Jase

For Lampard, it's all about power and accuracy. Keeper won't have a chance to save it even if they guessed the right way, as you pointed out. As for Hazard, it's more about placement than anything else.

Something is wrong with the volume during the interview with Benitez but it's normal when it's with Cahill. Nobody wants to hear Benitez talking..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcW7xqm269A&feature=plcp

Hardly a surprise to see Mikel being punished by the FA. FA = Fergie Association. We should be able to cope without him in those games.

We are not Arsenal FFS! We don't care about imaginary trophies!! Qualifying is overrated!!!

Obviously the troll face appeared in that post was just for decoration...

You did.

Merged with the old thread.

@Rmpr, Using the same avatar for TC and Twitter and we won, 6-1!

Emma Watson is a Chelsea supporter?!! When was that picture taken?!! EDIT: Aah. It was taken in 2009. Still, WTH!!

Aren't you jumping the gun to say we'll face Corinthians in the final?

Apart from Luiz, Ivanovic, Cole and Terry was actually stationed in one straight line but when the ball was played to Quagliarella, Cole and Ivanovic did not move. Instead, it was Terry who tried to play the offside trap rather than just stay with his man.

Have to say, Ivanovic just looked lost at RB last night. Average at defending and doesn't seem to know what to do when he got forward. As for the Nordsjaelland, have no idea why he didn't just step up and play the offside trap when the rest of the back 4 have done so! It was a poor goal to concede and against the better teams in a much more important game, that could have been costly!

All that because of 1 mistake? Can't handle the pressure well? Have you forgotten our Champions League run last season? You don't play in those big games if you can't handle the pressure. That just summed up my point about people being nitpicking on Mikel. How can one blame Mikel for Luiz stepping out of the defence and/or Terry for trying to play the offside trap when the rest of the back 4 didn't?! Absurd! What can you do when just after Mikel gave the ball away, Juventus only made 2-3 passes and bam, Quagliarella is in to score?! You're putting the blame on Mikel because of this character of just letting it go after losing the ball but not the criminal mistakes Terry, for his his experience as a CB, made. Comical.

Mikel made a mistake yes but was it all down to just his fault for the goal? No. If you want to look at who's fault for the goal, then it was him, Terry and possibly even Luiz as well but you're totally blaming it all on Mikel for the goal which is just unreasonable. Midfielders like him can make mistakes there and that's why you have the back 4, the last line defence, to prevent such mistakes from costing us a goal. I'm sure if it was someone like Oscar, Hazard or Mata who made that poor pass, nobody would be talking about the mistake like they do now about Mikel. When he plays well, not many people will praise him but the minute he makes one mistake, suddenly the haters are out to get him.

Yeah. It's the normal European knock out stage 2 legged ties after the group stage.

So, you're blaming Mikel simply because he gave up after losing the ball but forgive Terry or Luiz for making an honest mistake?! Funny. None of the defenders in the back 4 tried to play the offside trap but Terry did. Had he stayed together with Quagliarella, he wouldn't have scored it. For a defender of Terry's experience, you would expect so much better than making a dreadful error like that in a crucial moment of the game. That's just criminal! As for Luiz, yes he may have stepped out of the defence but he was trying to mark Vucinic(IIRC), not covering the space that Mikel left there. And while Mikel did lose the ball, our defence was supposed to be the last line of defence and deal with any threat that the opponent poses but did they deal with it? No and all because Terry tried to play offside trap and not stay with his man.

Of course. People are just going to pick on Mikel and forget that Terry tried to play the offside trap but failed miserably and led to Quagliarella scoring the equalizer for Juventus then.

He was great yesterday. He needs to run at defenders more like he did yesterday. Admittedly, it was only against Nordsjaelland but they couldn't handle his runs and I'm sure not many Premier League can do the same too. Just need to improve his final passes.

Why? We get West Brom in the FA Cup 4th round and then face Napoli/Inter in EL. Lose both and Benitez gets the sack. Not entirely sure but think it's either 11.30am or 12pm UK time on the 20th.

Cech and Cahill's post-match interview with Sky Sports. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zZ_iXiKEc

A shame that we crashed out of the Champions League after Oscar have scored those crackers. Could easily add to the tally otherwise.

Sunderland vs Chelsea PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION AND LIVE CHAT Barclays Premier League Saturday, December 8 2012 Stadium of Light 15:00 Kick Off (UK time)

Sunderland vs Chelsea POST-MATCH DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS Barclays Premier League Saturday, December 8 2012 Stadium of Light 15:00 Kick Off (UK time)

Made a slight error in explaining how the teams will go into the 'Seeded' and 'Unseeded' pots. Have amended it. They're through but just not confirmed where they'll finish in their group yet.