My last two posts were in two different states of mind, one drunk the other sober, but both with the overall feeling of this current post which I hasten to add, even after going through all the emotions possible today, relatively sober after a long journey home.

I watched the post match press conference where Carlo again stated we would not be buying in January as he is happy with our squad. Now he is either giving our squad the perfect motivation to ensure after our African Nation boys return we are sitting in the place where we were arfter they left or he is plain daft in thinking not dipping into the transfer market will not assist Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United in the title run in or indeed the next two years.

Three players for a start could be available in January, one at Bayern, one at Athletico Madrid, the other at Wolfsburg. All three can be bought at the right price in January as could another at Valencia who finds the net on a regular basis. OK Manchester City might not need any of them but they will be interested in three of them if it meant stopping others getting them. Manchester United desperately need a player to fill the void of Ronaldo and Tevez, the fact that going into the New Year possibly 2 points behind us after their horrendous injury problems at the back will delight Ferguson and his squad alike. Mancini's Italian background and knowledge of the defensive market will ensure City are the real deal next season if they manage to get into the Champions League, they will spend another 200 million between January and the start of next season for certain, as i've said before I fancy them to come 4th and if Arsenal buy a striker in the Drogba mould and a midfielder in the Vieira/Essien mould they will be challenging for the title for years to come. I've also had solid information that Jose will be at Anfield next season which will set the cat amongst the pigeons. Forgive me in thinking Spurs and Villa will only ever be top 6 material.

Make no mistake if we fail to buy in January that's it for us, especially if the transfer ban sticks, we cannot take that chance or the chance all the best players out there in World Cup Year will be snapped up at home and across Europe and we are left with an ageing squad like Ancellotti had at Milan.

Drogba, Lampard, Terry, Ballack, as i've said before, are desparate to win major honours again, desparate players cannot win major titles alone, they need quality and desire to win things mixed in. There is a case for the been there and done things but Manchester United never stood still after we won the league two years on the bounce and nor should we, especially with Manchester City and Arsenal in a position to pounce.

Our squad is desperate for width, a striker, the man for Ancelotti's tip of the diamond and cover/pressure for Cech. With Ivanovic certain to be a Real Madrid player because his contract is up, other problems may yet arise.

WE ALSO NEED PACE - Jesus even Aaron Lennon would be a bonus at the moment !

Borini and Kakuta are promising as is Sturridge and that huge Pepe bloke in our youth team. But that's as far as it goes.

Today with Ballack, Mikel and Lampard in our midfield well as pace goes it's like a top class sprinter against a plodding stayer over 5 furlongs. God forbid Joey Cole gets injured, throw Deco in the mix and it's yawn time.

Against West Ham for fifteen minutes Zhircov played in front of Ashley Cole, will someone tell Carlo that's the answer whilst the Afro boys are are away, if not for the rest of the season, christ he defends worst than Bridgey. While i'm in moan mode ALEX is better than Carvalho ask Guus Hiddink.

Dorset produced a blinding post about Lampard and his role in our team and for the record Carlo should read it.

Aguero, Ribery, Dzeko and Hart ..... let the rest fight over Villa.

God forbid Joey Cole gets injured, throw Deco in the mix and it's yawn time.

He has been fit and been awful - what difference would an injury make?

Our squad is only desperate for width if we change our formation. If we stick with it then width is redundant.

We only need that player too play at the tip and in my opinion everything will click, we need a guy with pace, trickery and vision. Cole just simply has no form whatsoever and Deco has brilliant moments and dreadful moments. Carlo needs too buy, if Man Utd buy carlo needs too buy simple as that. We don't need 3 or 4 players we just need the 1 player to play at that tip. Aguero/Villa would be perfect since both of them can play up top and in the hole as support.

I dread to think if Fergie spends a wod of cash on David Villa. Rooney and Villa upfront would be on par if not better than Drogba and Anelka.

I think Carlo is doing a good job at the club, we are still top and i still stand by my feelings and think he's the right man to have for a number of years.

God forbid Joey Cole gets injured, throw Deco in the mix and it's yawn time.

He has been fit and been awful - what difference would an injury make?

Our squad is only desperate for width if we change our formation. If we stick with it then width is redundant.

I thought Joey played well second half today Loz, but that's not really my point. He has a little pace and make things happen and can at least dribble around someone. Granted though, he has not been back to his best since his injury.

A midfield of Deco, Ballack, Lampard and Mikel is way short of pace needed for the modern game.

