Chelsea fan I knew it was never going to be easy. The game had a draw written all over it and I was ready to take a point. A scrappy win is something I am happy with. This can get our morale back up and get us back on winning track, last season we were praying for those kind of wins during our bad moment, which came too late. The championship is won by rolling through such fixtures unconvincingly. My man of the match vote would go to Di Matteo if I could choose him. From the poll I will have to choose between Ramires, Cahill, Cole, Mata and even Moses. I don't know who I should choose, there were no stand-out players.

Hmm... dynamic? mobile?

No. This formation needs fluid players, ours are anything but fluid.

Our defence has scored most of our goals as of now, 2 by Ivanovic and 2 by Cahill. Not counting pens by Lamps and Hazard, otherwise our midfield would surpass them I guess.

Artinho is gone He's in a better place now (not really). Let us remember him with this magical piece http://www.karaokepa...82d663d5858362b

Hmm, if Real seriously want Ivanovic, then we could do a straight swap + some cash on. Similar players in terms of positions they can play.

I feel for this guy. His pre-season was limited to playing in the Olympics, he hasn't played for us in ages. Then, when he finally does, he will be far from match fitness, lacks understanding with the team and feels like an outsider. It's very possible that he will have a shocker due to all this, fall down even further in the picking order and fans will turn against him. Yet when he came, he was regarded as a super talent and he even demonstrated it. I guess he will get his chances when Mikel goes to AFCON, but even then we might play Luiz there according to Newton. It's not even certain he will be here after January, clubs are storming after him and rightly so, we are doing very little to keep him. He will probably end up at Spurs with AVB.

Has this helped so far? He is unpredictable even to himself, he's in internal war with himself. I agree with the OP, his style of play looks chaotic. It's worrying that the coaching staff haven't managed to sort it out in almost 2 years. He must avoid another goal drought at any cost, because I don't think he can survive another one. I am eagerly waiting for Oscar, Hazard and Mata to be integrated into the team. If he doesn't perform with those chaps, then he's done. But let's wait at least till January, we have no choice, it's still early in the season and it's far from the worst he could have. In all honesty the whole team hasn't been performing well in last 3 games, and Torres isn't the kind of guy to turn up when everybody else doesn't.

Something like this? How did you know?

You're probably right

Brilliant strategy, why haven't we thought about this before

United is definitely the most popular here. Even people who are wannabe fans and don't know anything about them, "support" them. It's difficult to tell where Chelsea fare because I don't go on local football forums and a proper football culture is absent here.