ethicalstrategy

The more observant amongst you will have noticed that the match thread went awol yesterday. This was a direct consequence of two things. The first was my non existent technology skills which meant that instead of deleting a single post I managed to delete the whole thread irretrievably! The second was that I was inundated with reports about unacceptable posts and it was in dealing with those that my finger slipped. So, apologies that all of the wonderful prose that made up the 30 odd pages of that thread have been lost forever. Thanks to those who took the time to report the offending posts. And bollocks to the twats that can't tell the difference between what is and isn't acceptable. Carry on.

Sorry folks - looks like operator error at my end. I'll see if we can resurrect it. If not, well it's probably best forgotten.

Apologies for the confusion over the kick off time. The time now shown in the thread title is correct. The match will start at 5 o'clock UK time, for some bizarre reason.

Definitely Mikel. Surprised Liam hasn't been on to cast his vote for his favourite midfield dynamo!

and yet I find them rather tedious. Most of their possession is simply defensive play, because they actually can't defend without the ball. They are one dimensional (albeit, a pretty damn good dimension). They need to be more versatile before I would consider them in the upper echelons. Incidentally, they tried plan B with Ibrahimovic and it didn't work. They are also a bunch of whinging, diving bar stewards too. Especially Busquets, Alves, and Sanchez. Oh, and Valdes is sh*t too.

Are we due to play either of those matches? or did I miss something? #cartbeforehorse #presumptious #temptingfate

He played well up to the ACN. After he came back he has been quite poor in my opinion. Not really sure why that is, but it's a pity because on his day he can be really good.

My regular seats.

I was thinking the same. Tickets still on sale so I expect to be surrounded by Rubin fans in the West Lower. Shame people can't be arsed to turn up.

Showed exactly why he should play in central defence yesterday. In the first half he brought the ball out and looked to get us playing. In the second half, after we went ahead, he (and Ivanovic) were very disciplined and totally in control. I never felt nervous about coping with Utd, even after RvP came on.

I went for Ba. When we started pinging balls in to him in the second half, he did a very passable Drogba impersonation. The goal was top class. Definitely the best I've seen him play for Chelsea. A word on Ramires. He played some terrible passes in the first half, but the rest of his game was terrific. Mikel was also very good. Cech's save was like going back 10 years to when he first arrived and he regularly made unbelievable saves like that. United were rubbish. I can't believe that they are running away with the title with that team. If they beat our points total it will be a travesty.

not pissed, but can I add Piazon to the list of reasons to watch La Liga. As well as our centre forward next year, Falcao

Have a read of this: The Verge

I take it you weren't there on Thursday then?

An absolute legend. So proud to be there when he scored his 200th goal. Loved that he headed straight over to JT to celebrate. What a reception he got from the ground. Thoroughly deserved.

He choked in front of goal today but his game was good. He was making a lot of good runs and competing physically with the West Ham central defenders. I don't think he is top drawer but he isn't bad either.

Easiest job of the week. Hazard. Quite superb

The financial reason is valid, of course. But the others I don't go along with. I just find it disappointing that so few bothered to turn up. If it was just a few thousand then it wouldn't be so bad but that many is a bit embarrassing to be honest. It's a good job we don't have a 60,000 seat stadium.

bjd. I do appreciate the expense situation, but I don't think that's what's at the heart of it. If the match had been a CL last 16 tie we'd have sold out even at the £55 per ticket level. It seems that it's as much to do with a lack of interest in the EL, which I find disappointing. But I don't think there's any excuse really for what amounts to over half the normal crowd not turning up.

Haven't had a chance to look in depth yet but first impression are underwhelming. Basically a S3 S in Apple terminology. The hardware is still very plasticy and touch wiz still very cartoony. But Samsung have got their branding and marketing right so it will undoubtedly sell well. Incidentally, Samsung have been crucified over their launch presentation which was hilariously bad and offensive to just about everyone!

That's a bit of a twattish comment to be honest. There are a load of people who go regularly in the West stand. and at least the West was full. What happened to all the "proper" fans in teh popular ends that couldn't be f**ked to turn up?

I haven't been through the whole thread yet, so this may have been covered. There really were a ridiculous number of away fans in the Chelsea stands. But, we only have ourselves to blame. If people had actually bothered to turn up then those seats wouldn't have been available. I cannot believe that so many people didn't turn out for this game. It's a disgrace. I can only assume they think the EL is beneath them. And it's not just the people in the East and West Stands. What happened to the hardcore MH Upper and Lower? Half empty. It's not as if the prices for tickets were bumped up either. My seat was priced at £30 which is as low as you are going to get for a game like this. If Steaua had 4,000 in the Shed and at least another 1,000 dotted around the ground then we only had 23,000 there. Pathetic. As for the match itself. We were a real mixed bag. Some very good and some very poor. Deserved to go through but not overly convincing I didn't think. JT looks well short of match fitness. He had the turning circle of an oil tanker last night. Pleased for Torres with the goal. It really was a class bit of play from him. I hope we keep taking the competition seriously and go on to win it.

Announced on 14th. Probably not available for a while after that. Hopefully, they will do something about the cartoon like touch wiz skin which spoils all of the Samsung gear for me. The HTC One is actually launched on the same day. It looks good, but I shall wait for reports before trying it myself. I'm now about 3 months in to using the Nexus 4 which is a great phone and, at last, available at a very good unlocked price. Well worth a look.

I think a reversion to the good old 4-3-3 would be a good idea. Cech Dave - Luiz - JT - Ash Mikel Frank - Oscar Mata- Ba - Hazard The only downside to that is Mata getting pushed a bit wide which is not his best position. But overall, it gets our best players on the pitch and provides a bit more solidity.

I thought banners were always allowed.