nickwus

It seems odd to say after his first year at the club but the guy we missed today for me was Ballack. Deco and Lampard both had poor days ( so many misplaced passes aside from Frank's unfortunate accident) and lets face it the best 36 minutes we've had tis season was the first 36 v Portsmouth before Ballack went off. I'm not entirely sure why we makes the difference but I think he's just more solid at the back and as a result Deco and Lampard push further forward and Cole Bosingwa do too adding width. The other problem today was there was no creativity on the bench to change the game. if Robinho's outburst works, we'll likely have either him of Joe coming off the bench at times and that will at least change the opposition's problem. Overall I have to say I was never comfortable today, and this and last week's performance were both disappointing outside of defense. Nick

Actually, Michael's response was “Jose,” it read. “You have been Special. I am going to stay at Chelsea. I hope that, one day, you will be at back here too.”

I am not sure that the Reason #1 item is all that valid...strikes me that Roman while preferring winning Dutch style over winning Jose style, might well prefer WINNING, even with Jose style over LOSING, period :) I am not convinced that he;s coming back but at this point Jose coming back would probably be less of a shock then when and how he left...so you never knowQ

The difference was that under Mourinho's rule, once ahead we never drew (well hardly ever). There was a confidence in the players, the fans, even the opposition, that once Chelsea went ahead, the opposition had lost. That's no longer the case. Under Mourinho, we drew when we could not score. What was the goals against that year? Its not necessarily Grant's fault per se, and its very difficult to get that belief back (especially in the opposition :) ) I can't put my finger on why we are draws when we should be getting wins.... You can always argue that we should get the second goal and kill the game, but a ,ook at shots yesterday suggests that wasn't exactly for lack of trying. Sometime the defense/goalkeeper has an inspired day. I wonder if Jose was stricter with the players in keeping back coverage to avoid breakways though, and for some reason we've become exposed to crosses which given Cech, Terry and Carvalho all being there (generally) isn't easy to explain. Did we dominate the midfield vefore more and just cut off the supply? Nick

Loz If that is close to your hometown, maybe its time to take advantage of the changes in housing prices and move somewhere else... Nick

Alternatively, Didier is showing how smart he is.... Give someone abuse and its likely to make them try harder (if they are A type personalities), he's rather Gallas was not trying harder! How many lower level teams have won in part because they raised their games against the top teams...? Barnsley? Tottenham?

Frank's always had the near post, but whether he is meant to stay there, or come out (he always comes out, so I'd guess he isn't instructed to stay there) once the ball has been struck... I wouldn't completely blame him for the goal, but he should have done better, as should Carlo and whoever was marking Lasagna. Frank seemed to me to bit a no man's land.....I don't recall, did he stay on the line more when JM was in charge?

A great victory, what what is going on on set pieces. NO-ONE on the goal line at the near post......?

Grant's UEFA lessons seem to be generating the standard UEFA game....no spark. Bring back Jose..

Where is Joe COLE...needed NOW

I thought we played a very dangerous game. Instead of getting the pressure on Derby and getting a 2 or 3 goal lead and turning it into a how many can we score match, we sat back passed the ball around and let them get their confidence back. Lets face it, a better linesman and the ref calling a foul on Sheva and we would have dropped 2 points. Grant left it way too late to bring Essien on and give the players a kick up the backside. Its the same B.S. that let Everton get a point. When will we ever learn? Nick

Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko is being coached by Olympic sprinter Darren Campbell in a bid to regain his pace. The 2004 Olympic relay gold medallist was brought in two months ago to help the Ukrainian regain his explosive pace. The former European footballer of the year has been below his very best since arriving at Stamford Bridge, leading to critics to claim his legs have 'gone'. Shevchenko was on the bench for Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Schalke 04 in the Champions League and has not figured often in Avram Grant's plans since he took over the club last month, starting just two games under the new boss. But, since taking over, Grant has promised that Shevchenko does have a future at the club and is understood to be supportive of the scheme to help the striker regain the sharpness. Good idea...why did we wait so long?

there is a sign in the players tunnel: "this isn't anfield" Roman should get that put up...:)

Where's Essien?

My sentiments entirely

Mourinho! :) but I voted for Joe...if anyone was going to create anything, it was him. Sheva at least was trying in the first half, but my god, his confidence is so shot he can't even get a shot on target from a free kick

Opta stats: CFC FFC 69.2 Possession 30.8 46.9 Territorial Advantage 53.1 How is that attacking style? We have twice as much possession but the ball on average is our half? To me that's the essence of the problem in the last few weeks. We pass the ball around the back and we don't actually attack enough. Rather than pass the ball forward, we pass it back ti be safe and it ends up with Cech. Again MU, Sheva was on the edge of the box a few times with one defender in the way. You just knew that Drogba would have shot. Lampard would have shot. Sheva passed and we then passed it around and never got the shot away. It seemed like Arsenal last year when they wanted to pass the ball into the net. I am not saying we should just shoot on sight, but at least try sometimes! Nick

I'll take birong and winning rather than exciting and drawing or losing, thanks

Start to worry about what? We're already out of the EPL race. Have you seen how far behind we are from Arsenal and even Liverpool? This is looking like a rebuild season. We're inept in front of goal. Sheva and Kalou and even Pizarro just are not sharp. Our best bet right now is Sinclair as he's got ball control and speed! Nick

Probably the only manager in the history of the game to leave "by mutual consent" having NEVER lost a home league game.....

There won'be any channge in who is in charge....it remain that Roman is in charge. The question is will the new manager recognize that :)

Liam He can't have lost his legs in 2-3 months. He scored, what was it 17 goals at AC the lats year he was there, and 24 the year before. There's no doubt that he isn't playing the way he used to, but while legs can slow down they don't slow that much that fast without amputation! To me it looks mostly confidence. He got through but instead of being confident enough to take the ball down calmly and go round Friedel, the ball got away and he shot straight at him. We need Sheva and Pizzarro to have enough game time to get back in the groove. An early goal in a game that takes the pressure off could make a big difference. Lets hope.. Nick

That may be an accurate assessment, but does not bode well. Crespo never got accepted by JM as the premier striker that he is.... ...personally I always felt that part of Crespo's game plan was to appear out of touch with the game, lull the defense into a bit of overconfidence and that use that to get the extra couple of yards on them when he needed it.... Nick

TT I'd rather have have the score progression right and none of the players....I went for a away win! Nick

yeah, because the lifestyle living amongst the scum in that cesspit is much better. what a moron. You mean he does want his house broken into when he's playing in the Champions League Semi-final, like Reina