MrExcalibur100

Or in a 4-3-3 with Fabregas/Matic and van Ginkel but it's all related anyway.

Reus is a very good player and I'm actually a fan of him but this is a case of opinion being stated as if it were a fact. There is no way you can say he is on another level from Hazard. It's bullshit. He's no Ronaldo or Messi. An Muller is Germany's best attacking midfielder and arguably best player.

You need way more than being a "good tackler" to play in a double pivot. For instance, you have to be able to read the game and anticipate the opposition's attacks. Is there any proof Oscar is good at reading the game? The efforts of our CM/DM's were vital in protecting our back four. If you think super-pragmatist Mourinho is going to change that just to accommodate a player who has never played there before, then you have something else coming. It might be feasible on football manager but not in real life and not under Mourinho.

He gets outmuscled easily. If you ignore all the good tackles he makes, he is a lightweight. Why do you think he loses the ball so often when he plays as a 10? He only looks truly comfortable when he play out-wide.

Actually, Oscar is weak physically. Don't be deceived by all the tackles he averages per game. He gets brushed off the ball far too easily and he lacks the ability to protect the ball from the opposition like Mata used to do, so he can't compensate with that. He can't play in the pivot because he has never played there in his career.

It still remains to be seen how Mourinho is going to use Fabregas. If he is going to use him as a number 10, then I fear Oscar doesn't have much of a chance of displacing him. Also, Oscar is not going to be played on the right wing after Mourinho's criticism of how Benitez used him. Even if we play a 4-3-3, Oscar is not going to play in a deeper role. He's never played there and Mourinho is not going to play him in an alien position just to accommodate him. If we maintain the 4-2-3-1, Fabregas will most likely not play in the pivot as his creative impact will be limited there and he hasn't played there since 2009. Plus I don't see Mourinho dropping Ramires from the team. Oscar's position in the team might come under very serious threat next season.

If they manage to keep their best players not injured (something they never do for some odd reason) then I think they have a good chance to finish at least 3rd. They still need a top class striker though. Giroud is horrible.

We're just wasting our time with these silly bids. If we're going to sign Luis it's clear that we have to pay the full buy out clause which is about 19 million pounds. Atletico Madrid will not accept anything less and they shouldn't have to.

It seems that horrid sky blue gear is a reality.

Just watching the highlights. The only defender worse than him was Marcelo, who was just beyond a joke.

Great guy, awful awful defender. Scores an amazing goal and some forget how shit he really is.

Andre "cold-blood" Schurrle.

Mourinho : 'Romelu likes to speak' , 'Maybe there is a new rule in football where when the season finishes every player is able to decide their own future.'. When Mourinho first made these comments about Lukaku being a talkative irritant, I thought they were over the top. But as time has shown, Jose was spot on in his analysis of this kid. Lukaku was signed by us for 18 mil pounds at age 17. So far he's contributed absolutely nothing to Chelsea, thinking it's his birthright to waltz into the starting XI of a European giant club without earning it first. He continues to talk and talk and he gives off the impression that he could care less about us despite all the "I dream about playing in this stadium" bollocks. He is very self-centered and only cares about himself. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. The career of a football player is very short and you have to look out for yourself, but at least do it with some dignity and respect for the fans who dedicate their mental energy and time to watching your progress and hoping you'll be the "new Drogba" at this club. However, Lukaku will never be a new Drogba because of his self-entitled attitude. He will go to an Atletico Madrid or Monaco or wherever and make an absolute fool of himself. His mediocre performance at the world cup has probably reduced his value by the odd "X" amount of pounds. Selling him for anything less than 30 mil pounds will be the worst thing we can do. We have to make a decision though. He has only 2 years on his contract. It's either we sell him now or loan him again and risk losing him on a free. By far the best option is to keep him. Being a "second" striker means nothing. Dzeko started as Man City's third striker but became the first name on the team sheet. Teams like City can have four strikers, but we can't keep two? It's delusional to think we can win the league with Costa, Torres and Ba unless we act quickly now and bring in a Mandzukic. Again, anybody striker we sign from now on will be given the tag of "second" striker. Unlike what now seems to be most here, I'm still willing to give the kid another chance IF he is willing to humble himself. He's still a kid afterall. He's only 21 and he was a star in Belgium since he was 16 (!) He's probably used to people telling him how special he is and whatnot. His behaviour so far has been very unprofessional and borderline strange, but he's done nothing unforgivable. Some of the reactions here are slightly OTT.

I actually just remembered that and edited it a second ago.

I'm slightly disappointed that this guy is going to Liverpool as he has the potential to be a world-class player in 3-4 years, especially under Rodgers. I know we don't "need" him desperately, but last season we were looking to start with 6 players in those attacking midfield roles. I guess the signing of Salah negates any potential deal. Still won't mind a Di Maria though. But Pogba and Luis first.

