jpc

Certainly worth some thought - both are very decent players. But I'd rather start with Ribery.

Great, great news. Hoped he'd stay and he did- couldn't be happier. Bet you the media pundits will be disappointed. Jose would'nt be too chuffed either. Anyway, I'm now not too sure whether we should pursue Kaka and Robinhio - at least not until next year perhaps.

I haven't been able to watch the game so I'm following the thread here. From all accounts it's going to be hardly worth watching the replay. Please, please , score an away goal for goodness sake.

Can I just say in Drogba's defence that whatever he has said (and I don't doubt that he wishes to leave at some stage, as is his right), he has always put in where it counts - on the field.

Passing the ball backwards rather than forward is not neceesarily bad as long as the pass is constructive. I voted for Mikel as he looked to be one of the few who had tactical sense on the day - and he did have a good game. I was most annoyed when SWP (or Joey ??) had a pop at goal when he could have played in Sheva who had made a perfect run to the right and would have been in for a clear shot at goal if he had been played in.

Callista, I think that your judgement is a bit harsh. Whilst the opposition might have been weakened we were hardly full team in most matches. I'm quite pleased with th progress over the last few weeks though I agree with all that we are far from our best. One thing is worrying me. I've staunchly supported Jose and I am eternally grateful for the success of the past three years which were to a sigificant degree down to him. However, I don't think that the team is playing any worse than it was in the last weeks of his reign - in fact, I believe we're playing better. There, I've said it - I desreve a thousand curses from the special one.

If you are to believe the papers Lampard may be leaving (sorry day that would be). In that case, Ballack would be a very valuable asset and I for one would welcome his stated intention to stay and hope he is truthful.

Just to keep it simple - LAMPARD IS A LEGEND. No doubt about it in my mind. I have nothing against Joe Cole but for me he's not in the same laegue as Frank. People keep saying he's not had the opportunity but I beg to differ. He's had opportunities and he's been good too but on the whole I don't feel that he's been treated badly by Jose.

What a difference (relief) extra cover at centre back makes !!!

1st half had me really despondent - really bad start to a day down under. That's history now and the second half was brilliant. What a great start if we get a win on the weekend against Liverpool !!! The defence is a bit of a worry but at least we seem to find scoring a bit easier. Worst thing is that Cech seems to be a bit out of sorts - I hope I'm wrong and it's just early season rustiness.

I'm with you Brit. I don't think we needed much luck in the Premiership in the past two years but we certainly needed a bit this year. To be honest, every great club has ALWAYS needed a bit of luck to be succesful. With a bit of luck we might even have had a Champions League title already. So, for the rest of the season I will be praying for a slice of luck that will deliver us in order of importance a) the Champions League, and /or B) the Premiership. Hard call but the CL just edges it for me. The FA cup would be a good consolation prize - not much more I'm afraid. PS With United's gloating I'm reallt unsure about my priorities. Go the Blues.

I reckon we're still in with a good chance. Ten games is a lot of games and assuming that we will win at the Bridge then United need to drop 4 points in nine games - not impossible. The hardest part is for us to keep winning and I suppose it may be a bit far fetched to think that we will win all of our games. But there's no harm in keeping the dream alive. I'm pretty confident that were it not for the injuries and the unsettled period of 2 months back we'd be ahead of United. As for winning the three other Cups !!!! That would be unbelievable. Champions League alone would be more than enough for me!!! I would say that that would give me greater pleasure today than the EPL (whereas 2 years ago my priority was for the EPL title). In a nutshell, we're still in with a decent chance in all comps and we should really be proud of our team.

I got Chelsea 89 Manu 88 Liverpool 78 Arsenal 77 I wish, I wish, I wish..........I'm right.

I'm not sure about RB. I prefer Paulo to Geremi but it's much of a muchness.

Although it was the best team available (???), it was still a second tier team IMO. Cech, Ricky, Terry, Lamps, Drogba, Sheva, Robben & Bhoula would presumably start ahead of Hilario,SWP,Mikel,Geremi,Kalou,etc. Cheers.