Closed Hull City 0-2 Chelsea

[Styles 9,790]

First half was difficult because Hull had clearly changed their tactics to a 9-1 formation for this game.

[MHL 47 378]

It would have been nice to see him applaud the away fans, who are continuously so supportive of him & chant his name every time but hats off to Hazard (and the others) for thanking the fans.

He did, and does so regularly. He says thanks on his own and wanders off.

Used to do the same at Madrid and that other team he played at. He also has publicly stated how much he values the fans at Chelsea supporting him through his 'tough' times here, when it was 'easy' to support him at that other team.

[Polo7 3,496]

First half was difficult because Hull had clearly changed their tactics to a 9-1 formation for this game.

You mean like what we do when we play against difficult opposition?

[Styles 9,790]

You mean like what we do when we play against difficult opposition?

Yes, exactly the same. I have never denied that we can and have been very defensive when we need to.

When Hull opened up even a little we looked like we could score.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I think people need to start being a bit more patient and understand the effects out tactics have on opposition players over the course of 90 minutes. We press high, but we don't do it mindlessly and the amount of times we force turnovers is absolutely incredible.

But when we've got the ball we're either breaking fast or we're constantly shifting defenders around. If they're simply looking to stop us then that takes a lot out of players over the course of 90 minutes (or even an hour), and they have to be spot on EVERY time to stop us. That's why it makes me laugh when people say they can't see what we're actually trying to do on the pitch. That may have been true earlier in the season but now we're playing a very distinctive brand of football that seems geared towards beating teams into submission. We still need at least one midfielder and Ashley needs to get forward more consistently (when he does, it just adds so much more to our attacking game) but for the first time in ages we seem to have a solid gameplan.

[Strike 7,252]

^Ashley Cole is still okay defensively but he's not bombing forward and making himself available in attack as often as before

[Special Juan 27,439]

Ashley Cole has lost yards and yards of pace. Team are actually pin pointing that area of us to get at, he got done by pace a few times yesterday by an average player.

[Bronco 4]

Lots of positives about yesterdays game.

4 league wins on the trot

Torres second away goal in succession

A clean sheet (Cech club record)

No injuries

Organisation looked good

Top for the first time this season albeit for a day

Another away win

A good day at the office and it's starting to feel like another Mourinho mean machine. The attacking midfield are terrific with and without the ball, fantastic work rate, desire and ability.

[Jase 43,479]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19jl2v_reaction-mourinho-on-hull_sport

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19jkzq_reaction-hazard-on-hull_sport

More post-match interviews..

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19kdof_reaction-cech-on-hull_sport

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19kdla_reaction-cahill-on-hull_sport

[Zola's Flick 57]

I was incredibly pissed by kick-off after an early start on the drinks so forgive me for not recollecting and thus relaying my version of events from the game sooner but having tried to remember and watching it back earlier here's my thoughts...

Eden Hazard - what a fucking player. He's so gifted, but has been far too inconsistent so far to be considered in that echeleon of talent that boasts Messi and Ronaldo followed by top players such as Suarez, Ibrahimovic, Iniesta and Ribery. Well, if Eden can carry on playing for the rest of the season as he has done in the last month then he will be up there. It seemed that everyone was challenging him to turn up more in games, win matches on his own, and he's answered those calls by Jose, the fans and the media alike. He's fast turning in to Jose's reliable Robben matchwinner of 2004/05. Let's hope he keeps it up. He was sensational at Hull, his goal topped it off nicely.

Rest of the lads did their job, pretty much all of them putting in a 7/10 performance bar perhaps Cech, although that's more because he had nothing to do hardly, and Torres who was poor until he clinched the goal that settled it which obviously lifts his mark up to a 7 in fairness. Perhaps Cole was a weak link in the first half, he got skinned a lot and generally it took us a while to get going but we didn't shed many chances to Hull even in the first half when we were far from our best. Excellent defending from the boys, as a team, and a job well done.

BLUES