Jase

Yes but Fabregas and Pirlo aren't exactly the same type of player, are they? The former won't shine as a deep lying playmaker, he's better at getting forward, linking up the play and creating chances.

Unlikely Ivanovic will be dropped for the next game considering we're away at West Brom on Sunday. Mourinho, as always, won't risk playing a newcomer straight from the get-go in such a vital match.

Even Pirlo can get overrun if you stick somebody close to him all the time.

Well, he didn't directly say "Terry is holding us back from playing a high line", which is true. But otherwise, you're pretty much spot on.

Beware, Rahman was apparently brought to the club's attention by Avram Grant...

Indirectly, Mourinho is basically saying Terry is holding us back from playing a high line.

We have lost our last 4 games at West Brom and two of those defeats led to 2 managers getting the sack. Ominous.

This "people need to respect him because he has done bla bla bla..." argument is getting old and tiring. So what if Ivanovic has scored important goals for us, it doesn't change the fact that he has been very poor defensively and his form warrants criticism!

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/oscar-faces-spell-sidelines *Waiting for MrBlueGuy to weigh in with more conspiracy theory...*

Mourinho on why he took Terry off at HT... http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/08/final-whistle-verdict--man-city-away.html

Mourinho on Rahman... http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/08/final-whistle-verdict--man-city-away.html Interesting bit (if you can call it that) about Azpi can compete with Ivanovic there...

Rahman will wear the No.17 shirt - http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/08/rahman-gets-17.html.

If Mourinho wants to continue playing Fabregas in the big games, then he needs to go with the 4-3-3. That way, it gives Fabregas less defensive responsibilities and more license to get forward (IIRC, we played 4-3-3 at Arsenal last season and Fabregas put in a decent display). Otherwise, sticking in the pivot doesn't do him and us any favor. He can't affect the game much going forward and as I said earlier, he's a defensive liability. It leaves Matic having to do two players' job and the defence exposed.

Last 6 League defeats for Chelsea: Pulis, Poyet, Pardew, Pochettino, Pulis, Pellegrini Next 2 games: Pulis & Pardew

OI ALEXANDRA, I have already created the thread for it!

Some stats, which aren't exactly pleasing... 1. Defeat here means Chelsea have won only 1 of their last 5 Premier League matches - D2 L2 (two of those losses being 3-0).\ 2. Chelsea haven't won a single match - pre season included - since Yokohama Tyres became the club's shirt partner - D3 L4. 3. The last time Chelsea picked up only 1 point from their first 2 Premier League games was back in 1998/99. Went on to finish 3rd. 4. Since pre-season began, Chelsea has been outshot 47 to 22 in terms of shots on target (7 matches).

He has a point...

Mourinho wanted quicker defenders apparently, hence why he took Terry off.

Yes, just like when Silva created that chance to put Aguero through 1 v 1 early on. It was pathetic. Tried to close him down, unsuccessful and got turned and after that, he was just jogging back.

That was trash talking really. It only applies to Ivanovic. Cahill has been dropped for making defensive mistakes, thus indirectly blaming him.

The situation with Fabregas really is an ironic one. Mourinho didn't like Mata because he was a liability defensively and he sold him to United (despite making an effort of improving that aspect of his game). But with Fabregas, he is a defensive liability and Mourinho is willing to look past that and let it affect the team especially in the big games.

Only positive of the season so far? Saved us from defeat against Swansea and prevented an even heavier loss at Man City. His performances will surely give Mourinho some thinking to do.

Yeah. There's more chance of us selling Rahman back to Augsburg next summer than Mourinho dropping Ivanovic.

Chill Skippy. It was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek comment. But otherwise, it's as what David said above. Mourinho meant in the context of the second half when it was still 1-0. He talked about Hazard having that chance to make it 1-1 and how players' mistakes contributed to the second and third goal.

On 16 August 2015, Rahman signed for Chelsea, for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £21.7 million, for a five-year deal Click here to view the record