The only place to be

And the posters who disagree with letting him leave paint those who do as people who want him gone because it's personal or some such bollocks? I look at him, I look at what he does and I look at what he offers next season and I just don't see a place for him. The problem is that we don't seem to be able to have a rational, dispassionate discussion about signing him and what's best for Chelsea Football Club.

But the point is that his performance in this game (and in others) has been why we've been struggling. If he actually made runs like a proper striker today, we'd have been 1-0 up. You can't praise him for what he does well and then ignore why we were in that position in the first place. That doesn't constitue 'whining' but simply rational analysis.

Mata isn't coming to the end of his contract though. Mata's best position still exists in our side. Mata is still a very young man, and if we wanted to sell him then we could probably get around £30 million for him. None of that applies to Lamps. These players are allowed bad games because they're broadly expected to be part of our team for a few years. Mata has become the heart and soul of this team, which is why comparing him to Lamps is not only misguided, but should be something of an eye-opener.

So now he's being victimised? I think you'll find that any criticism of him is completely verboten and any defence of him doesn't mention his performances. How about you actually address the points? Our problems in the last few games have stemmed from midfield, and I've been equally critical of Ramires for that. Neither of them is good enough, but the simple fact is that Lamps is going to be 35 in a few months, is out of contract and simply doesn't fill the position we're asking him to fill which makes your suggestion that he should be given a TWO year contract without question somewhat absurd. I've loved the guy for years, but that guy wearing the number 8 shirt at the moment isn't that guy. It's sad to say that but this club will continue after he's gone and it's looking like we're going to have to move on.

He's been crap for two years and even worse, he's stopped trying. We don't like him, and a goal against Brentford isn't going to change that.

But he offered absolutely nothing to the team today. He offered nothing against Swansea. He was anonymous in the second-half against Arsenal. He's a legend and one of my all-time favourite players, but I don't see the point in keeping him around like he's a mascot on Blockbusters. We have one of those. He's called Stamford and I'm starting to think he might be a better midfield option at the moment.

English, homegrown ones? I can see the logic in getting someone like Henderson in for next season and taking Ramires's place in the squad.

And now?

Did you actually watch the game? He was garbage for 80 minutes and then he scored. You can understand how people feel when they've been slapped in the face for two years by this cunt can't you?

Sorry, everyone knows that you can get the odd cup upset here and there but we were outplayed for 45 minutes by a League One team. Our team struggled to do the absolute basics on what was admittedly a shit pitch, but that's really no excuse. No-one in this thread seems to want to say what was blindingly obvious - Frank Lampard and John Terry had varying degrees of bad game. Now I'm sure they'll be plenty of people who will pipe up with names of other players who had bad games, or managers who were shit and that's fair. But these two players, two cornerstones of this team for about a decade now, had not just bad games but toothless, gutless games (Frank in particular). This season is a watershed for this club, and it's fucking sad to see.

Same old shit. Same old tactical changes being made too late. Same weak midfield performances. Same over-reliance on Mata. Same problems on the wings. Same shit Turnball. Same fucking awful Torres, with a bit of variety in that he scored a goal today. Fuck off Rafa. Fuck off Nando. Well played Brentford.

This is typical Benitez - utter faith in HIS system, which is why he would rather change personnel than the formation.

Ramires caught in possession that time. Not the easiest pass from Mata but he had options.

I'm sure someone on this forum was saying that we need to keep Lampard around so he can tell the other younger players what playing for Chelsea means and what the important games are. So far that's included games against QPR and Brentford. Now Frank's a smart guy and he knows how to use Google Maps. I'm sure he was even thinking to himself this morning 'Blimey, I don't have far to travel to this game today' so you've got to think he knows that he's at least very close to Chelsea. I hate to be critical of a Chelsea legend but this is like watching Tyson getting beat by bums. I'll offer 3-1 odds on him coming out in the second-half with a face tattoo.

Are ESPN actually discussing this back pass shit??? BURLEY IS A KNOW-NOTHING CUNT. You can't be sent off for that. Anyway, Turnball simply isn't good enough. We've known it for years and it's been a bit of a joke but he can't be trusted. He needs to fuck off in the summer or sat behind Blackman at least. Oh and yay, let's knacker Mata when that really ain't the problem.

The problem is the same that it's been the last few games - the midfield. There's no connection between the front players and the defence. That's Rafa's tactics and the performances of Ramires and Lampard. Like I said against Arsenal, when Ramires is your best player then you're in trouble.

Craig Burley really is a dumb cunt, going on about how Turnball could have been sent off for that. Just an utter cretin.

Torres once again failing to make a proper striker's run.

If I could like this as much as I dislike that toothless cunt..... It was bad enough that he set up Beckham at Villa Park, but I don't think he's missed a chance to have a pop at us in the last few years.

Feruz played on Friday. He could've skipped that game but the young players have their own development paths too. Incidentally he scored two goals and looked very good again. Missed a chance in the first-half but had another chance in a very similar position and didn't hesitate to have another go and scored. Very strong mentally. His second goal was a long-ranger that the keeper completely misjudged. Saville had a good game too. Really has stepped it up a lot since moving into a deep midfield role.

You probably weren't born when people worked out that dominating possession was the best way to play the game. Why wouldn't it be? You let the ball do the work, you knacker your opposition whilst you're conserving energy and let's be honest, the other team can't score if they don't have the ball. Barcelona are just doing it in a slightly different way. Looking to play a style of football where you invite pressure on yourself isn't exactly a long-term plan is it?

You just mentioned it before this match - I'm just wondering why. When you look at all the great players on that list, Tambling especially, I simply don't get why it's so important Frank beats it. He's going to go down as our greatest midfielder regardless, and the record itself is fairly meaningless when you actually look at it that I simply don't get the media's focus on it.

I would love Ake to get some serious minutes today. Just a lovely player to watch at times and has real potential to be a first-teamer. Oscar needs to have a big game because we can't rely on Mata all the time, and so does Marin. Disappointed that Cole is starting another game but hopefully we can bring him off after 60 and maybe even get something out of Yossi. But it's Brentford FFS - we should really be stuffing teams like this.

Out of interest, why is it so important that Lamps gets the record? What does it actually mean? Yes it would be nice for him, and a nice moment in a few weeks, but why do you go into each match thinking about it? The most important thing today is that him and Ramires actually assert themselves in a match.

You do realise that the way we won was probably the only way we could have won don't you?