TorontoChelsea

It makes zero sense to get rid of Cech. Top goalies like Seaman, Schmeichel and van der Sar were all top class into their late 30's (van Der Sar was still excellent at 41). Cech could be an elite keeper for 5-10 more years. This is not a like Drogba or Cole or Lampard where we're talking about if someone will be good enough for Chelsea next season or the one after.

An interesting article...http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/cn_uyjpro0sf1kw2s_rvzg/Show/Player-Focus-Goalkeepers-Save-Success-Rates Not much of a surprise. Cech has been one of the top goalies in the world for almost a decade and has shown no signs of slowing down. (The stat itself is hardly perfect. Not all shots on goal are equal. Some teams, like Spurs, allow almost all their shots from inside the box. Other teams will stifle opponents and force them to take long shots which any keeper should save. Still, it is some indication of quality and in this case the statistical analysis and the eye test are in perfect agreement: Cech is great.)

Normally, we have Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Moses, and Marin for 3 positions. Both RDM and Rafa also favoured playing Ramires and Bertrand there. Even Torres would play ahead of him. Piazon was our 8th or 9th choice attacking midfielder. You're seriously complaining that we loaned out a player that we never were going to play? In your head, you think that if Piazon were around now, he'd be getting lots of playing time and I'm telling you that he wouldn't. Even if Piazon were still on the team, he'd play against Brentford and then probably not even make the bench. Piazon would not get playing time at Chelsea this season. That is why they loaned him.I don't understand complaining about loans either. Look at the progress KDB and Lukaku have made this season? What would have happened had they stayed at Chelsea? They would have played a handful of minutes and not developed. It's a necessary step. (and both players were already well ahead of Piazon in development and experience.)

As of right now, we have three games where we will need to rotate Mata, Oscar, Marin, Ramires, Lampard, and Luiz in the midfield. We'll live. If something else happens, we still have Benayoun and Malouda who are absolutely good enough players. We could even use Ake if we needed to.I have no idea why you are so obsessed with us keeping Piazon. A loan move made sense and is good for his career. You can't hold onto players because maybe you'll get 6 players injured and they'll get to play a few minutes. We made a mistake selling Meireles without cover, but letting a kid with no Premier League experience at a position where we have a lot of depth go on loan is a good move. .

What do you think would happen if Piazon stayed here? He comes on in the 70th minute and scores and saves Chelsea's season? The player who was trusted in a single Premier League match that was already over is going to save our season? Even if Hazard is suspended, we don't really need Piazon. The African Cup of Nation is over in a couple of weeks so even if Nigeria make the finals, the maximum Moses and Mikel will miss is 4 games. We have Mata, Oscar, Marin, and Ramires for attacking midfield and if we need Bertrand or even Torres have played there this year for the next 4 games. Being short of cover all season like we've been in central midfield and striker is bad, but for a maximum of 4 games? We'll survive. If we really needed, we could use Malouda or Benayoun both of who would be absolutely fine. What you're saying is that you'd rather delay a young players' development in order to have him sit on the bench. He's not going to turn into superman in 6 months, but development is a process and him playing regularly helps that process. Him not playing, hurts it.

I keep seeing "performance mode" at the top of the page and keep thinking that it's too bad you can't do the same to Chelsea. They were on "going through the motions mode" today.

Which match was that? Spurs? Norwich? That's it. Those are the two performances where the three of them started up front together and looked good earlier in the year. (And even then, it was just Mata and Hazard getting the goals and assists). It doesn't work because there is no balance. You need width. You need directness. You need someone to be able to hold up the ball. You need crossing into the box. You need to be able to defend the wings. You can't just take three talented players, throw them together and say "play like Barcelona". (and even Barcelona play with a winger). We're just an imbalanced team right now.

Yes. We should have loaned him. Piazon gets playing time with Malaga, Even if he were still here, he wouldn't get time. Marin, Ramires, and Bertrand are still ahead of him on the depth chart. .You want to delay a young player's development so they can play against Brentford? We can run out Malouda and Benayoun for all I care.

