The only place to be

Not good enough for a top team. You have to take the few opportunities you'll get and he doesn't do that. He can still score goals against the weaker teams but that's not going to be good enough.

I've said before that Lampard simply doesn't have a place in this team anymore. We were hoping that his leadership might reinvigorate the team but this was one of the most pathetic performances I've seen for a long time. He's a legend but he just doesn't do enough now and I think we have to look at Luiz playing in there alongside a holding midfielder (probably Mikel) just until the end of the season. Leeds is the perfect place to try it. Cole has been having more dodgy moments this season, so we have to look at Bertrand too.

The lack of anything from the midfield fucked up our offence and defence. Lampard offered absolutely nothing and Ramires worked hard, but that was about it. Same old problems. Cole also had his worst game in ages and seems to be thinking about croissants already. Torres.....well he had an easy finish and fluffed it. Same old problem. Mata just never got in the game.

The lack of anything from the midfield fucked up our offence and defence. Lampard offered absolutely nothing and Ramires worked hard, but that was about it. Same old problems. Cole also had his worst game in ages and seems to be thinking about croissants already. Torres.....well he had an easy finish and fluffed it. Same old problem. Mata just never got in the game.

Midfield just not been good enough and there's a complete lack of leadership. Still, as soon as Lampard is fit again we'll be fine. Oh.....

It's easy to say 'fuck the money', but for our future ambitions we need a top four finish. We need the lure of Champions League football for whichever manager comes in. And give the fans a break. Yes we were all angry and pissed off at what happened but we can't carry that into every game. It's exhausting and not actually that enjoyable to do. I'd much rather see my team winning games on the pitch and playing well.

I thought that figure looked a little low too. But yes, my dad supports Chelsea and is the reason I do. He used to take me, and now I take him sometimes. My mum was a Spurs fan before she met my dad, but she saw sense and we let her back in the house.

Mata has 11 goals this season - that's Lampard-esque. When we signed him a lot of rival fans were saying he'd be too lightweight or he'd take a long time to settle. He came in and blew the doors off. Now he's quietened down as rival teams know a little more of what to expect and he's probably suffering a bit with the pace of the game, but in the last few games he looks like he's getting back to his best. Throw in the fact that he's playing under a new manager who expects a little bit more defensively from him and I have to say I'm mightily impressed with the way he's stepped up in recent weeks. Plus he's still only 21 - just to compare him to someone totally unfairly, people often say that Ronaldo kicked on after about 100 appearances, and that happened to be around the age of 21/22.

He's played less than two games there and people are already saying what games he might be suited for? He showed enough to warrant more chances there. He showed areas of promise but also weaknesses. The problem I have always had with him is not his talent, but his his tendency to switch off and make mistakes. In midfield that might be covered a little more and he might also bring something to the team that nether Ramires or Mikel has. But baby steps people.

Fuck - when someone decides they'd rather spend a month looking at Gervinho and his melon-head than you, you're screwed. Personally, I think he's a decent player and he's English which is good for the HG rules. The problem is there's this myth that Wenger can take any youth with talent and maximise it. Problem is, it's bullshit and Walcott has never reached his potential. I don't know if we're the club to do it and I don't know if he'd get the game time but he could still be a really good player. He just needs that little bit of aggression and fight. One thing he'll add over Sturridge - he can pass the ball.

People saying he got lucky are ignoring the fact that he took a chance. Against Sunderland, he took a chance and made a run into the area. Against Nordsjaelland he took a chance for his second and made a front post run. Scoring goals is great, but the fact that he's taking a chance and making runs or having a shot is the most important thing. Before he was ponderous and scared. I'm not saying 'he's back' but he's making some of the right noises.

Regarding the Brazil thing, first we should remember it's very, very early days. But I have three thoughts about it. 1. There's no reason a player can't play two positions in two sides. 2. If he actually moves there permanently for us, then he will obviously be doing well. In that case there's no reason he couldn't play that position for Brazil. 3. Fuck'em. We pay his wages so he'll play where we tell him. If he doesn't like that he can fuck off. Marcotti has echoed most of my points though. Weak opposition and enough mistakes to hold off on making anything permanent, but also enough good things to try him again maybe not in the Final, but possibly against Leeds and then Villa (almost the ideal learning curve).

Except for the two goals he created.

I'm already trademarking 'White Gullit'.

