BloodIsBlue

The backlash from that would be much worse than overspending.

None of then are dribblers... We have some class players but none of them will ever have the dribbling skills Kova already has at 18. If you're looking at our Chalobah, Baker or Loftus-Cheek we're talking about 250k-500k players (maybe Chalobah is worth more now but I doubt it). Kovacic at 18 yrs old cost a cash strapped inter Milan 10m. McEachran in past years was looking like he has the ability to stick to the ball but he's just a bit slow and wouldn't get raped trying to really dribble in the midfield. Despite their lake of stellar dribbling we have an amazing pick of youth playing centrally. Boga is still young and who knows what our attacking midfield will be when he is ready, it still won't be easy however. A lot of time to wait on Boga. If you want more straight answer its Baker, Baker is closer to Kova because he can play all over the midfield and feel comfortable anywhere. Like Kova his body is not the greatest physical tool but manages really well to use what he has, Baker also lacks the trickery of Kova.

We have to win this, I am sure Suarez is going to drag Liverpool to a win against City. I also get the feeling that Mourinho had been sweetening Tony Pulis about being the 'Manager of the Season' (Mou was even dressed like Pulis as he celebrated Ba's goal running down the pitch) in the hopes Pulis goes 100% anti football against City in a bid for a single point. We can totally win the league City have plenty of opportunities to drop point we just have to win every game and it should be something the boys demand of themselves. Winning the Swansea game and the Liverpool are the only two big challenges we have left. If we win all our games (and L'pool beat City) I am sure we will win the title no excuses in losing against Sunderland, Norwich or Cardiff.

You would rather get all giddy about the bullshit we find in tabloid sports journalism as opposed to being exposed to talents you maybe haven't yet heard of? Like a girl reading through a 'Star' magazine, transfer rumors are bad for your health mate.

If we win, L'Pool win, Gerrard gets a yellow card against City and Ramires avoids a yellow card this week that would mean Chelsea would have been in the good graces of the football gods.

UEFA hates us so much.

Rather trade them Ramires+cash for Modric.

Hopefully the away kit is classy, these aren't kits are for kids. I like this years kit so much feel like buying a second with 'HAZARD' on it.

The potential to be Modric-Iniesta in one player with 10cm of height on them.

Atletico, Bayern and Real are three of the most difficult match ups we could ask for any way you slice it. Bring on the big matches with Real Madrid and Bayern, more money from TV with those teams. We can do it and everyone knows defense wins you trophies, they're scared. Not too worried about the Ivanovic mess, Ashley Cole might not be the sharpest tool after this season but he's going to play his heart when he gets a go in the first leg of semi final (I didn't forget about you Ash). He knows he'll be playing and he'll be ready.

There is a tremendous amount of truth in what you said, and I might be taking every opportunity and I might be a little obsessive. One thing I am never is illogical or biased. No bias on my adoration for this possible gem at all, no bias to Slavic folks or Serie A (I'm Portuguese for fucks sakes) I genuinely believe he is a going to a big player. I'm quick to comment on suggestions of Koke with my suggestion of Kova and here's why... In today's football its normal that players have to be many different things as a player, especially attacking players today expected to be comfortable anywhere in the opponents third. Some players a bred in this multi-position vein while others are more old school. Koke does have this but he has this in a purely attacking sense however, as you demand this attacking player to play centrally and behind 3 or more players you might be asking a lot of Koke, he under 23-25 and he can definitely go through major changes to his style but all the coaches and professionals around him AVOID playing him in that deeper role (they do it out of necessity). Obviously I'm going to be shouting Kova's name when this kid is already at this moment undergoing the metamorphosis some here are asking Koke to go through. The football professionals around Kovacic have obviously seen these qualities in him and convinced him this is a good position for him to work on. A lot of times people suggest signing a forward minded player to play in our pivot and I cannot deny there are advantages to playing technically gifted players there but there are more disadvantage to forcing players to change their style towards a direction they have no intention of going themselves. Kovacic started young as a purely attacking player so his dribbling and flair are a testament to that but somehow the management around him saw a different player in him. To be honest last year and when he played in Croatia (and a bit at Inter) he was definitely a diamond in the rough, he had superbly mature dribbling but he wasn't aware of his team mates and he didn't look ready to be consistent and do anything in a central role. This year however his passing has massively improved and he knows when to give up and let someone else do the work instead of beating the team by himself. He's now not only able to carry the ball through warzones he is developing an understanding what to do with it. The Croatian national team coach also picked up on Kovacic widening his view of the game and played him as a holding midfielder, where his performance essentially won them a crucial game against rivals Serbia in qualifiers. Kovacic is a player born to thrill and that's why I want him here. Mourinho likes to talk about cold blood infront of goal, well Kova is absolutely fearless in possession in all areas of he pitch. His fearlessness is what gives him the Pirlo like vision into the future and allows him to beat so many men. I want him here because there is nothing that gets us the supporters out of our seat quicker than watching someone skip past 3 defenders, there also nothing that gives quite the same advantage as dribbling past defenders. The ball sticks to the kid and he is lighting over 20 yards, Ramires might be lighting over 30 or more yards but I don't think anyone here could say the ball sticks to him. The maze of dribbles Hazard and Kovacic could pull off together would leave teams dizzy.

