OhForAGreavsie

Right move. Remy out to have started as many have pointed out. That should be the Drog's last start in a meaningful game for Chelsea.

I just don't agree with you. This collection of players is not able to play the way you want them to. I'm convinced that trying to do so would make things worse not better.

Our defence can't hold a lead because the rest of the team can't hold the ball.

It is not voluntary! Our side is packed with people for whom passing is NOT a strong point. With this line up, keeping the ball is tough, keeping it for long spells is just not going to happen. Many people talk about the high quality of our squad. I don't agree with that opinion.

And especially from the Drog.

Not too many viable options sadly. In quality terms, our supposedly great squad is actually wafer thin so a few injuries/suspensions are bound to cause problems. Maybe one of the development players will show he's ready to step up, maybe Atsu can be recalled to provide some cover, but outside of that there's nothing we can do till summer. For now, let's just support the players we've got and hope they'll carry us gloriously across the line.

Before we think about if we can afford an £80m transfer fee, I think we need to consider whether we should spend that much on one player. Personally, I think we are still a few top class players short of being ready for that kind of shopping. I doubt we could make a marquee signing and buy two other top level players in the same year. In any case, I'd like Jose to take a long hard look at Loftus-Cheek before he commits huge resources to Pogba. I'd only be happy for the boss to sign off on Pogba if he decides that we are not going to be able to help Ruben maximise his potential. I'm not committing one way or the other on whether Ruben can reach Pogba's level but if Jose decides he can get somewhere close, and save us £80m in the process, then that's all good.

From a purely FFP standpoint, we could probably afford to spend more than we have done in recent windows. I suspect one of the reasons we haven't is so that we can build up an FFP surplus. That way, if a marquee signing of interest becomes available, we'll be in position to make a move. P.S. Barca have huge pull. If they want Pogba, and if they are his first choice destination, I think it will certainly be possible for them to persuade him to wait an extra five months for their ban to expire.

And Jose said both Frank and Ashley were offered contracts. Other than the fact that Jose's English is sometimes a bit difficult to penetrate and he fails to quite say what he wants to, it's hard to square that circle.

Probably because the Chelsea PR machine decided it might be a good idea to humanise him; give people a chance to learn a little about the man, give them something to focus on other than the beast image.

Not possible I think. I haven't read the rules but it has been widely reported that no Premier League club may make more than one loan signing from another Premier League club. If Boro are promoted this year, then they could take no more than one Chelsea player on loan during 2015/16.

My point exactly. Zouma was picked because, for whatever reason, Jose considered him the best option for those games. That's how it is, you won't get games under Jose just because of the numbers on your birth certificate. In my opinion, there is no point calling for some players to be picked simply because they are young. At least not until our fate has been settled for the season. Until then, meaningful minutes will be handed out strictly on merit only. If you are judged the best available, you will be judged old enough and you will play. If you are not considered the best available, it won't matter a jot how old, or how young, you are.

One of the youngsters is getting games and he's getting them because he has convinced Jose to trust him, and to believe that he's the best player available in his position for certain games. If other youngsters want to follow Zouma's lead they can see what they have to do. Well all know how competitive our matches tend to be. Game time is not going to be handed out, it is going to have to be earned I think this i sthe right way to look at it. You're not asking for RLC to appear in the match day squad because he's young, you're saying you think he should be selected because he's the best choice available; you're saying he is ready to be picked on merit. Now it's up to RLC to persuade Jose to agree with you.

I wish Marko well, he's a nce enough bloke but, honestly, does anyone care?