Zhircov just has to play in front of Ashley - their link up play would somewhat compensate for the loss of Essien and the fact we have had no width on the right since Bosingwa got injured.

I take it as you centred your reply purely on Joe Cole, you think we shouldn't buy in January.

Cannot agree with the need of width desperation point at all. Trust you wasn't at the game today otherwise you wouldn't know we never played the diamond at all.

The only time we used width was when Ivanovic came on and he supplied the cross to the far post ( for the first time in the match ) for Drogba to score.

Kalou and Cole played behind Drogba in a sort of Christmas tree formation then we went to the old 4-3-3 Jose style, Kalou from the right and Sturridge from the left created havoc for the winner, maybe it was to confuse him in the stands but in any formation we need width be it from the full back, which was never going to happen today with Ferreira right back and the lack of confidence that Zhircov could get up and down like Ashley. It's common sense to provide width on either side of a diamond if the full backs are not able to push forward. Cue the problems at Man City when Shaun Wright Phillips pushed back Ashley Cole. That's why Ancelloti has used Malouda, but as we all know he is not the most consistent and gives the ball away too freely for my liking.

Zhircov or a Ribery would do for me, as would Aguero in the tip of a diamond and if it's worth taking note of Kevin Keegan, he was at Man City and said Sturridge would turn out to be a winger not a striker ? He said the same on Sky when we played Birmingham a mate told me.

Look at all the great succesful teams, United with Ronaldo n Giggs, Arsenal with Overmars, Us with Robben and Duff ( now he in his prime would be great in front of Ashley)

As I said Dorset's view of the Lampard situation is spot on, 20 goals a season this year looks a million miles away.

I rarely agree with Star, if ever, but I concur. Not only we need to spend in January, we need to spend big. We don't need to buy more than two-three players but the players we have to target are of the highest quality and will cost a lot. Considering that we probably will be prevented from spending until 2011 this is the time to make all the right moves.

The squad is aging rapidly and we lack speed and creativity. Considering how competitive the PL has become over the last few years we can't afford to stay put.

i think probably plain daft if he doesnt take advantage of the transfer window,especially as it could be our last chance for awhile to buy anyone.it seems obvious that the team needs some pace in the midfield and also surely aguero is the man we require as back up up front , therby allowing dear old kalou to have a nice long rest.

I didn't say we shouldn't but in January. I have said time and time again on here we need to buy in January.

My main point is that we do play the diamond and just because we didn't play it in the second half today doesn't mean it isn't Ancelotti's formation of choice. Whilst it is (and it has been for a hell of a lot of years so I see no reason why that will change) then the idea of needing width is redundant because it doesn't exist in the diamond formation.

So you want Aguero at the tip of the diamond and you also want width - that isn't the diamond formation. In the diamond the width comes from your full backs and your full backs only. Width from wingers means it isn't the diamond formation.

Again I thank you for you schoolboy jibe about 'if you weren't at the game' - it is as mature as your understanding of the diamond formation.

'It wasn't easy to change the game down 1-0, but we had great determination, great willing, and I am very happy. With this victory and performance, we finished a difficult moment. It was not a good December for us but it is finished and we look forward to January where we can do better, but we are doing well."

(quote of carlo)

So hes happy with the performance and he is sure we finished our bad patch already? And why the hell does he think we are doing well ?

Sometimes his post match reactions are really irritating.

Edited December 29, 200916 yr by german-blue

This is a really interesting thread, can't help but feel we are panicked in here. Once Nico is back and with Sturridge looking promising I think we will be ok during the ACN, plus with Essien and Drogs coming back in after the tournament we should be ok for the run in with the players we have, remembering that they did get us to where we are. I think one of the big concerns, with bringing in a high quality player is that Carlo doesn't want to upset the current playing group by paying big wages to Ribery/Aguero. It's well known that player power is enormous at the club and that we have certain untouchables who no doubt would be upset if a big player were to come in on the wages that are being thrown around in the media.

So I don't think it's ridiculous for him not to buy for the rest of this season, and I certainly don't think we should make any buys out of panic just because our rivals notably Man Utd strengthen. In my mind they won't be losing many if any matches during the run in, they haven't in recent years and I don't think that will change. We have the lead atm and that for me means we just have to be good enough to keep getting results and we have shown the past two seasons that during the run in we are just as capable as Utd at doing this.

