After that first half performance you have to wonder how good we'd be with a proper manager in charge. I know it's only Arsenal, but we pissed all over them for 45 minutes. I don't believe for one minute that Wenger said anything to get them that fired up for the second half, so whatever was said to us at h/t completely killed our participation in the game. The subs just made it worse.

Horrible game to watch. Thank f**k our next 4 are away from home!

I thought Ramires had a decent game ? He's the only player we've got (apart from Luiz when they play him there) who gives us a bit of "bite" in midfield.
He's not a cultured playmaker, but we have enough of those, and he always gives 100% effort.

It was certainly "a game of two halves". Arsenal were terrible in the first half, and we weren't much better in the second.
Ironically, Torres did improve..a bit. He made a couple of runs, but still didn't show enough to suggest he will ever return to his old form.
I'm inclined to believe his continued presence is down to Abramovich. But Rafa probably doesn't argue much about it, being only a temporary manager. Even Rafa must have seen enough by now to know Torres isn't going to suddenly return to the player he was 3 years ago.

I see there is a touch of bitterness on the Arsenal thread.
Oh well, we needed a bit of luck.

They actually think they have a team as good as ours!

They are of course completely deluded. We beat them with 10 men and Rafa.

True

His tackling was great today, it's everything else about him that's annoying me lately. For all the running he does with the ball it rarely ever comes to anything. His finishing is awful and he always seems to be brought down before he can find a pass.

I don't know if it's poor form or if he's always been like this?

I don't know, he did come up with a few great finishes last season. Like a lot of players, it seems the more time he has to think about it, the more he's likely to mess it up.
I look on him as more of a "fetch and carry" type of player, or "water carrier" as Cantona used to call them. That's not meant as an insult, every team needs players like that in my opinion..and he's a good one.

He's one of my favourite players. Has been since (6 months after) he moved, despite the poor passing/finishing. I just can't help feeling as though he'd be far better if he'd work on those 2 aspects of his game. If he could get the pass to Hazard or Mata before being fouled then he'd be as good an option for us as Yaya is for Man City. Can't fault the effort he puts in to every game.

He did show some great touches towards the end of last season. He surprised all of us.

Never been a fan of Ramires.
Yes, he's got a great engine and works hard but he just isn't't technically good enough for this team.
With the indroduction of the more skillful players he's being shown up more and more.

Anyway, there's no way Arsenal will catch us now, so i think a top four place is almost a certainty now.

Absolutely

3rd will be a good result for this young team, need to improve next season though, i expect more.

But lets hope we play with a striker too, that may help

Yes, he's always been one of my favourites as well. Playing alongside a top quality holding player, we would see the best of him. He hasn't got the build and strength of Essien, but for a slightly built guy he doesn't take prisoners in the tackle.
You don't get 33 caps for Brazil unless you've got something a bit special, so we probably do tend to under rate his natural skills.

It's funny old game ain't it - we play brilliantly in matches like the Swansea one and get beaten, we turn into a bunch of bellends second half against Arsenal and somehow manage to hang onto a win. Arsenal did play well in that half but it was shocking the way our midfield just disappeared and actually pretty worrying. We needed Luiz in there badly in the second half as the Ramires/ Lampard combo that failed to protect the back four under Di Matteo came back to haunt us again. Hope he's ok for Wednesday.

Once against baffling that Ba didn't start, probably would have been 3-0 at half time if he had and no squeaky bums for the remainder of the game but Torres was there again - that said he made a couple of storming runs but his finishing has gone completely.

Overall a good day - two of our challengers for top spot dropped points and so did Man U which will help us in our extremely unlikely title chase.

Yes, Ramires/Lampard together is just about the worst combination for the pivotal DM roles. Ramires or Lampard seperately might work with either Mikel or Luiz. Alternatively, Luiz and Mikel together could be the best solution of all until we buy another DM player.

Where was Luiz today?

Injured apparently but hopefully getting rested so he can help chop down Swansea's midfield.

The interview with Ram & Mata was plain embarrassing (Sky) and as for asking Ram "Was it a foul" before the !st goal, what do you expect him to say.

Slight ankle knock.

Fantastic first half, when this team clicks, it really clicks, it makes me excited for the future.

But God only knows what was said at half time, I reckon he gives them a horlicks with the most non-motivational speech ever!!! And again...Torres stayed on for way too long, haircut or no haircut......But we somehow managed to hold on, massive 3 points, we needed to win at home.

I am absolutely over the moon that Ash is staying for another year, the guy is a legend.

Strange, you win against Arsenal yet still you come on calling your manager an utter dope, incompetent, not a "proper" manager. Foolish in the extreme. God help the man when you next dont win a game!

It's not about winning or not winning a game, Chelsea fans do not want him at the club. We think he is tactially inept, he keeps championing Torres when we have given the guy 2 years and we have a better option with Ba now, and he is here purely for the money until the end of the season, there is no love lost on either side.

Indeed, not only does he start with Torres - when Torres does absolutely nothing in the game he leaves it till the 80th minute to sub him with a proven in form goal scorer.

this is why Rafa is a dope.

But he is at your club. We've gone over and over how RA should have thought of the fans before the appointment, he never yet Rafa still gets stick even when he is winning.Only here till the summer apparently, so I dont see why you cant give him a break when he wins a game. To refer to him in the manner some are is rather silly and petulant.

But you won. So whats the problem? that doesn't make him, a dope. RDM played Torres but he wasn't name-called? It's just personal simple as, but that doesn't make him what you are calling him. I'm sure his CV reads better than your's!

We won in spite of Rafa, not because of him. Look what was happening in the 2nd half - Arsenal were battering us.

My analysis made it due to Chelsea not being able to hold the ball up, it was coming straight back and we were under the cosh.

We needed a sub who could hold the ball up and lead the line. Ba can do that, and he does it brilliantly.

Come 80 minutes and Torres replaces Ba, Ba has 4 good chances to put the game to bed.

Why didnt Rafa start with the in form striker Ba or sub an ineffective Torres after 60 minutes? Err because he is a dope. Even LFC supporters will tell you in his last season his subs were baffling and cost them games.

We all understand that Liverpool fans think he is the second coming...but we do not want him at the club.

Logical? Maybe not to some.

Since when did logic come into being a passionate fan.

It's how we feel, I don't understand why everyone else is still getting their knickers in a twist about it.

Yesterdays game was going exactly the same way as Wednesdays. In both games he made no effort to change glaring problems that were seeing us overrun. That's inept management. The fact that we managed to scrap a win yesterday doesn't change what we all know about him.