BigIzz

I think your right but this doesn't mean he can't be successful. It does mean that he is going to have to be aware of his limitations and the team are going to surround him with midfielders that compensate for his shortcomings.

Yeah I forgot to say that annoyed me too. He is rated as a 82 overall but drops to 77 at right back. Then again Ashley is only rated 82 when at left back position (84 overall though? Maybe rated higher as a wing back or something?)

Anyone else pick up FIFA 11 yet? I know it came out a few days earlier in the States then in the U.K. I'm enjoying it so far, seems to be an improvement over FIFA 10. Passing is much more realistic in the new version. Scoring has also been very hard for me, keepers have been out of their skin even when I'm 1 on 1. The Chelsea squad is pretty spot on. The default formation is Carlo's 4-3-3 with the fullbacks pushing up. Anelka and Drogba will switch positions as they do in real life, ill notice Drogba randomly out on the wing with Anelka in the center at times, Ive been using Kakuta a lot as a sub and he's been pretty awesome. Disappointed to see McEachern onky have a 66 rating (I think). His rating should be like 90-95 right Wish they would have give Chelsea the proper gold badges.

Great to hear he's back, although I won't reeky believe it until I see him on the pitch. We badly need Ivan to help cover in the center of defense so having another class option at right back would be great.

Ramires certianly has enough tools to succeed at Chelsea. It's just a question of if will be able to adapt and play in a style the let's him maximize his strength. His strengths are his energy and his running. We didn't see much of that against Man City. Instead we saw his lack of size and strength exposed as a liability. Now it is up to him and tye coaches to adjust his play and style in such a way that allows him to be more effective. Can he do it? I suppose that's the £18 million question.

Add me to the Malouda crew

Ramires needs to start in this one. Let's not overrate or ask too much of McEcheran after three relatively short appearances. He's looked great but is still only 17. Ramires is 6 years older and has started in the World Cup for Brazil. He's clearly a quality player that needs playing time to find his form.

True enough. The main problem was with Ramires though. Not that he lost the ball which is going to happen. I don't think he was positionally aware enough to recognize how dangerous the situation actually was. He was pushed up the pitch pretty far but had no cover behind him. He cannot lose the ball in that situation and needs to keep it wide or knock it into touch if he can't do anything productive with the ball. If the players were set up differently (i.e., we had Essien and Mikel back in defensive positions) his losing the ball wouldn't have been a big deal. Instead there was no one behind him except for the back four who had a very difficult situation to deal with.

I'm not sure that is fair. Terry didn't have a good position but Cole had Tevez pretty well defended. I think you just need to tip your cap to Tevez for a great finish.

Not a fun way to spend my morning. Ramires is a liability out there. He made some nice runs but loses possession and physical battles too easily. It would be unfair to say the goal was his fault but his losing the ball led to it. The rest of the team were very blah today. We do struggle against strong defenses that park the bus. I suppose most teams do though. I may have brought on Kakuta if he was fit if only to bring a little creativity into the team. Essien was probably our best player but wasteful with his goal attempts. McEachern looked very good again though he needs to keep seeing the pitch. I understand why Carlo took off Drogba but at the same time I'm not sure you take off a player of his ability and production when down a goal. I won't write him off forever but Sturridge is in pretty poor form right now and looks nothing like he will score. At the same time lets not panic. We are still top of the table. We lost this fixture last years and things worked out pretty well.

If Carlo intended to play Fereira in this match he certainly would have rested him against Newcastle so, yeah, that will be the back four. Lapmard probably can't start right? So we will see Ramires, Mikel and Essien with Anelka, Malouda and Drogba up front.

I picked Anelka because it felt like he carried the team on his shoulders for much of the match but could just as easily been Josh.

Just finished watching on delay so I'm probably a little late to the party but wow...that was some match. I can hardly remember having so much to talk about after a game. I'm not sure how much to read into this because we fielded a very weakened side but here goes... The Good - Anelka was awesome in this match. Hands down MOTM. I was really impressed how he basically lifted the team upon his shoulders and willed them to draw level. This was one of the best matches I have ever seen him play. Down two goals and one man in a league cup match with his reputation it was refreshing to see him put such tremendous effort forward. - Other "regulars" really put forward a fantastic effort. Most notably Alex but I'll include Zhirkov in that too. - McEchran looked phenomenal. Wow. Confident, poised on the ball, great dribbler, great passer, not afraid to take a shot. We may have something very special in this kid. He's our best young midfielder and impressed me more then Matic ever had. With these injures why not give him some more first team action? The Bad - Our defense was generally awful. If Newcastle could finish they should have scored seven or eight. Despite the makeshift backline I would have hoped that it would have been a lot better in the first half. Terry was playing and his greatest attribute is supposedly leadership and organization of which I saw very little. He was playing alongside Bruma who while young isn't exactly a newcomer. Bruma had a very shaky match and off the top of my head was responsible for at least one of the goals. -Ferreira was poor. He put forward a lot of effort at the end but his misplayed pass that lead directly to a goal was dreadful. He's been seeing a lot more first time football then he had in recent years and I have to wonder if it is catching up to him a bit. -Van Aanholt was up and down. He looked good going forward but was a liability at the back. Maybe having Ashley Cole ahead of him isn't a good thing. He tried to play too much like Cole today and clearly lacks that sort of ability. - Sturridge was pretty poor as well. He had a few chances that he could have finished better and was also too selfish. - Turnbull was bad. It may be an unfair comparison but if Cech were playing I bet he stops at least two of the four goals. The Ugly - Injuries to Kalou and Benayoun. Hate to see it, especially in the league cup. Our squad is already short on depth so this could pose a challenge. In the end, Newcastle were deserving winners. Maybe it is best we didn't go to extra time here if only to save Anelka for Saturday as without Kalou we are going to need him.

As much as we all want to win the quadruple I think we need to be pragmatic about this one. We have a big league game early on Saturday followed by a Champions League match on Tuesday. If anyone needs rest then give it to them. Give the backups/youth a shot at this one. If we lose then so be it, it may just be a blessing in disguise anyway. I'd definitely rest Ivan, Essien, Alex, Ferriera, Cole and Mikel. I'd give Lampard and Terry some time if they are fit and need to get back up to speed. I might play Drogba though as he is ruled out on Tuesday again.

I chose Drogba. I thought it was a mature, inspired performance by the fill in captain. He seemed just as happy to try and set up chances as he was to try and convert them. Very refreshing. Could have easily chose Malouda, Essien or Cole though.

I really don't think we can read anything into the second half. I don't doubt for a second that we could have knocked the ball around for 45 minutes and comfortably won 4-0. But that isn't Carlos style. I'd much rather concede a couple goals but score 4+ then win 1-0 every week.

Stunning. We've seen some mighty impressive displays under Carlo but that may have been the best half of attacking football we've played. The movement is sublime, passing spot on, finishing clinical. What a half...

Don't know but if he isn't even on the bench I presume he isn't fit

Cech; Ferreira, Ivan, Alex, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Ramires; Kalou, Drogba, Malouda Bench: Turnbull, Zhirkov, Bruma, Yossi, Kakuta, Sturrdige, Anelka

I'll say this much about them, United have played in some entertaining matches this season.

No Lampard or Terry today, Drogba wearing the armband

You have to think that if this result holds or if Liverpool goes on to win that United confidence will be totally gone. This team can't hold a lead.

Wow. Stunning. O'Shea should have been sent off. Nice to Fletcher to make himself real skinny to let that ball through the wall.

Love to see these two split the points here.

Hate to admit it but that was an incredible goal by Berbatov