misschief

Signs are there, we could let them get back into what should really be a comfortable win. Havent been clinical enough at finishing.

We could pay for not taking all these scoring opportunities. Oh and how weird is it seeing a keeper in our goal without a helmet?

Ha ha maybe they should've booed Lampard? lol

Aren't they great? Our players get to get injured AND abused. Great stuff.

Alex should start ahead of Ivanovic and I'd have though Deco gets the nod ahead of Belletti. Oh, and Bosingwa's fit again so I can't see Ferreira starting. Is Anelka fit btw? Haven't heard anything about him. I can't believe our starting 11 is as good as that with all our injuries tbh. We'd better win this one, I hate Boro, old wounds never seem to heal, lol.

Terry, Alex, Bosingwa and Deco have apparently been passed fit for tomorrow's game. Cech, Ashley Cole and Ballack are all out and of course, Carvalho, Drogba and Essien are still all missing. No news on Joe Cole or Anelka that I've heard.

Not really interested in anything Drogba has to say anymore. Be nice if he shut the fuck up and got on with his game though.

Surely if Terry's back, Mancienne won't get any further than the bench anyway?

This isnt an injury as such, he was getting pain in both feet from 'thickened nerve tissue', so he's had it removed. The op was successful and he'll be back training in two weeks which has to be better than letting it drag on and affecting his game in the longer term.

Notably, England get much better support away from Wembley. That's bloody shameful.

I can't believe there's the potential for Cech and our first choice back-four to all be missing this weekend, that's bloody ridiculous. I hope most of them are back - and if they are, I hope they're fit to be.

Most proper England fans dont go to Wembley, they go to away games.

I don't think thats the case. Beckham, Crouch, Hargreaves to name a few others. If anything, England supporters have probably been more anti-United over the years than anything, hence United's hatred for England. With Lampard and now Cole, its a bit easier to see where their hatred comes from. Trouble is, at Wembley at least, there isnt any real England 'support'. The fact that the 'tourists' turn up in their club colours shows they can't make the distinction between the PL and internationals so I really don't know why they bother going.

I'm sick of this whingeing twat dragging it out and playing the victim. He had a contract, he blew it and he should be big enough to accept the consequences. As I've said before, if he'd accepted responsibility to start with, the legal fees wouldn't have continued to rise and the compensation wouldn't be as high as it is now. It's his own bloody fault.

Malouda started really well at Chelsea and looked like he'd have a big impact but to be fair to him Avram Grant's arrival didn't do him any favours. If we're honest, Grant didn't have any idea who he should be picking, what system he should be playing, what instructions to give the players, etc and whilst some of the players could just get on and do what they'd been doing for the previous two or three years, the same didn't apply to any new players coming in. Consequently, when Malouda did play, he looked lost. This season though, we have a manager who knows exactly what he wants and therefore gives clear instructions - that's got to be a lot easier for players to work with and it's reflected on the pitch. There's been a lot of improvement in quite a few of our players who've previously looked like they were underachieving. Malouda's definitely one of them.

No, I couldn't care less tbh.

He's in fantastic form for Chelsea but that doesn't mean (and hasn't in the past) that he'll transfer that form to his international game - that's where a lot of the criticism comes from. Add to that the way he held the club he 'loves' over a barrel, and everything that went with it during the summer, and I can't see the booing stopping anytime soon. Even as a Chelsea supporter, whilst I acknowledge his importance to us and think his current form is immense, I feel totally indifferent about him now.

The press in this country just build you up to knock you down. We might be flavour of the month now but a backlash is inevitable eventually. I guess it's a case of enjoying the positive press while it lasts.

Speak for yourself. I don't think we should respect him, that has to be earnt and he's given us no reason to respect him in the past 12 months. Of course we can be happy when he he scores - that is after all what he's paid a shitload of money for - but love him??? not a chance for me.

Again!

It was a shit challenge on Cole, not surprising he went off injured really.

Drogba being shit last season was down to Drogba. Grant was worse than useless, no arguments there, but at the end of the day, Drogba decided to be a complete dick last season.

I was thinking earlier - we're playing more games without Drogba than with him and a few seasons ago that would have had a massive impact. Now though, we're scoring goals from other areas and our goal difference is still better without him than it was this time last season with him. His absence is nowhere near the big deal we used to imagine it would be.

Totally agree with that, dunno what everyone's so bothered about the scousers for tbh, its only just October and they've got 17 points - big deal. There's a long, long season ahead and they'll fall by the wayside the same as they do every year. Rafa hasnt got a clue when it comes to sustaining a challenge over the course of a season - when it comes to the PL his bottle has usually gone by January.

Really good first half from Chelsea, cant believe he's taken Anelka off - best football we've seen him play this season.