Closed Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle

[The Rising Sun 710]

Mikel has the talent, something that he had even 2 years ago,

He isnt consistent enough imo.

Today he had a good performance, as did the whole squad.

Just because he was on top form today doesnt mean he can Now be compared to what Essien used to be week in week out for more than a few years consistently,

I dont think he will ever be able to be a chelsea great, or even leave a stamp on that position when he leaves.

Taking nothing away from his performance today, but for all those claiming that he is something of a World class DM and directing witty remarks at those who do not rate him as highly as yourselves.... calm down, theres a whole season to go to evaluate and analyse each and every player.

Kudos to Mikel for Today, and i wish him the best to replicate such assured performances over the course of the season, whether he will or not is still uncertain.

[TheCount 146]

Great game and a real handy result for newcastle,

they couldnt get near us!

Thought david luiz was poor missed so many headers out if Ba or Cisse were having a better day we'd be down a few from that,

Mikel was better and meireles had a great one aswell which im glad!!! and remember lamp romeu will all have a place to play we got alot of games this year!

You do miss Terry to boss the line, still think david luiz home is midfield,

Hazard what can you say? amazing the man pays for himself!!!

Torres on the right track back to the good old days!!

Great result and well needed especially after the joke of a lose last year.

[FormerRussianSpy 163]

I think Mata played an essential role facilitating the runs and plays that Hazard and Torres were making. He was always making the penultimate pass that Hazard or Torres thrived on. Sexy football

[manco 38]

I'm here lol... he need to be more consistent with his performances.

Same here. Want to see him play this well against strong central midfield teams like Man C or Liverpool

[Jype 6,398]

Are we a serious Title Contenders ? Can we beat United or City , Arsenal ? That is the question that is on my mind right now.

First this match proved that we are winning somehow easily against teams that can be difficult to play if they were in a good day , this match was the perfect example , goals and domination in the first half , less efforts and more defending in the second, perfect match.Yes we had problems against Reading but i think that 80% were sure that we'll win that match , me included.

The question is that can we beat big teams and be serous title challengers ?

Arsenal should be no real threat to us. They lost two of their best players from last season and even though they got a couple of decent additions to replace the ones they sold, imo they've gone backwards after losing the best striker in the world at the moment and their midfield engine in Alex Song. Who are they going to play in Song's place now? Diaby, the man who hasn't played more than two games in a row for years now? Bitch please.

Manchester clubs both provide a serious threat though. We definitely have the quality to be at their level but there are still question marks whereas the Manchester duo are both pretty much complete packages already. United haven't impressed so far, but they never really play well in the beginning of the season and every single year they're still right up there come May. City were shit against Southampton but class against us, they should be top2 easily unless Mancini fucks things up royally.

Too early to predict anything yet. Us, Manchester United and Manchester City are all top3 material but I wouldn't be betting any money on anyone's finishing position at the moment.

[blue_swaggin_96 96]

we need play oscar as much as we can against lower sides, seriously i want him to merge with mata and hazard, they could simply destroy teams!

CAN WE PLEASE STOP HATING AND RAUL MAIRELEZ? he was amazing today and i feel so bad for him, he was one of those legend that helped @ barcelona, i much rather him then lampard, because raul has pace going on with him, lampard doesn't do much nomore but score penalies!

RESPECT RAUL!

[Kezza 1,965]

:getin:

3/3 games won

Excellent display

Torres' rabona , cant say he has no confidence after that.

Times for a trophy next Friday me thinks.

[Duppy Conqueror 1,494]

good pleasing team performance .Hazard gets his first Chelsea goal and Torres is looking like he may just turn things around and salvage his CFC career afterall.

Lukaku has made a good start to his loan spell,gave Spurs nitemares when he came on today. scored against the scousers last week. the boy is doing himself and us proud.

AVB booed off in his first home game at Shite Hart Lane and some of them fans have already publicly expressed that they think he`s the wrong man for the job and want leatherface back. haha.

Rooney fannied about over that graze and from what i heard so did Charlie Nicholas in the sky goalcenter studio. before i saw it i was expecting to see another "David Busst" the way they were talking on the radio..

pretty close to a perfect day really..

[Irakozium257 350]

we need play oscar as much as we can against lower sides, seriously i want him to merge with mata and hazard, they could simply destroy teams!

CAN WE PLEASE STOP HATING AND RAUL MAIRELEZ? he was amazing today and i feel so bad for him, he was one of those legend that helped @ barcelona, i much rather him then lampard, because raul has pace going on with him, lampard doesn't do much nomore but score penalies!

RESPECT RAUL!

Exactly, so many fans take him for granted because he is rarely ostentatious and makes human errors. Well I'm not ashamed to say that he's one of my favorites in the squad, and I know that he's a team player 100% mentally and he takes nothing for granted . Don't forget his performances against Benfica home & away, that goal in the last minutes is unforgettable, the way he eased all of our tensions and last, but not least was the perfect way to shut those annoying B'fica fans up. That pass to Torres in the 1st half was sublime.

[bluephoenix 1,126]

3 games 3 penalties, clearly the teams are scared of letting our players enter the penalty box

[Atwa 78]

CAN WE PLEASE STOP HATING AND RAUL MAIRELEZ? he was amazing today and i feel so bad for him, he was one of those legend that helped @ barcelona, i much rather him then lampard, because raul has pace going on with him, lampard doesn't do much nomore but score penalies!

RESPECT RAUL!

Today I think he proved that there is no reason to hate on him that much.

Honestly though I believe we always need ONE player to hate, unfortunately its Meireles now after Bosingwa is gone.. so people will hate him.

