ParNolio7

for which I duly apologize ... I thought quoting a Kellzfresh quote would automatically quote him directly, but apparently I'm wrong.

Evidently! No one liked it beforehand, no one likes it now, and still we're going through with it #OnlyInBelgium Anyway, back to topic!

Squawka, Whoscored.com, ...

True love for the club ... Anyway, you can kiss your money goodbye, not gonna happen (unfortunately).

You have clearly not witnessed Anderlecht's title win in Belgium last year :-D

First match of the season. A lot of key players still picking up form after the WC. Away against a newly promoted, highly motivated team. I'd be very happy with any win to be honest. 0-1 in the 93th minute ... Where do I sign?? :-) Oh wait, we got Costa now: 0-3

Damnit, why does counting off last so long and the actual matches so short??

I can follow your other points, but here I think you're wrong. Luis gonna be a certainty I think. Think he took away the last doubts (if there were any) yesterday night. Fantastic crosses into the box and an absurd tackle to keep Real Sociedad from pulling one back. Defensive- and offensively impressive. We'd be foolish not to start him. I think defense will be lined up the way you put it in your wish team. Maybe Ivanovic for Azpi. But I'd go with Azpi.

Burnley's gonna be FABREGASTED!

Problem is long-term doesn't really exist in modern football anymore, definitely for big clubs like Chelsea. Team needs to be at their top every season, compete for the prizes. You can't afford to have a transition year. Millions and millions are at stake. A young, promising player like Zouma is bound to be the victim of that. Shame but that's the way it is.

Wow! 38 mio is a lot for Benatia! Still, could be the kind of player we need. In the prime of his career, big, strong, fast. Top defender in Serie A.

All true, but Man City have anticipated on Demichelis becoming too old to be a world class CB, and Chelsea haven't with Terry. That's all I'm saying

Did we get a buy-back clause for Lukaku? ;-)

That's not the point. Terry was terrific last season too. Fact is that they are both getting older and becoming slower. Man City have anticipated on that possibly becoming a problem this season (players don't last forever you know), and we haven't really. Okay we got Zouma but he's only 19. Can't expect him to carry our defence when we play Bayern Munich, Man City or Real Madrid. BTW on Demichelis being City's best CB last season: you really don't believe that they are going to replace skipper Kompany, do you? It'll be Kompany - Mangala for sure.

I read that Manchester City have just signed Mangala from Porto. They were pretty much in the same situation as us, Demichelis being their John Terry (rough comparison but still), so they called it the other way & brought in a younger high quality centre-back. We'll have to see how it turns out, but I would've wished we were the ones making that kind of signing. Could prove to valuable.

Van Persie n° 1 again? That sure is surprising ... Hazard, Costa & Fabregas bound to be close this campaign but worldwide probably United fanbase is difficult to beat. (In numbers that is)

Agree with that long-term. Short-term for this season it may not be enough. We'll have to wait and see how quickly Zouma can pick up the pace.

Okay man, I get it. You think he's still one of the best defenders out there, I say he's starting to lack some vitality. We won't agree.

Haha except for maybe one or two matches when on holiday when I've only seen highlights afterwards, I saw 90 minutes of every game Don't try to fight me on how many Chelsea matches I watch, that's ridiculous. I know Terry had a brilliant season, Cahil/Terry were probably best duo in the EPL last year. But there's a difference between playing West Brom, Sunderland etc. and playing the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid. To compete with the very best I think we need more. If y'all think that Terry is still the best defender in the world and you'd trade him for noone, okay then, guess we have a different view and I respect your opinion.

Haha, that postcode comeback is actually quite funny. Okay, give you the Besiktas goal as an example than. Terry at his best would've won that challenge. Just feel like we need a quick, flexible centreback to secure our future.

That comment is irrelevant imo. I'm talking about the level of fitness he shows during recent matches (lose manmarking being the main problem), not how many matches he plays. You could start my grandfather in 55 matches, doesn't mean he'll actually contribute to the game. Not comparing JT with my grandfather by the way before you start shouting at me, just making a point. JT and Drogba are Chelsea legends but too old imo to still compete at the very highest level week in week out. If we want to win titles (and we do) we need more than that.

Don't think a free role is really necessary. Just play him as a left forward instead of a left winger. Subtle yet vital difference. I think Hazard would work best in 4-3-3 or 3-4-3. Maybe the latter even better because he'll have more midfielders in support. Don't really like him as a n°10 because in that position your most important quality is to be able to play, connect, switch really fast and for me Hazard is more about getting the ball, driving forward, skipping past a defender, etc. A lot more difficult to do that in a n° 10 position where he'll constantly have at least two defenders breathing down his neck. Coming from the side against just one defender he's always bound to get the better of the opponent.

I'd go 3-5-2 until we have a decent replacement for JT. Just feel sometimes like he's not fit enough anymore. Courtois Ivanovic - Cahill - Luis Willian - Ramires - Matic - Schürrle Fabregas Hazard Costa

Very true. I heard rumours about a Varane <> Cech trade with Real Madrid. If any of that is true, I would definitely do it!

I actually think that's not too crazy. Ba was going to go anyway, but selling Luiz could be part of a plan to stretch Hazard a bit. Then again, anyone would sell Luiz if given 50 Mio!