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So why did we not lose a game against a team in the top 4 last season then?

Pellegrini is right though. City always dominate us when we play them. Home and away, we have got lucky in a lot of the encounters. It seems when we play them, they just dominate us physically and that is a problem. I know we will improve but it is like what Henrique was saying in the Mourinho thread, a lot of pundits seem to say we will win the league easily because of the Mourinho factor without actually realising that our squad is not that much better than our rivals. For instance you look at Kolarov, who does not get the praise he deserves and you look at Azpi who is repeatedly praised by pundits. The difference today, Kolarov offers a much better attacking threat and defensively his limitations are exaggerated. The bonus he gives to City, we don't have that on either sides of our FB. It is not just a knee-jerk reaction but pundits do really overrate us. We don't have any natural attacking FB. It is easy to say the likes of Kolarov, Clichy and Zaba can't defend but they offer much more positives than negatives for them. Furthermore, there over-reliance on attacking will show their defincies in defending but because we are not as atttacking, Ivanovic and especially Azpi are saved from criticism.

Rahman is done. Hopefully we see more of him at LB and get a new fast RB or have Azpi competing with Iva. Ivanovic is not just the problem. I am not exempting him but Azpi is not contributing in LB as well. Defensively yeah, but he gives us nothing going forward. Ivanovic has to go forward more because he is our only FB who offers a realistic threat offensively.

Hazard was playing in a team where he was surrounded by players who were playing as if they had not kicked a ball before. When that happens against another similar quality team, do you know difficult that is? If he was in that City team he would have been standout. He can't do everything on his own. He was the only one who was actually trying but this is not Hazard FC, it is Chelsea FC. He is not to blame at all.

If you were to base it on the first 2 games, you would have JT out the team and Cahill and Stones at the back. However as bad as Iva has been, I don't want to see any more of this CB playing RB if itmeans replacing Iva. We already have a player playing in an unnaturall position at LB. We don't need the same at RB.

Needs to improve technically and he will become a very good CB. Not composed under pressure and too rash when stepping out. His positioning was questionable at times.

Only positive I take from this is that if pre-season and our opening game against Swansea did not wake the board up, this game certainly has. Even when you are champions by a clear distance in a league like this and other rivals are spending, you cannot just stay still and think the squad does not need strengthening. We need some more quality in the squad. Whole team was awful. I will exempt Hazard as he was the only one trying, linking up with players and causing a threat and Cuadrado bar the 3rd goal actually showed signs of encouragement Costa was beyond awful. Not only did he he get handled, he went down at every opportunity and did not battle like the warrior he usually is and what annoyed me even more is that he did not even play to the whistle. He instead chose to complain when he could have easily tried to fight back for the ball on 2 occasions. As strange as it sounds, I think we would have got ripped apart even more with Terry in the team. The 2 goals we conceded were not our CB fault tbh. But, wow we really need to improve. Fabregas was beyond awful too. His passing, positioning and everything was just poor. Worrying thing is the signs we saw creeping towards the end of last season have shown no signs of improvement. I know in a few weeks/months time we hopefully will overlook this result and talk about the dramatic change in form. Champions come back stronger and never lie down.

That is going to be the story of his spell. Rotation. Sometimes left out the squad. Get the odd chance and has to consistently grab every opportunity he gets. It is harsh but it happens. Especially when you are playing for a top club like us.

He can score. You should know he has scored some quality goals for us before. City, Barca, Leicester. He is perfect for this game. His running, stamina, acceleration will be pivotal if we stand a chance of beating them. I think he is crucial in helping track Kolarov and also exposing him on the counter. People are just slating him for his limitations without realising the qualities Mourinho has picked him for in this certain game. Obvious pick for me. Hopefully he proves you wrong and you are made to eat your words after this game.

I agree with you mate but yet again, loan spells mean nothing when it comes to Chelsea. Lukaku was quality against Liverpool and majority of teams he faced in his spell at WBA and we still shipped him out on loan. Hopefully Cuadrado has hit the gym in the past weeks and Mourinho has seen something in him to include him on the bench.

