Cahill was surprisingly very solid at the back.

okay, now credit should given where it's due. AVB, kudos for the half time team talk.. Some might disagree with me but what happened in the 1st half is repetition of what happened in the last 5 games. drab and clueless performance beside the few through balls that went wasted.

motm between Luiz, Essien & Lampard.

this kind of question is not necessary la bro. later only bring heat among us.

btw, we can see that when the old guard playing together (Drogba, Lampard & Essien) the chemistry is there. Lot of decent through ball or passing into space created by Chelsea last night. somehow it reflected on what Carletto and Makelele comments.

I don't even label Shevs as a flop. He did score few powderful shot and some are very crucial as well. He was already getting old when Roman shipped him in, we must cut him some slack despite the hefty tag. Unlike Torres, Sheva did pretty well during his time, but ppl always judge his scoring record which is pretty poor in Chelsea shirt. Plus, Drogba was on fire back then so it's really easy to label Sheva as flop. Same perception happen when Berbatov firing blank while Rooney score like nobody business few seasons back.

why is every possible English media were producing load of crap rumors? last time i check, we won the last game comprehensively. still they will taunt and break the team apart in every single way possible.

congratz to the old guards. they manage to done it again. i just have this sick thought that maybe Lamps, Drogba, JT, Ashley & Cech literally involved in every sacking of manager after Mourinho depart. the Albion's game, i'd rate Lampard 1/10. and that's impossible even when he's off form. unless he had hidden agenda. hate to say that though since they're legend on Chelsea.

so the news bout Jose searching for new house in London wasn't just a coincidence? cause bout Pep coming in I'd rate as rubbish, and knowing the fact that few old guards were still in touch with the special one i guess the possibility is there to see the reunion. anyone fancy Zola?

anyway, for the mean time. certainly hope that Di Matteo would salvage the sinking ship closer to the surface. it's a huge task for him though.

sigh..suddenly it's a very dark time being a Chelsea fan, but good time to filter the bandwagons nonetheless..

before we blame everything on Roman decision, we should spend a lil time and see it from the perspective of the owner and the management.

first of all, i think a club with this kind of stature surely have target that they have set to achieve in order to running business. when everyone compare Chelsea habit of sacking managers with the likes of Manchester United in the old days which they stick to SAF until today, we must take into account how does they run Premier League those day compared to these day. the market, advertisement, broadcast n etc. i don't think it's fair to do the comparison.

I'm pretty sure Roman already gave his personal opinion after a string of disastrous performance and results. He met the players and coaching staff. He came to the stadium. People judge him as though he straight away fire AVB without hesitation or proper consideration. 81 millions pound compensate, surely it's huge amount of money he don't wanna lose even for him.

Most probably he has warn AVB that he must do something, the performance weren't improving, he's build a bad relationship with media and players that made him a not very popular figure even in his own camp. So how can he improve? Chelsea already on the brink of losing UCL spot that can hugely affected our club financial income for next year. We losing both 1st leg of FA and UCL. Perhaps Roman final words would be "listen man, i know u have a big vision to make your project come true. however, we must not leave far more behind in the league. there's too much at stake. so, u must show improvement and we can't afford to lose another game". Well, the rest is history.

i don't have a slightest doubt about his commitment, his agility, his idea. he's charming and cunning, he's a truly gentlemen. But i guess, he just not meant to manage Chelsea in the 1st place. the appointment of him was "the culprit" in this case.

Torres wasn't just in bad form, he's in bad shape as well. He was better in first few matches with us last year. recently he's totally lost everything bout him. his 1st touch, shooting, dribbling.

of course he's not in the right mind to take a penalty.

few decent chances, with Cahill header bounced from the ground and went passed the upright. Then goes Mata freekick that hit the wordwork. Not to mention Ivanovic superb volley the went to the same target.

yeah, Stoke was played 10 men but see how they put all the big heavyweight Sasquatch. they were very physical so this is a great win.

we look very lack in idea around the penalty box, once the ball played through the middle boom goal. so totally, it's combination of tactic. get both right, we shall nail Napoli.

it safe to say that Di Matteo will take one game at a time. might sounds cliche, but that's best we can possibly do after previous hiccup. of course, i guess the main target is to UCL (the one Roman craving for) but on more relevant note, to finish top four will be the main priority. FA cup is a bonus.

let see..in the 1st round of the league, our result against them is;

vs manc (A) - 2-1 win
vs spurs (H) - 1-1 draw
vs villa (A) - 0-3 lost
vs wigan (H) - 1-1 draw
vs Fulham (A) - 1-1 draw
vs NUFC (H) - 0-3 win
vs ARS (A) - 3-5 lost
vs QPR (H) - 1-0 lost
vs pools (A) - 1-2 lost
vs B'burn (H) - 0-1 win

pretty bad isn't it. we lost at home to three of those team. but it's during the dark time, i'm sure they will turn it around this time. Chelsea usually increase the pace at the end of the race.

