The only place to be

Agreed. I criticised him earlier in the season, but he's become such an important player in our team and along with Mata he's one of the players that we've bought in recent years who not only represents this club well, but also gets this club. I like how he's adapted his game too. Early on he'd try and play his way out of trouble and he'd get caught out a few times so clearly someone at the club told him to just clear it. Problem is he went a little overboard and just hoofed the ball into touch every time. Now he seems to know the English game well enough to judge when he has time and when he doesn't. He's not perfect but he has become someone we've started to be able to rely on and he's become one of those players who elevates the performance of those around him. He's a leader in the team and we sorely need those at the moment.

I agree. Drogba said in an interview that when Mourinho put up his team selection, he'd fill in CECH - TERRY - MAKELELE - LAMPARD - DROGBA and say 'this is the spine', and then he'd put in the Riccys, Arjens and Tiagos. We don't have that spine anymore. We don't have those leaders anymore, but we're getting there. We have Cech and Mata, and maybe even Luiz but there's a real lack of leaders which isn't surprising because we're a young team. But this is where my frustration with Mikel arises from. How is it possible that a guy who has played so many games, over so many years and won so many trophies not grown into a leader in our team? When we talk about captains, does anyone ever raise his name? Think of the other people who have played that position - Makelele, Essien, Ballack, Wisey, Petit, Deschamps, Spackman..... They were all MEN. We need MEN. We need leaders. When you look at the team now, I don't think you see those guys and it's why we've thrown away leads.

Well I disagree. He's deceptively strong and tenacious and the players that we're looking at (Modric, Moutinho etc.) aren't much different in terms of strength. Yes. I have faith in this squad and in this club.

Wait.....so asking you if you watched a match that you're giving an opinion of is 'unfair'?? I asked you because I wasn't sure if you watched the match. As for logic, we're talking about football. Logic has it's place but there's no definitive measure of whether a player is good enough (sorry to all those people who put so much faith in stats). I have faith in my opinion and I'm quite happy to back-up my points. I'm also man enough to admit when I'm wrong. Luiz didn't have a horrible game. He probably should've done better with the Suarez goal but I don't think you're prepared to countenance the possibility of the midfield having a detrimental effect on our team's performance. I've criticised Ramires, Mikel and Lamps for poor performances there and in every game this season that we've lost, it's been a factor. Well done for watching the game twice though. The problem is your definition of a bad game for Mikel is seemingly worlds away from what most Chelsea fans think. I honestly think you should stop talking about him because the crap you spout about him actually makes him a more loathsome character. Mikel wouldn't be nearly such an annoyance if he didn't have people defending him from criticism. It's like when backstreet defends Torres or Rupert defends Rafa - it's unnecessary and contrarian for the sake of it.

Again I completely disagree and think that you're looking at his size, rather than what he does in matches. How many times has he done that thing where he uses his body to shield players who are about 3 yards away from the ball? He's intelligent enough to position his body between opposition players and the ball. Falling to the ground is fine if he gets free kicks too - I really think you're overstating a problem that doesn't exist in the first place. What I've wanted from the start is for him to be given a fair shot at the shirt in pre-season. That's purely because I think he'll prove himself better than Mikel in a fair fight. Yes, with rotation. I think there's a question mark over Terry and that we should be looking for a replacement for him, but Cole is still good enough and Lukaku seems to be going from strength to strength. Yep. That's not many more than I'd expect from this season - imagine if we'd beat QPR and held onto a few more winning scores. This team is not far away from being very good.

He doesn't go under the radar. Chelsea supporters know exactly what they're looking at so the 'you're too stupid to understand what Mikel is' argument really doesn't need another airing. And you're also misremembering the Juve incident. He stood around having given the ball away and yes JT stepped up, but that was all the result of Mikel's slack passing and laziness in defending. Trying to defend that incident really is a lost cause.

The United match is overrated (assuming you mean the cup one at their gaff). Their midfield is fairly appalling and doesn't put pressure on other team's midfield. It's their weak link that has been exposed countless times. ANY team and I can't put enough emphasis on the ANY part that puts pressure on our pivot, in particular Mikel has had success. He's our weak link - look at Southampton away or Steaua at home for recent examples. He's a passenger who looks good if other players carry him or opposition teams stand off him. No-one who gives a shit about this club in even the slightest way, or has even the slightest knowledge about football can continually defend this guy and see him as a lynchpin in this team going forward on current form.

Aren't ready? For what exactly? In what way aren't they 'ready'? I'm really coming to the end of my tether with people looking on Wikiedia at someone's age and coming to the considered opinion that they're 'not ready'. Can you be anymore specific than that?

Did you actually watch the whole 90 minutes? He was good in the first-half, but we completely lost control of the second-half. Having read this thread and your contributions, I can't take you seriously on Mikel. You talk utter shit about him simply to wind people up and now you're saying he's got good leadership skills?? Are you trolling the Chelsea fans in this thread? I agree. When we start to get under pressure he's the first one to disappear when he should be one of the leaders in this team. 300 fucking appearances almost and he's still a fucking choker of the highest order. His lack of character is reflected in the team now. When you look at how players like Luiz and Rami have stepped up this year despite having some rough patches, and then this cunt strolls around the pitch IF WE'RE FUCKING LUCKY barely putting any effort in. The only people I despise more than him are the people who constantly defend him whether he's had a good game or a bad game.

