OhForAGreavsie

This squad is far from 'completed'. Whether from the existing set of development/loan players or through the transfer market, we need further serious strengthening at CB, CM, AM & striker. - Up top we need a high quality 'technical' striker for balance. That player would replace Didier in next year's squad. - At AM the "he's tired" excuse ain't gonna keep working for Oscar. He's great at part of the job but we are playing at the very highest level of football so we need a '10' who is great at the whole job. - Also at AM we need someone who demands selection on the right in the same way that Hazard demands to be picked on the left. The reason we rotate people on that flank is that none of our current options is quite up to it. - At CM we need a player who can match Rami's lungs and attitude but who is better in possession. - At CB we need pace, power and poise.

"Far from implementing a true financial fair play, this rule is in fact a prohibition to invest that prevents ambitious owners to develop their clubs" - MCFC Supporters AssociationThis is 95% correct. if you replace the word 'prevents' with 'very severely restricts the ability of' then MCFC Supporters' Association would have this 100% right. "The FFP ruling will restrict the incomes of players and agents, reduce transfer activity and ensure that Europe's larger clubs remain dominant" - Jean-Louis Dupont. Two-thirds of this MUST be true. This or that individual player/agent might not be affected but, with FFP forcing many clubs to spend less than they would like to, the OVERALL amount paid to players and agents WILL definitely be restricted. The bit which is not necessarily true is the claim that transfer activity will be reduced. Once FFP settles down it may only mean that the number of transfers stays the same but the fees paid will just be lower than they would have been without FFP.

I like most of what you say here but I would put just a little more emphasis on the idea that playing defensively does not mean you are not playing to win. I know many disagree but I believe it is perfectly legitimate to set out to win on the counter. Had the players been able to pass the ball a little better at The Ethiad the plan would have worked and we'd have beaten them again. As it was we nearly won anyway despite playing badly in possession. This suggests to me that it was a pretty good game plan. BTW, just in case you aren't aware, it's 'gung ho'.

How do you feel the summer transfer dealings have gone for Chelsea and do you believe it was the right move to bring Didier Drogba back to the club? A reasonably good window but we need another one which is at least as good to get where I'd like us to be. There are holes in this squad. I would not have have brought Didier back. I had you as favourites before the season started, and nothing I have seen so far suggests that my prediction will be wrong. Do you believe you have what it takes to win the Premiership? We are not playing as well as our results would have you believe. We are certainly not title favourites in my book. We were second best for spells against Leicester, Swansea, Everton and even Burnley. Sometimes long spells. We defended well at City but did not execute the rest of the game plan at all well. Our passing was poor throughout so our counter attacking threat was almost non existent. Jose being Jose, we nearly got the points anyway but it was far from a great performance. What is your weak link? Just one? I wish. I personally don't believe Gary Cahill is good enough for a team like Chelsea. What are the feelings amongst the Chelsea faithful? I'd say most are happy with him but we recognise the need to bolster our CB options. We're probably more focused on the idea that JT can't go on forever. Premiership title or Champions League title? Premier League all day, every day. Not even close to being close. Who do you consider to be the best and worst signings in the Premier League this summer? Can't really say I've watched enough football to have any clue about this. Tadic looks good so far but players do sometimes shine brightly at first. What are your thoughts on Aston Villa? I'm as surprised as I think you might be that you've started so well without Benteke. Which player should Aston Villa fear this weekend and why? His stats may not suggest it, but Eden hazard has been just brilliant so far. He's been close to the top of his game and if this continues he'll be a handful. What is your match prediction? A 1 goal victory margin for Chelsea. Jennifer Lawrence or Michelle Keegan? I don't know who these women are. Do I need to open a private browsing session before I google them?

This is not the Chelsea way. Our way is to try to win every competition we enter. Let's face it Jose was always going rotate-max for this one but it's still got to be the strongest side possible and they go full-on for the win. That's the Chelsea way, and it's a good way. We are not bloody Arsenal.

My thought is that it would take a lot of effort to turn Ake into a barely acceptable LB, whereas he could become a really good DM. My preference would be to encourage Ake to become the best player he can possibly be and that would mean allowing him to play at his best position. It could be though that the versatility you quite rightly point out will allow Ake to hold down a squad place and buy himself time to develop here.

