remains of the day

No problem. You'll get my bill in the mail. You didn't think these reminders came free, did you?

I think the whole argument of “well if [insert name of disliked player] did that, they would be crucified and beaten mercifully” is a somewhat slippery slope and I’m not sure if that’s a path we want to venture down for this particular issue. I could also use that slant and say, well if Mata had made headlines for going to a rival's Christmas party a day before our match against them.....he probably wouldn’t have been so lucky to escape criticisms as Ash seemingly has been able to. My point is that we can sit here and trade “if this person did that” scenarios from now till tomorrow, but at the end of the day the fact still remains – using one, singular moment of outward frustration and ignoring all the other times that this player has been a model professional, all the other times this player has responded admirably - dismissing that and using that one incident to define this player (his integrity, behaviour and character) well…..I’m sorry but that’s not only unreasonable but also borders on narrow-mindedness. If I’m an employee that is always early/on time and I show up for work late and my boss slates me, going as far as questioning my work ethics.... well he/she might feel that they are justified in doing so, but this person is still acting unreasonably. This isn’t a player that is constantly sulking on the bench, complaining to the press and generally being poisonous to the atmosphere. He had one moment where he showed visible signs of frustration, so what? If we choose to singularly focus on that one moment of human error – one that a lot of players, even the most upstanding ones have been guilty of doing – and berate him for “questioning mourinho’s authority” then we're not exercising rational criticism. That's being - in every sense of the word - myopic.

@Peace. We’re pretty much on the same page. My point is that there's now this profit oriented aim in the club’s focus in investing on young players. The 12 million pound fee for Sturridge might seem like a steal now, but at the time he was sold, many (including Liverpool fans) thought that the club did well to get such a fee for a fringe player and one who was signed for only 4 mill. The fee for kdb is rumoured to be over 20 mill. We acquired him for 7 mill and he’s also never played any significant role for us. Given this, I would be very surprised if the club’s valuation of Mata isn't higher than 30 million and it’s not a stretch that a club would be willing to pay such a high amount to acquire Mata’s services. After all, we've seen many players go for exuberant fees in the transfer market. @ I applaud you for calling Mata up on his petulant attitude to being substituted. No player is above the club and I personally tip my hat to you for having no tolerance for that kind of behaviour. But I think there is a point where our reaction to a player's attitude crosses over to an overreaction – and your post, I feel, is hovering over that point. This same player you’re berating is the same player who said this……… “It’s a new thing, and I’m just trying to find the positive things in a hard moment,” he tells us quickly. “I always try to be a better player, no matter the manager that I have, so that’s what I’m doing right now – just trying to be better.” and this……………. “To be honest, I feel really loved by the fans,” he explains. “That’s what makes me feel strong, and I try to play my best because of them.” And I could go on. My point is that if we put it into context, he’s been nothing but professional and has showed an exemplary attitude to his sudden fringe status in the team. To clarify, I’m not saying that Mata shouldn't be called up for allowing his frustrations to show while on camera nor I’m I excusing Mata for his petulant reaction. What I’m saying is that this is just one slip-up from a player who most would agree has handled his situation admirably. My issue with your post is that there seems to be sanctimonious tone of “how dare Mata kick up a fuss when he’s been nothing but average? Sit your ass down and know your place”. That could just be me making assumptions, but that seems to be the underlying tone of your post and to me that smacks of self righteous entitlement – this player has been nothing but humble and a model professional but because he had this one moment of weakness, you’re berating him and calling him childish? That’s an overreaction in my opinion. He's never once stomp down the tunnel when he's been substituted; he’s never once run to the Spanish press to bitch about not being selected for the champions league final unlike another player; he’s done absolutely nothing wrong but keep his chin up and attempt to remain positive in a situation that is undoubtedly a difficult one for him. How many of us could be so positive and not allow our frustrations to get the better of us if we were in a similar position? Juan Mata has been a credit to this club on and off the pitch- players like him are very few and far between in football. Like Lionsend said, if the club decides to sell him, they'll be no shortage of suitors.

Happy New Year to the most awesomest supporters, of the most awesomest club, with the most awesomest online forum! Wishing you all a rewarding year in your lives and here's to many more happy moments in the coming 2nd half of the season!!

