The only place to be

Norwich at home is a game where you can make changes, but away from home at this point in time then I'd be looking for us to get some consistency within the team and build on the result against Steaua. I'd like to see Willian get some starts but I think Mata and Oscar need more time together to build a rapport in Jose's team.

Norwich away is not a 'lesser opponent'. That's a tough fucking game and right now we need to pick up points on a consistent basis. I like Azpi but he has shown fuck all this season to warrant a place on the subs bench, let alone the starting line-up. Willian has a slightly better chance but I still think we need to go with the team who started against Steaua rather than chopping and changing for the sake of it.

They might be winnable, but we still have to win them and this team is finally starting to look like they're gelling. Why mess with that? Again, Ivanovic has been one of our best players this season so why drop him? There's an argument to be made that Ivanovic is one of the best fullbacks in the country right now.

Try telling that to your missus when you spent all day playing GTA5 on the sofa.... I'm not lazy dear, just immobile Guarantee she won't see the distinction.

Personally I think when AVB plays that high line you need players who will work their bollocks off and pressure players like Dembele and Paulinho - in fact that's exactly the type of tactic Wenger used against us (in particular Mikel) when Arsenal destroyed us at the Bridge during AVB's tenure. Mikel just isn't suited to those matches because he's so fucking lazy. Well if being liked is important to you then you carry on the way you are. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to please people by being inoffensive. But you do seem to suck up to one guy in particular. Maybe I'm wrong, but I also think you're completely wrong about Mikel being scapegoated. Most supporters are able to be fair to him which is why he was getting so much love from the home support against Fulham - people WANT him to do well but he simply disappoints on far too many occasions.

Really don't understand the need to rest a player when our next game is almost 5 days away and the one after that is 6 days away. From a tactical perspective I'd have thought the need to get players used to a system far outweighed any issues regarding fatigue at this point in the season, considering we're talking about a 22 year old. Personally the biggest worry for me is the lack of width we had at times last night, and that's something we definitely need to guard against.

He's been mixed. He had two good games against Everton and Fulham but was poor against Spurs. It's the same old inconsistency issue that we're getting 300 games into his Chelsea career. He really isn't a scapegoat - one person on here uses that pathetic argument and I think you really need to stop trying so hard to impress him. Form your own opinions because you've shown an ability to do that elsewhere.

Pretty much my thinking. Let these players start building a rapport and then make a couple of changes for the Cardiff game with players like Willian, Mikel and Cahill coming in.

That says a lot. That's what we've wanted Mikel to do for years, and something that he's disappointed at. People talk about what a DM is supposed to do, but when in possession I want him to ship that ball on as fast as possible to more creative players and it's frustrating watching Mikel trot around the park in his own time slowing us down. The backwards passes are fine with me - just make them quicker. Force the opposition to readjust, shift them around by putting pace on the ball. But yeah, he's just a scapegoat.

Schurrle got a lot of shit before he even joined based on some weird fear for De Bruyne's future but he's always put in a shift when he's been asked to and tonight he's shown that extra bit of quality (although the opposition is poor). Just needs a goal to cap off a great performance.

Oscar and Mata are literally running around holding hands. No width.

He must mean the home game. :eyebrows:

Form an orderly queue lads.

Don't remember Wisey ever scratching anyone. He was no angel but we're talking about Torres scratching a player here - it's a horrendously pathetic thing to do on a sports pitch. He's lucky to have avoided a further ban so maybe this is the break that he needs, but people who don't see a problem with this type of thing probably haven't played much in the way of sport in their time.

Exactly. Mourinho sells newspapers but the press don't sell Chelsea tickets. They don't make people tune in. Those cunts can bring it on and he'll just walk out again and again, and it'll be another case of us against them. He embarrassed a so-called 'expert' in Jamie Redknapp in 5 minutes (although a trained monkey could probably do the same) so why he has to explain every decision to some plebs from the print media is quite beyond me. The fact is he was very honest in his answer yet they kept on going. Fuck them.

To a certain extent. He's not a 30+ year old whose pace was key to his success who has been playing some of his football in a deeper role. Basel beat us last week....Is the Swiss league now not dogshit? They also qualified ahead of Man United a couple of seasons ago. Results like that are aberrations. Unfortunately, so are 30 year olds coming out of semi-retirement and rediscovering form.

Which specific post are you speaking about? You keep on mentioning this but seem to have trouble going into specifics. Tell you what, how about you find the post that is confusing you so much and ask me about it in PM rather than embarrassing yourself in other threads. Seems as though people are cottoning on to you as well.

I would have been quite happy to see this lad start for us. It would have been bumpy but he's got undoubted quality and I actually think the supporters would have gotten behind him. The club needs to have the courage to throw the young players in sometimes rather than waiting for them to reach this mythical stage of being 'ready' to start. No, it's a sub-standard dog shit league where the only attraction is money. Eto'o took a last big payday (until we came along) which is perfectly fine from his perspective but pretty shit from our perspective because he's clearly some way off the pace at the moment. He still has those striker's instincts but it's acting on them that seems to be the problem at the moment. The main appeal of Eto'o seems to be that he's still a 'name' whereas Lukaku isn't. But gotta sell those t-shirts right?

Yes because proper fans know that these reporters are bottom-feeding scum looking for a story where there isn't one. Jose did the right thing. He knows these cunts need him far more than he needs them.

I was actually being sarcastic. I would've loved Lukaku to be part of our squad and I think he would've been exactly what we needed. The kid is special and we should've given him the chance he deserved.

And a lot were willing to stick with him as the club did.

But he's doing it for Everton and West Brom, whereas at Chelsea he'd be playing against teams who sit deep and defend.... Please ignore the Spurs game where he would have had tons of space because that makes my previous point a bit weak....just look at him though - he's not ready.

What Ronaldo got at United was time and support from a club and set of supporters who have a willingness to be patient with their young players.