dee25

It's unlikely but then again this is the same club that sold Ozil, Higuain, Makelele, Robben.... Still some hope!

That's not gonna happen. Even when Mata was in form Cazorla was often selected ahead him. I rate Mata very highly but looking at those names I don't see how he's going to be included in the squad over any of those midfielders. Not only are Koke and Thiago having a better season but they're also more versatile than Mata and offer more tactical flexibility. Koke can play deep or further advanced - in the centre or on either flanks. What Mata brings is what Del Bosque already has in Silva, Cazorla and Fabregas. No way in hell would Del Bosque leave out any of those three.

Generally agree, especially with the bolded part. I don't know if a cup final win against Sunderland is another day in the office for City though. Sunderland is like their bogey team and winning a trophy in a final against them will surely lift team morale, particularly at this stage of the season. Up until now I haven't seriously entertained the thought of us winning the title but you're probably right that it's now 50-50, if we open a 9 point gap from them, then we're favorites imo. Like you said, It's very unlikely they will be able to catch up. A team would have to be very resilient (both physically and mentally) in order to cope with that pressure and I don't think they are.

This is one hell of an important game. Can't even express it into words. Win this and we're in a very good position. I think City are a much better team than some on here think they, but no matter how good of a team you are you don't want to be playing catch up to Mourinho side in March. It's not only the pressure but also the psychological impact of knowing that a team is 9 points ahead of you in the title race, regardless of the 3 games in hand, you begin to accept it as inevitable that they'll win it and with that some complacency will creep in. Maybe wishing thinking but I firmly believe that. Then again, City have just won a trophy and their in the mix for another so maybe the possibility of winning the domestic treble would be enough motivation to push them through. I would very surprised though. 3 points. Nothing less.

Essien, Ballack - i'll give you that but Drogba? Easy now to say that he was gonna be successful here because he's gone on to establish himself. At the time he was signed there was so much uncertainty around him and his first season here was nothing special. Also with Cole, weren't there a few at the time who thought that Arsenal got the better end of the deal? We don't know what the future lies for Salah. What we do know is that this is a risk free signing with potential. He might come good or he might not but there's no way of predicting. And.... was Cole even all that good in Mourinho's first stint here?

Also pretty sure they play United, Arsenal, Southampton at home and Liverpool away all back to back. Their goal difference gives them an advantage but most likely they will drop points.

Damn, a spirited comeback is the worst possible way for City to win!

I think Hazard improved significantly and so did Schurrle. I also don't think the runs Schurrle made were accidental. In second half there was a deliberate effort at getting in behind the fulham defence, whether that was Mourinho's or Steve Holland's instructions or not, I don't know. But imo there were definitely some tactical adjustments in the 2nd half. It also helped that Scott and Sidwell (who were very lively in the first half) began to tire and that allowed us to impose our game some more. Everything actually just fell into place in the second half. weird game.

Against Fulham? I'm not sure, but it was a very poor performance by the team.

Whether we were seriously going for the title or not, 10 games left and top of the league (for now). The team needs to bring their A-game for the remaining matches. City imo are still favorites but we're so, so close to the finishing line. It would be a big shame for us slip up now. If it's true that Mourinho didn't say anything to team during half time then that's very reassuring because it shows that the team has the tactical maturity to turn around a poor first half and go on to win a game convincingly without Mourinho's intervention. That second half performance against Fulham and the late winner against Everton are comforting signs.

Hazard and Schurrle....take a bow! That's how done.

That's the thing with Schurrle, his movement is excellent and he can finish. It seems so simple but runs in behind defences is so vital. Really need our attacking midfielders to make that kind of movement more often.

Exactly. Really, who are we trying kid here? Ramires is central to Mourinho's tactics. We might not like it, but criticize the tactics not the players.

Uppity? See that's very ironic because you nitpicking my choice of words is actually the very definition of uppity. Dominating vs having more possession - the difference is a matter of semantics. Either way both infers a state of control of the ball - although to varying degrees. So let's not turn this into some sort of linguistic battle, first of all, I guarantee you I'll win and secondly, it'll do nothing but derail the thread. 4 percent separates us and City while 6 percent separates us from Newcastle and West Brom. So here's my interpretation, our tactics aren't focused on possession. Is that interpretive enough for you? Or would you prefer me to draw up a graph? Or maybe a 10 pg paper quantifying the 4 percent difference in possession between us and City? (btw, that's uppity) How many times have our counterattacks involved an exchange of passes like that one? That goal is very different from the goals/chances we normally create on the break. For one thing, It's very rare that our counterattack wouldn't be lead by either Willian or Hazard and we don't normally see Azpi bomb forward like that to tee up the striker. Really you can argue from now until your blue in the face. Fact is, Mourinho typically values workhorses like Ramires over the passing type players. He's very much central to Mourinho's tactics whether you and I like it. Anyway, this has been fun but I probably should stop procrastinating and face this evil bastard paper that I've been putting off. Oh and before you break out the semantic siren, I don't actually mean the paper itself is evil........

