Essien19

We'll get them this time. Perfect game, good draw, imo.

Should we bring Rafa "home"? Mourinho gets a lot of stick because of playing "unattractive" for most of the time, how is Rafa doing? Sucking off every drop of creativity from James, Isco, Modric and others! Made Ronaldo stop scoring, incroyable. World class job done by a world class manager; hats off.

Top class play Arsenal, devastating counter attack. 2:0

My goalie Butland is keeping me up, lol.

Pastore was a big purchase, but i think you're overestimating the impact Pastore's transfer had on the market. There is always an effect, especially when we're talking about big money, that's crystal clear, but i don't think he revolutionized the market the way Cristiano Ronaldo did back in the day. I agree with you that Pastore couldn't live up to the expectations. Some scouts destined him to become the world's best player one day. He has a lot of potential, but could have received better mentoring, imo. Ferguson made Ronaldo an all-time great. He never had that. It's a bit worse, because he is still a bit of a luxuray player. Could have been better, i give you that. I think Chelsea didn't think Pastore would be good enough, at least not worth the effort of putting 40 mios on the table. Whether one think that they wrong or right comes down as a personal question; history shows that they weren't that far away from the truth, because some things would have been required to set in motion to make it work with Pastore, imo. At that time City could offer a nice project; top salaries, experienced manager, very ambitious and an identity as a long-established club. I totally agree with your point that we could have snapped up the likes of Silva, Toure and Aguero. The executives of PSG are smart people, they are doing good stuff for quite some time, imo. Ibrahimovic will part ways very soon, Lavezzi too, Lucas is injury prone and not reliable on, Cavani takes his rightful place upfront, so who is going to play in the attacking unit? Pastore could need a helping hand, don't you think? For me, it's good to have some depth, you need some rotation, therefore in their current squad both Di Maria and Pastore comply with the requirements. Maybe for one season it's a bit tight, but it won't be forever this way. Having Pastore only for a backup role around would be a crime against football, i agree with you. On some points we reached an agreement, on others not. Overall, nice having a discussion with you.

According to your bio you're an oldie (no hearm meant) and as a granddad your time is fully enganged and maybe you forgot to add this? It's one thing to believe that Chelsea won't go to the top, justified after the season so far, but relegation is a different case. You need to chill the fuck out, for god's sake, christmas is knocking on our doors and children can read too, stay positive man. You know what?! If we get relegated i double my announced billing and consider nothing from you in return. How about that?!

After beating Leicester (possible, imo) we still need to overcome 14 points. We must go on a run as soon as possible. I think City has cemented its place within the top 3, Wenger will grind out enough results no matter how bad the injuries get (imo), that leaves one spot. As long as Van Gaal is around, i think we will have shot, i rate the Dutchman, but at the moment he acts like the mad king, for example take a look at his substitutions. 1) Against Wolfsburg his team desperately needs goals, therefore he subbs off Schweinsteiger and their best player Mata, very bad, imo. 2) Against Bournemouth his players had lost it again and they played hoofballs without any direction. What did he do? He subbs off their best player Fellaini (perfect for this kind of football) and in the injury time he brings on a defender while 2:1 down. I'm lost for words, i'm an amateur, but how is he going to justify this? The Yids have a very good starting lineup, but their squad lacks depth; no backup striker, lack of good replacement for the defence and so on. That will hurt them over the course of the season, imo. In my point of view it's a typical Chelsea situation; against all odds. It's ridiculous when taking the worth of the team into consideration, i give you that. Mourinho: A lot of things have to go in our favour, but the season is still young, we haven't even played half of the games in the league and it's not impossible to finish strong and maybe find ourselves up in the third place in may. Accoring to our bet, my situation has become worse, nowadays the odds would be better. I think you'll see it differently and be a lot more pessimistic and negative than i'm about it, fairplay, it's one way to think and the season so far can get you the impression, imo. The bookies back it up. i think. An older Chelsea fan (a father and in the prime of his life) is getting more and more fed up by Jose Mourinho's antics too. In the past he already called him arrogant because of his project "Radamel Falcao", assumes he lost control of the dressing room some time ago, Eva scandal didn't go well with some of the players, thinks Chelsea relied too much on the brilliance of Eden Hazard and more or less thinks Mourinho is finished at Chelsea (most of this was before Porto, have to check again, but the situation in the league is still there). It's well known over town that i don't share the believe that Jose Mourinho's days are already numbered. But whether i like it or not, in the last interview there were some passages where one can fall a bit into mediation. Jose Mourinho:

How long does his contract run? Make your evaluation when his contract is up, i think you wouldn't want to be evaluated when you still have time left. When i get some free time i will take a look at your old posts because i'm just curious: Have you ever said something positive about Chelsea and our coach? @Fulham Broadway good posts, keep them coming

Now the Mancs have to shut the up because they lost too against the mighty Bournemouth. Van Gaal looked really angry, imo. Can he survive this season?! Howe is doing a fantastic job, so many injuries but he grinds out results against Chelsea and United. I like Bournemouth, hope they can survive in the Premier-League.

