The Mak

What it has essentially come down to is what others have alluded to; Mourinho put 100% of his faith in this starting 11 alone. He alienated almost every other player outside the starting 11 since 13/14 and now the chosen few are letting him down big time. He needs to change his ways soon otherwise we will be left with a dejected starting 11 devoid of any ideas and a bench full of youth players - in fact, it actually looks like we are there already.

I'd imagine he's the most frustrated of all. If the entire team wasn't playing so shit he would probably be somewhat less interested in fighting to pass the time between having to play on the wing just to receive the ball...

Both sides have valid points. I don't really think there is a better manager than Mourinho out there for us at the moment, but I also don't agree with the way Mourinho is going about his business at all. The drama, the blame game, the favouritism, it's all fine when we're winning games but when the shit hits the fan there really is no hiding how bad he can be. He's full of contradictions. He's persisted with players in truly horrible, horrible form (Brana and Fabregas) yet he's isolated some fantastic players for far, far less (Mata and De Bruyne). The result is that we're left with a considerably weaker Chelsea in terms of depth - just look at the bench today. The main reason why everyone has figured us out is because we're left with less options on how to play or how to change a game. If Mourinho doesn't find a solution soon, I can't help but feel he is digging his own grave by sticking to his very old and slow guns (Ivanovic, Fabregas next to Matic etc.). The old dog needs to find a new trick, otherwise Roman will have no other choice than to put him down at some point...

Everyone has said everything else. But I remember a time when us winning a corner was a real threat...13 fucking corners was it? Did we get anything on target from it? I don't fucking think so. Specifically, where was the magical Ivanovic for those corners José? Isn't that one of the main reason he's in the team? The reasons for the man being in the team have dwindled to absolutely nothing. Ivanovic will be Mourinho's downfall if he continues down this road. It is impossible for the the defence to calm or improve with such a liability in the team.

The stewards or pundits are also a good shout! Edit: "The opposition fans made too much noise" lol

What will Mourinho blame this time? The referee. The linesman. The international break. The ballboys. The medics. The fans. The grass. The traffic. The wind.You decide.

Good goal to be fair. Begovic shouldn't be letting anything in though from that angle.

If he keeps being this stubborn over Ivanovic, I wouldn't be surprised either. Baba on crutches is better than Brana.

At this rate, I think we can kiss Remy goodbye in January...

Well that's what I mean...kind of. I'm hoping that the natural attacking instinct he has is not curbed by Mourinho willingness to cover Ivanovic. The last thing I want is for him to look at Willian as a role model purely because he forced himself into the team due to his work-rate alone. I want him to be a lot more than Willian.

Nah, he likes Kennedy because he love his work rate - same as Willian and opposite to the De Bruyne situation.

Wow, Mourinho REALLY likes Kennedy. Good signs. Hope he's given the chance to express himself and not just turn him into another Willian.

A 5 yard pass Cesc...fucking wake up.

Not to mention the fact that he is the antithesis of a 'leader'. He can't communicate effectively and plays the blame game as soon as he lets one in himself. If I was Zouma I would've decked him already.

We are definitely going big for a defender in January.

Everyone does but it's like Mourinho doesn't give a shit. It's honestly like he wants to dig his own grave by playing Ivanovic there.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAHHAHA

Put Zouma at RB ffs. He's so much better at closing down it's unbelieveable.

Ivanovic left standing with his hands behind his back like a fucking mong. Free crosses down our right! Get them while you can! Fuck off.

Ivanovic...just forget about it. Right now Ivanovic could play for Barca or Real, he would still look absolute pants and have the capability to exposed an entire team. It's like already being down to 10 men because lord knows he can't even close down a fucking cross. Our bench is incredibly weak compared to 13/14. It's going to be a looooooong season.

Drop: Ivanovic and Fabregas. Play: Baba, Zouma and Ramires. For obvious reasons Brana and Fabregas need to be dropped and Baba and Rami brought in. Brana in particular needs to be dropped all the way back to Serbia. Zouma definitely needs to play though. He is the perfect foil to Lukaku. He had him in his pocket last season. This game is not the game for a nervy stand-off Cahill.

All I want to know is what the fuck were the goalkeepers doing that made him fuck up his knee so bad? If it was a ridiculous training exercise I can imagine José being pissed at Lollichon.

Just in time for the meltdown... We have Begovic, I'm relaxed. He was quality when he came on against Swansea and saved us from a even more embarrassing defeat to City. I'm really glad we have him.

God it's always so boring in here during internationals.

That ball from De Bruyne made that goal. I'm not just saying this because of current events, and I know it's only Cyprus, but I don't think Fabregas could play a ball 'like' that ball. What I mean by that is that Fabregas' balls would generally come from over the top in a situation like that, and so, are often a lot slower than the one De Bruyne just played. What he's done there is more like a cross from in-field, it was perfect. I think you can only have ability like that if you've spent an awful lot of time on the wing.