BigIzz

What does it matter? They'll just wear it three times and trot out a new uglier one next season. How many times did we wear the green? A few times on the road in the CL, once in the league late in the season... 5 times at most?

So does Ramires

Don't quite get that myself. I don't see the benefit of playing Jones and Bradley together. They might be the two best central midfielders but that doesn't mean they work well together. Their style is too similar for me. An Edu-Bradley pair works better in my eyes. Edu can sit in front of the defense and let Bradley push forward. Losing Stu Holden hurts the midfield a lot though, let's not forget he was one of the best players in the PL this season before his injury and was still named Bolton's player of the year.

I still hate Marquez more

Luiz would fit Barca perfectly but I can't see much of a reason for us to sell him unless they make some sort of astronomical offer.

Geez can something not be about Mourinho for once? I'm sure AVB's ambition has nothing to do with one-upping Mourinho

I'm not terribly impressed with Jones much myself. He was superhyped but after seeing a few games with Blackburn and the USMNT I don't really see what all the fuss was about.

Almost all great athletes struggle to accept that because it doesn't fit with the type of mindset that you need to have in order to be a superstar. A lot of success of superstar athletes is grounded in a supreme and unwavering confidence in their ability and that they will succeed. If they had the makeup to understand when they weren't good enough then they probably wouldn't have ever reached extraordinary levels in the first place. I love Lampard and wouldn't begrudge him if he wanted to move on if his playing time was reduced here. I'd love to see him retire in a Chelsea kit but after all he's done how can we deny him the opportunity to try and play regular football elsewhere if he so desires?

I don't think AVB age is any factor at all. The older players should know him for the most part, he has had great success elsewhere and after the king's ransom paid by RA to get him he will likley have the full support of the board/ownership. AVB will probably be here longer then our older players anyway. This can't be looked at as a short term appointment. No way does RA spend all this money just to keep AVB for a season or two. I'm sure he understands that there may be some growing pains. If I were running Chelsea I wouldn't have fired Carlo and spent 15 million Euro to get AVB. But whatever, this isn't my money. I'm thrilled with the managerial appointment and the new energy that this should bring to the club.

No Cole? Kakuta? ummmm...

It was a stupid lineup the US played. I don't think Bradley wanted to play this match right on the eve of the Gold Cup. To start, Spector isn't a full back. If BB watched a West Ham game he'd know that. And the midfield that he played in the first half would never have a chance against the likes of Xabi Alonso and Silva.

No one will ever be the right man for the long term if they get sacked every time they have a season without a trophy.

I'm sorry but you can't make an argument that Van Basten would be a better manager then Carlo for 2011-12

My big problem is that it feels like this is punishment for Carlo not winning, not because there is a better plan for the future.

Madrid does it though because they're used to an incredible record of success and measure every squad against a history with 9 European Championships. What historical success is Roman measuring our managers against? He can't work things out with a guy who won the first two titles in 40 years, gets rid of the guy who won a double after a subpar season, etc. Is he measuring Chelsea against United's success? If so then look at their manager and the stability of their program over the last 20+ years.

The question is when does the insanity stop? If the next guy doesn't win a trophy, he gets fired too right? When does the cycle end?

Let's be realistic. Regardless of what any of us may want to do in the offseason, Torres is going to be here. He wasn't bought just to dump after 4 poor months and I doubt they could sell for half what they paid at the moment. Taking into consideration that Torres will be here and will go into the preseason as our starting striker, can we keep Drogba? He had a down season but I think the malaria played a big part in it. Still he is older and how would he feel about having a lesser role with the club? If he's not on board with it then he has to be moved.

Emerton scored totally against the run of play, Rovers 1 United 0. The dream won't die....

It was obvious from before the start of the season that this squad was too thin. I think it was very arrogant of Chelsea to think that they could register 19 (I think) players and compete in four competitions. If they need to cut payroll then fine but you need to judge Carlo accordingly with what he was given. An NFL coach has a saying that it doesn't matter how good of a cook you are you can't make filet mignon with ground beef. Look at our bench from some matches this season. Take the scoreless draw at Villa. Borini, Bruma, Mellis, Zhirkov, McEachern, Boswinga (Kakuta started up front with Malouda and Anelka). That bench isn't even close to Premire League calibre. It's Zhirkov, a guy making a comeback from a serious knee injury and four/youth reserve team players one of which was 17 years old. That may be the weakest bench put out by anyone in the PL all season. We also had to dress a 15 year old (!!!) on our bench this season for matches. Chelsea, one of the biggest and richest clubs in all the world, having to dress a 15 year old. Pathetic.

Doesn't the youth have a championship match to play on Monday? I think that rules a lot of them out of this match. We need to wait until the other matches are played before picking our squad. It seems a foregone conclusion United win the title but they will be playing against two motivated and capable squads in the delegation zone. If by some miracle they lose on Saturday then this season isn't over yet. Apart from that I wish we would make a decision about the manager before this match and announce it. If Carlo is getting sacked I think we can all agree he is a classy guy who will still do what is in Chelsea's best interest. If he is coming back then he should play whatever combo he wants to see if it is viable for next season, be it Torres, Tourres/Drogba, or whomever (assuming United clinch the title)

For me he needs to stay without question. He's not the greatest manager on the planet (Jose, Ferguson) but he is on the next level down. He is a classy and capable manager. If we fire him who do we bring in that is better? When does the merry go round stop? Firing someone as punishment for not winning makes no sense to me. Who is the best person to coach Chelsea next year and for the future? To me that is Carlo without question.

Wasn't it nice of Arsenal to take a break from their woeful run of form last weekend and take care of United for us? Good to see they returned to their losing ways.

Cech, Ivan Luiz Terry Cole, Lampard Mikel Essien, Kalou Drogba Malouda

In the second photo, look at all the wires sticking out below the wall mounted flat screen. Kinda ghetto if you ask me. Kidding aside, that looks awesome. I had always wondered where Roman is at when they show him during matches.

I think it's all but a certinatity that we see both Drogba and Torres playing in this match. The much more interesting questions are when, for how long, and do they ever play together? Remember Carlo benches Drogba going into this fixture last year which at the time was an unthinkable action. I can't say with much confidence how he is going to set up the attack for this game.