Yes, we can settle for naive, but it's not doing big Rom any huge favours, he should had a better adviser and i don't mean Raiola. That's on the club and the player. I didn't rate Torres very much, i wanted him out as soon as possible, but was Lukaku overall really better than the Spaniard back in the day? When we make the comparison now i take Lukaku all day long, but at that time? Lukaku had to improve on his first touch, his positioning, link up play, play with his back to goal (imo) and so on. Torres scored in the big games; especially against Bayern Munich and Atletico and that was because of his movement, imo. Lukaku wasn't ready, especially during the world cup he looked out of place. He just needed more time. Now he's ready and living up to his potential, can get close to the Drogs, imo. Mourinho is a grown man and fully experienced, i agree with you that he could have made him stay. Tragic, that his short-term successor Eto'o fucked it up against Atletico, at least he put the game to bed, imo. That's really frustrating, i get it, but one can't have it all. It's a very lame and odd excuse, i know, but no one is perfect and all people make mistakes. We can only look in the future and try to avoid this kind of "failures"...

It's alright mate, finally we have reached an agreement. Yes, BBC didn't do it for the football, they did it for the clicks what means in the end more money. Therefore they didn't include all the necessary numbers. It's your right to point the finger. I fully agree with this. Some users however won't. I heard trophies are just for tourists and for the museum, one can look up low scoring results on the internet and so on. But that's how it is, everyone has his own idea about the perfect game. Regards

How do the cases of Lukaku and Courtois differ? Both played great for their clubs, both are young players, but for Courtois Mourinho removed one of the best goalkeepers who ever graced the Premier-League from he lineup. I think Lukaku is getting better and better, he will most likely become one of the best strikers in the game. He just needed more time to develop and mature, this season he is scoring for fun, imo. I think Lukaku is a popular guy, he posts pictures with a lot other young football players in social media and seems like a genuinely nice guy, imo. But there is one thing that i don't like about him. He lacks respect, why?! He knew what he was getting into when he hired that prick Raiola and now he's doing the dirty work for him. Now we arrive at the old question: does a good prospect or player justify everything? In this case, i go with Ferguson and Mourinho all day long; for me big no! Lukaku isn't that good that i would tolerate this kind of behaviour.

What i like about Ferguson is his approach to the game. It's what the likes of Scholes and Gary Neville did criticise in their modern days game; simply the lack of attacking. Although Ferguson had more or less job security he was never ever afraid to think outside the box, he adapted quickly, for example to Chelsea back in the day. His lineups had changed over the years. His Manchester side with Ronaldo was something else. But some firms believe that only young people can be creative.... Maybe Ferguson was sometimes too ruthless with his players, i think Berbatov could have been handedly differently, especially leaving him out against Barcelona, that was just unfair, imo. That's where Mourinho and he differ, of course in their approach too, but Mourinho would never do that before such a big game. I think Mourinho is closer to his players and i respect that. They both handle the media perfectly, i like the evaluation of the officials too, sometimes pure comedy, but that's just my two cents worth. I think it's impossible for Mourinho to reach Ferguson's heights, but he has already admitted to it and there is not shame in it, imo. I don't think you need to be so serious about it, most people like the thought that it's the best deal possible. For me, Mourinho is part of the Chelsea family and sometimes we all go over the line, Real Madrid backs Cristiano every time for Ballon d'Or, no matter what. That's the spirit, yes, you have made your valid points, maybe more logical, but it's a Chelsea community, so what you do expect? Everyone's girlfriend is the most beautiful in the world, that's what it is. You win some, you lose some, but if you win more and more instead of losing, you don't need to be numbers nerd that a future crowning is becoming more and more a possibility. So i do think that the best PL win percentage of all time has its use. At the end of the day there is no winner her, imo. Football is about emotions and in some cases it's difficult to overcome them. You call some of us "Mourinho fanboys" i feel some frustration, so even yourself aren't that logical all the time, instead of staying with the arguments, you get emotional attached and choose a different path (no harm meant). But that's what happens in football, everything gets personal, imo.

I think one can say that Courtois is a better allround keeper than Neuer was at his age. But currently Neuer is for me the number one. During a game there were rarely any shots on target, most of the time Neuer is just unoccupied. I have seen both play in the arena. Sometimes Neuer's action do look a bit kamikaze, but his aura and how he handles a game, sometimes he goes to the centerline are unbelievable for me. When he comes out, most of the time it's the perfect moment and his saves, Benzema comes into mind, just brilliant. Furthemore the games at Schalke against Porto and United were one of the best goalkeeping games ever, imo. Neuer could play as a midfielder, that's just how good his footballing abilities are, at least for me. Courtois is on the fast lane, if he can keep it up, he will most likely surpass him. Agree to disagree. Cheers.

