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Zouma is not quicker than Ivanovic. Putting Zouma at RB would be ludicrous imo. I think Montero would have done the same to any of our FB. Possibly even Azpi. I would definitely keep Ivanovic in at RB for City. He had a poor game yesterday but as we have no alternate LB he has to play there really.

Agreed with a lot of what you were saying until I saw that which is rubbish. How can you form that conclusion after 1 game? Second half they did not have a clue to deal with him but unfortunately it was not enough against a team with a man advantage. He is way too good to be figured out. His balance, dribbling, acceleration on the ball will always be difficult to stop. I have no doubt by the end of the season he probably will be our main star and most probably the main contender for PFA player of the year.

Willian was having a good game. I would say in the first half, he along with Oscar were our best players and in the second half he and Hazard were the only ones showing something. Even if he was not playing good, at 10 men down, Willian is never going to be sacrificed ahead of Fabregas or Oscar. Swansea are a team who with a man advantage, were going to come more at us than they were doing with 11 men and for the counter and pace in which to press the team, Willian would have been more effective. Fabregas should have gone off if anything because I think Oscar would have offered more than him however Jose probably saw it as when we did attack them, Fabregas was the only player capable of picking out the pass to Willian, Hazard or Costa on the counter. Although Oscar was having a good game, I would not say he would have continued to make an impact with us at 10 men because he does not have the pace or dribbling ability needed to hurt them on the counter. Understandable for me. I also think people need to put things into perspective. He had a good game and was better than the majority of slackers out there but he was not outstanding in a level where it was a huge surprise if he went off.

If Fabregas plays we should just play him in his normal CM position but in a 4-3-3 position. None of this stuff where we put him in the no.10 role because he will be running around like a headless chicken. I am hoping the fact that we failed to win our first game of the season means Mourinho will open up more and hopefully we don't be as negative as we were against them last season. I would not mind seeing Fabregas be dropped for this however I assume he will play because he is one player that can create something in a blink of an eye. Matic Ramires Fabregas Willian Hazard Costa

There would be a meltdown if Cahill had done what he done for the last goal but tbh watching MOTD and seeing reviews about him, he had a very solid game. Was very composed with the ball, won a lot of tussles and is definitely going to be one of the top ball playing CB around as he gets older. His passing range was excellent too and loves to play his way out of tight situations.

And there were people on here who were ridiculing those fans who vented our frustrations in pre-season matches, claiming the easy comeback of "it is only pre-season". The pre-season signs were there. Even before the sending off, they were well on top of us and had much more shots on target than us. The only thing I take from this is that when they scored that pen and we had a man down I thought we were there for the taking. So I will take a point in the circumstances. But based on this performance, it is quite obvious to see that our pre-season form was not just something that we could ignore. Ivanovic got a roasting today. Azpi had a tough time too and did not offer us width when going forward. Oscar had a good game though and hopefully he keeps that up. We really need to pick ourselves up for the City game though. Our midfield/defence looked so vulnerable when defending. Not good enough considering this was a team when we were in full throttle last season we beat 4-2 and 5-0. Wonder how many of those who ridiculed those fans for taking things too seriously in pre-season will start thinking different now. When we lost to NYRB kids in that friendly few weeks back it was obvious that there were signs to be worry. But on the other hand, I am sure we will come back stronger but seriously the board will be ludicrous to not bring in any more signings.

Montero gives every defender he comes up to a hard time tbh. Super quick and great dribbling + balance.

Quality! Remember we all had fears before the Everton game last season and Swansea game last season when he was an apparent injury risk. What happened those days. Everton he started and scored 2 goals. Swansea he started and score a hattrick. Today?.... I think you get the pattern. Come on you Chels! :blue scalf:

They wanted him to stay but he was only there on a one year deal when he joined and his contract expired. He had a season in the PL which is something he wanted to do before he retired I guess and now I think he wants the final chance to participate in the UCL.

You do realise we are at home mate?

I am still hoping Costa will start. Mourinho said he was fit to play against Arsenal then obviously said he was feeling discomfort. For what we know he may have been able to play but just not risked him so hopefully a full week is enough for him. I remember it was the same against Everton last season. He apparently was a massive injury doubt beforehand and Mourinho refused to rule him out. Then guess what, he starts and bags 2 goals for an apparently 'doubtful' player. I hope this is the same case for Swansea. Excellent record against them so far. 5 goals in 2 games against them. Hope he makes it for Saturday.

He got that rescinded to one game against Sunderland on the last day of last season which he served. He is available for Saturday fortunately.

People still not noticing Cahill's composure on the ball in tight situations Excellent at playing his way out of trouble.

Ake has never played LB in a competitive game. I think he had 1 game there for Reading and that is it. He has played for our reserves there and in our friendlies but in competitve fixtures. If Ake played LB over a season for us you would find faults in his game. Rose is a much better LB. Rose and Davies are actually the two LB and were being rotated however because of Rose form, he started regularly and cemented that place on his own. Rose might not be good enough to start every game but for rotation purposes and being back up, he is more than good enough. Ake is not yet. You can't seriously put Ake in the same league as Rose. Come on now.

Just seen that he scored 63 goals in 77 U18/19/21 matches which included 41 in 39 games last season. He was definitely too good for U21 football now and I am glad he has made this step, even though he has not turned 18 yet. Still amazing to think he is only 17 and should be no.1 striker in a quite a decent league. If he scores for fun for them, who knows what lies ahead for him. Has a very exciting future. Hopefully it is with us. It is a shame the opening weekend of the Eredivise has been cancelled due to a police striker. We will have to wait another week to see our loaness in action. This will be a test for him to see what level he is currently at and I am sure he can take the league by storm. The lad is just a natural goalscorer.

