robsblubot

Fair enough. There is no point really (of having that big squad) when only XI play. The problem of dropping important/key players because of form is that it becomes more difficult for those players to regain their form later on. Had we not insisted with Lampard last season, he wouldn't have won us the CL spot with sterling performances in the final 7 or so games. Yes, sometimes you gotta drop an underperforming player, so long as the replacement is really the better option, which is something many of us here disagree with (manager does too I guess). The point is that when the big games come in the CL and BPL, you will need the key players to be on form, so it makes very little sense losing them now (by not playing them). That's the juggling (with confidence and fitness) managers have to do. Concerning this match, we attempted to play a very high line today - Cahill is notoriously poor playing high up because he lacks pace. Playing both Cahill and JT in a high defense line would be suicidal. Aside from some laziness in the second goal (pretty bad actually) when he was waiting to see if William and then Ramires would win the ball back (they didn't) he had no other mistake. Terry also made a mistake losing his man and David covered him beautifully which earned him a high five. So, he lost a 50/50 against a guy just as big when trying to anticipate and intercept the ball - big deal. Terry covered him just fine then. Terry is the positioned defender while David chases - not really that unusual really. -- I refuse to discuss player's valuation because that's not really up to personal opinions - the transfer market is really all the evidence one needs.

Well I was referring to what Mourinho himself said, and I thought that was kinda important. You definitely have a point concerning current form. So, I reckon you also think Lampard and Cole should be dropped right now? Just wondering if there is some consistency from you, as it seems there isn't from other posters. ( I don't think Lampard, Cole, or Luiz should be dropped BTW)

He was good on the ball, but missing that sitter prob costed us the game. Had we scored then, we wouldn't need to be so exposed to counters for the remaining of the match. Goals change games and you cannot miss a frontal opportunity without pressure just outside the 6-yard box.

When has it ever happened? With which manager? Because AVB, RDM, Benitez, and now Mourinho clearly prefer Luiz. Here's what happened: Luiz had a poor game, so Mourinho dropped him for a couple of matches. Though as he watches them in training, like every chelsea manager did before, he realizes Luiz is twice the player, so he *wants* to play luiz. He wants, as he stated clearly to the press, Luiz to become more focused because he has the quality/potential to become one of the best defenders in the world (have you even heard someone say that of Cahill?). Phil goes to the Mikel thread and points out - rightfully so - that every freaking manager we've had did not start Mikel and that's for a reason. There is also a reason every freaking manager we've had start Luiz ahead of Cahill - it's really no accident or a personal preference. It's very likely an opinion shared by the coaches at chelsea who stay when managers go. While I agree that Luiz hasn't been playing as well as he has, say last season, he is still the better player and Mourinho is right insisting with him so he can regain his form. He has been doing that with other players too (Lampard and Cole for example). Cole had another terrible game, but here we are discussing David. Lampard was a passenger, but here we are discussing David. Thankfully there is more to football than strikers (when we don't score) and defenders (when we concede), otherwise it would be a very boring game. His passing was awful?! He even assisted Torres a couple of times?!

Ramires and Oscar were really poor but Lampard was absent and thats the worst thing one can say about a midfielder.

Yes that's good enough for some fans.Percentage of nothing would still amount to nothing today. That was set piece cross Lampard was marking the goal scorer and he lost him. Second goal was indeed lazy from luiz though. U really see something in Cahill nobody else does - not even any of our managers.

Like I wrote in the other thread I don't think it's his head - he's just been less quick and less aggressive which happen to be his assets. Agree he doesn't deserve a spot with his current form but he was hardly to blame when the midfield crumbles the way it did in the second half - we got outplayed in all areas of the pitch in the second half. Cahill would not have made a diff.Btw lamps lost his marker for 1st

Luiz hasn't been playing well and don't deserve to be in the starting xi. It's not just concentration he also seems slower and less aggressive. He got no help from William and midfield so not going to blame the last man but last year he'd have moved in front of the attacker since he's got the pace for that. This loss is on Mourinho with his Benitez lineup.

Finishing has been horrible really - we've had enough chances to score and we didn't

Ridiculous strike from William.

Fucking Newcastle divers

besides Rambo seems to have no problems passing to the back of the net... On Diego Costa, I have no problem with his choice and don't really understand why it's anyone's business - certainly not Scolari's. Whether Spain will or not get them, that's a different discussion and not really important to me; don't support spain and don't think Diego is good enough to tip the balance one way or another. BTW, it's not an age of striker abundance in Brazil atm. Last real special one was Ronaldo before getting fat and retiring. Fred and Jo are so common to me.

Rumor has it PSG will make a 41m bid in Jan.

how are Gary and David handling the pressure now?

wow! not a good sign for KDB

Well, Arsenal away from home isn't really the time to give youngsters many minutes. Imagine a huge setback and what that would do to their confidence.

