Jase

Here's a stat that nobody would like. Javier Hernandez has scored 6 goals in 9 appearances against Chelsea in all competitions with 3 of those coming in the last 3 encounters.

Anyone remember this?

Lee Parker: Who is the biggest poser? Hazard: I think it's me. I'm beautiful.

We need to have a right balance of youth and experienced players in the team. Otherwise, we risk of becoming another Arsenal. And also, to have a competent manager managing the team!

Just saw this...

..........

Sorry, can't help but to post this again..

Mata spoke about his best and worst experience in Europe before making his 50th start in UEFA competition yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGqoDc7gjjI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z09iPzY6Ik4

Congrats Peace. Now go and ensure the entire world is in peace.

*ahem* The English Football Thread...

As expected, Inter got thrashed by Spurs. A pale shadow of the team 2-3 years ago and one is that desperately lacking in quality right now. And there were 8 Europa League games tonight, 10 teams kept a clean sheet. Two games ended 0-0.

More to add... 3. Chelsea are D1 L4 in the FA Cup away at Man Utd. 4. In his time at Liverpool(2004-2010), Rafa Benitez's PL away record against the big teams(CFC, MUFC & AFC then) reads - P18 W2 D3 L13. 5. In 6 visits to Old Trafford, Rafa Benitez has only won 1 of those games and suffered defeats in the other 5.

Here's some (awful) stats... 1. Chelsea have only beaten Manchester United in 2 of the last 9 matches in all competitions - W2 D1 L6. In the 9 matches before that, the record reads - W4 D3 L2. 2. Chelsea have not beaten Manchester United in 4 domestic matches when Howard Webb is in charge of the fixture - D2 L2.

Manchester United vs Chelsea PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION AND LIVE CHAT FA Cup Quarter Finals 10th March, Sunday 2013 Old Trafford 16:30 Kick Off (UK time)

Manchester United vs Chelsea POST-MATCH DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS FA Cup Quarter Finals 10th March, Sunday 2013 Old Trafford 16:30 Kick Off (UK time)

One caller on Chelsea TV earlier branded the performance tonight 'putrid' and said some players are just being mercenaries at the club right now. Also, sarcastic or not, those 5 people who voted Torres for MOTM deserves a warning.....

I was only being (half) sarcastic there FGS! That I agree. Have been saying many times already, the players have gone AWOL far too often in some of the big/important games especially away from home already. Atletico, Juventus, Shakhtar, Man City, CWC Final, Swansea in league cup to name a few.

Erm, can we just stick to talking all things about Mata here please? There's the English Football Thread elsewhere to talk about who's the best England midfielder in last 10-20 years.

Gave Steaua the win. Poor performance from both teams really. Neither side played well and 1 mistake decided the game. And think it has come to the point where it's just simply not worth getting pissed off anymore really. I mean poor performances like this are occurring far too often these days and then when you see someone like Torres 'ghosting' about and the players can't even do the basic things right, it just feel like your sould has been taken out of you. *sigh*

When asked about working under Billy Davies, it looked like he just put on a fake show to say he enjoyed working under the manager.

Before we even start thinking of switching to 4-4-2, we need to sort out the pivot first. Already failing in 4-2-3-1 and will get worse in a 4-4-2 without the right players! On the other hand though, don't think the 4-4-2 work at the very top level anymore. Having 3 players in midfield seem to be the norm these days and it is vital to dominate the midfield anyway. Otherwise, we'll just have the same problems like now. The 4-2-3-1 now would actually work if we have the right players from back to front and put in the application correctly!

The name's Mata... Juan Mata: Chelsea's 'Jonny Kills' looks every inch James Bond on D&G fashion shoot with his team-mates