Grumble, grumble, grumble. I thought now that we'd got rid of Benitez we might actually start winning finals we played, but today turned out to be yet another loss.

Admittedly this loss was to the European Champions, and current 'best team in Europe'. And at no time did we look out of our depth playing against them. But still, losing to them like this, bites big time.

After this loss I must confess that I'm not much inclined to go into this match in any great detail. Not so much that we lost, but in the manner we lost. On a p*ss poor penalty from Lukaku. I mean, what the hell sort of penalty was that? I know people in wheelchairs with no feeling below the waist that can kick the f*cking ball harder than that.

And yes, I know, I know, Lukaku is - at 20 - just a kid. So he's allowed his schoolboy errors. But make them on the training pitch, not in a European final! Honestly, I know this sounds like sour-grapes, but if he'd put his foot through the ball and the keeper saved it, then no harm no foul. But that pathetic pseudo-step run up and p*ss poor kick really got my goat. You want to see how a penalty is taken, watch Super Frankie Lampard and put your f*cking laces through the shot!

Anyway, bile and anger and recrimination aside, we drew 2 v 2 in normal time against the Champions League winners. Torres scored. Hazard scored. And we had a stoic backs against the wall performance (so Chelsea) when Ramires got sent off. We could've easily knicked it but Neuer saved from Hazard,then from Luiz, Oscar went close and Ivanovic headed against the crossbar. But it was not to be, and as I said to mates after the match, 'If we were going to lose against them in a European final on penalties, better in the Super Cup than in the Champion's League final'.

Still, Jose will not be a happy camper losing to Pep, and Lukaku will rightfully get an earful. But let's take the positives out of the game and look forward to the team getting better as the season goes on.

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Two matches played, two matches won. This game against Aston Villa will go down in the history books as more of the 'old' Chelsea from the Jose 1.0 era (grinding out wins when we probably didn't deserve them) rather than from the sure to be swashbuckling Jose 2.0 era that will shortly be coming to a football ground (or TV set) near you.

Chelsea had an obscene amount of possession in this match, but really struggled to make it pay against a very well organized Villa team. This remember is a team that lost 8 v 0 the last time they visited Stamford Bridge, so the transformation in them is nothing short of remarkable.

In this match Chelsea started brightly enough, and after a tricky move early on racked up an own goal after a Hazard shot bounced off their keeper and onto the unlucky Antonio Luna. Chelsea barely put a foot wrong for the rest of the half (without really working out the Villa keeper unduly) but were made to pay for their lack of a cutting edge when, deep into first-half stoppage time, Gabriel Agbonlahor cut a ball back from the left wing to Christian Benteke. The Villa forward (who I must admit I thoroughly dislike as his skill barely masks his thuggery) took the ball down with his first touch, then - in a very Drogba-esque move - swiveled on a dime and buried the ball inside the near post.

Needless to say losing a goal just before half-time would've taken the wind out of the sails of the Chelsea team when they went in for their cut up oranges and Lucozade.

The expected Chelsea onslaught in the second half never eventuated, and while we continued to boss the possession, we certainly weren't bossing the match. And but for a couple of great save from Cech late on, Jose could lost his first home match at Stamford Bridge since the battle of Hastings.

Losing the match would've been harsh on us though. But if I'm being honest here, them losing is probably a bit harsh on them. But, thanks to a towering Ivanovic header late on (from a terrific Frank Lampard free kick) we snatched all three points, and the Jose revolution gathers pace.

For the second match on the spin we faded badly in the second half, though. Whether this is because Jose is pushing them too hard with double sessions at training, I cannot say. But one thing is for sure, it is way too early in the season for our lads to be running out of puff with half an hour to go.

Only really noteworthy mention from a Chelsea player perspective in this match was Juan Mata, who had a 'mare of a game. His inability to tackle or track back is often masked by his many touches of genius. But sadly there was no genius on display here. Just a player who seemed ill at ease with how the new manager wants him to play and produced a thoroughly forgettable display because of it.


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To say that a 0 v 4 scoreline against an unlucky Stoke team flatters Chelsea is somewhat of an understatement. With halftime approaching, and the score locked at 0 v 0, Stoke were looking the much better team, with about 60% of the possession. (Yes, against Chelsea!)

The one bright spot in an otherwise dire first half was a move when Chelsea strung a whole bunch of passes together (to cries from the Stoke fans of, 'Boring! Boring!'). A move that ended up with Eden Hazard and Bemba Ba combining brilliantly to set up Super Franky Lampard from a metre and a half out. Only for the shot to be saved by Stoke's very impressive keeper, Begovic, when he stuck out his right leg in the nick of time. 
 
