Ward

Tibo of course. No one else came close.

Costa was the one who didn't press much. Willian didn't press higher up the pitch at all, having to cover for Ivanovic and immediately dropping back whenever we didn't have possession. Hazard didn't press. As a result, Cesc couldn't press much by himself either, so he dropped back to midfield to defend. You either press as a team or don't press at all.

Us looking much worse than usual had nothing to do with Cesc playing the number 10 I'm afraid. He was our only AM who actually tried to create something today, making some great passes and creating the penalty with his run. I'm most disappointed in Matic, Ivanovic and Cahill. Also, this was Hazard's poorest game in a long while: bad control, many misplaced passes, little to no creative spark. I hope he's just tired.

His words were more of a dig at Lampard than anything: that unlike Lampard, Gerrard deserves respect for his loyalty.

He seemed sluggish in the previous couple of games, but it looks like he's back to his best. Great performance, looked very menacing.

How fantastic is that lad? Brilliant signing, the brain of the team.

I don't think Courtois is worse than Cech, but I can't help but feel more confident when Cech plays.

Fabregas. Ran the show. Costa and Oscar close second.

If we have 2 strikers on the pitch, it usually means we're not winning. Please no.

Well, Fabregas and Hazard did fine against Stoke.

Maybe. If JT doesn't retire this year, Cesc will be a Chelsea player for 2 years by the time we'll need a captain. Out of all our players he probably fits the profile the best.

Matic would make a bad captain, IMO. He's too nice, soft and awkward. Not to mention his English isn't great. He might improve his English, but his character won't change. The Captain should have certain personality traits Matic lacks, but it's not necessarily a bad thing for Matic.

I don't buy it. Matic played one of his best games for us against Stoke with Mikel next to him and Fabregas in the hole and no Oscar on the pitch. Matic was poor today individually and neither Mikel or Fabregas (or Oscar) had anything to do with it. I love Matic just like the average Chelsea fan, but sometimes it amazes me how people consistently make excuses for him whenever he plays poorly while Mikel's every mistake gets criticized.

Gotta love how when Matic plays poor, it's always someone else's fault. At the beginning of the season, he was poor because he had to play with Fabregas. Now he's poor because of Mikel or because Oscar isn't in the team. Oscar was in the team against Hull and Matic was still sloppy, just like everyone else. We just need to admit they're all human and all can have bad games without it being someone else's fault. Matic isn't an exception. He was poor today, period, but it's not the end of the world. He was great in most matches.

Yeah, he was poor. Sloppy, many mistakes, looked tired.