different level

I just gotta say, it feels so damn good knocking them out of yet another competition this season. Don't know about you guys but I feel the FA cup as the Chelsea cup, It's so much more important than EL. It's our competition and we should continue building our legacy here by winning it yet again. KTBFFH!

This might be the disappointment in me talking, but I'm starting to feel we might screw it up and fail to make the top 4. However, saying that we are more likely to finish 5th and the people here acting like it's a done deal is a bit of an overreaction. We won't give up our UCL place without a fight, but I have to admit it's a very realistic threat.

This lineup might do the work but it awfully reminds me of the rotated squad that was played against QPR...

Football players are viewed as somewhat super humans and when someone shows traits of mental weakness he usually gets a lot of stick, especially from where I come from. I agree to a certain extent that footballers should have stronger mentality than the normal person, because of all the pressure they are exposed to coming from the media, supporters' expectations and ambitions and the general understanding that they should be always at their best. To me if a football player should come close to what I described he should find extra motivation not in the amount of money he gets paid in the end of the week but for what he represents. Many of them are role models to kids and younger fans all around the world, who view them as the perfect people, who aren't prone to the usual human weaknesses. Now I don't know that much about depression as a medical term and I'm far from that understanding that the footballers have to be immuned to any mental issues, but they should find a way to deal with that better than the normal people because of their status, the people who count on them and most importantly for their own sake. It doesn't matter if you have all the talent in the world if there is something keeping you from showing it.

The second one would be okay if some different collar is used. This one doesn't seem in place.

Yup, I called Gerrard a thug, but then I lost the argument, because Lamps is apparently a terrorist

The supporters are emotional people and they want the best for their team. That's where the forum comes to use as a channel of their emotion towards some people in the club (posive and negative), a place where they can freely express their opinion and assess the club's current situation. They have the right to criticize anyone if they feel he is not doing good enough. I should point out I am not a fan of insulting members of the team and when I joined the forum I had clashes with some people over their Torres hate, but they did that (and still doing it) because they want the best for Chelsea and they firmly believe Torres is far from that category. The same goes for Benitez.

If you want to seriously compare Gerrard's and JT's off field antics that's fine, it's well known that the latter is no angel, but please don't drag Lamps into this as you obviously know nothing about 9/11.

You compare something that happened 10+ years ago when Lamps was still in his early twenties (and you know almost nothing about especially how much was he involved) and a well documented assault. Actually why did you take so personally a little dig at a Liverpool player and fiercely defend him by going as far as giving stick to the two of the biggest Chelsea legends?

I never said there aren't any genuine reasons for his poor performances in a Chelsea shirt, on the contrary I was one of his biggest defenders. However saying that Chelsea didn't make a team for him to succeed is pure madness. Especially this season the club left him as the only striker in the squad and while he was okay in the first 2 months of the season come winter he was back to his fruitless self. As for Gerrard, what I called him was a reference to this case:

Very interesting article and analysis. Not sure which is the best CB duo as of this moment, but I am surprised so many people are acting like JT should be laid off sooner rather than later. He struggled with his injury and fitness this season, but I still don't think he's done and he'll be back to his best next season. (Some wishful thinking was applied in the last part of the sentence)

The thug doesn't know what he is talking about. I can't think of more supported and tolerated player than Nando at Chelsea in the last couple of years.

That's what she said

Honestly I never cared about these awards. However the Player of the Season should go to one of these: Mata, Michu, Bale, Suarez, RVP. The young player of the season should be between Lukaku and Hazard. The other two awards seem quite pointless to me.

Happy Birthday, El Niño. Can't believe he is now 29. Time is passing by way too fast.

^ Yup, he's been kinda retired since his mid twenties...

Yup, Lukaku has definitely done more than enough to earn his chance in the squad next season especially with the goalscoring rate of our strikers. His age should not be a problem as the really talented young players like Romelu don't need that many chances to show their ability. That was the case this year with him in West Brom as he became the live wire of their attack and the center of almost anything dangerous they do in front of goal. Yes, there is a lot of pressure when you play in a top team and there is even extra pressure when you are a Chelsea striker, but I think he'll deal with that well.

He is definitely good enough to be a regular for any Premier League team including Chelsea. The problem is I can't see him challenging Cech for at least 3 ot 4 years, so probably we should be willing to listen if some good offer comes around, because I find it unacceptable keeping him in the squad as a second choice or starting a goalkeeper rotation.

He is doing pretty well in Werder. I'd like to see him stay in our squad next season, although he'll probably start of as a squad player. Then again we need some adequate squad players with Marin and Benayoun not being good enough for that role and probably leaving at the end of the season.

I said this in a couple of other threads. City are not that far away and it's always better to look what's in front and motivate yourself to reach that instead of worrying that you'll lose what you have, putting some extra pressure to yourself.

So in the worst possible scenario we'll have 12 more matches this season (9 in the league, 1 in FA Cup and 2 in Europa League) for Lamps to score 3 goals and beat the record

That's a bit of an overstatement, but it definitely wasn't as bad as some people made it out. If he only had scored one of those chances it'd have been a totally different case.

So the thing from the West ham match is more serious, even though he finished the match. Hopefully he'll be available against Soton in 10 days.

Even right now I look at them and Arsenal as a "stronger West Ham" with the difference being they have more annoying fans but nevertheless they are still inferior to us. That may sound a bit arrogant, but I will always consider Manure our biggest rivals.

Moreover they have 3 visits in London: against us, Spurs and Arsenal + the Merseyside derby against Liverpool.