Arq

Glad to see the FT result in our favor. Wish I could have watched it live. They were, but I was happy to turn a blind eye to it.

I'll add one to that... Roma scores 2 late against BM to take a 3-2 lead. Unreal how BM has just fallen apart. Go figure that the Chelsea game is the ONLY game not shown on TV today... Really people? REALLY?!?! I'm raging over here. I'm glad to see Malouda get one in. I don't care how he did it. Bravo.

Welcome! I live in southern PA, so it's good to see another mid-atlantic fellow in here.

Same here. I was listening to the match on the radio while I was driving to the airport and actually gave out a yell when VdV hammered that penalty shot into the back of the net. Dirty? I feel downright disgusting. I almost feel like I need to take a tomato juice bath to get the skunk spray stink off of me...

I would almost tend to agree especially since it doesn't seem like Bruma could buy a chance to get on to the pitch. Something is missing here that we don't know about, because I wouldn't mind giving Bruma a chance at all with the injuries piling up on the back line. It just doesn't seem like it's going to happen.

I'd take Schweinsteiger in a heartbeat.

I didn't get to watch the match. However, it sounds like we peppered them for most of the 90 minutes and the lads from Birmingham capitalized on the one goal attempt they had. I would conclude that we at least looked better than last week at home against Sunderland. Should we have won? It sounds like it, but sometimes football is a cruel sport. Sometimes, the breaks just don't go your way. If we played better, that's the positive to take away from this. It's an improvement and the goal drought isn't going to last forever. We are still top of the table (by GD, but still top), and there's plenty of time to get the form back. Have faith, this drought isn't the end of the World.

Hutch's point is certainly valid. Losing Cech would be brutal. I don't even want to think about that scenario... So yes, it could be worse. Losing JT is harsh, but I think if he's out for a few months we will look for someone in the January window. Let's just hope we can stay up until that time if this report is true. In the meanwhile, hopefully Lamps can get back and we can get a leader on the pitch. The team needs one.

Maybe, but that was also before getting beat 0-3 at the Bridge. Anything can happen now.

Normally, I'd answer yes. However, that I wouldn't have thought of 3 midfielders being out at the same time. Benayoun with a long term injury, Frank having his injury, and Essien's suspension really have made me change my mind. Now I'd answer it no. I think another midfielder is needed to cope with the other losses that we have. I realize Essien is going to be back but what if he goes down with something and Lampard continues on with one injury after another? I would love to see one more midfielder brought in to be able to cope with being a little thin. I know we have McEachran, but I'm not quite ready to cement the young lad as a force in our midfield. He will be, but he needs a little more time. I think our back line will be fine. We definitely missed JT today, but his absence isn't long term. I haven't heard or read what happened with Alex's knee but I'm hoping that won't be long term either. I feel that Bruma could get some time in there and assuming Bossy and Ash stay healthy, we'll be fine on the wings.

Baby gate installed, still gutted. I can't even bring myself to watch the Milan derby because it just reminds me of the game. However, I'm not sure it's time to hit the panic button yet. In fairness, we have a lot of injuries. Yes, teams need to win and deal with that but I still have some confidence that the form will improve once we get some of these injuries/suspensions cleared up. Carlo has some work to do, and I think he'll get the ship righted. Today could be a real motivator moving forward. If anything, I think we could be looking for a midfielder come the January window. I can't imagine seeing both JT and Alex out for many games (Does anyone know how long Alex is out for? I didn't catch what his knee problem was...). Bruma should get some playing time in, and I think he'll do well for us. Woohoo! Always enjoy seeing another fan!

Normally I'd say that's a great answer, but my NFL team played on Thursday (and won). I get to chew on this one while I install a baby gate. I'm not sure how I'll be able to calm the rage. Maybe a nice long run...

This one is rough. The best we can hope for is a goal in the next 10 min and maybe that will light a fire to get the second.

That save by Reina probably just proved that it may not be in the cards today. The chances are coming though, keep the pressure on! Of course, now hearing the commentators talk about how "valued" Reina is, is making me sick.

I completely agree. I've been telling my wife that the midfield is being overrun. I'll also take a point from today... 30 minutes to go plus stoppage, we still got time!

I think this lineup is spot on. I think we'll get the win, but it'll be tough. My prediction is 2-1, Chelsea comes out on top in a close one.

Funny, I was asking the same question especially after Clattenburg was very upset with everyone else being in his face before Ferdinand.

Happy to get three points on a day where we clearly weren't our best. No disrespect to Blackburn, I thought they played a lively match and honestly deserved at least a point. Maybe the lads had an eye on the upcoming CL match this week. Either way, like said before, champions find a way to win when not playing their best. We clearly are not at our best at this particular moment but we're still winning matches. 5 points clear after 10 games, I can live with that.

I plan on getting this hopefully by the end of next week.

Besides beating Arsenal, this is CLEARLY the best news of my day. The score wasn't on TV, but when I saw the final I was just happy as can be.

Went with Alex. After seeing that strike, that was the cherry on top of the sundae. I hope he isn't seriously injured though. The commentators were talking about a groin injury. I hope not. :(

I have to admit that I haven't read all 16 pages of this forum post. Did we have the best game against City? No, we did not. There's a lot that has been, and could be, pointed out. However, did any of you watch any of the other matches this weekend? Manu, Arsenal, the Spuds, they all lost points. It wasn't just us. They all looked very average, which is a good sign for us in the long run. And honestly, we're not going to win every game even if we want the lads to do so. I'm not too worried about what is going to happen with how I saw our main competitors look this weekend. We're going to drop points here and there, I have faith that Carlo will have a new game plan for next weekend. We've got plenty of time, it's still early. At the end of today, we still have a 3pt lead at the top of the table.

I've been following it on my phone for the last 30 min or so, but it's not on the tele anywhere. Anyone care to give a short summary of what happened?

2-1... Think they will sneak one in on us after we go up 2-0 from goals by Sturidge and Benayoun.

Ashley for me. I don't think I could argue with anyone that wants to pick Malouda, Drogba, or Essien though.