Muzchap

Please take Lampard off - 3 games in a row - his legs have gone

Ivanovic needs to be dropped - same mistake as Basel... Azpi is the better RB... Essien + Lampard in the same team = problems, both too slow now... We need to change it at H/T again NO TEMPO. Always the same problem... This is probably the most frustrating Chelsea squad ever promises so much, delivers so little... Sigh - just seen BA coming on... Calling it now as a bad decision - please let me be wrong...

begs the question of whether it is really loyalty then huh

Hope so - we have very few options left Cool on the coaching

Because you are never comparing apples with apples - every game is different West Ham and Basel - who saw that coming? We've had 3 different managers in 2 years - it's hard to enforce a style of play (consistently) and we have a glutton of players in some positions and lacking in others - we need a few years to rebuild the team with the right balance. Chemistry in real life isn't like FIFA - you get out what you put in and that 5-6 days a week on the training ground. It takes time - but the end product is worth it. The world has become too impatient, we're now a global disposable society - but ask yourself this one question, sure you can get a pizza, kebab, burger 24x7 - but does it honestly taste as good as your Mums Sunday lunch (or national dish)... Because in UK a Sunday Roast takes 4-5 hours, is hard work but SO rewarding... I hope that's whats happening now at Chelsea - we've tried the fast food option, got indigestion (but still won a trophy) - now is the time for some good old patience whilst we wait to savour the dish... It's late - I could be talking bollox - but it makes sense to me...

I don't actually mind Le Arse being at the top - usually it was Utd, now it's Arse... What do they have in common? Longegivity in Managers... Arse is now the longest serving manager - and have a way of playing football that is ingrained into the club... Yes Ozil has helped - no denying... BUT keeping faith in a manager has paid dividends. We all know they will bottle the cups and ultimately finish 4th - but if we kept the same manager for more than 2 years - WHAT COULD WE ACHIEVE? Some of you already moaning about Mou? Seriously? I love this minute by minute support...

Heh - definitely not a fan then Who you hoping we sign for this role then - come the January window? If we had a Toure type player - we would be unstoppable in midfield. I did think Mikel did ok on Saturday - but like Graham Souness's comments about Adebayour on Sunday "He flatters to deceive, and is a trickster" - at the time I thought, brilliant description of Mikel...

To be fair to Mikel - I think he looked comfortable in this formation - along with Lampard and the unbelievable running Ramires I'd say this was one of Mikel's better games...

Fair point Good call on City's away matches - you would have expected them to beat those teams - and I guess their midfield did look poor against the Spuds, just lucky the Spuds couldn't score in a brothel at the moment... It's a tough call though - 50% of me wants to win at all costs, the other 50% wants to see flamboyant attacking football... I guess this is where Roman got to a few years back.. Oh well - let's see what happens next match - like I said - I'm probably expecting too much... I did go back and watch his opening 4 games last season and he is a different player this season.

No denying his ability - but City today had a front 4 that were doing that and more. I actually thought the other 7 City players looked hopeless, but the front 4 (Aguero, Navas, negredo and Nasri) looked unplayable - that's what I hoped our front 4 would play like... I think we're someway off that this season... That's all...

Oh - because 'experts' say so - I'm not allowed an opinion? I guess you still think the Earth is flat? Seeing as the 'experts' used to peddle that theory... I'm well within my rights to demand more of a £30million player...

He just looked a little lost tbh. Sure his flicks are important and credit where it's due - I just thought for a guy with all of his attributes he would be absolutely ripping defences apart - maybe I expect too much? He's so quick and has great balance - just want him to show more in a game, flicks are cool and linkup play is important - but I honestly thought he would be the one marauding down the line and taking the game to the opposition. I honestly thought he played better last season and this season he would kick on another level... Maybe he needs to adapt to Jose's management. It's not his worst game - massively far from it... It is just my opinion though perhaps, like Lampard, I expect too much from him and it's hard to consistently hit those standards. I would have given him a 6-7 for that match - but I really want to see a 9-10 Hazard performance - with our up down season, if he can hit some form and some goals, we will be realistic title contenders... Maybe I have rose tinted glasses - but did he seem more 'explosive' last year?

I agree - how anybody can say Hazard played well is beyond me - he's looking distinctly average... Happy to be proven wrong - but he isn't really doing what I expected he would do - he just seems average this season, slightly better than Moses... I had hoped he would have pushed on like Oscar, but he's nowhere near... Quite disappointed in him TBH.

