quickpassnmove

I'm happy to see David leave ASAP, as well as John O.M., and Fernando. Bring in more center midfield depth and experience. still running on Matic and Ramires alone. still paper-thin in center midfield. One striker, more in center mid, and the fullback, sell Luiz, sell Mikel.

Eto'o will score and Chelsea will have a clean sheet.

Lampard looking the weakest player for Chelsea. no surprise. if deJong does something, Frank the weakest player of 22 players.

well, fellas, this should be an excellent match. good luck, breathe deep.

the attacking line needs to be playing the ball backwards more readily in any given match. was a tough match, but West Ham knew what Chelsea would do around the box. too much dribbling, not enough penetration and quick passing.

WELCOME BACK, NEMANJA! I AM HAPPY AGAIN TO LOVE THE BLUES! Finally someone to play along with Ramires! wishing Nemanja a happy and healthy career in London! Bring on more depth, Chelsea. the 2nd blue revolution will be complete when Torres and Mikel are outta here. I feel happy still with Nemanja's return!

If this is a sign of things to come, Chelsea will definitely be a more entertaining side to watch in the future. finally feeling good to watch Chelsea. the passing a movement aren't quite there yet, but we can see it developing. Stoke didn't leave gaps at the back much, so there weren't many openings for long ground passes, I think--but I didn't watch the whole match. encouraging from Chelsea. feeling happy here as a Chelsea fan for the first time in a long while.

except he was never the "German Messi," and some of us never had any illusions about Marin.

don't understand why some dislike purchase of Salah. very good player, it seems. I still think Oscar will not remain an "attacking midfielder" forever. He seems to be gaining some weight recently which will help him in center midfield ITF.

37mil is good for Chelsea and I'm happy. Hopefully it's spent wisely.

??? Mata makes sense to me. Torres never did. The summers of 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 didn't make sense and then January of 2011 "Torres, 50mil+a very high salary" made my stomach sick for months as I already knew there was something wrong with his leg(s). Sorry, but Jose is doing things I would be doing in Football Manager if I were managing Chelsea: strong CM in, weak AM out for a good pile of cash. Things will be fine if Chelsea finish in the top 4 this year because excellent players want to play under Mourinho. they will come.

no, that was January, 3 years ago.

this deal would be great if Chelsea could give ManUtd a discount on Mata for taking Torres too.

send torres with him, pls.

today, I feel like singing Chelsea songs for the first time in over 3 years. happy CFC got a CM to admire & for the future, who is not called, "Ramires." That's two solid CMs in the squad with one or two possibly good for the future (vanGinkel, Romeu), not to mention the reserve and youth players (hopefully coming good).

funny stuff... Schuerrle to Chelsea and maybe this http://talksport.com/football/liverpool-transfer-news-rodgers-turns-ps15m-man-salah-move-stalls-14011075004 more talented dribbler than Schuerrle, taller, stronger, bigger personality, dangerous on the international competition. under-rated.

I wish Chelsea had a player so good at what you are describing. Matic is very good, but it's nice to also have a bulldog in the midfield who is lower to the ground. I don't watch Cagliari much now, but I do like Naingolan.

Just as I expected, you have nothing interesting to say. But I'm guessing you spend time on the board antagonizing and ridiculing users with whom you disagree. Ignored.

Scoring is not the priority of a center midfielder's performance. In my book, a center midfielder needn't be expected to score but around 5-7 goals in all competitions. I would argue that although Frank has been very good, he's not been as good as the best players in Europe in center midfield, in EVERYTHING but scoring. I've no problem with him being a sub and infrequent starter even next season, so "the new contract will be signed soon" doesn't work for antagonism.

I am posting this to see what the counter-argument might be because I, myself don't see a counter-argument. Chelsea have not had a group of high-quality center midfielders for much of Frank's time with Chelsea. This is similar to the problem with Didier's years with Chelsea since Robben and Duff left the club; Chelsea didn't have top wingers despite the millions spent, to play alongside Didier. Frank has done well, but even as I'm a Chelsea fan, I might have never have selected him for a top European fantasy squad outside of maybe 2005. Before any hyper-sensitive fanatics believe I'm just here to wind people up on this topic, I will just say that I like to see a squad that can play in every way possible (all passes, any tempo) and Chelsea have NOT been this kind of club for years. I like the fact that Frank can score--of course! But, in setting up a squad and starting XI, I prefer to have at least TWO top all-around center midfielders--meaning, players who can DO EVERYTHING in center midfield better than most players in the world (the best examples could be found at the biggest clubs). Looking back at Frank's time at Chelsea, I see a brief time when Chelsea could have fielded Frank with Thiago and Makelele. Essien, Ballack, and Lampard is OK, but in both of these midfields, I doubt the ability of the group as a whole to pass accurately and quickly on the ground. Looking at some of the top sides in Europe from years past, how do you honestly rate Chelsea's midfield against the likes of Bayern, Barca, Juve (esp. 2001 with Davids, Tacchinardi, Conte, Zidane), Milan, and Liverpool. I'm not accepting the argument: "no midfield is perfect," or, "this isn't fantasy football, Chelsea do the best with what they have." For the money spent at Chelsea by Roman, since 2003, I find it really poor that a better midfield and overall squad was not maintained during Drogba and Lampard's best years. But, back to my point about Lampard and Chelsea's midfield, how many of you who spend time countering the anti-Frank posts would put Frank in a top European fantasy squad, starting XI and which formation would you use? Why? Would you also use him alongside two strong, all-around center midfielders in a 4-3-3? Could Frank ever face a defender, and beat him with strength and speed or trickery? If so, when? Did he ever excel as a defender? Was 2005 his best year? Should Chelsea have bought better center midfielders and maybe wingers from 2005-2010 while Frank and Didier were still in their prime? And, even if you're a long-standing fan of Frank, can you tell us what his weaknesses have been even while he was younger? Where have a Frank and England fallen short with the possibility of playing a midfield of Gerrard, Lampard, and Scholes? Not good enough defensively with Scholes and Lampard in center midfield? There were stunning moments in years past and Frank has been a top European midfielder but, for me, not the player I would select for my starting XI fantasy and IF I did select him for a squad he would have needed some very strong center midfielders alongside him which Chelsea only intermittantly provided during Frank's years at Chelsea.

Doesn't matter. The fact is, Chelsea didn't have enough in centre midfield before the summer window closed. I'm happy that Frank has been doing well recently, but he shouldn't have been expected to play as a starter in a 4231 formation every week or sometimes more than once per week. Chelsea need someone quicker who can drive past defenders with the ball and come up quickly for support on the left side while also being strong in front of the CBs.

The WORST part of watching the match today were all the times the camera was close-up on Suarez' whiny, play-acting, accusatory facial expressions.

great effort today by the Blues. we might want to acknowledge that the early Liverpool goal might have served Chelsea well (along with a diving shot by Eto'o, A STRIKER SCORING). Eto'o looked fine... Chelsea could use a new striker, BUT THE WEAK PART OF THIS SQUAD IS STILL GLARING IN CENTRE MID AND FULLBACK (not Azpi).

2005 was easily the best I've seen Chelsea and Mr. Lampard. Lampard deserved praise at that time.

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