DYC. thanks. We've disagreed on Roman and Mourinho before: to me Mourinho is an employee, nothing more. He got sacked before and can be sacked again. It's Roman's club as he paid and pays very well for it. Now interesting you see Barcelona as a team that scores a lot and also concedes a lot; that's not how I see them. Their possession game is actually very defensive in essence, which is what I alluded to in my earlier post. If you keep the football the other team cannot hurt you. That's also a way a player like David Luiz helps your side defensively, by helping keep possession. And we don't have to think Barcelona only, City also is a possession side and they push their defense line very high very often. The in-form Barcelona did not concede many goals and I reckon they only score a lot because of one player: Messi. Look at Spain for example. They play in the exact same way, with many of the key players, but have a really hard time scoring, but also don't concede many goals. They are known as the 1x0 champions after all. What you say about Barcelona is how I see Bayern these days. Honestly, football is changing and we have to change along. I have nothing against counter-attacking football as it has worked wonderfully many times for me (club and international levels). But like I said, football is changing, becoming more dynamic, and I don't think Roman spent all that money buying luminaries to play counter-attacking football. Even Mourinho said so when questioned about Mata, that there will be a *transition* period, but the end goal is indeed changing the style which has been the same since he left (according to him in the same post-match interview). BTW, hope this is not completely OT since we are (implicitly) discussing whether a player like Gary would fit this or that style...

There lies the problem... there is no 'us' anymore. Chelsea like any other top English club is an international brand, which is the only way the investments made make any sense! Like CHOULO wrote, the teams who are playing a far more dynamic and unpredictable football, at club and international level, are indeed winning all trophies; not to mention playing the football that sells tickets and tv adds. Roman does want a piece of that (more attacking football) as it has been reported ad nauseam: AVB time: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2172276/Andre-Villas-Boas-hits-Roman-Abramovich.html More recent: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2384228/Jose-Mourinho-says-Roman-Abramovich-pressured-play-sexier-football.html a number of other articles on the subject can be found online.

Gary makes at least as many mistakes as Luiz does; they are just different kind of mistakes, which some here are more "used to." They lead to goals all the same though. The difference, which people here seem to choose to ignore, is that the whole team suffers when a technically inferior player like Cahill plays. He provides no technical edge against the opposition. The defense line plays very deep, too deep for a home game! City had most of possession and people immediately complained about the pivot... Pivot! Pivot! reminds me of an old Friend's episode. Football is a very dynamic game where the lines are intertwined. When your defenders don't have the ability to join and perform tasks in the midfield, that affects how the team plays. If your CB sits deep, the entire defense line will play deep, which will invariably affect your team's ability to keep possession and allow your opponent to push high up the pitch (like City did). You can start any CM in the world in the "pivot" and if they don't get help from all other lines they will fail. Finally, the opinions here usually go strongly against the the "opinions" of the transfer market. So, either you know something all the professional scouts, coaches, and managers don't, or you are just plain wrong; personally I'd go with the latter. David Luiz is sought after by the top clubs in the world, while Cahill is essentially anonymous in the footballing world. If you want to play a defender of Cahill's characteristics, if you truly believe that is the better option, then by all means you should be looking to unload David ASAP (he won't sit on the bench quietly with so much interest in him) and to get another player similar to Cahill, but technically better than him. I've followed Terry's career and at no point during his long career at Chelsea he's been as easily beaten by opponents as Cahill is. Terry is just a much superior player in every aspect of the game; a far better footballer and honestly, we shouldn't settle for anything less. I like Gary, I really do, but as a rotation player, never a starter. However, ever since he's become a regular for the national team, there is a push for him to become a regular at Chelsea too - from pundits and (mostly England) supporters alike. Here's something people may realize but not say: Chelsea are a top team, but England aren't. So, what is good enough for England isn't necessarily good enough for Chelsea. England have about 4-5 world class players, which is way short of becoming WC contenders - reckon this is fodder for another thread though.

that's not a good argument for Cahill, because Luiz is twice the footballer.

Well his distribution is pretty bad too and he's slow to recover.Though pundits clearly can't criticize him on tv so all is good for Cahill. England are weak in defense.

He was good once he came on; positioned up the pitch with good tackles and work rate.

Did he just recover his old pace?! Does not seem Torres needs to change his game after all... Torres won us 3 points today - we were not that great aside from him. BTW, Ivanovic had a great defensive game as well!

defense line inside the six-yard box. Pretty embarrassing stuff...

Omeruo had a terrible (and unlucky) conf cup. The did not do very well against strong opposition in the minitutes he had, so don't really see what the fuzz is about... Is he doing well in training? Great giv him some cup start but certainly not against a top side. Btw Varane replaced Pepe, who is average at best. Honestly we'got to stop going crazy for Madrid players if we ever want to beat barca again that is... Seriously, Madrid have many average players - too many really.