Chelsea 1-1 Birmingham

[FStopSniper 0]

Very disapointing, to say the least. I was really surprised with Lampard's attitude when he came in, appeared to be going through the motions. There's something that is just rotten in this club right now, it's a combination of things. It's not entirely AVB's fault but some of his tactics are appalling, and the 4-3-3 doesn't benefit any of our players, but some of the players don't even bother anymore, Mikel, Malouda, Drogba, who despite the cries from some of the fans to play him over Torres, didn't make much difference today, Kalou, even Lampard and Cole, etc.

I somehow thought we would fare well against Napoli because we always manage to perform in big matches, but those days seem to be getting farther and farther away.

[eldo 868]

Anyone notice how bad Drogba was when he came on? yes he might have fired up the team a little due to his personality but other than that he was useless. His inclusion simply led to Luiz and Raul playing long ball after long ball into drogba who wasn't able to really do anything significant with it. The problem today was the midfield. There were so many instances when I saw all three midfielders bunched together, ball watching and then Birghingham switched the play and were on the attack. Also, Luiz and Cahill were doing all the work pushing the ball upfield. Our Midfield had no presence, the passing was frankly horrible and the link up play was as usual, terrible. Everyone slams Torres but honestly, how is he supposed to score if he has to go to pretty much the halfway line to see the ball?? We need strong midfielders who will dictate the game and be creative in the opposition half. MEIREILES CAN NOT DO THIS. Neither can Mikel nor ramires.

There are alot of issues within CFC at the moment and I don't think anyone can correctly identify what is really happening. All I know is that hoofing the ball up to an out of form Drogba isn't gonna solve our problems in the long or short term.

Torres could sometimes drop deeper.

[Changingman_2000 876]

When you look back to the fluid performance against Bolton away, everything seemed to be clicking nicely into place. Since then however they have been little short of fucking awful. Disjointed, passionless and ordinary..........We have a lot in common with the arse just now.

[gary gordon 1,777]

I find it hard to believe only 2 seasons ago and with relatively the same team, we manage to score over 130 goals in 1 season... As Stu from The Hangover would say, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!!!!!

[James 5,142]

[Jase 43,479]

A replay and it's a match we could have done without. Our record at St. Andrews in recent years have been dodgy and Birmingham are still unbeaten at home this season.

On the game, I really can't be bothered to comment on the performances and results anymore. It's the same old crap every week since that Man City game. If we win, yay. If not, whatever. I'll just look forward to the next game with blind optimism. Already looking forward to the next season TBH!

[Styles 9,790]

Our midfield is just so poor it's beyond a joke now.

Meireles is just terrible. I have no words to describe just how awful he truly is. I hope he never plays another minute for this club.

Ramires is a great athlete but a rubbish footballer.

The team started kicking it long in the second half just to get the ball from back to front because our midfield is incapable of doing so. How depressing is that? Long ball football against a Championship side because you have to bypass your midfield.

[communicate 2,703]

I find it hard to believe only 2 seasons ago and with relatively the same team, we manage to score over 130 goals in 1 season... As Stu from The Hangover would say, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!!!!!

U just answered your own question. It was two seasons ago. And remember back then lamp and drog were 31

[HNKS 508]

Our midfield is just so poor it's beyond a joke now.

Meireles is just terrible. I have no words to describe just how awful he truly is. I hope he never plays another minute for this club.

Ramires is a great athlete but a rubbish footballer.

The team started kicking it long in the second half just to get the ball from back to front because our midfield is incapable of doing so. How depressing is that? Long ball football against a Championship side because you have to bypass your midfield.

How is Ramires rubbish? He can go on great runs and has won us penalties on numerous occasions. He adds energy to our midfield and actually tries to close down the opposition. He is one of our most consistent players. Next time dont talk unless you know what you are talking about.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

The guy at the beginning looks like Ancelotti.

[GodZola 630]

Anyone notice how bad Drogba was when he came on? yes he might have fired up the team a little due to his personality but other than that he was useless. His inclusion simply led to Luiz and Raul playing long ball after long ball into drogba who wasn't able to really do anything significant with it. The problem today was the midfield. There were so many instances when I saw all three midfielders bunched together, ball watching and then Birghingham switched the play and were on the attack. Also, Luiz and Cahill were doing all the work pushing the ball upfield. Our Midfield had no presence, the passing was frankly horrible and the link up play was as usual, terrible. Everyone slams Torres but honestly, how is he supposed to score if he has to go to pretty much the halfway line to see the ball?? We need strong midfielders who will dictate the game and be creative in the opposition half. MEIREILES CAN NOT DO THIS. Neither can Mikel nor ramires.

There are alot of issues within CFC at the moment and I don't think anyone can correctly identify what is really happening. All I know is that hoofing the ball up to an out of form Drogba isn't gonna solve our problems in the long or short term.

Top post fella, you are spot on with your analysis. I was there yesterday & couldn't believe that AVB didn't take off Mikel & Meireles at half time, all they did was give the ball away, how the fuck Meireles got 90 minutes was beyond me & everyone in the stand! I rate Ramires but he really has to improve his technical ability as he also gave away possession far too often. Didn't agree with him taking Torres off either as he made run after run but was simply not given the ball, anyone who keeps asking why Torres isn't scoring just need to look at this game for the answers as our midfield was shocking, Drogba got exactly the same service - fuckall! Why oh why does he persist in taking off our most creative player in Mata, just doesn't make any sense at all.

Says it all when our defenders are out best players especially Luiz & Cahill, Ryan had a steady game & Ivanovich set up the goal & its good to see a player that can actually defend at RB, take note AVB & never select fucking Bosingwa ever again, please do us & you a massive favour by getting shot of him in the summer.

[manpe 10,857]

Our midfield is just so poor it's beyond a joke now.

Meireles is just terrible. I have no words to describe just how awful he truly is. I hope he never plays another minute for this club.

Ramires is a great athlete but a rubbish footballer.

The team started kicking it long in the second half just to get the ball from back to front because our midfield is incapable of doing so. How depressing is that? Long ball football against a Championship side because you have to bypass your midfield.

Exactly. Luiz's long range passing was top class imo, he was by far the best long range passer in our team yesterday. Our midfield is simply non-existent, we play every game with 8 men (9 when Mata is put in the middle).

[petr.breu 1,618]

We'll play against Leicester in next round of FA Cup if we'll beat B'ham

[Ollie 4,400]

We've been shitter than shit's own shit but Wembley beckons if we can beat 2 championship teams.

[TomCFC 356]

If we can't beat Brum and Leicester, that's literally throwing silverware away.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Draw has been kind to us this season, hopefully we don't fuck this up.

[Santiago. 1,500]

When we played actually well, Torres dropped down to check to the ball, like the false number 9, and involved with the play, that is when we played our best football attacking wise; Genk, Swansea,

[Santiago. 1,500]

Fuckin hell we drew Leciester City in the next round if we go through,

Lets get 4 FA cup titles in 6 years BOYS!!! COYB I STILL HAVE FAITH!!!!!!!!