OK, it wasn't a comfortable win but it was deserved. Who needs Lampard to score vital goals near the end of matches? (traitor!) Chelsea could have fired in some more low crosses earlier on the way Everton did and almost scored from.

Cuadrado needs time to settle and Remy did not look like competition for Costa, but a win's a win!

Come on the Chels'!

Important 3 points, but going foward we will need to find an alternative to Costa up front. When he's missing for any reason we lack a potent spearhead to trouble defences.
I was hoping Stoke might have got something from their game, but Man City finished up comfortable winners. Still, overall it was a decent performance.

As good as they are, it's ridiculous that we still struggle so much without Costa and Fabregas.

Eden Hazard signs a new contract. I'd love to know how much any release clause is worth.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31440710

Eden Hazard: http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest...-new-deal.html

Imo a sensible release clause would be £100 million. He's young, he's still improving, he can turn any match at any level, he's a total team player, has a great attitude and stays injury free. What more could you ask for?

A future potential Ballon d'or winner with his feet on the ground.

You would assume that he's on target for player of the year, but Matic could win that, and that says a lot about the strength of Chelsea's squad at the moment.

Tuesday 17th February, 7.45 p.m.

Chelsea should get through this tie, especially with Costa back. Maybe Cahill is worth a starting place, given he has always played very well in Europe. For PL games at the moment, Zouma is first choice imo, and his performances have been very good.

One big player to watch for in the Paris side is Luiz. He is a special player, although if he ever came back to Chelsea it would be in a midfield role imo, and cover for central defence.

Imagine the line up: Luiz and Matic in front of the back four. Invincibles!

Luiz had one good game in centre mid for us - it would have been an interesting experiment.

However, we got an offer too good to refuse £50 million!!

We should be able to replace him for that price - a backup for matic and a new CB is our priority now.

One interesting thing is who will be the new captain when JT retires?

I would have chosen Luiz before he left. Perhaps it will be Ivan?

I remember Luiz having quite a few very good games in m/f for the club, and his passing / distribution was outstanding. Longer passes than Fabregas. For me he combines Fabregas and Ramires into one player. Plus he scored some stunning goals.

I agree that cover is needed in deep m/f and centre back. Mourhino is keen on Real Madrid's Raphael Varane who he knows very well. Imo, Terry will still be captain next year, and 5 PL titles would be about right for him for his Chelsea career (if Chelsea can win it this year and next).

Zouma looks a very good investment. Big, athletic, skillful, strong and very quick.

Luiz was very inconsistent in midfield from what I recall, he had a couple of great games there against the bigger teams but didn't play nearly as well in that role against the other teams.

Fabregas would be a logical choice for captain when Terry retires.

The club tend to go for players who have been at Chelsea for a number of years, and I would be very surprised if they went for Fabregas. A few other fans on this site have noticed that Fabregas has faded quite a bit after his great start to the season. His tackling can be poor. Imo, Mata would be a good choice to bring back as well. Better corners and freekicks compared to Fab', better footwork, distribution just as good, and he scores more goals. His tackling isn't great, but what you lose there is more than made up for in his other qualities. Plus, he never had a bad game for Chelsea up to the second Mourhino tenure, when presumably Mourhino gave instructions to by pass him.

You'd bring back Mata in place of Fabregas? Really? As much as I think Mata's a very good player we've definitely improved since signing Fabregas. We have a much better balance now than we did with Mata, and one very crucial thing you seem to have overlooked when comparing the two is the higher workrate that Fabregas brings.

Mata had no place in this Chelsea side because he was not committed enough in defence and his work rate off the ball was less than Jose demands of our players

It really was that simple

Fabregas is a very good player, but imo he needs to recapture the form he started the season with and be a lot more consistent. A lot of fans on this site have said that as well, and a few (good) pundits on motd have noticed it. Mata was very consistent, and don't forget he won Chelsea player of the year twice in a row. His work rate wasn't great? Neither is Fabregas's at the moment.

Mata faded a lot when Mourhino arrived and players were not involving him in the play nearly as much. If he is central to the play, he is a very influential player imo and never let Chelsea down.