I love RLC and confess that my hopes are up that he will make it but the penny needs to drop with him. He does not impact games in the way he should, at least not often enough. There has been some improvement but he still has a tendency to be brilliant when the game comes to him, but to then stroll about waiting for it to drift back to him again. I want to see Ruben being more proactive, busier, dominating football matches in the way I think that he has the ability to do. This has been my feeling since before he played against City in the States and I'm a little sad that this still needs to be talked about. Sad because I want this lad to make it. In that regard, I think it's good news that Jose has taken him more under his wing and I was intrigued by what TSO had to say after the Sporting game. The comment about hoping the people around Ruben would allow the coaching staff to do their work and help Ruben's development suggested both that Jose has identified the problem which has been holding RLC back, and the cure. If Jose can get into Ruben's head the young man will have a heck of a career and we'll have a heck of a player. A good outcome is far from certain though. If Ruben continues to play as he has been doing he isn't going to make it. Edit: There was a typo in the bit in bold., it originally said is. Slight change in meaning!

I don't watch as much Bundesliga as I used to when KDB was at Bremen but I have seen a few Dortmund games this season, including yesterday's. Reus's performances in those matches have been scratchy. Last night, for example, he began in a strange sort of second-striker role and struggled to get meaningful touches for a long while. The service to him was appalling; much of it coming from ricochets, deflections or poor passes. On those occasions when he did manage to get a second touch however you could see his quality of pass and speed of thought. From about the 30th minute, Reus seemed to me to drop a little deeper and a little wider, to the left, from where his impact increased. Overall he still wasn't achieving a lot though.

Taking the full figure reported for Bertrand (£10m) but the most conservative number now calculated for Luiz (£33m) looks to be around £150m. On the other hand, using the more aggressive figures from Transfermarkt.co.uk; plus including BA, PVA & Torres it comes to £185m!

The real idiots are the ones who pay Parker, and so many other know-nothings like him, for uninformed and utterly inexpert opinions. If I had the power to hire or fire at ESPN.Com someone would be facing the sack in the morning, and I don't mean Parker. (He's probably not on the full time payroll anyway.)

When I heard £10m reported my reaction was surprise that it might be so high. After all, there was talk of an £8m price tag for a move to Villa last winter and there is now one year less remaining on his contract. Given that Southampton knew we were willing to sell and that Ryan made it crystal clear he wanted to move, if we really got as much as £10m that's good work by the club.

From The Telegraph "...the Premier League [is] in the unusual position of potentially acting against one of its competition’s highest profile characters. It will write to Mourinho to seek his explanation and a fine or warning are among the sanctions. The final decision will be made by the Premier League’s board, comprising chief executive Richard Scudamore and acting chairman Peter McCormick..."

It's not an FA matter. The rule requiring managers to speak to the press, is a Premier League regulation. If anyone was going to have anything to say about this it would be them. While I haven't seen it reported that they've said anything official in public they may well have issued a private warning. Certainly it's clear from the stories in the media that they have been briefing the press about their unhappiness with the situation.

Martinez is in trouble so he must be pretty desperate. If, despite that, and despite the struggles of the players you listed, he still won't select Atsu, it can only mean that Martinez simply does not rate our man. The Everton boss must initially have seen something he liked about Atsu but obviously he's changed his mind now that he's had a closer look. We need a new plan for Atsu.

Following the summer 2013 window my view was that we needed to further upgrade the squad by adding eight players of competitive Champions' League quality. So appallingly had our squad been allowed to deteriorate that this number might actually have been optimistic. My view was that it would not be possible to make those upgrades in one, or even two, windows. Finding the right players, persuading them to join and convincing their clubs to sell at prices which could be afforded under FFP, puts a limit on how quickly progress can be made. Costa, Fabregas, Luis, Matic, Zouma and now Cuadrado, if he arrives and proves a good buy, makes six steps in the right direction. That's good work in my book but we now need a starting quality AM, a CM who Jose can confidently use for rotation, a striker with outstanding technical quality to offer both an alternative to Costa as well as a genuine 4-4-2 option. By summer 2016 we also need a top young CB. I don't rule out the possibility that our development players could fill some of these slots but it's not certain. Far from criticising Jose, I'd say that our jigsaw is taking shape. Taking shape is not complete however which is why I say that it would be ahead of schedule if our squad achieves anything this season.

Very fair point.

Jose did drop Oscar last season and try this, no doubt from shear desperation. It didn't work especially well.