The reason why I think we should buy is obviously because of the transfer ban. Clearly this isn't just about this season but next as well, and the points Star made earlier about Man City and Arsenal are certainly relevant. For me Carlo saying he won't buy makes it clear to me that the club is quite confident in the belief that the transfer ban will be overturned on appeal, and that we aren't buying for next season because we will be able to do that during the summer. Thoughts?

Edited December 29, 200916 yr by Spiller86

This is a really interesting thread, can't help but feel we are panicked in here. Once Nico is back and with Sturridge looking promising I think we will be ok during the ACN, plus with Essien and Drogs coming back in after the tournament we should be ok for the run in with the players we have, remembering that they did get us to where we are. I think one of the big concerns, with bringing in a high quality player is that Carlo doesn't want to upset the current playing group by paying big wages to Ribery/Aguero. It's well known that player power is enormous at the club and that we have certain untouchables who no doubt would be upset if a big player were to come in on the wages that are being thrown around in the media.

So I don't think it's ridiculous for him not to buy for the rest of this season, and I certainly don't think we should make any buys out of panic just because our rivals notably Man Utd strengthen. In my mind they won't be losing many if any matches during the run in, they haven't in recent years and I don't think that will change. We have the lead atm and that for me means we just have to be good enough to keep getting results and we have shown the past two seasons that during the run in we are just as capable as Utd at doing this.

The reason why I think we should buy is obviously because of the transfer ban. Clearly this isn't just about this season but next as well, and the points Star made earlier about Man City and Arsenal are certainly relevant. For me Carlo saying he won't buy makes it clear to me that the club is quite confident in the belief that the transfer ban will be overturned on appeal, and that we aren't buying for next season because we will be able to do that during the summer. Thoughts?

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).

Even if CFC were confident about their chances to overturn the ban decision(and based on the previous cases of FIFA vs other clubs I don't see how they would be) and were free to operate in the summer transfer market, would it really make that much of a difference? By all accounts during past summer we offered big money for Kaka, Ribery,Villa and Pato and registered interest in Aguero. For various reasons none of those players ended up at Chelsea. I don't see how things are supposed to become any easier in the summer of 2010.

Some would say the clubs will know we're desperate and will have us over the barrel when it comes to fees but it's always the case when you're going after the world class players. This is the time for Arnesen to show what he's worth.

All this assumption that carlo is mad for not spending makes me laugh. During the heyday of Kenyon and jose we telegraphed transfer moves from 100 miles away and....wound up paying over the odds most times. Maybe carlo is actually being smart

Assuming the robinho debacle wasn't a total sham there is big money to be spent so I think we will be just fine in January. As long as every seller doesn't try to gouge us

I'm with Star here, we need pace, pace and pace again either with width or not. And we need someone who can draw up a game plan, someone who has a bit of imagination with set pieces instead of just hitting the ball into wall or row Z, it buggers belief with all our heading strength that we know, every player in the PL knows, it'll be another wallop and see, and don't let's get started on corners.

All this assumption that carlo is mad for not spending makes me laugh. During the heyday of Kenyon and jose we telegraphed transfer moves from 100 miles away and....wound up paying over the odds most times. Maybe carlo is actually being smart

Assuming the robinho debacle wasn't a total sham there is big money to be spent so I think we will be just fine in January. As long as every seller doesn't try to gouge us

Agree entirely about telegraphing the transfers, the main reason we never got Dani Alves two seasons back IMO. Sevilla knew how much we wanted him and tried to milk us for more than we were willing to pay. Next season they sold him without fuss to Barca. Frankly I don't mind if we don't buy in January, I think at full strength we've well and truly enough talent to win the league. But I certainly think that Ancelotti denying we'll buy anyone so adamantly will perhaps give us a bit more cover, because it's clear that clubs have been reticent in the past to sell to us because we would walk in with the cheque book and the arrogant little bald man after months of saying we wanted a certain player and say how much? I think a new approach could absolutely be more beneficial.

It's as plain as the nose on my face that we desperately need to sign at least two or three players, especially when there is a strong possibility that the transfer ban will be enforced,. However, when Ancelotti states we won't be signing anyone, my hope is that he's being true to form.. Remember this?

Ancelotti -- I will not be leaving Milan

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti vows to remain with Serie A club next season

That was last season, in February of this year. Look around, you'll find even more recent denials.

I didn't say we shouldn't but in January. I have said time and time again on here we need to buy in January.

My main point is that we do play the diamond and just because we didn't play it in the second half today doesn't mean it isn't Ancelotti's formation of choice. Whilst it is (and it has been for a hell of a lot of years so I see no reason why that will change) then the idea of needing width is redundant because it doesn't exist in the diamond formation.

