Strike

68 points without Suarez in the team Yaya, Zabaleta, Michu yet to play

Hahaha Brilliant

There is a big(ish) game every weekend now. Arsenal to face Liverpool and United back to back early next month. I think Chelsea or City will be leading once the dust settles. Huge game this weekend

The team hasn't fired yet. Apart from the first half vs Hull, I don't think Chelsea have dominated a game for a good amount of time. It is a good sign that the team is winning games but note that we're only scraping wins. There is so much room to improve atm. That is an ideal scenario which I think will never happen.

Against Norwich, it did help turn the tide a bit. Norwich were all over us at the start of the second half. It was also used against Everton. We were doing well before the switch then and not so well after the switch was made in that game. Still did not lose control of the game at any point with the 3 at the back Atleast there is a real backup plan now rather than just minor tweaks to the system. Under the last few managers, I don't remember a major change in the way we played to chase results

The fascinating thing so far this season is the back up plan. the team is completely re-shuffled if things aren't working. 3-5-2 or 3-6-1 or whatever you call it has worked well for the last 2 games now. Opposition is getting flooded in midfield and the defence has yet to concede a goal with 3 at the back

I'm not a fan of this much rotation. In some cases like using Azpi, Bertrand more often or to manage injuries, rotation is good but when the front 4 are changing for every game, it's hard to develop chemistry/fluidity in attack. We haven't really kicked into gear in terms of creating chances. I haven't looked it up but I sense atleast 2 of the front 4 are changing every game. The striker has been Torres (Spurs), Eto'o (Steaua), then Demba vs Norwich, Eto'o vs Cardiff and then Torres vs Schalke.

Cech Ivanovic Luiz Terry Bertrand Mikel Ramires Schurrle Oscar Hazard Torres

Very good last season. Probably PSG's most reliable player. He's available for free in the summer, can play in the pivot.

About time really. He's okay at Right-back but I really wished he would close down wingers more. Seems to have improved on that now

He's turning it on now. Completely opposite to last season when he had a wild start and then faded

He's a good defender. I would fancy David Luiz to stop any attacker 1 on 1. More than I'd fancy Gary Cahill or John Terry up against a good attacker I remember when these casual mistakes used to happen a lot more often. He has buckled down and improved now but there are still casual mistakes in his game. More than you would find in a defender generally. His issues are down to concentration and awareness more than anything else He should Stop dribbling his way out of trouble - Being a good ball-playing defender, he does this kind of thing often but it is very different from a midfielder trying to play his way out of a difficult situation. The risk is far greater. A forward with good anticipation can pick off the ball. And once this happens, the team is in danger.

Ivanovic can play Centre-back. So, Jose can easily switch to a back-3 by swapping the Left-back for an attacker. Maybe that's another reason why he's starting Ivan over Azpilicueta. Has happened 3 times so far

Can see clubs circling around de Bruyne by January. Will be a great addition to most PL sides - even Man United. Even Demba Ba is a good addition to the midtable clubs. i do. it's the curse. Only Drogba has come good

There is the issue of needing to switch to 3 at the back every game to get results though. Especially against the likes of Cardiff, Norwich etc, should be able to break teams down

Jype hit the fuckin jackpot with Hazard as captain

Table looks good. Arsenal will drop points in the coming weeks. they have Liverpool and United next month. City are the bigger threat though and a win next week against them will be a huge boost because this Chelsea team is yet to win a big game. Also City are going to Moscow in midweek aren't they?

can't tackle a GK when he's bouncing the ball.

that's why it's a foul apparently

He was due a moment like that. Has cut down on those lapses of concentration. Very casual with his passing though. That is something he can work on. Just gave the ball away 2-3 times when under no pressure.

He did well yesterday. Many times he ran down the channels and linked up with Hazard or Willian. Took his goal well too

ivanovic looked out-of-sorts yesterday. Mourinho should realize that it's time to give Azpi a game. He can do more than just League Cup appearances

should've been a lot more straight-forward though

Good strike from Kebab

Matchday! Finally!