Closed Derby v Chelsea

[The only place to be 11,313]

Still would've thought Ba would play a bigger part for us this season. Especially against lower league opposition and bottom table Prem sides.

His sheer size and physicality would be difficult to handle. He'd score goals for us if he actually played regularly.

The weird thing about Ba is his lack of physicality. So lightweight it's not even funny.

oscar, willian, azpi? no bertrand... why??? wtf!!!

Not worth cup-tying Bertrand? Injured? Not very good?

I wish he had played a few reserves and/or youngsters...

Need to win the match and there's no game for a week so no reason not to field a strong team. Plus he respects the competition.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

Nobody is whining, we are just discussing about the line up

Yes, people were whining.

"Why not <player>????"

"Where is <player>"??

"wtf???"

[didierforever 7,349]

Not worth cup-tying Bertrand? Injured? Not very good?

since he has not started kalas in any of the 4 "cup" games we have played so far, its safe to assume we have 7 first team defenders. and now we want to sell our replacement LB and go a defender short or even worse spend 20mil on a LB meanwhile in the limited oppurtunities ryan has got he has been really good, so where does the "not very good?" come from... also last time i checked ryan was back from his "injury" 2 weeks ago.

[1chelsea 864]

Chelsea vs stoke city after the win today

[mustacheman 31]

okay can someone PLEASE explain to me why is essien the captain when we have the likes of Cahill, D Luiz, Cole and Mikel on the pitch?

[The only place to be 11,313]

since he has not started kalas in any of the 4 "cup" games we have played so far, its safe to assume we have 7 first team defenders. and now we want to sell our replacement LB and go a defender short or even worse spend 20mil on a LB meanwhile in the limited oppurtunities ryan has got he has been really good, so where does the "not very good?" come from... also last time i checked ryan was back from his "injury" 2 weeks ago.

He hasn't been really good. He's been ok but the guy is 24 and played 200 games and not made much of an impression. Probably time to move on.

Our replacement LB is Cole at the moment and that other left-back we want to buy is probably already better than Bertrand and 6 years younger. If Ryan doesn't fit in then it makes sense to let him go and no point in cup-tying him for no reason.

okay can someone PLEASE explain to me why is essien the captain when we have the likes of Cahill, D Luiz, Cole and Mikel on the pitch?

Might be because he's off, might be because Mourinho likes him or it might be because he's a better option than those other guys. None of them screams captaincy material.

[Kish9 50]

Chelsea vs stock city

Stoke*

[1chelsea 864]

Chelsea vs stock city

Stoke*

Thanks

[Cripen 110]

I am whining. No Mata, no De Bruyne (even on the bench). I'm not happy with the lineup.

No KDB on the bench suggest that probably something is up, he's going to leave us (hope that will be a loan) in the following days I think.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Need to win the match and there's no game for a week so no reason not to field a strong team. Plus he respects the competition.

Not at all...

We dont NEED to win the match. It is not like the future of the club depends on it. Of course we all want Chelsea to win, but still.

Also, the cups are a great way to try new tactics and to give young/reserve players some game time. Coming from you (a false defender of the young players), it shocks me that you dont want them to have some playing time!

And please, dont give me that crap about 'respecting the competition'. If Jose were offered 3 points in the EPL for a loss at the FA Cup he wouldnt even think twice!

The FA Cup is great and it has a lot of tradition, but it is not worth creating future problems in order to beat the mighty Derby County...

[Hutcho 8,443]

We will smash them.

Let's go boys.

Peter crouch awaits.

[didierforever 7,349]

He hasn't been really good. He's been ok but the guy is 24 and played 200 games and not made much of an impression. Probably time to move on.

Our replacement LB is Cole at the moment and that other left-back we want to buy is probably already better than Bertrand and 6 years younger. If Ryan doesn't fit in then it makes sense to let him go and no point in cup-tying him for no reason.

ryan has not been really good this season. in each and every of his performance he has been better than cole's. a lot of people expected him to replace cole when cole was dropped but suprisingly since then he has been "mysteriously" injured. so where do u want to move on and from what? good performances?

luke shaw costs 20mil right now, something that would not make much of a difference even if he was bought cos when iva gets back jose will fall back to

iva-GC-JT-azpi. so u want to spend 20mil for a player to be probably the 3rd choice LB, 4th choice full back when we have a perfectly good one in ryan.

[NishC300 1,865]

Just came in time to see the start of the game! Had some studying! Terrible lineup. Really disappointed to see this.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Not at all...

We dont NEED to win the match. It is not like the future of the club depends on it. Of course we all want Chelsea to win, but still.

We need to win the match so we don't face a replay. With City getting one then it might add a tiny edge in our favour.

Also, the cups are a great way to try new tactics and to give young/reserve players some game time.

And please, dont give me that crap about 'respecting the competition'. If Jose were offered 3 points in the EPL for a loss at the FA Cup he wouldnt even think twice!

He's giving Luiz and Cahill another run out and it looks like we're using the 433 again.

I know you might not get the importance of this competition but Jose does and if you gave him that choice, he'd want BOTH. That's why we love him.

The FA Cup is great and it has a lot of tradition, but it is not worth creating future problems in order to beat the mighty Derby County...

The future problems are an extra game or a loss of momentum. There's no reason not to go out and win this game.

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

okey i give up, its a 4-2-3-1 with Rami on the right....

[zolayes 14,489]

Not at all...

We dont NEED to win the match. It is not like the future of the club depends on it. Of course we all want Chelsea to win, but still.

Also, the cups are a great way to try new tactics and to give young/reserve players some game time. Coming from you (a false defender of the young players), it shocks me that you dont want them to have some playing time!

And please, dont give me that crap about 'respecting the competition'. If Jose were offered 3 points in the EPL for a loss at the FA Cup he wouldnt even think twice!

The FA Cup is great and it has a lot of tradition, but it is not worth creating future problems in order to beat the mighty Derby County...

Sorry but to most English fans the F A Cup is VERY important

[aerlgenx 49]

lets get it on =)

[The only place to be 11,313]

ryan has not been really good this season. in each and every of his performance he has been better than cole's. a lot of people expected him to replace cole when cole was dropped but suprisingly since then he has been "mysteriously" injured. so where do u want to move on and from what? good performances?

In his one league performance he was ok. He might have been better than Cole but you've got to look at the contest in context. Neither is expected to be here next year in all likelihood so you make money off of Bertrand and give Cole a chance to regain form.

luke shaw costs 20mil right now, something that would not make much of a difference even if he was bought cos when iva gets back jose will fall back to

iva-GC-JT-azpi. so u want to spend 20mil for a player to be probably the 3rd choice LB, 4th choice full back when we have a perfectly good one in ryan.

No I want to spend £20 million on a player who could fill a spot for a decade and probably has a shot a nailing down the starting spot if he joins in the summer.