Barbara

OMG *dying laughing*

Mourinho's face after Nando missed that goal. It reflects how we feel about all our strikers (although both did well last night imo). Even Eva is angsty about it, lol.

excuse me the double post, but this deserves a post of its own. This man is a legend in this club, but most of all, he's indeed one of us. x x When I first read these sentences by him I expected him to have said them laughing, joking. But look at his face... he's dead serious. here's the vid: http://yvett.es/post/71624536131/when-i-retire-in-75-years-old-i-go-to-be-a See if for one moment he's laughing. He isn't. I mean, ofc he's not serious about becoming a pundit, but he's serious about how those guys are biased and we'll never defend Chelsea or even talk positively about us. ONE OF US!!!!

he's perfected that slide, hasn't he? x

so much class on and off the pitch with this guy. He made sure to state this apology in his instagram account although he also made sure to hug Lucas last night just after the final whistle. We need him on his best. This team has a completely different (and more effective) dynamic when Oscar is in form. So happy he now is back on track. edit: here it is x

look at how affectionately he hugs those guys and how they look happy with him there. excuse me and my lame tearing up

I see why people want him to be more objective and clinical and I think with time he'll grow to be. I feel he is far from being comfortable playing in English football and he has to impress two managers and not only one and nothing impresses both Scolari and Mourinho than hard work and low error margin. So not only he still has to adapt to the style, he has to be careful not to make stupid things and lose the ball. Mourinho seems to like him alright and I'm positive Scolari will take him to the WC because the option (Lucas Moura) is much worse and too young. Scolari likes his mature players (not to say experienced). I don't blame the guy. Nearly all players going (or with chances of going depending on managers' selection) to the WC have it in the back of their minds. They won't risk getting injuries, they'll try to prove to their managers they should be called, they try (as much as they can) to have their club managers to spare them some matches, etc... It's their dream, the one thing they don't do for the money, but for the gratification, it's very important to most players in the world. So I feel Willian still unsure, insecure and very much tamed in his presentations and while some of it comes from adapting to such a physical league, it also goes through him working in a way he knows for sure will please Mourinho and Scolari and he'll try to make as less mistakes as possible, and consequently it means he won't go for the risky pass in the final third and that he won't shoot very often because those are prone to errors. We won't see him dribble (although he can), we won't see facing off his opponents, taking them over, and we'll see rare and far between shots by him. Which is all a shame, but I understand why him (and others) are this cautious.

#6 and #11 are absolutely hilarious!!!!!!! I looooooove it when opponent fans lose their shit with our AMAZING players and they just start hating on them because that's all they can do. LOL And the comment about them being back not where they're called to be, but where they BELONG is too amusing for words. #7 also made me laugh out loud. Rage all you want scourses!!!!!

I said just before the match that it came down to a point where I simply support whatever lineup he brings to the table. He knows those players better than I do and even when I disagree I'll support because I know he has a plan in mind and I just trust his assessment and his tactics. Today he had the team I would have liked to see and I think we played very good, entertaining, effective football. The way this team presses high in the pitch, the way those players are finally buying his ideas and going by them, the way we attack and counter-attack. Everything is coming together very nicely and I guess it's now time to mature those tactics. If the players can carry on performances like that more often and for most part of the 90 minutes like they did today, in all honesty we'll be unplayable against 85% of the teams we face. It's too much pressure we put on the opposition, we seem to surround them and dominate them in a way that they don't know what they fear more, when we have the ball and stars like Hazard, Mata, Lampard, Oscar can make a play or take a shot, or when they have the ball and we have Oscar, Willian, Azpili, Ramires, Luiz, Hazard enclosing them and being a constant threat to their possession either in the second third, or worse, in the attacking third. It's going to be very hard to play against us (and note I'm saying play, not win) because we just don't allow the other team to play. That's how we control those matches, they have their possession basically in the first and second third, while we press high and hard, and we have possession in the second and in the third, also being very effective in the counter. Of course, the team isn't there yet, they're still polishing those tactics, but once they're mature and finished, even if we don't have the most attractive football out there (we'd be very far, far, far away from having ugly football too), we'll have a feared kind of football, the kind that suffocates the opposition and just imposes itself. CAN. NOT. WAIT.

once again very entertaining read provided by you, Lex.

I want him there too, but I feel like we have such a bad left side right now. Cole is easily ran by opposition these days and he doesn't contribute too much in the attack. Bertrand isn't that great (although I guess he's improved a bit) and he's been off way too long and had an injury. If Iva could rotate with him in the left then I'd love to watch Azpili more often in the right. There's a significant gap between them and all other options we have for the left. Iva is a non-factor attacking because of his terrible crossing, but he's still very good aerially and defensively and he holds the ball pretty well in the attack imo. Azpili improved a lot defensively and I wish he played more often in his position to give him a chance to improve his crosses as well (although his are better than Iva's - I don't think it's humanly possible to be worse than Iva crossing). He's been flawless in many matches for us this season, absolutely class player.