I don't think anyone was exceptional, but Hazard just edged it with his key contributions today. But I could've gone for Mata or a couple of others too. Luiz's role was probably the most noteworthy thing today. He's not going to replace Mikel but he could replace Ramires. On the ball he's really rather good and I actually enjoyed watching him. He adds another threat at set-pieces, more cover for the defence and he does get the ball forward quickly and accurately. What was interesting about Torres's second goal is that 3 weeks ago, he doesn't hit that shot. He dribbles it and then loses it. That's confidence. I wasn't here then, but I always thought it was a little bit misguided. He still has some positional issues to work out and he's by no means the finished article and both games were against weak opposition, but he's shown enough to earn another shot.

It does seem as though the 'David Luiz in midfield' bandwagon is starting up, and he did well against poor opposition. But it's early days. He showed some great things in possession but some of his positioning was off and he looked to struggle with the pace of the game at times, which you'd expect. But I think it's definitely an experiment we need to continue with. My MOTM was Hazard though. Seems to be getting over his mini slump.

I think you're really overdoing this 'left-foot/right-side' thing. It's very common for players to be deployed like this nowadays. Look at Hulk at Porto (under AVB), or any number of other wingers who cut in rather than trying to go on the outside of full-backs. It's great that the stats suggest he was so good, but I honestly can't count the number of times the crowd would groan when he'd either run into a blind alley or just shoot from distance when there were better options on. I don't want to notice just the bad points of his game, but it's his attitude that loses him starts. Maybe he's under too much pressure to impress or maybe he's just that selfish but I honestly don't think we'll miss him when he's gone. I don't know for certain that he'll flop at Liverpool but he's certainly going to have to buck his ideas up under Rodgers. As for the Man United game, he did well in that but they were the reserves and they literally gifted him the goals. I'm not going to go mad for Torres scoring against Nordsjaelland and I won't go overboard for Sturridge playing against Wootton and Keane. In my opinion he's not as bad as his biggest detractors suggest, and he isn't as good as his supporters with he was. He's just an average player with a lot of potential and it looks certain that he's going to leave in January for a pretty healthy price. What's slightly strange is that Nani is also going to be offloaded whilst Sinclair is sitting on the bench, suggesting those stats aren't something managers are taking much notice of.

It's not tripe though. Watch him play and tell me he isn't selfish. It's not something people have made up for fun and I'm pretty sure I haven't imagined the groans that follow a long range shot when other options are on. Comparing him to Moses is a little unfair when they play for different clubs and had to perform very different roles at those clubs. There seems to be a trend on here to post stats without acknowledging context. I'm a big fan of the 'eye test' alongside stats. Thing is, he moans about not getting a chance up front yet he's going to a team who play with one-up front and just happen to have one of the best strikers in the league. If he plays opposite Sterling they might have something but unless Sturridge becomes a team player then he won't last long there.

And the times us and City won, we were pretty strong in that area. I'm not saying you can't win like that, but with the players we have we need a person who can play that position. As for the other suggestions, Moutinho isn't what we need in my opinion and I've never really thought of Alonso as a defensive midfielder.

The problem is the coaching staff have looked at Sturridge and not seen a team player. Yes strikers need to be selfish, but he takes it to absurd lengths.

And United have been shit defensively this year. Look at where Toure's goal came from. Look at where Fellaini did all of his damage. Look at the games against Southampton, Stoke, QPR etc. to see how weak they are in that area. Look at the Champions League Final against Barcelona and see how they exploited the gap in between defence and midfield. Talk to any United fans and they'll tell you they're crying out for a player in that postion. They're very much the modern day Keegan Newcastle. They basically try to outscore you because they know they will concede goals.

Haven't been to Leeds for years (been no reason to ) but seriously tempted despite already having plans....

Personally, I'd like it if Luiz focussed on his performances first. He's been good in the last few weeks but it needs to be consistant. I'm not a massive fans of people telling interviewers that they're natural leaders - I prefer if they just make it obvious on the pitch. I never needed John Terry to tell me he was a natural leader because it was clear to see.

Realistically, it would be neither if we're serious about moving forward and competing for top honours. Danny has had chances in the team and what he has shown time and time again is that he IS NOT A TEAM PLAYER. When players disappear for a few months with injuries, their myth grows and they become the answer to all our problems. I fully expect Romeu to become the next Makelele whilst he's on the sidelines. With Danny, the idea is greater than the reality. His attitude when asked to play on the wing was shit - we don't want players like that. He didn't play for the badge or even for his teammates. He played for himself. Now maybe he'll mature at Liverpool but right now he can't do a job for us. Moses was bought as his replacement and he's been an excellent one at that. Danny also had a chance at West Brom when he had to clear cut opportunities. He missed both. I don't care if his name is Sturridge or Torres or John Smith - those are the chances that top-class strikers put away and he failed (please note I'm not judging his whole ability on that one game, but have clearly also referred to his career as a whole - I merely present it as an illustration).