The only place to be

Did you ever watch Fellaini as a DM? I did and I disagree with pretty much everything you're saying. Not sure what makes him unlikeable either. He's a hard-working lad who isn't afraid to get stuck in - those used to be qualities people admired in footballers.

I was talking about Chalobah, not Mikel.

He was under very little pressure last night and he's always fine in those situations. It's the tough games where he's more suspect. But he's lucky. There are about three more positions where we're in greater need of strengthening than his, although I think he's going to be under increasing pressure from Nathanial Chalobah. He has the composure on the ball that you need, but also has that little something special about him.

A few months ago I'd disagree, but he's really not been playing that well for a while now especially on the ball. He's still a valuable player but I think next season he'll take a backseat role with Azpi locking down the RB position and Luiz the main guy in defence (providing we get a new midfielder) with Terry, Cahill and Ivanvic fighting for that other spot. He'll be a great squad player though and the type of depth we need.

In what way?

A trip to Bucharest less than three days before an away game at Fulham.

You might not have, but football fans certainly knew who these guys were 'before they were 25'. Let's just ignore the hype surrounding both of them (especially Xavi who was the heir apparent to Guardiola from his teenage years) and focus on the facts. Things like them both having 300+ appearances for their club before the age of 25? Didn't you have a fucking clue who they were by then? No? Okay. What about Iniesta having been in the UEFA and World Team of the Year TWICE by the age of 25? No. Fair enough, maybe you don't pay attention to such things. What about Iniesta's FOUR La Liga titles, TWO Champions League titles, his World Club Cup title and that little competition known as the European Championship which he won in 2008, was named MOTM in the semi-final. Player of the Season in La Liga in 2009?

I hope you've started learning to make excuses in Russian so you can piss off decent fans on their forums when he leaves. Our 'shit' midfield only created about four chances for him last night including one straight through on goal - how many does he need to be able to score (to the nearest dozen please)?

Not good enough for us. The day he's sold will be the day we accept that we need skilful players in midfield who can comfortably handle possession of the ball. There are times when he struggles with the absolute basics.

Can't add much more to what others have said. Torres is absolutely shot. Morons (well one moron in particular) like to defend him by attacking our midfield for not creating enough chances. By my count he had FOUR clear-cut opportunities and he fluffed each of them. Not just that but his passing was awful. When the crowd laughs at you when you get hit in the bollocks by your own player, it's time to fuck off. Ramires makes up for what he lacks in quality in enthusiasm - but I'd rather have someone with better ball skills please. He only has a place in the team if we're going to let the opposition dominate possession and try to hit them on the counter-attack, and I don't think that's a solid plan to be a top team. Therefore, if we plan on winning stuff on a consistent basis then we should probably sell him. Bertrand is a very solid left-back. Mata played 90 minutes less than three days before an away trip to the Champions. Rafa - You're A Cunt. You're not Chelsea, you'll never be Chelsea. Eden is starting to look like the player we bought. It takes time for players to get used to a new league but he's definitely getting there. It was the right decision to bring him on but we shouldn't have been in a position like that in the first place. Sparta were unlucky not to beat us. Their fans were tremendous and they fronted up. Quite honestly the thought of at least two more games in between the West Brom, Fulham and West Ham games terrifies me. We've got ONE POINT from these teams already this season and we're going to lose prep time and rest time for key players when we're being pressured for a top four spot. But let's just take it one game at a time and then if we do fuck up it'll be a nice surprise.

In my opinion it depends. When we first won the league, the League Cup was this nice thing on the way to achieving something bigger. A statement that you were on the right track. But if it's all you win and you finish in a disappointing spot in the league then it means a little less. Look at Arsenal. When they lost to Birmingham it became a big deal because it's fun to take the piss out of gooners. But if they'd won it then they'd have 'only won the League Cup'. To me though, the FA Cup is important no matter what. Cup Final Day is Des Lynam and all-day build-ups. When you walk to Wembley you're (sorta) making the same journey thousands of other football fans have made. The whole thing should be in black and white. A semi is still a great day out as well (unless Craig Burley is somehow involved). So one season one might mean more than the other. Personally though, the FA Cup is special every time be it third round day or the final.

It might be hard to understand what the FA Cup means to Chelsea fans, but for a long-time it was our best shot at silverware. Plus it's still got that magic to it. The Europa League has been so devalued that it wouldn't surprise me to see it done away with soon.

The point is it isn't just rest - there's preparation. That's what in-season training is primarily. You run over scenarios that you expect to face in the match. Whoever we face in the final, if we're still fighting for a top four spot then that is paramount. I would rather the first-team spend the week working on how to deal with Leighton Baines's crosses then play in the Europa League Final against any team. The FA Cup is more important than the Europa League in my opinion. Your suggestion of hedging your bets works up until the point it doesn't and then who know's if you're still in a position to remedy it? It's short-termist thinking at it's worst. Again, rest wasn't the right word because preparation comes into it as well. But we're not planning one game at a time. It's a cliche and it carries little truth. Lampard and Ivanovic aren't playing tonight because we have City on Sunday. That isn't taking it one game at a time, but planning ahead. Ultimately it comes down to one thing - I want to be in the Champions League next season. That is all that matters from this point forward. The FA Cup also holds sentimental value and maybe that's a blind spot in my thinking, but since I can remember it's been one of the most important things to this club. The 1970 victory was what I grew up hearing about, the 1994 Semi was my first Chelsea visit to Wembley and I've been to countless ones since. It holds a special spot for us. The Europa League is a joke trophy that is the booby prize for getting knocked out of the CL. It's not won by teams on the way down (which is what we would undeniably be) but teams on the way up. Burying our heads in the sand until it's too late will just see us get fucked in the arse.

