TorontoChelsea

Haha...great move by Torres, hoorrible touch by Oscar, secon own goal!

Limp first half.

We've played well against ManU, but you have to remember that it's been ManU-B we've been playing well against with us using our top squads. We beat them 1-0 at Stamford Bridge where we had our starting XI and they had no Rooney, no Kagawa, no Van Persie, and no Vidic. We beat them 5-4 when they had Buttner and Wooten as their CB pairing. It will be a tougher test.

I became a fan at the same time and it was this team that I also fell in love with. This was especially because most of the Premier League at that time was very British (and lots of top Norwegians at that time for some reason) and most teams played a quite boring long-ball style.

I like Schurrle, but he's played almost exclusively as a left-sided forward this season. (He can also slot in behind the striker). He's not a true winger who will deliver 2, 3 crosses into the box a game. He's more like Hazard. I just don't particularly see the need to add another player to cover the same ground we have Mata, Hazard, Oscar, (and De Bruyne) for. How many attacking midfielders do we need? If we were to get another attacking midfielder, I'd much rather it be someone who was a natural winger who would offer something different and allow the manager to play different style. I'd much rather get a manager in and then let him make a couple of signings that fit with his philosophy.

Not only that, but Torres has more goals against Championship sides than he does against top-15 Premier League teams. His goals this season have been scored against: Rubin, Bucharest, Boro, Brentford, Villa, Leeds, Monterrey, Sunderland, Nordjsaelland, Shakhtar, Norwich, Arsenal, Wolves, Newcastle, and Reading. It's not just quantity.

Not only that but Torres has to play in the return leg in Moscow because Ba is cup-tied. It will be Ba. It doesn't matter too much. We should win this game no matter the starting XI. My only worry is that if we win, Di Canio might try to deflect criticism of his management style by invading Poland.

Beautiful striker by Moses. Their keeper made a mess of that beforehand though.

Torres! Great pass by Luiz.

He's OK as a squad player for this year. I think people really dislike veteran players anyway, but veterans who are average are hated. (same was with Kalou, Bosingwa, Malouda, etc...) Part of it is that people don't appreciate the massive gap between even average players in the Premier League and youth players and people want everyone on the team to be superstars or possible superstars.

He was hurt with West Ham. The only non-Chelsea West Ham game I watched (against City) he was their best player. He was good enough to play fairly regularly for Arsenal last season and he's barely playing with Chelsea right now. (This is his 3rd ,4th start with us?) He's better than Marin and this is exactly the type of game he should be playing in to give our starters needed rest for the more important Premier League. (Didn't want to see Mata start either really. I'd have gone, Marin, Oscar, Benayoun or something.)

It has nothing to do with an attack on freedom of thought. If he had kept his ignorant opinions to himself, no one would know or care what he believed. It is an attack on his actions and words, his fascist salutes, his ludicrous whitewashing of Mussolini, and so on. If you are a public figure, you are going to be held accountable for what you say and do. You can think what you want, you can't act like a jackass and then be upset when it comes back to bite you. (And denying someone work based on political beliefs is completely different than religious beliefs. "I won't hire a Muslim" does not equal "I won't hire a Neo-Nazi". One is rightly illegal and immoral and the other is not.

He doesn't really deserve it. He's been excellent, but not the best player. He has 10 goals and 13 assists for a team fighting for a Champions League spot. Van Persie has 19 goals and 13 assists for the club that's actually going to win the league. Suarez has 22 goals and 9 assists. He also hasn't dominated the top teams any more than Van Persie, Suarez, or Bale. All have scored against some big teams but have worse scoring records against them then they do against smaller sides. Mata's overall numbers (in all competitions) are fantastic but a lot of that is because he plays in games that other top players don't. For example, Mata has played in 10 Cup games including 9 starts. Van Persie has 0 starts and 4 subs in those games. Bale had 3 starts. Suarez had 2 starts and 1 sub. The difference in statistics is largely Mata's games against poor opposition. Mata has 8 goals and 9 assists against teams that are not really Premier League calibre. Van Persie has 3 goals, 0 assists against the same sorts of clubs.(Which enforces the idea of how horribly Mata's playing time has been managed this season. Mata has not started in 7 Premier League games, but has started against Nordsjalland twice, Leeds, Brentford, Wolves, Monterrey, and three of our four Europa League games. In those Premier League games where Mata didn't start, we lost to QPR and West Brom by one goal and drew with Fulham and Swansea. It seems very likely that had Mata started, we'd have been able to get more points from at least a game or two.).

I have no time for fascists and those who sentimentalize brutal dictators. Yes, Hitler built highways and Mussolini made the trains run on time so we'll just ignore the other stuff, right? Mussolini didn't betray his principles. Fascism is just inherently a terrible system. You can't give a Nazi salute and pretend it's some benign symbol of comradeship. It's a baffling appointment by Sunderland. Yes, your political views are your own but if you are a public figure and you hold what most people consider reprehensible political views, it's going to be a big deal. I hope Sunderland go down and we help them on their way on Sunday.

