BigIzz

Arsenal fans are basically celebrating that it snowed more in Hull then London on a Saturday a few weeks back. No worries I'd rather have a game in hand then a lead based on goal difference. The media is simply exaggerating like they always so. Same as they were foolish to proclaim us champions when we beat Arsenal earlier in the season.

Ivanocvic has been our best non-obvious player this season (if that makes any sense). I'd hate to see him out of the squad because of anyone. The thought of playing him at CB and Bosingwa at fullback is intriguing however.

It was about as stupid a foul as you'll ever see. I can understand grabbing it but holding on for so long? What did he think the result would be? Maybe Mancini's Man City aren't the greatest squad on the planet after all. At least he's got his scarf.

I don't think you can read much into Sunderland's score, especially the last one. You would like to think that concentration and focus would not lapse ever but you can't get too upset if it does for the last kick of the ball in a match that was 7-1 at the time. We let some soft goals in on occasion this season but if they come with a four, five or six goal lead they really don't concern me too much.

I went with Ashely Cole. Even though he only played a half he was absolutely brilliant and the match was over when he was taken out anyway. Anelka was fantastic as well

I don't think we can make any judgments from this match considering how awful Sunderland were defensively but still an encouraging, dominant performance. Has anyone ever seen a fullback play a more dominant half then Ashely did today?

Would the transfer ban allow us to buy Aguero now but not bring him in until the summer? Suppose we aren't allowed to bring in players this summer - do you think they would allow something like that? I suppose technically it would have been done in the winter but it would sort of make a mockery of their precious ban.

Tragic, isn't it? ;)

Everton were soooo close to winning that one. Arsenal are very lucky to get a point. All things considered it isn't a bad result for us at all

Everton are playing very well today. They have a chance to win but I'll sign for the draw

I wasn't even going to out drinking tonight so I could be coherent tomorrow morning to watch the match at 7:45 am Oh well, off to the bar I guess :D

The only thing I was looking forward to this whole week was watching Chelsea in glorious high definition...

Yes God forbid the dozen of us outside of England who are actually interested enough to listen to this match would be able to...

I had assumed the reason Ancelotti made the changes at full back was purely based on rest. They have to do an awful lot of running in this system and this was our second legaue game in three days. Plus I bet he wanted to give Zhirkov a look and probably get Ferreira some playing time. I'm not sure there is a reason to read more into it then that. Belletti's start at right-center mid was much more curious to me.

I picked Deco but truly the lesser of the evils...

I agree with just about everything you wrote. It is, however, quite a gamble that the transfer ban will be totally overturned. If Chelsea guess wrong it could cost them millions and damage the club for years. It isn't terribly hard to imagine a scenario where if we are unable to transfer until Summer 2011, a few key injuries and a few older players making it over the hill making for a disastrous 2010-11. If Chelsea were keen to buying a player in this offseason, I cannot see why they wouldn't just do it now to insure the long term viability of the squad (if not to improve the team for this current season).

Vital game and vital three points. Wish we could always show that sort of focus and determination. Ivanovich showed again why I think he's been our best player. Nice to see the system mixed up a little bit and the change worked wonders.

While conventional wisdom is we will be banned from one transfer window, it is quite possible that we still are banned from two. That would mean no new players for 18 months. I think it is unfathomable that no one is brought in for this transfer window. The squad as a few holes and is getting older. There is far too much money at steak for us not to sure up a few areas. It may not be big names but I'll be shocked if there isn't at least one transfer.

It looks to me like teams have figured out how to defend us. We really only ever seem dangerous on a break, with a set-piece or if our opponent makes a mistake. To be fair the lion share of goals scored by everyone probably comes from one of these three situations but the point I'm trying to illustrate is that you can allow Chelsea all the possession in the final third and around the box you want. So long as our opponent has sufficient numbers and are reasonably organized a goal is pretty unlikely. The side just lacks creativity, they can't make a goal out of nothing. I'm not a tactical mastermind but I suspect this is mostly caused by our lack of quality at the tip of the diamond. I imagine that is where the creativity is supposed to come but no one who has played there has really demonstrated it. Sadly Deco is probably our best option there. We had 20+ attempts on goal in this match but how many were legitimate scoring chances? It reminded me of the APPOEL home match - lots of attempts but few quality ones.

Another match where we are just missing that last little bit of magic to put the ball into the back of the net. The team played very well at times today. We were fortunate on a couple of decisions but should have had three points. It is painfully obvious we have no one to play the tip of the diamond on the roster. Obviously Carlo hasn't been impressed by Joe Cole so he gave Malouda a shot at it and he ended up having a pretty dreadful match (his second yellow was stupidity personified). This result isn't the end of the world but, in all honesty, the title should be all but wrapped up if not for our recent poor form. We should have 7 more points from the last five matches.

Sturridge and Borini have shown flashes and played well when they have appeared but if they are both starting that will not be enough. Being a striker is about producing goals and they will need to do that. Common sense of course. Who is the depth behind them exactly?

Apart from Drogba and maybe Anelka, I'd say Ivanovic may have been our best player this season. He's certainly my favorite.

The idea that we wouldn't sign anyone is ludicrous. Why Ancelotti bothers to say it and the papers bother to print it is totally beyond me. It is an absurd notion.

I thought it was a curious way to enforce the rule. I suppose he technically got it right in the end (although he probably should have ordered a third retake because Drogba encroached on the last attempt, although Dean couldn't see it). It was just kind of crazy. Only the second time ever in the Premiership a penalty had been taken three times.. I hate to see referees selectively enforce the rules. If they are going to order every penalty where this happens retaken for the rest of the season, then so be it: let's enforce the rules as they are written. But we all know that isn't going to happen. I must say our lack of discipline is alarming. How do our players encroach again after the first retake is awarded. Not to even mention Drogba on the third attempt. Where is the discipline? And where were all these players running into the box when Lampard missed the penalty against City?

I personally don't think our midfield has been the problem. Yesterday it was the attack. Against Everton it was the defense (and a few very lucky goals). Against City the midfield was dominated for stretches but it still came down to the attack because we had a few chances to tie or win. Let's not forget that we are playing without one of the world's best midfielders right now in Essien. The area where we are lacking is at the tip of the diamond. The other three spots are fine.