Stats

That is not my point. Costa is on another level to Lukaku. I am just pointing out that it only takes a couple games for him to hit a dry patch and people start slating him. For eg inevitable that Martinez drops Lukaku for Etoo and all this. Anyway I am happy to see him improving. Was excellent yesterday. Wouldn't be surprised if he made it 3 games in a row of scoring against Spurs.

When he hits a drab run of form again we will see about that.

How it seems is that many of his critics are waiting to bash him as soon as he hits a dry patch but when he is on form they don't want to praise him.

I see what you mean Choulo however it is not as if I am stating that his opinion was runnish or anything. I just think it is right that when you criticize someone a lot and they come back with exceptional form, I think it is fair to admit where you have been proven wrong etc. For instance what Lionsden done in the Oscar thread. He was a big critic of him but was big enough to accept that Oscar has stepped up a level and improved considerably. I am not sure if Henrique has been on the forum recently tbh but if he is I just would like to see him accept that Matic is a quality DM. However Henrique made a few comments about Matic stating he was not good enough etc however Matic has had several consistent excellent matches for us now and it is not as if when he wrote that I slated his opinion because everyone was entitled to one. However now Matic has improved leaps and bounds, I think it is fair to request his opinion on Matic now.

Baker definitely will not start imo. He has not started a game for us up to this date and could not even get any minutes against Shrewsbury in the cup. Yes, we have topped the group but I am sure Mourinho will want to finish this group with a win and he also will want to show respect as in that there are still teams fighting for 2nd spot so he still will field experienced players. Mikel will definitely start if fit. Then it is a matter of whether he is partnered with Ramires or Ake. Baker will most likely be a sub and come on later in the game if we have secured the win.

I wonder what Henrique would say about Matic now. He was one of his biggest critics. Would love to see him come and write how wrong he has been proven He is literally the complete holding midfielder. Tackles well, superb strength, anticipation/reading of the game is superb, has an eye for a pass and a few goals and his dribbling ability is not that bad as well. Not one other DM I would take over him. Eagerly looking forward to the team of the season already. At this rate we probably will have around 8-9 players on that PFA team of the year.

Has had so many quality games for us but that game was probably his best performance in a Chelsea shirt. Literally ripped them apart and it is a joy watching that clip over and over again. Another repeat like that on Saturday would be very welcoming.

Nike. You don't know the difference between a teenager and an adult. Let me give you an educational lesson here on the growing up process. When you reach 13 years of age you officially are a teenager. You are classified as a teenager for 6 more years until you reach the age of 20 when you are no longer a teenager. This is what Kovacic reached last May. Sterling is 19 right now. Nineteen which means he is a teenager. You get it? I see you wern't educated but hey you learn something new everyday they say. Also spell his name right. It is Kovacic, not Kovaic. Now you said Sterling and Kovacic are the same age. Kovacic is born in May, 1994. Sterling is born December, 1994. SO yes, they are born in the same age but Kovacic is a few months older. Look I taught you some stuff you were oblivious to. Say thank you I say. You never knew what a teenager was and I taught you what one is. LOL. Rooney was good last game in the friendly but how many poor performances has he had in an England shirt? Quite a few. Chamberlain who had a good game against Scotland some reason makes you want to lick his ass. You do realise that the more fringe players started that game against Scotland. Sterling started the qualifier. Well Sterling was made the no.10 against Italy and other countries for a reason. You clearly are delusional if you think they did not place a lot of responsbility on him. Anyway. I hope you learm from what I taught you. I took my time out to write that so be grateful. But on Sterling, if you are going to write another comment explaining why Chamberlain is miles ahead of Sterling I just won't reply. I will reply if I find your response reasonable. If I don't assume we are just meeting at crossroads once again and I can't be asked to reply to your oblivious views. OK.

So much people get on Willian's back. So happy to see that he justified his inclusion in the team. Mourinho could have rotated him out the team for Ramires or Schurrle but he persisted with him and how brilliant was he? Fantastic. Rest of the team totally superb. Fabregas passing was just a joy to watch. Amazing to think that unlike other teams are fitness is great. Most of our team is fit and that is really helping us. Bring on Sunderland! Never looked forward to watching us this much in our history :blue scalf:

Cesc Fabregas

Is anyone a bit surprised about Mourinho referring to Schalke as defensive? Seems like he keeps having little digs at him.

Exactly. When Baker was made a first team member quite a few people on here stated that this is proof that Jose can bring through youth players. As I was saying there is difference between being part of the first team squad and playing. Chalobah was moved to the first team a few seasons ago and even up to this date has not kicked a ball competively for us. That is what is frustrating for the likes of Boga. He has so much talent but if he wants to make it here he can make as much progress as he wants but will never make a league appearance here for the next 2 seasons. I have watched Sterling and Boga for youth and reserves for Liverpool and Chelsea and like I was saying before, Boga is not far off in terms of talent. However Sterling was given a chance at the age of 17 and while he had his ups and downs it has developed him into a much better footballer due to the experience. Baker will be 20 next year and has only made one appearance for us and I don't even think he got a touch of the ball. Boga unfortunately will be the same. He turns 18 beginning of next year and due to the competition we have in attack I fear that is another talent that will not make it here.

