Mr_President

Agree, it's lovely watching us and knowing that even if we go 1 down we will/can pull goals back fairly easily. I had every confidence we would win after their goal despite our start. It's a great feeling to have and one that has been missing for Chelsea fans for quite some time. There will still be those that flap at the first sign of trouble, however, and start with their hyperbolic and reactionary criticism of just about any player on the pitch (or even Mourinho himself)!

Costa, Hazard and Fabregas were a joy to watch. Elated for Remy too, but we need to address some of the sloppy defending. Was very critical of Ramires last season but he has been a v good option for us recently and that's probably down to the addition of Fabregas.

This guy is amazing to watch. Still can get even better which is so exciting.

Perfect timing. Now let's kill 'em

No idea but this is Wenger lmao.

Good players find space and get involved.

God Ozil is so poor, he's looked awful in almost every Arsenal game I've seen. Absolutely invisible.

I can't wait for this after the colossal bore that is the international break. This is actually the last Chelsea match I'll be able to watch at home for a while as I move out to go to uni next week so will be nice to sit down with my Dad and brothers, hopefully our team can get the right result; this is by no means an easy match though.

You fly a lot for work it seems from your other posts! Agree re Turkish Airlines being a very good airline to fly with. If they stump up significantly more cash than Samsung to a level where we are at least on par or above other top teams (excluding Utd's huge deal) then that would be great. Helping compliance with FFP and being able to spend more on better players' transfer fees/wages is much more important than the aesthetic appeal of the shirt. We will all be numbed to it anyway if it is ugly, and I seriously doubt that the designers will come up with anything terribly offensive to the eye.

Please could I have my name changed to: Ace. Just brings it more in line with the rest of my online personas! Thanks.

Shame to see you banned. I don't post here much but have always enjoyed reading your posts and arguments with other members..

Completely disagree. Yes, some of those players would be good for our first team (Sterling) and squad (Barkley, Walcott over Willian, Wilshere over Mikel and potentially Stones over Zouma).. but let's be realistic for a second. How attainable do you really believe Sterling to be? Same goes with Walcott and Wilshere; our rivals will not sell their young English players to us for anything other than a small fortune and, really, none of them over Sterling would actually improve us. We would be paying a huge premium purely because of their nationality: that is no way to run this club. Unless you are suggesting we should have acquired them before they 'established' themselves? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I agree completely with the notion that we need to have an English core, but spunking vast sums on players that aren't as good as cheaper foreign options that we already have settled in our squad is not the answer. It would totally undermine the good work we have done over the last couple of years. What we need to be doing is developing our own English talent and/or buying promising players that fit us in deals that don't amount to extortion i.e. Luke Shaw's recent deal, what Sterling/Wilshere/Barkley/Walcott would cost. It is simply unrealistic to look at the few good English players that are around and point at them and say 'well we should buy them, they are better than X foreign player in our squad'. They play for our rivals. They are unobtainable for the large part, and if, on the off chance, an English player comes along that fits the bill we will most certainly be in for them. Personally, I am excited about the futures of some of our academy prospects - despite the numerous let downs over the years - and I think with the stability and continuity Mourinho will hopefully bring we will have in place a platform from which our promising young players (some of whom are bound to be English) can thrive. Things are going pretty damn well for us right now and I can only see it getting better and this is an area that we need to improve on and it is pretty clear, from recent Mourinho interviews, that some degree of youth integration is on the agenda.

Interested to see how United line up this season and whether they can click. I don't think they'll be a threat to us or City for the title but their new signings will certainly take them up a level, if Van Gaal can get them to work together. Personally, I think they would be better off not trying to shoehorn Mata and Rooney into the same team, assuming Falcao is playing as the no. 9 and Van Persie is out injured (rumoured to need surgery...). With the amount of money spent and the quality they have brought it would be an unmitigated disaster if they didn't at least finish 4th IMO. It does sort of feel like they (whether this is Woodward, Van Gaal or some other executive) have taken a more 'Real Madrid' approach to transfers and this could only be the beginning of their spending spree. Their wage bill must be astronomical, but they can afford it because they are commercial titans, with FFP their to help cement the status quo. Funnily enough they have been the polar opposite to us this summer: we have had virtually no net spend, whilst we have bought with purpose and structure to adequately complete our team, instead of trying to fit (expensive) square pegs in round holes. They still could have done with a top quality CB and another midfield player but I'm sure Utd fans at the start of the window would have bitten your hand off for the players that they have brought in this summer. Arsenal have looked dire since the Community Shield and their annual injury crisis is only just beginning; on that note, it makes me grateful for our medical team/training methods/whatever it may be that we don't pick up such awful and prolonged injuries to our players. Welbeck will be a good, not great, signing for them and will no doubt score goals playing as a CF. People always write Arsenal off for finishing 4th yet they always find a way, but really Utd should be finishing ahead of them with their respective squads and lack of European/league cup distraction. If Van Gaal ditched the 3-5-2 that I am not at all a fan of and went with a more orthodox formation then their team, on paper, looks pretty impressive, and certainly enough for 4th spot: -----------------Falcao------------------- Di Maria----Mata/Rooney----Januzaj ----------Hererra-----Blind------------ Shaw---Jones------Rojo-----Rafael -------------------DDG----------------- That team isn't as good as ours, City's or Liverpool's (the latter being arguable, but Rodgers has got a good system going and has more experience with this squad) but it is still full of quality individuals and I fail to see how they won't at least expect 3rd or 4th. Some optimistic fans might argue that they should challenge for the title. They also have Van Persie to come back. I'm actually happy they signed these players, it makes the PL more interesting/exciting and I firmly believe if our domestic competition gets stronger then we naturally have to elevate our game and it is better for English clubs/PL fans in the grand scheme of things. Can't wait for these shit international friendlies to be over and done with (won't even watch them or take notice) and get back to the real football.

