Moyes says Blues gave everything

If we can regroup and start afresh in the New Year, with the cavalry of Fellaini, Gibson, Mirallas, Coleman, Neville, Hibbo coming back sooner or later, plus Barkley coming through, we are still well capable of pushing very hard for 3rd or 4th. Should Jelly's shooting boots return and the 'luck' even out, we can turn up the form to have a better second half than first half and reach the riches of the CL gravy train. Onwards and upwards. COYB.

Can't fault the lads really. They did all they could.

Lets make a move for a striker and come back stronger in the second half.

This team has the makings for it to be a magical squad. We can yet nick fourth, even today's heartbreaker. We can beat all of these teams, every single one. I'm convinced we'll turn it around if we add a striker and right back perhaps

Distin was fantastic and for a man of his age he maintains his pace and commitment as well as anyone in the premier.
He is our best acquisition and playing centre back with Jagielka as a regular partner they are for my money a pairing I would not swap for any other.

Unfortunately apart from Vic and the cameo from Vellios the failings of Barkley, Naismith and Heitinga were obvious.
Im particularly disappointed in JH, he is a Dutch International but he does nothing to excite the fans and adds very little to the overall performance of the team.
Our best players were the regulars with a mention for Anichebe who played very well.
I hope he can improve upon this performance as he adds a new dimension to our attack.
Both he and Vellios seem to be able to influence things and are good squad players.
Im not sure about Oviedo just yet but Naismith is another very average player and so is Hitz.
Neither would get into a top premiership squad.

I hope that DM gets some finances to enable this squad to really push for top four.
The fans deserve it and Im sure this team will show up well if allowed to play european opposition.

Bit harsh to throw Barkley in the mix there. He gave the ball away once.

The lad gets so few minutes that he wants to take an extra touch and show what he's got. He doesn't deserve an ounce of criticism. He really should start against Cheltenham.

I thought Jags was very good at RB. Unnatural...but did a good job.

Heitinga was our worst player and I don't even think he did that badly. He's just not top quality. His distribution has always been good but I think we're at a stage where that isn't as important for us. His big diagonals were an out ball for us, but now we are much more comfortable bringing it out of defence through the full-backs. Get shut in Jan if he's not happy.

Barkley gave the ball away more than once, you're only thinking of the one that led to a 3 on 1 against us and really should have resulted in Chelsea's third goal. He gave it away a few times in the middle of the field, looked confused on the ball a few times he touched it, and took a very poor shot from long range that did nothing but kill off a minute of the clock and give possession away when we had men forward.

You throw a teenager on against the European Champions when we're 2-1 down! What do you expect? The lad deserves zero criticism.

What about getting him some minutes when you're 2-0 up at home to Wigan?

Moyes is a good manager and I wouldn't swap him for many...but he really is doing his best to screw up this lad's development. Why not leave him at Wednesday if we're not going to play him.

It makes me sick to the pit of my stomach that he will always find a reason to slate Mr Moyes.

Of course, he was playing against a star studded Chelsea side, who we dominated for most of the first half and created plenty of chances against throughout the match. So pathetic reading of the game, really?? A Chelsea side against a weakened Everton and with just a little bit of luck of the ball going an inch this way or that, and we would have spanked them. How exactly did the fat man give Moyes a spanking? Real tough decision to bring Oscar on, right. Such tough decisions to make for him with such a limited squad over there at Chelsea. I mean, do I play Hazard, Ramirez, Lampard, Mata, Oscar, Moses, Torres.

Unfortunately I have not read of any interest in Heitinga from any quarter. If he is unhappy at not being picked when everyone is fit then he must improve his play or move into a slower paced league. When everyone is fit neither Heitinga nor Naismith would start and the sooner our better players return from suspension and injury the better.

The Fat Waiter's subs didn't swing the game in his favor. Lampard scored both goals before the fat man's subs. Moses came on after their second, and Oscar came on with 5 minutes to play. Unless you think replacing Cech at halftime was some sort of tactical genius move by the fat waiter and that won them the game. Neither of his subs really did anything except ride the game out, while we pushed for an equalizer.

A strong Chelsea side beat an under strength Eveton side missing four of our main players in captain Phil Neville, top scorer Marouane Fellaini, our top defensive midfielder Gibson and our most dangerous attacker Mirallas.

It was always going to be hard.

Chin up lads. Onwards and upwards. What did you all expect?

Yes, true to a degree. What I would say is that pulled/strained muscles are difficult to judge. They can feel fine in training and only reoccur when the player is really giving 100%

Not that it makes things any better...but I do think the injuries have been mismanaged, rather than the players been crocks.

I notice a few posters are saying we shouldn't criticise Barkley because he had only just come on......where does it state that your decision making gets better due to longevity on the pitch?

He has a lot to learn and hopefully he will do it and remain in a blue shirt but he did lose the ball and needs to learn that not every pass needs to be a defence splitting pass, you can go backwards/sideways instead of trying to force a poor pass...... and release it if you are being jockeyed and there isn't an easy way passed the player. You know! The basics!

Championship player at best.

Sorry to the fans of his, but I can only judge on what I've seen at reserve level and in his fleeting appearances.

He is eager and likes a shot but his all round game doesn't match up to a lot of other young players.

Every midfield player we have (or have ever had for that matter) misplaces passes or loses possession unnecessarily at times. Ossie had the ball nicked while dawdling at least twice in yesterdays game, and one time was about ten yards in our half and they could easily have created something from that. He was by no means the only senior player to do so, so I am not sure why Ross Barkley's errors have attracted such castigation.

Unlike some others I thought he looked confident and composed on the ball and physically able to both win the ball and ride opposition challenges. His main problem is he has to go from being the main man (for the reserves and Sheffield Wednesday) to a bit part player for our first team. He is used to other players playing to his strengths rather than him playing to theirs.

He would definitely find it easier to adjust in a full strength side in control of a game. For half an hour we dominated Chelsea, but by the second-half their midfield were definitely comfortably containing ours.

I fear that Barkley will suffer as Vaughan did. Devoid of a start, never mind a run in the side. Coming on with ten minutes to prove himself he risks injury never mind the wrath of some supporters.

I have praised Moyes on another post but I feel that he sometimes focuses on errors of certain players and is very unforgiving whilst others are given all the time they need.