Bravery favours the fortunate however, and deep into first half injury time a cross came in from the right and Jonathan Walters provided a beautiful moment of keystone cop defending by heading into an unguarded net. And as the old saying goes, there is no better time to score than just before half-time!

Chelsea played a lot better after the break and started stringing passes together and bossing the play. But Stoke too were playing with increased urgency (no doubt born out of a feeling of injustice at having to go in at half time one nil down) and were really charging up and down the field and throwing their weight around. And they are a very big team to start with!

Things went from bad to worse for Stoke on the 62nd minute when that man Jonathan Walters popped up again to score his second own goal of the game; and wonder of wonder miracle of miracles Chelsea were suddenly two nil up. At Stoke. A team that hadn't lost at home for over 12 months. Whereas the first own goal spurred on Stoke, the second own goal had the opposite effect, and seemed to knock the wind out of their sails. This allowed Chelsea to really start bossing the match (without really creating that many clear-cut chances).

Stoke manager Tony Pullis said in the post match interview that, "It just wasn't meant to be our day". And how right he was! Because, with the score at 0 v 2, Mata gave away possession extremely cheaply and Stoke went bombing down the left wing, and won themselves a penalty from the ever clumsy Dave. Fortunately the EPL's sexiest lines woman already had her flag up, and the penalty never eventuated. Had they scored then, the score would've been 1 v 2 and it would've been game on!

On 65 min it was all over bar the shouting, when Mata was bundled over in the area and Chelsea received a very fortuitous penalty decision. (At which point my girlfriend Alex and I both cried in unison: 'Let Walters take it and get his hat-trick!")

Naturally Frank stepped up and put his foot through the ball and it was three nil. That goal by the way, now makes him Chelsea's second top goalscorer in our history, with 193 goals. One more than Chelsea legend Kerry Dixon.

Five minutes later Hazard rubbed salt into their wounds when he found himself in a pocket of space some 30 yards out and fired into the top left-hand corner. Replays showed his shot took the merest of deflections off a Stoke defender's head, which is why their keeper seemed to misjudge it.

With the clock ticking down, Chelsea brought on John Terry and played with five at the back (why, Rafa, why?). And it was our fearless leader, in his first game back since injury, that gave away a penalty late on. Stoke very kindly gave the penalty to Walters. At which point we knew - we just knew - that he was going to miss. And so he did, blasting the ball onto the crossbar and nto row Z!

Skinny from this game is that Mata (despite his brilliance) really annoys me when he pulls out of tackles. Which is all that time! I appreciate he's not big, but being small has nothing to do with your ability or willingness to tackle hard. Chelsea legend Dennis Wise was a hobbit, but that didn't stop him being the most ferocious tackler of his generation. So why the f*ck doesn't Mata stick his boot in from time to time? It really infuriates me when a player is too scared to tackle. Yes I know it's not his job, but defending is a team sport in football, and if the ball is there to be won, stick your God damn boot in! 

Make no mistake this game would've ended differently had that penalty been awarded to Stoke (after a Mata mistake). And if it had, you could have directly attributed that change in fortunes to Mata's p*ssy tackling. Sorry to sound so hard on Mata (a play I love), but in a close game, it is often the team that wins the 50-50 challenges that wins the match. And having one of your midfielders be too afraid to go in for a 50-50 challenge, is a recipe for disaster.

Remember Joe Cole in his Chelsea pomp? Joe Cole is no bigger than Juan Mata, but Joe Cole is English. And English players grow up playing a far more physical style of game than they do in Spain. Well I have news you Johnny Foreigners, you're playing in England now, so man the f*ck up already!

The other take out from this game is that Demab Ba started in place of Torres, and it was interesting to see him play a full match. How did he play? Well, in his defence, he didn't get much service from the wingers. But he did make some timely runs and passes, and with better finishing from his teammates, could have been responsible for setting up two goals. So all in all a pretty solid first full game. And here's hoping he continues to start in place of Torres.

KTBFFH!!! :)
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
SEONorthSydney.com.au

There are many different types of strikers. Some like King Kerry and Drogba could do it all. Some like Zola and Mata were / are all about deft touches and individual pieces of sublime skill. Then there's someone like JFH who was born with two howitzers beneath his overly muscular buttocks, and God help any defenders who gave him space to shoot from ANYWHERE within about 50 yards.

