First things first, I hope Fab' rediscovers the great form he started the season with but do think he has faded since then.

Analysis:

Consistency. Mata 9 (over 2 seasons), Fabregas 7.5 (6 months)

Play making / passing. Mata 9, Fabregas 9

Close ball control. Mata 9, Fabregas 8

Corners (can be crucial, e.g. CL final). Mata 9.5, Fabregas 8 (just)

Free kicks. Mata 8.5, Fabregas 7.5

Goals. Mata 8.5 (some crucial goals), Fabregas 8

Tackling. Mata 6.5, Fabregas 7.5

Staying injury free. Mata 9, Fabregas 7

Mourhino isn't stupid I agree, and has rightly picked Ramires over Fabregas at times recently and rightly so. The point is, Mata was sold because he didn't press / tackle enough. Neither does Fabregas, and if you look at what Mata contributed in other areas, including great performances against the likes of Stoke away in the middle of winter, Mata gets the nod. Just my opinion.

Also, when Mata was winning player of the season twice in a row at Chelsea, Fabregas was struggling to get in the Barca' first team. Now I can see why, but as mentioned at the beginning, I hope he gets back to some very good performances.

Err what about the stat, how many times they get ran off the ball?

Also, when Chelsea bought Mata, Wenger was looking for a replacement for Fabregas who was wanted by Barca'. Imo, he saw them as similar players, although Chelsea nipped in ahead and got Mata.

What about buying back Mata for £25 million and moving Oscar on? Let's face it, Chelsea need the creative play, and it doesn't look like Cuadrado is going to be playing killer passes regularly, although it's early days.

Chelsea could get stuck for ideas again, especially against park the bus sides.

How about we buy back Zola? How about we buy back Lampard?

Mata is part of the past, he simply is not needed. He lacks the skill set Chelsea need.

Buying Mata makes no sense from a FFP viewpoint nor does it make no sense from a playing viewpoint.

Very good player as I have said but has absolutely no place in Chelsea's current project

Mata was a great player for Chelsea but ended up on the fringe of the first team. He was sold for an incredible fee. There is no chance whatsoever he would be bought back.
It really is a bit of a pointless argument.

Actually, there's an article on Caughtoffside that shares your worries about Fabregas.

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2015/02...as-to-chelsea/

To be honest, I didn't follow his progress at Barcelona to know how true that analysis is. Conincidentally, Fabregas is in a position at Chelsea similar to the one he was at with Barca, we also have an abundance of attacking midfielders. But Fabregas is very versatile, able to play wide, through the middle or as a support striker. He even played as a "false no 9" on occasion.
I think his best position would be "in the hole" behind the front three in a 4-3-3. Unlike Dont in his earlier post, I'm not convinced with him playing alongside Matic. His scoring record for Barca was very respectable, 28 goals from 96 appearances as largely a midfield player. But I think we should play him tucked in behind Costa, Hazard and Willian (or Caudrado)..but that leaves no space for Oscar, as I said in my previous post. I think we need another genuine midfield defensive player, though with Ramires getting back to his old form it's not so desperate a need right now..providing Matic stays fit !

Bring back Mata ?..I don't see the point really. We could use a secondary striker from midfield, we probably missed a trick not going for Alexis Sanchez. But Mata no longer appears to be the player he was in those two wonderful seasons he had for us.

Moving Oscar on?

Madness.

I think you'll find it's Oscar that usually gets dropped from the big/tough away games (Stoke away, Man City away, Liverpool away in League cup) and not Fabregas. I'm struggling to figure out what matches you're referring to.

Are you implying that Fabregas can't hack it on a cold night in Stoke?

Fab made 3 tackles, 4 key passes, 1 assist and 1 goal in our away match to Stoke. How can you not be impressed by that? Not to mention, your rating of Mata is heavily skewed due to the fact you're comparing 2 years of contribution compared to 6 months for Fab.

Bit boring having no game this weekend, I don't have any interest in the FA Cup when we're not in it. Still on the plus side the players will have had a good rest ahead of Tuesday's game, whilst PSG had to play yesterday.

I share your bafflement

Why is Fabregas being discussed as if he is somehow 'under-performing' ... or as if Jose is having problems deciding where best to play him ?

These are problems that don't even exist as far as I can see

Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa

Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Oscar, Cuadrado, Drogba, Remy

Sirigu; van der Wiel, Silva, Marquinhos, Maxwell; David Luiz, Verratti, Matuidi; Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic, Cavani

Yeah, I'm not really sure where this notion has come about. It's almost as bad as when people say Hazard doesn't track back or when Costa went on a mini goal drought (I think it was something like 4 games?) and some people wanted Remy to start. It's true, both Costa and Fabregas started the season in blazing form but I think this has inadvertently set some exceedingly high standards for them to be judged upon. Every player is entitled to having some dips in their performances but to say they're 'under-performing' makes it seem like it's a recurring problem - and in this case it isn't. We're top of the league, still in the CL and in the League Cup final...only a few seasons ago we were struggling to cement a top four place. Things have changed for the better and I hope it stays that way.


Strong line up from us...just hope we can get an away goal!

I've never said Fabregas was guilty of "under-performing". I just don't see him as the "natural" player to put alongside Matic in our currently favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. It frequently ends up looking more of a 4-1-4-1 kind of line-up.
It's not a problem when an on-form Ramires can step In and Fabregas can go back into his more natural position..as we have lined-up tonight.

Terry > Cahill > Ivanovic 1-0

Attack is the best form of Defence, quite literally!

Great goal from Brana. Created and scored by three central defenders.
Lavezzi looks a handful though, I've always admired him as a player.

Shocking marking. Straightforward cross and Cavani had a completely free header. Such a pity, Cahill had been having a good game up until that moment.

Chelsea did very well to get a 1 - 1 result, against a very good and determined (and a bit dirty) PSG side. Shaky in defence, bring back Zouma! And not adventurous enough in attack. Again, Fabregas average imo and for £200 k / week, not good enough. No Mata to bring in though.

Chelsea need to improve in defence and attack to go through. Great Chelsea goal though. Ivan again!

Satisfactory result, getting that important away goal. But they are a good side, there's no doubt about that. Verratti would be a useful addition for us, skillful and just the sort of nasty ball-winner type we could use alongside Matic. Not that Ramires had a bad game, he looks to be back to near his best.

Can't agree there. I thought Fabregas had a good first half, but he did look tired after half time. Perhaps Oscar should have been brought on earlier. I wouldn't have risked Zouma against Ibrahimovic and Cavani, too much of a gamble for my liking. But I agree, his time will come a lot sooner than I originally thought. Again, Remy is no substitute for Costa even for 10 minutes. We just lose a bit of edge without the big man up front, even if he's not at his best.
Two very good sides really, should be a cracking return at The Bridge.

Good result against a very good team.

Professional job against a decent team.

Costa did not have the best of games No Osgood to come in though.

It was a game PSG needed to win more then we did.

We got a away goal which was critical

Decent result. Obviously it would have been great to have held onto the lead, but realistically we would have taken a score draw before kick-off. Sets us up with a good chance of progressing.

That result won't lose Jose any sleep tonight

Crucial away goal too ... I love Bran

Xrist ! ... just stop with the Mata shite eh ?

He's a Utd player ffs !