Daniel1980

DiMaria would obviously strengthen any side, but imo, they need a top CB and a good CM much more urgently than DiMaria. DiMaria can play a CM, granted.

Herrera was playing poorly, but they look even worse since Herrera came off. Their midfield is almost as rubbish as their defence. Mata is invisible. If I were Vidal, I would think twice about joining this side.

Yeah, but they need a top defender more than they need DiMaria. Their defence is rubbish.

Herrera was pretty anonymous. Still can't believe they paid so much for him.

If MU lose, it might make them buy a top defender, which they desperately need.

Bonding time. Luis looks pretty skinny. Hope he won't be easily out-muscled.

Pretty much. He'll be immediately labelled by everyone as a flop, regardless of his great preseason. Same goes for Fabregas if he doesn't assist or at least make a clear-cut chance. The pressure on them will be enormous, considering how everyone hypes us. We're the only ones playing on Monday, so all eyes will be on us.

Looks like he's really leaving. Very sad if true, but it would be the right decision. You can't keep two world-class goalkeepers in the team without someone being unhappy, and if we have to choose, we must choose the future.

I would agree, except nowadays club loyalty is practically non-existent. There are very few top players out there who play their entire careers just for one club (20-25 years), captained the club for 10-15 years, won absolutely everything with the club, retired at the club, and were regarded by pundits as one of the greatest players of all time on their position. Such loyal top players like Baresi and Maldini practically don't exist anymore. Nowadays, if a Baresi or Maldini emerged at some club, he would be eventually bought by Real/Barcelona/PSG/etc. That's a harsh reality, so I doubt we're in any danger of running out of numbers.

While I do agree, in some cases, some players deserve to have their numbers retired. Players like Baresi and Maldini, who played twenty-something years, their entire careers, just for one club, do deserve such an honour, imo. That said, while Frank is a club legend, he's not in the same league as them--very few players in the world are--so I didn't expect his number to be retired.

No conspiracy theories, just common sense. I'm sure the club knows Oscar's phone number.

Is this a reaction to Frank playing for City now? If they were planning to give Oscar #8, it would have more sense to give Drogba his number immediately after his re-signing and not to cause the confusion with shirts.

I think we might sign a striker or a CB. Don't think we'll sign an AM--we have too many of them as it is.

Yeah, and considering that basically everyone is saying we are the favourites for the title, the pressure will be immense, especially on the new lads. Preseason is just preseason.

Yeah, I can think only of that reason. I love MvG, but if it means we buy a striker, I'd choose a striker. We're more vulnerable in that area.

No, nowhere as low. We make 1.4 per game, while our title rivals make: Liverpool 5, Arsenal 3.8, Manchester City 3.2, Manchester United 2, not to mention many others. PSG - 2 per game, and only Monaco make more in the league Real - 4 per game Bayern - 2 per game, and it's the highest through ball rate in the league.

Chelsea midfielders' through balls in 2012-2013(whoscored): Mata - 8/16 Luiz - 2/2 Lampard - 4/5 Hazard - 5/9 Mikel - 0/1 Ramires - 1/3 Oscar - 1/5

Willian does feel like a pretty harmless player in the attack. His workrate is great, he's technically gifted so he should be a better #10 than Oscar, yet I still feel like there's a higher chance of Oscar's making something happen than Willian's.

True, but you're making it look like if there's space to exploit, any player can make successful through balls. It is not true. Many don't even attempt to pull them off. Fabregas likes--and is good--at making risky passes. Barcelona almost always plays against parked buses, so there's very little space, and Barcelona have no true runner CF in the team, yet Fabregas still managed to make most through balls in Europe. It's not always just about space. It's also about passing ability and reading the game. We don't play against West Ham in every game, yet this is how many through balls our midfielders made last season: Hazard - 7 successful/12 attempted Matic - 3/3 Mata - 3/4 Ramires - 4/9 Willian - 0/4 Lampard - 1/6 Oscar - 1/2 Mikel - 1/1 This is frankly sad. Only Hazard tried--and succeeded at--riskier passes. Fabregas - 24/48

I don't think the article was claiming that it boils down to Fabregas and his through passes. It's simply saying that, unlike our main rivals, last season we lacked a midfielder who does a lot of defence-splitting passes, which is absolutely true. It certainly doesn't boil down to Fabregas--or Hazard--or any single player to make us a better team as a whole, but it's undeniable that now we have more variety in attack than before.

Just when I thought I got over it, seeing Frank grinning in a City shirt proved how wrong I was. Ugh, this just looks wrong.

^^^ This is an exaggeration. Huh, I didn't know this: That's pretty sad if true.

What are they all laughing about?

I wonder whether they will give us the ball and park the bus, waiting for an opportunity to counter attack, or try to bully and outrun us.

I'm convinced Luis will be the first choice LB eventually, but in the first few games, Jose might choose Iva-Azpi. It is possible and it won't mean that Luis won't be a starter.