I think this point is just semantics and you just nitpicking minutia details. Let's stick to the main argument which is that Mourinho's tactics isn't centered on controlling possession. The only point you've brought up to dispute that is our 70% possession against a weakened Newcastle team and West Brom - a team battling relegation. What is that supposed to prove? That we can keep possession against lowly sides? And what.....that makes us a possession based team? Having just looked at the stats now, we're actually ninth in overall possession with teams like Swansea, Spurs, Southampton, Utd and Everton all above us. Regardless of whether the difference between us and Arsenal is one or two percent, the fact is that 8 other teams have an overall higher possession percentage than us. I think that speaks for itself. Also our counterattacks are very, very, very much about sprints and not so much about passing. There are some teams that break while making a series of short and quick passes in midfield, Dortmund and even Liverpool are some examples. We normally transition by a singular player (usually Willian or Hazard) receiving a pass, turning and then running with the ball and taking on a defender while the others run alongside him for support. Ramires is perfect for that because he's a long distance runner and can make up ground in a blink of an eye. He also has the energy to do that continously throughout the game. Okay, umm so my new thing is to be less of a bitch, particularly when someone says something that makes absolutely no sense to me. So how about I just refrain from addressing your point?

I think styles is completely right – it might not be something people want to accept but he's actually right. In games against most of the top teams, we normally have less possession than them. I’m not just talking about Arsenal and City, but also Spurs, Everton and Utd. Every single one of those teams dominated possession in the matches we played against them and I'm pretty sure that if you compare our overall possession stats with every single one of those teams, ours would be the lowest. That’s the way Mourinho sets up the team and basically the reason why players like Mata and Kdb weren't able to perform to high productivity. Mourinho’s tactics centers primarily on conceding possession and counterattacking. Whether people like it or not, Ramires is pivotal to that system. He’s not going anywhere any time soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t3VFYR2y04 This was such an excellent game by him, especially in the 2nd half when Ramires came on. Wish we would have our attacking players be more dynamic and imaginative with their runs especially since Matic is quite good at playing passes between the lines, but Hazard and Willian are just so static in their movement. They rarely make any attempts to get in behind defenders a la Lampard.

I pretty much expected that around this time he would hit a slump. Imo, the way he was being used wasn't sustainable at all, I said so a few months back. You can't ask your no.10 to run himself into the ground, covering for a weak central midfield and not rotate him. From August to about early December, Oscar was playing practically every match and he was doing an awful lot of defensive work. It's one thing if he had the stamina of Ramires and Willian or if he even had a stockier built like Hazard but he doesn't. How he was being used and our reliance on him defensively, just didn't sit well with me at all because all the signs were pointing to burnout. He probably won't play against Galatasaray since he's apparently injured but I would also have him sit out the Fulham game and bring him back for Spurs. After spurs, he needs to be probably rotated, with probably Willian.

Depends. By then they would have Augero fit and if he continues his pre-injury form, then I don't see them having much trouble winning games.

Suarez's influence definitely has little to do with Daniel's goal scoring ability. Let's just drop that narrative. However, it's one thing scoring goals for Liverpool but it's an entirely different thing doing it here. Liverpool's system is set up for the strikers. The strikers are the focal point of their attack. Just look at that ball by Sterling for Daniel's first goal - despite us having the more talented attacking midfielders how many times do you see them attempt a pass like that? Not saying that Sturridge wouldn't be able to score goals here. He did so under AVB. It's just very unlikely that he would be able to replicate the performances he's putting in now in a Chelsea shirt.

Not anymore. Got rid of my account a while back.

No.

Just want to highlight his stats from today. - He had the most touches on the ball & had a 91% pass accuracy (2nd highest after Terry) - Made 4 tackles (only 1 other player managed that many, Frank) and he also made 6 interceptions, which was the highest from a chelsea player. Highest in the game was 7. - Offensively - made 1 key pass, 1 accurate cross, 2 successful dribbles (no other chelsea player made more than 2) and completed the highest number of successful long balls. Out of the 4 matches he started (in the league) he's received a rating on whoscored of 8.00 or higher on 3 occasions. He's such a lynchpin in our midfield and a brilliant, brilliant signing.

That back four along with Matic is really what won us the game. They kept us in it and gave us a fighting chance right till the end. Just shows how important it is that the defensive players keep their concentration for the full 90 mins. They were immense. Still some work Mourinho has to do, but honestly this team hasn't come close to challenging for the title for 2-3 seasons now, at this stage of the season what matters is not so much the performance but picking up 3 points by hook or by crook. On to the next.

At this point, the players have no clue what they're doing or supposed to do. They're really just pinning the ball around and hoping something happens.