remains of the day

It's never that simple, but ideally the club really should have just sold him if he wasn't going to be in the manager's plans. Why let a player that can bring in an excess of 30-40 mill in today's market waste away on the bench when you can use those funds and reinvest in other areas? That money could have gone towards signing a top class striker or central midfielder. Juan Mata sitting on the bench serves absolutely no purpose - to him or to us. This isn't some young talent, this is a player at his peak coming off of an excellent season and is valued at around 30 mil. To have him rot away on the bench when there are at least two key areas that needs strengthening is just such a waste. Just don't get this club sometimes.

It's not the first time Jose has commented on the atmosphere, he made similar remarks in 2004 that weren't so well received back then. In truth, there have been a couple of supporter lead initiatives aimed at improving the atmosphere i.e return to the shed. But I agree with @AlanPatridge that part of the problem is that Stamford Bridge has basically become a tourist site and given the location of the stadium and stature of the club it's not surprising. I lived in London for roughly two years and the sheer number of tourists at the Bridge (many of whom aren't even supporters of the club) is astonishing. This was back in 2005 so I can only imagine what it's like now. It's problematic because already the bridge is a (relatively) small stadium and with so many tourists, obviously the atmosphere is going to be affected. It also doesn't help that many of the chants sung at the Bridge aren't exactly easy for tourists to follow along and join in. You're not going to know the words to 10 men went to mow or Zigga Zagga unless you've been going to the Bridge for years. Also this whole thing with managers publicly criticizing the home support annoys the hell out of me. As others have said already, there're so many factors beyond the control of fans that directly impacts the atmosphere. The group of supporters that ran over to celebrate with Lampard when he broke the record are facing life time bans for doing so. That's modern football. Supporters (particularly those in England) are restricted in ways that often limits their expression of support. Another thing....atmosphere needs to be something that is created reciprocally between the players and supporters. The crowd needs to do their part but also the players as well. In the last 10 - 15mins against West Brown when the team actually began to you know, play football the crowd was vocal. If Jose is so bothered by the atmosphere then perhaps he should be setting up the team in such a way that gets the crowd behind them.

I watched one Benfica game where he played LB. Benfica conceded something like 4 goals that game and they all came from his side. He was pretty poor in the beginning of last season but was excellent under rafa. I think he has all the tools to be the best but when you're still making the same mistakes at 26 you did at 23 years, then something's wrong. At least in past seasons he showed some heart and desire for the shirt, against Newcastle (while John Terry was tackling the hell out of everything in that 2nd half) luiz couldn't even be bothered to put his body on the line. Don't particularly rate Cahill but I rather put up with his limitations as a defender than watch Luiz continue to mess about in defense.

But did we even play all that well last season either? During the end of Rafa's tenure we started putting together a string of good results, but not necessarily good performances. I would even venture to say that for the past three seasons, the quality of football we've displayed in the league has been dire. I can't remember the last time we displayed good, top performances for a stretch of time. I just wonder how much the constant turnover of managers has contributed to that. The last time we finished a season with the same manager we started with, was in 2011! Also, since Carlo left it just seems like every time a new manager has come in to replace the other, the priority has been to sort of the defensee. How much attention has gone towards working on combination patterns and interplay? Anyway, there's a lot of factors that has contributed to the team's poor performances in these past few seasons, part of it also has to do with transfer strategy. But bottom line is, this team has been poorly coached for a while now and I really hope the board gives Jose time. There's a lot of work that he needs to do to get this team playing at a high level. I don't agree with all of the decisions his made and I think his tactics has been pretty negative for the most part but it's only been a couple of months. Fans really need to have more patience.

Oscar, at least to me, is putting in the same performances he did back in August/September - he created little chances then and he's still creating very little now. The only difference is that he's not scoring as much. I think the goals deflected attention away from the fact that he rarely had an impact in attack if he wasn't scoring. The Mata and Mikel combination creates the same problems we had last season, in that far too much of the team's attacking threat was dependent on the performances of just two players (mata and hazard). I've been saying for a while that Oscar is not as good as Mata in the no.10 position but there's a reason why Ramires and Lampard have quite a bit of assists between the both of them. Oscar-Lampard balances the team offensively (and also defensively) - well at least in theory.

Slightly off topic but does anyone watch Pat Nevin's weekly analyses? He did a segment on Azpilicueta and thinks he should be tried in CM. I'm normally skeptical of the Wenger style of 'reinventing' players and playing them out of position but on the other hand, why not try azpi in CM? He's not really a great crosser but very good on the ball and presses well. He's more disciplined than Luiz, more tactically aware and has the energy to get up/down the pitch. Thoughts? Here's the Pat Nevin video. The segment on Azpi is at 3:44 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16m590_analyse-that-pat-arsenal-v-chelsea_sport

Absolutely. We didn't win the league last week when we beat Man City and we didn't lose it this week either. On to the next.

Fair enough. I don't think there was anything at all problematic with what you said. I actually think you often raise interesting points and this one got me thinking. Really, what I was trying to get at is that the whole "wanting to see more of Willian going forward" should also apply to the other AMs. We all love that the trio behind the striker are working hard for the team defensively, however it seems to have completely gone under the radar that Oscar, Schurrle and Hazard have only made one assist between the three of them. But right now Oscar and Hazard are scoring goals so maybe it's not such an issue that they're not raking up assists....

Umm his aerial threat is a HUGE factor and a big reason why Mourinho has persisted with him. He wins a ridiculous number of aerial duels and there have been instances where that aerial dominance has given us an outlet to bring the ball out of defense particularly when we're being pressed at the back and has also helped us to build attacks. Schurrle's goal against city is probably a good example of that - torres has rightlful recieved all the plaudits but the goal really came about by cech lumping the ball upfield to ivanovic who won it and headed it towards Torres. JT has been and is still is (in my opinion) the best defender in the league particularly when it comes to set pieces. Because Ivanovic is not as strong as JT in the air doesn't make iva any less of an asset for us aerially. Also, doesn't JT only have one goal from a free kick as well, while also playing the majority of every game this season?

I suppose you can look at it that way, but really it's not like our other attacking midfielders have showed so much more (attacking wise) than Willian. Yeah Hazard and Oscar have scored the most goals out of the six but they only have like two assists between them (in the league). Schurrle has clocked in more minutes than willian but yet only has 1 goal and zero assists. I don't think it makes sense to single out willian when our attacking midfielders in general have been contributing much more defensively than they have offensively. Obviously there are legitimate reasons why Jose has set them up like that but I do think it's interesting that our pivot gets so much criticism on here about not being able to control the tempo, not moving the ball fast enough, being bad passers etc etc yet in the game against Man City, Frank and Ramires were basically our best offensive players. Our centre midfield pretty much matched City's despite them having a one man advantage but the three behind Torres were very poor compared to Nasri and Silva who both made triple the number of key passers that Oscar, Hazard and Schurrle made and were just much better than the three. There has actually been a couple of games like that this season in which the three behind the striker were basically anonymous and contributed nothing in attack yet rarely are they ever scrutinized. Maybe a bit offtopic, just find it interesting.

He's so incredibly graceful on the ball and has a way of making it look effortless at times. Yeah there were times during the match where he slowed down play, but he compensates for it by generally being neat and tidy in possession which then allows us to launch attacks. Really though, I've been watching Mikel for a while now and I'm still convinced that he can't consistently do a good enough job (defensively) in this team. In my opinion Jose has been using him the correct way by bringing him on towards the latter part of the game and paying him in cup games. These are the kind of situations where Mikel excels, where he's not continuously being relied on to carry the team.

So strange. We were on the front foot, why did we suddenly get so passive?

Interesting comment. It seems like there's this undervaluing of Mata that's becoming the norm on here. The bemusing thing is, we're talking about a player who, let's be real, was among the best no. 10 in Europe last season. A player who was shortlisted for PFA, produced 12 goals,12 assists in the league, had 28 assists in all comps last season, created 95 chances in the league. Basically this is someone who in the past two seasons has emerged as one of the best in his position, someone who is the source of envy from our rival fans, who many neutrals would describe as 'genuine world class'. But despite all of that, for some reason many on here believe that we're too good for him, that he's not the type of player that a "big club would build a team around." I mean Mata, Swansea calibre? Are you fucking kidding me? I'm actually starting to believe that the main reason why Mata is so undervalued by some sections of fans has nothing to do with any of his limitations as a footballer but rather more of the fact that he's not the star of the Spanish NT unlike our younger more 'hotter' talents who are for their respective national teams. The truth is, some fans on here have a problem with Mata being our best player because (in their eyes) he's only a benchwarmer for Spain and that just doesn't fit with their narrative of the type of player a title-challenging club like chelsea should build a team around. If we're being honest, that's really what this undervaluing of Mata is about. Yeah Oscar has a fantastic work-rate and he's a talent, but what in actuality makes him more favourable as the "main man" to some fans on here is that he's also a young prospect who's an undisputed starter in the number 10 position for Brazil.

Absolutely. Besides the unfair treatment - business wise, it makes no sense. I would think that the longer Mata spends on the bench, the lower his value will drop. If he isn't going to be part of Jose's plans, then I would have just preferred him to be sold rather than him being a squad player. But I think there's probably more to this than we know, it's entirely possible that Mourinho would have preferred to move him on, but perhaps the club weren't prepared to risk losing their investment. Say Mourinho tells the club that Mata is surplus to him and sanctions a transfer, the club backs him and sells Mata. After one season, it doesn't work out with Jose and both parties part ways. Then the club basically would have let go of an excellent, young player because (at the time) he didn't fit into the manager's plans, a manager who is now gone. This might explain why (according to some rumours) the club were considering a loan option rather than a permanent transfer.

Regardless of Oscar's potential to make us play better as a team, the reality is right now we're not playing well as a team at all. He took five shots against basel (the most out of our players) but only managed to create two mere chances. Although he scored the goal but it was Lampard who created the chance for him and who also created the most chances on the night. I rate Oscar, I do, but what I see is a player who despite being on reasonably good form and besides being given a lot of faith and opportunities by the manager, has failed to really make an impact on the team's performances or results. Again, I'm not saying with any certainty that Mata should play over Oscar, all I'm saying is that the team is struggling to create enough clear cut chances and they're struggling to execute penetrative passes in the final third. Considering this, my question is, is Oscar's contribution to the defensive organization of the team enough to warrant the drop in creativity that we wouldn't have if Mata were given a run of games? I understand playing Oscar over Mata against Bayern, Man utd etc. But should we really be sacrificing Mata's creativity for Oscar's defensive work rate against Basel at home?

You can choose to see it as "fanboyism", I see it as showing loyalty and appreciation towards a player that has served us very well. Wasn't aware that, that was (as you say) "a funny way to support a club." But hey, my bad. Also not too sure I understand what the point of this argument is. If the question is, is there a significant drop in creativity when Oscar plays in the no. 10 role as opposed to when Mata plays in no 10....I think the answer is clear. The game against Basel, Oscar made only 2 key passes, to put that into perspective, Lampard (who tends to receive a lot of unfair criticism on here) produced four key passes, basically double the number of Oscar's. I don't think there was a match this season that Oscar actually created the most chances in the game. Rather than debating who is more creative, I think the question should be, are the qualities that Oscar brings (and that Mata doesn't) enough to counterbalance the drop in creativity? What I'm seeing from Oscar right now are a lot of good individual performances from him that aren't translating to us winning games or performing better.

Have to say, I'm completely dumbfounded how anyone could say he was poor. The man sent in a good cross to Ramires which very well could have led to a goal were it not for a great save by Howard, he also set up a chance for Schurrle and also did a nice layoff to Oscar that resulted in a penalty cry. In addition to linking up well with his teammates, he also had (at the minimum), three shots on target. Linked up well, created chances for his teammate, put in a shift for the team and yet still managed to look a goal threat. This was all in his first premier league start, mind you. People have praised Torres for lesser performances. Eto'o put in a very balanced performance from start to finish to say he was poor is being completely unfair.

