CurlyHairLikeLuiz

Yeah. He doesn't have the attacking prowess needed on either foot to be a wing back. But he could do what he does as an LB now, at LCB.

I want to see (considering it looks like we're going to buy no new defenders, and only it seems, a striker.) Courtois Zouma Terry Azpi Willian RLC Cesc Matic Kenedy Costa Batayushi

Ah for fuck's sake

Costa is going nowhere. Fucking media.

Christ. I hope Conte knows what he's doing.

Yeah, a great CB that Terry and Zouma will bench. What's the point when it doesn't enhance the quality of the squad? waste of money.

Roman isn't spending anymore. Get used to it.

That gives me even more reason to believe our signing will be very limited - we usually end up doing the opposite of what the senior figures in the club say we will. Lichtsteiner will be one, but that could well be it in terms of fresh signings.

Will he? He knows the fans were with him until the end. The fans knew he was prepared to lead until the end. There was a mutual understanding. Abramovich doesn't order decisions by himself - the board can and did decide to force him out by themselves. I guarantee Jose will show us the utmost respect. He isn't the little boy we employed way back in 2004.

Because that's what he's going to do. What sort of fan are you then mate, a) thinking Utd will turn us over and B ) thinking that our ex gaffer would do that to us despite the history we would have. No other manager has ever done that to an ex club, ask Big Sam for example. So yeah, I will suit myself. I won't forget how divisive the decision was, but the matchgoers in the pubs around the Broadway as a collective deemed a positive judgement on him, and we all stuck together and belted his name out against Sunderland. Just like we did to force the board's hand and give JT a new contract.

Jose's name will be sung at the Bridge because he is one of the most successful managers we've ever had, and many of those at the Bridge and away (including me) appreciate that. One poor season does not tarnish that. You can think he's a cunt, whatever you feel personally for him is irrelevant because you can't take away what he's achieved here. And you certainly can't be annoyed for a section of fans recognising that. Jose loved this club, but if you can forgive Petr Cech and accept his reasons for joining a direct rival then you can understand Mourinho's very similar ones.

Hell, I'd be chipper about even Baker and Ake comng into the fold. Not sure about RLC; I think we should give him a run of games, first 5 perhaps, and make a judgment then. Having those midfielders + Matic, Mikel gives us a lot of rotational options. Yes, like I say Lichtsteiner is a short term solution to a long term problem of the squad. Azpilicueta is only good for us in a certain niche and that niche is on the left side (which is the reason why he will never feature extensively for his national side). Furthermore, Baba imo is simply not good enough and our fullbacks cannot wait any longer - it's the biggest weakness in the team for me. Purchasing him gives us time to sort it out. Could Aina be the solution? Dasilva? Baba (with a top flight loan spell)? It's one of the few positions where we don't already have a pool of talent, so imo we'll have to look to the market to solve that problem. Carvajal might be worth looking at. Or we could revisit turning Willian into an RB

Tbh I think Dave is actually a better force at LB than he is at RB. Can't cross very well on his right, can't provide enough width. Whereas on the left it allows him to cut in for Terry and also frees up Hazard more. It just works better for all parties. Lichtsteiner is an intelligent player. I wouldn't be averse to it, not for £6m equivalent anyway. Though if we are in for him, we certainly will not be giving him a 4 year contract if we waited until the end to give Terry a one year deal. 2 years would be sensible I reckon.

19 years old. My point still stands up. Ake has had tons of first team experience, quite a portion of it here at Chelsea. As has Zouma. For experience, we have Terry, Cesc, Azpilicueta, Diego, Pedro, Begovic for example. 2 youth players is NOT a substantial risk. At MK Dons, where Dele Alli also came from, Karl Robinson remarked on Lewis Baker as 'the most hardworking player he's ever met'. He's literally the profile of player we've been crying out for, along with Ake in that midfield area. Baker was an ever present last season for Vitesse. Yes, RLC is a gamble compared to those two; but we'll only find out one way and we have many other options if that particular experiment fails. It's not like we're fielding our whole damn youth team. I just see absolutely no gain in buying mediocre players when we could make some world class ones ourselves. A good experienced RB, though, maybe wouldn't go amiss. Lichtsteiner actually would be a good addition imo, that creates a balanced side.

No, that's the attitude that will get this team nowhere. Buying a ton of average players would give us a Man Utd period of having no success for the next 3 years, hovering around 5th-6th and entrapped in a rut of not being attractive to the calibre of players we need but having enough money to sustain that by buying wastefully. Man Utd's only flare this season has come from Rashford, an unheard of 18 year old boy 3 months ago. Tottenham's team is incredibly young and damned near won the league, sorry but if we want to return to the top we're better off nurturing a crop of excellent players ourselves. It's absolutely about the future. May I remind you that we need a stadium in 17-18 to play in. If the yids have CL football and we do not, the likelihood of Wembley slipping through our fingers is very high, regardless of the money we throw at the FA. Buying Rudiger and whatever other crap we're looking at now Nainggolan and Lukaku aren't going to happen will not do that. NB: Ake had a fantastic season at Watford, was a player of the year there, and was actually playing out of position for the season. He's not a gamble, he will almost certainly succeed here.

Who knows? We'll only find out if we put some faith in him. If Chelsea hasn't changed though we'll end up with average players that deny either of them team chances.

I'm really going to think we may end up with nobody, and I'd rather play youth than buy average players like Rudiger, for example. If we were feeling really adventurous I'd love to see a Baker-Ake-RLC midfield, maybe with Cesc further back, or a 3-5-2 system. As for the defence, we're not going to get Stones. Each party pissed the other one off, it's not going to happen. I'd like to see that bloke (#43?) who played in the last game of the season play there a bit, but I can actually see us beginning the season with (+ more chances for youth for example JCS) Azpi-Zouma-Terry-Baba or with Iva, but in my opinion he will be sold. I'll monitor those we send on loan next season more, like Jordan Houghton, (probably) Mario Pasalic - those that have potential. Courtois Azpi - Zouma - Terry - Baba Cesc RLC Ake Baker Costa Hazard* Next season? Playing that side will probably scare a lot of people, though. NB: Hazard would be a false 9, that left side/centre left of the pitch would be completely his territory. Relying on Azpilicueta to provide all the width on the right side is probably not a good thing to do though. Like I say, that new RB fella would probably fit right in. I still think Terry will keep Cahill or anybody else that comes along out of the side, as long as Zouma is next to him. Although hopefully (unless it is magically for England somehow) we won't be seeing too much of Cahill-Terry again. In the event of Terry being absent, I think Cesc and the Gaz will get the armband.

To be honest Mark Noble or a 'rich man's Henderson' would be a pretty good result actually. Noble never underperforms for West Ham, and as much as it annoys me, when I see Henderson for England I can see glimpses of talent - if Baker could pull off the passes that Henderson often tries and over hits, he could be quality for us.

His apparent connection with Baker should be exploited imo. Bring them both back.

With our new stadium we're not going to be big spenders anymore, not for a few seasons anyway - therefore we won't spend more than £50m and most of that will be balanced with outgoings. So I've earmarked 2 new signings for what I'm about to write, as well as returning loanees of course. Next season we should be blooding in youth. That Tomori kid impressed me, have to say. Since this season means blooding and rebuilding, Courtois gets the benefit of the doubt, but I'd not be bothered if we replaced him with, say, Fraser Forster. It's an unpopular opinion, but I think Pedro and Willian are very similar players, and one has just greatly appreciated in value - cash in on him. I've put a variety of possible formations, and this means we could see a lot of rotation. 4-3-3 narrow Courtois New RB Zouma Terry Azpili Ake Matic RLC Pedro Costa Hazard Fabregas Could also slot in here - as a false 9 for Costa, or in a slightly more supportive role. However, this relies on the wingers being more direct. Traore could come in for Pedro, for instance. 4-4-2 Diamond Courtois New RB Zouma Terry Baba Fabregas Ake Matic Musonda Hazard Traore Much more ball playing. Technically able players dominate, but it is a less direct team. 3-5-2/3-4-3 Courtois Tomori Cahill Dave Pedro Matic RLC Baba Palmer Costa Fabregas A tad more youthful - still an attacking threat, but gives Hazard's legs a rest. Fabregas is a false 9, as he is for Spain, and cuts in from the left hand side. Finally, 4-2-3-1 Courtois New RB Zouma Terry Azpi Ake RLC Pedro Cesc Hazard Costa A more familiar formation, but with a more dynamic pivot - RLC and Ake. N.B. , if we were to get Nainggolan then RLC may as well leave now. New RB? Clyne, perhaps, or we could instead put Dave at RB (which I personally don't like, but others do) and play a youth like Jay Dasilva there.

To be honest I think he'll be put back in central midfield if he does come back for us next season; could be a very good asset there.

Conversely, his drop in form after we sold him to Utd means that Mourinho was right to cash in on him at the time.

YES FAMMMMMM

Actually that decision was partially correct; Mata has done nothing in his time at Man Utd to justify staying here - it's just a pity his replacement never stepped up.

@CHOULO19 and the above payment argument: I'd say that John Terry's maximum wage will NOT be £60k/week - that will be his basic pay. He will have lots of bonus clauses - 10, 20, 30 appearances etc that will substantially increase a payout, as well as trophies won etc... I really want JT to stay and I've thought he would for the last 2 months, but now it's time for him to put his money where his mouth is - he thinks he can play for 2 more years, if he's right then he will fight his way back into the team, trigger these clauses and in all likelihood earn something similar to what he has this season. I personally think he will, especially when Zouma returns from injury and that solid legs-brains partnership can make a return. Hell, if Roy had half a cajone he'd be training with England right now. People think they know more than the manager on here - scream for x manager's head for selecting Brana at right back, but when the alternative is played they realise why he was being played there - and similarly every manager would rather select half fit JT over Ivanovic at CB. I personally think it's Ivanovic who will be sold this summer.