OhForAGreavsie

If Petr wants to go to Arsenal, that's fine with me. It is the lying which makes Lampard's City move problematic. Take those lies away and I don't think any Chelsea fan would begrudge Frank anything. If Petr and his wife think that staying in London is best for their family then we should be sympathetic to that. He deserves no less.

I agree. I suspect Arsenal might be tempted by a cash plus Cech offer for Walcott but I don't think there is anyway they'll include O-C in any deal for the very reason that O-C is the better player.

Hello Supporter, Another enjoyable post. Thank you. I must say however that I don't agree about Nathan as a left back. I don't think he's very good at it. The club tried hard last season (13/14) to give him as much playing time as possible in that position for the junior squad. He did his best of course but he just isn't a natural full back. His movements always look like reactions rather than anticipations. It's as if he is always having to think about it, always having to tell himself, "Oh yes, I'm supposed to be over there now." He has no instinct for left back. For me, DM is definitely Nathan's strongest position. That too was never his natural place in the side but he has an aptitude for it that he lacks for the full back position. At DM Nathan has great spacial awareness. He is excellent at letting the ball run across him to buy half a metre to make a pass, or at touching the ball into an area which his direct opponent can't reach because his momentum is taking him away from that spot. I am disappointed that Nathan has not had more chances this season and it's hard to be confident that he'll get minutes from Jose in the future. I am sure though that if Nathan struggles to get game time at DM, he'll struggle to get it elsewhere too.

That was a classy finish.

Balague's reports have often sounded anti-Mourinho and anti-Chelsea to me even going so far as to accuse us (the fans) of racism towards The Temp while he was here. All of which is disappointing because I think he's generally speaking a decent football journalist.

Understandable, and sensible choice, if true. A shame from our point of view though. Interesting looking player.

I think it's just policy that someone decided to stick to. Hopefully after this fiasco, that policy will be scrapped.

Season before last, but yes.

Good chance his goals would have finished first and second if short-listed. As it is, although you can still vote for them under 'Other' in the voting form, they have no realistic chance. Shame.

It seemed absolutely clear that Ruben was playing strictly to orders and well within himself. His instincts are more forward thinking than he showed on Sunday but he reined them in. Using his deft touch and physicality to create space for a pass, a run, or a shot is what he does. That's basically his game, but there was none of it on Sunday. There were glimpses of that touch and of the power but it was never allowed off the leash. Ruben always checked himself and played it very, very simple. A give away moment came when he was well positioned to join an attack, an attack which needed his involvement, but instead he jogged back toward the half way line. Tellingly he was looking over his shoulder as he went but he followed instructions and regained the shape. My point is that I don't think Sunday was a performance on which we should judge him. He was given a very limited role and played it to the letter. Judgement must be postponed. I do have reservations about Ruben's chances, reservations I've been expressing since before that game in the US. He does not bring his talent to bear on games as much he could. He often seems to stroll around without affecting the play for long spells but my opinion remains that Ruben has all of the talent required. The questions are whether he can unlock that talent, and whether his coaches can help him do it. On those issues the jury is still out but Sunday really shouldn't be weighed too heavily in evidence. It's a shame that it seems he may miss out at WBA.

Thanks Adnane. I realise that I didn't make my comment sufficiently clear. When I asked if there was video of another such performance I was referring to Nigeria, not Chelsea. Are you aware of any? I don't ask to be facetious, it would be interesting to see him playing so well again. As for evidence from his Chelsea career, I have seen every single game MJO played for us, a hundred odd live, the rest on telly. My eyes are therefore definitely open. You and I disagree about the analysis of what we've seen, but let's not disagree about whether we've seen it. I discount the highlights video however. As such videos always do, it shows us what the player can do, but all professional footballers can do good things. It is a great mistake to judge any player on what he does when at his best because he simply is not going to be there most of the time. When a footballer plays for your team, by definition, you'll get his average level from him for the huge majority of his playing time. If his average level of output is good enough for your team then great, if not then don't be fooled by what he does when he's at the top of his game, you'll be misled. I suppose we all get accused of being trend followers from time to time but I must say that in my case I don't think it is ever justified: - I was telling people that Torres was an extremely ordinary footballer while he was scoring all those goals for Liverpool.Many people think that Makelele was the most underrated player of his era, my opinion is that he was the most overrated.I am not hurt by Lampard's City move because I never loved him him the way many of us did. While recognising that he found ways to contribute, I never fully believed in his talent, always felt we could improve by replacing him and tended to suspect an element of selfishness in his play.I cringe every time I read that Drogba is a great hold up player. As far as I'm concerned he has never been more than ordinary at it. (And I'm being generous.)I have always described as a myth the idea that Oscar fades as the season progresses. People just get increasingly fed up with him is all. In my opinion he's below the required standard all season long.Now, I accept that most won't agree with those opinions. I can even accept that they may be wrong, but I mention them in the hope you'll agree that I'm not one to follow the crowd. I have seen MJO used as a 4, a 6, an 8 and a 10 by Chelsea. It is my firm opinion that he's not starting quality in any of them.

