Chippy

Passing success aside, I think Oscars having a decent game

Has it gone down as a goal for Ba? Sky sports on the mobile says Ba 11 og...I'm thinking it was his goal so lets hope we don't get sloppy.

That's crowed the first scorer bet, thought that was Ba for a minute.

I don't like it, don't think hes had enough chances to be written off for us, then again as I always say, I don't watch him train...I think he'll get a run out tonight at some stage, hope I'm right.

Bets for tonight, half any winnings to the site Chelsea 2-0 @ 6/1 Stake : £4.00 Estimated Returns : £28.00 and Demba Ba / Chelsea 2-0 @ 20/1 Stake : £3.00 Estimated Returns : £63.00 Come on lads

Arghh, just came on here and saw people putting out their likely teams and realised I never done my BPL last night I'd expect Ash and De Bruyne to get some game time tonight, main striker is an tough one but hopefully whoever it is bags a goal tonight and stops all the talk of our strikers not scoring.

I half expected Jose to give him some minutes there in the Southampton game, I thought he'd bring Lamps off around 65 minutes but Frank was playing well and I think that kept him on the sidelines again, he hasn't been that lucky when he has been on the bench as games have either been a bear pit like the Stoke game where the game was so on the edge it would have been a difficult one to bring him on in or like the Saints one where the options where all playing well. I hope we see him tomorrow night but if we do I'm not sure where he'll be playing.

I really like the look of De Bruyne, he's young and raw but already quite experienced with his National team and for me a future great. It's difficult here with the pressures that come for players playing for Chelsea and the Manager managing which make it a tough team to break into, Shurrle now has staked a big claim, Hazard is almost undroppable, Oscar superb and Mata playing well although I'm still not sure if Jose see's his defensive side to be up to starting in front of a fit Oscar, all that and still we have Willian who has a great engine and some good touches, shows a bit of vision with his passes but needs to work on his finishing still getting games ahead of Kevin. I can't blame the manager for his limited game time but really hope if he go's its just a loan deal as I have high hopes for him

There were some good things, Hazard 98% pass success rate and 13 dribbles, Shurrle looking good just two of them. One of their goals came after they committed a foul (I expect Jose will get a call from the Referee with an apology) one was unstoppable and the first was a miss communication as Cahill thought Cech was coming and he hesitated. Not many go to stoke and creat too many chances and we done it with our three main strikers all looking blunt. We had conceded 5 goals away before the last two games and I'm sure Jose will get this ironed out. It wont be often we play a game with our options up front all out of form plus Ramires in such wasteful mood.

I had Everton to win 1-2 with Lukaku to score, he looked dangerous first twenty minutes then looked like what he is...A Chelsea striker

FORM GUIDE: Arsenal - WLWWW Liverpool - WDLWW Chelsea - DWWWL Man City - LWWLD Man United - LMFAO

Cech's past it...funny he's been voted our man of the match enough times already this season. Because we have another great keeper on loan, people get the impression we should get rid of one of the best and most consistent keepers the premiership has ever seen. Nothing wrong with a bit of competition for him from better back up but my money would be on him raising his game and Courtois slapping in a transfer request because of lack of game time.

Just read this so yeah Shurrle was injured. Asked why he had substituted the German, Mourinho said: "Injury - I am not stupid. He told me he could not carry on."

Do you think that means we need another Manager change or does it highlight the fact we need one in the job long term? in my opinion all these comparisons are pretty pointless as the premier is tougher than ever.

As I explained earlier I'm not saying Oscar would have stopped the goals, just that his presence in the team contributes to better defending on the whole, some of the set pieces might not have come about had he been on the pitch. Our problems in the defense and midfield are highlighted when the ball is getting through more often and he is usually the furthest forward line of defense that cuts some of that out. As I said its over simplifying but in my opinion his absence has had an effect.

Probably the curse of Lukakus Knee.

Shurrle, I think he picked up a knock...someone mentioned it was on twitter, has to be the only explanation.

Spot on and I was oversimplifying massively when I said we are missing Oscar just to get the point across that his defensive work gos a bit un noticed and although Mata has improved on his, they are different players, that's not saying who is the best in the position just that with the weaknesses we have in DM and defense I think it shows why Jose prefers Oscar and I think his absence has added to our frailties.

I'm not saying Oscar would have been directly responsible for stopping the six goals, I'm suggesting that his all round defensive activities make us tighter as a unit and more organized, had his contribution led to only a couple of those chances not emerging, we'd be a lot happier. Its more ridiculous to suggest that our defenders have forgotten how to defend in the last two matches against lesser teams than they have been capable defenders against before the last two games. When something changes I look for a contributing factor and the twice we've let in six goals the main change has been Oscar not in the team. It might be a bit far fetched to claim its the reason but I think its had a bearing and thats my opinion.

Arsenal have conceded 10 Chelsea 18 City 15

Ignoring the last two games we would have conceded only eleven goals, one more than Arsenal and second best defense in the league, Oscars absence shouldn't be overlooked as he is superb at breaking things up and getting back hassling players all over the park. Our defenders have not become crap overnight, Ramires wasn't his usual self today and without Oscar that hurts us more.

Man City - Cardiff springs to mind. Every team wins some and loses some, we're sitting top three doing it and we'll get better.

Funny, City went one nil up today and only came away with a point.

We lost a game, yes its a kick in the nuts but I'd take it compared to last season at this stage, did people really expect Jose to come back and waive a magic wand? There's work to be done and if we are challenging and still top four while its being done we should be happy enough. Individual mistakes today, subs that didn't work and Eto'o seemed like the short absence sent his sharpness back to his Russian football days, Ba looked like he deserved a start but when he came on was actualy a downgrade from the ineffectual Torres, what's the manager supposed to do if the three strikers all look championship level? Shuurle was superb and I'd say its no coincidence that we've conceded three times in each of the games Oscar has missed.

What did you think of the midfield?