OhForAGreavsie

Kroos is a great player but no one should get carried away by the passes in that video. Most of them have three things in common; they are easy to spot, easy to complete and they occurred after Kross was given all day to decide what he wanted to do and then to execute his decision. Of course there are occasions when Kroos earns time and space for himself and it is that ability, not the passes themselves, which set him apart as a top level player.

I thought that was what I said. :-) Paying premium prices for premium players is the right way to use financial muscle. Paying premium prices for sub-premium players is the right way to waste a lot of money, and make your rivals better.

True, but then that's always the case with every opportunity and every penny spent.

Yes it would be allowed. Players may represent a maximum of two clubs in a single season. He joined Monaco during the off-season so they have been his only club so far this term.

If the player concerned is not worth the cost of his transfer, then let them. You know what will happen if we allow our rivals to waste money on sub-premium players? They'll end up in the same fine mess Premier League clubs have dug themselves into. Never have Premier League clubs spent more money than they are doing currently, yet, relative to their continental counterparts, they are nowhere near as good as they were 10 years ago. If you simply keep spending more and more money on the same calibre of players, how do you expect to improve? In fact, over time, you will end up spending more money for worse players. This is because the clubs to which you are shelling out all of this transfer largess will use that windfall to increase the wages of the good players they want to keep. The pool of talent which is available to you will shrink and you will end up paying higher transfer fees for a lower rank of footballer. Money works for football clubs if they invest it wisely.

The point I was making is that if our squad builders share your opinion that James is worth £60 million then, fine, go-ahead and make the deal. If however, they think that the man is overpriced for what he offers, then that shouldn't change simply because they have a load of Chinese money they weren't expecting.

I think that the presumed Oscar money is a non-argument. If James wasn't worth €70 million before we had the Oscar cash, then he isn't suddenly worth it now. What's the point collecting a good fee, if all you do then is blow it on a player you don't consider to be worth the cost of his transfer? The primary factors to consider are; does the manager want the player, and does the player warrant the size of transfer fee likely to be negotiated. The only way the Oscar deal should come into the equation is if we always believed James to be worth his fee, but we could not previously afford it. If that's the situation, then fine. I say again however, if James wasn't thought worth €70 million to Chelsea before then he still isn't worth it now, no matter how much we get for Oscar.

If we are looking at him, I hope we are looking at him for the first team squad. Kessie is about 50% of my ideal squad upgrade. The player I want might be out there but if he is, I don't know him. I do know what he plays like however. He has the power and athleticism of Kessie along with the two-footed poise and technical quality of Badelj. Sadly, even if we found such a player, we wouldn't get him; Real or Barça would snap him up.

Depending on the role he is projected to play, I think there is room for debate on his skill level. He is quite clumsy at times and occasionally misses even the easiest passes. I do like him though.

ME gets far more criticism that he deserves. None of us (not even me! 😊) has perfect football judgement. Anyone who accepts the responsibility for squad building decisions will make mistakes. People who believe, or pretend, otherwise are mistaken. What is easier to control, and what people who get it wrong are more quickly to be blamed for, is building relationships with their work colleagues and subordinates. Just because it pleases some internet bandits to imagine that Eminalo is a fool does not make it so. I would bet every penny I own that he would not be so stupid as to force a first team squad member on a manager who simply does not want that player. Adding a young player to the loan army, in the hope that he might develop and impress the manager at some future point, is one thing, but imposing an unwanted footballer on the first team is quite another. If Antonio is adamant that he does not want a player, that player won't be foisted on him. For example, it is quite clear that the club believed in De Bruyne, Luiz and Lukaku. Jose did not want to use them however so the club, against its own wishes, acceded to the requests of the players and allowed them to leave. What goes on around the first team squad the club can, and should, control. Rather than forcing first team players on a reluctant manager however, you'd be better off just sacking him. No one is going to sack Antonio any time soon.

Spot on.

Interesting. If this is true then it should be the decisive comment on the Rodriguez to Chelsea story.

