Barbara

I think he quickly learned about the team's shortcomings and deep down he knew we wouldn't be able to win anything.

Brana seems very close to the Brazilians - which is random, but also cool. Remember when Rami had a barbecue at his house and there were only Brazilians and Brana? I LOVED THIS much more than I'm willing to admit.

come on, I know you're 17 or 18 (maybe 16), but let it go. That's extremely childish.

seriously, if this is not him being very direct about what he wants from the match, then I don't know what is. Should he say he wants to draw blood?

If Schurrle is fit, I'd rather Cesc feeding his runs with Drogba upfront. The thing is I don't see Mourinho not playing Willian... Willian has better work-rate than Schurrle, but Schurrle can win us the match whereas Willian doesn't look like a match winner (yet). I don't think Solanke has any chance playing, but I also doubt Mourinho will move Cesc frm the position he's been brilliant. Despite Costa having scored 9 goals, we're the team in the EPL that has had more different players scoring (10 different goal scorers) and Cesc is involved in most of those goals (assisting, building up and he scored one himself). He needs to feed whoever goes up. Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Drogba, anyone could benefit from his assists and build up, so we move him to F9 and no one feeds him... yep, certainly sound like a great plan. I can't with it. People look like Willian when attacking - just think things halfway.

exactly.... this is the one thing that makes no sense to me. So instead of being underwhelming in one position: ST people want us to be underwhelming in two, with Cesc being a F9 in England (completely different from being at Barça) and having no one to replace him at the wonderful job he does. I don't get people (to put it lightly).

? source, mate?

well, if the tournament is called CHAMPIONS league, it should be drawn according to the domestic champions and also the defending champion. This seeding system they have now is awful. Nothing gets worse.

the only problem with that is that Iva has been absolutely amazing in the flank. I think he cut some of his shortcomings defending from earlier the season, while also taking a couple of steps down from the amazing attacking presence. Fact remains he makes our right flank much more lively. Among those three, Cahill is certainly the one I trust less - the one I see more prone to making a capital mistake and showing shakiness. On the other hand, if the price for Azpili to play in the team once Luís consolidates his position is moving Iva to the defense, I'd rather move Azpili to the bench and have him taking turns with Iva in the RB position, splitting chances according to the opponent. Taking Iva from the right flank now feels like a sin. Also, I'm one of the rare people that likes him better as a RB than as a CB. I was up to him moving there when Cahill was a bit shaky, but if Cahill can carry on form, I wouldn't move Iva from the flank. And based on their seasons so far, all things considered, and the edge in the aerial game, in the RB it's Iva >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dave for me.

oh my bad then. The way you worded your first and then your second post I was under the impression he wouldn't ever be a captain here under Mourinho because of his questionable moral decisions in the past - especially against Chelsea. I don't think he's going to be a captain straight away when JT leaves the first team. And tbh captaincy only still feels relevant for England these days. Everywhere else it doesn't seem to matter as much as it did in the past. I love JT as our captain, but I also feel after him, I won't care much about it.

well, in the same interview Jose admitted Fabregas is a much better person than he thought. So there you go... he said he's a fantastic player and professional. I don't think there's anything wrong with his morals. He may have done some bad things in the past. He was young and he's a bit too hot blooded. I don't see what you possibly be referring to. Everyone makes mistakes, and let's not fool ourselves, our own captain - who I love and worship - has made more than a handful of things I wouldn't call the best morale out there.

love this pic of them. Mou seems to regard him very very high

José was talking about making him the captain now. He's very clear about it when he says why he isn't the captain (instead of saying he wouldn't or he won't be). What Amels is talking - and that is the kind of sentimentalism a football club doesn't have - is that he'd never be a captain here because of his history against Chelsea, his past as a gooner and one that had trouble with us. If that mattered he wouldn't even play here. That's the BS that only exists for some fans. The criteria for being a Chelsea skipper is time played at the club and then leadership qualities. It has nothing to with his history against us. Cole was a reference in the team, I'm not sure if in some absences he was the captain and he played for Arsenal... Pre-Chelsea history isn't relevant because the club and the team are professional environments, not love puppies that base their actions on sentimentalism. edit: Cahill isn't a shout imo. He's English, he's been here for some years. He doesn't have a leader bone in his body as far as I can say. It can't be only time playing for the club, they also have to be leaders. I don't see Cahill as a leader. He's too quiet and has a different kind of personality. At least that's my impression.

