The only place to be

1. So? The season is long and it's apparently a fact that Lukaku would've been better than Ba and Torres. 2. Yes it does, but look at how he's responded. Had we signed him, we'd have probably won the league. 3. The Brentford link was facetious. The point is that Azpi could've looked at the fact he wasn't starting this season and put in a transfer request. He didn't. He worked hard and won his spot. Why couldn't Lukaku do the same? 4. A strop?? He told the manager he wanted to leave. It's amazing how you can so repeatedly vilify Torres but give Lukaku a free pass when he says to the manager that he no longer wants to represent Chelsea Football Club. He responded badly to adversity. If anything is going to piss of Mourinho it's that. Maybe he can come back but if he can't then we all know the reason why and it's Lukaku's fault.

Really? We signed Eto'o and then refused to deal Ba to Arsenal but this is somehow Torres's fault?? The one who has scored 15 goals and had 10 assists? Is it? So why didn't Azpilicueta put in a transfer request when he saw Ivanovic ahead of him? What an idiot he must be to have just knuckled down in training and then done everything in his power to impress the manager when he got a chance. I mean, WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT when he could've just put in a transfer request, gone to Brentford and played every single week as a guaranteed starter. A fact that neither Lukaku nor Lukaku's agent seemed capable of working out. I get the frustration, but if you walk into Jose's office and put in a transfer request then it might come back to bite you on the arse. One of the things you learn when growing up is that actions have consequences. I've defended him this season and I wish he had stayed but Jose is the lord god almighty at this club and he needs to set an example for what is required from the players.

Or we sell Lukaku, bring in Costa, re-sign Eto'o and then.......drumroll.....activate the clause in Lazar Markovic's contract. Then the season after that we include whichever one of Feruz and Bamford has scored the most out on loan. Anyway....I don't think Jose will see what Lukaku did as brave. The challenge laid out before Lukaku and Azpi was broadly the same and they reacted in very different ways. Honestly I wish he hadn't put in a transfer request because it really did fuck us over.

Would say play Ramires alongside Matic for this one because he's out of the PSG game, but he's also still suspended from league games. Incredibly he's managed to reach a whole new level of being completely fucking useless. I'm all for starting Ba in this one as well. Not for any great tactical reason, but simply because why the fuck not? Back five stays the same, Matic in midfield, Mikel alongside him (because we probably need Lamps on Tuesday), Willian, Salah and Hazard all behind Ba. Give Oscar a rest and leave Schurrle to repeat his Arsenal performance against PSG.

These are all good points, but ultimately the guy put in a transfer request in August. Jose puts a lot of stock in players' character, I mean it was only a few days ago that he questioned the balls of some of the players in the squad. I've wanted to see Lukaku get a chance here for the longest time, but I can see why there are question marks about him. He will score goals wherever he goes but Jose has always asked for more than that from his strikers. Look at Drogba - he scored less goals in each of his first two seasons in English football but he was key to bringing other players into the game. Ultimately I think it comes down to one thing - don't cross Jose.

Previously, the argument was always about potential vs proven class. I'm not the biggest fan of experience....it has it's place but it's occasionally overrated. Right now I don't think there's an argument about who the better keeper is though. Cech, for all his legendary status and his importance to our recent successes is costing us points this season and that means the risks of bringing in Courtois are lowered considerably. Despite that I think Cech might still be our keeper next season.

Azpilicueta is a 24 year old player who wanted to make an impression in a world cup year. He wasn't assured a starting place, in fact he was behind Cole and Ivanovic at the start of the season. He didn't put in a transfer request. He worked his bollocks off, impressed and is one of the players of the season. I would be gutted if we lost Lukaku but I think I could understand Jose's thinking on the matter. Let's be honest, he wouldn't be first choice if we signed Costa so would he be happy? Would he put in another transfer request?? As for Spurs, Bale couldn't take them to that next level. Lukaku won't either.

Because he asked to leave the club in August? Jose doesn't like players who don't have that desire to fight for what they want. Plus he likes strikers who work hard up front and that's not quite how I'd describe Lukaku at the moment. Great finisher but like Mata, there are questions over his suitability in the system. Selling him to a team who have no manager and managed to spend £100 million to get worse isn't the worst thing in the world.

I've heard a rumour that we're allowed to sign players this summer. #mindblown

The goal wasn't his mistake. It was a great ball in and he had no chance of getting out of the way. The problem was that he didn't need to give that free-kick away in the first place and even if you think he had a great game (personally I thought he was average) then it's still another case of him ruining a good performance with a brainfart. He's gone in the summer.