Did you actually watch Rose play last season? Tottenham fans said he was fantastic for them last season. I doubt the move is even going to happen but some people on these forums just make up an observation about a player who they probably have never watched. Last season he cemented his place in that Tottenham team and was consistently good. Normally he would be rotated but because of his form he kept that left back spot to himself. He grew leaps and bounds last season. Comparing Ake to him is just an insult.

You only have to look at the game on Sunday to see Cahill is our best defender with the ball. Cahill is better than John Terry with the ball too. Terry is the better distributor but is not effective as Cahill with using it. It was not just the Arsenal game where Cahill shows effective use of the ball. He has done that in several matches and tbh that is a reason why I think Mourinho persists with him because he likes to play with the ball. I don't see how Zouma has ever been risky with the ball. I can't believe I am like the only one who thinks Cahill is good on the ball. Especially when people say Zouma is better on the ball just completely baffles me. He is probably our worse defender with the ball at his feet. Cahill is the only CB at our club who rather than kicks the ball away, actually plays with it in matches where we are being pressed. A fellow Arsenal fans who i discussed the game with was comparing him to Koscielny in the way they play and used the exact same words. Koscielny is faster but both have an excellent recovery rate in retreiving the ball and both are very good with the ball at their feet. Zouma may play with the ball but that is when he is not under pressure. Under pressure, Cahill is our best CB and probably one of the best CB in the league with using the ball and that is a bonus rather than someone who just kicks it out. When AVB signed him he said "Gary has good technical abilities, which is important in the way we want to play and to implement our philosophy, our passing philosophy in building from the back," the manager said. "He has speed of anticipation, is an English international of course, and has values off the pitch". People who will look to rubbish his claim will point out that he is an average manager who does not know what he is talking about etc but he recognised as our manager at the time of the qualities Cahill has on the ball. After we beat Stoke 2-0 this season on MNF, Carragher even said this: "They’re two proper centre-backs, I love watching them play.“You hear about ball-playing centre-backs, they defend – they can play as well, but they’re proper defenders. Wherever you go, home or away, you want these two in your team.” Even on to our title surge last season, his old manager Coyle praised his overall qualities as a defender, recognising he has great skills as a footballer as he is very good with the ball at his feet. We are going to have to agree to disagree but unlike some who think Zouma should start ahead of him I disagree because I think although Zouma has a lot of potential, Cahill is right now just more of a complete defender and that is why I think Mourinho has never dropped Cahill out of the team consistenly, just sporadically.. He is one of our most undervalued players by fans. I am a big fan though.

He was only shit when we were playing him in a position that is not his favoured one. As soon as he dropped deep into his more favoured role he dictated play and picked out 2 quality passes. Hazard should have really buried that.

He only started 1 of the 'big games' last season and scored in that game. Maybe you should make that sort of comment when you see him start more big games.

Old Trafford, he was the best player on the pitch bar De Gea. He was constantly a nuisance to their team and was our best player. Had he scored that goal before the corner which led to Drogba's goal we would be talking about the goal of the season but DDG made an excellent save. He just went past 3 of their players with ease. Don't know where you got thta conclusion that he was invisible. Etihad he was instructed to be part of a tactical set up which involved being a lot more defensive and being effective on the counter. What does he do? Put in a superb cross for Schurrle on the counter and we went 1-0 up. LOL, invisible against United at Stamford Bridge? He got MOTM. Not just because of his goal but he was by far the best outfield player on the pitch. Don't talk nonsense.

Thank you. Those comments are ridiculous and piss me off. It was the same at the Emirates. Just because Hazard had a quiet game that does not mean Bellerin owned him. Hazard was moving all over the pitch in both games. The reality is when Hazard had the ball he rarely got tackled. It is just the fact that he did not receive the ball as much as we/he would have liked and when he got the ball he did not really seem to want to run at the opposition as many would like. He was fouled most times he did run at the opposition and won us free kicks. Anyone who says Bellerin owned Hazard are deluded really.

He is not even a slouch. He has got decent pace for a CB. Cahill for the majority of last season was good but people only seem to want to remember his bad games. One thing for sure is if Cahill had made any error today this thread probably would have gone in to meltdown with people mocking him. But it is funny how it is all silence when he is performing. I will maintain it now that he is one of the best ball playing defenders in the league. Not saying he is the best but he is up there. I have seen him used the ball well loads of games. I don't begrudge people of criticising him but I just don't like when people fail to recognise his qualities and dismiss him as some average CB which he is not.

Excellent game today. I really don't see how people claim he is not good with the ball. How much times today did he use the ball effectively and keep possession and on top of that was just formidable. In the air or on the floor, he coped with everything. But because it is Cahill he won't get the credit he deserves until he makes 1 mistake and everyone just wait for the perfect opportunity to hammer him.

Lost the game but there were good things to take out of it. Matic bossed the game, Fabregas showed glimpses of his excellent vision. Hazard surprisingly was our least effective player but no worries there as I know when the real thing kicks in he will be back to best. Cahill was excellent today and hopefully shut a few people up who think he needs to be replaced. I am not too worried anyway. We lost but plenty positive things from today. Bring on next week.

Weather is good and I am off to Wembley! Can't wait. Come on you Chels! :blue scalf: