Phil Driver

....................Cech............. ...Azpi.......Terry .....Cahill.....Bertrand ...........Ramires.....Lampard.... ......Willian.......Oscar........Hazard.... ....................Torres..................... Like Ivan but he fell asleep for the Basle goal ,Mikel struggled badly in Basle and did not protect the back four ,we cant allow Southampton to press us at home we need to take the game to them and this side will ,no sitting back we need to be compact and not stretched out with a holder keeping us deep with our three AM's looking to attack our two midfielders need to support them together. Otherwise if one just looks to shield the back four we become very stretched and his partner becomes isolated with big spaces for the opposition to work in ,this is our problem . Hazard was rested in Basle and returns,Torres is certain to play and at home Willian may be the answer when we should be looking to push any opposition back and take the game to them at the Bridge.

He should have rested against Basel ? Saturday night / Tues is 2 days rest Tues /Sun is 4 days by my reckoning and perfect for recovery and Giggs is five years older. But the whole team bar Cech Terry and Cahill looked jaded in Basle not just Lampard,him and Oscar really put in a hard days graft at West Ham and they both paid and Oscar is not 30 . Static players really should not need a rest ,Hence Terry ,Cech and Cahill did ok ,I do not know what happened to Mikel in Basle because he is a static player and should not have been tired?

Believe it or not he played the same game at Basle as he did at West Ham ,contributed little or nothing in both games ,what was the difference? ,at West Ham he was not put under pressure and was allowed an easy passage AND our great players turned it on ,at Basle our great players were feeling the effects of the West Ham game (esp.Lampard and Oscar) and Basle put him under pressure (as Spurs did first half) and he will fold very quickly game like Spurs away and Basle away are games our holder should eat up ,when the defence do need protection and cover.

Hi must be the first name on the sheet after the West Ham game where he was outstanding and dominated the midfield ,the Tuesday game came to early but now with the proper rest between games we need Lampard to carry on where he left off v West Aam .look at Giggs for Utd at 40 and man of the match yesterday preferred to Anderson I see a similar parallel at Chelsea with Lamps and Mikel ,one is older but has been world class with still mileage and Anderson and Mikel are well ,not good enough.

The person to blame for an unbalanced squad and for giving long term contracts to players not good enough is down to Michael Emenalo ,lets be honest our transfer policy has been dreadful of late we have not signed greats like Lampard,Drogba,Makelele,Essien,Robben,Carvalho etc for a while now and this squad is Ememalo's more than anyones as mananger after manager was undermined by the club while signings were seemingly made at board meetings . How can a man whose managerial experience amounts to girls football in America put a squad together. Is Chelsea coach Michael Emenalo any good? Better ask the girls... Michael Emenalo's rapid promotion to the post of Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at Chelsea came as a surprise but the Nigerian's limited coaching experience may be ideally suited to the Premier League's diva-studded world of tantrums and tiaras.Image 1 of 2Girl power: Michael Emenalo led Tucson Soccer Academy's U12's to the final of the Arizona State Cup By Rory Smith 7:45AM GMT 23 Nov 2010 Comment After all, the last time he took to the training field Emenalo was in charge of a group of 11-year-old girls. Emenalo, 45, was taken to Stamford Bridge as chief scout in 2007 by the then-manager, Avram Grant, straight from the Tucson Soccer Academy in Arizona, where he had been in charge of the '96 Girls side – the school's under-12s – for little more than a year. Even that seemed a strange appointment for a man who had enjoyed a successful, if hardly glittering, professional playing career, which peaked with his inclusion in Nigeria's squad for the 1994 World Cup. If his club employers were rather less distinguished – he had spells in the United States, Belgium and Germany, as well as a brief stint at Notts County, before retiring in 2000 after two years at Maccabi Tel Aviv, then coached by Grant – his coaching CV was even less impressive. Though the current West Ham manager offered him a post in Tel Aviv after retiring, Emenalo's only previous bib-and-cone based experience was a year as a volunteer coach at Virginia Tech university in Blacksburg. "Michael arrived in Tucson because it was his wife's [Erin Fahey, also a coach] home own," said Charlie Kendrick, a colleague at Tucson academy. "As soon as we heard people of their experience at such high levels were around, we took the opportunity to have them work with our kids. We could not miss that chance." Related ArticlesAncelotti's fury at lack of 'control' over Chelsea 22 Nov 2010Chelsea's power structure 22 Nov 2010It was clearly a task Emenalo relished. In a statement published on the Tucson academy website after his appointment as director of player development, he indicated that he saw his responsibility as "pre-formation training". "It ensures that the player, at a formative age, is presented with the right soccer information and training before bad habits, and inexperienced coaching set in," he said. "It is our collective experience that a young player cannot excel in soccer unless he/she can completely master and dominate the ball. "To gain that mastery, it is crucial to start early. It is also our intention to recreate the 'street soccer' credential by providing a safe, fun and culturally relevant environment that encourages more spontaneity and freedom of expression with the ball." Such a philosophy may come too late to turn John Terry into Ronaldinho, though the former England captain and his team-mates would do well to note that Emenalo's methods bear fruit, as proved by the Tucson academy side who came under his wing. That under-12s side finished the 2007-08 campaign – under the guidance of Emenalo's replacement, Charlie MacCabe – as runners-up in the Arizona State Cup. Little wonder Emenalo is remembered as fondly in Tucson as he is at Boston University, where he played as a student and is included in the Hall of Fame. "We do not really have a soccer culture in America," said Kendrick. "So maybe people at the time did not realise how lucky they were to have someone of his calibre working with their children. "Maybe now they see that he has got such a big job, they will. Those of us who worked with him are all rooting for him. If anyone deserves success, it's Michael."

