goodeggs

Should of put the game to bed by now, being just one goal up always makes me nervous as hell, especially if you get the feeling with 15mins to play that we've decided to just see the game out..... Just smash them already!

Like his aggression and tenacity, 17 goals and 6 assists in 23 games and still only 23 years old. Dare I say the 5th goal in the video is somewhat Costa-esque Apparently Arsenal are after him.

Certainly living up to his own high standards so far!

Jose's greatest strength as a manager was his self belief and unshakable confidence, not only in his methods but in himself. This created a 'mentality' that used to literally imprint it's self upon his players and teams, however it now seems to have become 'twisted' and is hence leading to his downfall. Let me explain. Mourinho's sheer force of personality practically drove Porto to Champions League Glory and shortly after he arrived here as the self proclaimed "Special One" a moniker that from anyone else, especially a new manager in a new league, would sound ludicrous, yet José's charisma and the way in which he handled himself in front of the media was a complete breath of fresh air, he was arrogant but you couldn't help but like him for it. Back to back league titles and the Special One's aura, not to mention words, had been firmly backed up. When you examine Jose's managing style from this period it becomes clear that the one thing he always asked of his player was 100% complete and utter commitment to the cause, and no doubt commitment to him. He was the General leading his men into battle, there was to be no defeat and no surrender allowed under any circumstances. The below video is a great example of him breeding this mentality within the Chelsea camp first time around. "We cannot lose, we cannot lose" You follow ME we win, you believe in ME we become Champions. It's no surprise that when you see interviews of former Mourinho players, you often hear them describe playing for Jose was like 'going to war' and that every game was a 'battle'. It's like he wasn't so much trying to implement a style of play on his teams but a mentality and way of being that fought tooth and nail until the bitter end and would achieve success by any means necessary. Any player who failed to show the mental strength or commitment to such a cause was quickly surplus to requirements, and we all know that Jose has no problem showing players the door. Whilst this method has proven greatly successful for Mourinho, the only problem is that when your relying on implementing a 'mentality' rather than a style of play or a footballing 'philosophy' then you have to keep that mentality up yourself, at all times, you have to become it, you have to always be 'top dog' and never show any sign of weakness, never back down or budge an inch. How many times have we seen such behavior displayed by Jose? You needn't have to count anymore. So when did the rot set in? Well I think we all know that Jose was sacked first time around by Chelsea because him and Abramovich clearly didn't see eye to eye in regards to both how the team should play and also the players that were coming in. A part of me feels that Roman felt threatened by Jose's increasing influence and power within Chelsea, he was becoming Chelsea and the whole 'Shevchenko' situation seemed to signal that both manager and owner were clearly heading in different directions, Abramovich clearly wanted Mourinho to know who was in charge and thus the post became untenable. Even so, when Jose returned to Stamford bridge after his sacking for the first time as manager of Inter Milan, you can quite clearly see how he still owned the hearts and minds of his former players. Soon after Jose went on to win his second Champions League title with Inter and again showed what happens when a team buys into him. The bond with his players was unquestionable and at this moment in time he was the best manager in club football and soon Real Madrid came knocking. Now just try and imagine how Mourinho must of felt at this point in time in regards to his own success as a manager, not only was he a double Champions League winner but he had proven once again not only to himself but also to Chelsea, that it was Him that brought success and that it was Him who delivered trophies, regardless of what anyone else tried to say or do, he could go to another country, another league and still come out on top. He knew that it was because he did things his way and that his success depended on this unequivocally. To put it simply, a man who had never had a problem displaying his Ego now had absolutely no reason not to believe in his own hype, and that anyone who objected to this just lacked the respect that he clearly deserved to be shown. When he tried to cement this fact upon the Real Madrid dressing room by dropping Iker Casillas from the first team for committing the cardinal sin of trying to smooth things over with the enemy (calling Barcelona players) his war mongering style was becoming tiresome for a group of players who were keen to prevent fractures developing within the national team. This time Mourinho's antics hadn't just been confined to his own team but were starting to be felt within the larger context of Spanish football, and for many were leaving a sour taste in the mouth, or in Tito Vilanova's case, a sore eye. However, what seemed to hurt Jose more than anything was not so much the reputation he was developing in Spain but the fact that his players and club didn't love him and that they wouldn't die for him, for a man that demanded complete and utter loyalty this was a huge blow, it was high treason. Yet for a manger who's success derives so much from the mentality he displays, one in which he himself has beome consumed by, the only way forward was to continue in the same vein and become more and more defensive and vitriolic to any perceived slights levied against him. We all saw how this started to play out after the 'fairy tale' return to Chelsea the second time around, where I believe his aura at the club was still strong enough to carry him though until things turned sour again. the 'Eva' incident showing how his 'paranoia' and requirement to always have a scapegoat available when results on the pitch were not forthcoming had gotten way out of hand. The reason why Mourinho's behavior has become increasingly antagonistic without yielding results is because even if his players don't seem to be responding to his methods any more, he can't let go of them himself. He has become his own methods and his ego is built upon that fact, to admit mistake is to admit he is wrong within his very own being. Basically his ego is doing everything within it's power to survive this absolutely crushing realization, and this is the problem because now this 'fear' is seeping into the mentality of his players and his teams. Ironically it's Jose's mentality that is now proving to be his undoing, because when your greatest strength in motivating a team to success starts to fear for it's own survival it starts having the complete opposite effect. If Jose changes so do his teams, because his teams are built in his image! The once, arrogant, charismatic, confident, charming and inspiring Jose has now become the arrogant, petulant, paranoid, angry, and unfriendly Jose It really is a case of 'The emperor's new clothes' and I fear until Jose recognizes this within himself things are probably going to continue to become troublesome for him. There are few things harder in the world than becoming aware of one's own Ego, let alone changing it, especially when it's taken you to the top of the world. "I cannot lose, I cannot lose" My two cents.

