robsblubot

that he can no longer run... though to be honest, he already could not run when we acquired him. Now "the other" unloaded player is doing very well for both club and country.

Just one more point: The reason why Mikel does not play isn't because Jose does not rotate players; Mikel does not play because of the difference in quality between him and Matic, which prevents Jose from rotating in that position. Doesn't Jose rotate in other positions where the quality is similar? Jose does not rotate: Matic, Fabregas, and Costa. Whenever fit, they play. Many top teams have better options sitting on the bench.... even if not a lot better or as experienced as Mikel is, certainly hungrier.

Fair enough, I just can't see Mikel replacing Matic against, like you say, strong teams like City anyway. It hasn't worked before and it won't work now if we lose Matic. We needed either or both Matic and Luiz in midfield to beat them. Without at least one, Yaya was just too much to handle. In those tough matches, Luiz played, not Mikel. Again, Mikel hardly ever plays with Jose. He plays less with Jose than with previous managers. I honestly thought that with Luiz gone Mikel was going to play more, which hasn’t happened. Let me make my point clear here: Mikel cannot possibly substitute Matic because he is not in the same ballpark as quality goes; and when I say quality I’m referring to strength, work rate, mental, and skill. That Jose does not rotate players we know very well, which actually worries me. Why not replace Matic in easy games esp at home after we build a solid lead? That’s also not done. Say Matic breaks a leg… Now we are talking about starting Mikel in every match and that was not enough in the past – the reason why Matic was acquired.

only slight problem with this idea is that Mikel hardly ever actually replaces Matic! Mikel hardly actually plays. It appears that playing more minutes wouldn't make him happier, which showcases his lack of ambition. My personal take is that that's just not good enough for a club like Chelsea. You gotta have guys who are hungry to come on the pitch and fight for their chance. Mikel is certainly not that player, not a player who is trying to impress the manager - become a regular in the starting XI. We are one injury away from losing the PL title in certain positions. Yes, Matic is one one them. BTW, whenever Matic can't play, Ramires will play in his place - just think that despite the official talk, that's how Jose will go.

History and legend status will be his forever, but the team needs performances right now and he has been showing he still got it! It's probably time to start considering offering him a new deal - keep him motivated and physically fit (older guys need to work harder to remain fit - I would know )

Adebayor is incapable of passing the football - sideways or not.

Kompany (to play alongside Terry) and that's pretty much it. Ah any other holding mid/DLP to replace Mikel, like Wanyama, Barry, McCarthy, etc.

He can only leave if we sign another pacey player to replace him. Our wingers aren't that quick. Andre has speed, but not much acceleration, while Willian and Oscar (who can play on the wing) are not that pacey. Hazard is the only one with both speed and acceleration and he really shouldn't be playing every freaking game. Salah may still not be the final product as his delivery is not there, but his pace makes him a very interesting sub, esp when defending a lead. This is right now, regardless of his development from now on.

His Resume: attacking coach?! Specialty: Arsenal. Seriously though, hope he gets a coaching position at Chelsea - he's a fantastic character and if he can share 1% of what he know on set pieces it's already worth it.

^^ don't touch the CL win... If we altered any variable from that very tight win, the outcome would've been undoubtedly different. --- A more disciplined, professional, and correct Yaya Toure. Not to mention Matic can actually defend! Had we bought Yaya back then, as good as he has been in the PL, we wouldn't have it as good as we have it right now with Matic. Matic also performs equally well in the CL - same can't be said of Yaya.

Interesting point. Not sure I would, or whether it's even possible to measure talent as a single gauge in football. For example, there are things the manager can ask of Oscar, but not of Hazard and the same works for Hazard too. A point I made in a different thread however would have me agreeing with you in terms of valuation, as attacking players are indeed more valuable; which would make Hazard more valuable. In general though, they are very different players and reckon a team which has both - very talented with very complementary characteristics - must be a very lucky team indeed. Is it just luck though? just look at Arsenal and how they pile up on the same player which leads to a very unbalanced team.

If the blocking is done as of closing down the player about to take the shot then absolutely. Now shots from outside the box when the defenders are far away, our CBs are usually far away as they always stay deep, then I completely disagree (that they should attempt to block) and the first goal was also a mistake to me. All that these blocking attempts accomplish is to deflect the shots and make it a lot harder for Courtois. We have a World Class keeper and should trust him more. Shots from afar should not be blocked unless of course the GK is out of position.

Fabregas and hazard were a bit below their usual, but the opposition has merit when our players struggle, when being put under pressure at all times. As good as Matic was, for me without Costa there was no win today. Subs were spot on as Ramires was not doing anything Oscar couldn't do. That Oscar pass to Ramires was really something. One of our biggest weaknesses was showcased by that goal. We can only defend deep so if ours cms are slightly out of position, which can be due to opposition movement, these types of shots can happen. Thankfully our gk is WC. Have to say that was a pk for me though. Gary should not be doing that type of blocking - trust your Wc gk behind you! Despite the goal thought Gary wast that great to be honest. Azpi was absolutely fantastic. Humiliating coutinho was just the icing on the cake.

Normally I'd agree with that, but reckon Savage is spot on this time around - fluke or not. Gary Neville is now to biased, especially concerning English players.

agreed, but it really gets interesting once you start looking into the subs.... would Willian and Andre NOT start for liverpool? How about Cech or even Zouma?

Not sure whether it's been linked on this thread, but I thought it was a pretty good read: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/29945991

Andre is 23, so I'm pretty sure he'll get his playing time to develop. However, I am not so sure about Willian, 26.

I guess you are right - all because of that stupid draw against Shalke

Starting lineup is way too strong for this. If Ake, Baker and Christaensen can't play today, perhaps they should be on loan elsewhere? Otherwise what's the point?

Only Sterling is being rested - the others are interchangeable. Hope you are not referring to Gerrard.... even though to be fair, he prob did not ask to play as the sole holding mid. Though I can't imagine why we wouldn't rest some players tomorrow. The club know which players are in need of a rest of course - there are routine tests that determine that.

Wish Jose had played a far more adventurous line up in the first match against these guys, and now used the lineup he actually end up starting with back then. An away game is not for youngster with no confidence. Game could get physical - "No one comes into our house and pushes us around." Do not play costa under no circumcision.

I disagree it was a mistake. He could have done better, but it was't a punch so he did not have that much control there. The defense was sitting too deep and did not react quickly enough - kinda see that too often. He is already a lot better than Cech, so I don't think it's a matter of giving the younger player a run because "he is the future." Jose is merely starting the better player. Obviously Cech is still an excellent GK, which makes him staying all the more surprising.

We had most of possession, but we did not control the match. QPR are a very poor side and still managed to create us problems. We will always struggle against teams who park the bus at the bridge. Again, just by arithmetic and characteristics, we just know we cannot attack with 10 players because our defense line has no attacking quality aside from set pieces especially when they sit deep. In the last two PL matches, Cahill attempted 3 long balls and he missed all 3 of them. Terry did not move up enough to even try them. So, it is still a cautious low block even when playing QPR at home. That's the difference from the Cl outfit wheen even Terry managed to score: we moved our defense line up because the opponent was crap, even compared to QPR. We won because of the brilliance of two players: Oscar and Hazard. BTW, that was not a penalty for me.

Don't worry about losing Rio for this match, we still got Richard Dunne.

Just mark Eduardo Vargas who is their best player by far. This guy has been on loan for ever. Napoli doesn't seem to like him even though he plays very well for Chile.