Boga and Brown are the same age. But it is worrying that Boga misses quite a lot of games through what I assume injury. He is not in our U19 team currently playing Schalke and misses games frequently thorugh injuries. Was the same last season.

He has been poor of late recently but conisdering his age it is not a surprise. That is all part of the learning curve. When Sturridge was fit he did have a couple quality games this season. Tottenham especially. Right now Liverpool are just a team void of all confidence. I agree he has been overhyped like I was saying a few pages back but considering he represents England and was an integral part of a team that nearly won the title i am not surprised. Every country wants to hype up their young players. However to call him SWP just because he has not found his best form so far is not fair as well. There is still a long season ahead and several years for him to prove how good he is. But right now he is surrounded by total average players. I can't name one player in that team who is pulling their weight right now.

I don't understand you. I asked you who the best teenager was and you said Kovacic. I am assuming you did not study Math at school/college then? If you honestly think Sterling and Lennon are the same type of players I will just leave it there because this will not go anywhere. Better end product, more intelligent, stronger and more productive. Double figures last season at the age of 19. I will say no more.

You know what. Let's get a sledgehammer and hit Diaby in the legs. Let's also hit a sledgehammer on a less injury-prone player like Hazard. According to some logic on here, because Diaby is more injury prone that means the sledgehammer will break his legs but because Hazard does not get injured much the sledgehammer will not break his legs. Basic story is that the injury to Reus on Saturday was a poorly timed tackle and you can see how his ankle bends. That can happen to any football player. He is a human. At first I thought it would be something minor but when you see the challenge, I would not at all label it as being down to Reus being injury-prone. It was quite a clumsy challenge. Happy for him, irrespective of whether he joins Chelsea or not that he will not be about for several months as he is a joy to watch.

Oh, fair enough then. However in the UCL I never go in the mentality that if we play this team it is over for us. I feel we are capable of beating anyone on our day as we have proved time and time again before. Yes, I would definitely not want Real, Barca or Bayern right now but I am confident that if we got any of the rest we would go through. I would not even write off our chances if we played Bayern, Barca or Real. They would be favourites but with Mourinho in charge and the players we have, we have our own case to say we could knock them out.

Kovacic is not a teenager though. I really do rate him but even he needed a kick up the backside. He struggled at Inter initially but now is performing very well. That is why I stand by BR view that Sterling is the best teenager in Europe. One more month and he officially is not a teenager but right now he is and I would find it hard to say which teenager is currently better than him.

Which teenager do you reckon is better than him Nike? I would say Luke Shaw is probably the best teenage LB. Gaya is pretty good as well. Lukaku is still one of the young best strikers around. You are not making sense. So come back with yout reply please.

It would not. If Schalke win tomorrow we still will be second regardless of the score between Sporting Lisbon and Maribor. We will then just need at least a draw against Sporting Lisbon in our last game to go through. Hopefully we win and seal top spot but even if we did lose tomorrow I still think we would qualify from the group.

You must be the strangest Chelsea fan I have come across on here. Your views does not represent anything of a Chelsea fan.

The thing is I doubt he will. '3rd choice' is just a word not an action. For instance, if Costa and Remy were both injured next season would Jose rely on an unproven PL player in Bamford or play a more experienced player in Schurrle up front? I am sure he would go for Schurrle. DD is experienced and a reliable player for Jose. Bamford is not and that is why I think it is unrealistic that even if Bamford was here he would play much and that would hinder his development.

No chance. Solanke is a great talent but he is far from making the first team squad on a full time basis. He will play with the U21 next season and from there we will se how he progresses. Bamford is more likely but then again unlikely. He has improved at Middlesbrough but has he shown enough to show he is ready to be counted on if we need him? I am not too sure. Last thing I want is for Bamford to be 3rd choice striker and finding it really hard to play games when he could be out on loan.

We have more chance of signing him than Real imo. Real already have Ronaldo, James and Bale. Unless one of them leave which is not going to happen within the next year, he will not go there. Like I have said before that is your opinion as well. At least state you believe rather than sounding assertive over everyone. I reckon he would fit Arsenal very well but rumours say he does not want to go there but yet again, rumours. I don't see why United have more chance than us. Yes, he will be more of a star because they would need to rely on him etc and we got Hazard, a star player already but until we hear Reus speak I would not say anyone else has a better chance than us of signing him. I still reckon Bayern will sign him but that is just my opinion. Only Reus knows himself what he will do tbh.

If he was to join it won't be for at least a couple seasons as we have that spot covered. But can see United going for him. They could do with him in the team right now. But on Clyne, he has turned into a quality RB. Excellent going forward and does an astute job defensively as well. Also ahs an eye for goal as we have seen this season with those spectacular goals against Liverpool and Arsenal. Was shocked to see Chambers start over Clyne in the qualifiers last month. Was happy to see Clyne play both game against Slovenia and Scotland though. Right now though he is at the best place possible to be playing his football.