[blue_swaggin_96 96]

absolutely, i can't wait for the next game who is it qpr?

i really want RDM to put in oscar with hazard in the supercup, hazard might need a rest too,

i would go with

mikel-raul

moses oscar bertrand (left flanks)

torres!

i think thas strong enough to beat athletico, with cesar in for luiz brana goes back to cb

[Mathewe 65]

Today I think he proved that there is no reason to hate on him that much.

Honestly though I believe we always need ONE player to hate, unfortunately its Meireles now after Bosingwa is gone.. so people will hate him.

That's what Malouda is for....

Great performance from the lads today (went off a bit in the 2nd half but managed to keep a clean sheet), very excited by the combination play from Mata, Hazard and Torres. Hopefully Oscar can find his feet quickly (I've liked what little we've seen so far) and link up as well. Trying not to get too excited tbh...

[ZanSnake 1,211]

Amazing attacking performance, even in the second half we did some good movements, with some passes going just a little further then needed - but someone needs to tell Luiz to step trying to be like Alex with the freekick, a defender who can score them! Hazard is so a better choice but Juan is the main one i want to see to step up more often this season, since Lamps has been using them to test his power against the opposition wall then scoring!

Eden Hazard is going to be amazing!

Also, what was the chant the crowd was singing to Phil O'Dowd after Torres's card? Something about his weight but what exactly was chanted?

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

First half was impressive, second half wasn't as good but it was alright.

[Superblue 6,370]

My thoughts on the game:

1. The change in our attacking play is clear for all to see. Many predicted that we wouldn't be able to change so much so quickly, but the signs are very positive. The passing has been much quicker and crisper and the movement has been very sharp. IMO our attacking play can only continue to improve and become more consistent throughout matches.
   
2. Following on from this point, what is just as surprising is that for all the attacking talent we have brought this summer, the upturn in our attacking play has taken place with only one of those players having been playing regularly.
   
3. Which brings me on to Eden Hazard. My point above I think pretty much sums up just how good this lad is. One of the most efficient teams in European football have turned into an expansive, exciting team with just one addition. Without wanting to hype him up too much and jynx him, he is already looking like being what could be the difference between first this season or lower.
   
4. Some people may look at the performances of Eden Hazard so far, and think that Juan Mata by contrast has been quiet. However Mata is proving massively important too. Mata's intelligence in moving into space and awareness is helping Hazard find so many pockets of space on the field. Both are allowing eachother to roam around. Also I have noticed Mata is happy to hold his runs more regularly and dictate from a deeper role at times. Do not underestimate the importance that Mata will also have this season.
   
5. How refreshing is it to see a player who has come through the youth ranks and being given a lot of game time alongside a wealth of new talent. Not just that but Ryan Bertrand exudes a level of confidence in his play at the moment which seems to match that of the confidence his manager is showing in him.
   
6. At the other end of the spectrum, how refreshing was it also to see us beat an extremely good team without the influence and experience of Terry and Lampard in the team. It leaves us in good stead for the future.
   
7. The jury still seems to be out on Fernando Torres, both in the media and on this very forum. The ironic thing is that IMO last season he was playing well without the goals flowing; this season he hasn't been as good in his all round performance arguably, but has been scoring goals. The problem I have is it seems he cannot win. When he's playing well, he's not 'doing his job' scoring goals; when he's scoring goals, he's not playing well enough. The question is what do people want? You cannot always have both, and as our main striker, I would always take a Torres scoring the chances being created, no matter how good or bad the rest of his general play is.
   
8. Two more players who have had their critics on this forum, Meireles and Mikel I thought were very good in the pivot today.
   
9. There were still a couple of lapses in defence, and a couple of good Newcastle chances in the second half, but for the most part we looked pretty solid. Also no matter how much a team dominates, or how solid they are defensively, the opposition will always create a couple of good chances in any match.
   
10. Nine points from a possible nine, heading into the European Super Cup final and subsequent international break. Great start, and with so many changes this summer, it makes things so much easier to have started well.
    

[BlueSanti 290]

Do not be decived by Juan's last performace. Even Xavi isn't the best on the pitch when having Messi playing alongside him.

[Jase 43,479]

A couple more pointers to add from last night:

1. We have now kept 2 clean sheets from the first 3 league games this season. Took us 11 games to achieve that last season.

2. The previous 3 times we won the Premier League, we won our first three league games of the season.

3. We won 3 straight league matches for the first time since December 2011 and beat Newcastle for the first time at home since 2007.

4. Somewhat strange to see Mata hasn't scored or even getting an assist yet. He is still playing a major role in our attacks though and at least there will be others who can share the creative burden and add that spark upfront with him this season.

5. Hazard should be the main man to take the set pieces especially free kicks. Watching Luiz and then Meireles taking them was annoying because their effort are usually way off target and doesn't have much technique in it when you compared to somone like Hazard, who has taken them from Lille!

6. UEFA Super Cup to come next Friday and I desperately want to see us win it. Strangely enough, just found out awhile ago that Atletico Madrid's game against Athletic Bilbao is on tomorrow rather than today, meaning they'll only have 3 days then to prepare for it. Doubt it'll matter much though.

And a stat has already gone against us with regards to that game. The last 9 UEFA Super Cup winners have been alternated between the Champions League winners and UEFA Cup/Europa League winners and the current holder of the UEFA Super Cup is 2011 Champions League winner Barcelona. So, either we stop the trend or it's gonna continue[i'm scared of Falcao(and 1-2 others) from their team].

Also, worth remembering that Atletico Madrid won the UEFA Super Cup two years ago when they defeated Inter Milan.

7. And oh, we really need to start creating a bit more chances and test the opposition keeper more. Although we are efficient and taking our chances at the moment, we need to be producing more. Otherwise, can see us coming unstuck in certain matches. Don't think we've had many corners too in the 3 games so far.

Edited August 26, 2012 by BluesMaster