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He would not have been "dropped" because of his performance because he done well against Everton. He was a doubt coming into the match and Jose as we know likes his rotation and thought MVG and Lamps would be a good fit.

You clearly have not gone Specsavers or you choose to read what you want. Cahill is criticized constantly on this forum and if it is not in his player thread you will see the criticisms on the match forums. He really is not as popular as you make out. He gets tons of bashing from the fans.

The sad thing is Cole used to be excellent at attacking as well but as he is getting older, just seems he does not have the legs anymore. Him and Evra are the same age but Evra still has that attacking instinct. I remember a few seasons ago Cole was one of the best attacking fullbacks. His goal against Sunderland was perfect, when we beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates, they could not handle his runs and if IIRC Cole provided 2 assists in that game. Was brilliant to watch. That is why in games we expect to win, for instance Fulham at home I would like to see Bertrand at LB because he has the ability to support attackers and is simply a better attacker and he has done well most times I have seen him in a Chelsea shirt.

Is it really a "massive statement"? He had not started any games for us before and although we were aware of the the threat they can pose I think Jose thought this would be a match to bring him in. At home, likely to have more off the ball and a game where he believed he MVG would settle better into the team but it did not really work. I still think, currently that Mourinho does not think MVG is 100% ready and I would expect Mikel to play more than him for now anyway.

Looks like he will go to Forest. Always thought this was the best move. On coaching wise Zola would have been good for him, but who knows, maybe Billy Davies can do well with him as well. The move makes sense if you look at it on a playing perspective. At Watford, with their recruits he is not a nailed on starter while at Forest they lost their best CDM to Palace and Chalobah should fit into that role.

When people were complaining after the Everton match that was a bit of an overreaction because we done well but tonight we were truly shocking and things really need to be looked into after losing this game. Basel are a good team and underrated but we simply should not even be drawing these kind of games, let along losing. I don't think it is a case of even underrating them as Cahill said in his interview because we saw the threat of them last season but our team is strengthened more than last season yet we have lost. Even when Oscar scored, it came completely out of the blue and you would think we would press on but no, shit performance second half as well. I think a lot of people saw Moruinho as an 'automatic fixer' but as this game proved there are much bigger issues and he is not some magician who will automatically fix things. We have some of the best attacking talents in Europe but the cohesion within the team is not there. Every single game we have played, the performance has been sluggish and not really impressive. It just creates a whole loads of questions again because now people will air their doubts over Eto'o and saying he is not good enough anymore for the PL. Still early to judge him but that is what 6 games or so played and not one goal from our striker and that worries me, really. A shame City got Fernandinho because he is the sort of player I think we need in our team. MVG can drop deep etc but he clearly is not as ready as some people think. That is expected though with his age and little experience of playing on the big stage but tonight right from the offset the atmosphere was poor and there just seemed little effort by the players even when we were down. Really odd for us to lose a CL group stage game and the performance with it. Worrying thing is though Jose does not know what is his best team and the way the manager wants us to play and how the team responds to him is not working.

Fuck off you silly prick.

Mata was poor. He did nothing when he came on to even change the game so I doubt he would have been any different from the start. Back to the summary of our other players. Hazard was poor but I am not concerned, I am sure once he gets his full confidence back, he will produce the goods no doubt. Cole, poor once again, could not handle Salah and as usual can not go forward. MVG, nothing special but it was his first competitive start. Lamps done a brilliant pass for Oscar's goal but apart from that was awful. To summarise our only good player to day was Oscar, the rest of the team was poor. Hopefully this is just a blip but it is worrying that we lost 2-1 to Basel at home, really shocking for us.

Where is Lukaku when you need him? .........

Well he has won every single competitive game they have played so far. Got a good game against Napoli on Sunday though.

Don't agree. Maybe he needs to prove his worth more to Mourinho but he got handed a start in a big game against Everton and Oscar needs playing time as well so no surprise. Mata does not seem as sharp as he could be so not really surprised with him being dropped, especially with the amount of attacking talents we have.

Really like the like up. Would have liked to see Azpi and KDB start but still a very strong team. Hope to see a good performance, goals and most importantly a win.

Fair enough but I still would all him a very good signing. Hopefully when he is in his 30s he still has that stamina, pace and acceleration and improved concentration. I regard Cahill as a good buy. Also we have bought big marquee signings before but mixed it up with not average but inferior compared to what we have done before. But he was a big reason why we won the CL, FA Cup and I hope in oncoming seasons he helps us to win the PL title. With Ba, regardless of the price we bought a striker who scored bag loads of goals for Newcastle. I like our movement in the market this summer. Feel we could have strengthened in other positions but so be it. Also I am quite happy we did not buy Falcao for that price tag but even the biggest of clubs buy the average type of players. Part of the balancing act and is needed for rotation.

Someone discussed about Ramires anyway but he certainly has been a very good signing. Contributed to the team in so many ways and is always improving. Ba and Cahill are not world class but I would not call them average signings or signings where we have flopped. We got Cahill on the cheap and we done the same with Ba as well. Cahill has his bad games but he also has his solid games as well and I think that is a solid investment. I don't mind having Ba around because I still think he has something to prove. He was fantastic at Newcastle and got important goals but I just feel he needs that little bit of confidence.

When we beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates last season I thought he done a very good job. He has done it in the past against Arsenal, where he completely dictates possession and provides defensive stability and he done it last season as well. Other than that even he might have lapses in concentration he still offers something to the team IMO.

Essien is not in the group stages squad so he will miss this game altogether.

Same here but because he is a better winger than Oscar and Mata he is pushed out wide. I agree though, think he would do an excellent job in the no.10 role. We might see him there of Jose decided to play a trio of Willian, Hazard and Schurrle.

I think that is many people's preferred choice for this match anyway. However if KDB does not get a start out wide or in the no.10 role I would not mind seeing him play in the CM role for this game as he is very versatile and quite a good passer of the ball.

Moses turns 23 in December mate.

The time for British teams playing at home has never changed from 7.45pm. The 6pm start is probably because of the preview.

Well at least we know he will hit the back of the net every week at our peril

Annoying thing is he did everything in pre-season to show Mourinho he could be part of his squad. He might not of had a brilliant first season but Mourinho should ignore that and and see how players perform under him and Moses played very well in pre-season. I remember the likes of Jason Cundy on Chelsea TV stating that he believed Moses had played his way into the team for the first game against Hull. Yes he was injured but he could have got a fairer chance rather than being chucked out on loan.

What a goal. Really has been best player on the pitch. Said it before but we might end up regretting letting him go to a potential big rival.

I am not Torres biggest fan but I have no qualms with him playing against Basel. Can see him scoring if he starts and although he can be a real annoyance sometimes he is definitely capable of leading the line against Basel IMO.

Funny thing now is UNited would not of need to buy Fellaini had they put more faith in Pogba. He would easily slot alongside Carrick.