Fabregas has great vision, links up superbly with the Govenor and has more assists than any other player in the league

I really don't understand why you are dissing him

Mata has not had a fraction of the impact on Utd as Fabregas has had on us

Me either, he's been one of our best players this season. It'll be a surprise if he's not on the player of the year shortlist for the Premier League.

Fabregas weak defensively?

http://sport.bt.com/if-chelsea-have-...91363959279773

http://www.givemesport.com/520902-is...ty-for-chelsea

http://www1.skysports.com/football/p.../cesc-fabregas

I don't know what to say to someone who suggests Mata and Luiz would be preferable in mid field to Jose's choice of Fabregas and Matic

Bit lost for words

Not nearly as baffled as I am. I haven't mentioned anything about dropping Matic, and it amazes me when 'fans' can't accept that someone has a different point of view to them.

You think Jose got it wrong when he off-loaded Mata and Luiz ... you'd have them both in mid field ... instead of who ?

Clicked the top link, Robbie bloody Savage….say no more!

It's one thing highlighting Fabregas' defensive shortcomings, but what about Mata's (considering that side of his game falls much shorter)?

Fabregas is regularly the player who covers the most distance in our side.

Selling Mata was the right decision 100%, amazing player but was just not going to fit into the way we was/are going. Winning our player of the year twice is a great achievement but we was so poor at the time and was heading the wrong way that getting such a achievement was not that difficult due to him not having that much competition.

The signing of Cesc sent a message about where the playing style was going and also with a number of young and inexperienced players bought a massive amount of experience in to the dressing room that is much needed.

Is Cesc the strongest player for that position we could find? No of course not but that's not a problem due to the ability of our manager to ensure we stay strong at the back.

Players form will often go up and down thought out the season and that's ok because no matter how much the media try to make it football is not a individual sport but a team one. Cesc started off the season to such a high level it was always going to be a hard task keeping it up.

Big fan of Luiz but the money was too hard to turn down more so with how it helped us with buying players and meeting with FFP.

I often find what ever Robbie Savage says (or most of the so called experts on MOTD) is best ignored and taken as much notice of as a member of the cast of TOWIE views on economic issues

I think that's all spot-on really. I was as shocked as anyone to see Mata leave after two outstanding seasons. But he didn't fit with Jose's high pressing game, or defending from the front, call it what you like. Mata plays in bursts, he's not a high energy player. We could have continued to accommodate him but Mourinho obviously thought he could do better with the money.
Willian is more the replacement for Mata. He is the type of player Jose likes, skilful with tremendous energy and always willing to drop deep and cover when required.
I've never considered Fabregas a defensive midfielder. I suppose the old description of his role would be that he is our playmaker. He's certainly not the ideal player to partner Matic in the pivot, but so far we have appeared to get away with it more often than not. But Mourinho is not stupid, we generally line up to provide cover for Fabregas when necessary. I do wonder whether we may have to decide between Oscar and Fabregas sometime in the near future, their roles are very similar ?

I like Cesc next to Matic I have to say, if gives him a better sight of the flow of the game and what is needed, makes more use of his passing abilities and experience plus Oscar for me is a special talent, while I admit he is very much a long term project and will take a massive amount of work to get him to be the type of player I think he can be, it's a decision for Jose to make if we can afford to do that. IMO it would be worth doing but I would not blame the club if they did not

Fabregas HAS been consistently good this season. You don't get 4 goals and 20 assists halfway into a season and not be consistent.

MOTD pundits have said nothing about him being inconsistent this season either so you are just making that up.

There is nothing wrong with Fabregas work rate either, he tracks back as much as he can. He isn't as quick as our other players so he can't do it as well as them but he works really hard. If you can't see this then you simply aren't paying enough attention.

You're right about Mata, he never let us down but he doesn't suit Mourinho's system. I loved the guy when he was here and i hated that we sold him to United but as time has gone on it was clearly the right move to make. Also, Mata still looks nothing like the Mata that played with us for 2 years so i don't see how anyone can argue that it was a bad move to selling him.