The only place to be

Just read that line back to yourself.

Well next time you get together with these guys, you can tell them that Chelsea supporters don't give a fuck what they think. It was a pragmatic tactical choice. I'm sorry we didn't march into Camp Nou like Wenger and try to beat Barca at their own game, but we actually wanted Chelsea to succeed. The people moaning about our style of football clearly had nothing invested in our succeeding.

It may not have sat well with you, but every Chelsea supporter I know was fine with the tactics employed in three games last year (one of which was a two-leg tie against the best team in the world, who we actually outscored).

Huh? Phil Jones is a good player and has the potential to be a great one, once Fergie settles on one position for him and sticks to it. At the moment he's been shifted around the back four and midfield, but he's one of the players I wish we'd got. He has the ability to be a world-class DM in my opinion and could be a future England captain. But I agree about Zaha. He's got potential but he's a little sloppy at times.

Here's the point you're missing. Luiz has played less than 8 games in midfield, MIkel has played about 250. That there's even a debate about who is better is a sad indictment of Mikel and his inability to convince the vast majority of supporters of his importance to the team (yes I'm sure all those fans are to thick to understand what his job is despite them adoring Claude Makelele). I've been one of Luiz's biggest critics but he's been great in the last couple of months in defence and midfield. He's become a big presence in the team and someone that the players and fans look to for passion and enthusiasm. He isn't perfect by any means but he's shown a capacity to learn which is encouraging.

I think it would be incredibly unfair on Courtois to take him from Athletico and lump him at West Ham or Stoke or even Everton. He's better than that at the moment - you're essentially asking a guy to leave the second-best team in Spain, the Champions League, a nice city and an adoring fanbase to possibly go to some northern shithole who are are beneath him in many regards. If that's what we're expecting of him, then we should probably just sell him. As I've said previously, it's a luxury problem but it's a real toughie.

Knowing how The FA works, it'll definitely be some time this year....probably.

just as it's not a 'no-brainer' to keep Courtois ahead of Cech, you raise some valid points. Courtois could be a an option for 10-15 years, whereas Cech is realistically only going to be around for 5-10. Cech has transfer value that I'd put at maybe £12 million, Courtois's has to be double that. But the most important point is that we already own this guy and yet he's managed to prove himself in a top league. We don't have to hope that another guy of his quality just comes along and that no other team needs him. Off the top of my head, United, Barca, Real Madrid and Juventus could all be in the market for this imaginary Wunderkind, so even if he did exist there's no guarantee we'd get him. Plus we're in a season of transition now - I'd argue this summer is as good a time as any to put him in. But it's a toughie.

You and I have completely different views over keepers. I think they're the foundation of a good team and can make the difference between a win and a loss. Last year, how important was Cech to our season? You think they're just lying around and they're not, which is why I asked those questions. And that's a fair point, but your last point - You don't make decisions for five years down the road at a top club or you will always be rebuilding - is part of the reason we're in a mess now. When Roman took over we didn't think about the long-term. Now we are which is why we have these problems (which are luxury problems). Cech could be around for the next 10 years, Courtois WILL be around for the next 10 years. Cech is a top keeper, Courtois is on his way to being a top keeper. Again, it's not anywhere near as simple as you're making it. I'm sick of people who think having to 'just' spend £15 million on a player because we fucked up is the way to run a football club. I'm suck of people who think because we got lucky with Cech, we'll get lucky again. I'm sick of people thinking short-term and then acting surprised when we end up in the situation we're in at the moment. United are also talking about whether to start Cleverley or Welbeck or Jones or Smalling or Rafael. Most United fans are wondering who their number one is as well. Here's the difference between us and United - they think about the long term (look at who they just signed today - Zaha. He's nothing but potential) as well as the here and now because they put the leg work in on the youth side of the team. We didn't do that which is why we're suffering now, but we're looking to do it and quite frankly it's fucking annoying to see people like you constantly disregarding it and saying we should just spend, spend, spend completely recklessly. Think about the now, not the future. Well I care about this club. I want it to have a future and that means a bit of masterbating over the potential of players. It goes hand in hand (pun intended) with masterbating over the finances and looking at boring stuff like FFP and profit and loss sheets because this isn't FIFA. There isn't an infinite money cheat and tough, informed choices need to be made.

If he does get sacked after the United game, maybe we could hire him. In fact how about we hire him the night of the game and the next morning have him waiting in Benitez's office. All the players could be in there and when he turns the light on they jump out and shout ''SURPRISE!!!.......YOU'RE FIRED!!'. And the cameras from ChelseaTV are there, and we all laugh.....and laugh.....and laugh.....

Who replaced Seaman? How long did it take United to replace Schmeichel? When will they replace Van Der Sar (because spending £17 million doesn't seem to have done it)? Top-class goalkeepers don't come around very often, as you've alluded to in your post. What's even rarer is for a club to transition from on top-class keeper to another, and what Chelsea have done is fairly impressive. We've got a 30 year old who won the Champions League and a 20 year old with 7 international caps, nearly 100 appearances for a top Spanish side (by the end of this season) and a Europa League winner's medal. So it doesn't make zero sense. It actually makes long-term sense and economic sense to replace Cech, but there's also a case for keeping him and selling Cech. It's not a no-brainer as some people want to make it out to be.

We have Reading away three days after this game, and then a trip to Newcastle which I'm never all that confident about. Are you saying we shouldn't rest key players (Mata being the prime example) for a game away to Brentford and prioritise the FA Cup over the League?? You said Hazard joined to win trophies. He actually said 'I'm joining the Champions of Europe'. The league is the priority. It has to be.

