The Mak

Beware, the fap fest is here...

Exactly. I think one thing that stood out for me was a line from the commentator: "Great tackle by Mata". When have you ever heard that? I think it says it all. It was a great team effort, but there were two in particular who stood out. We also got to see the real start of Mata's transformation into a lot more of a 'hardworking' player.

Well it was Lampard who Eriksen ghosted by, but it doesn't really matter. We dominated the second half mainly because of the quality of our attacking players. Those top two players being Mata and Torres, not Lampard.

Did Lamps have Eriksen in his pocket for their first? Nah. It was also shocking Mourinho took Mikel off instead of him. I severely doubt Lampard ever has anyone 'in his pocket' to be totally honest.

I just don't get it. A billion attacking mids and we play Ramires on the right like back in the dark days. Whats next? Bertrand on the left? Way to piss off about half our team José.

Lampard may as well have not even been on the pitch for that one...be better for us if he wasn't!

That was before Roman had his way with him!

I don't think we'll lose...I think AVB is too afraid of us to be honest. Don't worry AVB, Roman can't hurt you anymore! Seriously though, we've had the psychological edge over Tottenham for decades and, especially now with José, I don't see it suddenly changing on Saturday...

Shit...poor lad. It seems like our DMs knees are cursed: Essien, Romeu and now MVG.... Only means we'll be seeing more of Lampard, which is mainly good news for our opponents. Sigh.

Schurrle should start and most likely will since he was rested. He's shown the most amount of penetration out of all our wide AMs. Ok, no end product yet but at least he's finding himself in those positions - which is more than others can say. He was fantastic against Bayern and should have a similar amount of space to run into in this game.

He must get a bonus for a chip or something!

Pleased with the win. There's no need to put any more effort than is required in at such an early stage for fear of injury (which we didn't avoid). But I would like us to start being a lot more clinical in front of goal. We should be taking the chances to bury the game as soon as possible. We didn't do it at Everton and it's one thing to throw away such chances against League 1 opposition, but totally different if we continue to do it on Saturday...

I'm hoping for this too, but I put money on it at the start of the season! I put money on this and the FA Cup mainly because our 2nd team is so much stronger now and, if I was totally honest, I don't see us winning the league yet since our pivot and striker problems remain the same. But it's José! So he'll go all out for any trophy, even the League Cup!

I do Stats me. Form an orderly queue ladies.

Sorry, but who cares if teams have defended with a low block or not? We come up against it nearly 90% of the time, but that didn't stop him being effective last year did it?! Low block, high block, Jenny from the block - it doesn't matter. Mourinho basically said he's basing his selections on form and Hazard's form is bad. Even still, if Schurrle can show more penetration than Hazard against a low block, what can he do with even more space to run into?

Exactly my view. In justifying Oscar's selection ahead of Juan, Mourinho said last night that his selections aren't based on 'history' or the past, they are based on the 'now'. Well right now both Schurrle and KDB offering a lot more than Hazard. I think Mourinho needs to actually practice what he preaches and not only when it suits his argument. They'll get their chance for Swindon alright, but if Hazard goes straight back into the starting lineup for Tottenham, well...José will look a bit full of it won't he? Especially if Hazard's replacement performs well (which shouldn't be hard). How would the players feel if they're only brought in for a cup game and chucked back out for an under performing player the next?

Mourinho should've dropped Hazard for this game. He has been average thus far, had his worst game ever against Basel and he simply didn't face any repercussion for it. And I severely doubt with our AM options he'd be playing if he was in anyway still injured. It seems to be simply down to form. Almost as soon as Schurrle switched with him he made the difference for the 1st goal. Hazard needs something. Whether it be the bench for a few games, a rest or a kick up the arse. It's one thing to have all of these quality AMs, but it's another to persist with an out of form player while the rest sit on the bench; It's asking for trouble. Sure Schurrle didn't finish chances at Everton, but at least he was getting on the end of them - unlike Eden. KDB also sits on the bench but has performed well whenever called upon. I don't know how long they'll happily sit there. The players on the bench will be relatively satisfied as long as the managers selection is somewhat justified, but Hazard just isn't justifying his constant presence in the team at the moment - especially since we have such strength in that department now. For now it's just a niggling concern as it's early days still, but I hope José will be a bit more proactive in keeping the squad harmony for the rest of the season.