Your analogy is flawed. Just because Monaco want that doesn't mean he's worth it. Market price does not equal real value. And as for us buying Hazard for 32 mil. It's clear that the market took a turn for the worse in the 2012 season with the insane spending of PSG, Monaco and Madrid. Illara : 32 million pounds -- Moura : 44 million pounds -- Marquinhos (squad player) 31 million --- Bale: 80 million The market was ruined by these three teams by buying prospects for insane amounts. Illara, Moura and Marquinhos were unproven players at the highest level. The amount paid for Bale was a disgrace. And so on. That's why we've done well to buy Fabregas for 28 mil (lower than normal because both sides wanted rid of each other) and Diego Costa 32 mil (obviously, the Mendes connection. Forget the buy out clause. No way it's set as that if Mourinho and Mendes weren't best of friends)

Due chill. Many casual football fans had never even heard about him prior to the World Cup, yet he's the highest goalscorer and not even a striker. Of course there's always going to be hype. That doesn't detract from the fact that he's an awesome player. As for the pricetag, how's that relevant to anything?

I understand the Willian-James bit. The Brazilian is only slightly above average but I don't get the Matic bit. Maybe I read it wrong. He's one of the best signings we've made in recent years.

Clearly better than the insanely hyped, human billboard Neymar.

Completely unnecessary and is not better than what they have. Lacks the athleticism and technique to be exceptional in a deep lying playmaker role in a pivot and the vision to be exceptional in a number 10 role. Even if it's a 4-3-3, Modric is a guaranteed starter. And so is Xabi Alonso/Khedira. That leaves him and Isco to battle it out for one slot. I'm not sure either player will be happy with that situation. This could also mean Di Maria is certainly off as well as he was accommodated in that central midfield role last season. One of the reasons why Madrid was so poor in La liga was because of how porous their midfield was. Kroos doesn't fix that.

Sounds like a really ridiculous thing to do. This season, Jose HAS to win either the league or the champions league. You will think we'll need all of our possible weapons available. Okay, Lukaku might have asked to be loaned (who really knows now?) but it isn't his prerogative to ask for loans every time and for us to grant them to him. I hope we at least have the common sense to include a "call-back" clause this time. Anything less than a Mandzukic level striker alternative to Costa is not enough to compete with Man City's firepower. Or even Man Utd's with van Gaal there. Aguero won't get hurt as many times as he did last season. I hope we have that player at least decided on. And NO, Emenike is not a suitable alternative to Costa. Not good enough. And what's up with Lukaku? Is he ready to fight for a place or has he chickened out again? We might as well sell him instead of loaning again and again if that's the case. If he thinks he has no chance of getting good minutes (which is bull), why should he think he will get good mins after this proposed move to Atletico? He seems to care about himself and himself only and that too from a player who supposedly "loves" Chelsea and is a fan of the club.

I love that site. Their stuff is always very comprehensive.

I'm actually watching a replay of Diego Costa vs Valencia match from last season, for those interested and with time on your hands to waste. http://livefootballvideo.com/fullmatch/spain/la-liga/atletico-madrid-vs-valencia-2 Atletico didn't even create many chances but he still managed to be almost unplayable against a good la liga team. His footwork is also very impressive.

Willian was/is never in the same class as those guys though. That's why in another thread I suggested selling Willian. He's not a player i'm convinced by at all. He's not like Oscar for example. At least with Oscar, when he's not as it his best you could say he's of a higher standard and is under-performing, with Willian it seems to be his true level. He is to me a very limited player. Bundles of energy, but incredibly unproductive. He's also shown nothing (goals/assist stat wise) in his previous clubs to sway my opinion. Will he improve, yes. But he isn't just going to turn it on all of a sudden. I hope he proves us wrong and becomes more decisive, but somehow I don't see it. And as for restricting other players, I don't buy that. If you're good enough, you'll play. This is how it is at the big clubs. That's why I suggest we cover all bases. Of course, I'll rather we made our 3rd big signing a Paul Pogba. I'll take that over a Di Maria cos he's a player we need, especially if Mourinho plans to play Cesc as the number 10, which I'm starting to suspect he would. But why can't our 4th be a Di Maria if he's available? We're also very attractive to foreign players now. Young, super talented team. Top coach. Most posh location in the best and biggest city in England. We have money to spend from the PL TV rights, from semi-finals of the CL and from Luiz's Christmas gift transfer. That's not even including the standard transfer budget. Not all that money will be made available for transfers, but still that's a LOT of money. Jake Cohen does an excellent job breaking down how much we have available to spend: http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/6/5/5777740/chelsea-summer-transfer-budget

LOL! It's insane really. He earns more than Ronaldo and Messi. Man United are all over the place now that Fergie is gone. 30 + million for Shaw. 28 mil for Herrera. I mean he's a good player but not that good. Then we buy Costa for 32 mil and Cesc for 28 mil. Two world class players. Add that to the fact we let Luiz go for what, 50 (!) MILLION?! We've never had so many good deals in the Abramovich era. That's why it's not enough just to buy what we need : a CF, LB and CM. We should also go for some luxury buys; Pogba, Di Maria and Sanchez. We have to get back to the level were we can confidently compare our squad to the likes of Bayern, Real and Barca let alone Man City.