Mathematically? Did you watch our Park the Bus - Champions League Story - culminating in a Win? The problem with statistics is interpretation - sure if you had 80% possession and 70% of it was attacking you might say you have a higher probability (note the word probability) to win the game - but there are no guarantees. There's a lot more to football than possession - don't be fooled into the Spain/Barca mentality... As for Lampard/Ramires - not too many other options, DeRossi would have been an awesome signing...

Wow yet another Hero to Villain thread... Seriously - the guy is a YOUNG player he won't hit his prime for another 2-3 years and you're already bashing him? Yes he played amazing last season and that has skewed some people's expectations - but lets get realistic, he's had what 3 managers in 1 year - been taught different things and has 1 off game and suddenly he's the worst player ever and should be benched... Are you guys really fans? What he needs is people understanding he can't be God every game - this is real life and not FIFA! The whole performance was bad - we have to stop singling out players - win as a team, lose as a team - yes we hate losing - but is it really all Edens fault? Quite simply NO!!!

Agreed Hazard was poor - but is that Jose's fault? Players like Hazard can be dogshit for 89 minutes then produce 1 minute of brilliance and score a goal... So it's a justified gamble. The players have potentially had 3 managers in 1 year - that's going to affect people - what we need now is patience and consistency whilst our team finds it's form... Better to splutter at the start and finish in full steam at the end... The old tortoise and hare fable... Right now we're a tortoise...

Money DOES NOT EQUAL success... I don't know how else to say it - but it truly doesn't... We paid the money for the players and we pay their wages - it's up to the club to get the best out of the assets it has procured. The manager AND the players need to share the blame (if any needs to be levelled?) - a young inexperienced squad being built for the future - exactly what fans demanded - is now not living up to ridiculous expectations - SHOCK / HORROR... It takes time to build a squad and we potentially have too much depth at the moment and plenty of players out of form - but it will come - patience is what's needed. Again - I refer you to Utd and what SAF achieved after being 1 game away from the sack...

For gods sake - MASSIVE overreaction again - Basel did this to Utd... They are in the CL - there are NO easy games. It's gonna take time to get this squad playing as a cohesive unit Keep the faith and stop bashing everything and everyone - it WILL work out - so what if we have a few more dogshit performances... That's what football is all about, supporting your team through thick and thin...

Give it a rest... All you ever do is bash Jose.... It's a young squad and enforcing a playing style takes time - it's people like you with quick fix mentality that are ruining football.. Go checkout how Sir Alex Fergusons first season went... Yeah thought as much - you can't tell fuck all from a few games....

I know it's been done a thousand times - but I'm still convinced the way we play makes it harder for a striker to shine. If Eto'o comes in and fails to play it will be because he's washed up blah blah Lets face it - the only striker to ever really settle in our team was Drogba and even then he had some off games I think Torres will get much more chances with Schurrle and Hazard / Willian on the wings... Even when he's playing for Spain - the midfield piss around too much and he just drops deep - his best (and only) position is on the shoulder of the last defender - with balls slid in behind or across. Give Torres too much time to think, he fucks it, let his natural instincts take over and he scores... More whipped in balls and more through balls is needed - along with a higher tempo and that's not just for Torres - that's for Lukaku, BA and Eto'o ....

Weird me too - I was working late and driving home and texted my bro that exact scoreline he didn't believe me It's just everything balancing out again - next time we'll smash them and when it counts - maybe in a CL Final. We and Utd destroyed them twice in a CL Final - let the Munchens have a worthless trophy, we all know they are Sausage eating surrender monkeys when it counts

Yup - awesome post That brings it all into perspective!

Ok - who would YOU have signed that's available, wants to come and is better than Eto'o?

Yup spot on assessment there Phil... I see exactly the same as you during a match... I do think Van Ginkel has the attributes to succeed in this position, but will need blooding in... Mikel is essentially lazy (or that's the appearance during a match) - if he ran like Ramires he would be starting. I think that's what Jose is trying to say to the players (like Lambert at Villa) - I don't care who you are but you will give 100% for the 90 minutes or you ain't stepping on the pitch...

Well one of us is.... I'll bookmark your post and remind you after he scores his first hatrick for us The thing is - ask ANY great player (well rely on a journo) and they all say playing with better team mates, makes you play better! Plus the vodka is good in Russia and the women even better - I imagine Eto'o was probably scoring off the pitch more than on... That won't happen in London Have a little faith in Mou, you think he'd bring in a washed up player with our current striker crisis?