If I was Scottish I would vote no, and as an Englishman I'd still like to see the union maintained but I can't say I'll be particularly upset if the Scots decide they want complete independence; I really don't think it will affect my life at all. As Muzchap points out, it is a lot more complicated of a question when you have to think about debt, currency, central banks and the allocation of the natural resources (oil). I fear that some people may be voting based on the emotion of being 'free' and listening to the tripe that the politicians come out with than rationality. I would certainly be interested to see how Scotland would fare independently, though.

Well, his sprint and back-heel assist capped off a bizarre yet awesome week to be a Chelsea fan. As stated above, he deserves praise for adding a semblance of defensive solidity in a period when Matic/Ramires couldn't control the game or keep it tight.

Always been critical of Ramires but thought he had a good game and was certainly productive. Usual sloppiness in possession but he made up for that with not giving away too many silly fouls and his offensive output. He's a good option to have in the midfield, for sure. Having said that, I still prefer starting with Oscar with Fabregas playing deeper - I think we have much more control that way and it is more defensively solid. I am one of Oscar's bigger fans on here too and still think he'll develop into a top player. Good to have options, depth and flexibility etc.

lmao. I didn't think this week could get any better.

Well, whoever is operating our transfer strategy deserves to be lauded for this summer (and, to be fair, the change in approach after the Torres debacle). This summer we have been fast and clinical in the transfer market. In my wildest dreams, which I must admit are quite frequent during the off season, I would never have expected a summer where we sign exactly what we needed for fantastic prices, extort ridiculous fees for players we don't need/aren't adequately suited to the team (Mata, Luiz). Then, to top it all off, we are shipping Torres off and bringing this guy in. I won't go as far as to say Torres was a 'cancer' in the club as I hate that expression but by God I thought we would be stuck with him for the remainder of his contract. The club has also been smart in loaning him to Milan instead of a free transfer because it means the loss from his transfer fee from Liverpool is spread over 2 years (in FFP terms at least. In real terms we don't really gain anything this way - expect, perhaps, in terms of improved cash flow, not that that is an issue for us anyways). Onto Remy, I think he is probably the best option we can go for this late in the market for the kind of money we seem prepared to be putting up. There is absolutely no need for another striker that would genuinely challenge Costa for the #1 spot as in our system we could not hope to keep both happy. Remy is also different to our current striking options in that he is very pacey, whereas some of the other mooted options wouldn't give us that. On top of that, he has PL experience and a very solid record - let's just hope he can pass a medical and fill in for Costa when necessary. Brilliant!

Offensively it was a good 2nd half. No way Ivanovic will be dropped with the way he is playing. Oscar was brilliant whilst he was on IMO, not at his best but he was very good. Slightly poorer game from Costa overall but got the important goal and played much better in the 2nd half. Hazard had quiet periods but also moments of magic and, of course, a wonderful goal to kill the game. Good game from Courtois too. Still plenty to work on but promising signs. Much tougher game next week though.

What the fuck. That Taylor-Fletcher guy looks like the kind of middle aged sunday league footballer that you'll see at the pub straight after a game.

Oscar and Ivanovic have been awesome.

Just glad it's not us signing him.

Yep.

Leicester v Everton has been a cracking game so far in case anyone is interested.

Yep, hate the twats that feel the need to video/take pictures the whole fucking match with their giant iPads/Tablets. It's usually the 'tourist' fans and I understand it if you're only visiting as a one-time thing but it's incredibly annoying and rude. I think they were banned for security reasons though, not because of the obstruction they cause?