I wouldn't really care about this cup, but we played our starters throughout which meant that we were weaker in the league because of it. What a waste. We were in shambles again today. Nobody seems to know what they are supposed to be doing. I thought Cole and Cech played well and everyone else was basically garbage. Our attackers can't keep hold of the ball at all. Oscar, Hazard and Mata do not work together. Stop trying to force it. None of our players seem to be able to operate in any space. We get pressure and they just cough the ball up. Our spacing is awful. Our pivot looks lost and confused which is about all I can say for our manager. Sure, he didn't have a lot of options, but he had some! And the stupid ball boy crap. I hate this constant tabloid headline season we're having.

Yes, the kid was a diving little bitch, but Hazard was an idiot. Everything with us this season seems to be a media circus. I'm so tired of it.

It took us getting some sent off, but Benitez is finally moving from the 4-2-3-1

What a joke.

Mediocre half. Had some good moments but nothing like we need. Our attackers had an awful time holding onto the ball. We too often lack width. There have been a number of times where Ramires and Lampard have been on the sidelines to provide an outlet because our attackers are all bunched up in the middle. We looked better towards the end which is hopeful, but we need to strike fast in the second half. Can't let it get to 70 minutes down 2-0 before making any changes. I'd like to see Marin for Oscar as the first one. Marin crosses the ball. Ba could benefit from that.

If that was Turnbull again, it would have been a goal.

Chris Foy strikes again!

Need a first-half goal.

Wow, we're thin at the moment. This is Lampard's 4 start in about 10 days. I'd prefer to see him rest. Mata probably needs a rest too. Oscar on the right hasn't worked yet. Problem is, we have so few options with Mikel and Moses away and Marin being for whatever reason, seen as almost unplayable.

If we did sign him, it would have to be a sign and loan. Shaw is roughly 5 years younger than PVA and playing at a higher level. One of the best signs of greatness is the ability to play at a high level at a very young age and excel. Ashley Cole was a regular at Arsenal at 20. Maldini was 17 when he was starting for Milan. Baines was 21 when he was starting regularly in the Premier League. There are players who develop later. There are players who aren't appreciated until they are older. There are players who move into a more suitable system and become better later...but the ability to excel when you are young is one of the biggest signs of future greatness. (And look at our top players. Mata was excellent with Valencia when he was 20. Hazard player of the year in France at 19...or out legends. Terry was a regular starter at 20, Lampard was 19. )

Welcome!

Exactly. I mean, he's had 2 starts and a few sub appearances already.

And Kalou is on. Togo are basically just trying to kick Ivory Coast out of this game, They really could be down a couple of men by now.

The ref is allowing all sorts of crazy tackles.

1-1 halftime...

People, Piazon is loaned out! I think we need to rotate players to keep them fresh (I'd sit Lampard and Mata) but we can still field a strong team without playing scrubs, League matters most though.

Of course you need perspective, but not as much as you make out. You compare Modric to Ramires, but last season they played different positions. Ramires played attacking midfield or in a midfield of a 4-3-3. Modric played in the deep-lying midfield role which almost never gets assists in any great numbers. Nobody would compare those two players' statistically. For that position, you need to look at other stats.and if you look at whoscored.com, it rates Modric as "very strong" when it comes to passing which is accurate because it combines a number of different statistics to get that. (long balls, key passes, minutes per chance created, etc...). Ramires is graded as a poor passer not because of his assists, but because of his overall numbers. You can look at one particular statistic (or even two) and come away with the wrong impression, you take a multitude of stats and they can give you a full impression. And yes you can absolutely tell a lot about a player without ever seeing them play. And football is not unpredictable, It is extremely predictable. The league leaders of the biggest four leagues are ManU, Barcelona, Juventus, and Bayern. There are really only a few teams in every league that have any chance at all to win.Teams that spend money will win. Teams that don't spend money, have no chance. It's only unpredictable in the game to game which is what makes it great to watch.