CurlyHairLikeLuiz

Ahh yes I forgot Remy can play in CAM form. As long as Drogba is quick enough... Azpi Zouma Terry Luis Rambo. Matic Schurrle Remy Hazard Drogba Then we can give Cescy a rest and Diego too.

@Leif That's what I said and I got derided for it Having said that though I think we really would have struggled, it was the right call to play full strength, although I think Remy would have been better suited to this game for the fact he has more raw pace

It's at home? Oh, I thought it was an away game lol Sp. Juan; Can you reopen the Lamps thread? That thing has been gathering dust for a good 2 months..

The shame of losing our first game at all is bad... Losing it to TOTTENHAM would make me cry on the inside. I could just about handle losing to the Geordie lads.

Due to fixture congestion we need some rotation badly; Play a good team tonight. I'd rather lose to the Geordies than Spurs, if at all. But; For Spurs night: Courtois Azpi Zouma Terry Luis Rambo Matic Salah Hazard Oscar Drogba As it stands, I think Drogba has pushed Remy back into 3rd choice striker, although really they both get hot swapped depending on what we need. As for Zouma, I rate him more than Cahill, tbh.. Never took to him myself Cesc could play as a CAM, substitute Salah for Hazard and put Fab in the middle if so; and then that leaves a medium strength squad for Saturday (Sunday?) One thing is sure though, rotation issues have taken their toll! Why Salah? I hear you ask. Why not? Can you pick between Schurrle and Salah? Strikers matter much less. Costa will be playing in the Newcastle match anyway so either can burn a full 90'.

So that was who it was! I'm not completely blind then. Maybe Jose was getting worried about Cahill?

Was I the only 1 who saw Rambo warm up and then go back to the bench? He was just what we needed.. Hopefully Drogba starts against Totters and Willian gets a rest. Maybe give Salah a run? Well done Sunderland, great defending. So this is what it must have felt like to play 13/14 Chelsea...

Poyet's parking the bus so much he might as well apply for a license..

With the variety of managers, situations, players, and problems Terry has seen and worked with Chelsea would be stupid not to offer him a coaching role when his legs finally can't cope anymore. Same with Drogba, too - Even Costa has many lessons he could learn off him. If only Lamps were here

I'm not exactly asking you to field the U16 defence... Luis aka 'the best left back in the world', Azpi on his stronger foot, Iva with his physicality in the centre and the backbone that is Terry... Seriously, too much to ask?

The other thing with Messi is that I'd imagine FFP has rules against the Adidas chips in style transfer, surely, and even if they don't, realistically to come here he will want to earn more money than Ronaldo, or in other words a wage packet of >£20 million, and over the past year or so Chelsea has been trying to stick within the rules... Even if we get him for £30 million after selling Willian, or £40-45 if we sell Schurrle, with a wage packet of £20m a year, factoring in merchandise sales of, say, £5 million, basically it's the equivalent first year of buying Torres again, and every year after that Danny Welbeck. Not that I'm saying it's not worth it, it's just the scale of it for just one player... Oh, and I have no doubt we'll get a load of unsavoury fans from Barca only there for Messi coming into the Chelsea circle.

I know it's not gonna happen but I'd like to see a back 4 of (left to right) Luis Terry (or Zouma to give him a rest) Iva Azpi to see how it goes

04/05 was less afraid to play ugly football and grind wins but I much prefer the current squad because they're amazing to watch. If we had the Drogba of then I think it'd be a no brainer. Oh, and Lamps too...I think my dream Chelsea team would be complete. EDIT: can't believe I forgot Joe Cole of the 1st Mou reign! Was my fav player when I was younger!

One has to go, Mou himself sad that the club can no longer have 5 replicas. I get the feeling that it will probably end up being Willian; we could get at least £25 million for him (more likely £30m ish) and if we managed to sign Messi for £30m we may have done the best deal football has ever seen and Willian is too good to stay on the bench imo. Also Mou still believes in Schurrle and I think I do too, he's quite a versatile player to have and he's just having a period of bad form atm.

I was sceptical before but if Adidas funds most of the transfer then £60mil is a bloody good deal - But; what would happen with Willian? Would he become our new bench warmer or keep Schurrle and sell Willian to help fund the transfer?

Imo, I think he *could* join here, but I really don't see a need for him...Rather see the money invested into the stadium and the academy. Don't forget, as we saw with Fabregas, changing League can have a fatal effect on stats. Also, the reason Fab didn't get game time at Barca was due to his area being Messi territory, and in the form he is at the moment, the Filipe Luis/Azpi dilemma comes to mind; who plays first? I don't think Messi is worth £200million. Now the best Barca midfield ever seen with Xavi etc is now retiring soon, he has slowed down. Having said that though, I don't watch Liga football. If the figure was £70-100m, however...

Hah obviously Reus is preferable but I think Salah could make it (...plus if Salah leaves it will ruin my FIFA chemistry )

Personally I think Salah should be given some starts and Cesc rested...doesn't seem his sharpest right now. Lovely game! Whole of the Chelsea lads: WP! Edit: Above comment doesn't count; didn't know Fabregas had an injury.

Fulham will JT be posting his response? Also all agreed with. Standing probably the biggest problem.

Yep but I can just see the banter we would get from here if we put lyrics in the booklets. Personally I think we should make MH and SE standing, making the Shed home only, and moving away fans into the West Stand, and putting up the price of general sale tickets and perhaps match day packages to subsidise member tickets and beer prices. It doesn't help atmosphere when I pay £60 for a ticket, make a 2 and a half hour round trip to get to the ground, walk through the turnstiles and then have to pay nigh on a 10er for some chips and a drink. Ends up being £100 for a night. In the end it's cheaper (and easier) to go watch the game on a stream off Wiziwig. Of course, the ultimate solution is stadium upgrades: Breaking news, in a world class and worldwide club, a 40,000 seater stadium will be high in demand. Unfortunately, with a world wide fan club brings a 'posher' demographic. In this way, it would almost be good to have a slump, as then it will be in less demand, prices go down, core fans can get tickets again. On the flags: Surely it wouldn't kill Chelsea to give them away...

It's a right laugh until you realise that human beings can actually be that stuck up their own arse...over a football club 20 places above them

Drogba's Brendan Rodgers impression Agreed Juan - Definitely proved the sceptics wrong - He is still the same Drogba as he was when he left.

Don't forget, in form or not, his position as club legend gives a boost in the dressing room - Especially good for the morale of the younger players. I'd imagine this is part of the reason Mourinho brought him back, he's always been fond of an added dimension of psychology in the game.

Schurrle isn't too bad at it - But even so, 4-6-0 is not exactly attractive football..

If all 3 strikers were out, who would we field? Schurrle?