Ooh. Awkward fall for van Bieber.

edit: Such a shame for him.

That should be it.

Not reading anything into it, but Torres looks up for it tonight.

It's only Swindon, so I'm not surprised.

Unfortunately true but nice to see from him.

Been pretty good but it is only Swindon at the end of the day... anything other than a solid win would be a bad performance no matter what team we put out.

Plain sailing so far. Makes a refreshing change even if it is only Swindon.

Slow start...comfortable now.

Anyone paying attention to Mata's defending?

Yea i have watched him a lot this game, i still think hes suspect tracking back at times, and his tackling was never the best. Quite possibly why Jose doesnt fancy him. Theres no doubt his quality on the ball though, his passes have been fantastic, and arguably better than Oscar in that regard.

John Terry on for Ramires....

Ramires must be injured

Luiz in midfield.

I see your point. But tonight's game makes my point really.
Posters are already saying "it's only Swindon", so does Jose learn anything from it ?
I've been impressed with Essien so far, will Mourinho give him a start ? Same with Torres, he's playing well. I would pick Mata over Schurrie every time, even if you don't give him the middle playmaker role. You could probably make an argument for Willian as well given Hazard's form recently.
I just think we'll be none the wiser about our best team after this game, and the debate will continue.

Told you he'd score earlier today. He's really good in cups &'Europe but it's like he has a mental block about the Premiership.

Seen nothing so far to suggest that Willian and De Bryne will be nothing more than squad players. Not impressed.

Well, we won. I don't think we were very impressive but two performances stood out for me.
Torres had an excellent game, he actually looked a constant threat for a change. I thought the real surprise of the night was Michael Essien, he looked full of energy for the entire 90 minutes. No holding back with challenges, pushing the ball around and setting things up, and there were even a couple of his old surging runs. Could he really be back to the player he used to be ?

Mata doesn't look as sharp as he was last season, but he's still worthy of a place in my opinion. He has the vision to make that final pass that no other player for Chelsea quite possesses.
I would stick with our attacking midfield trio from last season, Hazard, Oscar and Mata until I was convinced someone could come in and do a better job...and I'm not yet convinced about De Bruyne, Schurrie or Willian.

Well, with Ramires and van Ginkel picking up injuries we'll likely see Essien in CM for a league match soon. Really don't like the idea of him and Lampard facing Spurs at the weekend.....guess we'll soon see what shape he's really in.

edit: Forgot about Mikel.

Think Mikel is nailed on to play against Spurs.

Yes, I was impressed with Essien too. Of the options we currently have available, I think he'd be the best one to play alongside Ramires in CM, seeing as Luiz is unlikely to ever be a regular fixture there. Certainly a vast improvement on Mikel, so worth a try in the league at least.

Willian didn't impress, although it's not much of a surprise as he's someone I never particularly rated before we signed him. Of course I'd like him to prove me wrong, but I don't have high hopes he'll ever be anything more than a very expensive squad player.

But Torries did score 15-20 goals last season and in his first season he got double figures. Yes could he score more often of course but if you think about the time he has been at Chelsea we have had more managers then he has had haircuts. The first season it was clear certain players was favouring Drogba.


The timing of his coming to Chelsea has not helped. He walked into the club when the dressing room held all the power and right into a number of players who loyalty (and I do understand it to some degree) was to Drogba, Then we had the AVB days in which no player came out smelling like Roses, Robbie? Nice guy decent manager but thats about it, The Rafa days? Less said about that the better, I felt better about what was going on when we was passing buckets around the ground to try and save the bridge. Thoughout that time he has kept his head down, Not moaned and bitched worked hard and got on his job and one of the hardest jobs in the team and contended with some harsh and alot of time unfair attacks from the media and other places. He has done everything that has been asked of him during his team at Chelsea and I dont think there are many players in the world that would have done much better in his shoes during the last couple of season.



I do think the price tag has not helped (and never does with big money signings), I think teams should keep the price they pay for players between themselfs more so the bigger fees, I dont see why fans need to know anyway. I dont see why the amount is important, Its a random figure agreed between 2 parties with little or no "business sense" behind it. Back in the Bates days, One club would be given a quote for a player and when we came in a much higher quote would be given so in the space of two mintues the players value has gone from 1m to 3m, I think someytimes these values are just pluked out of thin air by the selling club. Its become something to beat him up with like the "he not the same player he was at Liverpool" well no because he playing at a different level for a different team in a different way, Its like "How can you play Mikel and not Mata" comment. Its apples and oranges

Torres and Ess were excellent last night.

JM is saying the guys need to prove themselves to get a stat, well if he is going to give out a consistent message, he needs to start Torres on Saturday but I doubt he will.

Essien put himself about last night so maybe he is over his injuries for now. We could definitely use him for cover if van Ginkel is out for a while.

nice to see torres score, i had this same discussion with regulars last year and i was proven right with his goal tally and few important goals too(too anyone who isnt new age fan who hates anything except champions league)

same will happen this year, keep saying hes useless and does no good, ill remind you when he pops up to help chelsea out

tribalism is a funny old thing,as a neutral i can see torres for what he is, not playing like a superstar anymore but still a damn good striker.

Torres was good last night but lets not get carried away. He had 36 appearences last season in the PL and only managed 8 goals. Yes, he does seem to turn up for cup games, but I want us to challenge for the PL first and foremost. If we don't expect our strikers to score aginst League One opposition then something is seriously wrong. Torres needs to start scoring on a consistent basis but until then, it's fair for people to have their concerns over him.

I noticed Mata has started defending a bit more yesterday; he even conceded a corner at the end of the game . On another day, he could have had an assist and a goal. If Mata keeps working on his defensive side, not only will this help Chelsea, but hopefully it will boost his chances of being a starter for Spain.

I agree and for the most expensive player in England, plays for the team with no ego. He never complains, he never gives destabilising interviews to Spanish newspapers , he just acts professionally, works hard, never stops working for the team and tells journalists he's going to stay and fight for his place. Wayne Rooney could learn a lot about class from Fernando Torres.

I think the trouble is he plays like he has the weight of every single journalist and newspaper on his back when he plays in the premiership. He knows he's going to be the headline and the feature article if he doesn't score.. So now he'll do anything to pass to someone else so he doesn't hear the journalists sharpening their pencils or the opposition fans jeering.

He plays with far more freedom in the cups and in Europe and he scores a lot in those competitions and in important matches, so it's got to be something psychological with the Premiership.

From last night, and I know it's only Swindon, but he seems to be enjoying being challenged by by Mourinho and some of the pressure is off him now they've brought in Eto'o.

Finally, does anyone else thinks when this team clicks someone is going to be on the end of a 5 or 6 goal battering? They're playing almost like strangers and winning 2-0. They're capable of playing like Man City at the weekend, they're devastating when it's all clicking.