TorontoChelsea

What a dull slate of games on Saturday. None of the top 4 teams in action and the 5th and 6th teams both have matchups against bottom sides. Sunday is huge though!

I didn't get a chance to vote in this but it's not really much of a contest. Hazard has been easily our best player. Azpilicueta has had an excellent year but in a much easier and less important role in many fewer games. Has Azpilicueta been more valuable than Terry or even Cahill this season? Not really. Our back four has been amazing . Players who can make a dynamic difference on offense are exceptionally valuable. You're talking about the difference between a very good defensive left back who offers very little offensively and one of the best players in the world. BTW, Azpilicueta ranked among the regular back four, last in passing percentage, last in duels won percentage, last in all offensive categories, was dribbled by opponents more than any other defender, and was by far the worst of all our defenders in the air. Ashley Cole in 12 starts has created more offensive chances than Aziplicueta has all season. He had a very good year and I can't wait to see how he can evolve his game to add offensive ability when he moves back to right back, but player of the year going to a one-dimensional LB in a defensive system? Over a player who leads us in goals and assists and single-handily won us a whole bunch of games? Not even close.

Hoping for a ManU victory is going to be a weird feeling.

I've also been very impressed with his pressing. He really agitates opposing defenders, blocks their clearances, and forces them to make bad passes. He also tracks back quite well. He's a very valuable player for this side even when you look past his scoring ability.

Most often I'd agree with you ("he sucks" after 3 games and other such idiocy) but the fact is that there's no way Willian will ever live up to his price tag. He just isn't an elite player and we paid an elite price to get him. He's also not 19, he's an established player of 25. He is who he is. He works hard, has incredible speed and stamina all of which Mourinho really values but...he has 2 goals in 37 games as an attacking player which is just awful. He also doesn't create a lot of chances for other players. He's a good player and a good fit for what Mourinho wants to do but not worth nearly what we paid for him.

Come on. Cech was at (along with others) at fault for the final goal and maybe should have been more vocal with the Luiz OG but the Lavezzi goal was not his fault at all And Courtois is not superman. A blasted shot that hits the underside of the crossbar is not going to be saved by any goalie with any regularity. Tie is hardly over. 2-0 win would see us through. It's going to be tough and I, like many Chelsea supporters are extremely disappointed in our team's effort. We have the talent we just looked like we didn't care.

Barkley has played one game in central midfield this season. He's an attacking midfielder and that's where he plays the best. He might be able to play centrally and be effective, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it would sort out our central midfield. I like him, but I don't really see the need for Barkley on this team.

You're right. My mistake.

Why do people open these threads so early? Success is defined for us by trophies and we're still in the competitions so we have absolutely no way of knowing whether the season will be a success or not.

No. City have to drop 5 points for us to pass them if we win every game as they're way ahead on goal difference which we certainly will not catch up on. They'd have to lose to Liverpool and Everton both or drop points elsewhere. It's a real advantage for Liverpool and City not having to play in the CL right now too (which is why all those people who root against our domestic rivals advancing in Europe are being short-sighted.)

It's not over of course, but it's going to be very difficult. We have to get 1 more point than City (a draw will be GD which they'll win) and they are in better position anyway and don't have the extra CL games to contend with. Even if we win all 6 games which is unlikely based on our inconsistency all season, City can still afford to drop 4 points in their next 8 games and be champions. They have a margin for error, we have none.

It's not that we play down to bad teams it's that our entire team has been set-up to emphasize defensive responsibility, work-rate, speed and counter-attack. This means that when teams come at us, we can respond as it fits right into what we want to do. When teams sit back and defend, we can't break them down. We played poorly and didn't deserve to win today and that's most likely the title race over for us as we are now behind two teams and City can lose 2/3 of their games in hand and still be ahead of us on goal difference. It's possible but slim now.

Extremely lucky to be up. We should have conceded a penalty. Pretty much everybody has been poor. Need to shake things up if they don't change fairly soon.