His voice was very hoarse in that post-match interview and I wonder if he isn't a bit under the weather (or maybe he had to scream too much during the match). I think early in the match he's made a few mistakes positioning himself as a CM and also in a few tackles, looking sort of clueless. But he quickly got used to the position and his contributions in the attack are incredible. I hope to find a gif of that ball right in the midfield he received from Oscar. It was a tough pass he's received and he got rid of his man with one touch (I guess he nutmegged him) and then he passed quickly to Hazard or Eto'o (can't remember) and left said player in a 1v1 play, in front of Mignolet. There's a lot of quality in his pass, but I really want him to play as a CB. I hope he also finds his best form for us as a CB and we can rotate the three guys we have because we do have a lot of matches and we should protect Terry's body as much as possible, given his age and pronity to injuries.

It really makes me happy to see him improving. I guess he's not only playing well, but improving as a footballer. He was once again flawless and I don't see any way Luiz could displace him based on their current form. I may even be willing to change my opinion about his overall status. If he keeps improving and positions himself like he did today more often, I just can't consider him a squad player anymore, he'll be first team material regardless of the other options we have. It's also very good to have him this confident and solid, so we can rest Terry more often without getting nightmares about a partnership between Gary and David. I think he had a better match than Terry today and not because Terry was shocking - both were very solid - but because he was simply more solid imo. Way to go, Gary!

I'd like to stress something because I've read the opposite a few times here the past few days. We aren't winning with minimum scoreline because of a style. I read somewhere people syaing we win 1x0, 2x1. That's because of the inneficiency of our attack (mainly our strikers) and some out of this world defenses and clearances by opposition. Back in 2004 we won by minumum because it was Mourinho's plan and system. Today (and against Arsenal and even against Swansea in the first) even after we took the lead, we kept looking for the goal. We were defensively by the middle of the second half on, imo, and played a bit more based on counter attack (I could be wrong as I was distracted watching a post-match report while watching it), but there were too many chances created by us before and after we took the lead. The fact we don't score more isn't because of a defensive system, but because we still suck putting the ball into the net, especially the strikers. The team is gelling imo and I see we're back to where we were in October. All we need now is the same focus, dedication and hard work from the players against sides in the bottom half of the table. How I wish we had a reliable striker, but if Hazard continues confident to shoot, and now with Oscar back in form, let's hope they keep scoring and partially making up for the disappointment Eto'o, Torres and Ba keep bringing.

Another great match by him. I guess he's fully recovered now and I feel really, really relieved. The way this boy gets our whole team together is impressive. He was very present in the attack, had a couple of very good passes then, an assist and he was brilliant tackling. That Lucas tackle at the endge of the box, that he then takes a shot, his ball control in the first half in a long pass from the defense that he then passed to Hazard was out of this world I'm still dizzy trying to understand what his legs did in that shot. He brings our team together, he presses, he tackles, he plays deep, he plays high, he's a very complete player and one we need a lot. Does anyone know an account that makes vids of all his touches in a match? I want to rewatch him today.

you know I don't mind your post-match cute (or not) nicknames, Ron. Go ahead, darling Also enjoy our Blues Cheers, mate

actually Fox normally have them up. He interrupted Luiz and Eden's interview and hugged Luiz, but then they've stopped showing and I don't know what happened from there on.

absolutely perfect match by the boys. We played very well the whole match, never looked really threatened imo, although they did have a few chances, and for a change we didn't have a bad 2nd half. It wasn't as good as the first, but it was a solid one imo. Hazard is my motm (still don't see a poll to vote) and it's amazing to finally see Eden on fire. Oscar was absolutely brilliant, a second motm imo. Thank God he's finally fit again and I can't help but notice how well we've been playing since he's been fulfilling his role in the team again. When he wasn't playing or he was in bad form, we've suffered, now he's recovered and so are we. Luiz can't play in DM imo. Yes, we needed him there today and I supported Mourinho's choice, but he proved imo why he is indeed a CB and not a DM. He was lost in his positioning a few times, still had some clueless marking a few times. The positive of him in this position is how he adds up to our attack. His pass at the end of the second half for Hazard (or was it Eto'o?), and the way he dribbled the guy marking him was mouth watering. But please, back to CB now (although imo Cahill continues to play better than him). Our defense was flawless, I don't blame them in that lucky Skrtel goal. We were unlucky. Lampard, Willian, Mikel, Eto'o were all good, although nothing special. Cole started shaky - as I expected, but he didn't compromise defensively (as I expected), so I'm thankful for that. And how great it's to watch Azpili on the right And once again the team and Mourinho shut up some fans here who were once again so sure we'd lose. I hope to meet a better reaction than I saw here after the Arsenal match.

words can't describe how much I hate this cunt Howard Webb.

thanks, Sky Sports for the anti-jinx. Goal by Hazard, assist by Oscar, they only missed including how long our strikers haven't scored.

@CHOULO19, @, @, lovelies, until when we'll have to stand this troll disguised as a Chelsea fan? His choice of pic and member id is SO transparent. He's getting on everyone's nerves. I trust your judgment on this matter

THIS IS BLOODY CHELSEA!!!!! FUCK YEAH!

damn it. The last thing we needed in this match was Cole

This is one hell of a game by us so far. I don't even discredit our defense on that set-piece goal because it was a lucky goal. We had an amazing dominating first half against Swansea too. This is some great footie we've been playing. I think our presentation against Arsenal was actually very good too, although it was counter-attack based and people want me to convince we played better football under other managers since our last EPL title... We're not there yet, but we're on the way

Terry is bloody brilliant!