GEEZER And on the pitch Happy to welcome him back tbh

So today ,Sturridge, Mata and Lukaku have all scored. I guess that's the reason we moved them on, they cleary don't fit out style of play.

How did we go from having the most promising and exciting attacking midfield in the PL with Hazard Mata and Oscar to this? We may now have a solid defence and stopped conceading so many goals but what does that matter if you can't put the ball in the back of the net? Man City conceaded 2 goals yesterday but scored 3 and look likely to win the league. I love the park the bus approach when it's required but we really seem to have turned into a one trick pony. I love Jose, I really do and still have faith in him but sometimes I do wonder if his stubborness in his tactics is starting to restrict some of the players, they work tirelessly but seem scared of messing up or being more adventuress. I understand he wants everyone to track back and help the team but surely if you have (had) creative talants like Mata in your team maybe a little discretion could of been employed. His "it's my way or the highway approach" seems to have stifled our best attacking players, any slip ups ala Hazard on Wednesday night and they get blasted for not playing for the team but the best attacking players always need to have that selfish streak in order to be most effective. We have gone from having a team that had the most exciting midfield in the PL but with a leaky defence to a team that can "park the bus" to great effect but are devoid of all ideas going forward. The one thing we needed was balance, I still think our current back four, Matic, the old Mazacar and a Sturridge/Falcao could of ripped the league apart but because we have not been able to get rid of Torres up to now other players (good players) have payed the price. It seems whenever we have a problem like not having a decent striker or lacking creativity we already had the answer but for some reason sold or loaned them out, Sturridge, Lukaku, Mata etc. The one player who has remained throughout is Torres and I personally think the boards inability or refusal to move him on sooner has really messed up this teams development and the burdern of expectation of delivering goals has fallen heavily onto the other players shoulders to the point of desperation. Jose has got the solid defence he wanted but now he really needs to focus on giving us some cutting edge back without alienating our best attacking players by restricing their natural creativity. The odd individual slip up would not matter if we were scoring more goals! Anways onwards and upwards for next season!

Lets just hope we see Mata on the team sheet more often from now on, I don't give a flying f**k about his apparent inability to track back, his passing, vision and delivery of the ball is second to none!

Who needs strikers eh!!!

"On-loan forward Romelu Lukaku will seek a second season at Everton if Roberto Martinez's side claim Champions League football." "I think it's not a bad idea (to stay at Everton for a second season). If we play Champions League then I think so." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2516020/Romelu-Lukaku-stay-Everton-season-team-qualify-Champions-League.html Hmmm dosen't sound like he's exactly excited about the prospect of returning to Chelsea???

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it only a Mata of time?

Do the goal gods have something against Torres or what? That would have been incredible!

Does anyone has links to any live streams? The ones I usually use all seem to have been taken down.

http://88.80.11.29/67999/watch-chelsea-vs-cardiff-city

I can't believe he's still only 20 years old. Drogba was what? 26 when he joined us in 2004 and even then it took him a year to settle in. Compare that with what Lukaku is already doing in the PL and it's scary to think just how good this boy could become!

I can't help but wonder that if he had smashed in that penalty and we went on to win against Bayern, he would still be here... Anyways regardless of that, if Torres does get his 4 match ban then Eto is going to have to step up to the plate and fast.

You can be sure of one thing, the better his performances get week by week, the more Jose will be on the phone making assurances on his Chelsea future so that he does want to return. I hope.

Argh Torres one too many touches!

I know it's still early but havent seen anything from Willian yet to convince of his 30mil worth.

Mikel > Eto, Torres, haha!

Apart from one cross I don't think anyone's even managed to thread a pass to him yet

We seem to be trying to play passing football but the tempo is so slow that everytime we reach the final third it's crowded out, Eto seems totally isolated. I don't understand why the team needed changing, last year apart from a prolific striker we were more or less complete imo. Now that the trio of Hazard, Mata and Oscar has been dismantaled, it's like we're back to square one again?

It's started already; Gary Lineker â€@GaryLineker 21m Great headed goal from Lukaku. He looks like the kind of striker Chelsea could do with. KICKTV â€@KICKTV 15m Chelsea sure could use a goal scorer like Lukaku. #MourinhoProblems Stan Collymore â€@StanCollymore 4m Most shocking thing about letting Lukaku go is he's so much like a young Drogba! Football Funnys â€@FootballFunnys 20m Lukaku: The only Chelsea striker to score this season in the league..... For Everton

We can take Lukaku back off Everton in January can't we? Oh well, at least we kept Ba...