I’m really not understanding some of the points being made on Mata's value. People are bringing up his quietness and marketability – of course, there are some cases where a player’s marketability is a factor in their transfer fee – i.e the Kakas, Ronaldos, Ibras and before them, Beckham etc but that's not always the case. ‘Quietness’ certainly didn’t stop us from agreeing to pay a fee of 30 million for Willian, a player who i’m sure not many of us had watched more than a handful of times. If Willian - who has spent the bulk of his career playing in the Ukrainian league & Russian league and with career stats that aren’t exactly all that impressive mind you - can go for 30 million in the market, you’d be hard pressed to argue that Chelsea can’t command 5-10 million more than that for Mata. Particularly in the current transfer market, which is very much a seller’s market. @Peace. This point you raised......“all the players we have decided to part ways with have had the possibility to go quite easely. Kalou, Malouda, Bosingwa, Alex, Anelka, Belletti, Joe Cole, Ballack, Deco”....that’s a big question mark for me. Of course you’re right that when Chelsea sees a player as being surplus they tend to move them on for a very low fee or just wait until their contract expires. But like @Mak already mentioned, those players ….i.e Drogba, Ballack, Deco – these were all players in their 30s. Mata is only 25 years old and coming off the back of a remarkable season. His situation is not at all comparable to those players that Chelsea basically let go for nothing. The only player that Chelsea sold that we can use as a comparison to Mata, is Robben. But just look at how much the club sold him for, 35 million euros. Considerably more than the 18 million (euros) fee that they paid for him. In Mata's case, the club made a huge investment of close to 30 million euros and in just two seasons he’s emerged as an elite player - 35 assists and 20 goals last season....he's an elite player make no mistake. Quietness? Please. This is a player who many pundits agree was one of the best players in the premier league last season and he’s only now entering his peak years. There's much more to come from him. If the club decides to sell him they’d surely be looking to secure a significant profit on him and would be well within reason to ask for more than 30 million.

Fair enough but if you look at their dispossession rate against mid-table/lower opposition, Torres still losses possession more often than Eto'o. Against West Ham & West Brom, Eto'o was dispossessed 3 times each, while Torres was dispossessed 6 times against Southampton & 4 times against Sunderland. You know, I'm not arguing that it was the right decision to bring Eto'o here and loan out Lukaku. Before he put pen to paper, I came out and questioned how big of an impact a 32 yr striker who has spent the past two years playing in the Russian league can make. But what I think is truly disgraceful is not so much his signing but this blatant unearned & underserved favouritism that Torres is getting and has been receiving despite serial poor performances. That's what's disgraceful. This is the same Torres who for long periods of time has looked like he couldn't give a rat's ass, but yet he's continuously afforded with allowances and showered with empathy by our supporters. This guy has been at the club for 2 years or so, has made 95 appearances, 149 in total and I count the number of good performances that he's put in for us on my two hands. That's what disgraceful. Whether the expectations are low for Eto'o or not, the man has come here with a better attitude than Torres showed for large parts of last season and even this season, has displayed commitment on the pitch, has worked for the team to the point that he routinely hassles goalkeepers, hasn't been anonymous for any length of time, hasn't let his head drop whenever he misses big chances and has chipped in with a handful of goals while still adapting to a new environment and a new team. It's completely unfair how he's being singled out on here.

I think Eto's ability to hold the ball up should at least count for something especially since the other two strikers haven't exactly done that too well. Despite that missed sitter, which I admit was bad, his overall game was a lot better than some of the recent performances of Torres and Ba. The strikers we have now don't score enough goals, everyone and his mother knows that. But if they can't win us games by their goal output, then at the barest minimum I expect them to at least be able to keep possession well, hold up the ball, bring the three attacking midfielders into play, be dynamic in their movement, work the channels and contribute to moving the attack along. I don't think Torres & Ba have even been doing that well enough or consistently enough, which is just as problematic as the lack of goals because our system relies heavily on the strikers being able to link up well with the three behind him. On whoscored Torres has 19 turnovers to Eto's 8! Yes, Torres has started more matches and has made 3 more apps than Eto'o but at the very least when the ball is played into Eto's feet, even if he's surrounded with 3 or so players from the opponent side you know that Eto'o will manage to emerge out of the tight space with the ball still planted firmly on his feet. Torres and Ba? Forget it. They'll either turnover possession, fall over or both. So my point is, Eto'o has missed his share of sitters and he himself has had some terrible performances (i.e stoke) but at the very least he makes our attack fluid. Unless we're playing a long ball approach were the centre forward needs to have some aerial dominance and if that's the case then I would play Torres, otherwise I think Eto'o should be played ahead of him.

