MrExcalibur100

I don't know too many people who think Fabregas is a "slow" player or not dynamic enough. He is one of the most dynamic midfield players in the world. Can pass it, shoot it, dictate the tempo of a game and retain possession. He's a complete midfielder and he is used to the premier league. And you criticize his speed when Lampard, a player even slower than him, has been our main midfield lynch-pin for a decade. Fabregas on the other hand was the main main in Arsenal's midfield at their free-flowing, fast-paced best. I'm sure most Chelsea fans will love to have him hear based on his tremendous talent alone. You don't make a convincing argument at all, bro.

And how exactly does he not fit our team? Can you elaborate on this?

Barca fans seem fed up with him as he has failed to fully integrate into their team. Whistles from the Camp Nou crowd are a regular occurrence and reading through some of their forums shows a similar sentiment. He's not valued. He's become a scape-goat. I won't mind if we put in a cheeky bid for him. It's almost impossible but it's not beyond the realms of possibility with this stupid Barca board in charge. Of course, it's up to Cesc to make the right noises. He was regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world when at Arsenal, now no one even talks about him anymore. At Chelsea, we have everything in place to get him back to his previous level. Imagine this guy playing next to the likes of Matic.

It's mostly about the pace and physical strength he can potentially offer in the away game Atletico. Eto'o will struggle with the intensity and physicality of the Atleti players at the Calderon while there are still questions about starting Ba in such a crucial game. Torres won't score, but he has shown to be useful in Europe as an outlet up front, especially when we play counter-attack. Eto'o isn't fast enough for the counter and neither is Ba. I won't start him at Anfield though. Their crazy fans will get into his head. No way. I might even go with Eto'o in that one. Liverpool are a smaller and less physical side and Eto'o might put a similar shift in like he did at the Etihad. I'm not really banking on any of out strikers to score in those two away games.

Because I want Eto'o to start against Atletico Madrid at home and Ba to start against Atleti away (though a case can be made for Torres starting that) and Liverpool away (Torres will be shit in this game and Eto'o can't score away from Stamford Bridge). Ba might have scored, but his movement and all round play against Swansea were disappointing and they generally are when he starts a game from the first minute. His physicality might be useful in away games, especially that Altetico one. Eto'o should start to gain match fitness in anticipation of the Atletico home game. I'm sure Jose has it figured out anyway.

Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Matic; Salah, Oscar, Schurrle, Eto'o (1) Oscar was rested in the last game so should start. Willian should be rested. (2) We need Lampard and Luiz fully rested for Atletico, so I go with Ramires. I seriously don't want Ramires to start against Atletico. (3) Eto'o should start as we need to work him back to full fitness and he always plays well at home. We need a fit Eto'o for the second leg against Atletico. He delivers in big games. (4) Cole starting is a no-brainer. We need him match fit for Atletico because Ivanovic is suspended for that game. (5) If Eden is fit to play then he should come on for the last 20 mins for more match fitness.

Porto 2004. Manager : Mr Mourinho.

A surprisingly decent article from the Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2597545/THE-NUMBERS-GAME-Why-Lukakus-NOT-right-striker-Chelsea.html

What many people don't realize is Eto'o and Ba have a higher minutes per goals ratio than Lukaku. So how good is he really? Good enough to be Diego Costa's understudy, but not good enough to be the main man. The main question is whether Romelu is happy with that.

Why am I not surprised. Ashton is a fucking disgrace to journalism. He damages the club's reputation publicly and there's nothing we do about it. That's the same idiot who hounded AVB out of Spurs.

It's about stability. You can't keep sacking managers the way we've done in the Abramovich era and expect to bring in youth players at the same time. It makes no sense because when the new guy comes in, he brings in his own ideas. Case in point McEachran. The boy had the world at his feet under Ancelotti and even looked a step above some of the senior players. What happens? We sack Ancelotti and bring in AVB. AVB has his own ideas and is under pressure to perform instantly. He brings in Romeu. Hopefully all the noises we've been hearing about stability from Jose are the same noises being communicated by Roman. We need stability at this football club, god dammit! And Jose is the guy to bring it, fingers crossed. :blue scalf:

Yeah I mistakenly omitted Christiansen. He is a majestic player.You know it's funny because there was this big article on him at the Daily Mail, criticizing the fact we pay him 20,000 pounds a week (crazy that). We got a lot of stick for that. What got me thinking was Oscar's wages. From what I know, Oscar earns something ridiculously low, in the 30,000-40,000 a week bracket. Oscar really deserves a new contract.

Now bring on Fulham! The youth cup stays in SW6.

Arsenal fans like to make a lot of noise about Zelalem but Loftus-Cheek ate him for dinner today. Bossed the midfield.

Solanke right now can be no worse than Torres

He's not really a holder like Matic but you are right. They share the same qualities. Him, Solanke and Colkett are top quality players. Solanke is a real prospect for us and England. Another player who looks special. Colkett has a glorious left foot. We've just gone to the Emirates and made Arsenal look like an average side. And add that to the quality in the U-21's. The quality we have now is unbelievable.

Watching him against Arsenal in the youth cup semi-final now. This kid is going to be a top, top player. He already has everything you want in a midfielder. No wonder Barcelona were sniffing after him.

He's a very good passer. I don't think he's shown anything so far to suggest he isn't. I have been impressed with his passing range ever since I saw him in the Under-21 Championships in Israel. He's not Marco Verratti (or Pirlo like you said), but his passing ability is more than good enough for the purpose. We aren't talking about a Ramires. His passing ability is similar to the Ballack's and Lampard's of this world. He also scores goals, is physically strong and has a great engine on him. Very few young CM's in the world can boast of these qualities. He is a box-to-box midfielder and very few players his age can be considered box-to-box. I prefer him to a Verratti type of deep-lying playmaker.

van Ginkel isn't a great passer? Are you being serious right now?

Liverpool easily have the worst fans in England. There is something seriously wrong with them and I'm not even being funny.Seriously, I fear for the safety of our match-going fans taking the trip to Merseyside. We all know how the "bestest fans in the world" treat other fans. If we win that game and deny them the title, their fans could really go full psycho. I just hope security is at an all time high.

With the media love-in towards Liverpool and their arrogant, nasty fans who hate this club and our manager with incredible passion, winning the league will be sweeter than ever. Perhaps even sweeter than the CL.

No chance Bamford is our 3rd striker. Will rather have Costa, Eto'o, Lukaku.

Just ignore

Sutton was so poor that I forgot about him. I never wanted us to sign him anyway as I never liked him as a player. Fleck was before I started supporting the club. Casiraghi was unlucky with injuries. He was actually a good player, but he suffered a very bad injury when it seemed he was about to come good. Never really recovered. Other teams have had their fair share of duds too.

The story actually broke in Spain from a reputable media outlet. And the comments Simeone made suggest there's a lot in it. The Telegraph is also a reliable source. At least more so than those other ones you mentioned.