Then there are other strikers who are more 'Fox in the Box' or 'Poacher' types. Chelsea don't seem to buy many of these, with maybe Kalou being the closest in recent memory (and Batman if you go back a little further, and Steve "Jock" Finnieston if you want to go back further still!). And you know what, I'm okay with that, as these are my least favourite types of strikers. Oh, don't get me wrong, every team could benefit from a Gary Lineker or a Paolo Rossi. And heck, how many games did Man Utd win on the back of Ruud van Nistelrooy's goals from less than 6 yards out? But I've always been more of a fan of someone who can dribble / beat defenders one on one, and who has a long range shot that can rip a hole in the back of the net, than of the poacher types. (So if anyone knows where to find the illegitimate love child of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Zola, please call the Chelsea hotline!)

All of which begs the question: what type of striker will Demba Ba turn out to be for the blues? 

Today, against an admittedly weak Southampton team, he was Johnny on the Spot and picked up two poacher type goals. But I think there's more to him than that. Right now he's the new kid in school, and the playground is full of big kids with bigger reputations, so it's natural that he's going to feel a little overawed and keep things simple. But strikers are all about confidence. The more they have, the better they play. Just ask Torres*.  (*Irony alert! Irony alert!) These two goals from Ba (especially the 2nd one) will go a long way to help him settle down. A few more in quick succession, especially against better opposition, and he'll start to believe he belongs here. And if and when that happens, he could go on a scoring spree and help us challenge for the title.

This 3rd round FA cup match was always going to be a cake walk. Key players for Southampton were rested by their manager, which meant it would be a long day at the office for the rest of them.

Not that it started out that way, because for the first 30 minutes I could've sworn we were back playing against QPR we were that bad! And the fact that we found ourselves 1 v 0 down on 22 minutes probably didn't surprise anyone. As usual though it took going behind to raise the Chelsea players from their ancient slumber, and on 35 minutes a terrific move between Moses, Hazard and Mata lead to Ba toe-pocking the ball in (for his first Chelsea goal), and then ten minutes later Moses fired into the far corner to put us in front just seconds before half time.

Still, that scoreline flattered us as we'd been pedestrian for much of the half.

Whatever Rafa said to the players at half time worked, as we came out a different team, and started playing at a much higher tempo. A tempo Southampton had no chance of matching. Goals from Ivanovic and Ba quickly put the game beyond doubt. Then came a rather fortuitous penalty that allowed Lamps to equal King Kerry's goal scoring record, and become the (joint) 2nd top Chelsea scorer, ever. Not bad for a midfielder! Lamps mouthed 'I love you!' to the crowd when the goal went in. And the feeling is most certainly mutual. (So give him a new contract already, Roman. RESPECT!)

The skinny from this game is that Ba scored two and will only get better with time. That without Mata we are largely rudderless in attack. That Luiz is the worst passer of the ball in the history of the game, and quite possibly a worse shot of a moving ball than even Mikel (yikes!). Which reinforces my thoughts that we should sell him to Barca in the summer. He's a nice guy, and not without ability, but he's far too error prone, and is only every one mistake away from costing us a goal. Yup, even in midfield. Dave is also continuing to underwhelm in both defence and attack, and seems to cross the ball like SWP or Gronk. Which is to say: straight into row Z! Also, it's worth noting that Hazard isn't anywhere near as effective as he was at the start of the season, because (between moments of magic) he is now largely anonymous. I'm suspecting this is due to tiredness mind you, as the lad's got more potential / skill of any Chelsea player since Robben. He just needs to work on his fitness and to learn how to impose himself more when the game isn't going his way.

Aside from all that, this was a solid, professional performance by Chelsea (at least for the last hour anyway). And the 1 v 5 scoreline was just about right.

I will leave you with a little factoid. Demba Ba scored his first Chelsea goal, 35 minutes into his first match. Ba cost 7.5 million pounds. Torres went 12 hours and 12 minutes before he finally scored on his 14th appearance for Chelsea. Torres cost 50 million pounds.

Please note that I'm not getting carried away here and saying Ba is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm fully aware (as he must be) that when we sign Falcao in the summer, Ba will again find himself down the pecking order (Torres will be gone by then), no matter how well he's been playing. But I will go on record and say that a strike force next season of Falcao, Ba, Lukaku and Piazon has the potential (and versatility) to SCORE A LOT OF GOALS.

