Stats

That is your opinion which I find bizarre. No it is not a fact. If we go out and play the way we are capable of, they will have problems dealing with Oscar and Mata, whoever is in the no.10 role. I would like to see Mata start for this. Been unused for the last 2 matches and I feel he has a point to prove and games like this I believe he can be the deciding factor. Also, why is that a fact because I find statements like that quite stupid.

Hard to say but a loss like this was thoroughly deserved. Awful performance. No signs of wanting to win the game and seems like the tactic was to just defend and get the point and while we are through I hope Mourinho takes note. I like Lamps and while I think some of the criticism he has got this season has been harsh, he should not be playing every single game. He is fucking 35 and should be used as rotation. Mourinho needs to realise he is not the same player from when he had his first reign at the club but tonight the performance was just dire and horrible to watch and no one really played well IMO. Basel deserved the victory. With all respect we are quite lucky that the other teams in our group have been inconsistent. Mata been an unused sub for the last 2 games. Hope things are refreshed a little against Southampton and he proves a point and we recover from this awful performance tonight!

You are ridiculous. Your head is really not in the right frame of mind.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/287405/analysis

Yeah once again, lets's criticize Mikel rather than complimenting him. YAWN. Getting boring now. Why can you not just state he had a solid performance rather than picking him out as "average". You really don't like him do you? The reason why Lamps was so effective yesterday was because of how well Mikel done in his role (which Lamps acknowledged himself) but let's ignore that. Every player was good yesterday and not just our "top players".

What? That was his best performance in a Chelsea shirt this season! He was quality IMO. What us fans want to see from him on a regular basis. Where did you get the idea that that was his worst performance in a Chelsea shirt. Sorry but I find that a ridiculous statement. I hope you are sober making this comment Henrique

BT Sport gave him MOTM anyway. He had some flaws but look at what he contributed. Goals! That is what you want from a striker. Falcao does not do much in games but he normally scores like a striker should and that is what Lukaku done. I would like to have a striker who can have off days but still perform with a return of goals. Shame they did not win as that would of been a magnificent way to write himself in Mersyside derby history. While he is scoring goals at Everton that is good but I have no idea he would of eventually bang in the goals for us had we kept him but oh well, hope to see him do it more for Everton and come back next year and be given a proper chance which he deserves!

This should not even be considered a rumour regardless of what website it comes from. Clearly bullshit, Lahm is Bayern through and through and will be there likely for the rest of his career. Just lock this thread I say. Never going to happen.

HAHA

But he is still a player they developed through the academy. He joined them at 15 and progressed from the youth team, to reserves to the first team so while he was at QPR for his very young days, Liverpool are the team who actually developed him and pushed him on.

Scored a first half hat-trick against Arsenal today. Definitely the most exciting talent we have right now in our youth ranks. Such a talent! http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3539000/title/under-18-report-arsenal-0-chelsea-3

Look at the positives. Arsenal have not gained ground on us as they lost and a weekend where we could have dropped to sixth place, Spurs and City lost and the better fact is that we still remain fourth

I am sure Mourinho will have watched clips of the game last season where they completely bulldozed our team and due to what we witnessed at St James Park last week and at Upton Park last season I would not be surprised if Mourinho goes without a no.10 this match and plays a 4-3-3 to match up against their physical nature. When we play 4-2-3-1 it leaves the central midfielders more exposed. I think Mourinho may go with a trio of Mikel, Ramires and Lamps. I would not mind seeing this as I believe we would be best suited this way. We are playing West Ham at a good time as well. They beat Spurs 3-0 not too long ago but apart from that their form has been well below-par and hover just above the relegation zone. If there is a best time to play them it is around now so hopefully we get our faults fixed and come back with a bang.

Good win. Looks like we will top the group with ease this time round despite that first matchday scare. Willian, simply fantastic. Work rate, balance, flair and just a display you want to see from your attacker. Definitely was my MOTM tonight. I am not being critical of Oscar because his scoring statistics look good but he really needs to offer more going forward sometimes. He is regularly praised for his defensive work rate and winning the ball but from our no.10 I would like to see a lot more than being a hard worker. Just look at Willian's performance, that is the quality I like to see going forward from our attacking midfielders. While Oscar has been one of our better performers I have felt that over the season he can offer a bit more bite going forward. I don't want him to be simply known as a player Mourinho likes because he has got a good work rate etc because he has not been the only one guilty of it but because he is right not Mourinho's favoured no.10 I feel for the last 3 games or so his attacking displays have been quite average, don't want to sound too harsh but that is my general feeling. I wish Mata got the chance to play in the no.10 role when Oscar was subbed of but oh well, maybe he will play on Saturday in the no.10 role, refresh things a little. Ramires and Mikel were very solid in midfield together. Mikel started of sloppy then was very solid IMO. Hope to see these pair more often. I would not mind seeing Lamps start against WBA though. it is a game which I feel Lamps will thrive in as we are likely to have the ball more and he will be useful for these sort of games at home where we are expected to win. When we get back to Upton park I would like to see the pairing of Ramires and Mikel. Cole was rightly dropped tonight and he will know that he can't simply walk in the team no more because his recent performances have been poor. Solid display from Azpi and glad to see Eto'o getting his scoring touch again. Hope this inspires him for more goals continuing with WBA on Saturday. We have made Schalke look extremely average in the 2 games we have played against them but they have been without Farfan and Huntelaar, which helped us a little but take away nothing from the win. Clean sheet in our last 3 CL games. Looks good!

