johnnythefirst

On the field, bar Eto'o who we haven't seen yet.

Since Lukaku only played in the league, you should only count Fernando's league goals. Which means 17 goals for Lukaku compared to 8 for Torres. Please be honest in your comparisons. ;-)

I think you're absolutely right. And a year later, he'll play for either Barça or Madrid.

The only sure thing is you can't have both. Of the two, no one deserves to be benched, and no one will. Benching Cech would be dishonoring his Chelsea legacy, benching Courtois would frankly be a crime against football by now. One of them will go next year. Read my lips.

For the english speakers: "José Mourinho also agreed with the loan. We had a talk. He's the best trainer I've had so far. He believes in the tough approach and that suits me fine. After Everton I want to return to Chelsea a stronger man. Eto'o's arrival didn't matter much. Torres was already there. I know what competition means." And then there's this weird line: "His Chelsea future is not yet fixed, but Lukaku can live with that: "In footbal, you can expect everything. You know, I shared a dressing-room with Anelka, and he told me a story once I would have never believed if he didn't tell me himself." Now I want to know the story. Anyway, these words make me feel a tad less angry.

Please dude, not more than a year ago, Benteke was a decent striker for Genk, who forced his way to the Premier League threatening to end his contract if they wouldn't let him. Not many people thought he would succeed. Until then, Lukaku was BY FAR the biggest prospect of the two, being two years younger as well. Benteke proved the critics wrong. But last year, they were evenly matched. If both play regularly, it will be a very hard decision for the trainer, since they are almost identical. Benteke has slightly better link up play, Lukaku has slightly higher speed and strength.

I'm just saying that, if the board/manager don't think he's ready, he shouldn't be a problem whatsoever for the Chelsea defense. Might as well let him try and fail then.

Much better on the wing.

Oh my god, how many times can you keep saying he's only twenty.. Just IMAGINE he'll miss an open chance. IMAGINE that this would happen!! Surely he would never recover from it. He missed plenty of shots during the three years he played first team football (I'm not counting the year that went wasted because he played for your reserve squad). He also scored plenty of goals in that time. Something the current strikers haven't been doing for Chelsea in recent years. Who cares if he misses 2 when he scores 3. He only lacks faith because it appears that it's not given to him at this club. He'll most likely rip the PL apart this year, too bad they won't allow him to play against Chelsea. Maybe he'll be thought ready if he bullies our defense a couple of times.

Ow come on. He got practically no playing time in the league while the strikers playing did basically nothing. Of course you start doubting yourself then. He obviously saw taking that penalty as his only chance to make himself important in short term and lost it because of the stress it caused. Which was not very clever of course but you don't have to be a psychologist to see that... Pressure lessens if he gets more time to play. Pressure rises if every time you finally get on the field it feels like it's your only chance to shine.

I didn't say the loan is a mistake, in fact I applaud it. It's just disgustingly unfair to me that a player who had an amazing season is still benched for Torres, who had another shitty one, was nothing but a disappointment and is only still there because no one else wants to buy him. The least they could have done is give him one freaking start, after the pre-season he had and quotes like "he's going to be an important player for us this season. He won't be loaned out." He was misled. Simple as that. Chelsea should feel lucky the boy loves this club so much, he's been f*cked twice now. Normally that's byebye.

Well, you could spin that around and say they wasted so much valuable development time in those crucial years by not playing, they never reached their true potential. ;-)

As good a coach he is, Mourinho is not know for working with young players. Wherever he starts, he demands a couple of big signings and plays practically with experienced players only. It was only his comments before the start of the season that made me think this time it would be different...

Yeah, he sure didn't score for Chelsea in pre-season. The only way you'll know he's ready is to goddamn play him. If that's not happening, I'm very glad he's getting another loan.

Well, he was with the NT this afternoon, there are pictures. Don't know where he is now.

That's what Ba is for.

Yes, he's 20 and scored 17 last year. Everton plays a lot like Chelsea. Jelavic and Kone are no Eto'o (even not an aging Eto'o). Good move if true. Very good move.

Guys, it's pretty clear one of them is going, not two.

If he's not good enough to beat those two, why the hell did you buy him?

The Everton deal just spread to the Belgian press.

Seems like the logical thing to do actually. Two weeks ago I expected him to be at least the second in line for the CF position. But with Torres slowly gaining ground and Eto'o at the club, it's best to keep Ba as a backup and send Romelu to a team where he'll play practically every match.

I'm picturing a room full of frantic screaming guys constantly taking calls now.

I guess either Ba or Lukaku will go on loan. Everything depends on who wants to pay enough for the first one... Both are too good to be a team's fourth striker...

Concerning Madrid: getting Bale but selling Ozil doesn't really sound like strengthening the team ime... He is so very useful that guy.