Good point and I think this sums it up. Look at the sheer number of shots off target taken from inside the box.

I've seen just one report claiming that and that's from the daily mail. Everywhere else is reporting that he'll be on 6 million (euros) after taxes.

Still early to draw any sort of conclusions about how Jose plans on using him but it's possible that mourinho might favour Ramires in the holding role. Although I agree with Choulo that in some ways Ramires as a defensive midfielder is like trapping a bird in cage, but at the same time if mourinho persists with playing him (rather than Mikel) in that position, I completely see why. Most of the people I know who are football fans tend to be Nigerian so I've been following the national team for a while now. I just think that with the type of attacking players we have, whoever plays as the holding midfielder, their game has to be more about athleticism than anything else and from what I've seen of Mikel, being a chelsea supporter and following the Nigerian national team, I'm convinced that he can't play that role. If we still had players like Kalou, Malouda, Anelka and Drogba, then Mikel would be my first choice defensive midfielder, always. But with Hazard, Mata, Kevin et al you need a runner in central midfield. That's just my opinion though. Having said that, I think Mikel's ball playing skills are very much underrated. From some of the comments, people seem to be under the impression that he plays as a number 10 for Nigeria - that's not true. He plays as a centre midfielder (or deep lying midfielder) and it's actually quite remarkable how good he is in that role especially under Stephen Kelshi (the current coach). His performance against Spain would have been classified as "world class" if it weren't for the name on the back of his shirt and I guarantee that many on here would be crying out for us to sign him for the pivot. Would love to see what he can do if he were playing in Lampard's position. Anywho, all of Mikel's touches against Spain. Absolutely a brilliant performance from him.

Could be a decent signing. I just find it very unlikely that a striker who is in the latter part of his career and has spent the past two years in a poor league will come to a demanding league that he's never played in before, into a new team (with players he's never played with before) and all of a sudden be able to adapt quickly and deliver. I just can't see it, but who knows. Probably a better option than spending 30 million on Martinez.

So SSN reported last night that the fee we're paying for willian is actually around 25 million, much lower than the fee Anzhi accepted from spurs. Still a lot of money to spend unnecessarily but certainly makes me feel a lot better.

I was thinking the same thing as well, but I'm beginning to wonder, would it really be all that difficult to give enough game time to six (albeit very good) attacking mids? I mean, in the latter part of last season, we also had 6 attacking midfielders (Marin, ben, moses, oscar etc). The difference now is that we've significantly upgraded three of those players. If Marin, Benayoun and Moses were anything near good enough, would it have been so much of a challenge to give all three enough game time? Something to mull over, I guess. As irritating as this Willian signing is, for the reasons that many have mentioned already, I don't think we should forget how incredibly fortunate we were last season to avoid major injuries to our key players (man city and spurs were certainly not so lucky). If Jose continues with the high tempo, pressing game, I just wonder what impact such a style would have on fitness (knock on wood). Also, it's entirely possible that in some games, Jose might try Kevin or Oscar in centre midfield. In the preseason game against Real Madrid, he briefly moved kdb deeper and also did the same with Oscar against Villa. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see one of those two make some appearances in centre midfield. Anyway, my point is that offloading Moses (who, for all his cute little dribbling and running, can't put in a decent ball into the box and isn't functional) and bringing in Willian gives jose a very, very good crop of attacking options which allows for tactically flexibility.

Pretty ambiguous words to me. Compare this statement to the one he made about Luiz where he said "absolutely no chance." Anyway, whether we like it or not Willian will be a Chelsea player. We'll just have to wait and see who gives way for his arrival.

I try to avoid commenting on transfer speculations, but I have a very bad feeling about all of this. I know a lot of people are convinced that Rooney will stay at Utd, but something tells me that we haven't heard the end of it yet and I can only hope that Mata won't be used as leverage. Fyi, really interesting interview with Pat Nevin on Newstalk - http://www.newstalk.ie/Can-Mata-to-United-be-totally-ruled-out