Barbara

I was really distracted during the Everton match... like really... but I wouldn't say he was quite poor, unless he played bad when my sight was elsewhere (actually when I had no sight at all ) - which happened quite often

Nobody knows that team better than Mourinho - not even Carlo (yet) - and while some may think that's not that important, I think it is. He knows their weaknesses and their strengths and I'm sure he'll talk a lot to the lads during the next couple of days and let them know exactly how they should behave and what they should do. Someone mentioned Xabi earlier, he won't play, he's out for a few weeks still recovering from surgery and that alone is one of their present weaknesses. Of course their attacking midfield and strikers are their best asset. Varane is also out because of injury so I think we could take advantage of that with our own AM (and depending on the striker starting). I also think Carlo is very invested in recovering Kaká as he was one of his main players in Milan, and I think that also works in our favor although he was decent against LA Galaxy (I don't remember against Everton because I was sort of distracted while watching the match). All in all I think we have a chance to bring our A game. I'm expecting a lot from Eden because even though this is still a friendly I'm sure he's going to be very motivated to play against Madrid. Our double pivot will have to work well and I suppose Ivan/Azpili won't move forward too much because of Cris. Di María is also playing quite incredibly and he's even faster than Cris sometimes. Isco is making a lot of long passes that are always accurate. It's going to be an exciting match to watch if both sides keep their level from the last two matches. Real was quite lazy against Galaxy and Everton, even a little bit uninterested... except Isco who seems willing to justify the 30M the team paid for him. I was quite happy with our defense last night. they were like a wall when Milan was pressing us, but that's not how RM is going to threaten our goal. We should pay attention to their counter-attack and fast players, so I hope Ramires and van Ginkel are ready to run a marathon... of sprints.

well, it's only fair to put Eden ahead of Kevin because of the season he had with us last season. That said, Kevin is still terrific! He seems to work harder than Eden - although I already notice the Mourinho effect on Eden's game (gotta love Mou). So I do hope to see Kevin stepping up and shining for us. But I also expect Eden to do the same, so I think he'll continue to be a step or two ahead of Kevin at first. I'm not sure which one has the higher ceiling, but does it matter? At the end of the day both Chelsea and Belgium are lucky to have both

really? I thought it was something permanent! Have never seen it before. It's just so many times I scrolled down the page and it didn't go I can cope indeed, Mighty Thor (but the minus button didn't work anyway )

you have to vote in the poll at the top of the page

Actually Mourinho said this in his presser after the match today: so I don't expect our best side to start the match. I expect something like yesterday's match... he'll mix half the best players to each half. I just hope he plays the best defense in the first half - when Cris will play. I've watched almost all Real's matches this pre-season and Isco is playing out of his mind. And they have Cris... so I think it's really important to have the best defense (especially the right side) and DM out there while Isco and Cris are playing... Not that it matters much... it's only a friendly But I do hope for the match against Roma he plays the best team at least for one half.

Mourinho is such a troller! gotta love him From Essien's blog for the site http://blogs.chelseafc.com/?p=3268

The minus button to hide the tweet feed doesn't work for me except in the home page (although I had to hit every time I reload the page, it doesn't save the choice) and it annoys me a lot because 1) it's on top of the page 2) sometimes I scroll down and the cursor (without me noticing) is in that area and instead of going down the page it goes down the section 3) normally those areas are smaller and in less flashy positions in the sites for a reason... 4) and I miss the old 5 latest stuff. I'm not saying it should be removed (although I don't see it as an upgrade), but I want to at least be able to use the minus button and never see it again. I already follow the site on Twitter...

Mourinho seems to agree with us about Torres:

yes. It's amazing. Collectively I can already see a few improvements. As usual in his teams you can often see the formation in the pitch. The difference in way they're moving to provide link ups and to cover defensively is impressive. The team looks pretty organized. When were pressed by Milan in the second half there was a moment when they shot (or tried to shoot) to the goal 4-5 times in the span of half a minute, but every time our backs were there and it was like a wall. Schwarzer didn't touch the ball once in this moment I'm talking about. We blocked all their attempts and we were so well posted. Individually Ramires and Hazard are the most impressive imo. They changed considerably in their weaknesses imo and they're looking even more solid - especially if you take into account they're still somewhat sloppy because it's just pre-season (especially Hazard). And maybe I'm desperate and want to see something where it doesn't exist, but it seems to me Torres changed his attitude a bit. He seems much more interested and committed. He seems to be motivated by Mourinho's presence whereas before I was under the impression he didn't give a fuq...

I'm happy that when Milan really pressed us in the second half we reacted well. I thought we could concede, but the lads defended very well and avoided it. Cole and Terry are so solid!

what a pretty finish by André

ANDRÉ!!!! THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM

Torres tackling and then intercepting a ball I'm shocked

Let's be honest... Torres is being decent with this passing (assisting) which is more than Ba did... But he still is terrible finishing himself... or stepping on the ball Andre, that was way too poor, mate

we're flirting with conceding there...

very nice play by Mata-Torres-Moses-Schurrle (including the finishing). Too bad it was too high

between Ba and Torres is so hard to choose who's worse

yes, but I guess the first combo was better than the latter? I'm not even including André and although I've missed some of the action because I was on the phone I guess we created more during 1st half or am I mistaken?

nice dribble by Rami

this Kevin - Oscar - Hazard AM is SO good. Tons of movement, speed, options, plays. It's so good!!!!

BELGIAN CONNECTION!!!! De bruyne!!!!

very French then? thanks, love

Brazilian says de Brunee (Bruní)

it doesn't look like a friendly at all