KTBFFH!!! :)
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
SEONorthSydney.com.au 

PS: I've been a Chelsea fan my entire life. Literally, I have no memory of ever not being a Chelsea fan. My late sainted mum used to say that I was born with a football at my feet and a Chelsea scarf around my neck. And as any true Chelsea fan knows, you don't follow a 'second team' when you're a Chelsea fan. It's the blues for life, and to hell with the rest of them! Unless maybe you also follow your local team playing in the lower leagues, purely because they play down the road from you (I didn't). 

Anyway, as a kid I captained every school football team I ever played for, and idolized the late (GREAT) Peter Osgood. In my own, modest way, I like to think I was a striker molded in the great man's image. So you can imagine how heart-broken I was in 1974 when Ossie was sold to second division Southampton! So much so that from '74 to '77 I adopted Southampton as my 'second team', just so I could cheer him on! And as such I vividly remember the 1976 FA Cup final where Osgood helped Southampton to victory against a much stronger Man Utd team. I remember the 99,000 strong crowd singing 'When the Saints go marching in' (at the old Wembley). I remember Clive 'The Book' Thomas, the greatest referee of his generation (and a proud Welshman!). I remember the roar of the crowd. The green of the grass. All of it.  And, while I would've preferred Chelsea being there and lifting the trophy, I'm sure there wasn't a Chelsea fan alive who begrudged seeing a Southampton team with Osgood in it, beating Man Utd in the dying minutes of the match!

PPS: I had many replica Chelsea kits growing up (thanks, mum!). But unfortunately they've all been lost as time has passed on by. But, ironically, the one replica kit I still have (and don't ask me why I've still got this, when all the Chelsea ones have long since vanished), is the one Southampton replica shirt my mum bought me after Ossie moved down the south coast. 

Ah, how cute (and tiny) it looks now!

Chelsea's hopes of defending their Champions League crown suffered a setback in Donetsk tonight as Shakhtar dominated a match where RDM got his team selection and tactics horribly wrong.

John Terry was back captaining the side, but it made little difference as we have apparently started to believe the press that we've turned into 'The New Barcelona'. And consequently expect to tiki-taka our way past teams, rather than putting in a solid shift and respecting our opponents. Especially when we're away from home in Europe.

The match went pear shaped right from the start, when Alex Teixeira pounced on a fortuitous ricochet off John Terry's arm (a penalty, if we're being honest) and gave Cech no chance, with the match barely 3 minutes old. And, had Cech not been at his best, we could've been three down before half time and had no complaints about it.

Things went from bad to worse in the second half when Hazard was caught in possession and Fernandinho (who I suspect is the illegitimate love child of Fernando Torres and Ronaldinho) doubled Shakhtar's lead with a pin-point finish. 

Chelsea rallied slightly at this point, and almost pulled one back when Hazard combined well with Sturridge. But as in the first half, Shakhtar again had the lion's share of chances. 

Eventually we did score one, when Oscar got on the end of a terrific low cross (well dummied by Hazard) from Ivanovic. But with only stoppage time remaining, it was never going to be anything more than a consolation.

So where did it all go wrong? That much is easy. We were beaten (and well beaten at that) because our so called manager is a one trick pony. And tonight he showed supreme arrogance when he picked pretty much the exact same team he would pick if we were playing at home. And also played the exact same tactics. And I'm sorry RDM, but we didn't win the Champions League by thinking, 'If they score 2, we can score 3'. We won by defending as a team, and counter attacking when the opportunity arose. Especially when we were playing away from home.

To give you an idea of how arrogant it was for RDM to start with Hazard, Oscar and Mata up front, you only have to realize that Shakhtar are the Ukrainian champions, and are unbeaten in 11 months, which includes 21 consecutive league matches (without a loss) where they scored in every single game. Now if that doesn't suggest approaching the away tie against them with caution, I don't know what does. 

This game should've been played on the counter attack. The very thing that Chelsea are historically good at. We should've expected them to try to take the game to us, and hit them hard on the counter when they did. Instead, we ponced around doing a poor man's Arsenal impression (which would make it an extremely poor man's Barcelona impression) and gave the ball away time after time. And, like Arsenal, we were flaccid where it counts: up front.

As I've stated in previous posts, we lack a really tough midfield general who can boss a game. But in lieu of that, we should've picked as defensive a formation as we could for this tie, while still having sufficient creativity on the pitch to win the game.

