Well, it's not good is it. Just can't seem to defend.
Too many players are just not good enough at the moment.
Got a couple of tough games coming after the break.

There does appear to be something fundamentally wrong. Practically every single Chelsea player was below par, Pedro must be wondering what's going on after seeing our title winning season.
I don't think our pre-season helped much, then the summer transfer window has been chaotic with little sign of any real planning. Last year we had our targets lined up, sorted out all the business and we were a settled outfit long before the season began.

I noticed matic and fabregas going for the same ball too often, and standing far too close to each other.

There does seem to be a serious problem generally at the club, and not just a few below par players. There just isn't enough intensity and creativity going forward, and similar in defence. The opposition looks dangerous, while Chelsea look as though they need a stroke of luck to get a goal.

Ivanovic targeted again, and how many bad games does he need to get dropped? He's more of a cb now, and cover for rb, not a regular rb. Jose Mourhino has never stayed at any club for four seasons, and when changes need to be made, he has moved clubs. I mentioned when he arrived back that he is untested as a manager when he has to rebuild a side, and he doesn't rotate the way other successful pl managers have, to compete effectively in the pl and cl.

If the poor form continues, he might get sacked, let's be honest. That would be sad, not least because there doesn't seem to be a genuine contender to replace him, but those are the facts. His conservatism might be his undoing.

Once again, Wilian was poor, and again he should have been dropped at least two games ago.

On the positive side, Kennedy looked very good, and Rahman is waiting at lb.

If experienced players cannot perform simple tasks like take a throw in then it don't matter who you pick or how you set them up. If the problem was one or two players then you could drop them and replace them. The problem is the current list is too long for us to do that.

The manager can set out to play a certain way and he has to be judged but on the same hand if those players cannot perform a simple task like pass the ball from one side of the circle to the other side how do we know if the problem are the tactics? Attack style defense style "park the bus" (trademarked by idiots are us) style it won't make a jot of difference if about 5 players cannot pass a ball. 442 or 353 or 253 is irrelevant if 5 players cannot take a simple throw on without giving it to a opponent?

All the creative play in the world won't make a difference if you have a number of players who when they have the ball look left a see a team mate free and look right and see 2 or 3 opponents and no team mate and pass to the right.

To many times we over complicate why teams are playing badly and there can be many reasons but sometimes it can be very very simple and at the moment too many players are not even performing at a level that would get them in to the Dog and Ducks team. There is nothing anything anyone can do about that apart from Cesc,Eden,Matic and Brana

They don't worry about teams with a garbage defence

if only C.Palace knew their place!

You will come the end of the season

That's true. There are just too many players who are putting in sub-standard performances right now. It seems to be spreading like a virus.
Ivanovic was again the main culprit, but he shouldn't take all the blame. Matic is just a shadow of the player that he was for most of last season. Fabregas has been awful, a couple of decent passes in a game don't compensate for his weakness in midfield which puts further pressure on Matic. I've defended Willian in the past, but have to admit that he contributed little today, and even Hazard appears to have lost that spark.
The arrival of Kenedy was one of the few bright spots, but why take off Azpil when he was one of the few who were actually having a decent game ?

It's early days but a worrying pattern is emerging that doesn't look like just a couple of freak results. A draw and loss at home against mid table teams, struggling to a win against one of the relegation favourites, and outplayed by one of our main rivals. We have the international break, then Everton (a) and Arsenal (h). We need to solve our problems before we're in genuine trouble.

We are missing a Lamps and Drogba to give the dressing room the much needed kick up the f*c*ing arse. The talent is there we all know that. In the past we had very very strong characters JT,Lamps,Drog Ashley Cole etc. We have better technical players but are they as strong character and mentality? I not sure. Love Eden but who is he? Have yet to see his character on the pitch.

Winning a title is a relative easy thing to do when at a club with the resources available at Chelsea but defending it is very very different and takes a totally different skill set.

Hopefully the break will give the players to get their minds right as until then there is nothing to be done

I think this is asymptomatic of english football at the moment. Ideally english clubs need an english spine but i cant see any players coming up that are going to be so. Once terry and rooney have gone im really not sure who else is out there that will have the character to drag a team up.

I don't think it's necessary a 'English" thing. Drogba Ricky C Cech etc had "it".

Not sure what rattled your cage. It sounds like we're in agreement that this is game that Chelsea should've been expected to win. If that somehow offends you then I hope as a Palace fan you never expect your team to actually beat anyone.

No they really was not, in fact they was more loud on the tube after the game but if it helps you sleep at night

Just watched the MOTD highlights. Very poor defending for the two Palace goals. Looks like we had a few chances though.

I can't understand why Remy's so out of favour that he isn't even brought on in a game like this. Credit where it's due to Falcao though, it was a decent goal.

Pretty obvious now that you can't play Matic and Cesc as the two. Jose can't continue with this. I would go Matic and RLC, pushing Cesc further. Got to keep a tighter midfield and be more creative further forward.

Yes, I agree. There's been a problem playing Fabregas in the pivot from the start. It's remarkable that we got away with it in so many games really. It required Matic to be outstanding..which he was for most of last season. Now that Matic has proved to be human after all, and his game has dropped 10/20%, we are looking lightweight in midfield.
I'm not so sure about RLC being the answer, not yet anyway. I think we need buy to solve the problem, and it's probably more immediately urgent than finding another CB.
There are players around without breaking the bank to bring in Pogba, Witsel perhaps ?
Someone like Verratti would also give us more "bite" in midfield, a skillful player with a bit of a nasty streak. I can't see PSG selling though. Pity we didn't go for Schweinsteiger as a stop-gap, still a quality player when fit ?