The disagreement I would mention here is over what you say about his technique. To me it seems better than decent. In fact I would call it outstanding. As I said earlier, if he joins, I think he would instantly become the most technically able player in our squad. Have you watched any all touches videos of Laxalt? I definitely think that is worth doing and there are some available. From watching him, I have formed the opinion that too many of his involvements come to nothing because of the decisions he makes. You may see this differently of course. If his technique was less good I might argue that he should be ruled out for that reason. With such excellent technique however it's hard to avoid wanting to take another look.

That's hard to determine without knowing the details of the accounts and the club never release those. The public accounts tell us virtually nothing about what's really going on, and more importantly about why it's going on. For example, we are buying ourselves out of one kit deal so that we can sign another, more lucrative one. Has the club decided to pay some, or all, of the buyout fee during the financial year being reported? If so, these figures actually strengthen our position in the transfer market, because our future results will be improved, and the costs of any January transfers will be spread over those future results. Of course the possibility I've described above is just speculation on my part. It does show however that the profit and loss accounts don't really give the information needed to make a judgement about the strength, or otherwise, of our club's transfer muscle.

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I agree about the dribbling. He seems a more complete player than N'Golo and I think a far more technically capable one than Ess even in his prime. I always felt that ME's ability to carry the ball was more about power than finesse. My questions about Keita are not about his quality, only about how well he'd fit. I really like the fact that we have been linked with a series of really good players this week. If Laxalt were to join, for example, he would, in my opinion, instantly become the most technically proficient player in our squad. His touch is outstanding, and his body control superb. Unfortunately for him, and for us if we sign him, technical excellence is only a tool. What matters is how you use it and from what I've seen, he is himself responsible for the fact that too many of his involvements fizzle out to nothing.I do plan to try to watch more of him though because that technical quality is so highthat you shouldn't turn your back on it unless you are absolutely sure. Another linked player I really like is Kessie. He is much more in the Essien mould I think . His technique is not special, but the lad's power is stunning. Stunning full stop, but when you take his age into account, it's off the scale. I keep thinking back to that Spurs game where we were blown away for 40 minutes. I think if we'd had a player like Kessee in there, then Wanyama and Dembele would not have had things all their own way, as they did in the first half. There are some good players being talked about and I haven't even mentioned the midfielder from Lyon who was linked on Monday; another interesting looking player. Antonio must already have made his plans for January. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's got in mind.

Interesting. He reminds me more of N'Golo and I worry that they are therefore too similar to compliment each other. While Antonio would certainly want to have a squad which gives him the option to play three in the middle, I wonder if he will be ready to spend heavily this January in order to make that switch a full-time one. Other than that, I agree with most of what @BCS said Above.

He looks lightweight to me and a bit flashy. A lot of his game seems to be about beating his man. That's a good bonus to have on top of your basic game, but when it is your basic game that, in my opinion, is a problem if you are projected to play as a wingback.

I read that we tried to sign him in the summer before last but he turned us down. Dembele was top of my wish list in the summer just gone but it seems we were never in the running this time as he chose BVB. You'd have to say that this boat has sailed now. Certainly it's difficult to imagine that Dortmund would sell; they know what they've got.

Not true. He wasn't starting at the end of last season either. As often happens with new/young players, Charly drew more praise for his early performances with Bettis than his contribution really deserved. As his loan spell went on, more realistic assessments were made and Charlie found himself on the bench.

This kind of post is unnecessarily harsh. Oscar never gave anything but his best for this club. If he was short on quality, and I've been saying so since Christmas 2012, that is not his fault. It is the fault of the people who recruited him. Once they get past the development squads, professional footballers would be out of their minds to read fan forums but, on the off chance that they might, why should they have to put up with aggressive posts like yours? What exactly is it you think the bloke did wrong? What can he possibly do apart from his best?

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If Oscar wants this move, then I hope it happens for him. I gave up on him very early but he never let Chelsea down in terms of attitude or effort. If and when he leaves, I hope he does so with the best wishes of Chelsea fans everywhere.

Given the political situation in Turkey, a move to Shanghai sounds far more attractive for a family man than a move to Istanbul does at the moment.

Have to admit I don't have a high opinion of Rmpr's judgement of a player. When I told him that, based on what I'd seen of Pato during his time in Europe, I felt he had nothing to offer at Chelsea, Rmpr told me that he had been watching the duck regularly and that he was fed up with people like me who didn't know what they were talking about. Oh well.