bjd

Just posted something similar on the match thread. Cech now seems to just avoid coming for any inswinging dead ball, which causes chaos. The 3rd goal was horrific, and reminded me of Turnbull, and its not the first time we've seen Cech slow to get down at the near post. No knee jerking from me though. Big fan of Cech and think we all take him for granted, but he hasnt had the most commanding of seasons when he really needed to really. Fascinating to see how this one will play out. If he goes or drops to the bench it will hurt, but there isnt any room for sentiment, and Jose will do whats best.

It really is horrible to watch. The manner in which he eased past 3 of our players is bad enough buts whats most uncomfortable is watching Petr Cech, it was Turnbull esque. Just so slow to get down at the near post, and it has to be said not for the first time either. Im not jumping to any conclusions here, I think Cech is wonderful and think we have taken him for granted for a very long time but i think he has had an iffy season and in particular ive lost a lot of confidence with how he deals with an inswinging dead ball, i.e more often than not he doesn't, and leaves it to the defenders which seems to cause all manner of chaos. Not going to go full out and say we need a change and need Courtois next season, but i think last night certainly worked against Cech in regards to that argument.

They have an outstanding squad, and so they should for the money they have spent. But if you have the money you need to spend it well and they certainly have. Have we ? Take for instance our 4 Brazilian internationals - about £100 million worth , are we getting value for money from all 4 of them ? I dont feel we are to be honest.

Biggest surpise of the night was that Ramires lasted the 90 min without getting a second yellow which at one stage we all felt was an inevitability. He wont be missed next week. The energy is one thing but its simply worthless if you cant pass the ball 10 yards and keep giving away niggly free kicks. I seem to get more and more frustrated with him every time i see him play now, though we are still a long way from Torres territory there. Id wager his future could be in the balance though. However, whoever Jose picks on Tues its going to mean we have a very pedestrian midfield, Its a massive task, think we will certainly score a couple but they just have so many options. Heart says yes, head says no im afraid, like the league title.

Willian for me too. Still a little underwhelmed by him in general though. A poor night in so many aspects.

Third goal a killer but we were not remotely good enough, in fact I didn't think PSG didn't even had to play that well. We have a great manager and some top players but right now we are not at the very top tier of European football and won't be until we sort out goalscoring, and let's face it, our mentality. No guts from a few out there. Again. I trust Jose to fix what's right, I honestly think we are not too far off but you just compete at this top level when you perform at the level we did in the 2nd half. There is still a game to be played next week but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking PSG will nick one at the Bridge. Napoli was one thing but this is a whole new level.

I remember someone on here - i wish i remember who, saying he thought Kakuta was the best young player he had seen since Pele! Just goes to show you never can tell. Sadly looks like its going the same way with Josh too.

Never liked Hutchinson myself. He certainly played his part in the financial mess the club got into in the early part of the last decade and then bailed before things got tough.

Not convinced Eto'o wouldve had any involvement in this match even if fit to be honest. When was the last time he started an away fixture ? Man City ? And even then that was because Torres was injured.

Id agree that it couldve all been a bit different if he'd have taken one of those chances, i guess we will never know. Always felt a bit sorry for Chris Sutton, his form was generally dreadful but bearing in mind what a huge outlay he was we never played to his strengths and so he never really stood a chance. Sutton at Blackburn was all about first quick time balls into the box, mainly from the wings but we never adapted our play to him and generally played a narrow game with lots of incisive passes, just not what he was used to. I was thrilled when we signed him because i thought a bit of old school British centre forward play was just what that team needed at the time but it was never utilised. A totally pointless signing.

Yeah maybe youre right. I guess we will never know. There was a lot of talk that we were certainly showing an interest in Cavani around the time the window opened. The Rooney stuff didnt materialise until later on, and then went on for far too long. It all moot now anyway. Totally agree about Gomez or the like. Anyone with some high level experience and in even a just minor level of good form would've been a decent option.

Eto'o is our best striker. And he is a striker who hasn't scored a goal away from home all season and now actually only plays in home games. Torres is still the clubs main figurehead striker. Its such a depressing thought, almost as bad as watching him 'play'.

Whose to say we wont get blown away again ? Costa is having a superb season that just seems to be getting better and he certainly is one of the hot striking options in world football right now. This may work against us, if indeed we have an interest in the player. This time last year all the talk was all about Cavani and Falcao and there were lots of excited fans expecting that one of them would sign. When it came down to it we were blown away by clubs much richer than us and the club had no choice but to walk away - the same thing could certainly happen again. I just hope the club have learnt from previous lessons and have a shortlist of a few names. We simply cannot be allowed to go into another season with Torres as the main striker, or not at least if the hierarchy want the squad to mount a serious challenge for anything.

By far and away the best and most sensible answer on here. Some strange posts about the transfer windows and some serious crystal ball readings going on regarding Lukaku! Personally I think we are very close to being mustard. A sensible Summer transfer window and I think next season will be a belter. I suspect we will end the season trophyless (but who knows?!) and whilst there has been some disappointing performances/results, and the situation with the strikers has been frustrating ive really enjoyed the campaign. Having Jose back has been wonderful and we are a club fully united again. That alone will do for me.,Things needed changing and freshening up and it was always likely to affect our challenge for silverware for a season or two and there were always going to be some slip ups - im very sure it will be worth it in the long run.