Wrong decision Willian. Wrong, wrong decision ffs. Open your eyes!

Probably not a good idea for Hazard to pull an 'Iverson rant' on this one! Exactly the kind of egomaniac thing Zlatan would do though... But I agree. Much has been said about whether Iverson could have achieved much more as a player if he had embraced a better work ethic in 'practice' such as that of Kobe or of course, Jordan. But I don't see any 'slacker' signs like that from Hazard. He's been mediocre for large parts of the season, but also in the time he's been here at this club, our playing style has been such a disjointed mess. I think it's kinda unrealistic to expect him (at age 21/22) to consistently perform as he did against Sunderland when the team hasn't exactly been playing in a way in which his potential can be optimized. Anyway, If this story were coming from Dominic FiField at the Guardian i'd be worried but I don't consider Neil Ashton as a credible journalist at all. He gets some things right (i.e predicting the line-up for champions league final) but massively exaggerates others, and this cock & bull story is one of them. The majority of his pieces about Chelsea has centred around a narrative of dysfunction and now he's trying to engineer this image of Hazard as lazy and uncommitted with no substantial evidence to support that. So Hazard doesn't linger around after training..... big deal. Is he continuously showing up late to training or slacking off in training? There's been no indication of that from Mourinho. Jose has had no problem benching big stars for underachieving (whether in training or on the pitch) and he certainly wouldn't have a problem in doing the same with Hazard if he weren't working hard enough.

Been seeing this piece by Neil Ashton circulating around the twittersphere and most people seem to be in agreement that there's only one way Hazard should respond to these rumours....... We ain't even talking about the game, we in here talking about.....practice!! In all seriousness though, with AVB gone, I imagine Neil will now resume back to delighting us all with his petulant, sensationalist stories about the 'football-ruining madhouse' that is chelsea football club.

Yeah, I’ve been kind of wimp when it comes to this topic, avoiding taking any real stance or being too critical of Mourinho even though there are certain issues I have with him, which to be honest I’ve had with him since his first stint here. Nonetheless I remain convinced that he’s the right only person who can manage this club for reasons I won’t go into now. I think my own concern (and maybe it isn’t really one that’s mourinho’s doing) is that last season it seemed to me that a new spine of this team was emerging - and when I say 'spine' I mean players who were consistently performing at a higher standard compared to the rest of the team & were gradually taking more responsibilities, taking more ownership and taking more of a leadership role in the team. I would say these players were Mata, Luiz, Ramires and (to a lesser extent) Hazard. These were our standout players last season and the first 3 have been key players for us in the past two seasons. Now this season, out of those players, one has been distinctly inconsistent bordering on average, the other two have been on the peripheral margins (due to lost of form or has resulted in them being out of form, depending on what side of the argument you sit on) and only one has been able to carry on last season's form into the current campaign. Now I'm not criticizing Jose for going in a different direction and for making his own changes to the team. What I am saying is that in any team sport, when you have a group of players who represent the core of the team, there's a danger in alienating them. We've seen this when clubs get promoted to a top tier league and the players who were key to getting them in that position suddenly become ‘not good enough’ or irrelevant and more expensive players are brought in. We also saw this when AVB came in and suddenly players like Drogba, Lampard, Cole etc – players who formed the very fabric of the club’s success for many years suddenly were marginalized and were deemed “too old” to play a key role. Last season, a new spine emerged and although the success was ‘minimal’ (by this club's standards) these players showed a lot of heart, showed a lot of quality and for stretches of time showed consistently that carried the team. I’m no expert but I often wonder if by now we would be seeing more progress in the right direction if Jose or the club had focused their summer transfer dealings on acquiring the right players who could have complemented & increased the productivity of this new spine of the team. If we had focused on signing a proper right winger who could create more space for Mata & Hazard to operate and also signed a top striker who could – I don’t know, finish the chances they create; if we had focused on securing a defender to partner with Luiz – one who had the right qualities to be able to mitigate his weakness and also one who could play a high line; if we had focused on signing a midfielder – one who would not only complement Ramires but who would also provide some stability when Luiz ventures forward – if we had done all of that, had been strategic and smart in acquiring the right pieces that would enable our standout players from last season (most of whom are entering their peak years) maybe just maybe we wouldn’t be seeing the disjointed mess of performances that has become too much a frequent occurrence. Some people greatly exaggerate Benitez’s accomplishments at this club last season, but at the end of last season what I saw was some kind of foundation that had been laid with a group of players who were very much becoming the core of the team. Jose only had to improve on that system instead he tore up the blueprint up and started from scratch. That's fine, but by doing so we’ve now had to take two-step backwards. It took Benitez right till the end of the season before we began to see some kind of direction and cohesion. Was there really any need to start over?

