TorontoChelsea

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.

Yes, we got some really bad decisions but we've also been on the other end of that this year. It happens. The issue for me is bigger. It's about us playing poorly over and over again and depending on us turning things around in the second half or even requiring some sort of horrible screw-up from the other side to win. We simply have to play better, more consistent football. We were playing a poor team and couldn't control the game or score.

I have been following football for a long time. I understand. Lallana is a good player and deserves to be starting for England based on his play in the Premier League this year. That's completely reasonable.

Who is saying Lallana is Ronaldo? Can't someone compliment a player without thinking he's a ballon d'or contender? There is a large gap between sucking and being great. He's nothing like Townsend who had one good game for England but has useless in the league. Lallana has actually been one of the better players in the Premier League season. Not only does he score goals, he sets them up, has a good work-rate, and does a very good job defensively. He's a good player.

He displaced those players because Mourinho values pace and work-rate over everything else. And it's not that he's not scoring 4-5 goals a game, he's scoring 1 goal every 15 games. I never said he's a bad player or a useless player, he's just not worth what we paid for him and never will be.

Hazard was 21, and was the 2-time player of the year in France. He was one of the most sought after young players in football. He made the PFA team of the season in his first year. He was an elite young player with world-class talent who made an immediate impact at a top level. He was 32M Willian is 25, was playing in a crappy league, couldn't crack the Brazilian national team, and he cost the same. He cost more than Oscar, Mata, Silva, etc...Willian cost the same as Mario Goetze...etc.. And yes, I am aware there are different kinds of midfielders, but WIllian is not a central midfielder and doesn't play the same role as Iniesta, Xavi, etc..play. He is an attacking midfielder, usually playing in the #10 slot. Nobody would be upset if Matic doesn't produce goals and assists because that's not his job, but it is Willian's job. 2 goals in 30 games is terrible. Yes, he has great work ethic and energy, but that's not a 30M midfielder.

I agree. I can't ever support a player playing against Chelsea. Chelsea has been around for about 109 years. Drogba was at Chelsea for 8 years. He's a Chelsea great and we will always love him, but I hope he doesn't come close to scoring against us.

Fantastic move by Everton, very good save. by Cech.

Willian has 2 goals in 28 games as an attacking midfielder. He has great pace and he works hard but it's not as if he's setting the world on fire. Oscar has been pretty invisible for the past month or so as well. And Salah has gotten on ahead of Schurrle as a sub recently also.

I don't think it's even close. It's not just a few matches. It's a couple of massive games and it means they have to rest players in the league. You can't get to the CL semi-finals and be resting your best players. Momentum and confidence are overrated in football and sports in general. (In fact, momentum really doesn't exist from game to game(. We had our biggest win of the year against City, killed Newcastle, and then couldn't beat WBA at home and looked limp against City..Shouldn't we have been riding our momentum and confidence?

In fact, after the red card, City had about as many chances as Barca did too. One horrible decision cost them badly. It' be better for us if City and Arsenal go through but they got brutal draws so it was always unlikely.

Willian cost 30 or 32M pounds and has 2 goals in 28 appearances. He's a useful player,has incredible energy and a great work-rate but isn't worth near what we paid for him. For that price for a midfielder, you should be getting one of the best players in the world, not a work-rate effort kind of guy. (We got Hazard for the same price and Hazard is better and younger). Salah's transfer fee is much more reasonable so he doesn't have the same expectations.

Maybe he'll be good, maybe he won't, Way too early to tell either way.

The spirit, mental toughness thing matters very little in the scheme of things. Hughes would have won with City eventually too had they kept him on. City spent 230M pounds in the two years after he left building the team they have now. Yes, there are outliers. Teams that spend money that don't do well for a year or two, teams that don't spend that have a few good years, but they are rare and short-term. It's very unromantic, but money equals success.

We just need to rotate more. This will become more and more key as the season wears on. Schurrle, Ba, Cole, etc..can and should start some games to give other players a breather.

Awful performance in the second half and I think some of it might have been down to players being tired. Chelsea play a very high pressing, high energy game and playing 3 games in a week requires a lot of stamina even for professionals in great shape. 8 out of the 10 outfield players started all 3 games.

It will come because the United brand which makes them money depends on success (CL, world tours, kits sold, etc...). Malcolm Glazer is worth 4.5BN or so so it's not as if they are going to be poor. They are still spending lots of money. They are not Rangers, they are a team that still spends money. The idea that they are going to fall apart forever because they having a bad season is ridiculous. A good manager with a plan could turn this team around in 1, maybe 2 years.

They do, but I am saying that long term, these mistakes won't matter much. They are a mess right now, but if you have money, you can turn around teams very quickly. We had terrible transfers for a few years and were able to overcome them.. I see 2-3 bad years for United but they have a huge fan base and a lot of money so I can't see them not being contenders within a few years.