MANoWAR

Mikel for Mata. This is much better. The 3 amigos are back!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't look like Mikel was tracking back too well.

Ok we should get a goal in the second half... my senses tell me this. Hopefully 2!

Agreed. With the funds we have I'd thought we'd look a bit more balanced. Oh well.

Thank **** for Ivan there. C'mon guys you can do better...

Sigh.

Btw, how did AVB and Mourinho greet each other at the start? Did it look a bit... tense or did it seem alright? (If anyone saw)

Yeah maybe Mata will be brought on next half :p. Would be nice to see him anyways

This was just my opinion basing it on the formation + lineup; I didn't see we're definitely not going to win this, and I said I could be totally wrong. It shouldn't surprise anyone to think what we're trying to do just looking at the lineup from the start -- it's part of the match thread. I will obviously make a proper judgement at the end.

True, but looking at this if we're aiming for a win it's normal a bit more creativity (Mata on the wing instead) and energy in the midfield (ramires is on the wing but we have mikel and lamps centrally). Anyways, let's see what unfolds!

Oh **** it's on BT so Owen is commentating...

It would be nice but I don't blame anybody for thinking this pre-maturely. Looking at this lineup it doesn't seem like we're aiming for a win. Although I could be totally wrong.

Shame De Bruyne isn't playing. Baffled about Ramires on the wing but it seems we're playing for a draw. 0-0

Oh, that's the lineup then. :S Are we parking the bus again then?

MASTER BEATS THE APPRENTICE! Chelsea 2 - 1 Spuds

Hazard should also perform a lot better IMO. All of those 3 have some telepathic understanding together and it seemed when Mata was pulling the strings Hazard also looked better. Can't wait to see their interplay again tbh!

Will be quite disappointed if we lose tbh. Not ideal...

Spot on. It's painful to watch Touré boss us so easily. Wonder how we'll do against City -- 6 games last season (including friendlies though) and we didn't win one!

Bendtner to score 4; Mikel to score 5!

That's devastating :(. Oh man...

If Hazard starts, I'm hoping Mata will although it's highly likely that Oscar will be there instead.

Would be really happy to get this guy. Although Porto are just trolling us -- they'll get someone just as good for just 8m or so. Don't think spending 40m on him is a good idea at all though! The 20m offered sounds better but it's half of the buyout clause -- would Porto really accept that?

What team do people want to see? Torres Hazard Oscar Schurrle Ramires Mikel (Essien?) Cole Terry Cahill Ivan Cech Willian doesn't look right to start in a big game like this. Azpi and Berty looked really good today but I still think they'd need more games. Same with KDB tbh. Maybe they'll press hard and we'll hit them on the counter so Schurrle will be good for this. Although then we'd need a bit more width from our fullbacks. Essien was incredible today but will a game against the Spuds be too much since he's not really match fit?

City smashed Wigan 5-0. Worried about them this season... But good win anyways! KDB looked a lot better in the second half.

NO! That would've been sick.