Chelsea 1-1 Fulham

[Henrique 9,133]

WE SHOULD SEND AVB ON LOAN!! TO BOLTON!

Maybe he can do a sturridge and become the manager he has the potential to become!!

also loan all the young players with him to bolton.... develop all of them at bolton and next season might just be ridiculously gooood.

LMAO

[JordCFC 13]

I'm starting to get quite saddened at the recent Chelsea results. Very slopping finishing, at times, poor communication. We really need to resolve these issues. The premier league maybe be slowly getting further and further out of our reach, but Chelsea fans, we are still in the Champions League!

[Henrique 9,133]

Our team relys on Ramires, thats not so good.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

High line against Arsenal, and deep against Fulham? Can anyone explain the logic behind this?

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

No logic...

[Peace. 4,352]

Some thoughts inspired by today game.

• Ramires is to our midfield what heroin is to junkies. Our midfield can't function without him, he is the centerpiece. If my memory doesn't trick me, each and every time he wasn't in the team, our midfield looked lethargic, lacking of urgency, pace and energy. To my eyes, the difference between level that our midfield offers with him, and without him is really too big. On the one hand, it is good to have in our possession someone who can turn a poor midfield into a good one ; But in the second hand, this is troublesome. We really have to search for someone - a playmaker, preferably - who will take off some weight from his shoulder.

• Our squad is clearly too thin and there's a lack of quality. At the 60th minutes mark, if you took a look at the bench to search a player who could come in and change the game's physiognomy, you probably have searched a long time... There was an old portuguese who is now only a translator ; Two young talents, who for some reasons can't walk into the team and save our ass (they're too young and too raw for this - in other terms they ain't ready) ; Kalou (do I need to say more ?) ; A player who has no longer skill and who is no longer able to create things ; Finally, a 34 years-old big man, who - despite being the best striker we have at the moment - doesn't set the world alight, though he is the only one on the bench who could change the game. We'll have to renew our squad in almost every positions, because a hand is enough to count the genuinely players good enough to play for a title contender..

• André will have to tell the players that they are forbidden to make something they don't know how to do. For instance, if you can't cross for you life, then you shouldn't cross at all.. Huh Bosingwa ?

[5354 204]

Ramires is the hardworking player who goes around chasing and closing down midfield players....and the opposition midfield players will then make a mistake.

Today Lampard/Miereles is given the task to close down, but he failed.

[robdog 2,084]

Some thoughts inspired by today game.

• Ramires is to our midfield what heroin is to junkies. Our midfield can't function without him, he is the centerpiece. If my memory doesn't trick me, each and every time he wasn't in the team, our midfield looked lethargic, lacking of urgency, pace and energy. To my eyes, the difference between level that our midfield offers with him, and without him is really too big. On the one hand, it is good to have in our possession someone who can turn a poor midfield into a good one ; But in the second hand, this is troublesome. We really have to search for someone - a playmaker, preferably - who will take off some weight from his shoulder.

Damn, that was pretty evident today. Our midfield was lost, but TBF I thought the left side was weaker than the right side. I guess because Danny Boy Sturridge & yes Bos were handling their business on the right flank. Didn't see much on the left unless Cole made that run or if Mata was there. Which gets me to my second point...Juan Manuel Mata is a #10. We should not restrict him on one side. Let that man move around. Everything that is positive w/ The Blues attack, Senior Mata has a say in that play. Then his goal??? Mas Bonita!!!

[Blue Armour 4,168]

Didn't see the match, but I always knew we would somehow screw up our boxing day fixture...Can anyone tell me how well each player performed, please?

From what I've heard the Lampard/Meireles midfield hasn't performed to expectations....

This is why I suggested earlier that AVB should just drop both of them because of their inconsistency and play Ramires and Romeu, with four attackers up front, since only those guys and the full-backs seem to be involved in most of the build-up play....

[bluephoenix 1,125]

Didn't see the match, but I always knew we would somehow screw up our boxing day fixture...Can anyone tell me how well each player performed, please?

From what I've heard the Lampard/Meireles midfield hasn't performed to expectations....

This is why I suggested earlier that AVB should just drop both of them because of their inconsistency and play Ramires and Romeu, with four attackers up front, since only those guys and the full-backs seem to be involved in most of the build-up play....

Ramires was suspended

[robdog 2,084]

A moment of brilliance

[lecter 84]

Cech bemoans the dropped points apparently! The last 3 goals we conceded were largely his mistakes. I know that we should put the games to bed earlier and not hang by one goal, but these are the difficult times when 'legends' prove their worth. JT, for example, has done exceptionally well. Cech should have done much better. Hes not the only one to be blamed but his 'contribution' should not be overlooked. We desperately need a competition for the GK spot.

[lecter 84]

Just watched the highlights of the Man Utd - Wigan match. The reds seemed so comfortable compared to us against the same team. They were playing a shit XI and soon after the red card Wigan had all players behind the ball and yet Man U commanded the whole play. How can that happen?! We had a much better starting XI compared to them and yet we looked so labored against the same Wigan side. One thing I did observe in the past 2 years is that red nose makes them switch play between either wings so rapidly. Why do we not do that? Every single match we play, I observe so many instances where we can find a 'wide' player with a long ball and we dont. We drag the move and take at least 5-6 passes to switch play. I am not really keen on these long ball plays but we need to have that dimension in our squad especially to battle in the premier league and against the so-called small oppositions. I have seen JT and DL doing it more often than any of our midfield players. I think its a very basic tactic and we should look into it.

(If you are gonna reply to this by branding me to be a Man U fan, please quit it. I am not and actually am far from it.)

[francozola 2,040]

Can we please stop comparing results? Utd beat Fulham 5-0. Arsenal beat Wigan 5-0. So fucking what? It doesn't work like that!!

Players were a disgrace yesterday but AVB's Ferreira sub was absolutely infuriating. I cannot believe that he did that ugh

[francozola 2,040]

One question to the older fans - who the fuck is Nigel Spackman? What was his relationship with the club during the times he played here? The local broadcaster had him on as a talking head and he didn't have one good thing to say about the club or the team or the manager.

Obviously I've not seen him play, but every time I've seen him as a pundit and/or commentator he's been a cunt. And he actually has an entrance at the Bridge named after him. Jesus Christ.

[lecter 84]

Can we please stop comparing results? Utd beat Fulham 5-0. Arsenal beat Wigan 5-0. So fucking what? It doesn't work like that!!

Players were a disgrace yesterday but AVB's Ferreira sub was absolutely infuriating. I cannot believe that he did that ugh

I am comparing performances rather than results. I thought that was evident from my post!

[Liquidator 5,176]

Team for Villa

Cech

Bosingwa Terry Luiz Cole

Ramires Romeu McEachran

Mata Drogba Sturridge

Don't see why McEachran can't be given a chance, he can't be much worse than Lampard has been

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

Team for Villa

Cech

Bosingwa Terry Luiz Cole

Ramires Romeu McEachran

Mata Drogba Sturridge

Don't see why McEachran can't be given a chance, he can't be much worse than Lampard has been

Cech