TorontoChelsea

Mata and Hazard have pretty much only played as wingers in their career so I see no reason why one of them (I prefer Mata) should be moved to the left. I don't love Ramires on the right by any stretch of the imagination but he was at his best there last season and he provides defensive cover that our other attacking midfielders don't. I'd love to see Moses or Marin take the job long-term but for different reasons (Marin hurt, Moses late signing) none of them have featured at this point.

It's true but it's not only Ramires that is to blame for that. We are essentially playing with no wingers at the moment because Mata and Hazard are both playing in the middle of the pitch and the other attacking midfielder has either been Bertrand or Ramires neither of whom belong there. Our shape needs some ironing out, We need Mata or Hazard to play more to one side for starters.

Reminds me some of Ramires, good player for a specific system, but not good for ours. Like Ramires, he has some very good skills and is flexible, but overall, it's hard to place him in a system,. He's an attacking defensive midfielder who is not a great finisher or creator. Doesn't fit with Chelsea. With Everton this season, he's playing centrally behind the striker which is already crowded for us. He's certainly not nearly a good enough passer to play as the deep lying midfield. Would likely work in a 4-3-3,

It's hard to use sarcastic exaggeration when people are even more exaggerated than your sarcasm and are actually being serious.

Yes, and it was harder because everyone had to play in black and white. Sometimes couldn't even tell who your teammates were.

I'm a Tigers fan. No idea how they haven't run away with the division yet. White Sox just having everything going right for them this year...Tigers have more talent. They should be in first. Personally, I blame Mikel.

Was being sarcastic but the poster below me blew my sarcasm out of the water. Lampard was one of our better players last season. His scoring, passing, and even defending were vital to us going anywhere. The idea that 3 mediocre games (in a season where we've started 3-0-0) means Lampard is useless is a ridiculous overreaction. Lampard is still a vital part of this club.

Yes, but he's 34 years old so he's no good.

What an awful game by Gerrard

Two excellent crosses into the box from Sturridge from the left.

Sturridge coming on...

China is the 79th ranked team in the world, one spot below Iraq. They didn't make it out of round 3 in Asian qualifying finishing 3rd in their group of Iraq, Jordan, and Singapore. They are not anywhere near "a very good team".

Bath in Canada means bath. Shower means shower. You Aussies!

Actually, a douche in French is a shower.

I don't get it. I assume it would be at defensive midfield but Chelsea have Mikel and Romeu there anyway. Anyway, positioning is perhaps the single most important thing for a defensive midfielder and probably Luiz's worst attribute.Also, I think putting him in the midfield is the worst possible message to give him. He's easily at his best when he plays a simple defensive game. When he fancies himself a midfielder, he makes awful choices. I just want our coaches to sit him down and say "you are a defender. You're not a free kick specialist, you're not a midfielder, you're not a forward. Stay back, defend, and make simple passes". When he does that, he's great, when he doesn't, I want to yell at him.

This is exactly it. In the real world, you don't yank players in and out of the lineup because of a bad match or two. You need to know that you have to play well in order to keep your job, but you also have to know that a few bad games are not going to cost you your job. Ivanovic hasn't played well so far this season, but he's been a solid RB for years it's only 3 games into the season, we are 3-0-0 and he has 2 goals. Are you really going to drop him for someone who has never played a game in the Premier league? Managing is not just managing the tactics, it's about managing people as well.

I get why they like Ramires there. He played his best football there last season. Hazard and Mata are poor defensively and Ramires is good so he balances that out and Ivanovic loves to get forward so you need someone who can cover on that side so he balances that out as well but...he's off too a poor start and he really doesn't belong there. I won't go crazy if he starts the next few games (I think people generally massively overreact to a couple of poor performances) but I would like to see Moses worked in and then run away with the job. The problem is, there really is nowhere else for Ramires to play in this formation. The most interesting thing to me in this interview is the fact that they are going to keep the 4-2-3-1. I thought they would, but with jettisoning Meireles and Essien, a move to 4-3-3 was possible.

Just happy that it isn't Chris Foy.

I agree. You need strong English skills to be a top captain. Doesn't mean you have to be a native English speaker, but you have to be fluent. English will be the the general language of the squad as well as the communication method with the referee.

Look where he's played so far this season. In all 3 games, he played behind the striker. (Check out soccernet's excellent "average position" in "tactical formation" in gamecast for proof of this). In fact, against ManU, he played as far forward as Jelavic. Had a look at some games from last year as well, and I wasn't really a defensive midfielder then either. Rodwell played that roll. He was more of a box to box central midfielder (IMO, what he's best suited for). Good player, just doesn't fit Chelsea.

I think Fellaini is a good player, but where does he fit?. He's not a deep-lying midfielder and he's not a defensive midfielder so Chelsea get him and then what? So far this season, he's been playing a very attacking role, sort of like a #10 which is absolutely the last thing Chelsea need. You can't just keep buying players just because they're good.

Look at this very page. Someone compared him to Makalele. I have seen many many people write things like "Romeu looked fabulous last season". I've seen people praise every aspect of his game. I'm not making up or exaggerating what many people are saying about him. You can also see multiple mentions of us hiding him from Barcelona. Not making that up either.

And unpaid internships are horribly unfair as well. (and should be illegal) Companies get free work instead of paying someone a fair wage to do it. All they do is allow rich kids whose parents can afford to pay their rent better opportunities. (as if they needed that extra boost anyway). As for the schools paying players being unfair, the system is already unfair. The big schools already always win. Every team that won the National Championship in the past 20 years except one were in the top 25 teams in spending (the one that missed was ranked 26th) The system is already unfair so there is no need to try to create a system that creates a balance. http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2012/08/29/in-college-football-money-buys-champions.html

This is what the system has created. The idea that paying people for doing work would somehow ruin the atmosphere or the purity of the sport. Yes, over 60 players get scholarships, some full, some partial but it's nothing. These programs are making tens of millions of dollars each year. Student athletes in universities are asked to do what nobody else in the world is asked to do-be the attraction and make billions for your employers and get nothing in return. The university can sell your shirt and makes money off it. If you try to sell your own shirt, you'll get fined ans suspended. It's insane.

This is exactly it. I am not a Ronaldo hater by any means. I think he's the second best player on the planet, but the criticism of him has nothing to do with his personal life.