Cole deserves to be dropped. Needs that kick off the backside to show that he will not always play when he gives shit performances. Mourinho is not afraid to make big changes as we have seen at his time at Real and already has made big decision so far while at us.

Just scored a magnificent free-kick with his left foot against Schalke in the Uefa youth league. You don't get many players who come as two footed as Baker. Simply magnificent. He uses his right foot slightly more but as just seen is comfortable using his left foot for set pieces as well. Live on eurosport for those who are interested.

They were all alternating positions. Not one player had a fixed position. Oscar sometimes moved to the right and so did Mata.

Cole was absolutely awful. I know the majority was off form today but he is far too fragile, lets players get past him too easily. We saw the same with Newcastle last season when they beat us. The same thing they done again, which Jose could not see. Stick Sissoko on the right and let him rip Cole apart. Every player I watched take on Cole was successful. Shocking performance. Newcastle did not even need to bring on HBA and had Taylor and Coloccini injured, their best 2 CB. Poor. Hopefully this is just a blip and provides an angry response in the week but we lost a chance today with Arsenal taking on Liverpool. They completely dominated the midfield and we were second best. Hazard was the only player who looked like making something happen tbh, everyone else shambles. Passing was atrocious. We will learn hopefully anyway but this is a game that many fans were complacent about and expected us to win. Proves why we can't take any games in the PL lightly. We will move on!

Form is temporary... class is permanent,,, yes Torres is back to his best! (Really frustrated)

Mata looked more potent. We pose a bigger threat from set pieces when he plays but oh well.... TBH I don't think Mourinho should of gone with Oscar, Mata and Hazard anyway. Too many flaws.

Mata was not great but he really should have stayed on as he looked like he could make things happen. Oscar was the player who should have come off. Has been completely off it today.

Cazorla and Wilshere done the same to Essien. Essien got skinned quite embarrassingly by Cazorla and Essien resorted to conceding a blatant foul. More times than Mikel btw. Mikel's positioning and interceptions was a reason why we never conceded yesterday. I would give him a 8/10. Had Lampard done what Mikel done last night you probably would have done the same thing but because it is Mikel you seem to look for any excuse. Essien and Mikel formed a very good partnership last night and never actually looked like a weak link. Essien had a good game but sometimes looked rusty, but Mikel was awesome but nevertheless them 2 were a big reason Arsenal never looked close to scoring and why we restricted them to about one shot on target.

We found out alright. Essien good, sometimes looked rusty but overall very decent and Mikel absolutely flawless. Hopefully for once you will actually agree Phil and not slate him again. You were eager to see one slip up but tonight he was immense and there is no denying that. You said his time at Chelsea is over a days/weeks back and he will prove you wrong. I know Jose feels there are things to work on with him but he knows Mikel is a valuable player to have around and last night proved that.

We outclassed them totally. Fans were excellent as well and we sounded like the home team. Luiz was excellent. Mikel was excellent as was Bertrand who put in a performance you just like to see from your LB. Good defensively but a very potent threat going forward as well. Something we lack from Cole. Shae about KDB though as his performance tonight suggests Jose would have not seen anything that shows he is ready to stake a claim for a first team start. But the rest like Mata and Willian, superb. Mata scoring a goal like that with his weaker foot, just WOW. It is just good to see that many players who have been left out in recent weeks bar KDB looked so eager to impress Jose and that is what they done and that is what we need to carry on with our season. Hungry players and squad depth which is what we have. Back to Mata, really happy for him because after his brilliant cameo-performance against Spurs, many of us expected him to kick on. He was rewarded with some first team starts for his performance against Spurs but was quite average after that and never seemed to kick on but last night came back with a bang, hope it continues. Also, I don't think many pick up on it but Mata's scoring record against Arsenal is simply fantastic. He has started 4 times against Arsenal and scored every single time. They could not handle Drogba, you can say the same thing about Mata. Brilliant thing is the win tonight has surely left Jose with a few selection headaches against Newcastle and upcoming games. Just compare our squad depth quality this season compared to last season. Exciting times to be a Chelsea fan!

If there was ever a game that Bertrand could show he was capable of doing a shift at LB at the expense of Cole, this was it. Was superb. Was excellent in defence and done ever so well going forward. His work rate was phenomenal and made Myiachi look average. Like I said before, he is not a weak link for us and takes his chances when he gets them. Hope he can get more minutes.