The only place to be

Again, I disagree. The majority of the boos that I've heard have been directed at Rafa and are related to him specifically. When you say it's the board that advises him that's the problem, who specifically are you pointing the finger at? See I've heard this in the past and maybe we should start naming names - rather than blaming everyone on the board let's get specific. Who do you blame and why?

I wouldn't be surprised if Luiz gets at least one game in that position before the Villa game.

I don't think he's shit or useless. I think he's actually done well considering it's not a position he came to until his 20s, but it's one of the toughest positions on a pitch to master and players will often revert to what is natural and not what they've learnt, especially in pressure situations. He may become better over time, but we are talking about a player with well over 200 first-team appearances now. Say we had a Busquets who could play in a DM role similar to the one he plays at Barca. I think Mikel would be a decent player alongside him but with less of the defensive responsibilities, kinda like the role Ramires plays. In fact I think he could be something special there as he could indulge his natural attacking instincts a bit more. But I simply think that the more defensive role we ask him to play is too much for him. He certainly has his good moments but that position is all about consistency, reliability and alertness and they are not the words I think of when I think of Mikel.

Weird that he felt compelled to apologise for it - you should've told him it was a mistake at all. Clearly you knew more about it than he did (that isn't sarcasm either - I genuinely think that most posters on this forum have better tactical sense than Mikel). The funny thing is that I think you and I agree on what Mikel should do in the team - we just differ on his effectiveness at it and I have strong reservations about his character to play in such a demanding role on the pitch.

Don't agree with that at all. If Guardiola came in, people would have still supported Robbie but none of the vitriol that has been aimed at Rafa (because it has) or the board would be there or at least not close to the same amount. It's because it's Benitez and we all felt the same at the start but people are getting over it at their own speed. This cheers on 16 minutes will continue and that's fine - praising Robbie is different from criticising Benitez. But I will point out one thing about the way this club treated Robbie Di Matteo. They gave him a job at a top European club when his last run as a manager ended in him getting sacked by West Brom and he couldn't even get the job at Birmingham City. They then entrusted the club to him, and he paid us back many times over. But let's not pretend that this club is disrespectful of our history. Roman is a fan first and foremost. Remember who the first player he tried to sign was and then tell me he doesn't treat the fans well.

DM for sure now with Romeu's injury. Might possibly impact on Chalobah's loan to Watford being extended which will be harsh on the kid.

Poor kid. Wish him the best for a recovery, speedy preferably.

I can kinda forgive the loose pass, although not really. The standing still afterwards (which I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to you before and you've brought up Hazard asking for it then too) is unforgivable.

*cough* Juventus *cough*.

I can't think of a more divisive player in Chelsea's recent history. Torres might come close but that argument could be settled by goals scored. Luiz maybe, but most people agree he has the talent but needs to cut out the brain farts and could be world class. Mikel is really the marmite man (or so Clattenburg allegedly called him ). You either love him or hate him.

That's what's funny - no he isn't His positional sense is iffy, his work-rate is occasionally embarrassing and because he's slow to move the ball on sometimes, he can get caught in possession or isolated which puts pressure on the player he passes to.

I agree 100%. I don't want Mikel making incisive passes or even getting forward much. I simply want him to do his job which is to effectively move the ball to create spaces (as seb says), whilst also doing his job defensively. I'm not bothered about him making 'key passes' because that's really not his job in my opinion. The problem is that we have to mask his deficiencies by playing Ramires alongside him, in my opinion.

Fantastic point and one that always sticks out to me. Messi just exploited the space in between defence and midfield which kept making Vidic jump out of position. Happened time and time again but Fergie didn't change anything.

What amuses me is the ones who constantly boo him can't think up a half-decent chant to abuse him with. Even their banners are shit. Trust me, it's not the Chelsea brain trust booing him.

Exactly, and I would have expected his loan to be extended. I know Watford are extremely keen to keep him. Personally I'd rather he get 20 games and hopefully a run in the play-offs but I don't know if the club have decided on him yet.

I can't see the point in recalling Chalobah from his loan. Part of the reason we have these loans is to get players used to playing an entire season and the fact he's playing regularly at a decent team in a competitive league is better than 80% of most loan experiences. I agree we probably need a DM though and I've mentioned before who I think we should go for. The other factor is David Luiz. Rafa tried him there against Nordsjaelland so it might be worthwhile trying him in the next 3 games too.

Is that all? We had more than that in Munich for the Champions League Final. Do the Corinthian fans not really care about supporting their team abroad? Plus in defence of most European posters, they've heard of the big Brazilian teams like Santos and Sao Paulo.

The problem PSG have is if you go there, you're still only playing in the French league. The league simply isn't at the level of other leagues so I think they might have problems down the line.

Agree with that 100%.

Actually I'm incorrectly using a popular saying. But yes, I watch La Liga. I did see us play Barca. If we're being honest, 9 out of 10 times we'd probably lose that match over two legs but we were heroic on the day. We had to bring our absolute best to beat them and when you can set up a team like that, then you're going to have some success.

It does surprise me when some fans think any game in the prem is 'easy' Swansea away should probably be 'insanely easy but any fan of the prem knows that any team can turn over another on it's day. We should've probably won away to QPR on paper but the reality is very different, especially with London derbies.

GET THE FUCK IN! :blue scalf: :blue scalf:

But why did those teams defend deep against Barca? Never heard the phrase 'attack is the best form of defence'? People talk about media bullshit regarding stories about Guardiola, but they're quite happy to indulge in these little urban myths about his teams. I just think it helps with good debate if people are a little more objective/honest about certain things.

But don't Real Madrid play the same teams? Surely you'd expect Mourinho's team to concede fewer goals than Guardiola's? What you're essentially saying is that they don't have a proper centre-back, attack a lot and play the same teams as Mourinho....yet they still concede less than him? I'm not trying to have a pop but I simply think the facts and reality don't support your belief. Am I reading the stats wrong or misinterpreting them?

Isn't that Barca? They actually conceded far fewer goals than Mourinho's Madrid in Guardiola's last two seasons and were extremely dominant for much of that time.