I think he'd take that as an insult and would rather he just had a striker. Not sure what an attacking co-ordinator could do with Torres. Hard to say because we've been growing year on year in terms of revenue from commercial activities, and that coincided with the CL success. But Torres does still seem to sell a lot of t-shirts (I have no idea how) and still seems to get pushed to the forefront of any marketing stuff. The support for him is a combination of desperation and pity. £100 million investments get a lot more leeway than others, whilst a lot of people simply feel sorry for him. But he needs to leave now, for his own good. Jose is making it very clear that he can't trust him and I think this is about as close as you're going to get to him being forced out.

FFP ultimately benefits us so it makes sense for us to stick to the rules and we've done that quite effectively. Last night we came up against a team who have decided to not bother and it probably showed on the pitch, but I support the club trying to follow these rules and that means you have to take time to build a squad. The problems aren't Mourinho's though. Torres costs us about £15 million per year on the books yet contributes next to nothing on the pitch. That mistake in 2011 has hamstrung us EVERY season since and is probably one of the worst transfers of all time based on that. Despite that he's been the first manager for about 5 years to actually address the issue of the midfield with the signing of Matic. That showed just how much one player in one area of the pitch can radically redefine the way you play football. Next he has to do the same with the striker. This summer is all about stripping away the deadwood (Torres, Luiz, Mikel, Ba, Marin, Cole, Kakuta etc.) and allowing Jose to build the squad he wants. Until then we're putting a car out on the track with half it's wheels missing.

So who do you want instead of Mourinho? You're clearly done supporting him, so who is at the top of your list to replace him? I think the problem is that Plan A is tough to get right without the right guys. The lack of a striker is becoming more obvious as the season goes on and when you're then missing your best midfielder on European nights then you're playing with your hands tied.

That was before Van Ginkel got injured, before Essien proved he simply wasn't up to Premier League football, before Mikel confirmed what we all thought about him. Everyone has been moaning about the midfield for years and we've made the biggest step forward in addressing it with Matic, but apparently playing Luiz in midfield is now a stick to beat Mourinho with as well. Laughable.

No, but it gives the defenders something to think about. It would put them under pressure, drag them out of position, keep them honest, not allow them to cheat up, not give them such an easy ride.... I just don't see how people can't see that the lack of a proper striker compresses the space because defences push up and don't have to worry about balls behind. Eto'o at least provides interplay options and makes the right runs (even if his body doesn't quite allow him to reach the ball). Case in point - Azpi plays the ball right across the six yard box on Saturday and Torres simply doesn't make the run 99% of strikers run. As for Ancelotti, he was the guy who gave his blessing to sign Torres so easy on the praise when it comes to his magical ability to make strikers work.

The most frustrating thing is that it's not like PSG were this amazing side. They played well and took their chances clinically, but it's not like we went up against Barca or Bayern and were embarrassed. We let ourselves down to a certain extent. Honestly that Shakhtar team from last season was a more impressive unit than this PSG one. It's why I still have hope for the second-leg. Get them back to the Bridge, go with Lamps and maybe even Mikel in midfield and go at them. It's only half-time for fuck's sake.

Blimey. That's literally word for word what I was going to say. He's clearly identified the players he can't trust yet he's still having to play some of them because we made such a mess buying players about 3 years ago. He needs to get rid of some of the deadwood and get the players he wants, although I can sense some people are getting twitchy fingers and are about to start a Mourinho Out thread. I think this summer will be a massive one for us. At least one striker, at least one midfielder and maybe even a centre-half if Zouma or Kalas isn't quite there.

No mate, he hasn't. Once again he's piped up when we've lost again and stuck the knife in on the manager who is clearly still building a team but simply doesn't have the resources he needs because too many cunts were calling for short-term fixes a few years ago and never had any patience. People like him are the problem at this club. How he can hope that Man United destroy us in the league and then pretend to still be a supporter is beyond me.

Defender Midfielder Striker? Gave away the ball for the first goal and didn't recover, gave away the free kick for the second goal and looked like he put one in on Cavani too. Just got to pray Barca get that ban overturned because this guy is dead wood and only his fan club think otherwise now. #geezers

Not the first time he's looked dodgy this season and it breaks my heart because he was such a giant for us in 2012, but we have a better keeper waiting in the wings now. Surely there's no question about this now?

You're a disgrace. Couldn't wait to stick the boot in eh? You actually said you want Mata to 'destroy' us when he comes back with United. That is the type of supporter you are. You have no bottle, you have not guts and you have no loyalty. See you at the trophy parades though yeah.

OK, see you next season then. Or did you want to wait until we start winning trophies before you come back?? PSG look beatable to me. We need Eto'o back and fuck know's who will play in midfield but I honestly don't get the idea that they're unbeatable.

Disappointing but not surprising. No striker. No midfield. What is surprising is the number of people giving up in the match thread and saying the tie is over. Have a fucking word with yourselves. We can turn this tie around back at the Bridge like we did in 2012. But unfortunately the things that cost us weren't that surprising.

BY the way, fuck off anyone who thinks this tie is over. Have a fucking word with yourselves.

Cech. Near post??? Come on.