Jase

He has been called up to the Spain NT(along with Mata. No Torres) by Del Bosque for the upcoming international matches against Finland and France.

Skip to 2:45 for Mikel's post-match reaction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN0GQECYs_s

You are not taking that seriously, are you? It was just a joke because Mikel had so many shots from distance, hence why Barnett was poking fun at him a bit. Both had a good laugh about it.

Neil Barnett to Mikel post-match yesterday: Again Man United, you were seriously good. Today, you were seriously funny.

IF we get Spurs in the quarter finals, we'll be playing them 3 times in 4 matches in April.

Right. Back to league action where we really need the 3 points! Expecting at least 2 changes for this game with Lampard and Ba coming in. Might see Moses too.

Because he was one of the 3 designated penalty takers yesterday, said Benitez.

Chelsea vs West Ham PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION AND LIVE CHAT Barclays Premier League 17th March, Sunday 2013 Stamford Bridge 16:00 Kick Off (UK time)

Chelsea vs West Ham POST-MATCH DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS Barclays Premier League 17th March, Sunday 2013 Stamford Bridge 16:00 Kick Off (UK time)

Last 8 teams: 1. Rubin Kazan 2. Basel 3. Tottenham 4. Benfica 5. Chelsea 6. Fenerbahce 7. Lazio 8. Newcastle The draw will take place tomorrow at 11.40am UK time and there will be no restrictions for the draw, meaning any team can face any team, even the ones from the same country. And if anyone is interested, the Champions League quarter final draw will take place at 11am UK time tomorrow.

Having mixed feelings about this result. On one hand, am happy that we won the tie simply because it shuts the Steaua's chairman up after spouting rubbish since last week and said we'll never score 3 goals tonight! On the other hand, us progressing here means we'll be playing 4 games in 9 days in early April. 30th March(Sat) - Southampton(A) 1st April(Mon) - Man United(H) 4th April(Thur) - Europa League QF 1st Leg 6th April(Sun) - Sunderland(H) That is just plain madness. Those 2 league games simply has to be the priority! I blame Torres for creating this mess!

Not liking Benitez's lineup. Why play such a strong team here when the West Ham game on Sunday is even more important?!

Chelsea vs Steaua Bucharest PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION AND LIVE CHAT Europa League Last 16 Second Leg 14th March, Thursday 2013 Stamford Bridge 20:05 Kick Off (UK time)

Maybe Spike himself is Hazard while Hazard there is Spike.

Still can't take it for granted, can we? Let's not forget that Spurs were strongly linked with Oscar too last summer and IIRC, they looked very likely to sign him before we 'stole' him for Spurs.

That meme is missing one thing. Fergie's reaction after what Hazard said!

Just to clarify, I am by no means wanting Emenalo to stay(or to leave for that matter). Sitting on the fence. If it means him leaving for Mourinho to come back, then good. If not, meh..... As for the issue quoted, yes, the purchase of Oscar and Hazard may seem like a no brainer but one can't really take it granted they joined us then just because we're Chelsea FC. They would still have to be convinced of sorts and like it or not, Emenalo played a part in doing so.

Most likely yes. They are just anticipating us to progress in the EL and hence the replay has been scheduled on a Monday.

Obviously not.

Geoff Shreeves is at it again.

Before this completely go off topic, if you guys are going to continue discussing specifically about Emenalo in full extent(seeing some is talking about the Mourinho-Emenalo news today), then please do so in this thread in the link provided. http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/14013-michael-emenalo-technical-director-chelsea/page-2 Cheers.

Teams in the last 8 of the CL: 1. Real Madrid 2. Juventus 3. PSG 4. Dortmund 5. Barcelona 6. Galatasaray 7. Bayern Munich 8. Malaga Madrid, Juventus, Dortmund, Barca and Bayern make up 5 of the 8 teams. 1 big tie will emerge from the draw this Friday.

On second thought, best to just merge the thread with this.

So, Grant found 1 unknown player from a Russian league makes him better than Emenalo? Just like that? How certain are you that it wasn't someone else previously under the Mourinho regime that scouted Ivanovic first? Heck, even the likes of Milan, Juventus and Inter were interested in him then. Bolton, bottom team? Now yes. Back then, no. There were a Top 10 team then and most people knew about Anelka especially when he has played for so many notable clubs. As for the prices, if you want top quality players, you obviously need to pay big money for them. There's no escaping that. And if you want to talk about paying good prices for both, what about Azpi and Moses then?

Yes but I did say Emenalo is perfectly innocent here? No. He still helped to bring in players that improved the team quality in areas that we were lacking previously. While failing to get a balanced team this season has given us big problems, it's not the sole reason why we are in the EL right now. If that is the case, then the same thing can basically be said regarding your point about Grant bringing Anelka and Ivanovic in.