I don't think the club is that different. In fact part of the reason Rafa doesn't fit well here is because he's such a boring fucker. Jose embodies a lot of what we are as a club in my opinion, which is why the fit was so good in the first place plus he's still loved here. His fingerprints are still very much on this club. Madrid is tough for any big manager because the club is almost royalty there. They don't want a manager who will impose his personality on the club - they simply want a custodian to maintain the status quo. We need someone to build something, and whilst Jose doesn't have a track record of long stays at clubs one would hope he has changed somewhat after his experience at Madrid. If he hasn't then he won't come back. As for the issue of tactical nous, Di Matteo outdid Guardiola over two legs and when it came to it Pep didn't have a plan B. My point was that by your rationale you would struggle to point to a single manager with 'tactical nous' because it's so arbitrary and serves only to reinforce your view of Mourinho. If your example of someone with strong tactical awareness is 'Arry Pelligrini then you know I'm going to refer to his tenure at Madrid. If it's Pep then he managed to finish last season with nothing.

It means that he's got that arrogance and swagger that this club has had since I can remember. You might want to forget that nonsense, but isn't it the nonsense that makes each club unique? Also you criticised his tactical acumen a while back yet didn't give an example of a manager better than him in this regard. It's very easy to criticise but against whom are you measuring him?

I suppose if 'fuck logic' is the starting point then that's fine. I'm hoping Frank and Bane run the London Marathon course tonight because fuck logic. But when you factor logic into it and take account of liking us play the best teams in Europe, having more time to focus on the league wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Question. We reach the final and play that on the Wednesday, but we're tied for fourth spot with Arsenal and play Everton on Sunday. Do you rest the players for the Everton game?

Nope. You're spot on.

Quality result and another fine moment in the recent history of our academy. As other have said, Boga was a different class (has been since I first saw him) and could set a couple of 'youngest player' records.

This is utter, unadulterated bollocks. Sorry, but it bears no relation to reality. Our midfielders do move the ball on but there are two problems - Torres and the opposition. Teams who come to the Bridge sit deeper. They look to defend first and that wouldn't be a problem if we had someone like Drogba up front who can occupy multiple defenders or simply use his strength to overpower them. Instead we have our biggest problem - Fernando. He simply doesn't do the things a striker should. He doesn't run the channels properly, he doesn't stay on the last man and when the ball is passed to him he struggles to hold it up. Even when the ball is played beyond defences, he lacks the pace to get onto balls although there is less of an opportunity nowadays because as I said earlier defences play deeper. Now I'll put some of the blame on the middle two of Lampard and Ramires because they simply don't do enough with possession in my opinion, but you referred to the ones immune from criticism and by that I assume you mean Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Moses. These guys (Mata and Hazard in particular) create more chances than almost anyone else in the league yet every time a ball is fizzed across the six-yard box, Torres is nowhere to be seen. It happens in literally every game. It's been more successful with Ba in the team but he's simply not been given enough game time. The problem you have is that you say our midfield holds onto the ball, but you don't seem to understand why - who the fuck should they pass it to? Who's the guy running the channels? Who's the guy they can trust to hold it up? When that guy isn't available then should they simply lump it to the opposition and let them attack us? The thing you're bemoaning isn't the cause of our problems - it's a symptom.

Wowing us with your impressive knowledge of football again?

So we have to bombard the goal for him to score? He can't simply make a run into the six yard box and meet the ball put across? I've lost count of the number of times Azpi or Hazard has whipped one across goal and Torres has been on the penalty spot - but do tell me more about his fantastic positioning. I'll give Torres credit for when he's done well. Against Sunderland and Nordsjaellend he actually made runs into the six yard box and guess what? He scored. But that's a freak occurrence and just shows what we could do if we had a striker who played like a striker and made the right runs. Ba did it on his debut but he's not got a consistent run since. Our midfield is not selfish by any means - in fact I wish Hazard would take the ball on more himself - but it's hard to pass the ball for Torres when he doesn't run the channels properly. He struggles to lose markers too which is pathetic in all honesty. The mark of a truly great player is that he makes the players around him better. Torres actually makes the team worse because he fails to do the most basic things you'd expect of a striker. Take off the blinkers and watch the game with both eyes open and both hands where they can be seen.

He was never renowned for his positioning. Here's the problem with you - you're not a Chelsea fan, you're a Torres fan. When you see him fucking up you look for excuses and blame the rest of the team. How many times has the ball gone across the six yard box and Torres not been in the correct position, splitting the centre-backs and tapping in? How many times has he been outrun to balls by players like Ryan fucking Nelson?? And criticising Mata's creativity? He's got the most assists in the league and creates more chances than almost anyone else in the league. Then you've got Hazard who is joint third in the assists table, and even Azpi has chipped in with 4 in the league. Yes we have problems in our midfield but your boy Torres compounds them by not offering a goal threat at the other end. He doesn't stretch teams and he's so one-dimensional that they really don't have to worry about him. Torres is simply done in the Premier League. He's lost that explosive pace and he's been found out by defences. Even when he can get away from defences like he did against Vermaelen, he fucks up. It's sad to watch and a lot of supporters pity him, but when people like you talk complete shit to defend him it just creates anger towards him. We just want him out of the club now, as soon as possible.

You're the one who came out with the bollocks about us not deserving to win. Cup competitions come down to who turns up on the day and here's a little secret for you - we probably didn't 'deserve' to beat Barca or Bayern on chances created or possession or simply who had the better team. But we won those games because we fronted up on the day. We went into those games believing we could win if we showed more heart. You need to figure out what that is.

No. No they're not. Not even close. Okay, maybe Lamps with the shooting.