Strike

No. Even in the first half we were a bit conservative. Liverpool were playing 5 across the back. That's why I felt we could've pushed a bit more

we had conceded a lot of goals prior to this game and dropped our intensity/urgency in the 2nd half to protect 1 goal lead. Proved costly as Liverpool finished stronger.

I read somewhere that Hiddink is keeping options open but the general consensus is that he's retiring at the end of the season

I agree with that. Pellegrini is closer to di Matteo than Jose in terms of ruthlessness and eccentricity. But then again, he did take decisive action when needed - dropping and selling Riquelme at Villarreal and then doing the same to Raul at Madrid. At this point, we've gone past the days where the seniors are pulling strings at the club. The new manager will be walking into a young squad with great potential. The appeal of Pellegrini is that his teams adhere to basic organisation and create chances. His teams are full of 'off-the-ball' running and 'pass-and-move' characteristics. At present, our attack is just giving the ball to Mata or Hazard and see whether they do something with it. Team-play is quite rare from Chelsea. Also, That's where I feel Moyes hasn't proven enough. Moyes' Everton have been playing rugged target-man tactics for the better part of his time at Everton. Maybe not to the extent of Stoke and West Ham but their play often involved aerial balls and target strikers. His strikers at the club over the years - Yakubu, Anichebe, Tim Cahill, Jo, Louis Saha - were all target-men. In recent years, Everton have shifted to more fluent football with the likes of Osman Mirallas and Pienaar etc but I would love to see more of Moyes before making up my mind.

Chelsea has officially unveiled the kit.

@, The above pic is simple and elegant But I don't like the kit in this pic.

Petr Cech in the supposed Goalkeeper kit Long Sleeves and socks

Yes. Quite Fluently But any manager coming in here (other than Jose) will have one hand tied behind the back. Firstly, he should get instant results --->atleast a title challenge next season. that's why i worry for the club if we don't get Jose

Is this the one?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10002227/Chelsea-open-talks-with-Manuel-Pellegrini-over-summer-switch-to-Stamford-Bridge.html The Telegraph has picked this story up this morning

At the Bridge earlier in the season, we were way too conservative

Pellegrini is near the top of the list because of lack of choice. But that doesn't take away his achievements or that he is a good footballing 'coach'. Klopp won't leave Dortmund. Loew won't leave Germany till 2014 WC. Hiddink's retiring. There are reports that Frank de Boer will be offered a new deal It's realistically down to the likes of Pellegrini, Moyes, Capello, Roberto Martinez if Jose deal doesn't happen edit: in reference to "too nice of a manager" , There are examples on the contrary you know? Pellegrini dropped Riquelme - probably Villarreal's greatest ever player, and eventually transferred him out of the club. At Real, he dropped Raul. Both were quite decisive actions

you are using double standards to compare Pellegrini and Moyes in cup competitions. Why ridicule Pellegrini's lack of cup success when Moyes hasn't won anything of note in his career? Pellegrini took Villarreal to the Champions League Semis and Malaga to the Quarters and finished 2nd in the La Liga. Here is Moyes' Cup summary. Moyes' record in UEFA Competitions is poor. In 4 attempts, Furthest he has reached in the UEFA Cup is the Round of 16 . His record in the FA Cup is slightly better but very overrated. In 11 seasons at the club, Moyes' Everton have thrown away SEVEN ties when drawn at home in the FA Cup. To his credit, Everton have reached the Quarters twice, Semis once and the final once but bottled it each time. The League Cup is even worse. 11 seasons and apart from 2 semifinals, Everton have never gotten past 4th round.

