Chelsea Legend 11

PMA

Its people like this fella who make being a Chelsea supporter so fun... They keep doubting and doubting and doubting the spirit of this club and try and fain like they're supporters only to be proven wrong time and time again! This is CHELSEA FC its never over till its over! Why are you even visiting the "Title Run In" thread if you think its over? go visit the transfer window or something like that. This thread should be for those who know this club is still alive and fighting!

It wouldn't happen with anyone but you in charge

That looked awful

We played good football with no end product, quit the whining and move on its the points that matter at this time of year.

3pts.

You gotta wonder who these people are who claim to be Chelsea fans? Quit your whining you little girl! its 3pts!

Now we can rejoice in the wake of the results today! Loads of pressure on City, Yaya likely out for the season, Kompany def not 100%.... Regardless of what happens from here on I want an Anfield win desperately, if only to shut up these idiot commentators!

dp

Lets take care of our business first before we rejoice in the results. We need 3 PTS bad...

Yes Dortmund beat a broken Real Madrid narrowly. And no it's not the only possible way but the odds of a win fall in your favour if you have experience. Simple stuff here brother...

Dortmund narrowly beat a broken Real team. Experience at this level is huge, don't care what anyone says. The other stuff you are drawing on can only be implemented effectively if you have the experience at this level. Deer's caught in the headlights won't be able to dictate tempo.

Once again the negative Nancy's here to strut their feathers. Listen dude no one is underestimating them it's been said 100 times they are in the final four because they are a fantastic team! To me the final four comes down to experience at THIS LEVEL! Chelsea have a manager who's won it twice and been to the semis something like 9 times. Cech has won it and been to the semis tons of times, same for lampard, cole, ivanovic, terry, Eto'o. Luiz, Ramires, Cahill have won it. We have LOADS of experience in this sort of tie, who does atletico have to lean on? Sure hazard, Oscar, schurrle and Willian are green but they have a team around them that are veteran laden and know how to take pressure off of them. There is no substitute for experience at this level in the competition. Simple. End of story. I expect most of you Nancy's to be posting 'it was never in doubt' and 'written in the stars' after the tie too...

Yes very well organized and drilled but not battled tested at this level and the intangibles will have an effect at this stage in the competition with the teams so close. Sorry inexperienced manager, inexperienced squad is without a doubt the more favourable tie to defending champions, manager with 2 wins or 4-time semis, generational talent and a winning experienced manager. And you're mincing words to great effect here. I never said it would be a walk in the park what I did say, and it holds, is Atletico are the weakest of the four teams left in the competition. Still waiting to hear who you think is weaker... If it is indeed Real Madrid I would argue you are underestimating them.

To each his own for sure. Nobody is discrediting what Atletico have accomplished this year, but it would be foolish to think they carry more of a threat than battle tested Bayern or Real. Of course they belong here they've played incredible football, no one is underestimating what they are doing. If you ask me you're underestimating Real Madrid and Bayern

Who is the weakest in your expert opinion? keeping in mind of course that I say this in the final four of the champions league where experience counts.

Nah... not at all. I watch them TONS! This is about the final four and the lesser of 3 evils. If I had my choice between Atleti, Bayern or Real I'd take Atleti over two legs for sure.

Experience. Hardly anyone in that Atletico side have been this far in the competition, Real have been there so many times they have ICE in their veins. At this level in the competition its about knowing how to win these games and not being too cavalier and not being too timid. You need a manager whose been there and done it before as well as a squad who have experience at this level. No question in my mind that Atletico are the weakest of the 4 teams and thats not because I don't rate them, they are playing unbelievable football this year; they have overachieved. For me though Final 4 will come down to experience and Chelsea, Real and Bayern all have that...

Exactly! What if he has a real stinker? the next thing you will hear is Chelsea bought Courtois/promised him a bump in salary on his new deal. Roman made a deal with Atletico... It just opens the door for too much speculation. Atletico have already GREATLY benefitted from the loan deal, it makes no sense for them to jeopardize the good relationship we've established by breaching the contract. Granted, who knows if they're even in breach, Gourlay said today that he is allowed to play not there is a stipulation in the contract stopping him.

They're in that hole because they haven't been competitive. If they get to the finals of the CL and win La Liga its a different story. Hell even now, a semi finals berth helps them immensely

Here's the thing about that. Atletico are in the final 4 of the champions league and in pole position for a La Liga title, why on earth would they sell Costa? They won't need the money anymore and are highly competitive.

couldn't be more right. Atletico to the finals gives them a healthy paycheck to help keep their best players and thus keep La Liga(UEFA's league) from plummeting even further.

First off UEFA should butt out! If there is a legally binding contract that states Thibault can only play under certain circumstances then that's between the two clubs. I am actually glad we drew Atletico, was hoping for it! They are a very difficult side to play against but no more than Real and Bayern. We should be favourited in this tie and over two legs we have a better chance of prevailing than in a one off. Two legs, the second is at the Bridge. We should be able to see this through as Jose is obviously a tactical genius and will have the squad well drilled on what to expect having played them and not lost to them either. We lose Brana and may be without Hazard; they may be without Turan and Costa. Its gonna be a very close tie no matter how you slice it so all we can hope for is our experience in the competition and the spirit of the club take us through!

No player is bigger than the badge. If in fact Hazard wants to go play for that shitty little team that got murked in the Champs League q-finals by his current team then by all means go.

Lost in all of this is the fact that Hazard is 23! Not in the best moment of his career by a long shot... Also, please stop comparing him to Ronaldo and Messi! Those two are generational talents who are amongst the top 10 ever to play the game. Hazard falls into the slot of players that compare with Ribery, Del Piero, Xavi, Iniesta, Stoichkov, Gullit to name a few. He is a candidate for the Ballon D'or but not generational talent. Allow him the time and space to write his own history without killing it by making silly comparisons that don't make sense.