The only place to be

I bet he won't. I love how you're excusing David Luiz's poor form with talk about the World Cup. He can fuck right off if he's not having a good season for us because of the World Cup because Chelsea should be at the top of his priorities. Cahill is very underrated on the ball (in the same way David Luiz is overrated) and defensively he's very good. He's got pace, he's good in the air and his reading of the game is much better than it used to be. But because he's not flashy like David Luiz people think it's ok to shit on him. I'd take him as captain over Luiz every day of the week because I know he'd give 100% for the cause.

So winning the Capital One Cup would've made the season a success?

It's amazing how we all seem to recognise that the desire for instant success and trophies is what ultimately led to the fucked up situation where we hired Rafa Benitez as our manager and had the worst atmosphere at the Bridge for many a year, yet some still think trophies are the be all and end all. If trophies mean that much then go to a trophy shop and buy one - it means about as much as the Europa League in all honesty. And Wenger went 8 years without a trophy whilst losing his top players and failing to put together a team capable of making a serious title challenge in that time. Why that has even been brought up when Jose has been back barely 9 months and has made us a better team already is beyond me. We're trying to achieve something that takes time yet people are judging everything by trophies - this is a more successful season than the 2012 season in my opinion because it's building towards something.

We finally have something of an identity, a solid foundation, a coach we can all (excluding the numpties) can get behind and respect, a clear vision of how we want to play and the fear factor of the Bridge back..... but because we haven't won a trophy it's a failure??? Too many people look at one season in isolation, not acknowledging the mess we came from and the place we're finally working towards. The 2012 season was a failure, but because we won the Champions League people see it is a success. This season was all about building for the future, transitioning from a cup team to a team who can compete on all fronts against the very best and from that perspective it's been a resounding success. We finally have a young, exciting spine to the team as well which is the basis for any success we could hope to have going forward.

I think you're probably right, but this is nothing new when it comes to Luiz. Jose hasn't trusted him since the Newcastle away game and there were reports that senior members of the squad were fed up with his attitude. The same went for the Cardiff game too where he put in one of the most disgraceful performances I've ever seen from a Chelsea player. But he isn't. He's a step-down from both of them which is bizarre considering he's apparently worth about £30 million. The simple fact is that since November he has barely been selected as a centre-back unless one of the other two is injured, and when he has come in he has been a liability (Newcastle at home and West Brom away). I don't quite understand those who support him on this forum because it's clear there's a massive difference between the idealised version of David Luiz and the one who actually turns up on the pitch. I've said before that in theory he has everything to be the best defender in the world but mentally he's just lacking. It reminds me a little bit of the Mikel debate where some people simply couldn't get over what they hoped Mikel would turn into and just look at the evidence on the pitch. But he's a character. And he's got cool hair. And he's really good on FIFA. And he played well for us about 12 months ago.

Mourinho has always had an affinity for 433 against teams like Palace who play a 442 because it automatically gives us a man over in the midfield. The problem is that they put 10 men behind the ball and contracted the play so whilst you may have wanted us to have a number 10 one has to ask where the fuck did you want him to play? If anything we lacked width in that game, but that happens when teams make the pitch small. Against West Ham who put out a similar tactic against us we created just shy of FORTY chances. But yes, the lack of Ashley Cole is the issue. I think that's a complete nonsense. There's clear patterns of attacking play that simply weren't executed properly. First phase counter-attacks simply weren't executed with enough pace or precision. When they failed you saw Hazard actually come deeper and Azpi push on but the lack of movement from a number 9 (which creates space for someone like Schurrle to get in behind, see the Fulham game) simply wasn't there and ultimately Palace were extremely well drilled. Jose will always set up to not lose first which is perfectly fine but you need to be clinical when taking chances. We simply don't have a striker capable of that which is why it's remarkable we're where we are right now, but I don't think people need to randomly select attacking patterns as the issue.

61%.

Are they? That's cute. How's it feel knowing that young players with talent in France invariably leave? That would be pretty bad, but it's a pathetic point.

It's a mistake to think strikers simply finish chances which is where I think your confusion comes from. They don't. When Drogba wasn't scoring in his first couple of seasons with us, he was creating chances for players around him. Watch the home leg against Bayern Munich in 2005 for a perfect example of this. What we need is a striker who makes runs that draw defenders away from the player on the ball, to create space and holes for us to exploit and simply wrong-foot defenders. We need someone who just keeps defenders honest which neither Ba or Torres seems capable of. It's amazing that we're where we are right now and unsurprising that we struggled to score in certain games.

I don't think there were many billionaires owning British clubs when the Bosman ruling came into effect. In fact the players Chelsea acquired on Bosmans weren't 'bought' as they were effectively free agents. What makes the Premier League so popular is that it's unpredictable, exciting, has some of the best supporters in the world and is marketed very well. La Liga is similar, and has a similarly competitive fight at the top of the table rather than one team being 13 points clear. The fact that the team in second place gets about 9,000 people per game shows what a joke the league is.

