TorontoChelsea

Also, no way Mata, Oscar, and Hazard should be playing. This will be one of the most meaningless games we are going to play all year and if you can't sit players for a game like that, you're going to be playing these guys 60 games a season. We also play again on Saturday in a pretty tough fixture and then again next Wednesday against Shaktar and then the Sunday against Liverpool.Our key players have already played 3 games in the last 8 days. You want them to be playing 7 matches in 3 weeks? We'll get revenge on United by beating them in the league and winning the Premier League, not by winning a League Cup game.

He's a fantastic manager, but he seems out of it when he speaks. He couldn't remember Ivanovic's name today. He said "the RB". This is not some newcomer. This is Ivanovic's 6th year in the Premier League where he's won everything there is to win. SAF called Bale "Christian Bale". This is his job and he seems to know less about other teams' players than casual fans. Bale It's almost like it's a movie where there's a brilliant woman manager but nobody would respect her because she's a woman so she got some homeless drunk to pretend to be the manager while she devised the tactics behind the scenes.

I wouldn't want it to be recorded. I am sure the officials are honest with each other and say things like "I didn't really see it" and they swear all the time. All recording the conversation would do is make the officials change the way they speak into some ridiculous formal way.I'd much rather they be able to communicate normally. And let's face it. This is the first time I can remember something like this.

That's a very broad definition which means that ethnicity is just a synonym for nationality. I don't agree (and neither do all dictionaries). I would say that Basque is an ethnicity and Catalan is an ethnicity but Spanish is a nationality. Azpilicueta comes from a Basque region with Basque cultures, and a Basque language. How is he of the same cultural heritage as say Mata or Busquets? It becomes a an absolutely meaningless.term. Anyways, my broader point is that what the ref was alleged to have said to Mata is not of the same seriousness as what he is alleged to have said to Mikel. (Not disputing that it isn't acceptable).

I think it's just the way fans see their clubs. Even today when we got screwed by the ref, we also got breaks. Torres should have seen straight red at 45 minutes for his foul. The ball hit Luiz's hand in the box right before we scored our second, but his hand was away from his body and I've seen that given as a penalty more often than not (and Luiz immediately looked at the ref. I think he expected the penalty). I'm not saying we didn't get screwed. We did. The other decisions were in the normal spectrum. The Torres sending off was not. Torres got fouled and maybe made a little bit more of it than there actually was, but that happens about 15 times a game. There's a massive difference between diving, of faking being fouled, and making the most of actually being fouled. There are a few times a year where a game will hinge on a horrible call and this was one of them,, but for the most part, controversial calls even out. Torres' goal against Reading was off-side. We should have lost to Wigan last year but got 2 offside goals and got 3 points. Mata scored a goal against Spurs that shouldn't have counted that completely changed the nature of the game, and so on...

Not really. ManU have black and Spanish players as well. There is zero chance of this game being replayed short of finding a betting slip in the ref's pocket.

Think Ivanovic's crossing is underrated. http://www.eplindex.com/14552/premier-league-team-of-the-year-based-on-statistics-part-1-defence-opta-stats.html/2 Agree that Ivanovic's defensive positioning has been poor this season but some of that as you say, is not his fault. The team plays so narrow up front that Cole and Ivanovic have to get forward to create width. It bothers me when we concede goals and everyone automatically blames the defensive players. Sometimes, it is their fault, but sometimes, it isn't. Football tactics are dominoes. One player is out of position so another has to cover and then another is left exposed in a dangerous area...It takes a team to attack or defend properly. (That's not to say that there aren't individual errors of course!)

He's been just dominant offensively and an absolute pleasure to watch..

Spanish is definitely not an ethnicity. The idea of ethnicity is a mixed one in general, but the Basques, Galicians, Catalans, and Castillians all have different languages, different cultures, and live in different areas of the country. Anyway, I should have said "race" and while race is also a complex and flawed idea, being black is a race and being Spanish isn't. But if the FIFA rules do stipulate making fun of a country of origin, then yes, he certainly allegedly broke that rule.

Wow...very interested to see what happens with this. My bet is it goes nowhere unless a ManU player heard something. Also, don't think Spanish is an ethnicity. There's not difference to me iIf someone called me a Canadian twat or just a twat. Calling Mikel a monkey would be something else entirely.

Yeah, I don't buy the conspiracy stuff. I think it was just an incompetent ref or a ref having a horrible match.

It depends. I am for instant replay but there need to be limits. You can't do instant replay on every single off-side decision or foul. There are just too many of them and the game would slow to a crawl. Maybe if you limited replay only to goals and possible goals. I don't mind when officials miss a call once in a while, it happens, what bothers me is when they try to insert themselves into games and make horrible decisions.

Probably should have been sent off... like De Jong in the World Cup...who also should have been. Still, the second yellow was just a horrible call.

I just feel so unfulfilled. The game was like a classic 3 act movie. In the first act, ManU dominated and Chelsea looked hopeless. In the second act, Chelsea rebounded and dominated and ManU couldn't keep with them. Then the third act came from outer space.It was like watching The Godfather and then 2/3 way through the movie, it turns from a brilliant drama into a teen dance movie. I still have the "what the fuck just happened?" feeling.

May 4th we face them in Old Trafford. 3rd last game of the season. Can't wait for that matchup.

I wonder if the ref saw the replay of Torres first yellow card (which probably should have been a red) and then decided to be harsh on Torres for anything he did. As Neville said "two wrongs don't make a right".

Those three were very poor in the first 30 minutes. They didn't defend well, they gave up the ball easily, etc...Mata had the beautiful FK goal and the gorgeous touch that help set up the Ramires goal. Hazard looked dangerous a few times but didn't really create much and had a bad 73% passing percentage, was dispossessed 2 times and had 4 turnovers and Oscar despite getting his first Premier League assist on a gorgeous cross (congrats to him) was pretty poor. 81% passing, 4 turnovers, and 3 times dispossessed, The front 4 attacked very well in the 30-60 minute mark though.

Don't even know what to say because the game will always feel incomplete. MOTM? Probably Mata once again as his brilliance was involved in two goals but almost everyone played well after the first 30. Luiz was the only poor overall performer IMO-had one of his playstation games,

I don't think you can say that. They dominated us for the first 30 minutes. Then, we dominated for the next 30 but United had started to attack again even before Ivanovic got sent off so I don't think it was a given that Chelsea were going to continue to dominate. But that's exactly what pissed me off so much. The game could have gone in any direction. It was amazing, exciting, interesting and we'll never know how it could have gone. I was looking forward to see how the managers would try to use their subs to influence the game. Didn't get to happen. The offside goal doesn't piss me off as much as the red because it was a very difficult decision. The Torres red was not a difficult decision. It was simple and ref blew it.

That was inevitable.

Poor Sturridge although he'll be starting some up front now. This reminds me of the QPR game last season.

I agree with the first red. This one was ridiculous.

What the fuck????

Sturridge was going to come on before the sending off for Torres. Would have loved to have seen that. As is, Azpi for Oscar makes sense.

Goddamn it