Always the same answer for me = the League and its not even close. Always want us to do well in the CL of course but i just find it all a bit of a circus to be he honest. So league for me, and ill speak for pretty much all of the Chelsea fans i know well when i say that too.

Think it's crazy to suggest we need a total refurbishment. I think we are good 2-3 players off becoming a top, top squad. Need get get rid of some deadwood and peripheral players and reduce the amount of players we have on loan which is bordering ludicrous and benefitting no one. 3 top players as opposed to say 5 squad players - I think depth is only beneficial if the players are good enough. I think the club have realised that and started the ball rolling with Matic and Salah as opposed to players like Moses, Marin and Romeu. It will cost more and that will mean some sales but we've got so many players on our books there is a fair chunk of cash to be made. I suspect a big name such as Luiz may be sacrificed too, which wouldn't bother me one bit. We've the right manager and are going in the right direction, just a few additions and tweaks needed, I think it's an massive overreaction to say we need to rip it up and start again. I think we are close to being mustard personally, and think next season things could well fall into place if we carry out our summer transfer business sensibly. Do agree about players out of position though, and think Ivanovic will be the loser there in that respect. In the Summer the club I suspect will be looking for a left back, another midfielder and a striker (perhaps 2). I expect the homegrown rule to dictate the clubs way of thinking as well as we could possibly be losing Lampard and Cole. A beneficiary of that could actually be Bamford , I certainly think could fill the Ba role, at least for one season anyway.

Personally I think there needs to be a gap between 'anyone else' and 'Torres' there.

It's sounds really strange but I feel a bit of relief too. Before the Villa game I had started to believe a bit but that match bit right into that and I've been continually doing result maths and working out permutations since. Whatever I came up with it always meant we were relying on other results and as Jose says now there is just too much out of our hands. We are not going to win it and that means I can accept it now and relax a little, a weight off the shoulders even, I know it sounds ludicrous.Wednesday now becomes the biggest match of the season and I expect the same payers who rolled over today will be right up for it, which is a disappointment really. Too many spineless games against weaker opponents like today that have cost us in the league, no doubt about it - that and no striker. It really is that simple. We are still actually in a better place than I anticipated this season but it's still hard to accept a gutless showing like today, something I never really expect from a Mourinho team.

Did he really say that? Surely not. Fair play to him if he did. Enough is enough.

Cup Final 94. So long without a final and that happens. Brutal isn't the word, totally undeserved and totally devastating. Nothing else comes close for me.

They are not the best, but if they were proper restricted view the club would have to sell them marked as such. Basically CC is under the overhang, but towards the front bit of the overhang (if that makes sense!) i think it goes back to JJ so they are certainly not the worst there is. There you wont see the ball when its punted high but thats about it. Id certainly rather be in those seats than watching it on tv or in a pub or whatever. It will be a cracking atmosphere that night.

Said this on a previous thread but i dont think you can pin it down to Villa. You could single out Stoke and Newcastle too. In fact Newcastle in particular rankles if you look at how bad they have been at home this season. Throw in points dropped in games again WBA (twice) and West Ham its clear that points dropped against weaker teams could prove our final undoing, not just Villa. Bearing in mind how well we have performed against the top sides, its doubly frustrating. Ultimately though, its the lack of top class striker that will come back to haunt us. Just compare our situation to Citys, the worst of their 4 strikers would unquestionably fly straight in as our no 1. We have a good experienced player in Eto'o but lets face it he only scores and only really plays at home - that's no way to win a League. And then there's Torres who when he plays makes us look like we are down to 10 men, which again, suffice to say is not how you win a League. I havent given up hope yet. Im very sure City will drop a few points, perhaps even on Sunday. I naively though they might last night but Utd were even more pathetic than i anticipated. The thing is even if City drop a few points i think we may have to end up winning all of our remaining games, which i just dont think we will, there will be a slip somewhere again, possibly when we least expect it. At the end of the day my gut feeling is we will come up short, by about 2 or 3 points - but given the striker situation we will have done well, possibly much better than we anticipated back in August. Next season though, there can be no such excuses.

Yep, its almost mandatory in the West Upper.

Viagogo is no more than legalised touting and i would advise/request people to stay away from them, purely on a moral basis, though far be it from me to try and act as a voice of the fans! Such a sad state of affairs the club have chose to affiliate themselves with the brand, especially whilst doing nothing about the ever growing number of touts at FB and on the Fulham Road on matchdays, as well as coming down hard on fans who try and sell tickets to other fans at face value using social media.

Big week for the title race and the focus is most definitely on City. Two of their tough away games and i think come Sunday we may have a slightly clearer picture of how things stand. Looking for a big performance from Juan Mata tonight at Old Trafford. Its certainly in his best interests - he potentially could be getting a Premier League winners medal....