Great to get the win but it wasn't convincing. It easily could've been another disappointing day at the office. I know they say it's a hallmark of a great team to be able to grind out a result or 'win ugly', but that usually implies that the team usually plays well - we really haven't so far this season (Bayern was a different type of game). I can understand some of José's methods, like playing Brana because he's a boss from set-pieces, but as long as we're unconvincing on the pitch people will be (quite rightly) unconvinced with some of these methods (Mata etc.). Hoping we pick up form a.s.a.p. One thing though, Hazard should've been dropped before this game. He's been average thus far and had his worst game ever against Basel and he simply didn't face any repercussion for it. It was Schurrle from the LW who made the difference for the 1st goal today. It's one thing to have all of these quality AMs, but it's another to persist with an out of form player while the rest sit on the bench; Mourinho is asking for trouble if he continues like this.

Finally. And it came from Oscar playing on the RW, the irony. If anything though it just showed how shit Hazard has been playing on the LW as it was Schurrle who made the difference there.

Oh, I don't know about that. Have you talked to @CHOULO19?

Chelsea isn't Oscar FC either. The same way it wasn't Torres FC for the past 3 years. Not a dig at you at all. I've enjoyed reading some of your posts on the Mata-Oscar situation, even though I may not fully agree on somethings. I just wish others would show the same level of maturity on the matter instead of shit like "Mourinho picks Oscar so he agrees with me, lol, lol, lol!"

Not just that though, if Mourinho wants to play counter-attack for games like Bayern or away games (e.g. United, Everton) then play Oscar, sure. But if we're at home we should be dominating possession and take the game by the scruff of the neck (e.g. Basel). Mourinho could have both a counter-attacking 3 like Willian-Oscar-Schurrle and a possession based 3 like Hazard-Mata-De Bruyne instead of chopping and changing all of the attacking-mids so much that they never really generate any form of chemistry. I think even doing something like that would satisfy a lot of people. I think the fact that we really haven't got any form of identity as a team yet is really messing with us. We look great counter-attacking against Bayern but when we have the ball for the majority of the game we are not as fluent in the final third compared to when Mata was at his best.

Sorry mate, but i'll just come right out and say it: Brazilian bias. There is a reason why Mata had more chances created, assists and goals than Oscar last season. There's also a reason why Oscar has always performed better in Europe; and that is because he needs more space and time on the ball.

If Mourinho really intends to use Mata on the wing instead of no. 10 then, tbfh, Mata should just go somewhere his talents are fully appreciated. Not playing our best player for the past two years in his best position while also adding a bunch of 'no 10. wingers' to the current squad reeks of absolute bullshit to me in all honesty. So does all the subtle blame he's putting on Juan's shoulders for the defeat. I don't know why Mata should be punished because we have such a shitty pivot that we need the ATTACKING-midfielder to defend so much. I'd love for Juan to get back to his best a.s.a.p. just so he can remind some people of what he's capable of, but sadly it doesn't look like he'll get a proper chance as CAM at this rate. I also think this has turned into more of a debate because José is now the manager and some are afraid to question him.

Thank you Stingray. I'm pretty sure it's obvious some posters are blatantly biased towards Oscar in this matter, but that is neither here nor there. I'm no expert, but I'm sure there's a difference between 'fitness' and 'match fitness'. If someone is fully fit it doesn't mean they are necessarily 100%. They also have to be psychologically ready/healthy. They can be as fit as they like but if they're head isn't in the game, if they're not mentally sharp, not acute to their new surroundings/teammates or if they simply have no confidence; they're going to be affected. Because of that, they can look like headless chickens and therefore labelled as simply 'unfit'. Mentally perhaps, yes. Don't get me wrong, if Mata is still physically unfit then sure it's going to affect his play, no doubt. Therefore Oscar should be played more. But I think it's also fair to say that Mata isn't going to get any 'match fitness' by sitting on the bench now is he? To use a more recent example: Rooney. I have to say, as much as I was against having him here, he looks as if he's coming into a fine bit of form. However, he did look average in his first few matches. Even against us; he ran around quite a bit for someone who may have been labelled as 'unfit' but he never really did anything against of note. He wasn't quite 'match fit' at the time (Perhaps because his head was turned ever so slightly?). He looks match fit now though and I'm pretty sure he didn't pick up his form from sitting on the bench... I'll stop now before I start confusing myself!