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It was a strange one... I thought we did brilliantly, but I did not quite understand what WHU were trying to do. They were also playing with a high tempo, which was very strange as a visiting team. Thought that helped us tremendously, so not sure whether it was strategy or perhaps their players just can't slow down; they might have to always play somewhat direct (like say Newcastle always does). Thought Oscar was fairly poor and thought Willian looked far more lively. Matic did very well again. This time though, Costa was just unplayable and that goal was out of nothing... Terry is on fire, but can't really judge the defense line because I don't think WH got there with enough players to cause problems - they were completely dominated despite the modest scoreline. NBC showing on TV was pretty pitiful: they showed all games with the top teams playing at home against huge underdogs. Arsenal did try to throw away a couple of points, but QPR were just bad enough as usual. Wanted to have watched Eventon match (could've online) as that PK against them was really (I mean really!) soft.

Is there something Cahill does that Terry is incapable of doing? How about the other way around: is there anything that Terry does that Cahill just can't do? Terry has been playing very well indeed, but he ain't getting any younger.

Fair enough on the original point you made - my misunderstanding. My point is that there is no Costa run or Fabregas goal had we not been ahead, and Stoke chasing. They opened up a bit which allowed us to counter them. Again thanks to John Terry brilliant kick-off header. Disagree on Stoke. They are very poor this season as the standings show. Toughest match of late was Newcastle and we lost that one. I just want to be cautious here as I still think City has better subs for when their key players are unavailable. We've been lucky so far (yes healthy squad), but we will be playing very often from now on.

Fair enough. Well, this is the Mikel thread and your post seemed a bit self-serving. We dominated the second ball with all the help of pretty much all attackers sometimes seen next to Matic and Mikel battling in the midfield. We did NOT dominate the game though. We created next to nothing up front, and the whole strategy was helped by the brilliance of John terry (and Stoke's poor defending). I am almost curious to know how that lineup would fare when chasing a result. Stoke is a poor side and we did nothing more than our obligation. I'd say we controlled the game, but did not dominate it. And Courtois saved our asses in that deflected shot.

I thought we were talking about football, you know, sport where 11 play (or say 10 play and one watches:)), but apparently we have moved on to tennis doubles? I'm a pretty decent (just like Mikel!) tennis player having played it since very young... game on! Mikel is surrounded by fantastically expensive world class players (Matic included) while Zonzi is one of the few players they've got who can actually pass the ball in tight spaces. No, he's not great, but neither is Mikel. Stoke is 13th for a reason.

Likewise, same folks who said Mikel was not culpable for the loss against Newcastle are now saying Mikel played a pivotal role in the win yesterday....

The article is interesting, but very poor in the way it simplifies things; in the way it makes the difference between the squads less gigantic. It kinda puts all the blame in their CMs which would be unfair. You remove Matic from our side and we'd still have a number of players who can defend better than Stoke's (not to mention play better). Even our striker is mobile and aggressive, while Crouch is old and slow. William isn't very creative, but very good defensively as well as keeping possession. Hazard was all over the pitch and even not having a brilliant game was a thorn both with and without the football. Fabregas won several tackles as well. Not even going to talk about our back line which is a lot better than Stoke's. Mikel is limited technically, but pretty strong too. That's one of the reason I think we miss the opportunity to develop youngsters: you can test players precisely when you have a consistent squad like we do. Yes, Matic is a superior player because he is complete. He is fairly quick too, which allows him to position himself perfectly as well as chase down opponents throwing fantastic tackles on occasion. However, our superiority as a team against a much smaller side isn't down to a single player, obviously.

I'd like to mention Courtois. Didn't do much aside from the crosses... but then... that long shot that got deflected and was going into the back of the net for sure... absolutely incredible. He made it look easy, but to me it was fantastic goalkeeping. Matic was MoTM, but had that gone in and it would've been 1x1 and Stoke would've parked the bus making it a lot more difficult.

Yes, that's called developing youngsters... Come on...our third striker is 27yo, so yes, the youngsters will never play.

That's exactly my problem with him: he's mediocre. Now if mediocrity is what you look for in a chelsea's rotation? player, then I have to disagree. Let me put it this way. Every other player in our starting XI would have been Stoke's key player (or at least very close to key in Cahill's case), except Mikel. What Mikel did today, nothing special really, N'Zonzi could've done it the same or better (with more energy). You can disagree with what I just wrote, and that's fine, but don't ask me to be big, to be nice, which sounds weird to be honest. I'm not a judge, and this is my pastime. We are talking about millionaires who don't give a crap about any of us; getting a hash critique from a random poster is included in their fat paycheck.

Don't disagree with the second part - already said that myself though not the whole month as other players were not available. Need more time on the first one as only now he will be in contention with the other midfielders. Again, I've seen enough of Mikel to know what he can and cannot do. Our opinions won't change on this.