The story has turned... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2267629/Eden-Hazard-ball-boy-row-new-footage-supports-Belgian-claim-kicked-ball.html It's gone from '£170,000 p/w footballer kicks ball boy' to 'spoilt rich kid bragged about timewasting before match' and 'new angle may clear Hazard'. The reprehensibility of the press is matched only by it's predictability.

It depends on the FA Cup. At the moment there are 4 games before the City game (Brentford, Reading, Newcastle, Wigan). If we beat Brentford then we have a Fifth Round game before then (5 games). If we have a replay against Brentford, we have a 6 games between now and the City game.

Ruprecht, is this you?

I can't remember the last time I saw Frank so ineffective in two games - not just ineffective, but completely 'passed-by'. It's not his fault, I just don't think he's cut out for the double-pivot. I hate to say it because he's been so important for us for so long, but he's almost becoming a liability in that position especially with Ramires alongside him. They're struggling to impose themselves against teams who offer a threat in that area. If we're playing with our backs to the walls then it could work but I don't think anyone wants to see us doing that for extended periods.

I actually agree with this. Mata looks knackered, Moses is still in Africa and Oscar simply doesn't look comfortable on the wings. Now we're going to miss Hazard for any number of games. I've been against bringing him back but we're looking seriously bare now, and he'd get minutes which wasn't the case before.

Rio Ferdinand has never fitted in with footballers. He's always been like that kid at school who tries to hang around with the cool kids, despite them constantly taking the piss out of him. I'm seriously worried that I almost agree with something Barton said though. He goes a little further than I would but anything other than 'Hazard kicks ballboy' is being ignored by the press and it's utterly shameful. Even occasionally decent 'journalists' like Dan Levene have gone for the sensational over the fair-minded approach, although if I wrote for the Fulham Chronicle (is there enough going on in Fulham to require a daily chronicle of the events?) I'd be inclined to blow this up as much as possible.

If we get through then that's one more game for Hazard to serve a ban before the Man City game. If we draw this game, then the replay is another. Just saying.... Mata needs a rest, Oscar can play in the middle, Torres is probably decent enough to score against this lot, JT needs the minutes, Ashley needs a rest, Azpi needs a rest and a few of the youngsters can fill gaps. Cech Ferreira Cahill Terry Bertrand Luiz Lampard Marin Oscar Piaz....De Bru....Fuck.... Torres Maybe we start with two up top or put one of the youngsters (Ake, Sav) in midfield and push Lamps on, or maybe Rami on the right and Marin on the left.

Ignoring all the Hazard malarky, the performance was toothless. Mata was utterly appalling throughout, Oscar simply never got into the game and Ba really had nothing to do. He made the right runs, managed to have a couple of shots but that was it. Hazard seemed to be the only one in any form, and we saw how that turned out. The defence was okay, but Ivanovic had another rocky night. Swansea appears to be his bogie team, whilst the full-backs had another solid game. Shame we didn't give JT a run-out but we needed Bertrand's......something on the pitch. The problem for me though was the same problem on Sunday - the midfield. Ramires is the weirdest player ever, oscillating between the sublime and then clumsily standing on someone's ankle or failing to find a player 6 yards away. But (and I await the barrage of 'you hate him' comments) Lamps had another poor game. Now it seems fair to talk about him when he plays well, but not when he completely disappears in games. He was appalling and the game seemed to pass him by completely, which is weird because people talk up his experience yet it was obvious to anyone watching that the long balls weren't working yet time and again one of the back two just lumped it forward aimlessly. Shouldn't his experience have kicked in and made him tell one of the back two to be patient and lay it off to him? The shot towards the end from the free-kick just summed the evening up. Until we sort that midfield out, we're going to struggle in games where we dominate possession. If we plan on being shit and putting ourselves under pressure (basically parking the bus) then we have the midfield for that. But I don't particularly want to watch that and I don't think Roman does either.

People see what they want to see. That's why you're getting so many headlines about him kicking the ball boy when it seems pretty clear that he kicks the ball from under him. Should he have done it? Probably not, but Eden was trying to get on with the game and win it for us. He showed a bit of passion that was missing from so many other players' performances last night and some little shit was on a mission to slow the game down. I'm never going to criticise a Chelsea player for caring too much about the performance and trying to get the win, especially when I don't think he's done much wrong. Honestly, I don't give a fuck how bad it looks on tv or how bad a PR disaster it is because I want players to play for the badge and give their all. That's what used to count to supporters of this club, not how shit affects the sales of fucking lunchboxes with Hazard's face on them.

Football fans are weird. We treat Paulo Di Canio's fascist leanings as a quirk and think that Cantona kung-fu kicking a fan adds to his 'poetic mystery'. Hazard's lucky that the kid he accidentally kicked (going for the ball) acted like such a cunt afterwards. It removed any sympathy fans had for him and will make him the butt of a lifetime of jokes.

I don't think he'll be booed for long. I could be wrong, but fans generally respect a guy trying to get on with the game and the guy getting more genuine stick is the ballboy. He'll get it for a while and then he'll grow as a Premier League player and garner respect for his game. He doesn't elicit the same hatred as the other two players you mentioned because he doesn't have the tabloid shit.

I can only speak for myself, but he hasn't let me down. He ran his bollocks off, as he has done for the last month or so, and tried to keep the game going by retrieving the ball. Yes he was over-zealous in trying to kick it (the ball NOT the lad) but that's just enthusiasm and frustration coming out, and to be honest that was in short supply tonight.

Fair play to the father - if my son acted like that I'd disown him there and then. Maybe he just wants to get him home to give him the kicking he actually deserves. :banghead: