Sanctuar

93% pass accuracy
6 take-ons
2 tackles won
2 clearances
8.0 according to WhoScored.
Man of the match!

Matic-RLC
Oscar
want to see this so bad.

Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world, and hopefully he's recovered as soon as possible, but I feel safe with Begovic.
Although his injury is like a kick between the crotch right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg7c8RV9UPo

I watched the game, he looked very lively and pacy. Played very directly also with great movement.
He would've shined much more if Spain passed less and attacked more but he's a fucking quality! So happy to have him in there dark times.

Pedro Rodriguez vs Slovakia (Home) 05/09/2015 HD

Ffs I can't remember us signing a player who got so much negative energy as much as Falcao does. I guess some people haven't faced their feelings and cleared some questions in their head after Torres.

Have you not seen Ivanovic's 'lemme hit the first defender' crosses? Then we have an inverted RB at LB which doesn't help our wing-play at all. Azpi actually has decent crosses in him, but as long as he's forced to play LB, i can't/won't blame him. Another reason i want Baba to be trusted and starting as soon as Everton away.
Let's get a natural Left-footed LB to hopefully form a partnership with Hazard on the left. Please Jose!

It's been kinda quiet in this thread since we signed this guy but I for one am really excited and look forward to see him play!

Love how he wasted like 10 minutes towards the end by dribbling and holding onto the ball. Intelligent play as he helped the team to relieve the pressure, disrupt WBA's momentum. Reminded me of Drogba doing the same against United at home in 2010/11.

Its either you pay the 60m euros or you go for other options, or you dont get a player at all. So you need to ask: 1) who are the other options? Sterling, Gaitan, D.Costa, who else can realistically come here? 2) its ok to not get a winger at all and stay as we were?
The way i see it the answers are 1) no, there isnt, and none of the above is good enough. Some will think Sterling is but he'll cost the same amount 2) Its not ok, because we already know we probably wont bring a top top CM (Pogba, Koke).
Sometimes you need to pay a lot to get the players in the certain level you want, sometimes you pay less than what they worth (Cesc). Very few clubs can be called suckers this days. If the club is ok with overpaying i dont mind that.

Instagram likes, confirming transfers since 2015.

The Premier League in the last few seasons has seen an interesting development. No side has managed to retain a league title in 6 seasons - the last club to do so was Man United way back in 2009, which was the third in a hat trick of championships starting from 2007. Evidently, getting to the top has become much easier than staying at the top - and this is what should concern Mourinho and Chelsea, the runaway nature of this season's success notwithstanding. I've put together a list of the major transfer dealings of each of the title contenders during these past 6 seasons for comparison below.

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Spoiler A recurring theme here is the reigning champions either ( a ) failing to replace outgoing players or ( b ) failing to add significant quality to the title winning squad while competitors strengthen enough to dethrone them.
The concern
The concern then stems from Mourinho's statements over the past week with regards to Chelsea's activities over the summer :

Contrast that with Chelsea's intent at this stage last season :

Now, Mourinho of course is a master manipulator when it comes to words in the press and his recent declarations could prove to be smoke and mirrors, especially with his comments likening the transfer market bubble to an impending collapse on Wall Street, but surely even he in his heart of hearts would know that Chelsea do in fact need changes, not wholesale changes, but some changes to take the next step - domestic consolidation coupled with European ascension.
Areas to target
As the season wore on it has become clear that a few more "surgical" signings in key areas is just what is needed to complete the puzzle. A ball playing centre half, a goalscoring winger to take some burden off Costa and Hazard, a central midfielder of enough quality to both complement and supplement the Matic-Fabregas duo would top most wishlists of Chelsea fans and the various transfer rumours swirling around the club confirm the general view in this regard. (Varane, Stones, Pogba, Koke, Griezmann, Bale have all been variously linked with a move to the club and they all make some sense.)
The rivals
Manchester United continue to flounder despite spending the best part of £200 million over last summer. With their Champions League status restored and a season under the collective belts of Mata, Herrera, Di Maria, Blind and Rojo, they can be expected to spend even more to push on under Van Gaal. Money is not an issue for Manchester City either, with them having proved that they're happy to pay any puny fines UEFA impose on them. The possible departure of Pellegrini and an ageing squad means there will be significant investment for whoever comes in. Arsenal are also free from their Emirates Stadium imposed shackles and are now legitimate rivals on the transfer front too.
As to what Chelsea do in the transfer market this summer remains to be seen; but you can play your part by supporting the champions on their quest to defend their silverware by purchasing Chelsea tickets here.
Conclusion
All the indicators point to it being a hard fought battle for the best available players. Chelsea cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball even though they've never been better placed to launch a concerted effort at establishing a sustained period of dominance. 2014-15 was good but next season needs to be even better, and it needs to start in the transfer market. As the saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss.
Click here to view the article

Name and shame them. No one in their right mind would hold such POV. The most outlandish claim around that time was that he had the potential to become one of the very best AM in the future which was nothing more than a baseless assertion. If anyone at any point in time actually thought he had more talent than Hazard then I would love to know so as not to ever take them seriously again.

The one thing we absolutley need to add to our squad is a goal scoring midfielder. It's no wonder we started to struggle for goals once Schurlle left and Oscar got out of form. Having just Eden and Costa to score goals (from open play) is too predictable and easily countered by opposing teams.
I read people thinking the likes of Koke will transform our squad but he is just another supporting player (albeit a great one) but he will find it hard to assist for goals if we have so few players actually looking for one. Therefore i believe someone like Griezmann will have a much bigger impact on the team so I am all for this one, even if he would cost quite a hefty sum of money.
But considering we only paid 32M for Costa, who was arguably their most important player I don't think we will spend much more on Griezmann

Video interview in english with Fabregas by norwegian television:
http://www.tv2.no/v/914834

That is a good point from Mourinho ^
But I just don't believe Oscar has the necessary qualities to put us on par, with the likes of Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid, if he's our resident number 10. We'll see though, Mourinho might still believe in him and we owe it to him to see if he can transform Oscar.

https://twitter.com/l3ahpar/status/597526085832671232

Video interview in english with Fabregas by norwegian television:
http://www.tv2.no/v/914834

He deserves to start after this performance imo.

Ehm yes he can.

The guy who comes from behind the sunset



Mourinho said: "His village is behind the sunset - you want to arrive there and it's difficult to arrive [it is so far away]. He's still that guy. The way he behaves. The way he acts, he way he interacts. He's still that naive, pure, simple, humble guy.

"At the same time he's such a communicator, he's such a group guy, he's such a happy man that, not speaking more than 10 words in English, he speaks with everybody. He can establish a conversation and interact with somebody and he doesn't understand a single word the person is saying.

"But just because of gesture and body language and happiness and so on everybody likes the guy so much. And he comes from Atlético Madrid and he comes here and with the adaptation. Happy guy in the group, not shy. He's fantastic. I say to him every time, 'Do you need me to explain something in Portuguese?' and he goes, 'Nah, I understand everything'."

"So everybody was blind including myself. He went to Atlético and [sergio] Agüero was the superstar. He went on loan after that. Agüero goes and they bought [Radamel] Falcao and he went on loan. I think he was always behind very important players but at the same time he was developing himself. So when he got the chance to go back to Atlético he was even better."

"I have to say I have met so many wonderful characters in football and it's difficult to find one better than Diego," Mourinho says. "In the group, in the club, so nice, so funny, after that he goes to the pitch and he wants to win matches and the fact that he played against Chelsea, a club that he was already connected to, people were having the feeling that he could come to us, and to play against us and play the way he did for his club, I think shows his character.

For Mata to be at his best, I genuinely believe he needs to have a team built around him.
But I think if you build a team around him, the best you'll manage is 6th because he's not a top, top player.

Now that I've seen Costa in person I'm convinced he's the real deal.
I watched him closely in the warm up and during the keep ball session - which was quite intense - he seemed to give the ball away with every touch and I was thinking I've seen Torres do that way too many times. But then the game started and the first 25-30 minutes blew me away, he literally did everything right and it wasn't by chance; movement, passes, awareness and goals! Actual goals from a striker. I can get used to that.
Then Torres came on and I started thinking about going home.