I have Ballack - 06-07 Drogba - 07-08 Nameless 08-09 Drogba 10-11 1 training top

Yes. Ofcourse it counts as experience! They say 'What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger'. A classic example is AVB's work at Spurs where he has clearly benefited from his mistakes at Chelsea. AVB has admitted that himself. You had a problem with Pellegrini winning only 1 Intertoto Cup in Europe but Moyes' biggest achievement is winning the 2nd division with Preston. He hasn't won any title of note. Everton qualified for CL once but was beaten home and away by Pellegrini's Villarreal in 2005. Double standards? Age may favour Moyes but Managers tend to go as long as till age 65-70. We are not looking at the incoming manager to pull a Fergie but get us through the next 3-4 years. English-Player Bias is overrated. Chelsea have been a team with a heavy foreign flavour since the 90's and you only need to look at Liverpool to see where English-youngsters take you. Admittedly, Moyes has cultivated good young talent over the years but at Chelsea he will not get that time to put faith in the youngsters. In Mourinho's run, we barely had any academy products coming through. Your other points supporting Moyes read like personal preference - 'I saw heart in the team's performance yesterday' - the same could be said for Malaga vs Dortmund. In the end, It's personal preference really. You like Moyes. I like Pellegrini but I will argue that Pellegrini is ahead of Moyes in terms of overall value. Moyes' main problem is lack of experience. He has zero experience of a title race, barely any experience in the Champions League (never made it to the groups) and zero experience of a big transfer budget. Don't get me wrong, I do think he's a good manager but he needs a run at a goodish team like Spurs before staking a claim for the Chelsea job.

improvement on our DM's? @,

The purpose of this article is to make a case for Pellegrini. That is why I chose Not to focus on his 'lack of English experience'. He's fluent in English and knows from his time at Real that he should get results soon.'Lack of English experience' shouldn't take precedence over his coaching ability. You cannot just say that a manager with English experience will be better than foreign manager without taking into account coaching ability, results and experience. Also, you've avoided my question - Who do you think should be the new manager outside Jose and unrealistic people like Klopp, Loew etc?

CL experience. Experience with big transfer budgets. Villarreal and now Malaga is a higher level than Everton. Moyes has had the comfortable backing of his chairman so far and the situation at Chelsea is completely different - Pellegrini is no stranger to our situation. His work at Villarreal and Malaga is much greater than Moyes' work at Everton - case in point, Villarreal finished 2nd - 10 points ahead of Barca in 08' to add to the CL runs.

This from the Telegraph " the Chilean is a disciplinarian with a commitment to attacking football, he can deal with big-name players and speaks fluent English"

Point noted. But why should it undermine the rest of the points? This is why I think the 'lack of English experience' won't be a big issue - He has vast experience - over 25 years - He's a seasoned tactician in the La Liga - unlike Scolari who managed a lot of South American and Middle-Eastern teams and he is also well versed in English He has dealt with big transfer budgets at both Real and Malaga. You are focussing on lack of English experience but i don't think it can be held against him as much as other managers like say, AVB or Scolari. Moreover, if we are restricting our manager search to England - the best available manager is David Moyes - and I know for certain that Pellegrini is a much better coach than Moyes. Who do you think should be the new manager outside Jose and unrealistic people like Klopp, Loew etc?

Completely agree but I'm talking about a scenario where Jose did not accept Chelsea offer. Then I wouldn't mind Pellegrini All these years we had player-stability. the same core group of players who were all borderline World-Class but now we are rebuilding and the whole process has to start again. If we get Jose, we suddenly go from the 3rd best team in England to 'one of the top 3' in England. Jose should be first-choice no doubt and you would have a hard time finding someone who will argue with that but there are potentially lot of pitfalls to Jose coming and we need to brace for possibility of a backup

So you're saying - Mourinho or bust then. edit: Ancelotti did well. He counts as a manager who lasted two whole years and did well here. Pellegrini could also do the same

yeah but it becomes irrelevant when we can't get Mourinho or Guardiola. among the rest, no-one will have any control here and Pellegrini is a good coach as you said. Who do you think should be the manager if Jose doesn't come? edit: btw, i am saying Pellegrini ONLY if Jose doesn't come. Not sure I made that clear

it's irrelevant. No one other than Jose, or maybe Pep, can hold the board by the balls. the rest of the managers HAVE to start well here