Closed Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea

[The only place to be 11,313]

Good solid performance against pretty toothless opponents, but there were still bright spots. Oscar and Moses were fabulously direct, as was Hazard when he came on. Rami put in a decent shift and got the opening goal, but the standout for me was Ake. Composed but determined, he was excellent distributing the ball and worked hard in defence, cutting out a ball when the defence missed it.

It's what games like this should be used for - getting a glimpse of our exciting future and ignoring some of the more depressing aspects of the present (btw, Torres was shit).

[Billy. 2,739]

?

[zolayes 14,489]

that was a game of two halves Krap and Krapper ... on a serious note can Torres get ANY worse .. and shouldnt members who voted for Benitez to stay

reconsider ,,, you know who you are ,,,and we can all see who you ARE

[The only place to be 11,313]

About to contemplate Ake and Lukaku both starting for us one day while sitting on the toilet. It shall be enjoyable. Oh, and after this performance (Yes, I know it wasn't against Barcelona), I think Ake has already shown he deserves a loan move. I'd like him to go to Watford next season personally

I think we might need to keep him around to mentor Mikel.

[Leif 6,006]

I think we might need to keep him around to mentor Mikel.

LOL'd

[bushman 2,043]

I know you chaps are over the hill over Ake but Oscar decided the game.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Decent performance today.I thought ramires,moses,oscar,bertrand were good but my motm was ake.He was excellent throughout the whole game and next year might be a good time to loan him out maybe to vitesse.

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

?

Explain.

[zolayes 14,489]

understand the votes for Ake but thinking calmly ..Moses

[KingB 9]

Why loan him out? He can compete with Lampard, Mikel,Luiz,Ramires for the spot. If we always start 2 we always need 2 backup anyhow. Plus IMO he's a better holding mid than lampard defensively

[didierforever 7,349]

ake was good but the "MAN of the match" should be either of oscar or rambo.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Decent performance today.I thought ramires,moses,oscar,bertrand were good but my motm was ake.He was excellent throughout the whole game and next year might be a good time to loan him out maybe to vitesse.

I'd say he's already beyond going to Vitesse and there's no permit issues. If he isn't part of the squad then he's probably good enough to go to a Premier League team, or at worst a top Championship team. Physically he seemed to cope extremely well and he's always been technically sound and beautifully composed, but it's the mental side he has to work on.

[iceboy 992]

I dont have words to describe HAZARD.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Ramires was absolutely fantastic tonight, partnered really good with the youngster. He would be my MOTM.

[zolayes 14,489]

Decent performance today.I thought ramires,moses,oscar,bertrand were good but my motm was ake.He was excellent throughout the whole game and next year might be a good time to loan him out maybe to vitesse.

sorry overall performance was SHIT ..a championship team in serious decline with a number of first choice players out and we didnt look much bettert

[Billy. 2,739]

Explain.

what part the fact that i think Oscar will be running this or that Hazard it a don

[different level 1,056]

Boro were pretty crappy and we weren't particularly shining, but did enough to win the tie, resting our key players in the same time. Oscar and Ramires and later on Hazard did the necessary in attack to secure the goals, impressive debut by Ake, another bad one for Torres. Should be noted that this is the kind of team we should play in EL from now on.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Pretty boring game but I wanted to say this -

Thank you Alex for the commenting! You made me laugh several times which was exactly what I needed during this boring game

You're welcome. The evening needed brightening up, and some good old-fashioned English piss-taking always does the trick!