Not really, no.

Great performance so far for England U21 capped by the only goal. Even tried a flick like Zola.

Man of the match. Baker had a good game too and Chalobah got some good mins at the end.

Stuart Pearce: "Ruben Loftus-Cheek's a Rolls-Royce of a player, no doubt. He's so confident on the ball, he can do anything in a game."

If he doesnt make it, none of our young players ever will.

We just HAVE to start giving him minutes and constantly - as FS says, not play him and then nothing for 10 games. Sure, he will make mistakes along the way and he won't always put in MOTM performances, but FFS, lets show a bit of faith in ONE player. If he can't break into the side now when we are looking abysmal, he never will.

He is ready.

Nice goal by the way. It'll certainly boost his confidence.

Chelsea team v Aston Villa: Begovic; Baba, Terry ©, Zouma, Azpilicueta; Loftus-Cheek, Ramires; Wilian, Fabregas, Pedro; Diego Costa.

Subs:

Blackman, Cahill, Matic, Mikel, Oscar, Hazard, Remy. #CFC

Rodgers was amazing at telling the Liverpool fans what they wanted to hear, with his "big club", "massive club" bollocks, none of which was true. I'm starting to think Jose is just telling us what we want to hear when it comes to youth development, none of which he has any plans to actually carry out.

I really didn't understand why he replaced him with Matic. He was very good with the ball, we could feel that we have an activity in the central, he was good in the air and was strong. I think it was really unfair to him, Matic and him should play together to see how this partnership will work in future, but as I see this, Jose will buy a new CM. I'm disappointed with today's decision.

Hmm I wouldn't say he stood out that much in the game but probably should have stayed considering there were others who played worse.. ramires ain't doing his job well, he either fouled or naively barging into opponent and left himself in no man land.. cesc on the other hand looks more and more like a total passenger, granted he could swing some nice ball but that was few and far between..

He may have been subbed to take him out of the firing line should the worst happen and villa get back in the game.

Taking him of instead of fabregas is probably because we are desperately trying to play fabregas back into form, and let's be honest, we need that more than we need rlc to get game time thus season

Edited October 17, 201510 yr by dkw

Annoyed he got subbed, for me he was one of the best players on the pitch in the first half.

I really didn't understand why he replaced him with Matic. He was very good with the ball, we could feel that we have an activity in the central, he was good in the air and was strong. I think it was really unfair to him, Matic and him should play together to see how this partnership will work in future, but as I see this, Jose will buy a new CM. I'm disappointed with today's decision.

 

I don't understand it either. Out of all of our CM's he was the most confident and was having the better game. It can't do a youngsters confidence any good when they are playing better than the others and still getting subbed. He was subbed at half time too which i think was really unfair. When you see players like Fabregas and Ivanovic staying on for 90 minutes every game, when they are playing poor in every single one of those games, it must feel like a massive kick in the teeth.

 

Every player should be treated equally, but Mourinho has always had his favourites at every club he has managed. It's his biggest fault in my opinion, it's the only real problem i have with Mourinho's coaching. I think it's dangerous and could cause friction in the team.

Annoyed he got subbed, for me he was one of the best players on the pitch in the first half.

Yes...in the first half. And doing more work in advanced areas. The pressure can change on a dime in the second. Matic is much better equipped to deal with that and we needed solidity deeper in midfield. There was a period in the second where Villa had some of the ball and we were sloppy - But we looked like the Chelsea of old in how tight the lines were and players covering for each other.

I felt that the sub at halftime was necessary. Villa were a goal down and were bound to play with more pace and aggression in the second half. 

 

Playing RLC in the second half may invite some unwanted pressure at some dangerous areas as he isn't as adept as Matic to shield the back four. Without Matic, Cesc may not have made that pass to Diego for the second goal and Ramires may get booked or even sent off as both of them would have more defensive responsibilities.

 

Having said that, I have to applaud RLC for his first half display. He was one of the better performing players then and I'm particularly impressed with the maturity that he had shown.

 

Hopefully we'll continue to witness the rise of RLC here!

Couple of nice touches from him today. Certainly saw more of his qualities a bit further forward.

Can see him contributing in more of the box to box Ramires role in future. Driving from midfield playing less back to goal as he did today.

If matic had come in and really screwed up I would understand some of the criticism but he didn't. Fabregas and ramires also contributed directly to the second goal so I'm glad they stayed in.

I know we all want to see rlc really start producing and what I saw was promising. He did get 45 minutes today so I take that as a win.

I'm just glad he got a chance, it's positive that he played.

Tough one. He didn't do too much wrong but we have to be honest in that we looked a lot stronger in the second half with Matic.

I guess Jose felt Villa would pressure us more than they actually did, and that as time went on if we were only up by one goal the pressure would be on the players to see it out in the face of a Villa onslaught and maybe felt it best to take RLC out of the equation - the priority yesterday was about the 3 points and nothing more after all.

I don't know. Great to see Mourinho start him though. A proper first yesterday. Be interesting to see when his next start is now...

Edited October 18, 201510 yr by bjd

I wonder how much the fact he played for the engald under 21 side played a part? He played the full 90 I think at a good level, and he did seem to drop of late in the first half.

"I wanted more solidity," explained Mourinho afterwards. "He is brilliant with the ball, he doesn't look like an 18-year-old boy with the ball. But without the ball we cannot compare him tactically with the others. It was a decision of stability and control."

Sounds fair enough. He needs to work on the defensive side of things.

I didn't see the game, but judging from these highlights he was a little under-par. We have to remember he's still 19  so we can't be piling on the pressure and expecting so much, so soon because not every young player will be the next messi, ronaldo or neymar, or whatever the equivalent is in midfield. He does show glimpses that he can be a top player in games, though. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=170&v=cmhdPFdR0bY

Edited October 18, 201510 yr by enigma

At leat he got 45 minutes in a meaningfull game. Hopefully he gets more, preferably along Matic

"I wanted more solidity," explained Mourinho afterwards. "He is brilliant with the ball, he doesn't look like an 18-year-old boy with the ball. But without the ball we cannot compare him tactically with the others. It was a decision of stability and control."

Sounds fair enough. He needs to work on the defensive side of things.

Unfortunately that sounds like he may be missing from the first team for a while. If you're not considered tactically capable of playing against Villa, then you're going to struggle to win Mourinho's confidence for any other prem game. Serious work needed on the training pitch to prove he is learning the tactical side before he is trusted again unfortunately. Hopefully the odd cup/champs league game as well