Barbara - I certainly do agree with your point that Mata did have opportunities to displace Oscar and I also agree with you that he failed to capitalize on those opportunities (the way Willian seemingly has) particularly during the period Oscar was injured. Definitely a very valid point. But I also think something you're not taking into consideration is that Mata - like De Bruyne (I would even add Ozil to that list) - these players' game is about creative subtleties........their not dribblers, they don't particularly have much pace, they don't make a lot of tackles and they tend not to take a lot of shots. They're players who have great awareness of space, great awareness of their teammates and they see passes that many wouldn't. When a player's game is centered on those finer details, well it becomes harder for them to make an instant impact if they're not consistently starting matches. Willian (along with Hazard) are different. They're dribblers, they're strong on the ball and they tend to play with high intensity. These skill sets give then an advantage and enables them to still perform well even if they're not starting every match. So in commenting on how Willian has been able to 'take his chances' while Mata hasn't, I think it's important to keep in mind that their playing styles are vastly different and that alone singularly influences how much of an impact they're able to make when their not given regular playing time.

To clarify, the fee that is being reported is actually 15 million euros which works out to roughly around 12 million pounds. Guarin isn't 'world class', I get that. I also get some of the points people have raised, but a centre midfielder is a pressing need right now and I don't feel it's something that we can wait to address during the summer transfer window. Ramires & Lampard are playing far too many games and I think it's already apparent that Mikel isn't a good enough option to rotate with those two in Mourinho's system. Neither is Essien. This is very much a low risk signing with some upside. Depending on how Van Ginkel recovers from his injury, we can still dip back into the market for an elite midfield talent (if need be). Don't see much wrong with this signing. And CHOULO19 regarding your response to my prior post - all the power to you for watching every single game Guarin has played for Inter. I normally follow the Serie A closely but haven't managed to watch much of inter this season, so I'll just have to defer to your knowledge. I am however curious though as to how you could have thought Guarin is a natural attacking midfielder? That's just as bizarre as calling Lampard a natural defensive midfielder or Oscar a natural winger, or Torres a natural striker. You also claim that Guarin is horrible at dribbling even though he's among the top when it comes to successful dribbles made in the serie a. You SURE it's inter you've been watching? Might want to call up your mate and double check on that....

Was hoping that someone would raise this point. We've now had a few of these type of losses and each time Jose's response has been the same, "we played fantastic football, very creative, very dynamic but we couldn't finish our chances". I don't buy that for a second and we're kidding ourselves if we think that this is what Jose actually believes. There's no denying that we need a top class striker. I think we all agree on that. However there's also no denying that in the past few seasons we've been unable to protect leads, even 2 goal leads. Last season we gave up a 2 goal lead against southampton at home, we gave up a 2 goal lead against Reading (a team now in a lower division) and for the most part, the same thing has been happening this season. So is the issue truly that we're unable to convert our chances? Or is it that the team is unable to cope when the opponent raises the tempo to the point where they collapse into a shambolic mess? The worry for me is that the team can't control games and that's a big problem. Of course, Jose is hardly going to come out and say that - instead he'll frame it as a problem of 'profligacy' which sounds a lot more 'fixable.'

Weak on the ball? Yeah, that's not true at all. I don't know where you got that idea from because he's actually known to be pretty sound technically. Yes he can defend, can run, can tackle etc, but he's also a strong passer. He's good at everything without excelling at anything in particular. As far as I'm aware, his ability on the ball and overall technique has never been in question. What people criticize him for is his decision making which can be inconsistent and poor at times. He tends to shoot a lot instead of picking out a teammate in a better position; considering that 'intricate interplay' is something we've been struggling to do, I wonder if Guarin won't just compound that problem.....but these are problems that can be ironed out by coaching instructions. Anyway, we would all love an elite midfield talent, but (a non cup-tied) Guarin for 15 mill really isn't bad business - probably around the same amount spurs paid for Dembele and much less than Utd paid for Fellaini. In my opinion, Guarin offers far more than both and of course that doesn't mean we can't dip back into the transfer market in the summer for an elite centre mid.

