The only place to be

Like I said, it's still QPR. That means something to Chelsea fans and it should mean something to the club.

We aren't in a position to rest Mata for important games. Yesterday was an important game whereas the cups simply aren't as important right now. Yes we spent a fair amount of money in the summer but £30 million of that was on the bench alongside Mata and the rest simply aren't able to cope in their absence. At the start of this thread we had people saying we should win 9-0 and QPR are shit and they lost to Liverpool, but everyone knows that local derbies are different beasts. You could feel the tension in the ground when it became known that Mata wasn't starting, and the wait to bring him on only exacerbated that. Even if they were bottom of the league with 0 points, they're still QPR. That ALWAYS means something.

Did you also miss the bit where we finished last season sixth, got knocked out of the Champions League and that whole two decades where the Champions League became the most important competition in European football? Did you also miss the bit where we drew against QPR in two of our last three matches? What about the bit where we drew against teams like Fulham and Swansea who aren't the strongest teams in the league? There aren't any easy games in the league so we can't really take chances. I suppose the idea was to rest Mata by having him on the bench, but it didn't work out so basically every aspect of this strategy failed. And who gives a fuck if we do something in the cups? The league has to be the priority.

I honestly don't think he's more than a short-term deal and if he helps us get top four then that's worth millions. We sold a player who was on an expiring contract and wasn't being used whilst replacing him with one of the top scorers in the league shoring up the weakest position in our team. Don't see a downside to this deal.

We spent £250 million, but 1/5th of that was on Torres who is probably the biggest flop ever. Maybe in the years 2008-2010 our transfers were horrible but they were the result of short-term thinking. In fact I think it's much too early to suggest that the transfers from the summer of 2010 have been 'horrible'. The likes of Mata, Cahill, Azpilicueta and Moses all seem to have been good value whilst we've spent big on Courtois, Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne and Oscar who are all good prospects for the future. As for City, they might have bought Nastasic cheaply - they also bought Sinclair, Rodwell, Savic and Balotelli who haven't been quite so good. I don't know what their long-term plan isto be honest. United have made a couple of good signings in Jones, Smalling and Powell but I honestly don't think Fergie is looking that long-term. We're in a position where we're resetting the way we do things. We had to spend big to achieve parity with the top teams at the start of Abramovich's reign but he clearly wants something more sustainable and I think we're going the right way about it. That might mean some tough years but longer-term I think it's going to pay-off. Of course we'll be expecting improvements next season, and then the season after. People just need a bit of patience and understanding.

Pretty much summed up everything wrong with Chelsea's transfer dealings a couple of years ago. - At the end of his prime - Expensive for a reserve - Wages too high - Didn't really fit the system

Yes, I'm telling you that. I'm telling you we're not in a position at the moment where we can afford to take chances in league matches by resting our most important player, especially when we have two cup games coming up where he could be rested with lower stakes at risk. If you want to give up based on that, then fine. But you'll note no-one is saying that we should use the same 11 players every week. Hell, Mata played 50 games last season - I'd be quite happy if he played just 48 this season and they were just the remaining league games. Of course all this completely ignores the point that he wasn't rested and was eventually brought on much too late. We aren't in the position Barcelona are in unfortunately.

Isn't the youngest player out of that lot at least two years older than Oscar? A couple of years ago fans were moaning about us going after older, established players and now we're looking to develop younger players and people are still finding fault with it? For me he's shown enough for me to be happy with him, but now I actually think he's being mis-used by Benitez. We could have done with his creativity in the double pivot last night with Mata further ahead, but he was stuck in a position where he had no support from his striker yet he still showed some good flashes. Personally I'm happy with the club valuing long-term, sustainable success over short-termist thinking which is actually what has led to our current problems in my opinion. The club are clearly trying to set themselves up for next season by targeting a quality manager and young players who fit his system and style of playing. I've said this before but we're not going to spend big like we did in 2004.

