Orangutan

I generally defend Cech, but what on earth was he doing there!

There have been a few fouls given to us where there was a negligible amount of contact. On balance, Juve have probably got more calls but I don't think it's intentional.

I thought the free kick went over the line (still think it did). I thought Lamps' shot went over the line (it didn't). Thankfully, Essien slammed it home or I might have gone mental. The officials have made several bad calls. There have been some definite phantom fouls called in favor of both teams. That handball that set up the Drogba free kick wasn't actually a handball at all. Then again Anelka definitely wasn't offsides when he got through and it was very close when Drogba was called offsides. It's not that the refs are noticeably biased. They are screwing up calls on a nearly equal basis.

Italians sure like to whistle, don't they? And yes, Kalou should come on. I don't care whether it's for Essien or Anelka. Heck, I could stand to see Malouda come on too.

Starting to question why Guus would change a formation that has worked in the last 5 games for us. I think the ref is being influenced by the crowd and the players too much. Chelsea just looks rattled. Halftime can't come soon enough. Just need to settle in and keep some possession. Juventus has had all of the ball.

I was just about to say what a tosser Iaquinta is, always moaning about something, then he scores. Aaarrgh.

Wow, Anelka clean through and the linesmen just gives Juventus the offsides call even though Nico is well on. Horrible start for the officials.

Someone to tell Nedved either to leave the field or get to his feet. Maybe that's cruel, but I can't stand the repeated rolling around and then trying to play.

Americans wouldn't want to miss a "special European night at Anfield"! *vomits* Thank goodness for ESPN 360. No mucking about with dodgy streams for once.

From the sounds of it Anelka may be able to go to. There was apparently a training session where they were lined up like this: ............Cech......... Bosingwa...Terry...Alex....Ashley ...........Mikel........... Essien......Lamps........Ballack .........Anelka......Drogba I would still expect to see the same lineup as Coventry, though.

Alex made too many mistakes for me. I went for Drogba. He created the first goal out of essentially nothing and played a nice ball to put Quaresma in space and start the move for the second goal. I can't argue with those who went for Terry, though. He was rock solid all game long.

Well, I've only really started following the team closely this season. I've never seen him play striker. I've seen him play winger almost every game. What am I supposed to believe he is? If looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...I'm inclined to call it a duck. And Quaresma just proved my point again, even if it is an insignificant one. Great ball to set up a quality finish from Alex

Could have fooled me. That's the only position he plays...

Is there any doubt that Quaresma is the best crosser of our wingers?

It would be really nice if the linesman would stop flagging Malouda when he's onside. He has enough trouble without the officials making bogus calls.

I think you can rest players and still put out a strong team that will be able to beat Coventry. I would have had most of our top guys in, but I don't think it would have hurt to play Ivanovic, Mancienne, and Quaresma or would have been disrespectful. I thought when Drogba took it so wide he might have it cleared of the line again but that was a great shot. It's amazing how he bullies defenders. Anelka would never score that goal.

So much for giving some players a rest... At least we're playing our best team. I expect a solid win because of it.

Exactly. I was reading somewhere (it may have been tribalfootball or some other rubbish site) that Ashley was going to be "suspended" for Coventry but that the plan was to play Paulo all along. I still think it would be a good idea to rest Ashley to keep him fresh for the Juve game.

My current thought is ...................Cech ..Mancienne..Terry..Ivanovic...Belletti (?) ...................Mikel ...............Lampard......Essien ...Quaresma...........................Malouda ..................Drogba................. The sticking point is who will play LB. Will it be Ashley or will he be suspended? If not Ashley then who? I'm guessing Belletti because he seems to find a way into every game, so he must be pretty versatile. Then, if Essien is fit he can give Ballack a rest. Switching out the wingers seems obvious. Drogba wants game time to find his form, so let him have it.

*in sitcom voiceover* That's our ASHLEY! *cue laugh track* The subtext is that he had been doing a charity event earlier in the evening. Brilliant. Charity event first, drunken revelry after. Wouldn't want to actually do something good without screwing it up in some way.

Frank didn't stand out to me today at all. He was working hard but the conditions just weren't on his side. Malouda gave a nice effort but really it's just what he should have been doing all along, not a MOTM performance. Drogba had an Anelka game, invisible for the whole game save for a well-taken goal. I think Quaresma deserves a mention. His crosses were very dangerous when he came in and I think he and Bosingwa really clicked down the right in why that Kalou and Jose did not. Ultimately, though, it's got to be Cech. He saved our bacon today. For all the criticism he gets for being off his best, most games he is rock solid. Every couple of games he drops a catch and that gets him the reputation as damaged goods. But he still can stop shots with the best of them.

I'm increasingly starting to believe what Scolari said for so long. We just don't have a lot of substitution options to change the game. The only thing that I thought of that he could do was bring on di Santo and play 4-4-2. Either that or shift Kalou inside. Malouda was good today, better in the first half than the second, but he held his own. Was better than Kalou anyway. I thought Kalou had a poor night tonight, which disappoints me because I'm a fan of his. Quaresma and Malouda outplayed him, though, in my opinion. Ballack had some AWFUL giveaways that could well have cost us. His sloppiness is going to cost us eventually.

I pretty near had a heart attack at the end. My stream went out in the 87th and I couldn't get another working one until the 92nd minute. When it comes back we're still defending like our hair is on fire, balls flying everywhere. I had the worst feeling we would give up a late equalizer. Thankfully my fears were not born out. I'm glad that I transferred for Drogba in Fantasy Premier League...

Nice shot from Drogba! Quaresma has been massive since he's come on. He's a much better crosser than Kalou.

And now Quaresma for Kalou. Come, on Ricardo, a nice trivela for the win, please!