When I think back to AVB's managerial tenure at spurs and his short one here, I'm reminded of that saying..."insanity is doing the exact same thing over again and expecting different results". I really feel for the man but this victimhood that some are placing on him is just....well kind of underserved. When your lucky enough to get a 2nd chance at managing a top five club in the EPL so soon after spectacularly failing at your prior stint and you're still not able to learn from past mistakes and adapt, then who can you blame but yourself? It wasn't just his stubbornness in persisting with tactics that were repeatedly resulting in disastrous outcomes - (i.e using a high-line with Dawson & Kaboul with Holtby in the pivot away at City and also using a high line with Dawson & Capoue against a striker like Luis Suarez), it was also his petty squabbles with the press and clashes with the fans - all mistakes that eerily mimics the ones he made during his time here. My heart goes out to him, but as @TorontoChelsea already mentioned, considering the poor results he had here, he was incredibly fortunate to even be given that opportunity at Spurs in the first place, which he got on the back of one successful season at Porto. I think the fact that he achieved all that success in such a short amount of time is probably the underlining cause of his stubborn refusal to deviate from the tactics that worked so well for him at Porto. That one season at porto has hindered him more than it has helped him in the sense that it masked a lot of his naivety and limitations as a manager. Still sad nonetheless. Don't think I'll be able to forget the look on his face when Paulinho got a red card........... Heartbreaking.... I don't remember Porto having a poor Champions League campaign that season... I recall that they were trashed by Arsenal in the 2nd leg, but didn't Porto beat them in the first leg? Also think it's important to note that the season before AVB took over at Porto, Benfica were fantastic that season. But when AVB was appointed he was kind of lucky in the sense that Benfica had sold two key players in the summer - Ramires & Di Maria and then sold David Luiz in the Winter. So they were a weakened team while Porto had retained their key players. Things kind of just fell into place for him.

Not sure if your article covers this Seb, but it would be interesting to see how the ball recovery system Jose has been implementing differs from that of past managers, in particular AVB's which was also a high pressing system that was basically a failure (the 3-5 game against Arsenal sticks out in my mind). What I've noticed is that there are indeed differences between AVB's & Jose's ball recovery structure, but regardless, the team struggled under AVB's system and (in my opinion) they don't appear to be doing any better in Jose's (i.e we still can't keep goal leads). So my question is, why? Are there any identifiable factors that's creating these challenges in adopting a high pressing game? Is it just a simple matter of allowing time for the manager to fully implement his methods? Or does it have something to do with the type of players we have, especially our centre midfielders? Nonetheless, should be an interesting read!

Yes. The home game against Schalke - thought I had specified? But you're right, the team eventually got a foothold in the game after Schalke began to sit back a bit. Mikel though was pretty poor in that first half from what I remember. On at least two occasions, he gave away possession cheaply that we nearly conceded from. edit: Found the highlights.....see 1:57 & 2:37 Mikel has only started 10 matches this season ( I could be wrong) but I don't think he's started more than 10. In the handful of games he has started, he's had some good performances (West Ham, Fulham, the capital one cup game against Arsenal..... those were decent performances) but he's also had some poor ones. He's been okay for the most part, but to say he's been more consistent than Lampard & Ramires? That's such an exaggeration.

Yes the game where we won 3-0, also the same game where Cech made a string of saves in the 1st half to keep us in it and the game were Mikel turned over possession three times, to put that into perspective, the only other players who lost possession that many times were all offensive players and out of all the defensive players, including Ramires, Mikel received the lowest rating on WhoScored. So yes, he was that bad. Our most consistent midfielder? Really interested to know what basis you're using to gauge that - surely it can't be the 8 PL & CL matches he's only managed a start in? Look, I generally agree that Mikel has been 'good' (and I use that term loosely, because I think he's only been better this season compared to last than 'good') but calling him our most consistent midfielder in the pivot when he's only started (if i'm not mistaken) 5 games in the league is ludicrous in every sense of the word. You might not think that Lampard & Ramires have been consistent or that Lampard deserves to be starting over Mikel, but the stats disagree. They both consistently average more tackles per game than Mikel does, they both work harder than he does and offensively, they're far better than him. Your argument really has no basis to it.

Schalke at home. Also his performance against Spurs was pretty poor.

