The Mak

But then again you can also say that they look a little clueless because they always seem to have to come so deep to receive the ball. As a result, they always seem to be facing two blocks of 4 instead of one. There is no one in the team that can get the ball to them quickly or someone with enough composure to help press further forward allowing the AMs to try to make those dangerous runs in behind. We then shoot ourselves in the foot by asking Oscar to come back to help the lack of creativity coming from there - pretty much making it that much easier for other teams to defend against. I suppose we'll really see if a DLP can help with that though. I think they'll find that little bit more space and eventually become confident enough to attack it. At least, that's the hope....maybe I'm just rambling!

As far as I can remember, Ivanovic had his worst season ever last year. It certainly seemed that way. Maybe you just remember his goal in the Europa final...think of the amount of times he got caught ball watching as a CB which led to a goal. And Azpi nailed down the RB spot after a couple of months for a reason. Anyway, I don't even know why you want to compare them in the same season when their positions were different... No actually. If Ivanovic only has a cross completion rate of 16% and Azpi 29% (over many more games) then that pretty much means that Azpi is TWICE the crosser that Brana is. He also creates more chances per minute with 1 every 92mins compared to Ivanovic's 1 every 225mins. Again, this is over more games compared to Brana. So i'll ask you, if it is clear that Ivanovic is better defensively then why is he allowed to roam forward so much? If he's a better defender, shouldn't he be sitting while Azpi goes forward? Even if Azpi is slightly better (according to you) going forward than him? He can still go up for a set piece and all that can't he? Mourinho has it the wrong way round as far as I can see. Ivanovic should sit and Azpi go forward.

And he deserves every penny. He made history for this club and, because of that, also made millions for the rebuilding process. He could sit on that contract until the last day and manage a rival club for all I care, he's still an absolute Legend...unlike AVB who did sit on a similar contract but thankfully got the Tottenham job as soon as he could, which gave me another reason to continue to dislike him.

Ah ok! To be honest I personally don't see it happening anyway. Any german club outside of the top 2 would be practically falling over themselves to get him on loan as they know what he can do in the league. It would be nice to see a PL loan, but I don't know if that's an actually reality...it'd be even better if he played his way into our team!!

I know, but it was a misunderstanding. Moros cleared it up!

I'm a massive fan and I'm surprised his buy-out clause is so low considering the level he is at. He'll get you almost a goal every second game. Insanely talented player, but we're overstocked with AMs at present. However on the off chance José doesn't see 2 of our AMs fitting into his plans and he's looking for more of a direct player, he should look no further than this guy.

I have to say that this is a myth. We only hear the Kop when we go there (a.k.a. a big game) and even sometimes you can't really hear them. There's also a big difference between us playing them and the likes of West Ham or any mid-table or below club. So many time last season it was like a library waiting for Suarez to score against the likes of Fulham/Swansea etc. And the place was dead when they were losing to what they thought were lesser teams (just look at their abysmal home record in the past few seasons). Besides from they're little sing-song before each game, they have the same problems as any other club who has fans with ridiculously high standards (do remember that they are deluded).

Hang on just a minute there mister! I mean, how dare José question the fans at the game! They're the 'real supporters' after all! Us peasant Chelsea fans who can only watch the games on T.V. will just have to dream of one day of being one of those 'real supporters'; because going to the games is the only way to support the club!! And if you can't get to the games because of your geographical location, or if you're busy with college/work/family or even if you're just plain poor, well then tough luck! You're not a 'real supporter'! Until then, we'll just have to continue giving the club our peasant money by paying for the sports channels, the replica kits and all of the other merchandise the club doesn't rely on at all!!

What are you even on about now? Another 'special' set of Chelsea fans who are better than others? I was talking about if some people on here had the same opportunities as you they would go to the games just as much as you, but whatever. Just forget about it. I can see you'll drag something else up to deflect attention away from you discriminating against Chelsea fans by using your own 'real supporter' measures and i'll get nowhere.

