Strike

That moment when you realise there's only 3 more games with Rafa

The board should offer Torres to all the rich clubs - Anzhi, Monaco, PSG etc

Not watched the Portuguese League enough to have an informed opinion on him. Would like to see him at Spain/Germany/Italy before jumping on his bandwagon

Napoli will look to sell him. Just like Lavezzi last year. They are not in good financial shape

"He's played deeper this season" is no argument imo. It's not like he'll forget how to play as striker. Different club, different roles

2 games at CM all season according to Shogun - vs Fulham and vs Arsenal. Pass

I think the club will have seen how RVP was hiding United's deficiencies all season. A new striker will be signed I think. But if Falcao to Monaco is true, I'm starting to get the feeling Chelsea will miss out on the "Big 3" strikers in Europe - Falcao, Cavani, Lewandowski. Cavani to Man CIty looks strong and Lewandowski to United and Bayern looks more likely than Chelsea. If we miss all 3, what then? Sign someone like Rooney or Higuain? or Stick with Lukaku?

The thing with Ba - he's shown up in the big games, where our defenders and mids are closed down quickly and they play the long ball over the top to Ba. His goal vs City was typical example of this. I think Ba was a great signing, especially at 7mil, but NOT as a first-choice striker. Next season, when we get a proper quality striker, Ba will be a great option to thrown on from the bench and add a presence up-front. Something like the role Dzeko plays at City

Why's everyone leaving Mata out?We struggle without Mata. Is he injured or something?

He's spot on when he says "Chelsea didn't have a clear strategy. They half-heartedly counter-attacked, with Ramires wasting their main opportunity on the break when he slipped over after great work from Juan Mata. They didn't defend with any certainty, particularly down the flanks. And they didn't keep the ball, killing the game, as a good possession-based side would. They did nothing. Villas-Boas had a point - what is Chelsea's style? " The next coach will have the big task of building a footballing philosophy here

Will he leave Porto and the CL for Everton though? Michael Laudrup maybe unlikely given his new contract . Slaven Bilic maybe? - Former Everton player. Could be considered.

They will sit on Moyes' ass for atleast 2 seasons. United will not sack him for fear of turning into Chelsea. We will walk the league at this rate

United leaked this image before taking it down. Moyes confirmed! Jose is safe

Yeah. Any word on Hazard injury?

Agbonlahor, Weimann and Benteke pose a formidable threat going forward but Villa's defence is still there for the taking especially given Villa's motivation to win. They will try and push up which can only be good for Chelsea. Hazard will destroy Lichaj or Lowton at Right-Back i think. It is all upto the final ball and the finishing because we will get the chances to win it on Saturday

I wouldn't be sure of 'favorites' just yet. Everyone's forgotten City. On the outset, if Sky is to be believed, City will sign Fernandinho and Cavani. that will improve their team ten-fold.. Fernandinho instead of Barry/Garcia/Rodwell and Cavani + Aguero up-front. That's a frightening team. I just hope Mancini can mess it all up somehow by playing 3-4-3 or something

The same point can go both ways. He could have scored He would have definitely added a presence up-front. Torres was winning nothing with Vertonghen. Ba was certainly better than a tired Torres vs Vertonghen/Dawson

That is true. But his complete inability to react to the change in nature of the game was baffling and I will blame Benitez for that. Later on he said that he wanted to change the wingers because they looked tired and Spurs have a fast team, well why didn't he do that earlier? Why wait till 73 mins or 85 mins in Oscar's case? Defensive mistakes and poor finishing is not something Rafa can control once the game has started but he had it in his grasp to make the changes earlier but he waited and waited and waited....for what? the equalizer?

Some were. Here on TC atleast. Ba would hold the ball up and keep possession. Add a presence while defending crosses/setpieces etc. It was a bad call to not make the subs at all but we've come to expect that of Benitez by now

Quite the apologist we have here. Oscar and Hazard were our best performers and he took them off. You can't absolve Benitez here. He didn't even use the 3 permitted subs. Used only 1 sub in the 73rd minute - which was apparently forced - The team began to tire near the end. You could see the intensity drop and players fail to close Spurs attackers down etc. Maybe the first half took a lot out of the players but he got the subs wrong. He should have made changes a lot earlier

It is absurd and unrealistic but forget about that for a moment. Falcao and Cavani are more of the poacher/advanced forward variety who cannot be shifted to the wing or midfield whereas Rooney is versatile enough to do a proper job in a deeper role, especially considering his experience this season. I see him a bit like Eidur Gudjohnsen in 2004. Went deeper at the end of his career to accommodate Drogba upfront but still got a good number of goals/assists. Lukaku will easily get more mins with Rooney than with Falcao or Cavani. He maybe used as the impact sub to add a striker up-front or Rooney could play deeper if needed. Such scenarios will pop up more with Rooney given his versatility

Luiz had a shocker. I know it's a bit harsh on him but it's maddening to think how good he is in defence and how average he is in midfield. For eg, look at the passes he played against Man United - he had more time and more space but in midfield he doesn't get that time and space. Jason made this point somewhere . His hurried passes are very poor imo and his tendency to go long is infuriating. Only 1 or 2 long-passes came off yesterday and he broke up a lot of counter-attacks as a consequence

Rooney offers the possibility of blooding Lukaku into the team next season. I think signing Falcao or Cavani means Lukaku will go out on loan for another year