DH1988

I love watching those two, really are a credit to sky sports and make up for the dribble that Jamie Redknapp spits out.

One thing he has improved, which I know a few of us were worried about from his Atletico days was his parries from shots and shots from wide into danger areas. Looks to have addressed that and parries into non-cluttered areas or into a Chelsea players path, it really is impressive. It cannot be done all the time but he's improved since he's been here which is a feat in itself no matter how much we feel sorry for Petr.

The thing is, does it? Willian has improved from last year, the same Eden improved, no I'm not saying they are any way the same player blah blah blah but what I am saying is that when we stop seeing improvement then its time to identify targets and possibly drop him etc. He had a poor game, no getting away from that and he wasn't up for the physical side of it last night but again, ran his nuts off. Willian has the ability, only a few other in the EPL that could beat him over 5 yards, not a huge amount but he had a burst of speed that you don't see often. as it creates space between him and the opposing player. Improvements required: Shooting Quicker release of the ball near the box I actually feel we get more from Willian and penetration from having him in the middle than on the wing but Jose cannot sacrifice that work rate because he compliments/gives so much freedom to Ivanovic down the right. If you look at our back four CB+CB+LB are all pretty much in a line but the RB is halfway up the opposition half positioned for a forward run or a diagonal cross field ball.

Unfortunately we do not have the luxury of a what if machine (or perhaps Roman would have saved himself £50m on Torres) but I'd like to of seen Mikel at United under Fergie etc. I agree, he never ever lived up to expectation as an AM, hardly given opportunity to but as a CM I agree he's had ample opportunities but I think he's been stifled and able to get away with being safe for so long that its second nature, nobody expected anymore of him, get the ball, pass it onto others, get the ball, pass it onto others etc. When your asked to do a job for say.. 40 games, week in, week out, training etc. then asked to go further forward it becomes difficult without a run of games. I'm certainly not suggesting we push him forward nowadays this is purely from a point of view from way back when before Jose pulled him back and stuck him with Maka. Its more of a, again, what if, scenario thats all that I find sad about it. There is no guarantee if we had played him as an AM he would of flourished so again, what if indeed. Nigeria Mikel is just a view of Mikel with more freedom, less burden, he really does excel but again, opposition etc. its one thing playing for Team ABC, another for Chelsea, Hi Lukaku!

Ok, very surprised about those stats, more credit due! Up the John!

Not surprised by Fergusons interview he says the same things about Jose for ages except now with a worrying slur, anyone else notice that?

Jose said not to worry for West Ham so most likely bruising and sore today - has 4 days to recover.

he did not look up for it from minute one, getting a little slap and then staying down for 2 minutes is not what you want to see in the second minute away at Stoke.

Each to their own matey, unfortunately we will never know if he was good enough and thats my point/sad thing. We all know the Mikel to be simple, safe and a good squad member, I do not think he's ever upset the apple cart as it were and he's a mainstay in the squad, has the odd good game, has the odd bad game but when he was young, he was a prospect further up the field, just that though, a prospect. I know its lower opposition as it were but Nigeria Mikel is a glimpse of what he had instead of sitting back at Chelsea, getting the ball and pass mastering the art of side ways 5 yard balls.

Its what he needed to be and anyone needs to be at Chelsea FC - if not your out so credit to him.

Agreed, posted this in another thread - happy for us to do that and should suit UCL football aswell with more space.

I would prefer to see tackles that like every week in the premier league again, gone are the days of a truely physical league. I miss those days. I'd be happy for Bardsley not to be booked there BUT the referees be consistent - thats the issue, players mistime challenges, players crunch the technical ones to let them know they are there, referees just need to be consistent in what they are booking and what they are not. Does anyone else feel that Eden slows our play down too much at times? Especially with his speed etc. I was disappointed and continue to be that he does not drive at the fullback more often? He had Bardsley 1v1 at least 4 times tonight and decided to stop and wait for another Stoke player.. Now whether that was part of the tactics to create space for others I am not sure but its something I've noticed in the last few games.

Class keeper, doesn't take shit Nzonzi.

Adverts with Drogba Adverts with Eden Cesc saying hes loves Messi Messi wife/Cesc wife bff.. Hm.. Matic-Fabregas Messi-Oscar-Hazard Costa Have to say, I don't like it and I prefer Willian - don't shoot me. Workrate

HUGE game, glad I've got a ticket for this one. We need to burst them from minute 1. West Ham gameplan: Long ball to Carroll Carroll draws the foul Downing over the freekick We need to let Carroll have the first header and do exactly what we did tonight against Crouch, Jose put it as 'a cage around him'. Carroll is better than Crouch because hes athletic. Dangerous game.

Bitty performance from everyone but really showed he has established himself as a JOSE player, calm, collected, does what he's asked to do and more. Still sometimes I look at him and its still weird to see him playing for Chelsea, I was unsure in the summer, like many but glad to admit I was way off the mark. Some work to do in big games but happy if we can go Mikel/Matic behind Cesc to see if it improves us - what I mean is that our record was EXCEPTIONAL against big teams, why? Well, most of the time we didn't outplay them, we overpowered, bullied them. Nice celebration.

Improved his hold up play today and seemed to calm down, still toothy in the fight but doesn't cross the line.

Improved his hold up play today and seemed to calm down, still toothy in the fight but doesn't cross the line.

Looking forward to UCL.

Think he, like many other, young british footballers who get big contracts when they are young are happy. If you ask him "You happy?" I'd bet an awful lot he says "Yes, setup for life, model gf, never have to work a day in my life, if I get to play some football then sweet, if not I'll continue driving in my bentley" Thats the trouble with football today, KIDS who have proven nothing in the football world other than being above average at youth level before so many factors set in get rewarded with a huge amount of money. These days its about the kids who have the ambition to burn through the contract and keep pushing. How many of us know people from school who were exceptional at that time yet they are nowhere near professional football or even semi these days? Even lads I knew on Spurs/Arsenal books are playing Saturday league now. Society, upbringing, agents, thats the difference I'm afraid. Credit to the players that bust their arses working their way up the league and finally make it into the EPL then establish themselves as decent players, real footballers. /rant

We do not play like we played at the start of the season and we can only put that down to Jose not liking the amount of goals we conceded so whilst the team has creative and attacking movements it's a ton more compact now, diego is most of the time left isolated and pointing where he wants it, doesn't grt it, comes deep and tries to bulldoze through. Tactics and team play needs to have more freedom imo

Dave wasn't the greatest by any stretch when he first came and we were unsure but saw promise, some time on the bench, training, getting used to tactics and plain old hard graft turned him into one of the best full backs in the premier league. It takes a special player to come into the league and hit the ground running for a team fighting for multiple trophies.

Time will tell but do I think Jose is the coach to make him number one in the world? No, do I think Jose will improve for our Chelsea team? Yes, he has already and will continue to.

Weird, nothing else to say other than hope he scores tomorrow night.. against Stoke, not with his sister.

Some time ago that.. If he can't get into the burnley team then it's a worry