Mr_President

Decent result, 2 points off the top. Onwards and upwards.

Some of you boys... I really hope no one is suggesting anyone should even be thinking of sacking Mourinho, at least for the next season or two. This gung-ho 'sacked if he doesn't win PL/CL' / ' sacked if he doesn't emulate Barcelona/Dortmund/current bandwagon style of playing' has to stop: it encourages short-termism as managers are so shit scared of losing their jobs that they play defensive football and don't trust the kids to come out and play (one of many fans' gripes with Mourinho). He is right. We are in a transitional phase, as much as I hate that term. He needs to have to confidence of the board, the owner and the fans to get on with his job and build his team. Fact is, our squad isn't good enough to win the league compared to city. We are no match for the heavyweights in the CL, either. What we need is a manager to build on the foundations we have and to take us to the next level; Mourinho is our man for that. He is capable of having teams that play exciting football (see Madrid etc.) notwithstanding the fact that they had many great players. Patience and calmness is required.

ahahhahahahahhhahahahahah yes!

Pretty happy with that game to be honest. Now we all hope Torres plays like that for the rest of the season... that would be awesome. Mata is a little genius and needs to start.

Ramsey for Ballon D'or

Hi, does anyone know if it is a loan until Jan with the option of extension or a season long loan? I'm glad he's at Everton rather than warming the bench for us; Everton are a fantastic team and he will learn and flourish, with the aim being to bring him back next season so he can compete for the #1 spot. If he can get a similar or better return of goals at Everton as he did at WBA then the Chelsea management would have to take serious notice. (they arguably should have taken serious notice of him this season..) But let's be positive about this: we have a cracking young striker who is out on loan at a great club with a decent manager where he should learn a lot as a player and compete for a national team spot for the WC. Then we unleash him as our own striker next season...

The Skipper. Always seems to make well reasoned and articulate posts.

I'm happy he had the balls to step up and take it. Yes, he choked under pressure but he is 20 y/o and will learn, as Drogba said. I am sure, because of his big character, that this will make him stronger in the long term rather than destroy him. Keep going, Romelu. Micky Mouse trophy too. Not going to lie, would have liked to have won but let's be honest, Bayern are the best team in the world right now and we put up a decent show with a relatively young/inexperienced squad - we will only get better.

i want to be sick

Lahm as DM? wtf

eh shaky performance, but 3pts matter most. I know villa fans will whinge about the peno shout but, in my very biased opinion, it should have been a FK to us for a foul on Terry. The reason his arm was in the air was because he was being dragged down and climbed on by the Villa player, moving his arm like that was a natural reaction (for balance..)

come on guys, saw this bumped with a few views on it and you got my hopes up

Good post, welcome to the forum. Whilst it is great to see every Chelsea player working hard, that is to be expected, they're professionals. I didn't want to whinge about Torres yesterday because it was such a great day for Chelsea FC: Mourinho returned to the bridge, Abramovich reached out to the fans for the first time, and that first half performance was sexy (though against Hull...).. and just generally everything is pretty good at Stamford Bridge right now.. the atmosphere is back. But let's be honest, Torres is never going to hit the form that we pay/paid for, we just have to accept that we are probably stuck with him for a while and have to support him whilst he's on the pitch (which Chelsea fans have patiently since we signed him).

That's what I thought. I honestly believe any bid is a waste of time when it comes to Fabregas though. He was amazing for Barca last night and it looks like they need him tbh, they just lost Thiago and Xavi can't play forever..

I agree that Fellaini would be a good signing for you and would add some 'steel' to your midfield, as well as being a decent player alongside Carrick. It was pretty well publicised that Fellaini had a 23.5m(?) release clause that expired in August, which Moyes must have known about, so did he just not think Fellaini was worth that or did he have other targets instead?

Oscar easily MoTM for me. Ramires had a good game, as did Terry. De Bruyne looked bright and Hazard looked ok but didn't show all he had to offer in this match..

I watched the show before starting the books (and really enjoyed it), but I'm glad I started reading the books because they're even better than the TV in my opinion.. the next 2 books in the series (ACoK and ASoS) are extremely good and I'd recommend reading them.

I agree mate, and I think when players retire the hero worship begins and all the bad things are forgotten. I don't think that we would have done much better by using Ba or Sturridge as the other poster suggested because we had many other problems... but clearly, given the number of chances he scuffed (or even failed to create because of the time he spent on the wing) we would have been stronger with a more established striker... I think that's all the other guy was suggesting really. I suppose you can always blame a certain player (whether it be Mikel, Luiz or Torres) for defeats but ultimately the team has to perform as a team, if the striker isn't performing then the midfield needs to step up etc..

Whilst I agree that it isn't just Torres's fault, and much of the blame can be laid at the feet of defenders (and a certain manager who shall not be named), you can't say just because he didn't miss a 1v1 means he didn't have a negative effect. I believe the poster was meaning Torres wasn't creating any chances for himself with his lack of movement, or 'ghost mode' as he put it, which is a very important part of a strikers job.

I'm working and living in London at an investment firm for my gap year before going to uni and I have recently booked accommodation.. paying £180 / week for en-suite room. I wouldn't come over here unless you have something lined up mate, it's bloody expensive. Luckily, though, London salaries tend to be pretty good so this compensates the high cost of living, to an extent. I'm really too young and inexperienced to tell you anything about the IT job market though, so there could be something there for you.. but I wouldn't risk coming over unless you already have something lined up. Best of luck mate. Any particular reason you want to return to London, by the way?

sky sports presenter falls over whilst on air http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emyu6kDnSKw

And Hazard will only get better. He has all the natural talent, we can all see that, exciting times

If we got him and managed to offload Torres then it would be perfect to be honest. It's not like he is 35 or 36.. he can still do the business but he is not young enough to hinder Lukaku's progression. Only problem is getting rid of Torres/Ba.

Lads (and Barbara), I'd just like to say how great these articles have been recently and would like to thank you guys for taking the time to write them. It really adds something to the site that other football forums just don't offer. Cheers

This legend. I used to play Fifa when I was about 10 or 11 and somehow found out we shared the same b'day haha