Like who? I think Ramires would be starting in this game regardless of who we bring on. This game suits him. Toure and co were known for their defincies in tracking back. Ramires is the perfect player for that. I don't understand why people are annoyed with him in the team. If we use the counter wisely, he could have a big say in us getting a result today.

Maybe. Time will tell. Moses is not suddenly a world class player. He had a good pre-season and that does not mean much. I

Don't know why people are surprised about Moses. Yeah, he was our best player in pre-season and Cuadrado has been awful but yet it again it was pre-season. Lukaku was our best player in pre-season for what 2 seasons running and still could not get a start over Torres. I am hoping it is more of a 4-3-3 set up and Fabregas drops deeper. I am positve now I have seen the teams. Especially if we are wise on the counter.

Jus what the doctor ordered Delighted with that team.

He was fantastic against us at the Bridge last season. The problem with him was he struggled to get consistent games but he certainly has looked the part so far this season, not to mention the fact that he was quality at Southampton too. If he stays fit I think he will have an excellent season for sure.

The only reason why Shaw was considered to be 'bad' (if you want to use that word) last season because of his injuries. Pre-season, apparently he has worked with an excellent fitness coach to help stop the injuries. When he is fit he is a cracking LB. As much as Azpi is good for us, imo he can hinder us because of him being right footed. I hope Baba can prove to be an excellent addition and challenge for that LB spot. Have heard excellent stuff about him.

Eintracht Frankfurt.

Not a good performance by him and fellow players. Been awful. Christensen got absolutely blown away by Auba for that 3rd goal.

While I agree with some of what you are saying, only 2 of those came at CB. And he nearly made a grave mistake against Liverpool. The recovery against Sterling which he used great pace to get the ball back, he made an error first. The other names you mentioned came with him playing CM. I am still not completely sold on Zouma being a regular yet. I am not sure if he is ready for a role week in, week out.

Starts today and what a massive one too. Against Dortmund with the likes of Reus, Auba. Big opportunity for him to show what he is about. Looking forward to this game. 5.30 kick off. BT Sport for those who have it

Lukaku is a good player. Not even Ibra was complete at 22 years of age. While he has been inconsistent, Lukaku can be very proud of what he has achieved at the age of 22. So you want him to fight for his place like Remy did yeah? While me and us fellow Chelsea fans are delighted, what else did he need to do to get more starts? He fought for his place and will always remain a back up player. Is he ambitious or has a lack of ambition? You see how there are different interpretations to it? Remy is complete proof of why Lukaku was right to leave. He was always going to be a back up player and he done the right thing in going to a good team, albeit infeiror where he would play. Because eventually a big club will come in for him and guarantee him a big role. Remy got limited chances despite doing well in those limited apperances/starts and you really think Lukaku had a legit chance of fighting to be no.1. Never was going to happen, LOL.

No. He left because he was not going to be given a realistic chance up front. You can call that arrogance or being a coward but I think that shows ambition. He wants to play and prove himself rather than just take the weekly wages and sit back on the bench. Ibra is very arrogant but does that affect his ability? No. Lukaku has some arrogance but that is not going to get in the way of his football ability. He is inconsistent but that does not link to his attitude. He lives and breathes football and is always striving to improve.

Has been excellent. On the ball, in the air, anticipation, been dominant along with Jagielka. Can see what the hype is about. His ball playing skills are excellent as well.

I rate Benteke and Lukaku very highly. The thing is Lukaku is technically limited but I think he is capable of scoring over 20 goals a season. He does that and he is fine. Yeah, Giroud is leading a top club but he has never got 20 goals in a season for Arsenal. I think if Lukaku gets picked up by a big club, it will be because he has scored way too much for Everton and can see him doing much better for Arsenal than Giroud if he was there. You can mention size but how many players his size has scored the goals he has at the same age? Not much. P.S his hold up play with back to goal has really improved based on this season alone. Was his excellent hold up play that got Everton the equalizer against Watford last week and his link up/ hold up play this match has been fantastic. All round fantastic game.

Why do you think he has a horrible attitude? He just is ambitious and maybe speaks a bit too soon. How does that affect his football ability though?