So you want Aguero at the tip of the diamond and you also want width - that isn't the diamond formation. In the diamond the width comes from your full backs and your full backs only. Width from wingers means it isn't the diamond formation.

Again I thank you for you schoolboy jibe about 'if you weren't at the game' - it is as mature as your understanding of the diamond formation.

Loz it wasn't a schoolboy jibe, it was a point of fact.

I've played football albeit at a low level ( but have appeared in the FA Cup 3rd qualifying round, my only claim to fame!) i've also coached a couple of teams and understand the diamond perfectly well.

If you are to reply to my posts can you make constructive critisism or keep to the point and not take things personally. I was at the match, I was also in Madrid - for the Athletico match and saw first hand what Aguero could bring us. At the game you see more of what is going on ( providing you are sober and I feeley admit I am sometimes not !)

THE DIAMOND FORMATION as you say is generally accepted as providing width fron the full backs. The problem is, as I said at Man City when SWP pushed back Ashley Cole this is not possible.

In the same way if you use the diamond properley ALL FOUR players INTERCHANGE at times ensuring quick movement and making it hard for defenders to mark. In the same way Carlo used this at Milan, Pirlo often popped up wide, even Kaka. I tried this in the late nineties with a gang of 18 -22 year olds and trust me they were knackered and in cup games, I always prayed extra time would not come!

Aguero is perfect for the tip or as a striker alongside Drogba in this formation.

If one or both full backs ( it is generally one ) are being pushed back - all you do is interchange the tip man for whatever side the problem is coming from. Our problem is when Mikel plays he rarelely gets past the halfway line , where Essien is made for it, that's why the system worked perfectlyn in the main before his injury. Joe Cole in the tip will often appear wide, but when Lampard was there interchange became less.

Aguero and Pato remain the only 2 players good enough to play this role in my opinion. One is available and Roman should be doing everything in his power to get him. Ribery could also do it at a push and also be able to play in a formation change as yesterday.

With Mikel and Ballack in the same team the system currently in my opinion doesn't work for obvious reasons.

I'd love a diamond of ........ Aguero

Joe Cole or Ballack Lampard

Essien

All could interchange to perfection ..... for the moment it has to be Zhircov on the left, Ballack or Deco holding and Joe at the tip.

But i've a hunch while the african boysv are away it's the Christmas Tree for us.

I think our imminent need in January is someone who could play upfront - at the tip of the diamond/to fill the one-month void left by Drogba and Kalou's absence. The unanimous opinion of most (fans) is that we buy now, to avoid the embarassment of ruing it later when we're desperate, or when the transfer-ban is reinstated.

Worries me that Ancelotti's claimed he'll run around naked if we end up buying - he's THAT confident we don't need to buy/need anyone at all, this season. Hell, then how DO numerous rumours come around, linking us to Aguero/Villa/Ribery/Dzeko/Dzagoev/Vieira/De Rossi, or whoever.

IMHO, it's daft to not buy. Because we NEED someone.

We have a vital position (the tip) where three guys have been tried out and all have failed - and we have a suitable replacement in mind, albeit expensive;

One of our main strikers is off for a month;

The other striker is about to come off of an injury.

A midfield of Deco, Ballack, Lampard and Mikel is way short of pace needed for the modern game.

You must post more often when you are sober Star - you make so much more sense!!

I agree with just about all of what you've said, but especially this bit. That is a midfield we have seen once or twice this season and it is so one paced and so predictable teams must rub their hands when they see us line up with that - especially if you then have Kalou playing ahead of it.

Joe hasn't been brilliant since his return - far from it, but there are signs he is getting there. I thought yesterday he was knocking the ball about pretty well and did make things happen. He was involved in the build up to BOTH of our goals.

But we still need pace if we are to trouble teams in tight games. The likes of Kakuta, Borini and Sturridge (and Stoch) all have pace and I want to see them all get more playing time - 2 or 3 of them should start in the FA cup. But they are (hopefully) stars of the future. I think we have to sign Aguerro - IMO he will be the catalyst to make things happen.

Aguero is perfect for the tip or as a striker alongside Drogba in this formation.

If one or both full backs ( it is generally one ) are being pushed back - all you do is interchange the tip man for whatever side the problem is coming from. Our problem is when Mikel plays he rarelely gets past the halfway line , where Essien is made for it, that's why the system worked perfectlyn in the main before his injury. Joe Cole in the tip will often appear wide, but when Lampard was there interchange became less.

