Arq

First, what a great showing by Everton. Hats off to them. Second, three points is three points. I was a little disappointed with the showing, because I thought I would see more. I then remembered that a lot of our first teamers were out which certainly lifted my spirits. And hats off to the Wolves, they certainly played tough. Overall, I'm content and we're up by 4 in the Prem. :) MOTM: Cech, hands down. He made a couple of brilliant saves that reminded me of how world class he is. :)

I've watched a little bit of this game and I agree. Inter definitely have some holes especially at the back. Still, I've got knots in my stomach about this match-up. We've seemed to step it up against some of the big teams this season, let's hope this is more of the same.

Yeah, I'm having a hard time feeling bad for Arsenal... Actually, I'm not trying to feel bad for them at all. Whether or not they were "robbed" is moot to me. It's Arsenal and I'm finding myself laugh a little bit inside. I only saw the highlight of the offside goal in the Bayern match. How Orvebo continues to be allowed to ref is beyond me. Klose was about a kilometer offsides! And my last comment... You really don't like Bayern, do you german-blue? :D

This is definitely a bummer. Best wishes to Ashley for a healthy recovery and a speedy return. Time for Yuri to show us what he can do. :)

Serbia is a tough team. I have my eye out for them in the World Cup. Germany has a pretty easy Euro 2012 draw, I have to admit. Turkey could be a threat but I think they overachieved in Euro 2008.

I just read a similar article on ESPN. Awesome. :unsure:

I just watched Sherlock Holmes. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm actually looking forward to the next one when it comes out. :)

I have to admit... This match scares me. Every time I get excited for a game, I get let down one way or another. I'll be cheering the Blues on though! Hopefully Carlo can work some motivational speech magic and the performance is top notch. Go Chelsea! :)

If you're an England fan, I can see what Loz is saying. I pull for Germany but if they don't win I wouldn't be super heartbroken to see the Chelsea blue players on the England squad holding the trophy. I just find it upsetting that JT was stripped of his captaincy for something that is clearly not moral but doesn't really have anything to do with football. Ok, it's done. But to give it to Ferdinand with Gerrard as vice-captain. Really?!?! Isn't that just hypocrisy at it's finest? That's right, I'm sorry... Ferdinand did something nasty on the pitch, not off of the pitch. What was I thinking... :) I won't even get into Gerrard... I understand why people are upset and wish ill will on England's chances. Overreacting? That's debatable, but understandable. I'm sure every player has some skeletons in their closets, but I think Capello could have done better with his captain pick.

I hope the team saw what happened today with manu and it motivates them to put on a great showing tomorrow. However, I don't think the season is over whether it's a win, draw, or loss. Win, and it shows the league that Chelsea isn't a team to f**k with. Lose, and the motivation to win it all will increase ten-fold. Draw, and I believe the reaction will be the same as a loss. I can't wait to watch this match. I think Carlo will have the team ready for a win. Go Chelsea!

::clap2:: Being an American, I got a nice dose of the Tiger Woods scandal (doesn't matter if he's wrong, the media certainly made things worse) and now I get a good dose of the JT scandal. The details and opinions based on what happened is for another time and another thread. The media doesn't help at all. They almost never help with anything. I almost think they are half to blame for all of the issues.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I know that these are high profile people but a lot of the exposure that we're seeing lately of their personal lives is quite sickening.

TERRRRYYYYYYY!!!! YES!

I've got the game recorded, I hope to check it out tomorrow. Yeah, I know the score and that we're back on top but I'll watch the game anyway! Woohoo!

We got a shot as long as Orvebo isn't officiating any of our games...

