I'm bothered about every competition we're in. We've already lost 2 this year

Norwich were worst when Chelsea played them in October.

Luiz looked pretty good in midfield with Mikel. We lost a bit of structure and creativity when he got subbed for Lampard, which is something I never thought I'd say. Would be nice to see this experiment against PL opposition.

well we are short in that position now mikel is banned, they should give him a try in the prem.

I'm surprised it took Chelsea this long for them to play David Luiz in midfield, unless they have done before now, he probably would make a decent midfield player.

I was impressed by Luiz in midfield -- I'm not sure he has the right temperament to be a top-class defender, so it could be a good change for him.

Just watched the extended highlights, I thought we played some attractive football. Another game where its difficult to make any real judgements but Mexico did win gold in the Olympics.
We looked great going foward, all the usual suspects showed some real class. From the highlights, it looked like Luiz had a very good game with some lovely touches, but they didn't show much of him defensively..did he add some strength and tighten things up in midfield as well ?
Apzi was the only one who looked like he might have been in a spot of bother, he was up against a tricky customer out on that wing.

It will be very different against Corinthians on Sunday, they are a top class outfit with plenty of support in Japan. I'm looking foward to that one now.

The Corinthians game will be a lot tougher than this one that's for sure but at least we will have a couple more days to acclimatise. I'm still not satisfied with our midfield, Mikel is a lump and play seems to continually bypass him and Luiz is still learning the ropes - is it too early for him to be going up against top sides? We don't have much choice as Lamps won't be match fit.

At least our attacking players are looking good, some of Hazard's dribbles remind me of a certain Argie...

I don't think it should be too difficult for Luiz, playing alongside Mikel he should relish the extra freedom. Agreed, it will be difficult if we are expecting him to take over the holding role, that does require a specialist. How did they look together today ?..it's difficult to tell from the highlights, because we didn't appear to be under much pressure.

Ps..I actually like Mikel when he keeps it simple. He was growing into the role, it's only recently (for some unknown reason) that he's started venturing foward more. He's got great upper body strength, he stays on his feet and doesn't dive-in recklessly, shields the ball well, all qualities needed for that position. It's true, he's one-paced, and you are not going to see many defence-splitting passes from him. But that's true of many who have been successful holding players in the past.

I think his lack of mobility is a real problem at times - he doesn't even get to the tackle as play just goes round him. I wish he was a yard quicker, as things stand I'd rather us look for a replacement than rely on him.

I always see him giving away fouls on the edge of the box. He does still look a liability.

I admit, Mikel does seem to have gone backwards this season. I don't know why, maybe you're both right and in the past he was protected by the players around him..now he's been exposed ?

Great win today hope Rafa and the boys win in the final.
Off the record can someone give me a YouTube link to all new Chelsea's videos? I don't have chelsea tv so can't watch all the pre match stuff.

One user on YouTube did upload videos from Chelsea tv but deleted their account pm me the link if you guys find one thanks.

Oh btw Chelsea' club account is crap their videos are too short and they don't upload new videos

Its only this year, so it dosent then clash with the WC next year.

More strong links to Falcao in todays press. I really hope we can pull off our #1 target.

And hopefully Fellaini too please Mr Roman

Anyway, i hope that we do win the world cup next week, it will be a tremendous trophy to have in the cabinet this year.

If you try typing in the name of the video you are looking for, you might be in some luck. The other day I was on Chelsea's YT channel and came across a video where Gigi was interviewing all the Spanish players and I managed to find the full version by typing in what I was looking for in the search bar.

He started off well in the season, his stand out games for me were against Arsenal and Spurs. You're right, he does have great upper body strength as demonstrated in the Spurs game where he out-muscled 2 players and made a forward pass. Yes that's right, a forward pass!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1jBfnSJVXo

^ He needs to use his strength more often.


Why splash out 20+M when we've got KDB? If Fellaini is a specialist DM/DLP then I can see why we should go for him but right now he's not any one of those things. He's playing as an AM for Everton and I haven't seen a game so far where he's excelled at playing in a deep role. Mind you, I haven't watched many Everton games this season so I could be wrong on the last point...

I watched the game, and I have to say Luiz looked impressive in the midfield role in terms of composure and moving the ball forward. Occasionally, it looked like he was chasing shadows as he was very eager to chase the ball while Monterrey passed it around nicely. He did make some good tackles though and added the aggression and fight to your midfield that you've maybe missed since Essien was at his best. To me, Mikel seems unable to get around and break the play up against teams that can move the ball well.

Good luck to Rafa and the boys in the final

Absolutely. This game is the most important of the season for me.

Come on Rafa's Blue Army!

Thank you

yep we will make history once more like the sound of that Rafa's Blue Army.

Aww, how cute

Thanks for the info. Yes, I agree..the player we've missed most is Essien, or a player of his "type". Mikel does a reasonable job providing he just sits in front of the back four and keeps it simple.
But we miss an aggressive ball winner, the kind of player the opposition would sooner not see on the team sheet.
Ramires has been the closest so far, but he's no Essien. Perhaps Luiz might be the answer.

The Ram is not the answer. He is a cracking player, can get box to box and has an eye for a goal too (who can ever forget the chip against barca???) but he is just not physically dominating enough.

Chelsea need a tough tackling driving force, a roy keane type figure. Luiz certainly has potential to be more fluid in that role and i think it suits him more than as CB where he often neglects his duties. When he can be disciplined, he can be a good CB too.

I hope Rafa keeps him in CM with the ram or lamps along side him when playing the prem minnows to see how it goes.

Has Fellaini played his last game for everton?

How has Essien been playing at Madrid?