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The cheek and bravery of him to do this penalty last week against Napoli in the dying minutes whilst his team was 2-1 down...

Lack of phsyical abilities and small size? He is not a phsyical beast but he is no twig either. He is quite tall or above the average height I would say. I agree that the lack of athleticism might not help him but he has the technique, decent vision and intelligence to play that level. He always handled the physical side well from when I watched him with us. But, yeah I don't really see him being here in the long term tbh.

I am worried about Lewis Baker. Must be said. He had an excellent season for the U21/U19 last season and got around 20 goals or so and to top that of got the young player of the year award and Mourinho promoted him to the first team squad and mentioned how excited he is for him. However after spending some time training with the first team he went on loan to Sheffield Wednesday where it did not work out. Was subbed of in on game at H/T and then got dropped altogether from their squad for the next game which led to us calling him back. We then loaned him out to MK Dons where he was a sub first game. Not too surprising as he maybe needs to build up match fitness and to be fair he starts their next game and scores a wonder goal, albeit a defeat but not too sure how his general performance was that game. However since that he has been benched both games despite scoring that excellent goal. I just find it a bit worrying that with his status, he has not managed to easily slot into their midfield which he should be if he was Chelsea standard. I like Baker a lot but maybe it is a case that he struggles to adapt to playing with players that are not of CFC quality. For someone who was expected to make such an impact in the Championship to then being on the bench 3 times at a L1 club is rather worrying. I hope it is the case that the manager feels he is not match sharp yet but expects him to make a huge impact because I was expecting big things from Baker this season.

You are being a bit too drastic I think. RLC hardly ever plays as a no.10 when playing for our U19/U21. Why do we feel we can chuck him in as a no.10 now? He played no.10 in our U21 game against Leicester last week and struggled to make an impact on the game. Ake has hardly played football all season so that is a no. This is a game where we have to take seriously. Southampton almost have a fully fit team. No time for just chucking the likes of Ake and RLC for this game ahead of players like Willian. Hopefully Fabregas who will play I assume is just played in his best position.

Diego Costa will start, I am sure. Yes, he has been on a dry patch recently but you don't keep a quality striker down for long. Mourinho knows Costa's qualities and I don't think he has a slight thought of dropping him. He will be even hungrier on Sunday after that dismal display against PSG. Other than that would like to see Cuadrado, Willian and Hazard as the attacking trio. Hopefully Southampton feel the force of our backlash this Sunday. Want a strong response.

Yes, we played worse when Oscar went off but let's not try and manipulate it and act like Oscar was anything special. He was not. He lost the ball a few times himself. If he played that good Mourinho would have kept him on regardless of the yellow card however but he was not having a huge influece on the game.

And there were people who ridiculed people like me and fellow others on here who found our negative approach at Paris shocking because we had the away goal. Tonight is your fucking answer. The same solid performance we put at Atletico and then we lost the second leg at home. The same ultra-defensive style at Paris that some said the 'ones who always want to moan about something' should be proud off because we had the second leg at home and yet we still go out. Maybe the people who approved of Mourinho's negative football in Paris will maybe think twice now. Crazy to think we are still playing this awful style of football with the players we have. Verratti made to look like a god once again. Embarrassing!

No because the Barca 2012 team with 11 men played football while the Chelsea 2015 team with 11 men against 10 played like a bunch of cowards and got schooled.

Absolutely pathetic performance. I hope people in this thread who are always the first to defend Mourinho's negative style stop with their bullshit now. So much of us has have complained about how bad we play in the big games. The players were awful. I don't care what the commentators said. I excuse Hazard as he was the only one who was trying. The rest off the team awful and Mourinho when are you going to fuckin learn? Stop getting complacent and thinking it is gameover when we have the lead. Yes... even if it is against bloody 10 men. Let's be honest. It would have been a fraud if we went through. Oscar deserved an Oscar for getting Ibra undeservedly sent off. We still were outplayed with a man advantage and once again we made Verratti look like a god. Once again in these big games we are unsure of playing Cesc in his usual position but we feel we should chuck him anywhere in the team. We do not learn. Fabregas struggled again for that reason. Complete shambles. And there was so many on here who thought this would be a walkover because they had been playing poor in their league. UCL is totally different and once again it shows, league form means bullshit. It always baffled me when these pundits who obviously don't wach our games, keep stating if there is one team from England that can win it, it is Chelsea. Erm... why? We play the same bullshit football against any big team we play and constantly get outplayed. Why do people believe we had a chance of winning it? Just imagine if we played Barca, Real or Bayern with this style. But one thing it is obvious. Like Carragher pointed out just now. We play Fabregas and Oscar in these big games together, we are getting found out. So many problems within this team and the biggest shame is that PSG's only transfers this season was Aurier who did not even play and Luiz who so many fans mocked and we who had one of the best transfer windows got outplayed by a team who hardly improved from last season. Just can't get over the fact that we were this poor against 10 men. 10 men! We never learn our lessons in these big games. Worse thing is it is more or less predictable that we are probably going to play this same way when we play Arsenal and even Liverpool ffs!

