robsblubot

Have a good feeling about that Didier striker kid - hope he has a good game tomorrow today. Call me crazy, but I reckon he's got enough potential to become an important player for us in the future.

he was definitely not at fault in any of the 5 goals. However, he did not make any fantastic save (perhaps one good one), which he is capable of. So, I'd rate him a 6/10, which is low for a keeper of his quality. On Courtois vs Neuer, it's like apples vs oranges... Courtois is better in a low block/deep line as his height helps dominate the packed area and Neuer is better for high and very high defense lines.

Agree with that. However, I think we are about 3 signings away from CL contention - unless one of the younger AMs massively improves. I'm not sure we are going to get the PL. City has a much larger squad, which helps them in a long competition like the PL. They've been out of Aguero and Dzeko, and Jovetic comes in and scores for them...

The most obvious one: Matic. I don't usually feel too bad when a player leaves the club, because unless he's forced out, he wanted out for one reason or another. Even if he's forced out, then the club did not want the player any longer (or the money was too good). Regardless, there was a reason for the departure and that reason wouldn't go away by sheer magic.

Way back then a number of us warned about this. * shameless self-quoting on my part. Cahill is not in bad form; he's playing his usual solid, decent, game. The protection around him is what has changed and he is struggling because he's now very exposed to attackers pace, skill, and power. It was no accident that he was doing so well for Chelsea last season and then suddenly, not so well for England. Again, he's not a terrible player, but he's not and never will be (at 29) world class either. As Terry ages and loses pace and power, we will need a proper replacement. Perhaps it's already past due as Terry shouldn't be playing twice a week+ as he has done lately. I think we missed out on Godin, but as we change the system, perhaps we want a different type of defender: a ball playing one, like Luiz, without Luiz eccentricity.

from him being a solid CB?! It's not like a completely different trade skill is it? Solid (tall) DM have been employed as CBs hundred times before... CBs in midfield too (D. Luiz).

People write here as if players were incapable of staying back, positioned, which is actually the easy thing to do. The difficult one is to go forward, beat players, and provide nice crosses - esp when under pressure and in pace. And then having to track back quickly when beaten. Come on... Ivanovic isn't a bad player. He's a very good defender both as FB and CB. However, as a FB he doesn't have the pace to recover, so he needs support when moving up the pitch. Here are the possibilities in my mind: 1) Jose instructed Iva to bomb forward - most likely scenario as Azpi doesn't usually do that. 2) Jose instructed Iva to stick to defensive position (deep) and Iva ignored his manager - reckon Jose would've subbed his big ass off in a heartbeat in such case. While we had a number of poor performances, a large final score points to the manager. Something in his strategy did not work; either because the players were too tired to execute, or it was just wrong; former far more likely. With all that out of the way, I don't think Iva is good enough as an attacking FB and much prefer him sitting back as a 3rd CB/defensive FB. Azpi and Iva are interchangeable as FBs, with Azpi better recovering and pace, and IVa better in the air with power. Both defensive. Luis is the one who can attack with some quality.

That's pretty much the definition of a center mid....

That's not what I wrote: he is always the one subbed. perhaps they know something we don't about his physique, in which case he may be in the loop.

I meant right now. Ramires looks physically weak going to the ground often which is not normal.

This game was never about creating chances. Would have been quite happy with a 1x1. Heh difficult to judge was we were chasing the game and the whole team was going for it. The defense was even more leaky in the second half though. No I did not like Ramires performance as he looked weak (physically).

Disagree on that one as our first goal came off an Oscar shot, misplaced yes, but he was in the right spot. Was passing well as well,but certainly wasn't doing the hard working part he is known for.For me the second half performance was worse than the first. We keep on subbing him on every match he may become delusioned as at 23 he needs games to develop.unless he wasn't 100% which is quite possible.

Or perhaps he couldn't do the things he normally does. Unfortunately we don't have access to fitness level information, obviously. Don't think Ramires was any better as he spent most of the second half on the ground.

Terrible performances all around with the notable exception of hazard who was amazing, and Azpi who was good. I honestly see more potential in Kane than I did in Rooney back then. Didn't quite agree with Ramires coming on for Oscar; Fabregas looked really tired to me. I do understand why Ramires hasn't been playing though as he is completely off form

Agreed Didn't see all that Spurs dominance, just an even game aside from our defensive mistakes.

Not been playing well, but two goals have been gifted: one by inaction and the other by a poor tackle.

Well what were they doing then? Bc they had no player behind them and in such a case the low block just creates space... Defense line cup for me

Lol that wasn't oscars fault - he was the only one trying there and he was in a bad position (behind the player) and careful not to foul. The defense line did not step up quickly enough ... Gotta close him down as they had no one behind them

Perfect! Not the fixture to be adventurous... Get the best starting xi out as jose did.

true, but I'd rather have him playing in the PL because then he'll be forced to develop other areas of his game - cannot rely on pace that much.

no, I agree... stranger things have happened before though.

on the other hand, if Simeone (the younger Argentinean Jose) cannot motivate Torres, then no one else can.

Don't have to go that far... that would be pretty strange where I come from - south of brazil. Remember further south is colder, both people and weather (Southern Hemisphere). Plus more German and Italian people down there too. Brazil is a large country and regions differ in a number of ways.

Great tacke indeed. Terry made one just like that a little earlier, but that (tackles like that) isn't the reason terry is the better player. Terry is a far more complete footballer. Good performance by cahill though.

Don't think people are saying cahill has been so bad. Don't know of anyone who wouldn't want Cahill In the squad to be honest. Chelsea in general does not have 'bad' players, though for me, Mikel comes real close... Oscar is 23 and I am sure Chelsea expect him to improve, because as much as I like the kid, he is NOT good enough just yet. Then you go into characteristics, and Oscar is actually better defensively than Reus right now, but I digress. Cahill is 29 and if we can improve on him, why not? Wanna go English? Don't see many great English defenders since JT, so that's going to be tough. I personally like Phil Jones, but also very raw product who makes mistakes, but he's fairly young. I'd rather go big on Ross right now - guy with that much ball control in pace is as much of a sure thing as it gets.