For my money I would've gone with a 433 formation with Cahill alongside JT at the back, NOT Luiz. Mikel, Lamps and Romeu in the middle of the park. And Bertrand, Mata and Hazard behind Torres. With Oscar, Moses, and Ramires on the bench, should we be chasing the game late on. Instead, RDM picks the same team and formation as if we were playing Norwich at home. Clever? I think not.

Make no mistake about it, getting out of this group is now going to be a struggle. But (glass half full) it could've been a lot worse, had Juventus not drawn away to Nordsjaelland.


KTBFFH!!! :)
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
SEONorthSydney.com.au 

With the exception of the last few years, Sp*rs away has been a very happy hunting ground for Chelsea. And I'm glad to report that today's match comfortably added to our impressive list of smash and grabs at 3 Point Lane, and that normal service has once more been resumed.

Most, if not all, Chelsea fans were glad to see the back of AVB in March this year. He's a man with all the ego of The Special One but only a fraction of the great man's ability (and none of his man management skills). So him popping up at Sp*rs in the off-season was seen by most of us as a good thing, as mid-table mediocrity for them (or worse!) will no doubt follow his being appointed.

AVB for his part undoubtedly feels hard done by, and wants revenge against his former employers. But unfortunately for him, that's an itch that's going to be left unscratched, as Chelsea today produced an excellent (if at times disjointed) display that blew Sp*rs out of the water.

This must've been a cracking game for the neutral to watch, with goals galore and defending of the Key Stone Cop variety from both teams. Chelsea largely dominated the first half, and deservedly went one nil up before the break through a powerful Gary Cahill strike. But the start of the second half was a different story, as AVB put a rocket up the Sp*rs players' collected a*ses at half-time. I say this because they came out after the break like a team possessed, and were quickly level through a (hand ball) goal from that tw*t, William Gallas. And boy didn't he enjoy celebrating it (says everything you need to know about the guy).

Things quickly went from bad to worse for Chelsea, and it wasn't long before we were 2  v 1 down and looking decidedly second best. At which point I turned to my girlfriend, Alex, and said: "I will settle for a draw now. Just so long as we don't lose, as I really hate losing to them". To which she replied (wise Chelsea fan that she is!). "I'll settle for a win, thanks."

And a win she got, thanks to two goals from man of the match, Juan Mata, and a late tap-in from Sturridge.

Mata's on fire at the moment and is thoroughly deserving of all the plaudits he's getting. At the start of the season Hazard was pulling the strings for us, and was looking truly world class. Then Oscar popped up to show us what he's made of. Now it's Mata's turn to shine. And to be fair, I don't think any of us care which one of them does the business. Just so long as the business gets done!

Sp*rs were without Bale and Dembele for this match (Bale because his girlfriend was going into labour, and Dembele through injury) so we shouldn't get too carried away with the victory. But make no mistake, our coming back from 2 v 1 down was a statement of intent that we will not lose this season without putting up a fight. And that more than anything else is what we should take away from this game. Citeh have this spirit. Man Utd have this spirit. And now the 'new' Chelsea have it too.

Other things worth noting today were that Cech was back to his impervious best, that Torres couldn't hit a barn door from the inside, and that - sans JT - the centre of our defence looked decidedly shaky at times, and a better team would've punished us.

I've been saying for a while now that our first 11 is unbalanced, and that we're still a few players short of a really 'great' team. Aside from the obvious (being the need to buy Falcao or Neymar), we need to buy a strong, defensive midfielder to help protect our back four. Because let's face it, we've never really replaced Makalele have we?

Ideally we need a beast of a man, who's a strapping six footer (as the median height of our team is way too short now) who eats and craps wrought iron girders for breakfast. Mikel is a good back up, but who among us wouldn't rather see someone like Busquets' name on our first team sheet? I'd throw Yaya Toure's name into the mix here too, because he's a spectacularly good player. But at 29, and with a huge wage bill, I don't think he fits in with the new direction the club is taking. That said, it's not my money, and Man Utd could've used the same argument against buying Van Persie in the summer, and do you think there's a single one of their fans who's wishing they hadn't bought him because he's approaching 30 and is on huge wages? No, me neither...

Which brings me to my final point: Luiz is a liability. And I would happily see us swap Luiz for Busquets (they're worth similar money), and then go back into the transfer market and buy a replacement in central defence. In the meantime, can someone tell me why RDM isn't playing Cahill and JT as our starting central defenders (when JT's available)? A good solid English pairing like that (the best local grown talent in the land, no less) is something we should foster, not hide away from.