Have you seen his pass completion stats? If Barcelona ever hear about whoscored.com, we're fucked.

We don't have to finish fourth and we aren't fucking Liverpool. Whatever happens, we need a new midfielder but we're not as far away from being a title contender as some people seem to think. We might even bring back some of our kids for loan next season and have a team that resembles this. Cech Azpi Terry Luiz Cole Oscar Chalobah Hazard Mata Schurrle Lukaku With our bench options I think we have a good shot at the league and I'd pay good money to watch that team. Whatever happens, the league has to be the highest priority next season because it's been too long since we've been able to say we're the best team in England. And before anyone says that team is too young and that we'll never win anything with kids, I don't care. Quality and character are all that matters and that team has both in spades.

Hasn't had the best of months has he. Started the game better yesterday but just faded away. Is anyone else worried that if we finish outside the top four Real Madrid or Barca might come in for him??

It's not a good point - it's a fucking ridiculous point propagated by retards on Twitter. I've tried explaining why there was so much added time and anyone who bothered to watch the fucking match would probably have a clue as well, but let's continue indulging in conspiracy theories because it's easier than looking at our own deficiencies. :banghead: :banghead:

I really think we should have a proper discussion about this because it gets brought up so much as if it's an inarguable fact that our board are useless. I think it's very easy to blame them and not look at the reality of the situation. Have mistakes been made? Absolutely. But let's look at their work (and I mean the board we have in place RIGHT NOW, not the blokes we had around a few years ago) as a whole and judge them rather than throwing around easy bait that has no purpose but to garner 'likes'.

We've shown at times that we're capable of beating the best teams. We outplayed United at their place, we beat Arsenal twice, we should've got more against City in the semi, we beat Spurs at their place and we've played some beautiful stuff this season. Some players like Mata and Luiz have grown in stature. We've got players out on loan doing the business and our youth teams are arguably amongst the best in the world. If you can't be optimistic about Chelsea at this point in time then I don't know what to say to you. We've been poor overall this season, yet we're still fourth in the table with a manager no-one likes and few rate but who is definitely leaving and there will be a queue of good managers waiting to take over (we pay millions and have a strong squad).

I would prefer if we had kept Sturridge over Torres, but the reality was that we couldn't get rid of him. Why would a club spend £20 million+ on a striker who costs at least £100,000 p/w in wages but doesn't seem able to score consistently anymore? We had to give him chances to regain his form and that meant Danny didn't get as many chances, although he still did get chances and wasn't the world beater some seem to think he is. Add the fact that he was on an expiring contract and a team came in with a large bid for him and you have an unfortunate situation. It wasn't the worst bit of business we've done, but it's become a situation that some people are wasting too many tears on and others are wasting too much time on trying to rationalise. It happened. He left. He moved on. We'll move on. But if he has another game like yesterday this season, I'd be surprised.

I can understand certain fans doing that. But I also noticed that this thread has been kinda dead since February. In the intervening time he's been relatively quiet and some of the murmurings from the Liverpool fans have come close to what we said about him. Did any of the people who criticised him laud it over the fans who praised him? No. They let sleeping dogs lie. But as soon as there's a sniff of their being an opportunity for his supporters to do the opposite the usual suspects pop up and they loved it.

I don't think it solves everything. But in players like Mata, Azpi, Luiz, Cech, Hazard and Oscar we have the framework for a title-winning side. Throw in Lukaku, Ba, Schurrle, Rami and possibly De Bruyne and you've got something special. I honestly believe that with the acquisition of a strong midfielder and a solid CB we've got a team capable of winning the league, so long as we have a guy in charge who can unify the club. I also think we've got a lot of exciting young talent coming through to sustain this club for years to come. The priority for next season is winning the league. I think whatever happens in the next five games we've got a good shot at doing that and focusing on the top four as the be all and end all is a little myopic.

The sixth Backstreet Boy

I think people are taking it as an opportunity not just to bash the club for making a decision to sell a player, but also to bash fans who didn't rate this player in the first place. Constantly living in the past and crying over spilt milk is what Liverpool fans do. We sold him, he had a good game against us but our future is bright without him. We have Lukaku.

You're talking out of your arse if you think it's been obvious since January. It hasn't. We're still in control of our own destiny and all of our remaining games are winnable. It's going to be tough though. I agreed with you on the Europa League thing, but we've got a chance at silverware now and we should go for it. If we don't get Champions League football next year, it's not the end of the world. This club is going to make a run at the league whatever happens because we've got great players and there are good managers out there. As for the clowns in charge, yes I agree that where we are is a result of bad decisions but the ones in charge now seem to have a better plan for us going forward than the ones 5 years ago.

For all their sanctimony, all their self-aggrandising belief in their own 'specialness' as a club you'll see their true colours when they stick by Suarez despite him bringing shame to their club. Ultimately, they're a bunch of hypocrites who live in the past yet also ignore their past.

He bit someone on a football pitch. He actually holds onto his arm and moves his head towards him to do it. Look at the reaction around the web and you'll see a similar level of disbelief. Are you simple or something? Are there a lot of first-cousin marriages in your family? Small-gene pool? Why don't you try and be better than your genetic make-up would suggest?