Eggman

Fabregas was often the weak link in Barça's team this year. Not really my first pick for CM.

we won more last season also

I don't know if it has been said here before or not; don't want to check the last 20+ pages. But what Hazard said about feeling that he has to do it on his own, immediately followed the comment that "we didn't create much in the second half." Thus, him having to do it alone refers to the creation of chances. And that is exactly what has been wrong with our attacking approach most of the season: there is not much of a plan there, and we just rely on the 3 AM's and the striker to create something out of nothing. Strikerwise, we all know not to expect too much. And when the rest of the AM's are not really playing well either, then it effectively is all up to Eden. He said something after a match bitterly lost, and felt that he was not really getting much support when triple marked the whole match. I cannot for the life of me see what's wrong with that. It's simply a correct assessment - and this has nothing to do with his own defensive mistake earlier, which is clear btw. What Mourinho said afterwards was less correct imo. Eden has really stepped up his defensive back-tracking this season, which has been remarked by Mou himself in the past. I feel he kind of dropped the ball there by isolating Eden as the one responsible for the elimination. That's unfair given all that Eden has brought to CFC this year.

I wouldn't put so much pressure on him; who is to say that he has fully recovered? And that he is 100% fit? Perhaps the best course of action is to bring him on as a supersub after 60'...

I think Luiz is abysmal. A liability in defense, and nowhere near the level that Chelsea should be aspiring for in midfield.

United played well in all fairness, considering their complete lack of quality in nearly every position.

Bayern need to put on a striker.

There is no player with better "attitude" than Lukaku. Definitely not at his age. He works hard and is really fanatical. He lives for his game, and is constantly trying to improve himself - he is self-critical, despite being self-conscious at the same time. Wasn't it Lukaku who watched every PL-game in order to study the movements of strikers and so on? If Mou wants someone who will work for him, then Lukaku is da shiznit. Edit: what Johnny said.

the Villa game will cost us, but equally the draws in our away matches against ManU and Arsenal. With a little more ambition in those games we could have easily won.

I thought that Mou was a fan of Lukaku even before he was in Anderlecht's first team at the age of 16?

I think this was not the most exciting Chelsea performance, but a very solid one. Sure, Gala played badly, but let's not forget that this is a side who is capable of much better things if they are allowed to (they did qualify in a difficult group). When watching the game, it was unthinkable that they could muster up a chance -let alone score. So, without burning up too much energy, we were in total control the whole game, and that was pretty fun to see, even if it wasn't very spectacular and all. Hazard should shoot more, become more egoistic, take more responsibility. With the status he's acquiring this season, perhaps he'll feel more at ease with such a role in the next. In fairness to Torres, I think any striker would have gone for goal in that position. And scored, of course.

About the attitude issues: I don't think he's ever been reprimanded for that until he was at Spurs, and if you see the kind of defensive partnerships and the lack of managerial grace he has to deal with, this might be one of the reasons for that. Technically, he is astute. He has far more passing ability than any of DL, Terry or Cahill. He is faster than the two latter also, but probably doesn't offer their amount of power and grinta. Defensively, he's more reliable than DL but less than the other two. I do believe that he has leadership qualities and that he could organize a defense (after a year of development under guidance of Cahill and Terry). Besides, I think that Cahill is improving so much this year that he would be the likely candidate to fill in Terry's shoes starting 2015/16. Jan could do well beside him by then. Plus, he can play on LB also and can provide a good cross. Of course, if you don't like the player's style or face or attitude, that's something else completely.

We may have been woeful, but with Terry instead of Luiz we would still have won the game. And frankly, Luiz' contributions for build-up play from the back are not worth the backlash of defensive vulnerability. Often his long-range passes end up in no-one's land. On the other hand, I wasn't a fan of Cahill when the season started, but he looks rock solid now imo.

@ Sheva. as if Shirley or Salah would make a difference in such tight spaces. Our game plan against these small all out defensive teams is just not as well developed as that for the big matches. Not enough bodies in the box imo.

that's a golden goal from iva. West Brom got what they deserved, crowding their own penalty area and going for a glorious 0-0.

I'll miss him. He was a nifty little Player of the Season. But understandable from his point of view: a player of his potential and class will not bear to sit on the bench an entire season, because he mismatches the strategies and plans of the current manager. He will just move on to another top club. I don't think he'll save ManU single handedly, though. They lack quality at CM, and don't seem to address that issue.

Luiz on midfield. Great. And Torres was finally surfacing imo. Puzzled.

When it's not running offensively, people tend to blame the front four players. I think the problem, however, lies with the double pivot and the 2 central defenders who, despite their defensive capabilities, do not add much to our build-up play.

When everyone is on Hazard it's really up to the other players to exploit the space that this leaves

A midfield of Luiz-Ramires is quite embarrassing, really. Both lack the necessary quality in their passing game. That double pivot really needs to be sorted out this mercato. That, and a striker of course

Blame the referee? Seriously? Imo the gap between Chelsea and West Sham should be so vast that a referee decision wont matter too much. Let's just trash them fuckers.

Okay so maybe I might have overreacted just a tat in the heat of the moment. But I thought the pre-game assessments of his form and value were rather unfair.

Eto'o has quick reactions for an old dude

eat shit hazard haters

agreed I'm not one for singling out players generally, when obviously the problem of these kinds of matches is more comprehensive (tactics, grinta and so on) - but seriously, they have been really poor and it's not like we don't have alternatives in those positions.