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Well, that's exactly my point: I hope we've got the right people to judge whether Essien can regain some of his form back or not. Though the fact we keep on insisting with Torres suggests we may not have such talent in our staff.

Essien can be the very best in the CM/DM role, but questions remain whether the many nagging injuries are behind him and whether they've taken a toll on his body. Perhaps if he no longer played in the African Cups... how many times has he come back injured?

Think they are not comparable as they complement each other very well. Hazard is a dribbler, a very aggressive and direct CAM/Forward. Oscar, on the other hand does not posses the pace, acceleration, or balance to beat defenders the way Hazard does. However, Oscar can move deep while Hazard is not as effective doing the same. Oscar started his career playing futsal (smaller pitch/ball indoors) in Brazil and has great short passing and controlling skills, perfect for center of the pitch as he does not need much space to operate. He does need to bulk up a bit though. Mata also is not very good playing deep and shines when positioning close to the opponents goal, for either a cross or a shot.

Mikel plays rarely... I guess someone at chelsea agrees with some of us here. While David plays every freaking match, twice a week.

you can't see a 21 year old who is that confortable on the ball becoming a world class player in the future... wow! Then I hope you make around $400K a month because that's what you'd be making down there. Most starting XI players make over $50K a month these days especially with the big clubs.

exactly! let's just fix what *is* broken... the midfield.

Getting a player after he has shown the absolute best he will ever deliver is a mistake, from both business and footballing perspectives. We'd pay inflated prices and there is no way he can go anywhere but down from his absolute top. Torres is essentially the worst case scenario right there, so I can only hope we've learned from that.

no, I missed that. Thinking back, I don't think Sturridge was actully trying to injure Bertrand with that tackle. It was more about protecting himself than anything else. I know because I've seen this from Ronaldinho many times before, he even got a few cards because of it. it suggests a certain level of selfishness though.

Agreed, but that was not an option... we got no offer for Torres, and will no get one anytime soon, considering his wages and form. We did get an offer for Sturridge, who was not going to sign a new deal, unless promised a more important role, rotation/first team? I don't have the insider info though. Perhaps other reasons drove us to sell him, that tackle on Bertrand was weird...

Interesting discussion about Mata and Mikel. I don't rate Mikel and it isn't because of his attitude, or the lack thereof, but because of his technique, or lack thereof. He's not a terrible player, but he's got deficiencies that make him not good enough at this level. The other top clubs have better options there (except Arsenal because they don't like defending). Now Mata is even more interesting... prime for discussing. I don't like him that much when he plays centralized like he did yesterday, and am unsure whether I really want him tracking back. He's a terrible marker (like Hazard), but can cross the ball like few others, so I see him more of a forwarder than a midfielder. Therefore, I like him far more on the wing than in the center. Perhaps our problems are more obvious, say numbers? We just don't have enough players committed to defending at a given time, especially against the top sides. Not sure it's so much about leadership, but more about the lack of steel (same thing?).

Completely agreed and our maestros don't get a free pass either. like I said before I think Mikel isn't good enough for that position (not quick enough and not aggressive enough), but Mata and Hazard are poor markers. Oscar shows good teamwork, but isn't a proper CM...it's his first season after all. And Ramires has been playing twice a week with no cover...

Not disagree much, just going to address the "mere defender" bit. A defender will NOT be involved in the play most of the time because he must position himself behind the line of play, where the ball is. The midfielders, on the other hand will be looking into being always involved in the play. Right, and we were completely destroyed once Benitez replaced our best players leaving Torres there. It wasn't a coincidence Liverpool created many chances after that. A more composed defender like Terry would've helped, especially then, but our coach did not think so. However, I still don't think our midfield should've crumbled the way it did. Right, but this thread gets more attention than it deserves, however interesting a player and character David may be.

OK, for the sake of argument, I will agree that he wasn't at his best (which is prob true since I expect a lot from him). His distribution in the first half was pretty good IMO. However, why then do we depend so much on him? Why are his mistakes pinpointed so much when Iva for example, was involved not in one, but in both liverpool goals?! One reason is because he is responsible for the distribution, but he cannot do it alone. Why do we talk so much about a mere defender, who is not involved in the play most of the time, or at least should not be. It's all in the midfield. Ramires had a great first half, and coincidentally, Chelsea had a good first half. Ramires looked tired in the second, and Mikel did not step up (just too passive for me), which led to utter Liverpool dominance. Mata too was very poor considering he played in teh center of the pitch. My point remains too much attention is given to Luiz play, and not enough to the most important area, which is always the midfield.

I noticed those mistakes too, but so what? Defenders make mistakes and they may be caused by opponent's pressure. Luiz is also responsible for distribution, since Mikel is so poor on the ball, so Luiz sometimes has to pick a difficult pass, or make a run to keep possession otherwise he'd kick it back to the opponent all the time... which is exactly what happen in the final minutes of Liverpool onslaught. Ask him to just kick it up field and he won't be making these mistakes. We were dominated by Liverpool, esp in the second half. The team was dominated, esp the midfield. As important as Luiz is for Chelsea, he is just a defender.