Aguero and Pato remain the only 2 players good enough to play this role in my opinion. One is available and Roman should be doing everything in his power to get him. Ribery could also do it at a push and also be able to play in a formation change as yesterday.

With Mikel and Ballack in the same team the system currently in my opinion doesn't work for obvious reasons.

I'd love a diamond of ........

Aguero

Joe Cole or Ballack Lampard

Essien

All could interchange to perfection ..... for the moment it has to be Zhircov on the left, Ballack or Deco holding and Joe at the tip.

But i've a hunch while the african boysv are away it's the Christmas Tree for us.

I agree with quite a lot of what you said there, although I deleted the stuff about your own experiences as I don't really see how it's too important with the discussion at hand (I also sorted the code for the diamond you posted).

One thing I would say though is that I disagree a little with how you see Essien's role. I think he's far better in one of the two central positions than at the base. It's a place he can give us a bit more drive from and won't have to worry so much about holding position, but I do agree with the need for constant switching and swapping of positions in the diamond. This is why I think we need a new holding midfield player, now just who to get is a very difficult question, as there aren't many young players out there who are world class (or close enough for a club like ours) in this position. Really if we got a Lassana Diarra, or a De Rossi (yes, I'm a big fan and have mentioned him previously, and possibly caused us to be linked to him, but f**k it) we'd be sorted. Not forgetting a player for the tip of course.

A diamond of.....

Aguero

Lampard Essien

De Rossi

Which could rotate to be...

Lampard

Aguero De Rossi

Essien

or a few other combinations of that same idea would be the best midfield we could ever hope for. What's more though is the fact that it would leave us with unbelievable options on the bench, and presuming a fully fit squad we could come up with this.

Cole

Deco Ballack

Mikel

Clearly not a first choice midfield, and clearly not capable of beating the very best, but the fact that it would be our back ups making that midfield is not something to sniff at. It would mean that If Ancelotti feels the need to tinker and rotate the squad, we would be able to and do so. Not to mention the fact that when we finally let Deco and Ballack go, we'd have Matic to come in, so even if the ban is in place we'd have enough options, with just two signings.

This of course though is living in dreamland. De Rossi, nor Diarra are likely to come, and there aren't exactly many other young players who can play that same position who jump to mind. It's an old man's position really. Which might be why Mikel isn't exactly a star there, but that's not the point, we could still do with someone to come in and make that role their own, preferably one who could as you say swap position with Essien to move the midfield around, but that in itself is not an easy feat, especially in this age of massive transfer fees and wages. Hopefully though, there's someone out there who can do the job perfectly and at the level required, but it's not looking great.

I did start a fairly long paragraph here, but realised half way through the prospects we already have at the club as far as replacing Drogba and Anelka goes, so that trail of thought stopped fairly quickly. On that slightly pointless note, I think I'll leave this meandering post and hope that someone feels the need to reply to it.

I'm trying to convince myself that Ancellotti is not daft, or stupid as Loz said in the match thread. But I'm really struggling with it.

Lets forget the Alex for Carvalho change, thats borderline, both are excellent defenders, and you can argue good cases for both.

That aside, what he was thinking off replacing Ivanovic (good shout for our player of the season) with Paulo (flat foot) Ferriera. Why ? What reason ?

And then on the other wing, he does exactly the same, replacing Cole with Zhirkov. Some might say that Carlo went for a more attacking player in Zhirkov, hoping to use capitalise on his pace down the left wing, but if thats the case, why did he just do the opposite thing on the right wing.

Why?

Not because Ivan or Ash needed resting, we only have 1 game (cup match) in the next 9-10 days, thats plenty of rest time. Surely not because Jose was in the stands, he knows Ashley inside out, and he wouldnt be fooled by such a lame red herring.

Somebody please help me out, why did he do that ?

as usual (happens every year) I find myself defending the manager,

as everyone knows I think the manager can only do so much and the players need to shoulder a lot of the blame when things are not right..ok the manager has to send them out motivated and with a tactical plan but he can't make them play well.

these players have missed out on the title by two points, lost the CL final by a coat of paint, lost in a final to a bitter rival, then slipped to third in the league with an FA Cup and all this after winning back to back titles..I would imagine motivation should be easy to find.