Even back at the start of he season I was shocked the board accepted his salary, 7m is a lot. If he pushes to go somewhere else I am sure we will not fight for his signature, at least in terms of wages we won't pay him more than we already do that's for sure. We could use him on so many levels and he's a good influence on our boys. I hope Inter consider taking him back (should he have his heart set of a move away from the bridge) it might give them more reason to sing Mikel.

PvA we can keep and bring in with Shaw, perfect competition for Shaw and a nice reference for us to gauge him based on comparisons. Glad to see Shaw celebrating our win over PSG! We can't let anyone else sign this blue.

Jose doesn't have to do anything special or unusual to give us a managerial advantage over Real or Bayen. He knows Madrid like an ex-girlfriend knows you. Jose's brand of football was brought to Madrid to dismantle the reign Barca created with their Tiki-Take football. The best orchestrator at of Tiki-Take is now at Bayern and fully implementing his possession system, a system our team is a predator for. Mou doesn't really give us a managerial advantage over Atletico, both managers know eachothers system pretty well.

Nobody wants to face us. Mourinho knows the intricacies of most the Real Madrid players he has had to compensate for their flaws and manage them, surely that's more of an advantage than the players seeking revenge. One can say that Ancelotti knows this team only a little but because things have changed. Atletico will be playing with a rusty keeper and most likely missing Arda Turan who is fantastic. Bayern play a brand of football to which Mourinho is their kyrptonite, if we get them Pep knows he needs to change his system a little bit. We have a charismatic bunch (bar Torres) that will bleed for a win when we need it.

You guys know we pay Ashley Cole 120k/week and only pay Azpilicueta 30k/week, right? Its a bloody tragedy.

Koke doesn't have much experience in the pivot and usually when he gets the ball in his own half he only has 1 or 2 teammates a head of him, he won't be used to the responsibility of having the back four behind him. He hasn't really shown me the possession retention qualities (in dangerous ares for your team) needed to play in the heat of a pivot. As opposed to a player like Kovacic who does this for club and country and hasn't turned 20 yet, his age however is probably the main reason the club might not look at him. Last week he did a run against Bologna that defines why I am so eager to suggest in us signing him. It's the kind of run Ramires does poorly in, Ramires is the best in the business as running into empty space but not this. At 3:07 in this video Kovacic what he does best and this kind of play makes the difference and it ended up with the team getting into a great position and winning a penalty. I think he is the perfect player to play in our pivot as he will get the opponents nervous in the midfield well before Hazard even gets the ball. He could essentially be another Salah in terms of the transfer workings, Liverpool will make a lowball bid like the cheap bastard scouse they are and if we come with a more respectful one who knows.. go to 3:07

Courtois isn't going anywhere.

That quote pumps me, thank you Ballack for pointing the kid in our direction.

This guy needs a raise and a contract extension so that he stays with us for most of the rest of his career.

Depth is always welcome. At the beggining of the season we were wondering what we'd do with all these attacking midfielders but not that Hazard is injured its as if we have just enough depth to squeak by. The key areas of your formations require excessive depth not many of us thought about it but now that Eden is recovering you can clearly see what depth means. I think he could be included in that depth but someone (or two) might have to be shipped out to make room, not worth it. I think the scouting teams focus NEEDS to be on a striker and a versatile centermid (with the qualities of a box-2-box and a regista) and a well rounded leftback like Azpi. We have our young boys out on loan if we sense a need for more attacking mids/wingers.

Anybody, bring them on.

Here's another angle. Bamfordinho has potential.

Chill out guys, it's not new's that British football journalism is the worst or at least as bad as Spanish. It's bad for your health to read that trash. It's tabloid sports journalism and it plagues the game, sensationalist love this stuff but a logic person should easily be able to figure out its amorally worthless.