Torres was certainly our worst player against Liverpool, but Mikel and Bertrand were tied for second. Mikel is so fucking slow for the DM position... he can't really cover, because he's got no pace to move quickly to wherever he is needed. Once a player has beaten him, which a slightest change of direction in pace does, that's it, Mikel cannot recover. Watch the game and count how many times, Mikel is tracking back and is dead last to arrive... Mikel's is also really really poor on the ball. And I'm not talking about his piss-poor passing, but how long it takes him to pass the ball. Because of his poor first touch, it takes a a second or two for him to get control of the football until he can pass it to the player nearby. So much so that it is Luiz who's given the ball to distribute, not Mikel. Defender's mistakes are easier to spot, as are strikers mistakes. But those are just 3 players... what about the others? Besides, games are won and lost in the midfield.

His lazy marking for the second goal (agreed) was a carbon copy of Ivanovic's lazy marking in the first goal *and* second goal too. For the second goal, Luiz was in front of Suarez, and Iva behind him, neither really marking him. For the first goal, Iva was in front of Sturridge (also from the cross' point of view) and Azpi behind him, neither really marking Sturridge. Once again, both perfect crosses, both coming from Bertrand's side... No pressure whatsoever to prevent the gazillion crosses, especially in the final minutes during Liverpool onslaught. I disagree, however that Luiz had a terrible game, even defensively. We defended poorly, which also let Luiz at times mano a mano with Suarez and Sturridge. He only let Suarez get behind him once, and even then he managed the slightest touch to put Suarez in a worse angle for a shot (defended by Cech). Mikel was IMO far worse than both Iva and Luiz, even though defender's mistakes are a lot more obvious. My point is that we are once again pin-pointing his mistakes. The weakest aspect of his game is indeed his heading, which is why Terry is always the better partner, but that'd be too easy for Benitez. After all it worked so well at Fulham...

As expensive as it may be to unload Torres... after yesterday's performance it may very well come to that. The problem of having Torres around is that he will eventually end up playing, and who'd want that?! He clearly cannot perform at this level anymore. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. He was a great player once, but Liverpool have shortened his career, and we were smart enough to pick him up at an inflated price. That's history though... we need to deal with a problem now.

Realistically, this was a tough result to take regardless of how mediocre this Liverpool side is (Downing, Henderson...). The circumstances made it a bad result, but before the match, I'd have taken the tie without a second thought. Same goes for United game. Now, Spurs at home has got to be a win for us--no excuses! Arsenal have to play United too, but at home. Though, United counter-attack well so that won't be much of an advantage to poor-defending Arsenal. ANd they've played an additional game... So, we can still get the 3rd spot, so long as our form does not dip and we don't keep on insisting with Torres.

Sturridge is going to learn a lot from Suarez; in a couple of years he'll be a biting player... What a cunt trying to injure his former colleague! Back to Torres, cannot even say he led the line, because he always positions himself in front of the defenders, and we have no one actually in the box to apply the finish. His positioning makes no sense.

I also expected better from Luiz, Iva, and Cech (especially), but that was a perfect cross and there lied the problem: crosses kept on coming during the entire match and eventually they found the strikers, first Daniel and then Suarez. Bertrand too just did not close Daniel down quick enough. Mata and Hazard are not good defending, and considering how useless Torres is, we just lack the numbers to defend well. Ramires also wasn't able to repeat his great first-half performance. Mikel once again was pretty mediocre protecting the defense.

Scored, defended well, fought to regain possession... good performance. He's the least flashy of the trio, but the most rounded and consistent. His teamwork is always good, even when he's not at his best.

officiating aside, it was a heroic effort by Chelsea, playing the entire game down one man. And then in the final 15 minutes down 2 men! because Banayou sub was ridiculous... He is clearly not match fit, regardless whether he is still good enough. Both defenders played very well, but both crosses were just too good. Bertrand did not defend well not closing down quickly enough. And although Mikel was't bad, I think we can and should do better with a player who is more active and isn't so easily beaten.

I just hope JT can play another season... Like I said before, JT and Luiz pairing is fantastic as they complement each other. They also seem to enjoy playing together and communicate well before and during the match. I also hope they both start @pool--not the time to rotate!

Disagree. No other option?! First he signs an extension, then he accepts going nowhere... for money alone. Players have all the power these days. If hulk had not signed the extension, he coudl've forced his exit to wherever he wanted. That's what most players do actually. They can just say no; the clubs usually panic when player has only an year left and agree to any deal. Some players are more ambitious about their careers, others arent. Really have nothing to add about Neymar, what you wrote exemplifies his lack of ambition.

Don't really care too much about captaincy myself, but I do value having leaders in the squad and the more the merrier... We've got some very determined players in the back, but not so in the more advanced positions...