Yes, but according to you there's still an 'elite' set of Chelsea fans; those who can go to the Bridge on most occasions. And you think others on here wouldn't do the same if they had the chance?!? Listen, you've made your position very clear in the past. There's not much point in you trying to sugar coat it now because I'm going into a big debate about it. I'm going out to watch the second half of the Newcastle game anyway.

Sorry, but I don't have my own independent measure of 'Chelseaness' to discriminate others against because I know that each supporter is different. Just because I get to see the match live most of the time doesn't make me more of a supporter than those on the other side of the world who have to live off highlights the day after. The same way that just because you're in a more privileged position to actually see most of the games doesn't make you more of a supporter than anyone else. And the fact that you believe it does, well I feel sad for you in all honesty. There is not just one way of supporting a club.

And you denote this 'meaning' from...your own personal beliefs? Is that really a measure to discriminate others against?

It's not all about Ivanovic playing or not, it's more about what he's given licence to do - attack, and he isn't good at it to say the very least. Azpi has been playing but out of position. He's also been told to sit when he's much better going forward than Brana. They could easily swap positions.

Maybe not, but people have still been worried about their constancy in José's side and now teams seem to exploiting that and their weakness (e.g. allowing Ivanovic to have as much of the ball as he wants because he's useless going forward with it). So I still don't think they're kneejerk reactions.

Kneejerk? How? Mentioning things like playing Lampard in almost every game and using Ivanovic as a winger are hardly kneejerks. How are they kneejerks if they've been playing like that since the start of the season and people have been wary of it beforehand? And who has exactly said they don't want Mourinho? You can't boil everything down to a 'kneejerk reaction' just because they're criticising José. He'll get criticism the same as any player would, he shouldn't be immune to it simply because of this arbitrary 'almighty master plan' that you use as a shield to protect him. Until we see his plan take shape we should be able to criticise his faults along the way, the same way we would with any developing player.

Tell that to Mourinho.

All I know is that if we're relying on a 35yr old playing out of position to play in almost every game and Branislav Ivanovic to be our main attacking threat, then somebody, somewhere has fucked something up big time. I'd like to imagine we'll bring in a reinforcement in January in the mould of a CM, but I'm not holding my breath to be honest. I've just come to accept now that we won't sign what we most desperately need.

Well thanks for clearing that up! I knew something didn't seem right...

Transfer news: Anderlecht in line to land Kevin de Bruyne on loan from Chelsea http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11668/9017142/transfer-news-anderlecht-in-line-to-land-kevin-de-bruyne-on-loan-from-chelsea Surprised this hasn't been put up already. Anyway, I'd hate to see him go back on loan to the Belgian League. I'd hope for the Bundesliga at least.

May as well close this thread then, because no one is allowed to criticise Mourinho or air their feelings on the matter... Classic snide, 'holier than thou' comment from you. You'd seriously want to grow up sometimes...even though I know now you'll probably want to say something like 'Some people on here need to grow up blah, blah, blah' but some of your comments seriously make you seem like a closeted bigot. They're the antithesis of the very nature of what a forum is supposed to be, especially as one as multicultural as this.

Penalty all day, every day lads. If I was a WBA away supporter, I'd go home with a nice warm feeling in my tummy (like hot chocolate) knowing that justice was done and the result was completely fair!

Stop! I'm being super serious right now guys.....

The more I look at the challenge on Rami, the more I'm convinced it's actually a pen (maybe a soft one though). I mean he just runs into him and gets none of the ball... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x170b9g_chelsea-vs-west-bromwich-2-2-goals-highlights_sport

If that is true then I don't hold much hope for the rest of the season. That's great, but he was also at initial fault for the 2nd WBA goal. You should have a gander at this: http://eplindex.com/43776/azpilicueta-v-ivanovic-start-chelsea-stats-compared.html

I agreed with every other point except the Mata one. I'm not sure what else he's supposed to do when there's 5-8 of our players constantly in their box. Clarke's team was just well organised.