Bayern are the best team in Europe, there's no denying that, but it amazes me how hype can make good teams seem far better than they are in actuality. @Jype, the CL will definitely be interesting this season. These are just anecdotal observations, but despite the competition being stronger, to me it seems like quite a few teams (so far) have been struggling to find their feet, others have looked 'meh' and only about a few have looked consistently convincing so far. There's been a lot of changes at the top so maybe that has something to do with it....and also (as you said) the gap in quality between the 'big' teams and others, is gradually shrinking so that could influence it as well, I don't know. But will definitely be interesting to watch.

People seem so assured that after his loan spell at Everton ends, naturally he'll come back and push for a starting spot....I guess my question is, if the club weren't willing to commit to giving him an opportunity this season then what exactly is going to change in the 10 or so months of his loan spell? I pretty much agree that this loan at Everton is a fantastic one for Lukaku - it's the ideal loan for any young and inexperienced football player. But is it something that we're going to benefit from in the future? I highly doubt it. If anything, it's only going to be more difficult for Lukaku, when he returns, than it would have been for him this season particularly if the club goes out and signs a top striker. Even if we offload Torres or Ba, the best Lukaku will be hoping for is to be 2nd choice, and if that's the plan for him then we're back to the same question - why couldn't he have been 2nd choice this season? I think what frustrates me with this topic is that, again and again people seem to operate from this idea that if a youngster does x, y & z then naturally he'll get his chance here. No. There's nothing Lukaku could realistically do that would prove his readiness to the club. It has very little to do with him and everything to do with the mentality and practice in this club of being overly cautious and reluctant to give good enough chances to young, unproven players. That's the elephant in the room people keep ignoring. It's the same mentality that resulted in the club squandering 50 million on a striker we didn't need at the time rather than simply sticking by Sturridge and giving him a chance; it's same mentality that lead the club to throw away 30 mil on another attacking mid we didn't need instead of giving a chance to Kevin particularly after a very successful loan spell and it's the same mentality that caused the club to believe that they would be better served to retrieve a 32 yr, former top striker from his football exile in Russia rather than just simply giving a chance to Lukaku.....there's a pattern here, yet people are still carrying on with the narrative of "this will only benefit us in the long term". Uh huh....sure it will. ...and the irony of it all is that in each of those examples, the club turned their backs on sticking by a young player and picked the "safer" route only for that to be an even bigger gamble with greater financial risks in the end.

He was good in the first half as he's been for the most part this season. But in the second half he was the first to capitulate the moment Stoke raised the pressure. Thought he could have done more to have helped prevent the second goal and quite pissed off at how he was jugging lackadaisically behind Stephen Ireland for that goal. Buddy, your left back has been fouled and is on the ground, the ref hasn't called the foul. Your centre back now has to rush over to cover and has been pulled out of position, your midfield partner is upfield and an opposing player is in front of you running straight at your defence and your just strolling along idly? Mikel needed to have taken control of the situation particularly since J.T is out of position and Cahill has been left on his own. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that he would, at least, tried to have gotten tight to Ireland and attempt to block his path so that Ireland is not able to take a clear shot on goal. That situation really wasn't so dangerous but because Mikel made no effort to do anything, Cahill then is put under pressure. He himself fails to deal with it and just like that, a semi-problematic situation has now escalated into something far more dangerous than it needed to be. The team as a whole needs to improve on how they react in these kind of situations but I don't think Mikel's general lack of effort and urgency helps matters. And yes @PhillDriver, I know you agree.

Ramires' distribution is normally a big problem and has personally been a point of frustration for me, but this season it's improved significantly. Yaya Toure has 3 assists, Ramires has 2 and both have created similar number of chances. So he can't be all that bad can he? The problem though is that he's basically played every single minute of every single game in the League and also in the CL bar one game - Basel at home. So in the 20 league & CL games we've played this season, he's only been rested once. It's ridiculous when you consider how hard he works. The guy must be tired and it's bound to have an effect on his performance. I really hope that Mourinho has a rotation plan for him starting January. It makes me uneasy that we're so reliant on him.

It was embarrassing enough giving Jozy Altidore his first league goal but for heaven's sake, Stephen Ireland?!? The only league goal he ever managed for Villa was against us. He's now scored 3 goals in the league, 2 of which was against us! Wonderful. If we so much as give Chamakh even a sniff at our goal next weekend.... I might have to fight someone.