Magic Lamps

Practically Andre Marriner did, but few players can score such a crucial penalty with that coolness. Without Hazard we would not have even scored the first goal. I don't contest that Hazard's ass-saving competence is not as developed as Lamps's and Drogba's of old but he is what gets closest to that atm.

Well, Hazard did save our ass today and he did vs Norwich.

Actually, I just watched The Dark Night. The most important quote is: "Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the hero it needs right now". But Lampard is still needed, because there are no better alternatives. Keeping Lamps always was Mou's plan A. To leave in the moment of glory is one way, but not the only one. Lamps like Giggs, Zanetti or Maldini has pledged his career to Chelsea, he has always said he wanted to be here until Chelsea does not want him any more. No matter how bad the times are, he would always be there. And when chelsea fans start to hate him ("We will haunt him, since he can take it"), it is their problem not his. To leave after triumph is maybe the more glorious way and creates a better short time memory but to stay as long as possible is more honest. And returning to that Batman metaphor. aFter The DArk Knight, Batman returned to save Gotham one last time even though his powers were already waning. Just as Batman, Lamps will deliver when needed the most, even though it looks unlikely these days or in other words "it always gets worse before it gets better" (Michael Caine as Alfred in TDK)

Exactly. We tried but failed. This is worrying, cos the biggest triumph of our clubs history was reached by exactly that. WE had Kalou, Bertrand and Bosingwa on the field and still the best team in the world could only score once against us in2 hours. These times even WBA can turn a match within 8 mins at our own stadium.

He is still a top keeper, but this is his 4th mistake that has cost us in an important game. He usually makes not much more than 4 mistakes per season and usually has those in unimportant matches. But the fact that he has already reached that contigent makes me wonder how fast he is detoriating. Courtois is already there and he is 11 years younger. We can't risk losing him. Sry, but if Cech does not pick up form, he has to take a back seat. There are no really outstanding goalies. Casillas has been into decline since years, Neuer is extremely overrated. I don't think we would lose anything with Courtois as our no.1.

He clearly does not have the capacity to start regularly for us. Mou knows this. The problem is Mikel or Essien are neither. Also MvG injury forces Mou to play Lamps even more. Recalling Josh or buying a DLP would not necessarily solve the problem immediately as they would need time to adjust, so playng Lamps simply remains the lesser evil.

If results don't fall our way we could well be 8th within 18hours. Teams like Southampton and Liverpool are above us, who are ok but surely not the teams we should compare ourselves with. Cech is clearly not getting any better and it is time to question if he is the bet we should take when we have the chance between him and Courtois, who is already at Cech's level. This is just not good enough from every part of the team. I think Cech, the whole defense, Lampard and Oscar were poor. And this time we did not lack effort but class. It seems everyone including Mou has taken this game too lightly. This is the kind of match, a Mourinho team usually wins 1-0. But we lack the engine in midfield and the flawlessness of the D that usually characterize his teams. If we don't adress these issues by either including some new players or finding tactical solutions, we will not win anything this season.

Mata can't sprint to save his life. at least a draw , even though 1 point is not much more than 0

Mata can't sprint to save his life. at least a draw , even though 1 point is not much more than 0

If this WBA team would have been good, but they are utter shite, neither dangerous nor solid.

Ivanovic, Terry have been really poor today. I am afraid if u lose such a match after not scoring those glorious chances, we will not win anything this season How come Willian cost 35m? He is only an average player with a bit of pace.

willian has to score that header

Last time Mourinho was round, we would never have losened our grip on an undeserved lead. This time our defence costs us games.

What a clever finish from Eto'o. That kind of cheekiness we won't see from Torres or Ba.

nope, the others will have those needless friendlies.

One question: The match report reads it is on BBC ONE, which is free tv,. Why should sky sports 2, which is pay tv I assume,broadcast the match,too ? Edit: never mind, saw it is only on BBC ONE Edit2: Anyway, how are the broadcasting concessions spread in UK, when there are 2 pay-tv companies and one public tv corporation fighting for the rights. How much does it cost to be able to see every EPL and CL match u want ?

True and this should tell people how serious I am about this.We are arguably favourites to win the World Cup. Still even if we were 3-0 up in the last minute of the final, I would still try to abolish international football in the very last second before the final whistle.

Why can't the leagues just play on when there are international breaks? Would be a nice test for the B-Teams of the clubs and a chance for those who do not have as many internationals i.e. the smaller clubs. More and More players would simply chose club instead of country. This would be an important step towards the abolition of International football. It all depends on the TV deals, but broadcasters pay so much more for league football, that they would be easily convinced to show it instead of international football. I hope this prevails one day.

We have to enjoy this fixture and hope it is worth it, cos we will be without Chelsea action for a fortnight after this. Fucking international break. My team would be Azpi-Cahill-Luiz-Bert ----Rami--Mikel----- Willian-Mata--Hazard --------Eto'o------------- Hazard should play again, Willian maintains his spot, he was impressive vs Schalke, Oscar and Schürrle were not. Eto'o is closing in on maximum fitness. With his speed and sharpness back he can be one of the best strikers in the world every once in a while, like Drogba was in the CL winning campaign. Even if Torres is fit, we should not risk him when Eto'o is in form. Mikel has meritted a spot and having the luxury of bringing a fresh Frank Lampard from the bench is always good to have esp if we should need a goal in the last 15 mins.

If Lampard moves there he will easily be the best player in the MLS. He will play wherever he wants in Miami, no matter who is owner and who is manager, they will probably build the formation around him. And btw. Lamps is an offensive no.8, a box-to-box midfielder, not a CAM. His position is the most advanced of the 3 mids in a 4-3-3. In modern football where everyone plays 4-2-3-1, his position does not exist anymore, cos all no.10s do not go back to the own box that often and interchange with the wingers. Lamps never did that, but worked defensively almost as hard as offensively, but most things he did in the middle of the pitch, be it his awesome diagonal balls, vertical passes, tackles, build up play or whatever. CAM does come much closer to his position than DM. Lamps often looks a bit forlorn in the pivot, because he played a different position for 10 years. That Maka-Ess-Lamps midfield was the most complete midfield ever, cos all three were the best in the world at what they were doing respectively. That midfield was built around Lamps and rightly so because he was the best.

He sprinted 6m faster than Hildebrand needed for 1m. That is how you earn a goal. Also his run for the 2nd was only possible by his immense pace to give him acres of space for the finish. He, Willian and Ramires prove much too fast for a naive Schalke team.

Seeing us facing a team with such a mediocre keeper as Schalke makes it even more satisfying to have a top class keeper.

We can surely pay more than Arsenal and Bayern but I gues he wants to stay in Germany.

Schalke have announced to park the bus as long as possible. No bad idea considering we always have struggled against those this season. Still we certainly got the player to unlock them.

Close call. Difficult to judge this without Chelsea glasses on. But I think it is between Eto'o and Drogba cos Ibrahimovic has never won the CL, whilst Drogba and Eto'o even scored in at least one final each. In the end i have to agree with you. Drobgba might have hit his peak in a far stronger league than the two others, but Etoo has won the CL three times, the third time even without a Messi or Ronaldinho in his side. Also he has won the Africa Cup with a Cameroon side that was not remotedly as strong as the Ivory coast one Drogba has played in.