Shakez

Doesn't it worry you with our PL start 2 weeks away? Based on that we can count out Willian, Oscar and Schürrle to be anywhere near fit, not to mention Ramires. If we toss those players out of the starting line-up we are forced to start Cesc as a nr.10 with Salah on the wings and probably Mikel in the pivot.

Im fearing that also. Atleast we can't stick it on the players this year...

It is pre-season but we need to pick up the pace. It seemed like everybody just came of a holiday,

Idd, i laughed my ass off

Plz carry us Hazard.

Oh boy do i hope Oscar and Willian come back in form...

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/08/mourinho--hard-to-choose.html I agree with him that we shouldn't worry too hard with the options we have for the number 10 position. Clearly Oscar is first choice for that position, but we already have a plan B and C with Willian and Cesc. Mikel is still going to be important also, because we need someone to come in late in the game and prevent other teams from scoring.

Damn, Man U is playing really good football. Just hoping they don't get Vidal because they are looking scary already.

Idd, the deal doesn't make sense and imo we don't need him.

Willian was a starter pretty much since december. Tbh, Mata leaving wasn't a coincidence and José looked at our options when he joined and wasn't satisfied. He liked his players in good physical shape for his high pressing game (wich is his target). That's also a main reason why KDB had to go (got dispossed easily when pressed), and why Schürrle spent most of the season upping his physique.

Mourinho on the new signings. http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9402690/mourinho-impressed-with-new-signings#ooid=hoMnVkbzqyARe_KP6DbL0mMnlJvGNeD2

Well José said they will arrive monday, so they will be training a full 2 weeks before the Burnley game. Courtois arrived wednesday, and José already said he will play 45 minutes on sunday (dunno about Hazard). I guess Willian, Oscar and Schürrle will sit out the mini-tournament we play friday (august 8) against Fenerbace and Besiktas, by then they already trained for 5 days. We play Ferencvaros 2 and Real Sociedad 4 days later respectively. They will definitely play atleast 45 minutes in either game if not more. After that it's still a full week of preparation for our game against Burnley. Schürrle, Willian and Oscar are core players and im quite sure 1 of them will start against Burnley.

Give me those statistics plz, im interested. http://chelseaindex.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/rsz_1s2.jpg Interesting graph.

I guess he won't be a main starter, but assuming we want to press high ""The physical [aspect] was difficult for us, because we want to do what we trained and we trained to high press this kind of team that builds from the back. But with big distances between their defenders, it's difficult. It needs a lot of running and effort [...] it was hard to cover these distances but we did very well in the first half..." players like Ramires, Oscar, and Willian will be key, because they cover alot distance.

That's pretty fast, then the Real Sociedad game will be crucial to see if they are fit enough for Burnley.

*6 assists. + Moses was a year long benchwarmer for Liverpool.

Ah ok thx, weird it isn't mentioned already on twitter and such.

Btw, do the Belgians start training today?

Idd, and the majority of our games are against those lower sides. It feels sore to lose against those sides while playing boring football.

Schürrle technique isn't horrendous, but he is anything but a good dribbler. He mostly relies on pace to beat his man, and really shines when he's not targeted and can run into open spaces to receive a tailor made pass (wich he'll he see plenty of now that we signed Cesc). He's got a very powerful shot and a decent cross, but don't expect him to make longballs are quick passes. http://www.chelseafc.com/teams/first-team/willian.html http://www.chelseafc.com/teams/first-team/andre-schurrle.html As you can see Willian is a better passer (and dribbler) and even his shot accuracy is higher than Schürrle's. He can do longballs and was our main corner taker this season (Cesc will likely do most now). Schürrle rarely did any of them, and i even remember a shamefull corner where the ball shot wide over the goal into the stances. Same as Hazard was behind Lampard, Luiz, Oscar and Willian for taking setpieces (not penalty's). Surely Mourinho saw all those qualities in training and used them accordingly. Schürrle is more clinical, and has more composure in front of goal. He tends to not overplay things and hesitate like Willian and Hazard tend to do. I prefer Schürrle against teams that don't press and leave space. Against teams that press high up the pitch i rather have Willian.

Lol, Schürrle is probably our worst technical AM (maybe a bit above Salah). Willian's technical skill imo is on par with Hazard (imo a bit better), Oscar is a tier below but more then capable. Schürrle's key qualities are his of the ball runs and a powerful shot (Oscar got a pretty nice shot too). Link-up play and keeping the ball under pressure are the attributes he needs to work on.

The reason that i start this topic is because i want to know the opinions of the other members on this forum. Alot of people hate us because we play in the "neutral" viewers eyes "anti-football". I didn't give a damn the past few seasons because there where alot of gaping holes in our squad, namely the center midfield and striker positions. Since the return of José our squad has drastically changed (imo for the better) with the signings of Schürrle, Willian, Fabrégas, Matic, Costa... If i look at our squad now on paper, Im like dayum "where gonna be unstoppable". But i still have some doubts in HOW we will play. Namely the signings of Matic and Fabrégas will help a ton in the midfield battle, most matches are won this way in current football. Adding in Oscar/Schürrle/Willian and Hazard should give us little to no trouble in retaining possession and pressing. But the question is if Mourinho can create the same magic like what we saw from City and Liverpool last year. Results come first i agree, and against top sides it is no shame to play the counter-attacking game (Barca, Real, Bayern). But i think we deserve an entertaining Chelsea side with the players we currently have, and it shouldn't be that much to ask for. Opinions?

Idd, seems he recovered well from his injury.

Zouma And Mourinho not looking happy... I like it .

Why so sexy Luis!