KTBFFH!!! :)
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
SEONorthSydney.com.au 

After an early scare when Chelsea went behind to a goal from the always impressive Grant Holt - who is a great example of the honest, hard working English centre forward of yesteryear that is unfortunately vanishing from the modern game - Chelsea soon took control of a match we were always expected to win.

Chelsea started well, and should have been one nil up within ten minutes, had Torres not REFUSED TO SHOOT WHEN THROUGH ON GOAL. And you could feel the tangible frustration around the ground when he AGAIN tried to take an UNNECESSARY touch rather than pull the trigger. What the hell is it with this guy? He still makes excellent runs behind or between the defenders (his trademark when at the bin-dippers) but he won't bl**dy well shoot when he gets there!

The Canaries for their part looked bright enough in the opening few minutes, but afforded us far too much space in the middle of the park, and it wasn't long before parity was restored. This time Torres doing something right (using his head instead of his feet!) and getting on the end of a terrific Ivanovic cross to nod home the equalizer.

At this point Mata, Oscar and Hazard were having a field day. That's not to say that Norwich didn't have chances to score themselves - Alexander Tettey being particularly guilty of profligacy in front of goal - but I don't think anybody was surprised when Lamps and then Hazard extended our lead before half time.

After going in 3 v 1 up, you'd be forgiven if you expected us to notch up a cricket score. Alas, despite 74% possession in the second half, this was not to be. And we only scored one more goal through the excellent Ivanovic, who gleefully demonstrated to Torres exactly what the definition of 'shoot on sight' means.

Mata, who was man of the match for the second game on the spin, was in dazzling form today. And everything good we did seemed to emanate from him. When Hazard and Oscar arrived at the club, I think Mata felt a bit overwhelmed by the competition for the role of 'Creative Genius'. But now, seven games into the new season, he's rebounded brilliantly and is often the best player in an attacking midfield triumvirate that is the envy of every other team in the EPL.

So, another game and another win. Job done then! And now we can look forward to a trip to 3 Point Lane in the early match next weekend. Can't wait!

KTBFFH!!! :)
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
SEONorthSydney.com.au 

Okay, so it was probably two points thrown away, but a draw against a very incisive Juventus team is not too bad. All things being equal I would've probably taken that before kick off, and there are a lot of positives to take out of the game. The big one being that Oscar should receive a huge boost in confidence after this for a) being picked to start the game ahead of Mata (who looked excellent when he came on towards the end of the game), b) for scoring twice, and c) for scoring a wonder goal! Sure, the first goal got a lucky deflection, but the second was an absolute peach and is an early contender for goal of the season.

Other things to take away from the game include the fact that Hazard kept falling over a little too easily tonight for my tastes (not Robben easily, but too easily all the same), and didn't get any change out of the referee when he did (there was a stone-wall penalty he should've won in the first half). So I wonder if the referees are viewing him as a bit of diver, and are erring on the side of caution whenever he goes down?

Hazard played on the left for a lot of the game tonight, and played okay, but this is the second match on the spin where we didn't see any of his trademark brilliance. I very much like his work ethic and his willingness to track back and defend though. Something that is guaranteed to endear him to the Stamford Bridge faithful. Of course the flip side of his work ethic is that he was well shagged by about the 70 minute mark and needed to be (but wasn't ) substituted (I would've brought on Moses for Hazard at the 60 minute mark).

I thought we look really good moving forward tonight though, and - while we're still a work in progress - there were some delightful interchanges between out attack minded players. So like I said, we shouldn't get too down-hearted because of this match. Unless of course you want to think about Mikel, Lampard, Ivanovic and Cech were utter rubbish, and between them need to have a really good look at themselves. Mikel's sloppy (and I'm being kind) pass that cost us the second goal was criminal. Lampard, Ivanovic and Mikel kept giving the ball away all match. And Cech didn't look like he could save a shot from a five year old.

Everybody else played well though. Even Luiz looked (marginally) less error prone than usual (though why he's starting ahead of Cahill is a mystery to me). Cole was excellent at left back, too, and is looking like he's rediscovered his appetite for the game.

So in conclusion, it is in defensive midfield that we are looking short of quality. Lampard and Mikel just don't cut it as a partnership. I kept going on and on in pre-season that we needed a 'New Makalele', but did that twat RDM listen? Of course not. Well let's just hope that that decision doesn't come back to haunt us when we get to the pointy end of the season.

KTBFFH!!! :)
Brian M Logan
ThatActionGuy.com
SEONorthSydney.com.au