Reddish-Blue

Started off well at Stoke, playing regularly in their first 6 games. However, since then, he's only been given cameo apperances.. I don't see him pushing for a CFC place next season...unless he can force his way into the Stoke starting lineup!

RLC - Mikel would be the worst midfield combination possible. Lack of experience + a passive defensive midfielder, Mark Hughes would love it

Would get rid of: Ivanovic, Mikel Hopefully sign: CB with pace so that we can play a high-line if necessary, high-energy midfielder capable of making simple passes under pressure Fits in with the club's policy of 1 in, 1 out.

Totally agree with this part of your post. Firing Mourinho now would be a mistake as no manager out there can come in right away and guarantee a top-4 finish this season. Maybe not having UCL next season is a good thing for Chelsea. It gives the club an opportunity to sell the deadwood and maybe start giving chances to 1-2 youngsters off the bench.

Are you going to stick up for Costa again? Because he was awful today, just like he was awful against Liverpool

Baba deserves a run of games because we need two fullbacks comfortable on the ball, ready to press at every opportunity

Must-win match, if we want to stay in the Champions league this season

Remy wouldn't even make into City's team due to his poor decision-making. We should of sold him to Crystal Palace, he would of thrived with the likes of Bolasie, Zaha, Sako crossing the ball for him

You're right, defending is an art, and just like attacking, you need players with the right mentality to make it work. When I look at the current squad, I don't see enough players with that sort of mentality. Only about 4 of them are good at defending, the rest of them are either attack-minded or average at defending & attacking. As for Atletico being a defensive counter-attack team...when they attack, they do it as a unit of 4-5 players, and they look capable of scoring 3+ goals a game. When I see Chelsea attack, it's Willian or Hazard or Costa with the ball, isolated against the opposition and generally the opposition manage to clear the ball or force a shot from a bad angle.

I don't know about Mata...but I would take KDB over Oscar anyday. As Gary Neville was saying in the discussion about Chelsea on Skysports, certain players that have killer, selfish mentality, they want to win and they want to live up to their potential...that's what I see in KDB's performances for Wolfsburg and recently for Man City. I don't see that mentality in Oscar, he hasn't really 'improved' on anything since his first season at Chelsea.

Come on, Jose bought Cesc to win the title back from City. We were missing a midfielder that could unlock the opposition's defense with a quality pass...Cesc played his role well last season. The problem is...when your not winning games and your forced to play a defensive brand of football, certain players won't be happy...and that's when the rumours of fallouts between player and manager start..

I have to say, your examples are amazing, Muzchap. First the ferrari fucking up and then the cow failing to climb a tree

You believe he is quality player, I believe he lacks the mentality to play for a title-challenging team. I think we should agree to disagree

He wasn't good enough for Real Madrid. He looks good this season because he's playing for a mid-table side without any expectations. We should be aiming to sign better players than Illaramendi.

I agree with your point of view. I was trying to say that once a player becomes frustrated at lack of opportunity, it's hard to convince them to stay The manager should have handled the situation better through a proper rotation policy but he chose his favourites, and now we have no quality depth within the first-team squad

It's not about being worse than our current players. if the player doesn't want to stay, what can you do?

A few years ago, we had multiple leaders/international captains in the same team...now all we have is JT Bunch of soldiers? We only have two soldiers playing consistently well! (Azpi & Willian)

I have to agree with the simplification. It's not like Mourinho has final say on transfers out of the club. Also in reference to the examples used by Zolayes...KDB wanted to be a first-team player so he left, same with Bertrand, same with Lukaku. I just wish we would sign quality players from within the EPL...rather than spending 25+ million on guys like Cuadrado, Pedro..

Makes sense. After Stoke we have a 14-day break until next match.

I think Guardiola will just stay at Bayern until Wenger retires or Pellegrini is sacked by City

who the hell is Lou Sticca?

Can't disagree with number 2 and 3 on that list. Liverpool kept pressing throughout the match, forced our midfield into mistakes and took full advantage of those mistakes by scoring three goals.

He'll never learn. Maybe the FA should give Costa mandatory counselling instead of a 4-match ban

I miss seeing the likes of Cech, Essien, Lampard and Drogba on the pitch together. I always felt 'safe' knowing that we had a few players with a strong mentality and will to win games. Now when I see the players on the pitch, I don't see that strong mentality in anyone (except Willian, Ramires and Azpi). We have too many laid-back personalities (Hazard, Oscar, Fabregas) in the dressing room.

If Fabregas -- Ramires play in midfield without a DM, we won't win the game against Kiev