Rors21

For those who watched the game, would any Sevilla players make for decent signings?

I think it's a possibility in the summer of 2016. By that time, Ancelotti will probably be gone and there will be pressure to refresh the squad with new big names. Ronaldo, as good as he is, will be 31 at the point and who knows, may actually be showing signs of mortality. Gareth Bale's stint in Spain could very well be over, given how unloved he is there. So there will be a perceived name for a new superstar, and when Madrid come calling, they usually get their man. Hazard may be attracted to the non-obligation to defend at Madrid and the protection afforded to attacking players by Spanish referees. I'd hate to see him go but I think it's very possible. Our problem is that without Hazard, we're more or less toothless going forward, so I hope we prepare for the possibility of his departure wisely.

Damn good signing. This guy is the real deal.

Both borderline decisions at best. Hardly Ovrebo-esque. The fact that Jose said nothing about them confirms as much. And we both know he'll argue about anything he sees as unfair or unfit. I'd wager if we finished off the chances we had in the first half we would have romped to victory.

Jonty: I've discribed Stoke as thugs and manhandlers elsewhere. They deserve criticism. They're a bad team who play rugby, not football. But we lost this game for other reasons than their physicality. There were some borderline decisions that went against us. But we should have had this match wrapped up in the first half, not because the referee conspired with them against us.

I generally side on the anti-Mikel camp but I think you're missing the point: by taking Mikel off, we had an enormous vacuum in our midfield. We had six players in and about their box and four players defending ours. When we lost the ball, they had acres of space to attack with no one back to mop things up. I'm not suggesting Mikel would have saved the day, but when you segregate your team into "attack" and "defense" with no go betweens in the middle, you're inviting the other team to storm forward and capitalize on the break.

I really think Chelsea should be running circles around Stoke with the talent we have rather than rely upon the referee to bail us out. Stoke were typically thuggish in their approach but I've seen far worse from them. In other games they've practically manhandled us. I was more annoyed at the time wasting, to be honest.

He was having a good game. Stoke generated no chances in the first half until the corner, which wasn't his fault. Plus, the second goal was error on the behalf of Dave. When he went off, we had zero cover in the midfield because all of our midfield pushed forward to attack.

To everyone complaining about Stoke's rugby tactics...why is this surprising? They are always like that and always will be. You just have to deal with it and get on. No use whining about it.

Stephen Ireland is very annoying. Only seems to turn up against us.

Horrendous result. I couldn't believe we looked so open in the second half. That's the price we paid for taking off Mikel. Whenever we lost the ball they just had acres of space to attack, hence their third goal. Mourinho gambled with his attack-focused substitutions and lost.

Harsh on Willian. He was only in the game for a short period. I remember everyone heaped abuse on Ramires when he first joined the club, and look at him now (well, not today, but for the balance of his career).

On a plus side, how good is John Terry? He's still the best defender in the league, I think. Only Kompany is in his class.

This game was oddly perfect for Demba Ba. Too bad he was an afterthought.

I thought the same thing, but Newcastle have big forwards and i'm sure Ivo was valued for his muscularity defending set pieces. Turns out it didn't matter though.