I disagree with you on this. 1. Mikel does not play in what you call his 'right' position because he isn't good enough to claim that place in the team. That is the clear truth as demonstrated over many years with the club. 2. That Spain midfield is not good because you can't run through them, they're good because you usually can't get the ball off them. Their display that day presaged what was to follow. They weren't at it and we saw how things played out in Brazil. 3. I have previously challenged Mikel apologists to post another example of that kind. If a video of such another performance exists I've never seen it. 4. I like MJO as a situational player who has, so far, accepted the backup role with patience. The notion that he can be more than that is just not borne out by the evidence. 5. I've no way to know this of course, but my suspicion is that MJO has been patient because no one else has been prepared to offer him anywhere near the value of his Chelsea contract. In that 'situational' role his value is simply greater to Chelsea than it is to anyone else, in any other role. If that suspicion is correct, then it would just be more evidence that he isn't the player he may seem to be in that video. Everybody has good days now and then. That was one of his but it was nothing more than the exception that proves the rule.

You are a man of great judgement!

Goal - Schurrle at Man City - Should be premier League goal of the season but probably won't even get a mention. Beautiful, perfect, counter-attacking football. Moment - Schalke fan applauding Willian's goal in Gelsenkirchen.

Teams do not have to it. The guard of honour is an entirely voluntary tradition, albeit one which stretches back many years. (I have read opinions claiming that it is a relatively new thing but that's not so. I remember them from when I was a boy and that was a very long time ago. )

Agree with everything you have said. These things are unarguably true but they still do not make it essential that we have home grown players in the side. It would be useful if we can fill our quota and even more useful if the players concerned can be genuinely contributing members of the squad but still not essential. The most important thing about squad members is how good they are, not how they came to be here.

No I certainly will not put you on ignore and I'll be disappointed if you have carried out your threat to ignore me. That of course is beyond my control however. As for the great Jimmy, he would walk into our current starting line up but that's because he is one of the greatest players who ever lived, not because he's a Chelsea youth product. And speaking of Jimmy, all the very best to him. I really, really hope he pulls through this stroke and recovers as well as possible. I wish him many more happy, and relatively healthy, years.

Yes I remember Jose saying that but it's not quite that he'll take the league by storm. Not as I read Jose's statement anyway, especially when taken in context with the comments that amounted to RLC would be a part of the squad and no promises beyond that.

I love Gary Neville the pundit and also loved him as a player. Not the greatest player but a great leader and, in my opinion, a massive part of United's dominant sides. There is something missing in the comments he makes in that video however. The why. Why is it important that the youngsters must be brought through? I think I watch as much youth coverage as most people and more than many. Like almost all of us I'd love to see some of the kids come through and I have hopes that one or two of them might but, I ask again, why must this happen? It is not, not, not an end in itself. The end is to have a strong squad, offering Jose many solutions with quality cover in all areas. Where those players come from is surely less important isn't it? Yes, home grown players are desirable and I could offer some arguments on why they are important. One or two of you might even be able to offer some I may not have thought of but I simply do not accept that the promotion of youth is an essential task for Jose. Or perhaps I should say that it should not be seen as such by Roman. It's natural that the owner would want to see a return on the investment and if he watches the development squads then he will surely have formed positive opinions on some of the junior squad. What is essential however is that Jose keeps the club challenging for the big three trophies and that he continues to improve our ability to sustain a pleasing style of play. That's the real goal and let's not lose sight of it.

I don't remember Jose saying that.

Based on what Jose said yesterday about the integrity of the league and the races two of our three remaining opponents are involved in, I'd guess West Brom is the best hope of seeing some youngsters. On the other hand, he'd probably prefer to give fringe players game time at home wouldn't he? Who knows, but a little experience could only help the lads perform if and when their real chance comes so I hope Jose will try to make that happen.

Torres was 100% Carlo's fault. Along with turning down the chance to sign Aguero. Jose says we shouldn't blame him for saying no to the City striker . Well you can not blame him if you want to. As for the rest, mainly luck.

My guess was that it was part of the Cuadrado deal and I wasn't too happy about it.

Like many people, I don't put a lot of store by statistics. Sometimes however, you have to take note of them and admit that they are a part of the calculation. I'm in shock about that David Silva number; stunned. The story of City's season right there.

Butch Wilkins has confirmed that it was Carlo, not Roman, who instigated the Torres deal. I see no reason to call Butch a liar, so Carlo is the man to blame for that £100m disaster. Torres was never the greatest striker in the world by the way. Had I been the owner and Carlo walked in telling me he wanted to spend £100m on Torres, I'd have sacked him on the spot and tried to find someone who put more effort into their work. I refuse to believe that Carlo would have failed to notice how poor Torres was if he'd actually watched him as carefully as would have been required to justify such a huge deal. I'd have had to conclude therefore that Carlo was being lazy and had not done his homework so I'd have sacked him. I'm serious.