robsblubot

1. it's an unfair dispute - one is the darling of the press. 2. Because there is a LOT of interest on Luiz, so why should he "fight" for his place? Technique wise he's twice the player Gary is, so why should he bother losing money and value, while he could easily start for Barcelona? Not to mention the style would fit him perfectly. 3. Luiz starts and captains Brazil. He wants to play in the WC and for that he needs to play week in and out. Unrealistic to expect him to accept rotation/squad role. I just don't see how Luiz can "win" in England. England is so conservative in certain aspects, and don't think supporters and pundits are ready for a CB like Luiz.

Ryan Shawcross always give 100% too. A number of other mid-table defenders give 100% in every match, so should we sign them too? Really can't understand this point some make here. We need players who give 100% like every player should, but who also have talent to play at the highest level, and can cope against the best of the best. I merely don't see Gary in that category and obviously the transfer market doesn't see him as such player either since there is no interest on him. Luiz must leave to kickstart his career. I honestly think he should ask for a transfer come Jan. So, with Luiz out of the picture, I say our defense will be lacking with very similar player who can only kick the ball upfield.

The way we've been playing I wish we'd start Luiz in a CDM position as a 3rd defender (at least for a while) if for nothing else to improve ball possession. Not going to happen since Jose already stated he won't do that (made no sense to say that - oh well). Gotta shut the floodgate somehow... He should be asking for a transfer ASAP to where his style can be fully appreciated. That's certainly not Mourinho's direct simple system.

Our defense has been horrible for a very long time now; ignore it all u want but the number of goals conceded is very telling. So it's ok for u and others to pinpoint luiz's mistakes but others can't pinpoint Garry's mistakes And deficiencies because other players were equaly as bad?! Spare me please. I don't think he was horrible as to me Garry is always consistently average-decent but our ball possession has also been pretty bad of late and both defenders inability to pass the ball is hurting the team. That's why I dislike the pairing of similar players-always have. Let me just make my point clearer without bias: Luiz is the best defender when in possession that I've ever seen play the game. Say however, that for one reason or another Chelsea/Jose style doesn't work for Luiz, and we sold him and bought Phil Jones from United (won't happen I know). That's a pairing that would've worked because he's a ball playing CB; he could pair either GC or JT and we'd have complementary attributes in them. BTW, it might be because Azpi has been playing on the left of late, where he clearly struggles - that's on Mourinho I guess.

That's what I've been saying... can't understand why a guy of his build goes to the ground so often - diving?!? just stay on your feet and play some football for christ's sake! Or Allah, whatever!

They are not mutually exclusive: Cech made a big mistake while Cahill could/should have done better. Let's not make a point that our defense and defenders have been good after conceding 6 goals against bottom feeders...

Sometimes it's not about making mistakes, but how one copes with the threat the opposition poses. At least that's how I rate defenders. The way we've been (NOT!) defending don't think Luiz will help that much aside from upping our ball possession a bit.

Agree with almost everything just unsure about Mikel. I also though he was good, but then when under pressure he kinda of vanished. I wanted him to become more assertive as we lost control of the match, but he wasn't. Still not a bad performance.

This was NOT a strange game! It was very similar to the last one. Keeping the football, having ball possession doesn't make you "play beautiful" football - there is nothing beautiful about the way Spain play to me. What possession really gives you is yet another way to defend! Your opponent cannot hurt you without the football. We've not been able to keep the football for a number of reasons and Mourinho's line up and tactics are also to blame. TorontoChelsea, good points, but I disagree on dribbling: Brazil have won 5 WC and do very well in the WC for many years using dribbling as their main weapon. Actually in every time Brazil won the world cup, they had an "unstoppable" player in the starting XI. There is certainly more to it, and you still need to produce the finishing after a successful dribble. However, beating a man when things are tight can be massive. Back to reality though, Mourinho is being disingenuous as usual when speaking of the goals we did not score. A good reporter who did not mind having his head bitten off, would have asked, "how many goals do Chelsea need to score to win a match?" After such question Jose would surely storm out though.

How many goals do we have to score to win a game? Let's only talk about our strikers and lukaku when we stop conceding so much. Sort out the middle and defense.

Just pass it to Shirley!

yes, mistake by Cech no argument there. That should not have stopped Cahill from doing better though. He was too far from Crouch and tried his usual block - not good enough for me. Must get the 3 points! Stoke are poor.

Cahill's mistake as much as Cech's. Announcers of course just can't criticize Cahill... We are playing well, against a poor side. Just need to get our shit together to get the 3 points. Perhaps Terry should've been on Crouch? (that sounds strange:))

yeah... his ball control right before the cross/assist was top notch! Quick touches, all in control, throwing off the defender completely. With the possible exception of an unlikely injury-free Eto, Lukaku would've been our best striker had he stayed. So as good the loan move was for him, Mourinho made a mistake.

Whatever dude, Ba was average to me. Already talked about the "assist" to Sunderland defender (nowhere near any Chelsea player). He did have one clear cut chance and fell to the ground like he always does despite being a big guy; you can argue about the PK (foul/in/out), but a better striker would have remained on his feet and scored. He also had a shot from outside the box that went to row 'z'. Ba was dispossessed a few times, including one when he was falling and made a horrible back pass that could've led to a counter. He played fewer minutes, but enough to have made an impact. Anyway, you seem to like Ba and I am pretty confident he's nowhere near what Chelsea needs. I've said it many times, Torres being poor does not make Demba Ba adequate in any way or form. Chelsea need better strikers to be contenders in Europe.

Would you care to tell me what great play, or plays, Ba did do while he was on? because WHILE I WAS WATCHING THE FUCKING MATCH I certainly did not see it. Did you also miss the "Torres was really poor" part of my post too?

Agree that Torres was really poor, but Ba wasn't much better. Before someone mentions his assist... he assisted the defender! instead of his teammate; we were just lucky the defender decided, under no pressure whatsoever, to put the ball in the back of his own net. Despite being a bit over the hill, Eto'o still seems to be the more rounded striker we've got.

We've been defending poorly for quite a few games now, so it wasn't an accident. Once again, we don't keep the football well, which means we are always under threat of a cross, or set pieces... We need to keep the ball better. Starting with the defenders who should be more proactive at intercepting and keeping possession not just blocking, blocking... Mikel did not help much because they were playing wide and long balls, but he was a bit soft in one of their goals.

Don't know if a pk or not (perhaps a soft one) but certainly a legendary miss by Ba.

yeah but consistency is what makes Ronaldo and Messi so special.

Completely agree. Arsenal lacked steel in the middle when Song was there. Even Arteta has been better than Song in that holding position.

Lukaku should really go and watch Bull Durham ('88) with Costner and and Tim Robbins and pay heed to what Costner says in the movie...

^^ Completely agree! Mourinho on Lukaku: "Maybe there is a new rule in football, where, when the season is finished, every player is free to decide his future," he said. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11668/9055574/premier-league-chelsea-boss-jose-mourinho-says-pressure-is-on-manchester-city

Absolutely! Luiz had little to do with it the same way Cahill also is not alone Chelsea defense. However, Luiz brings technique, talent to the side. He immediately improves on ball possession and long balls too – we’ve discussed that before.

Really no argument concerning John Terry, just don't think Cahill is nearly at the same level. A player is good enough or he isn't in my mind. Other traits may be nice to have, but if talent isn't there, he doesn't belong in the starting XI up of a top club. I wonder how effective this style is these days, since the other top sides play very differently - including the ones sitting above us on the standings.