Hazard has never been asked to beat 8 players, nor has he ever beaten 8 players in one dribble to my knowledge. He is however tasked with creating chances and contributing towards goals in much the same way Cech (the one with the gloves) is tasked with handling the ball in the goal area. We did create chances. Tactics are nothing without execution though. Here I completely disagree. Costa's movement and the way he occupies defenders would create more space for the players operating behind him. Torres simply doesn't force defences to do anything they aren't expecting. His runs off the ball are unintelligent and often lack the commitment to sell a defender. But again, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. Sadly I think he might be.

It makes the league tough, and it's what makes the league so popular. Did Carlo say that before or after he got a job with a team in a proper league again?

You're a liar sir. I don't think I ever called them a big team, simply an example of the tough competition in the Premier League. But you run that white flag up the flagpole. Quelle surprise!

Teams are composed of individual contributions. Of course it's a tactic, as is asking a player to make a pass. What Hazard is asked to do is based on what his skillset allows him to. That's utter twaddle. There's clear patterns of movement and to suggest otherwise is simply an attempt to impugn the tactical nous of Jose. Breaking down teams isn't easy though. The 11 players Palace put out yesterday are all professional sportsmen with pride and desire. Expecting us just to roll them over is naive. You don't have to agree with it, but I'm not suggesting Torres should've done anything more than push himself to make it into the six-yard box for a ball. It's not the first time he's failed to do that and it won't be the last, but until we have someone who can do that we'll always struggle. But if you don't think that overlapping run from Azpi wasn't a designed tactic then it's probably best to just agree to disagree.

£50 million was wasted on the cunt in your avatar. Money is no guarantee of success, especially when it isn't focused spending. Now we actually have a coach in charge who is moulding the squad to fit what he wants.

Actually without Roman we were still playing in the Champions League and fighting at the top end of the Premier League. With or without Qatari funding PSG is just a small team in a small league.

How is looking to a player on your team to do something not an actual tactic? People seem to think that Hazard doing something 'magical' is above and beyond the call of duty, when it's precisely what he's paid for. We look to hit teams on the counter, which is something that most teams do. We also look to apply a high pressing game to force them into turnovers in key areas. That is a tough tactic though and requires players to push themselves hard for 90 minutes - that's where the grit and determination is needed, to outfight the opposition. Yesterday Palace defended deep but broke fast and pushed themselves when we probably didn't. When Azpi got to the byline in the first-half, Torres should've been breaking his neck to get to the ball but he didn't. Then watch Costa bully the opposition, fight for every ball and make runs for 90 minutes. That's balls.

Guts. Grit. Whatever synonym you want to use for balls. That's what we needed. I'm also a little tired of this notion that we can only counter-attack. It's utter twaddle used to paint Mourinho as a one-dimensional coach. The fact that you contradict yourself almost immediately by saying that we have to rely on Hazard to make something happen indicates just how hollow a notion that is. We don't just hit teams on the counter. We press them into mistakes and we do have the ability to create chances in second and third-phase situations but all that is hampered right now by the lack of an effective striker. The movement from the striker yesterday wasn't good enough, but that's been the case with Torres for years now? The idea that there's no pattern to our attacking play is simply wrong though.

Some of the overreactions are hilarious. Are people honestly questioning Mourinho's coaching credentials now?? The guy is in a different league to almost every other manager currently coaching yet because we lose to Palace people are actually talking about red flags?? Fuck off. We're a team without a striker. That's the truth of the matter. Without someone to stretch the play we're always going to be hamstrung and until that's solved we're not going to see the best of the rest of the players. But people demanding trophies now like little babies need to give themselves a slap because they are EVERYTHING that was wrong with this club over the last few years, prioritising short-term 'success' over long-term stability. We're a team who are still in the building stages, and some of the pieces simply aren't here yet. Players like Hazard and Oscar are still young so consistency is going to be an issue whilst others like Matic and Salah are still learning exactly what the coach wants from him. All this requires patience. It's not too much to ask is it?

Enjoy this game. UEFA will hopefully kick you out of European competitions for breaching FFP rules next year.

Bamford might actually not be that good. He was a reserve striker and he did well, so he got a chance in League One. He did well there so he got a chance in the Championship. He's done well there so next what? Third striker spot for us where he gets no chances? How about a Premier League loan to find out, ooh I don't know, if he can put the ball in the back of the net at that level?? Now If you'd have said Lukaku then I might've agreed. Yes because Matic, Zouma and Salah are all approaching retirement age aren't they? Should we organise individual testimonials or have a joint one for the three old boys who have played about a dozen games between them for us? i support Jose because I think he's the best man for this club. I'll wait on the Liverpool result before I start looking for bright sides mate....need Spurs to do us a massive favour.

I agree, but I'm not really going to judge him until next season. He's young, it's a new league, a new country, a new system....just like I urged caution when he wasn't pulling up trees in his first few appearances I'm going to hold off on building him up too soon. But that speed

He contributed to the equalising goal, is about as much as anyone gives him credit for. Anyway his transfer has quite simply held the club back financially for three years now. We're finally approaching a point where we can actually sell him without it fucking us over financially and there seems to be a real desire to get rid of a lot of the dead wood we've accumulated. Torres needs to be at the top of that list.

Just putting it out there, but does anyone notice how much shit is raked up when a player has a bad 90 minutes where everything else they do throughout the season is excluded? Ivanovic, Cahill, Matic....