No top team has 2-3 youngsters in their starting XI. (If by unproven you mean having little experience at the top level). It's rare to even have one and when they do have one, it's almost always someone they scouted and bought. You look at players who have say, under 25 games of good European league experience.. ManU, Man City, Spurs, and Arsenal have a combined 0 players in the regular starting XI. Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern also have 0. If you go to less than 50 games experience at a top level, you have a few like Nestasic and Caulker. If you talk about players that play regularly but aren't starting XI you get Verane, Tello, Shaquiri, and others. but again, it's a small number of players. If you can involve one young, inexperienced player in the regular rotation every year, you're doing well. I you're trying to get 2-3 unproven youngsters in your starting XI, you're not a contender, you're a mid-table team. There's too much money in football now, to compete with youngsters. You're going to beat teams buying world-class players and full internationals by bringing in players who looked good in the Championship or impressed in the youth team? It's not easy to adapt to Premier League football. You look at someone like Oscar who was playing at a fairly high level in Brazil and for their national team, and he's had a very tough year and he's miles ahead of Chalobah right now. I like Chalobah's future, but what's the point in trying to force it? Let him develop at his own pace and if/when he's ready to step in and play a big part. Chelsea have a number of young players who are ready to contribute. De Bruyne and Lukaku should be on the squad next year and Courtois is ready when needed. Our youth policy is to buy the best young players and it's generally working. There's no need to force things. (In fact, I think Tom Cleverly another former Watford loanee is a good example of how to do things. He was Watford's player of the year in 2009-2010, ManU then loaned him to Wigan in the Premier League the next season where he played 25 games. Last year, he came back to ManU and played in 15 matches and this year, he's forced himself into a regular and important role).

I don't think "is he ready" is the right question because you can't prove that anybody is not ready. Can you prove that Leif isn't good enough for Chelsea? He is good enough to play sparingly for Chelsea. Lots of players are. The real question is, is it a good move for him to be at Chelsea next season, and the answer is almost certainly no. It's not good for him and it's not good for the club. He needs to develop and he won't do that at Chelsea. Also, people are making a massive mistake if they think that looking very good in the Championship equates to success in the Premier League. It's a massive massive step up. What European league would be the equal of the Championship? The Championship has no teams in UEFA's top 450. Would you say that somebody who has done very well in the Latvian or Slovenian first division is ready to play regularly for Chelsea? Of course not. You'd want them to prove their worth at a higher level. How many players have come from the Championship and made immediate impacts with top clubs? I actually can't think of any of the top of my head. Chelsea need to win, we need to improve, we need to challenge for trophies. That's the purpose of the club. People are way too obsessed with making sure our young players get a shot. It doesn't really matter because we're going to get a new manager and some new signings next season. Chelsea are going to spend tens of millions of pounds like every year. That's what top teams in England do to stay competitive. I'd say the odds of him playing a big role at Chelsea next season are under 100/1. The most likely scenario is a loan to a lower-table Premier League side and probably for more than one year. (And Pogba is a very different case. Italian teams have almost no money so they have to give young players chances. Seria A clubs spent a net 12M pounds. Premier League clubs spent 364M.)

Speculation on speculation at this point. I can't really imagine any manager saying "no, I don't want to bring in a young, talented player" so I think KDB will very likely be at Chelsea next season. Even if he were to go on loan, Dortmund wouldn't be the best place for him anyway, as he wouldn't be an automatic starter and certainly wouldn't be the fulcrum of the attack like he is now. Most likely scenario, he comes back to Chelsea and fights with Oscar and Moses for the third attacking midfield spot.

Please do and good luck!

Confidence is key. Girls love it so if you aren't actually confident, fake it. Don't look down, don't mumble, don't seem confused, don't be too eager. You make the arrangements, pick up the bill, and be as natural as you can be. Go somewhere where you can have a drink. It makes it easier for both of you to relax. Listen to what she says and show interest. (Men will listen without looking at a person. Women think that means we aren't listening). Be funny and have fun and make sure she has fun. You want her to associate you with having a good time. (Leif=fun). Ultimately, what helps the most is when you realize that there are many girls out there. If this one doesn't work, others will. Then, you can just relax and have a great time.

It's a freemason symbol, but like all conspiracy theories, the facts are not nearly as interesting. The great eye was adopted by the US government in 1782. The freemasons adopted the symbol in 1797. My grandfather was a freemason. All these sorts of things (like Skull and Bones) are just old boys clubs where they have stupid rituals and gather together to drink and socialize. Their members tend to be from powerful, rich families so they go on to have power, but that's a function of a society that rewards the children of the rich with immense privilege, not a conspiracy. @Peace. I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying.

No...Manuel was hilarious not some troll.

Always nice to knock ManU out of a tournament. Two moments of absolute brilliance by Ba and Cech got us through.

Wow...what a save.

Ba!!!

Also, for any hockey fans, David De Gea's style reminds me of Dominik Hasek.