Chelsea Legend 11

And why was that?

Its funny because people often talk about free role and who has it. If I'm going on last game I'd say Cesc had the free role and Oscar and Matic were left to compensate for Cesc's musings forward. I think Cesc had somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 touches and most of that was facilitated by Oscar's awareness and improving positional sense. I don't quite understand what everyone expects; that because Oscar is played in the traditional 10 position his role is that of a 10? he does so much more than that and as I said, now that Cesc is the main cog in unlocking teams, Oscar's footballing brain is even more important. He's a fantastic one touch player and understands what the manager needs from him tactically.

Oscar provides great balance and cohesiveness to the squad, those that bash him don't quite understand how important he is to an XI. Cesc and Oscar compliment each other perfectly.

Never really liked what they did with Malouda, Alex and Anelka. I think that sort of treatment has a knock on effect in the locker room... AVB lost the room when he did that.

Agreed. I think we should make Brana 3rd choice... That is about the only thing I see that will piss him off enough to say he's had enough.

At this point its all we can hope for. Stifle him until he can't take it anymore... I don't think he has enough fight in him to care though, the last time things were going in that direction he got RDM fired.

so only 13 more all season? yikes!

Ya in a perfect world Torres would be off to serbia right now and mikel would be in Australia... The world isn't a perfect place so we're stuck with what we got, oh the horror!

I think you're wrong.

Ya injuries do suck, what do you propose we do? buy more players to sit on the bench... Just in case.

Oh I agree! But last year we didn't have the personnel to go out and batter teams, it was better to be compact and get out on the counter. This season with the addition of a proper striker and a deep lying playmaker along with the attacking trio we have more quality offensively to go out and control the pace and dictate the game from an attacking standpoint.

I hope people can come to grips with the fact that with this new attacking nous we will not be as solid in the back. We will be better than most but don't expect last years rock solid defense to be on display week after week... Defense is about the team shape and right now we're looking to get more people in attacking positions which will in turn leave us a little exposed.

First game in the books and we looked fantastic! Definitely looking like a side that on its day will be very, very, very tough to play against... Kudos to Jose and the staff for drilling these players and getting them to play some wonderful one touch football while still being a solid unit. - Thought Courtois had no chance on the goal and made one world class save in the 2nd half; he needs to work on his distribution on clearances he was just above poor in that area. - If there is one player who I thought didn't really perform up to his standards it would be Cahill, he looked so uncomfortable out there and made a few errors as well. - JT was okay... We're playing with a much higher line and I worry that he may struggle in games where the opposition are better at getting in behind. - Azpilicueta was fine, never played a foot wrong! It will take some doing to supplant him from the starting XI. Thought there was a nice exchange in the 1st half between he, Hazard and Oscar, looked like we were trying to get more numbers in around Hazard to free him up. Almost worked too.... - Brana was a beast once again! He too will be hard to supplant because he allows us to play with a more flexible lineup and he is a target for our clearances and set pieces... Gonna be interesting to see who comes out if/when Luis gets in. - Matic was Matic... just solid in every way he is making it easier to play the possession game Jose has been attempting because he can pass it and win it back too! He provides a great deal of defensive cover for Cesc which will make us so much more potent in attacking areas. - Cesc Fabregas is rightly man of the match! He had something like 103 touches and really was pulling the strings in the midfield with devastating effect. We FINALLY have a midfield maestro who can get the ball and link up the play. Loved how he played off Oscar too, they had great understanding and awareness of each other on the pitch. - Oscar was ever so important in our shape and recycling. He's not quite up to speed yet but some of his intricate one touch passes left me feeling giddy. He will only get better it was a decent start to his campaign. - Schurrle is a guy who I think will benefit the most from having Fab on the team. That run and pass for the 2nd was one of the best team goals I've ever seen Chelsea score. Its only a couple weeks in and we're already seeing good communication! Andre is the secondary striker in the 4-2-3-1 and he will score a LOT this year. - Hazard is starting to round into form, a bit of luck and he may have gotten on the end of a Costa through ball and in on the goal. He drifted in and out of the game and last year when that happened it was disastrous, I have a feeling it won't be as important this year, Hazard's maturation can slow a bit given the players we've acquired to get results. - Costa... Beast who is probably the most complete striker we've ever had. I'm a huge Drogba supporter but Costa seems to have everything except for elite level aerial ability.(I wonder if that's why we brought back Drogba.... hmmm?) he is obviously two-footed and great with both, so glad he got his first one out of the way early. All in all its just game one but what I saw today was highly encouraging, if we continue to build on this performance we could have a very dangerous squad this year. The away support was absolutely fantastic today as well! Loud and proud the whole way! Brilliant!