I have posted my view on the last few games and we all see it different ways and none of us are likely to change our opinions which is fine but as regards the transfers in the January window I would say that it really is out of Carlo's hands,

I think Roman is the only one who knows whats going to happen and Ancelotti is likely in the dark as much as us..either that or He is on orders not to reveal anything.

Football is like some sort of national secrets act and managers won't let on until the last minute even when dependable sources have come out and said transfers are going through so why should it be any different here?

I'm not saying we will be buying, I am just saying that if we don't its more likely down to the funds not being made availlable than Carlo not wanting to add to the Squad.

I'm trying to convince myself that Ancellotti is not daft, or stupid as Loz said in the match thread. But I'm really struggling with it.

Lets forget the Alex for Carvalho change, thats borderline, both are excellent defenders, and you can argue good cases for both.

That aside, what he was thinking off replacing Ivanovic (good shout for our player of the season) with Paulo (flat foot) Ferriera. Why ? What reason ?

And then on the other wing, he does exactly the same, replacing Cole with Zhirkov. Some might say that Carlo went for a more attacking player in Zhirkov, hoping to use capitalise on his pace down the left wing, but if thats the case, why did he just do the opposite thing on the right wing.

Not because Ivan or Ash needed resting, we only have 1 game (cup match) in the next 9-10 days, thats plenty of rest time. Surely not because Jose was in the stands, he knows Ashley inside out, and he wouldnt be fooled by such a lame red herring.

Somebody please help me out, why did he do that ?

Coco, not that I really agreed with either sub (though I like to see the squad rotated and was glad to see yuri get a start) but a rudimentary tactician might think that, by inserting a winger-cum-fullback like zhirkov into the squad they might need to be balanced by a more defensive player. That said ivanovoc isn't really the second coming of cafu but is certainly quicker and more active than paulo

Coco, not that I really agreed with either sub (though I like to see the squad rotated and was glad to see yuri get a start) but a rudimentary tactician might think that, by inserting a winger-cum-fullback like zhirkov into the squad they might need to be balanced by a more defensive player. That said ivanovoc isn't really the second coming of cafu but is certainly quicker and more active than paulo

Problem is we were playing with both full backs advanced at the same time, check out the Foolham goal for 1 instance of this, so it wasnt balanced at all really was it ?

Heres what Pat nevin had to say..

PAT NEVIN: A VIEW FROM ROW Z

Posted on: Tue 29 Dec 2009

Columnist Pat Nevin joined fellow Chelsea supporters in leaving the sofa for Stamford Bridge yesterday. Here he shares his thoughts on a narrow win.

I was at the game against Fulham specifically keeping a close eye on why Chelsea seem to have lost confidence over the past few weeks. Without being the best performance I have witnessed from the Blues this season, it certainly wasn't as dreadful as many people suggested. Indeed on one TV highlights programme they went so far as to say Chelsea were just above awful while Fulham were terrific.

Excuse me, but as far as I could see only one team were trying to score after the first five minutes and they weren't wearing white. Roy Hodgson's men defended stoically and worked tirelessly to deny Chelsea any space and well done for that. But the vast majority of the posession was for the home side and for the bulk of the second half Chelsea played far better as they tried to breach the ten-man wall in front of them - Fulham did leave Zamora up front I grant you.

I was watching the game from the back row of the west stand, and it was nice to be able to wave to the pilots of the 747s preparing to land at Heathrow, though just about being able to see their faces was a little disconcerting. On the positive side of being so high up above the action, it afforded a fabulous view of the tactics and the changes made by Carlo Ancelotti in the second half.

Being a goal down, bringing on one right-back, Ivanovic, for another, Ferreira, might have seemed a tad less than bold, but it was clear just what was needed...width. It is the downside of the diamond formation that it is more difficult to get wide and get dangerous crosses in without a winger or two. Ivanovic however was ready willing and able to get forward and sling in dangerous balls from the right-hand side, eventually to devastating effect for Didier Drogba's goal.

Similarly Ashley Cole came on to do the same on the left after Yury Zhirkov had tired the opposition with his continuous darts forward. It was a left-back for a left-back, but it was also a positive move. The real technical change however was when Sturridge came on for Mikel. A sitting midfielder being replaced by a player asked to stand right out on the touchline. Right away the Fulham defence was stretched beyond breaking point.

Up in the stand a bloke called Jose must have looked on with interest at the changes made and the positive effects. It wasn't complicated stuff, but it was very effective, the Special One may even have been secretly quite impressed with the current Chelsea manager.

Great debate fellas, but, better get used to it, .......we aint gettin anyone in January, so end of.