With how we have played tonight that would be a complete mockery of football if we were to go through like that.

It is becoming the same thing. Same old shit football against all the big teams now. Even at home. I said I hope we go out and play after they got sent off to 10 men but after what we saw at the Etihad could you really expect any different? Utterly pathetic performance. PSG deserved that goal and even if we go through the players and Mourinho should be ashamed of their performance tonight.

I was surprised by his lack of reaction myself. Oscar should come of at H/T just to make sure he does not fall in the trap of getting a second yellow.

I will be quite pissed off if Mourinho attempts to play anywhere near the same tactics he did at the Etihad and Old Trafford. No reason to not attack and finish off this team. Never a red though but about time we had a bit of luck on our side.

Fair enough, however maybe he should not post provoking indirects such as "don't want to discuss with someone who doesnt understand football" just simply because someone did not agree with him.

Don't know who that was aimed at but if it was me you maybe want to fix up on your football knowledge first and last but not least, your grammar is appalling. Know when to use your commas and full stops as well. Would make life a lot easier

He scored against Spurs at WHL but generally was very frustrating apart from that.

What was luck? You are not making sense. Come with a constructive argument rather than "that was luck". I am not suggesting Kane is better than Costa at all but trying to write off what he has achieved this season is what I find irritating. Was it luck or just pure quality when Spurs beat us and Arsenal? That was pure quality. Don't tell me otherwise.

Rubbish. At WHL when we played Spurs, Kane was the best player on the pitch by miles and outperformed Costa. Scored 2 and assisted 2. Harry Kane single-handedly destroyed Arsenal. 2 goals. There are a lot of big games where he didn't even play when he was trusted enough to start. I think Costa is an excellent striker and I am not criticising him but you are really contradicting yourself. Costa has scored mainly against the mid-table and lower teams bar Liverpool and Arsenal where he got one a peice while Kane scored 2 against both us and Arsenal. His general performance was excellent too. If Kane had been trusted to start earlier on before MP saw sense he most probably would have scored in more big games.

That is rubbish and you know it. Another 2 goals today. If people have doubts he may continue his excellent form then that is another thing but when people are claiming he is overhyped, average, overrated, one-season wonder, it just sounds stupid. He is the complete striker. Left foot, right foot, headers, strength, pace. He literally has a perfect all round game for a striker. That is why he still scoring goals. If people think this is some kind of fluke then they are completely naive. He is a great talent.

What a bloody goal!

I have been critical of Coutinho in the past but right now Coutinho is better than him. He has been quality this season. He is improving every game and is playing some top football. He has added goals, assists, improved his strength and his general all round play. Right now there is no denying Coutinho is performing better and is probably better than Oscar. I am not even a 'Coutinho worshipper' but you can't really say Oscar is better right now when you look how the two are performing.

Cahill and Terry shut Kane down today! How about we give Cahill credit for once? A rock at the back. Costa was back at his best. Whether he is awarded the goal or not, he worked hard all day, ran the channels well and was a complete menace for the Spurs defence. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher name Azpiliceuta as the best defender in the league a few months ago and you can see why once again. No one got past him, no one. Not even Walker was able to use his searing pace to beat him. Credit to Zouma who was also excellent in an unfamiliar role. The whole team put in a shift, there is no criticism. We were average first half but got the important first goal and second half we took control. So happy to see us avenge that 5-3 defeat as that hurt a lot. A great day it has been. Liverpool beating City which I did not see and us winning the COC against Spurs. Let's hope this is the start of a successful season. COYB! :blue scalf:

What? We have been average and poor to watch despite us leading.

I hope Cahill has a quality game but it shows whatever happens, none of our youth have a real chance of making it here with Mourinho in charge when Ake, who has played DM before and done very well does not start. Mourinho will never trust the youth over experience. Cahill has never played DM before. FWIW Cahill might perform excellently and silence a few people but I just give up on thinking one of our academy products will actually make the full grade which is a shame. Anyway, we have a final to look to. COYB! :blue scalf:

With the way Coutinho is peforming right now, Oscar is going to need start stepping up his performances if he wants his place in the Brazil XI. Coutinho been nothing short of brilliant recently.