Not until he has had time to shape the team ,analyse the players ,get rid of the players who do not fit and who he considers not up to standard and not until he has had two more transfer windows to deal in ,then it will all be on Jose's head and he should be judged then ,this is still a honeymoon period .

The Basle game reminded me of the first half at Spurs the team was stretched and not compact with the opposition dominating ,the difference was at Spurs he changed it for the second half, I am sure that will not have been lost on Jose and his analysis of what is wrong with us at the moment. With this formation you need to press from all positions and seek to regain possesion as high up the pitch as posssible.

Well I do not see the waiter at the club anymore ,you really should have come to a game at that time if you do not believe Chelsea fans have the guile to stand up to Roman,many were saying they would rather he left and took his money with him when the waiter was appointed,I hasten to add I was not among them.

It is because he does just sit like Maka used to and we are told his sole job is to protect the back four ,I agree with you the role died with the great little Frenchman, to convert Mikel to it because he was a failed AM was crazy and plainly he is unable to fill the role as Maka did whilst not having the stamina or speed to fill a more forward role. Makelele really did protect the back four and would initiate counter attacks with interceptions and one touch forward passing when it was on as well as making last ditch tackles.

I think Roman is now more aware of the fans feelings after his failed and ill advised appointment of the waiter and the fans that attend games will not be happy if Jose is not given a fair run ,the signs are from Gourlay and Buck are that Jose's tenure will be at least for the length of his contract, after all Chelsea are in the next round of the Champions league ,League cup quarter final and well positioned in the league ,talk of Mourinho's position being under threat is surely just idle gossip made for forums?

Man of the match v Inter whose call Adam Bate? Just explaining to you how you get a five on one as you put it , by winning the ball high up the pitch pressing and countering ,noy by sitting and inviting a five on one against you aka Mikel .

Son if I were you I would go and practise what you preach,you seem to be an expert on sucking and not football .

No I want him to push us up the pitch and win the ball and make the opposition defend against 5 men ,not sit static and let the opposition swamp us ,have a game of chess. That is how football games are won by dominating midfield and forcing the opposition back ,not needing Drogba to come back and help you do your job . He plays far to deep and invites teams on to us ,Maka and good holders win the ball on the half way line and as far up the pitch as possible so their team can counter,this fella ,well just stands still and plays slow sideways backwards balls that slow us down and invite 5 attackers to close on you.

And with all due respect to Adam Bate? Mou will have even more reservations after last night ,as I said Maka and Essien would have eaten that game for dinner in the past ,today we have Mikel . You do the sums. A perfect night for our shining knight who we are told protects the back four to do what is written on the tin ,I am afraid the label is missing. The excuses need to end ,Mikel is a myth ,second to Messi in young player in the world was just that.

Problem is you get a lot of knee jerk twitterers on here as well who know little about the game.

Lampard had a shocker but so did all of our players bar Cech Terry and Cahill ,Lampard is 35 and can still be brilliant like at West Ham ,Mikel was awful at West Ham despite the result and tonight in a game where Makelele ,Essien would have eaten the game up , Mikel did what he always does ,he hid. I thought he protected the back four? and sprayed brilliant passes ,where? It was the perfect game where the emphasis was on our holder to shine . I told you like at Spurs when he is put under pressure he is found out and we need to bring the whole team back to help him do his job,like in the champions league ,he is useless. As we were told by Glenn Hoddle and he knows about the sitting role.

How is AVB doing at Spurs? ,I have been hearing the players are not happy with him,funny that . A lot of knee jerkers on this forum ,players come and go and retire ,Mourinho must stay for the long term,the fans at the ground know this and they are the real supporters.

Cant agree he did at West Ham what he did last night ,he hid ,last night was the perfect night for our holding midfielder who alegedly protects the back four and is a superb passer ,Glen Hoddle was dead right and so am I . At West Ham he had nothing to do and was not in the game (he scored worst of our players on the forum bible whoscored.com at West Ham) a lot of our players were tired last night except the static players like JT,Cahill and Cech who did well,now I dont expect our sitting midfielder to be tired after his easy game at West Ham where player like Ramires, Oscar and Lampard ran their nuts off and clearly suffered for it last night. He was and is awful ,we need better. I would rather have Glenn Hoddle agreeing with me than forum experts to be honest and that was before the game.

Well if the forum decides Mourinho out who are we to argue ,what do we know? Football fans are all about now ,we have sacked loads of managers we get the best back and they want him sacked after less than 4 months when we are well positioned and he is working overtime on putting the team right . And by the way a lot of them want me banned as well . Well not many of them have my signature?

Great post ,Avram is free as well. Knee jerk reactions we are in the champions league next round,well placed in the league and in the league cup quarter final,come back Danny Blanchflower, who?

knee jerk reactions ,have a whisky go to bed ,wake up and look to the future you glory hunting fans who have jumped on the bandwagon .

Who do you want as our new manager then? Lets get some reality ,Jose inherited problems and has had less than 5 months to put us right and we are in the next round of the Champions league ,League cup and doing well in the league ,talk about knee jerk reactions ,this fella is a great manager .

Listen if Luiz was the player he promises to be ,he would be like Beckanbauer he has that ability ,I see it .

You want Luiz and he has a lot to learn ,but he will and could be great for us ,at the moment he has not earned his place and he was injured tonight,I dont know how ?