Chelsea Legend 11

Here I am thinking we're analyzing the finer points of the game... Like most people do win or lose.

The two people I found most frustrating in the final third were Oscar and Willian(This may be due to accumulative subpar performances though) Eto'o was my man of the match and Hazard was Hazard once again. Muslera did have a pretty good night too! Did well to keep Hazard off the scoreboard with the curler from the left. Willian tested him from the top of the 18 but shot right at him, Lamps had a nice header from Oscar which he also did well to keep out. Not to mention Terry's left footer on the set piece... The problem I had with Oscar is the stuff that you would expect a no.10 to notice and do without question is the stuff that he just isn't doing right now and it gets frustrating... When you have a man open to play in DO IT! Don't wait and wait to the opportunity is gone. When you have open men who are in a better position than you to score PASS IT! Its not rocket science.

It gets defensive when you start talking about stuff that I never even brought up....

Why are you so defensive? calm down, I like Oscar too and yes he did will to make the assist for Eto'o but he was particularly poor in the final third in the 2nd half when we had numbers on the break. Did that part of the game pass you by? When he did well to get to the byline and beat his man only to fire a ridiculous shot from a poor angle when he had open men inside the 18? Or when we broke 4v3 and he could've slipped in Eto'o but he dwelled on the ball and squandered a great opportunity? I don't care where a player originates from, I carry no bias to country of origin... I just want the best for Chelsea and since December Oscar has been real poor! No finishing and extremely ponderous in the final third. He has to improve and yes NOW would be a great time since we are in a title push and in the quarters of the champions league. We don't have the depth of squad to have any passengers at this point so yes it would be great if he would step up his game and play closer to his potential given the circumstances we're in.

Oscar was extremely frustrating to watch in the final 3rd... poor decision making and taking way too long to make them too. I know he's young but he needs to get better in that area of the pitch and fast. Sometimes he doesn't even have his head up to see where the pass should go, he just blindly fires it into the area hoping someone is there when a better option is there if he'd look.

I see what you're saying but I think you've been a bit harsh. Fatigue is a factor for sure at the beginning of the year Oscar made Mata expendable, no easy feat. Ramires has been ineffectual for a long portion of the season now, he hasn't provided near enough spark in the midfield as he has in the past. Not sure what the problem is with him but I have to agree when he's in possession I get a bit nervy. Willian needs to start finishing and/or making that telling pass. Its all fine and good that he is running around a lot and making it tough for the oppo to play out the back but end product has to come to the fore NOW! Can't wait for it anymore. Luiz is being kept out by the best defensive pairing perhaps in the world right now... He's good and may have a role to play once he's back in. Matic and Luiz may be the partnership we need to start moving the ball quicker.

I for one would've taken off Willian for Schurrle... That bit us. Its the first decision he's made this season that I questioned. We were too ponderous when we needed to be direct in attack too.

I think it does matter. It wasn't a stonewall handball if the linesmen gives it when he's blindsided its a poor decision to award since he couldn't have had a good sight of it. I think it was Foy anyway, he looked like he awarded the goal and after protest took it away.

I think ponderous is the word you're looking for. We just kept trying to play it over the top and got caught offside way too many times. When we were in possession we werejust ponderous, never looked to be incisive. I also thought, that even without the goal, Delph was man of the match. He took away a lot of space and made a hell of a lot of tackles

I forgot what it felt like to have so many dubious decisions go against us... Thanks for the reminder, Foy almost had a season where you hadn't completely robbed us. Okay about the game as a whole, did Foy make the call on the Matic handball or was it the blind sided linesmen? After seeing it million times it looked like a handball but only if Foy makes the call. Thought we lacked a bit of cutting edge up top, Torres, Ba, Hazard and Oscar just looked off the pace today... Never really threatened them in good areas. From the outset it looked like a draw. Ramires... What has happened to Ramires? He has been poor for quite some time now. Might be blessing in disguise to have Ramires out perhaps now we can see more of Matic and Luiz in the holding positions? Azpilicueta was my man of the match. Willan's sending off was extremely soft and changed the outcome of the game which to be fair I thought was looking like a draw. Don't have any time to dwell on a tough loss, Galatasaray and Didier are next, a loss here could be crippling to our title hopes. Just put it out of mind and carry on.... UP THE CHELS!

