The Mak

Because José was absolutely terrified of the prospect of Carroll isolating Cole/Azpilicueta - so terrified that we'd rather shackle ourselves going forward than provide meaningful width.

Pity it was an extra 20% of shit though.

Chelsea MOTM: Hazard West Ham MOTM: Ramires/Ivanovic

OH FUCK OFF! ANYWHERE ELSE FRANK! ANYWHERE ELSE!

Hazard is the only one who actually looks a threat for us. It takes 3 to mark him yet he's the only one who can make space for a shot! C'mon son!

Just keep giving the ball to Hazard!

Absolutely terrible Willian. Can't even beat the first man. Someone else take the set-pieces, I'm begging you.

Thank fuck for that!

C'mon José, make the change!

Matic would also help nullify the only strategy they have - lump it to Carroll.

We're in desperate need of someone who can actually take a set-piece...

I think it was always on the cards though. Sherwood was only going to be found out sooner or later with his archaic tactics. Some of their results have been very lucky. I have it going on the laptop as well and Aguero should have a hattrick by now to be honest.

Tony Gale is the biggest knob commentator going. Blatantly anti-Chelsea.

Salah hasn't even got his work permit yet as far as I know....

Sorry, but I'm supposed to be on his ignore list according to him. Though, he still tries his hardest to wind me up and start arguments every now and then over pedantic things. Just letting him know that his antics don't work. It's the last time I respond to him publically anyway, sorry about that Alex!

You again?

1 good cross and a wankfest ensues! I'd love to have him here as well, but I think many people here are overrating his crossing ability. It's his first assist in the PL as BM said, so I severely doubt it's THAT much better than Cole's as some people are claiming. He is very, very young though so he can easily become a lot more consistent with it and he's already better than Ash going forward.

This just turned into a massive game! I trust José and the lads to get it right. So have we! We all know they can be got at. They have the firepower but we're a lot more solid at the back than them now. Every team can have an off day and they still had one against Newcastle away and they were very,very, VERY fortunate to win. I'm not too worried about them. All we can do is keep winning our games.

Not a great game from him...looked like he was still trying to cope with the step down!

Always liked Kroos and if he's available we'd be mad not to go for him. 40+ caps for Germany, incredibly young and his range of passing is brilliant. He could be our midfield metronome alongside our midfield destroyer Matic. And we'd be a lot more physically imposing, that's for sure. I know he fancies himself as a CAM but I think he's doing very well for such a young CM. Schweinsteiger was a winger once remember! And I think Bayern also knew what they were doing when they converted him to a CM/DLP!

You would think that but he actually spoke through a translator when he first came here; look up his first interviews. Definitely. He was a guy who managed to get a degree while playing football. I don't even know of any other footballer who's done the same! But anyway, enough about Mata...

Well from my standpoint you're the one being ignorant because you're boiling everything about Mata down to a very primal level. You're speaking about a human being with emotions and feelings at the end of the day, but you talk as if these decisions are as easy as pressing a button on FIFA... Clearly don't know? Why would I speak on a topic I don't know? My sister has a house in Glasgow. I know enough - thanks very much.

Not really rubbish. Just pointing out that it's no coincidence that it's the Rangers fan who brings a 'us and them' tribalistic attitude to the forum: (Psssst, he actually chose playing football before a WC, instead of not playing football before a WC.) Both are as bad as each other and the fact that you're not getting it or don't believe me is just proving my point. Again, if you don't like Mata, the logical thing would be to not post in his thread...

Point proven. You must confuse me for someone who cares about a football team purely because of my nationality. How barbaric of you. For the record, I couldn't give a shit about Celtic or Rangers. The reason is because both clubs seem to be stuck in the dark ages, as we can all see...

Great to know he already has a good level of English! It'll really help him settle a lot quicker. Plenty of examples of players never really settling because they fail to integrate themselves into a new culture (Lamela & Osvaldo this season). On the other side of the coin, it's hard to imagine that Mata came here with very little or no English, yet he now speaks better than JT! And look how quickly he settled! I hope its the same for Mo.