Chelsea 2-0 Man City

[Steve 10,227]

Yes mate, West Upper

Should of told me haha. All well, we will all meet up at stoke!

[Fulham Broadway 16,411]

Kalou probably the most influential on the game until he went off -he added another dimension.

Havent read all the posts here but I assume that our Brazilian duo are getting credit where credit is due. :eyebrows:

They really are a bit toothless without the bacon necked werewolf, and lets hope hes back when they play United......

[spuz 143]

Yea, and notice how SWP was having a good old bitch about us.

That smile soon changed after the goal though.

He probably should have stayed with us,better chance of playing.As bad as it sounds but we could really do with him sometimes.

This could've been a disaster in all honesty. Torres was very annoyed at being taken off, he was shaking his head and notably upset. Had we not won today, that could've had serious implications for Carlo.

I said this at the start when Carlo was subbing him. I said it would ruin his confidence although some female on here knew better.

There's something about Italian managers and not being able to man manage to the highest standards.

What's the betting Roman has had words with Carlo and we won't see Torres subbed again. Either that or the fans booing got the message across to him.

Up front I know I give Kalou a lot of stick but his style of play is exactly what we need. A second striker that drops deep, tries to conjure up something special. Now if only we can get a second striker worthy of playing for Chelsea. Kalou is the right type of player but the wrong level of talent if you get what I mean. He is just too weak, slow and and doesnt have a good shot but the ideas are right. If only Anelka had the brain to play the way Kalou wants to play.

I'm still conviced Kalou can come good. If he starts centrally all the time,he'll come good. He really should have laid it off to Torres though instead of trying that shot.

I wonder what a Sturridge/Torres strike force would look like,I'm still certain that Drogba/Torres will work well.Carlo needs to start looking for a more settled strike force now.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

I agree with most posts here but I think you're being too harsh on Lampard. He isn't supposed to score every game, we expect too much. He was solid and if it wasn't for 4-3-2-1 he would have had much more room to work with. His age to some extent is catching up but he has been almost at his best at times after recoverying from that SIX MONTH injury. Give the guy a break, we did alright. Malouda on the other hand was rubbish. I agree on the Kalou verdicts aswell, I really hope we start using a certain strike partership more often so they could 'gel' if you know what I mean. You say "lively, tactically better, with great vision" - I say Agüero and I bet he'd love to partner Torres just like in the old days at Atletico. KTBFFH

[steve5221 91]

I thought we done well yesterday and were in complete control of the game for nearly 90 minutes. With regards to individual performances:

Luiz - top drawer defender who's distribution is fantastic, is there a better alround centre half in Europe at the moment??

Lampard - you have to remember that Frank is limited in his ability and has to play to his stengths, which is what he did yesterday.

Kalou - Gives another option to our other strikers and is starting to use his brain a bit more. The only problem with him is his strength when he has the ball with his back to goal, looses it every time.

Torres - I thought he played well yesterday and the problem is no one in that team has the footballing brain that he has, he is to advanced for them. Our midfield is all about Strength power and pace not creativity. For Nando to truely shine for chelsea a playmaking midfield player has to be brought in. We have this in Yossi and im hoping when he is fit he will play on the left in a 4-4-2 with Drogba and Torres up front.

Drogba - He really seems to have adopted the attutude of fighting for his place and being a team player - very good to see.

Malouda - Absolute disgrace and I worry he is gonna destroy team spirit soon with his selfishness, you know if he is 25 - 30 yards from goal he will never pass, like a kid in the playground. What annoys me most about him is we cant play 4-4-2 with him in the side, has to be 4-3-3, as he wont pass or defend.

[Slb1989 8]

benfica amen lol. david luiz vs ronaldinho

[termninja 5,290]

We weren't to impressive in the attack, but our defending was amazing. I'm glad we got the victory. Kalou looked pretty good out there and it's a great thing to have another player able to contribute.

[chrismada9 1,948]

We've been absolutely solid at the back since David Luiz joined us.

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

Sky+ the game and watched after the Rangers match :champions:

As expected Citeh showed very little in terms of a threat, we completely dominated play from start to finish and should have won more comfortably. I'm really watming to Ramires. I thought he was excellent in the middle today and he scored a stonker of a goal.

Right now I'd say we were the form team in the title race. We're back to playing the football we were at the start of the campaign and I reckon we can win the title. I took us at 8/1 several weeks ago when we were out of it and I'm due a £500+ return if we pull it off :eyebrows:

[Steve 10,227]

[MikeCFC 45]

Brilliant win for us.We just pressed and pressed and we all knew City's resistance would eventually give in.Well taken goals from Luiz and Ramires who is rapidly getting into my good books.

Torres also had a good game,despite not scoring.He made good runs,good touches and got into scoring positions.It's only a matter of time before he does start scoring and finding his form.Also i agreed with Ancelotti's substitutions.Drogba became effective once he came on,as did Anelka.We became more threatning from that moment.

Credit to City.They defended very well and solidly,but maybe their previous game against Kiev was a game too much for them.

And hey,Balotelli finally mastered putting on a bib!