Its a Derby...

Lord knows Zlatan or Suarez aren't cunts.... anyways. Do you even think before you type? So falling short of acquiring Jesus Christ at striker no one will do... Why are you even here commenting then? Just to shoot down what other people think would work? You have absolutely no clue.

I never once bashed Sturridge. I striker is supposed to be selfish most of the moves are fashioned for them to get the final touch anyways. You guys kill me you're screaming for a striker and when the options are presented you're screaming about who they are. Who do you want?

You could say that about any striker in our 30M price range. Hell you can say that about strikers in the 50M range... There are no sure things or guarantees. Pretty much agree with everything else though

I don't understand the problem people have with Costa only having one good year? He is now in his prime years which is when you would expect him to start scoring consistently. Also when he does it for much longer the price only continues to rise! The goals he's scoring make me think he could be the difference between us going out at the q-finals of the CL and making it to the finals. He is scoring unbelievable goals not just tap ins stunning goals... Don't ask me though I'm of the opinion any striker will do, Costa, Balotelli either would be more than fine.

Let's not get carried away here. We would be fine with either striker they both do things at a very good level.

Ya at the beginning of the season in the middle of 3 games in 8 days Villa came to the Bridge and put in a good showing. These names were involved in that fixture 1 Cech 2 Ivanovic 24 Cahill 26 Terry 3 Cole 7 Ramires 8 Lampard 11 Oscar 10 Mata 17 Hazard 19 Ba Substitutions18 Lukaku 14 Schurrle 16 van Ginkel I would be surprised if Cole, Ba or Lampard even play this game, Mata is gone too. So if you ask me they will be facing a VERY different Chelsea team who aren't trying to figure out what it is Jose wants but are putting in the types of performances that win titles. We will have to be clinical and also very disciplined, I have a feeling there may be one of those shitty cards again that make the day difficult for us. Cech Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Azpilicueta Matic - Ramires Willian - Hazard - Schurrle Eto'o This squad has the speed and physicality to deal with whatever Villa throw at us and the guile to go there and nip a result... Ramires may be rested for Lamps in this one too. Nothing is easy in the prem but I just feel like we're finding ways to win comfortably even when not playing our best football. There is going to be a point real soon when things start to click again and I feel it will start with the trip to Villa Park. Just a hunch...

This is Rodriguez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIHe9by9tFA This is where the fuss started http://talksport.com/football/chelsea-line-wolfsburg-starlet-cole-replacement-13111868562 http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-want-ricardo-rodriguez-ashley-2807316 http://www.ftbpro.com/posts/kenny.smith/565688/chelsea-show-interest-in-wolfsburg-left-back-ricardo-rodriguez

Weird. Azpilicueta is arguably the best LB in England right now...

So is he gonna sign a 14 yr contract? That is a really foolish way to look at an investment.

IF Mata delivers that telling blow he will have officially earned his winners medal

Nah... not at this point in the season. With 9 games left the mentality has to change. We've been the best team all year having not lost at home and only 3 times all year. Not to mention we have the best record against the top 7 teams. It is set up for us to win it, it may not be in our control yet but I'm not buying this "I'll be fine if we don't win anything" crap. We're close and we're good lets start to turn up the pressure and GET THIS THING!

Okay, Eden Hazard is a special player. Still don't see why you think that because Eden is Eden why the others aren't good enough.

Just get him in... He'd be perfect.

What was Eden like last year? What was Mata like? With more responsibility you get drop off. Hazard, when he's at his best doesn't have to do the dirty work. Furthermore, what you were initially asking for is for another player to take the pressure off of him, I agree, but that player SHOULD be our striker.