Actually what I meant by that single line was: it doesn't matter that the opposition was weak. We played a good match and we didn't settle when we were winning 3-0 on HT. We kept going and that's an attitude of a team that is hungry to win. I don't like the idea we should disregard a good display of football just because the opponent is weak. Most of the opponents we face during a season are way weaker than us. We have a few good sides and even fewer as good or better sides than us. I just meant that the quality of the opposition shouldn't disregard how good we played. I didn't mean anything other than that. And I basically disagree with everything in your post, so let's settle for that: disagreement.

I honestly tried to understand your point, but I failed. It makes no sense to me. We looked for the goal all matches we played this season - except the first half against City. So I really don't get your point. We played Arsenal, Everton, (plus Swansea and Villa during their best moments in the league) and they certainly could have hurt us. Some of them even did, but we drew more blood. We played much weaker sides at Bolton, Sporting, Palace, Burnley and Leicester. What could possibly be your point? It doesn't make sense when we look back because despite how we approached each game we played this season we've been a very positive team, looking for the goal except for 45 minutes of football in our biggest title rival's turf. Whether it was very weak teams or decent sides, we aimed to dominate those matches and we did. There isn't one match a part from City this season that we haven't dominated - even the draw against Schalke. And if we come to lose to RM or Bayern this season, it could be for about a million reasons. Nobody is going to make an automatic assumption just because we showed determination to keep scoring against a weaker side. I really don't get your view on this.

I see his growth too and I think it comes with having one season under his belt and getting used to the league, the style and the team. his end product though still lacks. He's much more useful now than he was last season and he's been better, and I can see him improving even more in the aspects he already did (objectivity, understanding with our other players, link-up). I separate that growth from the end product growth he seriously needs.

He's used to having di María in his pocket when Angel decides to go through the left, so I'm worried about that one I do hope he has the match of his life comes Sunday. Like Skipper said, he needs EPL matches to get used to EPL physicality and while I think José was probably aiming a few more doable matches at home or against QPR, if he has a good match against United Azpili can kiss that LB position goodbye. What will happen in the RB I have no idea if it happens.

I think it's okay to acknowledge it. He probably acknowledged it himself. He was absolutely unplayable today and unstoppable. I'll patiently wait for the kill instinct to be groomed on him. He could do better with some chances to score - and it has nothing to do with being a Ronaldo-like kind of player or not. He should have scored at the very least two more goals from open play. While I do point it out - I think he was magnificent. The little details will come with time. I'm positive about it. There's no way he won't improve the kill instinct with Mourinho working so close to him and investing so much on him.

He was absolutely amazing. We do have a talented new generation coming through our ranks. It makes me so happy

Seemed even better today in those short 13 minutes. He was rusty Saturday and much more lively today. Such a shame he's probably out of Sunday's match. Playing a big team in their turf, allows us to give Remy exactly the kind of matches he likes to play, running with the ball. Heartbroken for him.

he could be the perfect upgrade from Ramires if he had more end product. They have the same energy, are excellent defensively, but even Rami has more end product than Willian. But José and Willian admitted they're working on it, I hope José can at least make him match Rami's end product level, because he's much more technical than Rami and doesn't have the fuck-up moments Ramires sometimes has (both hot temper and wtf passes).

Amazing performance - the opponent's quality doesn't matter when you decide to play like that from start to finish. We never sat on our lead. We looked for the goal the whole match. That's an attitude from a winning team. I would give my MOTM to Hazard - who should have scored at least a hat-trick from open play - but I went with Aké because the kid has been marvelous while in the pitch. He filled the void left by Fabregas well. He was everywhere, tackling, tracking down players, pressing and that assist to Hazard was a deserved icing on the cake. Amazing match by Luís supporting our attack. He's an entire different level compared to Azpili, but I still worry about him defensively in the EPL. He needs to toughen it up a few notches and I think he'll be quite tested comes Sunday - but hopefully we'll beat United. Great team performance, Zouma seemed more collected, nice to have Cech cup tied - which means less teams will be willing to pay for him already in January (selfish, I know, but I want to keep him). We needed this kind of performance in the UCL after two first less than convincing matches. We need to be the leader of the group by the match against Sporting. So it was a shame Schalke could find a goal at the end. At the same time, that's Roberto, and I'm just happy for him.

we needed it playing for UCL. We've been on fire on EPL but we actually struggled on Europe. This was important.

GOLAZO HE DESERVED IT

I always have a laugh when Eden is taking penalties. It seems he's taking the piss, hahahahahaha amazing, amusing, perfect