Nibs

Careful people - G4 will start posting huge pictures of the useless one if we're not careful. I've given up criticsing Ballack now because I just don't expect anything from him any more. If we didn't have Lamps, Essien & Maka, then maybe we could use his strengths (whatever they might be), but he so unbalances the team it's painful. Last night, with Lamps way off form we looked so predictable with our midfield line up other than when Robben was on the pitch. Second half, I know we were trying to shut up shop as it were, but with Mikel, Lamps, Maka and Ballack NOTHING was happening. There was almost zero creativity. Porto were there for the taking and if we had Robben and Joe Cole or an in form SWP, I am sure we would have come away with a 3-1 win. I just hope he's not here next season.

A further lay off for JT is a concern. Essien is getting better & better filling in at CB, but he will never be as good in that position as JT. Playing there occasionally is no problem but I think long term and we could suffer. As others have pointed out, we then miss Essien's drive in midfield and with him not in midfield the chances are Ballack will play more often than not And with JT, not only do we miss his leadership and defensive qualities but we don't offer as much of a threat from corners and set pieces going forward.

souce: chelseafc.com don?t think it was an injury JM said at half time Robben felt a twinge and they thought best rather than risk sending him out and making it worse they decided to put Mikel on. I guess it's 50% precaution and 50% JM wanted extra defensive cover to assist Diarra.

Mourinho just interviewed post match. Something about muscular - perhaps didn't warm up properly before coming on.

Robben didn't come out second half................because he was injured

Neither to be honest.

Totally agree Loz. Carvalho was awesome tonight - I'd go as far as to say he deserves a 10 - especially in the absence of JT. After JT went off i thought the whole back 4 & Cech were superb. Diarra was given a difficult time I know but he stuck to his task well other than the one where he let the player go and he hit the bar. Bridge made a couple of great challenges in the box and Essien got better & better as the game went on. Just as well, as our midfiled were not so good today especilly Lamps. That was one of his poorest ever games for us, from the Porto goal to him looking heavy footed and poor delivery from set-pieces. We will need to play a lot better in the second leg as this tie is far from over but have to be pleased with 1-1.

Sorry Loz, when you were saying you would put Pearce above Coppell I thought you meant in respect to a job with England (be it coach or assistant whatever). I just think there was a lot of hype over Pearce as everyone has always loved his approach to the game and his passion etc, but when you look at his track record compared to say Coppell, it doesn't compare - not yet anyway. But I do agree, Pearce has dignity and fair play to him, always holds his hand up when he & his team are in the wrong (although I missed what his stance was on the latest Joey Barton incident). But I just have loads of respect for Coppell, the way he has always done really well with very average sides and he always comes across as such a genuine & decent bloke - very rarely, if ever has a bad word to say about anyone.

Loz, I know a lot of people are still very emotive over the whole Hunt thing and fair enough - I'll boo him anytime I attend a game where he is playing, whether he's still at Reading or another club. But you cannot blame Coppell and would you really expect his own coach to come out and castigate him? If the bloke had gone in on Cech with his studs up and it was a clear reckless challenge fair enough. But it wasn't - it took replay after replay to see what had actually happened and even now there are still many that think it was an accident. Coppell still came out with dignity intact as he always does. Would you have expected Mourinho to criticise one of our players if roles were reversed? It just wouldn't happen. As for Pearce? You have to be joking. Not a great track record. Clearly a character with LOTS of passion, but little else.

Great article, but I could never have a dig at Coppell. I really like the bloke and would love to see him in the England set up at some point. The guy has more dignity than all the other managers in the league put together.

That really is quite amazing when you think about it. I know it's well documented how we nearly went out of business but I would never have thought that during a 4 year period we did not buy a single player. Blimey, how things have changed. Will have to try and get hold of a copy of that book - sounds a good & interesting read (although let's not forget we are Chelsea and we don't have a history )

I would argue about there always being an unlevel playing field. Sure there will always be big clubs and smaller clubs but no way has it ever been as bad as it is now. In the 70's & 80's Liverpool dominated but you still had plenty of other clubs that were always in with a shout of winning the league. And the FA cup was regularly won by different teams as opposed to one of the big four like it has been for more than a decade. Sure Liverpool and the other big clubs would attract the best players but that didn't make it unlevel as it is now. I'm not saying that is anything to do with us and Roman's money, because if Roman had not come along it would be back to Man Utd & Arsenal battling it out. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather we were competing like we are now than be a no hope club who know even before a ball is kicked in August that the best they can hope for is mid table respectability. But now we have caught up with the "big boys", I want to see us do things the right way and for me that doesn't consist of what we got involved in last summer.

C3, whilst I agree with most of that, at the same time, I do have a lot of time for Wenger. And I do admit, that whilst at first, I was all for the Roman era - especially as we had a heck of a lot of catch up to do in terms of getting a squad and coach that would enable us to compete at the very top, now, I really do feel that it's gone too far. When we can afford to lay out ?21m on the likes of Wright Phillips and ?30m on a player whose best days are clearly behind him, never mind paying ?100k a week to players like Ballack you have to question it. It can't be right that we can afford to lose ?140m last year and ?80m this year and yet that has no bearing on the day to day running of the club and we can still go out and spend another ?30m on one player without a blink of an eye. I know the powers are saying this will be changing going forward and as far as I'm concerned the sooner the better, as whilst we have this totally unlevel playing field we will NEVER get the credit we deserve for any success.