Agreed about his versatility but, and again it's only my opinion, Ake seems a rather average LB to me. Fair enough for Jose to use him to plug a squad gap at that position but I can't see the young man building his career in that role. Certainly I don't think he's anywhere near as good at LB as he is at DM.

Remy has never convinced me. His touch is quite loose and seldom seems to really master the ball.

Drogba's touch was always hot and cold, mainly cold. We all remember the spectacular moments that built Didier's reputation and they are glorious memories but, throughout his Stamford Bridge career there were many more bad touches than great ones. The Drog has not lost his touch, on average it was never that great in the first place; what he's lost is his ability to make up for it.

CDM is comfortably his best position IMO.

Not yet but I think we should expect very limited coverage.

Perhaps we'd all agree that last night just confirmed what we already know. Change the results of the 4 PL games and the actual performances might attract just as much scrutiny as last night's. Those good PL results have stemmed from some good play but, to an extent, they have also camouflaged aspects of our play that could be better. Last night could turn out to be a helpful reminder of where we are in our development and a warning not to get ahead of ourselves.

I'm not the best person in the world to comment on Drogba's performance since I always saw myself as being equally aware of his weaknesses as I was of his strengths. I would never have brought him back as a player and simply don't believe that he offers us anything worth spending a squad place on. The only thing which makes his return tolerable for me is that Jose did it. If any other manager had done this I'd have blown a gasket. I guess all of this makes me predisposed to see the negatives rather than the positives with Didier so it's best if I say nothing about his display. I'm not a huge Remy fan either. My worry is that his touch is too loose and he therefore won't contribute to the precise controlled build up we aim for. Doesn't rule out him playing his part by just finishing things off however. That said, I do think that he improved us when he came on and deploying him wide looks like an option Jose may be able to use. One of the things I love about Jose is his pragmatism. Any manager can decide to commit men forward but the trick is to be able to do it and win. If Jose doesn't have the players available to play on the front foot then he won't waste his time trying. If he needs to be defensive, he will. An attacking style is something we all want to see from our team but it's not an aim in itself; attack and win is the aim.

I agree with this; last night's performance and result should do us more good than harm in the long run, especially with the Sporting/Maribor draw. Some people here, and almost everyone in the media, have gotten carried away by our 12 point start to the season. Our squad is improved but it is not the finished article and we certainly can't expect to coast to any results. Even the Bolton game will be tricky with a squad team. To complete the squad rebuild will require either that some youngsters come through to fill the gaps or that we go back to the market. Probably the latter I think.

Well I certainly expected that result on Sunday. The media seem to have developed amnesia over the summer when it comes to Spurs. Their squad is crammed full of average players and they've done nowhere near enough this window to cure that. Some of their players are so bad they make Eriksen look good. Put him in the Chelsea team and... well you just wouldn't. Spurs V Liverpool is an absolute no contest on paper and this time it turned out that way on grass too.

No prizes for guessing who has the weakest line up but that's the end of the good news for me. I'd rank the other four as: - City United Liverpool Us

Ben Arfa, quality? Flatters to deceive in my book.

It's a million and a half a month as near as a damn it. There are four and a third weeks in the average month. This might seem pedantic, and apologies if it does, but actually I think it's important to get the full horific scale of what these people are being paid.

Has Rybolovlev lost interest or is his divorce settlement biting into the amount of financial support he can give to his team?

Hope Salah is going on loan to Palace. Even though he's down the pecking order a bit, it's not likely that he'd be allowed to leave unless he was to be replaced and replaced, we'd have to assume, with someone Jose is more likely to find useful.

The summer window closes at midnight CEST on Tuesday 2nd September so that's 11pm on Monday 1st September UK time (BST).

Go away you fool. This forum doesn't need you.

And yet we signed more players in January than Jose said we would do.

Generally I agree with what you've said but I disagree with this bit. Rom has not dropped off, people have simply seen enough of him to form a more realistic appraisal of his abilities.In terms of being a leading striker for any of the game's top clubs, Rom's technique is deficient and this will be a problem for him. He is one of those players who, when he scores, will get more than his fair share of praise but who, when he's not scoring, will find the spotlight focuses on his shortcomings. I do not believe that any Chelsea manager will ever be happy to go into a season with Rom slated to be our leading striker. Technical excellence is what I think we need. If the club agrees then it'll have to look elsewhere because Rom won't supply that.

This may be true, who knows. What is definitely true is that, in every single transfer window during which Jose has been Chelsea manager, we have signed more players than he originally said we would.