I agree but for me it's a case of prioritising stuff. I'd rather play a weaker team in the cups and play a full-strength one in the league, whereas Benitez seems to have focussed on making sure Mata and Hazard were available for the next two games. Now he might be following orders, but whoever made the decision got it wrong. The cups might be great this season, but we need to secure Champions League football for next season and at the moment he doesn't have an investment in that.

I'm not so sure. If the guy is actually risking our top four aspirations by resting players so they can be fit for cup games, then he's a massive cunty twat and you can understand people's anger towards him. The league has to be the priority for Chelsea Football Club. But he doesn't get a photo with a cup or something to put on his CV for that.

So it's dumb to point out that Mata has been one of the three best players in the Premier League and that we rely on him for most of our offence? Try watching some of the matches and seeing how much he contributes to bringing other players into the game. Then look at the game QPR set themselves up to play, where it was obvious they'd get men behind the ball and need to be broken down. Oversimplifying things by saying he rested two players (arguably our two most penetrating attacking forces) and brought in two internationals is the definition of dumb.

Which goal was beautiful? He scored 3 rather lovely ones (Two against Juve, one against Shakhtar). You sound as if you haven't actually watched much of him.

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: This kid has the potential to be the best in the world. He has the technique, he has the vision and he also has tremendous workrate and commitment. Personally I think he'll drop back into the midfield and play in the role we targeted Modric for (like Alonso at Real), but he hasn't really been used there yet which is a real shame. :banghead: Arguably the best player for us in the Champions League.

He doesn't have to play cup games, just league games. The league is the most important thing this season. We could throw the weekend game, throw the Swansea game and it wouldn't matter because the league is all important. Play Mata last night, send him on holiday if you want and then come back for the Stoke game. I actually think Benitez sees the cup competitions as his best chance for success, to get his fat mug in a photo with a trophy. What's best for the club is a top four spot. If that's the case, we're fucked.

A couple of times in the first half he got away from his man and looked up to see Torres doing fuck all to lose his (35 year old, slow) marker. Bit harsh to blame this guy when he's got a teammate who just doesn't do what he's supposed to.

Rest him at the weekend then. Don't forget he was still on the bench and still used.

Mata is our best player. He's been the player who has dug us out of holes this season (Leeds away, Spurs Away, Norwich away) and he should play every league game. If we're talking about rotation, both Lampard and Luiz looked a little gassed last night so probably should've been rested. But Mata is too important to drop.

Because he rested our best player so he'd be ready for a FA Cup game against Southampton's reserves. That angle seems to show him marginally offside.

I don't know if he was tired or injured last night, but his performance doesn't seem to have led to much talk either in the media or on here about giving him a new contract. Didn't see much leadership or experience on show last night. Maybe he didn't 'transmit' the importance of this game to us fans, to the youngsters.

I don't think I've said he would.

Apart from Torres, that is massively fucking unfair. I think it's been mentioned before, but here goes..... Roman never wanted Robbie. Roman wants Pep. He sacked Robbie the first moment he could (which Robbie helped with by getting us knocked out of the CL). He appointed the best candidate available short-term. In Summer he makes a run at Pep. This season seems to have been about trimming off the big contracts/dead wood and getting young players for next year. I hope it works out.

I'll be honest and say that I suggested we should rest Mata at first, but then you look at his performances and stats and realise you simply can't. Even Hazard needed to start just to give him a chance to play against one of the weaker teams. I would've liked to have seen Oscar play in midfield and Luiz rested but as soon as you heard Mata was out you started to wonder about the result.

The amount of people talking shit about 9-0 wins and playing with 10 players was fucking pathetic. You can't ever underestimate your opponent and you certainly don't disrespect them.....and they are usually the first to criticise. But I think Benitez deserves a lot of the blame. Not starting our most important player is naive. Leaving it until the 75th minute to bring him on is absolutely fucking ridiculous.

Criticising our club's owner with that avatar? Does it need spelling out? Things could be much worse.

It looks like Rangers gates.