GhostOfDembaPast

Yeah, doom and gloom, but I think you needed an 'All of the above option' there.

They are mentally weak, it would help if they weren't physically weak also. Players were being eased off, bouncing off Southampton players, losing out all over the pitch. Looked like men v boys for periods. Put Matic , RLC and Mikel in midfield. There's a good chance we actually overpower teams in midfield. Guys like Fabregas, Oscar, Pedro, even Ramires are just too lightweight. On a slightly brighter note, Newcastle's goal difference took a hammering and our other rivals down at the bottom also had bad days.

Genuinely don't mean to be rude, but some might say - not many NHS doctors are seen to be publicly berated by their bosses on international television, for just doing their jobs. I suppose she is held up as some sort of pin-up for young females to follow, so there is that too.

Somewhere in some dark room, there is a vengeful doctor, carefully inserting needles into doll replicas of each and every Chelsea player, and José mourinho. How else do we explain all this?

Very good post from one of the most sensible posters.

No Oscar no good? Puts that one to rest, then.

The sad thing is José is as he says, one of the fans. He is going through the biggest challenge of his career, in terms of turning his team around after such bad form. He hasn't been through this before. I don't want to see a new manager. I want the sane man here, just to radically change things somehow.

Here's a bit of positivity for you, Ramires hasn't been sent off - yet.

Would have liked Matic and RLC in there as the two in midfield. Lucky to score. At least it's only 1-1.

True. Only matter of time before they equalised. There isn't any sort of composure out there and unfortunately, Ramires' passing inability isn't helping.

If you have an android phone. Mobdro app works quite well. a lot of good/decent channels.

Rawk meltdown, too nice to be true, mate.

I share the lack of optimism, mate, but that is pretty damn grim. (BTW - those two are gorgeous. God bless)

Someone tell me Ramires has spent the last 48 hours glued to endless, looped footage of Makelele accompanied by second-by-second commentary from the great Claude himself. If that's the case, we might be just be in with a chance.

Ramires and fabregas in midfield? With Terry and Cahill behind them? Either this is going to be the tactical masterstrokes of all tactical masterstrokes, or the most humiliating defeat seen in a very long time...

Seeing as this is a Mohamed Salah thread, I think it's fair to say, instead of that gif, which captures very aptly the desperation of a fringe player trying to force things, a fairer reflection of his ability would be this. Also, you are right, Uno. But imagine him in Barca or Real or Bayern, where he could probably score 20-25+ goals quite comfortably (Bayern, I mean) Chippy, it's more the fact that he's sticking so stubbornly with players that are clearly failing him. Previously, he would be quite happy to drastically change things, even to change the system as he did when he started to use a 4-4-2 diamond. It's the fact that he is using the same struggling players and trying to force the same system to work - almost as if he's hoping for things to just somehow fix themselves. Added to that, blaming things like luck, mentioning that Football players aren't motivated and don't have the same passion as Rugby players, and a general sense that he is losing the same level of respect from his players. I hope of course that I am wrong, just like most fans. I do want him to remain for as long as possible, but I fear not making the CL would be the end.

As others have mentioned, sooner rather than later, Hazard may think to himself 'sod this - I can go somewhere and actually play with freedom to realize my full attacking potential' especially if the team keeps struggling like this.

Begovic ------------- Baba Cahill Zouma Azpilicueta -------------- Matic Loftus Cheek Oscar/Fabregas -------------- Willian/Pedro Hazard ------------- Falcao

Didn't catch Walsall highlights but apparently he had a bad second half. I'm happy for him to get a few starts. He has looked hungry when on the pitch. Let's face it, It'll probably be an uphill battle to make fourth this season whoever the striker, given the manager's seeming insistence on playing the same out of broken players.

All I can say to that is...

(my mistake. This IS the unholy confessions thread)

I thought Carlton Cole was going to become a 20 goal a season striker for Chelsea.

Watching the team play during the never-ending bad moment was every bit as bad as this, if not worse. Carlo would watch on, motionless, hoping for things to change, and it looked like he had no ideas on how to actively improve things when they were going wrong. In his defence, the season he left, the squad was probably the most aged and lethargic it had been for a while. With the young talent at Mourinho's disposal, I'd like to think Carlo could serve up some good football and make things work here - but I would much rather Mourinho just dropped the underperforming players and went back to his Physical bully-boy style of football, for a while at least.

I think Mourinho might be gone by the end of the season. Didn't think so before, but starting to change my mind. Also, sometimes I wish someone would grab Diego Costa, give him a slap and tell him to pull himself together.

There seems to be a lack of players wanting to play for the manager amongst everything else. Particularly Hazard. Niggling suspicion that something must have occurred between players and manager after the opening game.