Strike

Thread awfully quiet for some reason He got it spot on last night, more or less. Except I was hoping the first sub came quicker.

Three points. Rarely troubled. Roll on West Ham Matic MOTM

Phew. Looks like nothing serious

No no no. Not hazard

Yes..three Points!

What is up with the ball hoofing? Lost all sense of control of the game in the last ten minutes

Courtois was not reaching that. Don't like the defense sitting so deep.

Need the second goal here. With stoke you never know at set pieces

The ref has lost control

Agree. and Nemanja Matic too

Scores another brace

Home kit is good. I'll live with the away kits. Adidas need to be applauded

Zouma's integration has been brilliant. No sarcasm

i'll leave this here. Ake has played a fair bit for Chelsea since Benitez played him in the Europa League in 2012. Zouma was a regular at St Ettienne. So those two are trusted and I think they are more or less squad players than academy youngsters. I'm talking about introducing Academy products like Baker RLC Boga in the earlier rounds of the League Cup - and the Sporting Lisbon game. So far only Christensen has got the chance. I credit Mourinho for going with Christensen against Shrewsbury and hope to see more of the same.

Yes. Boga. To each to their own I guess and I was talking about promoting youth (Atsu at this point last year) instead of going out and buying Salah as 6th choice AM Some prefer a stacked squad I guess but I think it's entirely possible to have youth integration without derailing season objectives. And 18-20 year olds get playing time all over Europe. I don't know why you're making it out like it's too early. Youngsters everywhere get a look in at 18-19 before establishing themselves by 20-22. There are so many examples of this working out well. I don't buy your argument that it's too early for them, not at all

Yes. Zouma's integration has been handled brilliantly. But note he's the 3rd choice CB. In the same way, i think it's possible to have a couple of other players, like Boga for example in Salah's place.

That is true but Chelsea is a lot better team than any of the sides you mentioned. And Arsenal made 10 changes for their League cup match against Southampton. Not asking for that. That is stupidity

There are lot of better examples than Wilson. It seems you are scared about playing the kids for some reason, that they will not produce the quality required at the senior level but I think some of the best examples of youth integration happened at this age itself - 18 to 20.

Exactly. Every season is crucial. That's life at Chelsea but I think it's possible to do it and give the youth players a chance in the League Cup. The best teams in the last decade have done it, so let's not act as if it's not possible to do that.

To see the kids sent away in coffins rather than in uniforms...Just terrible. Condolences to those affected

That City game is FAR more important. Hopefully the job is done in the first leg itself.

van gaal has the similar pressure of getting United into the Top 4. Doesn't stop him from giving youngsters a chance. He has Rvp, Rooney and Falcao, yet gave Wilson a start against Liverpool, one of United's main rivals. Like someone mentioned a few pages ago, youth integration HAS to start somewhere. Otherwise players just get lost in the shuffle because in a couple of years a new promising youngster comes up. See Chalobah was being talked of last year, RLC this year, someone new next year. Is anyone getting a look in? No. The only promising sign this season is how Zouma has been trusted and given playing time but then again he was a 10million transfer, so the club feels he's a readymade youngster

Slightly worried. City have a home game against Palace so the 3 point gap will probably vanish before this game. Pressure on the boys to deliver here

He's already done it

Cunts should be eliminated just for that