Closed Stoke 0-2 Chelsea

[lionsden 4,689]

If there ever was a clear case for unanimous MOTM award, Matic's performance deserves one.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Brilliant last night fucking brilliant. Rolled up sleeves, gritted teeth and and stellar performance.

That was one of our best away performances in a long while for me.

[Jase 43,479]

It's the guy from the ArsenalFanTV for those who do not know..

[ManchesterMatt 52]

Went for Fabregas MOTM. 1 goal, 1 assist and could have easily had another assist with the pass for Costa. Oh, and I also thought he closed down the Stoke defence well when they had ball.

Matic and Mikel both had good matches, although the difference between them was obvious when going forward. Matic had a number of powerful runs and held the ball well whereas Mikel had a number of misplaced passes. Both good defensively though and it's nice to have someone dependable to step into that holding role.

I didn't think the Bardsley tackle was as bad as people are making out. He did go in strong but his studs weren't showing and his leading leg was on the ground (or at least very close to ground). It was definitely a yellow but not a red in my opinion.

#prayforhazard

[Myself 793]

And people didn't believe me when I said Matic was the best DM in the world.

[cosmicway 1,333]

Stoke put up a brave performence against us but not one that impressed significantly.

The commentators - members of Liverpool fc board of directors were appalling once again, "the equalizer is coming any minute" then "Fabregas scruffed his shot yet it went in".
Diego Costa lost his marbles twice. A bit unlucky in the first half but the clear chance following Schurrle's effort late in the game when the two goal difference was at stake cannot be missed.

Hazard's heel injury at a time when match typicalities were being wound up, proves once again that football plays dirty tricks.
Some of the worst injuries to players of various teams have happened during training.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Neville was gushing about us last night.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

well if you add up all of his CFC appearances, it totals 328 matches. If you want to say Jose then go ahead, but there is a reason why he hasn't been shipped off. Some people here will say no one is buying, but why is he playing if he is so terrible? I seen CFC fans say Scott Parker, Tiote, Huddlestone, etc... are better than him, but it comes down to the fact that Mourinho knows what he can get out of him & trusts him. Like it or not Mikel is a CFC player.

I like it.

It is Mourinho who signed him, and he only played few games under his first regime, time have passed, Mikel was oustanding under Ancelotti and Di Matteo, less under other managers ( Villas-Boas, Benitez ), but still a player that contributes, a definetly squad player as he is no near Matic, or Essien in the past, or even Ballack.When you watche these 328 matches, you could possibly conclude that he is a good player, but the that the argument of "different managers played him so he isnt bad" is rather questionable.We never had a better central midfielder, it is as simple as that, from 2007 to 2013 we missed Makelele a lot, maybe too much.But that wasnt my plan in first place, I'm not here to criticize Mikel or to praise him, I just believe Mourinho could make Mikel a consistent performer and a better player, and he is doing that, his passing and mouvement are slightly better, the training methods of the boss are helping him, or maybe Fabregas, I dont know, but Mikel is changing his game a little bit, gained more pace in his head, plays quicker, and I asked if it isnt Mourinho-effect.Thats it.

[didierforever 7,349]

Neville was gushing about us last night.

yup, but he is a terrible pundit. in the post match, why asked to discuss the team tactics and how he sees the match panning out, the guy actually had no input whatsoever.

[Kajo 176]

I was worrying about this game because it wasn't always an easy task to beat this peasants but this result and performance was really enjoyable! 3 points!

[Paul1970 250]

shit stoke

STOKEIST!!!

[robdog 2,084]

I like it.

It is Mourinho who signed him, and he only played few games under his first regime, time have passed, Mikel was oustanding under Ancelotti and Di Matteo, less under other managers ( Villas-Boas, Benitez ), but still a player that contributes, a definetly squad player as he is no near Matic, or Essien in the past, or even Ballack.When you watche these 328 matches, you could possibly conclude that he is a good player, but the that the argument of "different managers played him so he isnt bad" is rather questionable.We never had a better central midfielder, it is as simple as that, from 2007 to 2013 we missed Makelele a lot, maybe too much.But that wasnt my plan in first place, I'm not here to criticize Mikel or to praise him, I just believe Mourinho could make Mikel a consistent performer and a better player, and he is doing that, his passing and mouvement are slightly better, the training methods of the boss are helping him, or maybe Fabregas, I dont know, but Mikel is changing his game a little bit, gained more pace in his head, plays quicker, and I asked if it isnt Mourinho-effect.Thats it.

I understand where you are coming from. I just wanted to say there is a reason why even though several different regimes have coached CFC, Mikel has remained. Jose cleaned house of the players that he felt that couldn't contribute. However there are posters here who claim that Jose couldn't get sell Mikel. However Mikel started yesterday & IMHO played well enough to assist CFC getting the 'W'.

[coolhead23 1,147]

Very professional performance ... Matched Stoke for their physicality, didnt get roughed up by the intense physical play and the crowd ... Mark of Champions ... Let keep this momentum going ...

[Fernando 6,585]

Made a good point about Mikel alongside Matic.

But it is there where we would love a Pogba, or even Witsel instead of Mikel.

Let's see if we get spoil for choices this summer.

[robsblubot 3,595]

The article is interesting, but very poor in the way it simplifies things; in the way it makes the difference between the squads less gigantic. It kinda puts all the blame in their CMs which would be unfair.

You remove Matic from our side and we'd still have a number of players who can defend better than Stoke's (not to mention play better). Even our striker is mobile and aggressive, while Crouch is old and slow. William isn't very creative, but very good defensively as well as keeping possession. Hazard was all over the pitch and even not having a brilliant game was a thorn both with and without the football. Fabregas won several tackles as well. Not even going to talk about our back line which is a lot better than Stoke's. Mikel is limited technically, but pretty strong too.

That's one of the reason I think we miss the opportunity to develop youngsters: you can test players precisely when you have a consistent squad like we do.

Yes, Matic is a superior player because he is complete. He is fairly quick too, which allows him to position himself perfectly as well as chase down opponents throwing fantastic tackles on occasion. However, our superiority as a team against a much smaller side isn't down to a single player, obviously.