Totally agree with G4 on Crouch. Okay, he might not be an ideal candidate in most people's England line up, but you can't knock his record and he is always worth a place in the squad. When everyone is fit, he should be on the bench ready to come on for the last 25/30 minutes if need be. Only caught brief highlights so cannot comment too much (and so glad I didn't sit through 90 minutes of what sounds like pure boredom). I have heard a couple of pundits saying how much we missed Rooney & Joe. I think when fit, Joe is a nail on starter for England now. It's noticeable just how predictable England are without a player that can run with the ball / do different things (and SWP is NOT the answer). In the past we've had the likes of Gazza & Waddle at the moment it is just so boring to watch. None of the players look over comfortable on the ball - most get rid of it after 1 or 2 touches. What are they being coached for Christ sakes? All they went on about on talk sport this morning was that Lamps & Gerrard doesn't work and we need to get Scholes back at the expense of Lamps (needless to say )

Oh No. Ballack injured. That means we'll be paying him ?100k + a week for absolutely NOTHING. Hold on a minute...................................

I think it's fair to say that on this occasion, he didn't dive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpNhBDP3PQA

All good and fair points Bluebeard. It's a shame that a guy with so much talent and skill has to cheat the way he does but that seems pretty much the norm these days with a lot of the so called flair players. As for the stick he gets from fans - some of that will be because of his diving (just like the stick Drogba & Robben were getting last season) but most of that is still a follow on from the Rooney incident in the WC. But far from having a negative effect on him like it would a lot of players - the B*****d thrives on it. When you go back to that WC match and the stick he got after he was sent off, he upped it a gear and took one of the coolest penalties you're ever likely to see. As I say, as much as I hate him for playing for Man Utd, I do enjoy watching him play (although not against us). What would be nice is for a Chopper Harris or Doug Rougvie type full back to teach him a lesson - alas there are not many of those (if any?) around these days. One of the funniest things was when Graham Stuart was playing for Charlton a few seasons back and Ronaldo ran at him, did about 6 step overs and poor old Stuart didn't know which way to turn next. So he just swung his leg and kicked him up in the air

The fact that he plays for Man Utd, means I don't like him, but you have to take your hat off to the lad and say he is one hell of a footballer. Sure he went down easily for the penalty, but I have seen Robben, Drogs, Joe and even Lamps do exactly the same. Malbranc made a poor excuse of a challenge at a guy running at speed in the box and even Jol admitted he thought it was a penalty when you see the incident at full speed from one angle. What I admire about Ronaldo is that the more stick he gets from opposing fans the better he plays. He never goes hiding (unlike one or two players in our squad I could name). IF Man Utd do end up winning it this season (hopefully not ) the they owe a heck of a lot to Ronaldo and there is little doubt he will also get player of the season.

Doesn't seem to have hampered Robben.

Gooners it is then. Shame, as I think Us v Spurs would have been good and we've played the Gooners so many times in cups and that over recent years. Cup wise, we owe them one - whatever team they decide to put out.

I think they really did hit the nail on the head last night concerning Ballack - especially Hansen. The gist of it was, that yes he played a lot better last night and they did highlight a lot of the good things he did. What Hansen picked up on though for me was spot on. During the time our form has been poor you look at the players who don't appear to be giving 100% and when you look at Ballacks style of play, he never looks to be giving everything - he always has this appearance of strolling through games. Whilst we are winning and the team is playing well - no problem. But as soon as things dip and questions are being asked, the likes of Ballack will always come in for criticism - especially from the likes of ME!!

That's the news I've been waiting to hear. I love the scenario: FA Cup Final - 1st at the new Wembley. Chelsea v Man Utd & Joe scores the winner - a goal just like the one he put past them at The Bride last season

The Blackburn game will not be easy, but as Bluenut says this is a MUST win game, as Man Utd are bound to p*ss all over Watford and improve their GD even more. Then the weekend games and Spurs are capable of a result at home, no doubt about it. Trouble is, there is a fair chance they will lose to Arsenal tomorrow in the CC semi and that could then have a knock-on effect come Sunday - lets hope not. All if's and but's at the moment but COME ON YOU BLUES!!!

I did it but must admit I never predict us to lose but looking between now and May, I fully expect us to lose at least one before then. Anyway with my Chelsea bias (and this is dependent on us not losing at Arsenal - a draw and us beating Man Utd 1-0) Chelsea 91 Man Utd 90 Liverpool 78 Arse 77 Wigan 29 Charlton 29 Watford 19 I'll be over the moon Brian if that lot comes true!!!

I'm a big Maka fan G4, but I think you're getting a bit carried away there. He might be the best there has ever been in the particular role he plays, but he doesn't have a good enough all round game to be classed as the best player in the league. At times, he has been absolutely vital to us, but on the other hand, there are plenty of games where you can do without his particular attributes. And even great players get to the stage where they are no longer great. I'm not saying Maka is at that stage yet, but I would hate to lose a great prospect like Diarra just because we ant to squeeze the last out of Maka. I guess as Loz says, it would be ideal to have both next season, but with Diarra playing a lot more games.