Phil Driver

He has been awful this season,you do realise he has hardly played and when he did get the chance it took 3 games before Jose dropped him.

Lets hope it ends soon.

It is the most important thing in football ,quick two touch and even one touch football especially in midfield is critcal ,the technique to play a first time pass off of either foot and see opportunity early is massive. The two balls Lampard flipped over the top to Ba v Norwich were brilliant in the art of quick thinking ,they were not long balls they were long passes made early into Demba's path, a long ball is a high ball into a space or area for a forward to fight for ,usually by means of an ariel dual. Mikel has not made one of these in seven years,everything is square,slow and in front of the opposition ,he never turns the opposing defence,meaning they push up on us without fear. If Mikel plays against Norwich we do not dominate in the first half,those Lampard passes were key to the game. Berbatov ,Pirlo ,Lampard all see things very early,they know what is on before they receive the ball. Mikel's thought will always be a couple of touches and a negative pass,even when other options are obvious let alone something very clever and first time. Technique means having the abilty to complete the best option available to a player immediately,be that a first time pass/shot maybe switching the play or a 1st time through pass or to retain posession by means of slowing the game down in certain instances.

Ramires may lack the passing vision to make incisive transition,but passing is not the only way to make incisive transition ,he can do it with powerful running and his ability to break up play by dispossesing the opposition and springing counter attacks . The Lamaprd /Ramires goal in the Nou Camp was the greatest evidence of this I can supply. There was no greater example of transition from defence to attack than this. With Lampards pass being incisive and Ramires powerful run also fitting that category.

Told you on this thread that this boy can play ,just hope he can push on near our first team which is still a big question mark. But he is doing nothing wrong and at 20 he is still a kid. He has got everything a centre forward needs .

Some of you think Lampards game is just about goals ,a lot of opposing fans fall into the same trap ,why? answer - because he was a goalscoring midfield phenomenon. However his game has always been much more than goals and the long ball jibe is just plain rubbish,Rammy has the legs and his passing is not the best and Lampard balances this with his intelligence an positioning,but you are right when the time is right as shown against Nowwich which was a major factor in us winning the game Lampard had the vision to play the ball over the top to Demba,making sure they could not push up on us giving us room to play,if you want to call that a high long ball,than good luck. Rammy could not have played those passes in a million years and nor could Mikel ,that is what you call vision.

As long as he doesnt play I will be very happy in the knowledge we will have a better chance of winning and playing well. He really is that bad and Tottenham away convinced Jose I am sure,Essien was on the bench at Norwich. Reality has arrived at Chelsea and he was NEVER going to get away with it with Jose as manager,that is what makes Jose great,he sees things that are wrong very quickly.

He is much more assertive when he is allowed to go forward? This is absolute rubbish,why do you think we tried to convert him into a. DM it was not because he was better going forward.

The problem with Mikel is he is poor even compared against someone like Gareth Barry for instance,who is not a Chelsea legend. He is just not a good player and we will see but the signs are Jose has his number. Lampard is ten times the player Mikel is even in the deeper role,he will not go on forever but when he does call it a day,Mikel will not be good enough for Chelsea. He has nothing to his game ,not only is he slow in body he is slow in mind and the Rammy ,Mikel debate is surely done,a partner for Rammy is a priority for the future.

He is not naturally very good on the ball,he is very slow on the ball and he has no left foot a big handicap when playing that role.

You leave it to Jose,you cant dig out Lampard there ,you are an embarrasment ,luckily Jose knows what he is doing,Lampard did well enough and was being saved for Poland.

Oscar great defensively?what kind of stuff are you putting in your spliff.

I am sure he is,that is why he is a football manager and you are a ?.

The Newcasle loss will have damaged their confidence which was high ,I dont see a problem for us here .

Anyone who partners Mikel is carrying a passenger,first it was Paulinho and Dembele who were going to walk over Lampard,now it is Fernandinho,the only reason Lampard will get owned in midfield is if he partners Mikel ,who has as pointed out to you,struggled v Toure before. You fanboys really are something else.

Letting players like YaYa Toure run at us,while we try to errect a static and square on wall on the edge of our box does not work against YaYa,we have seen that.

Not if Jose watches the tapes of Ya Ya v. Obi from recent matches.

Spurs subbed,Swindon,Steau and Norwich is three and a half and you can't see Mikel starting the next game,can you?

Rubbish i can say Lampard has played very well,he is in the team and the team is winning and Rammy and Lampard is our first choice midfield. You are right he has adapted his game and will not score as much.

It is the Essien inclusion that speaks volumes for me ,my obsession is with Chelsea winning,nothing else, youdo not think Essien on the bench was a signal? We were told Obi was being saved for Norwich?

Charlie Adam? What has he got to do with Lampard? That is like comparing Mikel with Malelele. Ridiculous.

Why don't the fanboys stay off the Lampard thread after all we are winning and playing well since Spurs in the second half and Lamps has been a very big part of that go on the Mikel thread and try to work out why he was not even on the bench. Lamps is class and is playing very well and we are winning.

And you can't misplace passes that are short and backwards some behind our full backs as. Mikel does,in a million years Mikel does not see those early passes for Demba,he would have rolled 90% of his passes sideways/backwards and that is why he has been dropped.

Yes but you thought Mikel was superb against Fulham,he wasn't. Lampard set the tone yesterday his early passes to Demba not only created the goal,but they put Norwich on the back foot and made them play deeper. He controlled the midfield especially first half when we should have scored more.

I know it was only Swindon but his attitude looked very good in the same game that Jose thought KDB's attitude was wrong . Only see him as a stand by though to be honest ,but his experience could be invaluable at times . On the bench so Jose clearly sees him as having something and one he can trust to do a job.