Happy days!

[DavidLuiz87 1]

I'm a benfica fan and I'm glad to see that our former players are doing very well in Chelsea.

I told you that David Luiz one of the best CB in the world and soon he will be THE BEST and he was very cheap, now you can see why we, benfica fans, stayed upset with his transfer money, we should have sold him for at least 35M euros.

If you want the best LB in the world you can take Coentrao, but you have to pay at least 30M euros, it's impossible for benfica stay with him next season.

PS: Sorry for my english xD

[zolayes 14,489]

I'm a benfica fan and I'm glad to see that our former players are doing very well in Chelsea.

I told you that David Luiz one of the best CB in the world and soon he will be THE BEST and he was very cheap, now you can see why we, benfica fans, stayed upset with his transfer money, we should have sold him for at least 35M euros.

If you want the best LB in the world you can take Coentrao, but you have to pay at least 30M euros, it's impossible for benfica stay with him next season.

PS: Sorry for my english xD

David is already a hero ,,,,money well spent ...dont apolgise for your English it is much better than his...

[Steve 10,227]

[Peace. 4,352]

This could've been a disaster in all honesty. Torres was very annoyed at being taken off, he was shaking his head and notably upset. Had we not won today, that could've had serious implications for Carlo.

Yup. I was thinking the same thing. When he was benched, Skysports showed Roman Abramovitch, and he seemed to be unhappy and annoyed as well.

I can understand Torres, to be benched and to not manage to score should be very embarassing for him. The sooner he scores the better...

On the game.

First of all, I gotta say that I was surprised by Kalou and pleased as well. He showed great movements and ideas. In the first half, he was actually the only player who has destabilized ManCity's defense. He still has some 'Kalou' moments, for instance when he shot straight on Hart, but he did interesting things. As many have already say, he linked up nicely the attack and the midfield, he is also the man who has the more complicity with Torres.

When he is played as a striker he is far better than when he is played as a winger... He has abilities we lacked lately... I still think he isn't good enough to be a regular starter, but I admit that against well organised defenses, he is helpful.

Before the game, I though that a draw would have been a good result considering that ManCity would have park the bus, and God knows the troubles we have against teams which park the bus...Beside, I still think that a draw would have been a good result, hence I'm really delighted and happy with this win.

In the first half, the game was rather boring if you sought for a spectacle... But in term of tactic, it was a good game. No wonder when you see that both coaches are italians, the tactic prevails over the show, isn't it ? City was defending very well, as usual I would say, and prevented us to have opportunities to score. Though we could (or should) have scored once at least, our finishing still isn't what it used to be.

During the second half I was busy, so I just watched the game every now and then... I've actually just seen, notably, the moment when Torres was substitued, Malouda's epic failures and Ramires goal. So I can't say whether we have played well or not...

Everyone has well played. Terry showed once more that he is the archetype of the captain. Ashley Cole and Essien have come back near to their real level. Ramires and Luiz were marvelous, though they scare me at times lol. Another irreprochable performance from Cech and Ivanovic. An interesting Kalou. Lampard still wasn't the 'real' Lampard, but there was a clear improvement. Torres showed good movements, but in my opinion he really lacks confidence. And then comes the only negative, Malouda. I don't know what he is thinking at the moment, but his play is absolutely wrong.

[spuz 143]

Sky+ the game and watched after the Rangers match :champions:

Good win. Although I have to admit I hate Scottish football,I love to see Celtic lose.

When I think of Celtic I can't help but think of Man u and Liverpool.

[Henri 115]

I'm a benfica fan and I'm glad to see that our former players are doing very well in Chelsea.

I told you that David Luiz one of the best CB in the world and soon he will be THE BEST and he was very cheap, now you can see why we, benfica fans, stayed upset with his transfer money, we should have sold him for at least 35M euros.

If you want the best LB in the world you can take Coentrao, but you have to pay at least 30M euros, it's impossible for benfica stay with him next season.

PS: Sorry for my english xD

You have been really good for us, thank you thank you..., Salute to Benfica But it must be frustrating to se all those fantastic player leave the club as soon as

they get scouted.

[pachman40 357]

You have been really good for us, thank you thank you..., Salute to Benfica But it must be frustrating to se all those fantastic player leave the club as soon as

they get scouted.

I wouldn't say frustrating, I would say that we're resigned to the fact that the money is elsewhere and as long as the financial rules are what they are then we can't compete with the big boys. That doesn't mean we can't be competitive but being able to hold onto players for another year or two makes a huge difference. Imagine coming up against us next season in the Champions League if our starting 11 included Luiz, Ramires, Coentrao, DiMaria, Saviola, Aimar. Those 6 started for us 2 years ago and next year I believe the only one left will be Saviola. It sucks, but we can't control it. The more successful we are, the more sought after our players are, and the more we end up rotating our squad. Same thing happens with Porto. If we end up in the Europa League final against eachother like a lot of people are predicting then it will only accelerate the cycle but all we can do is enjoy the ride and hope that one of our homegrown boys goes onto legendary status.