What i'm actually not afraid of our capability, instead the match officials. it has been few European nightmare occurred to us cost by these immortals.

Btw, i don't agree to drop Torres to reserve. In fact, i want him to take part in tonight match. it would be legend..wait for it

This post has been edited by hidzwan: Mar 14 2012, 02:54 PM

as long his working his ass off during the game, i couldn't careless bout his feeling. actually, he rather shock than unhappy when Di Matteo came hugging him in such manner.

"Hope Torres scores winner here. Great game"

- Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney provides the striker some much-needed moral support following his second-half introduction...He didn't score, by the way.

"Big night for Chelsea and a performance that looked impossible 3 weeks ago. Luiz, Terry, Lampard, Essien, Drogba all at their best!"

- Former United defender and current TV pundit Gary Neville praises Chelsea's completion of mission impossible at the Bridge.


"With defenders who can finish like that, who needs strikers? #cfc"

- Goal.com's very own Liam Twomey with a nod to Ivanovic's late winner.

"Did I just See JT giving instructions Hahha What a boss"

- Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong was amused to see the Blues captain doing his bit in the technical area


Captain fantastic | Terry doubles Chelsea's lead to leave Stamford Bridge bouncing

"Just jumped up when Lamps scored! I want chelsea through....English and proud! Come on you blues!"

- Another Gunner, this time Jack Wilshere, shows off his patriotic side...

“Great result for Chelsea, flying the English flag high in this years champions league! Shame we couldn't join them, was so close!”

- ...before wistfully remembering what might have been for his own side.


“What a game! Well played chelsea and well done”

- On-loan Everton man Steven Pienaar was quick to offer his congratulations.

"Fancied Chelsea to win but not to progress, couldn't see them scoring that many. #iwaswrong but still technically was right"

- QPR's Joey Barton confuses himself, and us, before deciding that, as per usual, he thinks himself correct...we think.


"Ivaaaaaaaaaanovichhhhhhhhhhhhhh #beast"

- Chelsea youngster Jeffrey Bruma gets a little bit excited after the Serb hits the decisive winner.

“Congrats to Chelsea!!!... see the heart, passion & desire they all put in & love they had for Di Matteo at the end, they didn't rate AVB man”

- British hip hop star Tinchy Stryder tells us what we probably already knew about Andre Villas-Boas and his former squad.

"Yeeeeees! Amazing comeback! Stamford Bridge has been decisive!! We've won thanks to you! Let's enjoy this! Come on Blues!"

- Midfielder Juan Mata gets giddy in 140 characters or less.


SOS

Liverpool player, Y U NO greet us?

please give us Barca.

yeah..exactly what i wished for, the possibility to reach semis and face Barca. not saying we're overconfident, it just that this time we are the underdog and no one would expect us to win against so-called best team in the world thus less pressure. With all due respect to Benfica, we should win this fixture them by hook or by crook.

This post has been edited by hidzwan: Mar 16 2012, 09:21 PM

-Chelsea start winning

-Torres start scoring

-Players start smiling again

after AVB departure, is it coincidence?

inb4 RDM will be fired too should Chelsea lose to Benfica.
inb4 Leicester not a fit match for Chelsea.
inb4 Torres goals are fluke.

indeed. it's totally different style of tactic, while it suits Torres just fine it's also fun to watch.

i concur the thoughts on Essien, he had a poor game. Ramires for me did ok, it just that after we lead 1-0 i guess we tried to keep the score sheet hence all attacking players lying too deep. A better option could be Ramires deploy on the center supporting Mikel, that with allow Lamps to advance forward. Torres & Drogba also not bad. Outstanding player for me would be Mata+Mikel

they played against 10 men City. no Balotelli and Yaya Toure as well.