Comfortable 2nd half

25 pass move for the 2nd goal... BRILLIANT!

The know it alls here seem to think that the decision to buy him was strictly because Azpi wasn't sufficient enough. Its so obvious it was done to create competition at every position. Azpi was fine last year but needed to be challenged. Eventually Luis may win out but he needs to win it, not being given it because he was bought in the summer.

You were saying?

It appears Luis is on the bench, no surprise really

So how exactly does he 'outperform' Cech without playing in games? A little hard to outperform someone on the bench wouldn't you agree?

I'd argue you need to watch him play a LOT more! He's has been nothing short of fantastic since he left Genk. Excellent command of the area, great reactionary reflexes and immense upside... All this for a guy who backstopped Atleti to the title and Champs league final and won back to back Zamora trophies as well as a keeper of the year win at the age of 21.... I love Cech too but lets not get carried away here Courtois is CLEARLY the future of this club and rightfully so.

Not my favourite. Was hoping for that other one... This one has been done to death, please don't take my 'Chelsea away' Chants are getting so unoriginal these days.

How many playmakers do we need in the side for everyone to be calm and relax? In a game where we play 4-3-3 I want Willian on the right. In a game we play 4-2-3-1 I want Oscar in the 10... We have Hazard and Cesc to do the creating, I think Oscar has more finish in him and for that reason I want him in the side.

In a nutshell Fabregas is the player we (or at least me) hoped Josh McEachran would've become. Tempo guy who can pick a pass and has a beautiful picture in his head to pick out passes. Its a shame Josh has regressed so much, really thought Carlo had him looking good early in his career

No easy games in the Prem... None. I think the difference in this game will come down to the manager, Jose doesn't like to lose and will have the boys RIGHT UP for this one. I'm not 100% who will start, if I'm looking to Real Sociedad for clues I'd say I'd be difficult. Real didn't really press us at all and allowed us to play our football, Burnley at home I would imagine will be very different. What I'd like to see is this: Courtois Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Luis Fab - Matic Schurrle - Oscar - Hazard Costa What I think we'll see is this is: Courtois Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Azpi Fab - Matic Salah - Willian - Hazard Costa Jose will need someone to come off the bench to change it if things slow down and we're not winning, I can only think of Schurrle and Oscar as the bench players capable of changing a game. We will hope that they want to come out and play football in front of their fans and in turn expose them with our speed and passing ability.

Well all I have to say about Costa is he could be the key to firing us to the title this year. Cesc is huge, Matic integral but the thing we've lacked all these years is a goalscorer of the highest order. Its only preseason but if what I'm seeing is indeed a precursor to what he can do in the Prem, we probably have the most complete striker in the league. Everything he does borders on exceptional, hold up, movement, finishing left, finishing right, toughness, technique, footballing IQ, passing, speed, power... I can't think of another striker in the Prem that possesses these qualities, and then you think of the supply line and things start to get scary. I'm not one for predictions or getting over excited about a season but Costa fills me with assurance and confidence. We have the most balanced squad in the Prem and its mainly because he is our striker and can play any sort of game. Drogba was unplayable due to his strength, with Costa is something totally different. Not saying he's unplayable but he allows us to play a more fluid game. We can play any game we'd like to play with him. Its refreshing and really exciting! For the first time in a long time I don't care if we win or lose I'm just gonna enjoy watching this team play, there is nothing I don't like about it.