How is that damned if he does or damned if he doesn't? If he plays well consistently like he did early in the year, people will be praising him like they were earlier in the year. Scoring the 4th and 5th goal against a 10-man team doesn't show anybody that he's back in that kind of form.

Andy Carroll would be a very valuable player on a different team. He is absolutely dominant in the air and if you could get players that could pounce on those aerial dual wins, it would be a good set-up. West Ham are just so poor to react. He has won 13 headers won so far today. Every other player on the two teams have combined for 14 headers won.

Na, it's because you can't make anything from this game. It was over after 8 minutes and Oscar wasn't involved much in that. Like the 8-0 Villa win last year, scoring against a team that has given up (and down to 10 men) is pretty meaningless in terms of a player's form. He played well last game though so hopefully, he is getting back to his early season form.

Wow!

This is exactly it. The 2004 Arsenal team we beat for the title was undefeated the year before. They had Cole Veiera, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Fabergas, and others. The United team had Ronaldo, Rooney, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Ferdinand, Keane, Van Nistelroy and others. These were teams stocked with world-class, top level talent. Yet, what makes the Premier League the best league in the world is not the top 2 or 3 teams. It's that teams up and down the league are tough. ManU is a very talented team with a few fantastic players and is in 7th in the league. Mid-table teams like Newcastle and Southampton are tough and have some very good players. You look at mid-table teams in other leagues and they aren't full of international players. 12 teams in the Premier League have players who have combined for more than 250 international caps. France has 2 teams at that level (and barely). Hell, more of the French national team play in England than in France. Even a significant contingent of the Spanish national team now plays in England. The Premier League is the league that has the best players in the world. (yes, it's because it has the most money, but that's really irrelevant).

People are acting as if we've drawn Bayern. PSG have a lot of talent, but they play in a second-tier league and haven't had to face a single good team in the CL yet this year. They have a lot of good players but also a lot of players that overrated by fans (Marquinhos, Lucas Moura, Pastore ) based on what they've actually accomplished.. That and I think they fit very well to Mourinho's sort of game plan. They are a team that likes to attack and, don't have a very good defence, and are not used to facing talented teams. We could easily lose of course. They are a talented team and we're not where we need to be in terms of consistancy and talent but this is still a positive draw for us compared to what we could have faced.

In an ideal world, he starts about 25 games and is an impact sub when we need to score. None of those players you mention fill the same role Lampard does and none of them has near the offensive impact Lampard still has (and I don't see Chelsea spending big on another central midfielder). MVG was always a development buy and his injury this season means that his development has stalled for one year. To automatically put him ahead of Lampard is absurd. People are so focused on Lampard's decline that they don't want to see the quality he still brings. Yes, he needs to be rested more, but he has a lot of quality games and overall this season has been our best central midfielder.

It's odd because I thought Ramires would have been the player to benefit the most from Mourinho's style but he's been awful. Willian really needs to move the ball quicker. It's a big problem we have in attack. There's way too much standing around over the ball waiting for things to develop instead of making quick, incisive passes.(Also a problem with movement and spacing but it's all connected).

Interesting game as both teams need a win. Us, because we can't drop points if we want to win the league and Arsenal because they need to catch up to us. Would have liked to have seen Hazard and Lampard rested yesterday from earlier in the second half, but we'll make do.

He's been fantastic so far tonight. 92% passing rate, 3 tackles, 1 interceptions. Involved in the counter-attack, great deliveries on the set plays, etc.. if he played like this every game, he'd be one of the best players in the world but I know what you mean and I agree. He's still a very useful player when he's rested and that's one of the big side benefits of getting Matic.

That was true last year when he played in the Brazilian league season and then came over to play for Chelsea. He hasn't played a full game since Newcastle. He's played around 400 minutes of football in the last 5 weeks. He's not 38 years old. He shouldn't be fatigued.

We've had much more benefit than this. We should have lost against WBA and got a BS penalty from Ramires at the end of the game. Terry got away with a handball in the box against Villa at home which gave us 2 points. Etc...This was a poorly refereed match, but it's hardly some unprecedentedly awful refereeing. We didn't deserve to win.