Dislike (of his game) -> sure as I watch him today I think he is our worst player on the pitch by a fair margin. Terrible on the ball even though he's the one midfielder who's not being tight marked. Over-criticism? Obsession?? -> your opinion

now that's a tackle by Matic! fantastic stuff!

Funny because this is one of the arguments people who defend Jose make - when he does not employ youngsters - that youngsters are lower than the fringe players in the so called pecking order.

Of course, that must be the only possible explanation. -- Now I believe in what he said; disagreeing or not wasn' the point as I dislike Mikel as a footballer. I find extremely naive to believe anything Jose says to the press, so I tend to pay attention to what he does, not what he says. Mikel starting today makes me believe Jose really thinks what he said... there is another explanation, but we will only find out in a month or so. He also said, that "he and Fabregas knew very well what his true position is back then" which in the contest at the time, was CM. So, things change, and his positions to the press are, let's say, inconsistent. Having a player like Mikel on the squad means youngsters will never play. I really can't agree with that.

Of course not... managers always replace the best players. So was he the worst against Sporting?! Because if he was the BEST against newcastle and very good against Sporting, perhaps he deserves a starting lineup position? My point remains: either Mikel starts when all other players are available, in which case he is at least good enough (let's not even go into "best"), or he doesn't (start) and which case he isn't good enough to start. There is very little else to say. I was just calling Jose on his BS. We will see in the following games, esp when Rambo regains match fitness.

There is no hate from me. I think he's a shitty player, especially for a top club. That has nothing to do with hate, which honestly sounds like rhetoric to me. I don't "like" the players I consider good, and I don't "dislike" the players I deem insufficient. I don't know them and they really don't mean anything to me - the same way i don't mean anything to them. Disagree again, a player who accepts a minor role is deadweight. A footballer without ambition doesn't belong at this level. If he has been the "best" player like he said, then Mikel will also play when all others are available, not to fill a gap. In my dictionary, the word "best" means better than the others... You often respond without actually taking the time to understand what has been written, so you end up answering a different point altogether. in short, if he starts today then Jose was truthful. I will disagree with Jose, but agree that he is consistent. My point was that he isn't though, and that he is playing the press.

The "best player" returns to his rightful place in a club like Chelsea: the bench. Believe in what Jose does, not what he says.

Gerrard was slow and awkward as he usually is these days. Lucas was much better in the holding position - surprise! Liverpool's defense watching Giroud, of all players to leave unmarked, walk inside their own box and doing nothing to stop him was quite something. Skrtel scored that goal and his determination was commendable, but he also was caught napping when Giroud scored. It was a bad game despite the intensity, which was good. The number of mistakes and the lack of creativity made the game pretty painful to watch. Despite the nice goal Coutinho returned to his usual shittyness afterwards.

Agreed. I, for one, never associated Jose Mourinho with developing players - quite on the contrary. The big question, for me, would be whether developing youngsters is part of his requirements as a manager - did Abramovich actually tell him to work on that as well? The starting line up against Derby was nothing short of ridiculous... Not even fringe players managed to get a start...

Get him back and start a long-term strengthening program before it's too late. He's got too much potential to risk further injuries. He will only be able to get playing time if he remains injury-free long enough.

perhaps it was just nerves as the newbie guy Hopefully he's not going through any contortions to make simple passes this time. (at work - not watching)

strategy is to kill the game soon with high pressure then start subbing players and switching to counterattacking. Still pretty risky move considering the size of our squad. Could we honestly do what city is doing winning games without most of their key players? Can't really understand going with almost all key players here.

Top striker in the world at the moment, Alexandre Pato: http://caras.uol.com.br/tv/alexandre-pato-comemora-chegada-das-ferias-ao-lado-de-fiorella-mattheis#.VJB-0ifeP6A Honestly the guy is pure talent... Her name is Fiorella Mattheis.

not talking about Luiz specifically as he's indeed on the quirky side. As we are about to face him, I catch myself wishing he doesn't play in midfield which is very telling. The cover I speak of should be especially easy for teams, like us, who play with a CB in the RB position.... When the CB moves up, the RB becomes the CB. Most Brazilian teams, who employ attacking FB use the CDM for that cover, which is something I dislike these days. If the player has the quality to play well, it's natural he will be given the freedom to do so. Hummels (Ramos too) makes a lot of mistakes because he joins the middle and attack very often, which leaves himself and his teammates exposed and yet he's one of the better defenders out there - of a particular style and characteristic. Solid defender not necessarily the same as great defender. Perhaps your point is that a great defender must be solid, but I'd counter that by saying that he can be solid when instructed to stay put. However, whenever necessary, the coach *will* employ/unleash him as an attacking weapon (if he is capable), and in such cases (e.g. chasing a result or as a sneaky move) he *will* leave the back line exposed - something's gotta give.