No offence Steve but neither were you mate. If you compare our side, which is reasonably the same, to the side that knocked out Liverpool under Hiddink last year, its like comparing Apples and Oranges. The manager has a massive influence on every aspect of the teams performance. From tactics and game plan right down the confidence building. The reason we were so good under Jose was because he instilled a confidence within the team that made them feel invincible..Instead of our defenders thinking "Oh shit ,oh shit i have to stop this guy from scoring" they were thinking "Once i stop this guy from scoring i will pass it to such and such" We where always thinking one move ahead.. We saw shades of that under Hiddink but haven't seen a Shred of it under Carlo. The entire team has just changed. Lampard is probably playing his worst season in 8 years. Joe Cole has become a nothing player, Anelka is on a different planet, Carvalho has lost all confidence that any person could have and Ballack is so far over his head that he looks 10 feet tall.