In 27 years 13 Championships. Mourinho: 5 seasons 3 Championships. Jose Mourinho isn't doing so bad, is he?! I don't want to say who is the best, they all are very good managers. Ferguson did it time and time again, kudos to him, but his European record isn't that good so every person has his weak spot. The thing which is laughable here (imo) is that some people call their own people fanboys just because they like their manager. Everyone who doesn't get in line is just a fanboy or the media is shit, what about freedom of opinion?!

I hope it's better suited in here, complain, if not. The Pastore thread is now closed, i checked it out. You have shown time and time again that you posses great football knowledge. It's safe to claim that you watched Pastore more than i did. I didn't follow him match by match, sometimes i watched him play, but that's it. Let's get right into it. I think the first season of Pastore, the boy just turned 21, he was the real deal. He was their center of the play and lived up to the hype, imo. Scoring 13 goals, getting 6 assists in the league was great. Yes, sometimes he went underground, but he could cut it. Therefore Paris fans wrote a song about him, Paris fell in love with him, imo. The problem was Paris didn't win jack shit back then and after buying more big players he wasn't the center of attention anymore. Until the end of 2014 his time wasn't that glorious anymore, Ancelotti's christmas wasn't good for him, some labeled him a flop, he needed time to figure shit out. He is 26 now so there is time left for him to rise. I think his transfer has already been worth the effort. I think you got a point here; at times one can get the impression that he is sometimes a bit lazy. He is lightweight, so the approach to the game has to be adjusted for him. Back in the day when the boy was just a 21 freshman, a tougher (more physical) league could have done some good to the boy. The term "El Flaco" doesn't come out of thin air. You have already said it, he has worked on his off the ball movements, but it could have happened earlier, lack of world class facilities and man-management are here to blame for, imo. For me, bulking up and becoming a harder worker are things you can learn. Masterful vision and great dribbling abilities not, at least not when you're older. That's a god-given gift, imo. During a game the players interchange passes as wells as positions. Mata and Pastore wouldn't have been riveted to one spot, they would have changed their positions more than once. If i remember correctly, in the games against Chelsea Pastore often came from outside, put in some nice crossings and his goal was pure gold. For me he could have been a success a Chelsea, but the environment has to be right. At that time, it wasn't

If we really want him, we'll get him. I can agree with this, friend. David Luiz will be all over the place, bad mouthing like an old blabbermouth, will it be enough? Don't think so, Willian is our super weapon, he will shut him up once and for all in this case. I'm sorry but i disagree with you. At that time, i think it was around 2011, Chelsea cried their eyes out for an creative winger, imo. Teaming up with Mata would have worked some wonders, imo, but maybe we wouldn't have bought Eden Hazard. I choose Eden Hazard all day long. I don't get the point, why he didn't fit into Chelsea at that time? Back in the day, Pastore was ~22 years old and looking for the next step as well as others had done it before him. The physical aspect can't be the point, because of guys like David Silva. What was so different between him and Mata? Mata fitted in nicely, i think. I didn't watch most of the PSG matches, but from what i have seen and heard, Pastore has been worth the money. Cantona: PSG fan: They fuckin' love and admire him. Not because of his looks, i must say. Is Lucas reliable? A lot of times i tried to watch a PSG game, he was hurt. I think Ibrahimovic's time at PSG will come to an end, it won't take such a long time. Put Cavani upfront, there you have the room for Teixeira.

It's Pastore all over again, they really don't like us... [emoji30]

I'm not only dreaming of James, there are other guys too. I think we'll get someone, whom, i don't know. You're right, it shouldn't become an addiction, but that's far away. Just football. For me, there's nothing wrong with having a little dream, makes it easier to fall asleep at night or a short getaway to go through the day. Just contrary views, not the first time. Life continues...

A man can dream, especially during Christmas, never take that away, there is a little boy inside every man, never forget!

Don't be the grinch, pls.

Maybe we can get Benteke. I think Klopp prefers a different type of striker and Benteke would be the ideal target man for Mourinho and he could get the best out of Costa, imo. Moreover he's friends with Hazard. Gundogan is a very good player, but don't you think that Mourinho would field him as a number 10 like he did with Modric? If Loftus-Cheek can't up his game, maybe we should take a look at Kondogbia, but haven't seen him this often so far. Baba is getting better and better, age is his friend, but Terry's not. I would go again for Stones. Offer big money and some prospects. Another transfer request, disaster for the them all over again, have fun. Maybe we stand a chance this time.

What a buy that would be. If it's possible, sign him up. For me, he's a lot more efficient than Isco. Very intelligent, i think he has a degree in engineering. Big statement, if we get him. I think all the Blues must send a present to Benitez for making it happen. Kind of an inside job. [emoji4]

Should have been more precise with his first chance. That was a big one, sloppy shot, imo.Otherwise i agree with you, haven't seen much this season, but from what i have seen, best performance, imo.

For me, there was no physical contact between Casillas and Costa. Casillas faked it and tried to get Costa send off, absolute disgraceful behaviour, but nothing new, i never bought the nice guy image. So glad we threw him out of the CL, does not deserve anything.