Gotta say I think saying Matic has dropped 10-20% is being kind. It's gone way beyond that.

Yes maybe moving Cesc's forward to help his game but the problem is not just Cesc out.of the partnership but both of them
They have both been as bad as each other. Before we work out where to play them we need to work out how to get them to anywhere near last year's form and it's not going to be by changing positions around. The issues are bigger then that. It's worth a try of course but we need to be ready if doesn't work

Why are so many shocked and surprised by what's going on
People accuse me of talking shite, but i was saying this could happen before a ball was kicked this season!

Since the end of 2014, we were in the truly strange position of seeing us going backwards as a team but strolling to the title by scratching out results playing at a level that at onetime, not too long ago, wouldn't have been anywhere near good enough for the top four, let alone title winning football. Sooner or later our luck would run out and we would start getting the results our football deserved.

I was saying last season Ivanovich was in decline and should be moved on, but even i am shocked by how bad he's been this season.
Saying our midfield was bad, one that could neither defend, and if Hazard was off his game, couldn't create much either.
We look desperately one paced all over the pitch.
Hazard was poor for a over a month towards the end of last season, and now he looks like he's even worse and looking like he's wearing lead boots while towing a fridge.
Jose, has totally destroyed Oscar.
Fabregas, after a great start last season has been a huge dissapointment far too often.
God knows what's happened to Matic.
The defence as a whole is shambles, no matter who we play.

Jose has always been a short term fix as a manager,and this is showing yet again. HIs style and tactics wear thin as players become bored with the same old boring, rigid, pragmatic, predictable football he dishes out. I will bet my house that he won't be manager at the start of next season. For that, i will be personally very happy and would the job to be handed straight over to either Lamps or JT.

One more thing, and sorry to bring him up again.
But i am getting annoyed by the media singling out Ivanovich, Matic, Hazard and Cesc, as the reasons for our problems but completely ignoring the conman's nothing perfromances.
It's easy to single out the above players because they are players that actually do do something on the pitch, so when they's not producing it stands out!
It's a sign of just how much the conman gets away with doing jack shit and that's because there's almost no difference in his performances, so it's almost impossible to distinguish between him being on top form and him just trotting around the pitch like a headless chicken aimlessly following the direction of the ball and doing absolutely bugger all else.

First Rogers and now JT or Lamps. Suggesting Rafa or Roger was i thought as ridiculous as anyone could get but guess I was wrong.

If you did not really believe this nonsense it would be funny but its not funny its down right scary that anyone with any knowledge of football at even the most amateur level would even suggest such a thing. It shows a complete lack of understanding of football in 2015. Its jumpers for goalposts stuff.

This "short term" nonsense about Jose is the perfect example of your view of football today (much like your nonsense about away attendance), Spout some half facts (mainly from sources with nothing to with the actual subject) to suit your agenda without actually giving the facts.

No manager was ever going to stay at Porto after winning the Champions League, It was just not going to happen. It would happen every single time a team the size of Porto won big trophies. Its a natural career progression, that's just common sense and logical.

As has been proven at Chelsea no matter what a manager does has a very slim chance of being a long term manager. That was just the culture of the club. But if you talk to the actual people involved and not the media it was more to do with a falling out of two people, Two very big personalities started waving their co*ks about. It happens many big companies.

He then went to Inter, That was always going to be a stepping stone until another club came along, That club happened to be not only one of the biggest but one with a bigger revolting door for managers then Chelsea, Would not be shocked if Jose was the longest manger for them for in the 00's and one the of longest in the 90's. Any manager at Real is a short term manager.

But don't let facts get in the way of a good story, It never stopped the news of the world

Professionals do not become "bored" that's just more of this romantic view of football. It ranks along side of the existence of luck over the course of entire seasons as figments of the imagination of those who are too lazy to actually understand the game TODAY.

Has Willian killed your pet rabbit or dated a family member?

This obsession with his is quite worrying. It reminds me of a Alan Partridge episode

Rumoured to be after Laporte now. Fairly certain we will sign a CB before the window. Just hope it's someone we've had our eye on rather than an F-You-Everton signing.

Karma's a bitch for those Man U fans that were gloating yesterday

Don't feel as bad after Man Utd losing too, but the result yesterday was poor and we are already struggling only 4 games into the season.

I don't think signing Stones for £40m+ is going to solve it either, its hard to explain why our form is so poor, given we won the league last season. I think the players just aren't fit / in form yet, we have a good squad but they just aren't performing. I was thinking the 4231 formation wasn't working too well, perhaps we should try 433 which can change into 451 when necessary? The extra few weeks off in the summer hasn't worked as the squad just doesn't look match fit right now.

I feel our midfield is getting over run at the moment, not helped by Fabregas and Matic not playing well. Our defence has looked shaky, but you feel the red card to Terry was a massive blow.

Hate to say it but i can't see anyone overhauling Man City this season

Were now in the "second division" as far as spending, behind MU & MC, we cant afford (or wont spend)£ 100m on 2 players who are untried at top level (1 of which we've already rejected).
Mouro moans, but didnt he say last season he enjoyed being on a" budget"!!