Phil Driver

So he got hauled off for being excellent ,it seems the sideways passes do fool some ,they do. We and he were awful and gutless and Mikel was central to the way we played the sideways passes do nothing ,it is Ireland he should be stopping ,Rammy suffered badly as a result of being isolated ,sorry choulou but you do not continually get hauled off and dropped for being excellent .

No proper holder and protector of the back four as we are told this what he does lets that happen ,you are right if he ventures anywhere near the half way line he cant get back because he is running in sand ,that is why he just sits and leaves his partner to contest the midfield battle ,he does not keep getting dropped and hauled off by all managers because he is doing a great job,the sideways passing should fool nobody,he does not protect any back four as we saw with the Ireland goal,Maka would have spotted that run and eaten Ireland ,nobody got in that space when he played,because he could read the game . This lad is well short of what we need ,you cant keep getting hauled off and contributing to our terrible performances and get away with it forever. I am afraid Mikel is a common denominator in a lacklustre Chelsea performance and it is no coincidence.

Great point with Mikel in the team we have to be deep that is what he does ,you need pressure on the ball in midfield to enable your back four to push up ,how can they push up past a static holding midfielder? a back four cant push up and hold a high line with no pressure from the midfield it is easy for the opponent to just clip a ball into space behind them if the midfield are not putting pressure on the ball ,even the most junior football coach knows this .

Badly missed yesterday ,Rammy was isolated and looked terrible yesterday but he was alone in there with Mikel doing his usual nothing ,the class that Lamaprd has shown recently was not there and I know he needed a rest ,but this performance is always on the cards when the back up is Obi Mikel (hauled off again after another cowardly effort) full of slow sideways passes and a lack of bottle and guts ,Mikel was walked over by Stephen Ireland ,the class we saw against West Ham and Sunderland was missing yesterday and the Mikel ,Rammy partnership was awful .

No lets not have someone who knows more about gaelic football derailing the thread that now is settled with the terrible performance of Rammy (who was on his own) and the useless Obi Mikel hauled off again and our seven year mistake ,his sideways passes and lack of fight left Rammy isolated yesterday and he suffered as many others have who have the misfortune to partner him over the years . Useless and hauled off again yesterday and given the run around by Ireland ,protects the back four? I dont think so. Time for him to show us what a good player is somewhere else,you dont get dropped and continually hauled off if you are a good player,it is because when you get the chance you let the team down on a regular basis and the team are destined to lose a match very soon as the stats suggest because Mikel is playing. The slow sideways passing stats mean nowt and the notion that he protects the back four is laughable.

Yeah from your bedroom stick to gaelic you probably know more about that.

Yeah supporting them from your bedroom ,you know nothing about Chelsea and wouldnt support them but for success supporters like you are here for the glory ,nothing else and on top of that you know nothing about football a fanboy personnified.

No he is a and was again today do you not get fed up supporting a ? who was dreadful once again and yet people still make excuses for him when he has done nothing and he was not bailed out by our good players today.

Rammy was terrible v Stoke but once again whoever plays with Mikel is left on their own to do all the running and fighting while Obi is just standing there playing his sideways passes across the pitch ,the two midfielders have to work together in defence and in counter attacking backing up our three AM s whoever plays with him in the two deeper midfielders looks terrible ,why? they have to do all his running,closing down and linking with our AM's while he is swanning around at his snail like pace slowing us down and NOT PROTECTING THE BACK FOUR as we are told he does . Ramires /Lampard is our best by a long long way and will give anyone a game even when outnumbered in there. Time and time again whoever plays with Mikel suffers and that includes Ramires and Lampard while people will tell you sideways balls and no running is brilliant and exactly what we need ,it isn't .

I think this is what will happen for one season and both will be at the club ,like Cech and Cudicini were.

15? Why not go 20 . That is rubbish mate . So Cahill has made 70 mistakes to rival Luiz's? What mistake did he make today that you pin on him?

The ball to him today and his link with Lampard was missing ,that is not what Rammy or Mikel do ,he relies on service and someone he can link with as we saw at Sunderland the intelligent passing was missing and he suffered as a result .

Spot on . The time has come to right off Nando he was another expensive mistake ,he has had enough chances now . This kid needs to come back .

Mikel came off for letting Ireland walk past him ,I dont think he liked that from his supposed DM it looked as though he could not be bothered. Jose has said two of his players were so bad he cant comment on them ,Torres and Mikel is my bet and he would be right they were both awful in the jobs they are paid to do.

I will judge him when he plays again and is brilliant ,he was dropped for a reason .Until then especially as he is injured ,what is their to talk about? Has he become better without playing?

Irony lost on you?

Jose has said that two of his players today were so bad he cant comment on them .I reckon it is obviously two who got subbed and I will go Torres and Mikel .

No but you can for the foul on Azpi ,the pen on Ba and the fouling and timewasting he let go. But you are right the first goal was an error by Cech and the second was awful from Mikel who let Ireland go unchallenged,the third was when we were chasing the winner .

Thought he had his best game today since Cardiff .

With that posession if he was on in the first half we would have done a lot better AND he might of scored . Busy and bright when he came on . Has been the link with Hazard and co of late ,it was missing today with Rammy and Mikel having shockers.

You did not see the foul an Azpi for their goal? or the pen on Ba?or the timewasting and fouling that went unpunished , He was awful .

No proper defensive midfielder (that is what we are told he is) lets a player go past him so easily and he did let him go. Makelele would be turning in his grave if he were brown bread. Put him under pressure and he will fold. Got to do more to tackle Ireland or hold him up ,even a foul is better than watching him walk through.

Jose will surely get an apology from Riley after that ref's performance at Stoke he was awful and cheated us , I doubt Riley will apologise to Chelsea though he will probably be happy .

Ireland walks past our d/m who protects our back four ,do it Jose .

Calm down folks ,you can only dominate a game and we have ,just need to be a touch more incisive with our posession and link play another ball drops for them from a corner that is just bad luck I am more irritated we have not created and scored more .