Jase

Oh joy. Our bogey team of sorts. Never easy against these lots against at Villa Park. Worth mentioning also that Mourinho has yet to win at Villa Park in the league (just like with St. James' Park) - D3 L1.

Not sure when was the last time I see such hilarious defending like Spurs did in the second half. One defensive cock-up after another. It wasn't a great performance by any means today but at this point of the season, picking up the wins is more important than the performances (though that's not to say I'll be happy if we continue to play average-ly/poorly but yeah). Agree that we were pretty much given the goals by Tottenham but disagreed on the first and crucial opening goal though. Yes Vertonghen slipped and made the mistake with the back pass but it all initally came from the pressure by Schurrle to force that error. After that though as they say, the rest is history. Think what was frustrating with the performance, especially in the first half (maybe understandable after a week with INT games), we didn't make good use of the possession enough to exploit their high line when they were there to be exploited. We didn't make any mistakes alright but the passes were frustratingly sloppy, players getting caught offside repeatedly and despite having a 3-man midfield, there were not enough forward runs from either Ramires or Lampard to support the attack and connect the midfield with the front 3. It also probably wasn't helped by the fact that we sat a tad too deep which made it easy for Spurs to pick up the balls from their own half, winning those 50-50s/second balls etc (especially when we couldn't even keep the ball to save our lives!). Second half was a bit better with Oscar on in the No.10 role. Gave us something different going forward and helped to make those penetrative runs, albeit with Spurs down 10 men, to exploit their high line. On another thing, I kinda disagree that Tottenham were the better team in the first half. Yeah, they had control in the first half with more of the possession and all that but they didn't even threaten at all. If anything, we made them look a tad better than they were because we didn't step up enough. Spurs arguably had a game plan which was to contain Hazard and stop us from playing but yet, I'm not even sure if they had any plans offensively! Chances from them were very rare and they only had early in the second half and there was none after that. Was also shocked that they didn't threaten us one bit after the sending off. It's almost as if their defensive game plan has completely rendered their offensive one non-existent. Adebayor was hardly a threat, Sigurdsson/Lennon/Walker all went AWOL. There was nothing, just nothing from them. All in all, great win. 4-0 against Spurs. 7 points clear. :blue scalf:

Aston Villa vs Chelsea PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION AND LIVE CHAT English Premier League 15th March, Saturday, 2014 Villa Park 17:30 Kick Off (UK time)

Aston Villa 1-0 Chelsea POST-MATCH DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS English Premier League 15th March, Saturday, 2014 Villa Park 17:30 Kick Off (UK time)

Eto'o goal celebration today. Making fun of that comments from Mourinho.

Still being grumpy and nitpicky.

Man United, Man City, Newcastle, Galatasaray, West Brom...

Grumpy old Rapha!

That was rather tragic. Spurs were there for the taking especially with their obvious high line but we have made a complete mess of it with our poor use of the ball. Ugh!

Spurs starting XI vs Chelsea: Lloris; Naughton, Dawson, Kaboul, Vertonghen; Bentaleb, Sandro; Walker, Lennon, Sigurdsson; Adebayor. Spurs planning to double up on Hazard it seems. Naughton and Walker on the right side... (unless that is a back 3/5 setup)

Someone just said the same to me. Think the fact the fan in my room wasn't on then played a part in that. Was even furious in the dream!

Errr yeah. I'll wait till when something concrete is happening as opposed to getting excited over a possibility. We have had a number of this 'false hope' before already.

I am the calm one: Mourinho claims he has learned to keep his cool on the sidelines

Had a bad dream last night. Dreamt that we lost to Spurs 1-0 with Vertonghen scoring the winner from a free kick by the left flank in the 60 something minute. Eeek!

Chelsea midfielder Ramires wants a spot in Brazil's squad for 2014

HAZARD: A PLEASURE TO PLAY

I know what others have said but I never said that they should take Hazard as the reference point. I apologize if I didn't make my point clear to begin with. What I was trying to say then that if Hazard is injured (which now he isn't obviously), then it highlights that we lack another player that makes an impact and the difference in our team. Hazard is Hazard. He is a special talent, one of a kind (if you like) yes but I don't mean others needed to be like him. The other players can still have a similar impact and make a difference to our team, in their own way, just like Oscar did earlier this season. Moreover I then pointed out that if say Oscar and/or Willian is/are in form now, then it would help to at least alleviate a potential loss of Hazard is the starting XI because they would still produce the goals/assists and make an impact to the team in their own way. However, the problem is Oscar is out of form right now while Willian is still inconsistent in terms of his final product in the attacking third. And yes I am aware that in time, the likes of Oscar, Willian etc would develop into a better player than they are now and contributing better as well as more consistently to the team but I was speaking about the current situation.

Well, he looks to be in a better mood this week... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1fac8i_mourinho-press-conference-before-tottenham-match_sport

He's rated doubtful for the game.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1fagmr_matic-taking-it-game-by-game_sport

Gary Neville: Walker vs Hazard will be a game of chess

Chelsea v Tottenham Match Preview by @NishC300.

*bump*

Tim Sherwood claims the pressure is off as Spurs look to end dreadful record at Stamford Bridge

Mourinho's presser tomorrow will be at 3pm UK time..