Some of the crap that I've been reading on ESPN about Arsene's quotes just amazes me... "I am sorry if the tackle was not good, and I apologise. However, to complain that we went on to play, I think that is unfair. The players did not even know what was happening behind them, whether the player has got up again or not. "I don't believe you can kick the ball out every time a player is down when you win the ball. That is why they changed the rules. Remember Everton: I did not think they should have kicked the ball out, and it was a much more obvious situation. I said it was okay and they might have gone 3-1 up.'' Wenger added: "We got some tackles, some big ones, but we had to cope with it. I am sorry if it is a foul, but it didn't look dirty from outside.'' Wow... unbelievable. Just f**king unbelievable. Did I miss the report on where he went blind? ;) Coyle was less than impressed by Gallas' challenge. "I think it was closer to an assault than a tackle,'' he told Sky Sports. "I would suggest it's probably closer to a sending-off as far as I'm concerned.'' He continued: "However, the fact is the referee has not seen it, and the lad is prostrate on the ground, and Arsenal being full of fair play as we keep hearing, have carried on and scored an equaliser. That is hard to take.'' Coyle revealed Davies would have an X-ray to assess the damage. He added: "It was a bad tackle, there is no getting away from it. You can accept it if he gets a bit of the ball, because that is the game we play and it can happen, but he has not touched any of the ball and it rubs salt into the wounds. I don't want to sit here and make excuses, but I have seen red cards for less.'' Good for you Coyle. IMHO, that was just a dirty challenge and Gallas should have been sent off. Score stays 2-1, and Arse is down to 10. I'll bet anyone a beer that the outcome changes if that play is called the way it should have been. Arse may have won, but not 4-2. That would end all of the "Arsenal reach the summit!" talk... /gag. Good news is that Chelsea have a game in hand. All is definitely not lost. Let them have their minute in the sun, the spotlight will be ours at the end.

I voted for Anelka, but I thought the MOTM was really a Team of the Match in this case... Corny, but the whole team played great. :D

Very accurate here. I think Ballack still plays an important role in the squad. Yes, he's a little older. He is, however, a physical presence and one that's needed at times. He makes those fouls that get into the opposing team's heads. At times, this is exactly what we need. He does the same for Germany but also sets the tone of their play. In times past, he always had Frings as his defensive midfielder. I think Ballack is transitioning to that and Özil will take the role of the box-to-box midfielder. For Chelsea, he can play either the role of the defensive midfielder or at the tip of the diamond. Having a strong physical presence at the tip allows the team to be able to force their will on opposing defenses. Ballack still has the capability to make some great passes. He also has a powerful shot that I don't think is used enough. At the bottom of the diamond, he'd fall into that physical defensive role that he's been assigned to under Ancelotti. I don't think he's worth 120k pounds/week, but I also don't think he's overrated. He does those dirty jobs that don't get the recognition that other jobs get.

I don't see us taking 27 points in the next 9 games. Someone will trip up the team in at least one of those games. I think taking 24 points or more puts us in good shape heading into the final stretch. Let's start with taking 3 at home from Everton (btw I was glad to see them get the draw against the Spuds today)!

It just wasn't Chelsea's day. That was definitely confirmed when Lamps didn't capitalize on the PK. I give credit to Given though, he guessed right and made the save. I was (still am really) fuming mad but at the end of the day we are STILL at the top of the table with a favorable schedule coming up. Hopefully these two loses will keep the team motivated and hungry. It's been a cruddy week, but the week is over and it's time to move on.

Watching the game, they had a good bit of the possession but I never felt scared that they were going to score. A team can have possession all they want but if they aren't generating any threat on goal, then what good does it really do? I think they were "allowed" to have all that possession because we knew that they didn't really have anyone that could penetrate our back four. I thought it was a brilliant game. Could we improve? Sure. All teams still have areas to improve. We got 3 points from one of the "big four" at their house. I don't think we can ask for much more than that. Bravo.

Perfectly said! I couldn't commit my full attention to the game (taking care of my newborn daughter), but I was super pleased at what I saw. Arsenal losing and Liverpool not winning was icing on the cake!

Just curious here... Why Bayern Munich? For me, it's harder than I thought to put them in order. 1. Liverpool 2. Spurs 3. Arsenal 4. Manu 5. Barca

I like how Loz put an order of preference down... I think I'll follow suit. 1. Chelsea - Premiership 1A. Chelsea - Champions League (oh the joy to win this and shut EVERYONE, outside of us loyal Cheslea fans, up) 3. Germany - World Cup 4. Germany - Euros (the loss to Spain last year was brutal) 5. Chelsea - FA Cup 6. Chelsea - League Cup Before anyone asks... Yes, I'm from the US, but my heritage is German and so I root for the German squad. I do though want to see the US national team do well so more Americans get into it.

The unfortunate thing about Evans' double karate-kick to Drogba is that nothing can be done about it at this point except for maybe getting Drog's yellow rescinded. I just hope that Drogba isn't seriously injured (he appeared to be ok) and that they remember this for the match at Old Trafford in April...