Rapkun

should've at least remembered crespo, thanks.

bit off topic but did we ever have an argentinian in the club before? I'm trying to think but no one comes to mind. they always have classy players.

It's difficult to name a striker as good as Aguero tbf, but Negredo really? what does he do other than score tap-ins?

Anyone else thinks this signing is going to make City favorite to win the league? I thought it was pretty even so far, perhaps slightly into our favor with city losing many players because of injury. Now with Bony, they're going to have a quality replacement for Aguero and eventually more goals to score when needed. It's their strikeforce that won them the league last season, Aguero early in the season before he goes out injured and later on a remarkable Dzeko. Bony has a very similar profile to Kun too. technically good, makes various runs, knows where to position himself (especially for crosses) and most notably he can make the most out of what he has. 30m could turn out to be a bargain if he helps them win the league.

I see Barca have adopted Chelsea's philosophy of dealing with managers.

It's probably the real madrid factor. You know Ramires is the better player when both Jose and Ancelotti want him over Khedira.

They probably wanted to get rid him. To be honest, that's not really a big loss especially if they sign Bony who is a much better all round player.

Give him a physical fast player and he'll look instantly average. I'd rather see him in the hole next to JT or even on the bench despite all his offensive contribution and heading ability in the midfield.

This man didn't deserve to be in the losing team today. I swear for a moment I was thinking "this guy is too good for us". You're a star Eden.

Easily his worst performance for chelsea. Him and Oscar left the defense extremelly exposed especially in the first half.

I personally think his current drop in form is a mental problem. for the last couple of weeks he was trying so hard to score a goal and failed to, he seemed more bothered about it as each game passed. That's very understandable especially for a striker. and to be fair, the attacking mids are not providing him a great service. the best chances he had mostly came from cesc. obviously that must have worked his mind up and he started being more selfish and less focused. The goal on saturday was very important for his confidence, I'm not sure if people here felt the same or not but as soon as he scored he looked more comfortable and confident in everything. he even tried to link up with Eden afterwards which in the last couple of games he would never have done.

Tbf he looked very sharp when he came on at newcastle. I guess he really was sick after all.

I thought Wickham on Ivanovic's flank was very clever, he shut down one of our best attacking threats. But I still maintain that with a fully fit team, we would've certainly won the game. All of our creative players bar Willian to some extent failed to make the difference.

Schurrle is a bit disapointing at the moment, but I think he would have been a good option to bring on early in the second half. he offers more width into our game and today more fresh legs.

He would. Jose mentionned we had targets in mind for that position, so I'm assuming we tried to sign him before Cesc. Too bad he signed that new contract, although he was more likely to join Barca than us if he were to leave.

Roger felt like destroying Murray because Jose was watching, obviously.

I think that as long as we have Diego for the WBA game, we should be fine. lack of cutting edge costed us last season to them, had we finished them off when we were up 1-0 both ties they would never have made it back into the game. However, I can't imagine us playing against teams that park the bus without Cesc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICehnzox39o One of the most exciting players in the world to watch.

They only conceded 1 goal away to city playing with 10 men for more than a half. I would hardly call their performance shitty. It's us who managed to drop points stupidly to them, not their unbelievable performance that got them a point.

Silva might be gone, but Nasri is back now. Also if Yaya keeps this kind of form they will continue to put pressure on us.

This season's game to City was better if you ask me. The difference being we were more concerned about attacking than Atlético away for instance, and that's because we only wanted a draw from that game, 3 points if lucky enough to score in a set-piece but you get the idea. Certainly, Jose will be looking to get full 3 points this time at Old Trafford. Same tactics as City away, but we will look more threatening because their team is the most unbalanced in the country.

We missed those combinations between the players (Eden,Cesc,Oscar) since we sold Mata. I think that playing this way, we use the strengths of our attacking players better. Last season, we would still be 1 nill up only because we missed that extra touch and that killer instinct to finish the chance.

Guy said he didnt push for his signing last season because his contribution defensively was very poor. I wonder if he worked on that aspect of his game this season under Bielsa. That being said, The midfield is not our first priority, and the current Marseille form will incrase his price.

That interview is a must-read, for any chelsea fan at least.

I don't think there is much to discuss at the moment, so comparing our player to another with similar qualities is not really a bad idea. On the Thiago vs Cesc argument, despite all the talent there is in him, the kid has yet to prove himself. Fabregas performed at high level for years since very young age playing for top teams. Alcantara has yet to play games to even pretend to be a threat for him. Our player might not be as technical and athletic as Thiago, but most managers don't pick players based on potential only.