Essien19

Van Gaal has his problems, but i disagree that guys like Martial can't develop under the Dutch. Having a style of play isn't a bad thing, more importantly they try to dominate the opponents by having the ball, that's not bad. Van Gaal let young guys play, they gain week in and week out important experience. Yes, Martial has got a heavy price tag, but someone like Lingard makes the cut too. He isn't afraid of dropping one of his own and expensive players, take a look at Memphis. Yes, Rooney is a mystery, but that's just one and the captain. Guys like Alaba or Muller became class, now history is repeating itself.

Back in the day, didn't the board made the choice between Mangala and Zouma? I like Zouma, he's serious about his career and gives his best, but Mangala is a damn good defender and young too. I think at that time Mangala was too expensive, otherwise we would have brought him in. We'll see who will be "better", can't complain about the choice. For me the more interesting question is who is going to be Zouma's next partner? Stones would be perfect i think Mangala and Zouma have too many similarities...

Didier Drogba: Some heavy shit, grist to the mill for every speculator, can't believe that the king said something like that. It's upsetting me big time, fucking shit. The book has to be ordered, at least by baby Jesus. Maybe that's the bitter sweet revenge for calling him a "diver". We really need to collect the three points from now on, that's the only way to shut them up.

Yeah, i remember that bet, opened my fat mouth, but i still don't have a problem with it I would pay a lot more money to see Chelsea in the Champions-League next season, no matter what's going to happen, the club or this fan community will be on the receiving end. It could be a lot worse... I read you're familiar with numbers, so by putting it all together, my situation has massively decreased. I give you that. Am i as confident as when i cockly approached you with my proposed bet? No, but i'm still not broken! Being honest is an important part of life so i don't have to beat about the bush about that. Now the bookies would love to place that bet, that's for sure. I like to play and everything that comes with it, the anticipation, the kick and the upcoming sweet. I need big pressure to bring out the best in myself, maybe the current Chelsea too. Last season we had a clean slate, no one was able to throw us off the porch, sky was the limit. That's different now, the inevitable thing is going to happen (soon), that means we'll be back on the horse! Will it be enough to get a top 3 finish? Already 14 points behind the third place, the media tries everything to take us to the cleaners, being the current laughing stock of the league seems almost impossible to recover from, but i have seen more difficult comebacks in recent history (take a good look at Klopp's Dortmund in his last season). I think for Mourinho and his stuff, the team and Abramovich it's not over yet, so my hope is still there. Watching every game, praying for the best, but still not good enough by getting the results needed, is frustrating but definitely not boring. We'll see what a result we'll get.

Maybe in a couple of months we'll be near the places for the Champions-League, who knows. I prefer looking at the whole season instead of making premature decisions after 12 games, yes, the outcome thus far hasn't been impressive, we can agree on that. But we aren't talking about freshmens.

So all of them are current Champions of England? Being ahead in the table means being the better manager? I strongly disagree with you, but if you like to think so, alright.

If we decide to sell Oscar and buy another number 10, we won't have any depth. Why not buy a good player who he can compete with and rotate wisely. Yes, i know very unlikely with the current business model in place, sad!

Neymar cuts it for Brazil, he is a leader and is not afraid to lead the line. Same goes for the UCL, he takes games by the balls, absolutely outstanding these days. Overall these two guys have different qualities, but the main difference between those two is the ability to score actual goals. Goals change matches and Hazard said himself that he can't hit those numbers. Yes, both players sometimes hold on too long to the ball, but when we're comparing the technique Neymar is ahead and maybe Hazard's vision is better, but not that much, when you take a look at the interplay between Neymar, Suarez and so on. For me Neymar has stepped up big time, nowadays he has become a lot more efficient and his show offs have really decreased.

Don't know if Hazard has Neymar's ceiling, there is no shame admitting to that... I severely underestimated Neymar's abilities in the last years, really astonishing how he has upped his game since 2012, his technique has always been superb, but now there is so much more than that. A man needs hope, dreaming is the least we can do.

Has been poor so far, opinions?

For me, currently the best player in the world! A man can dream.

For me that's a good thing. There must be more pressure on Diego Costa, he really has to step it up now and i think better competition could do it. Willian has upped his game since the arrival of Cuadrado, we need to do a Willian. In the past it worked with Higuain and Benzema, or Anelka and Drogba. Futhermore with someone like Aubameyang we are able to play with two very good strikers up front, he is able to play on the wing, offers a lot to the team. Yes, Remy can play in that positions too, but as you already said, we would get someone with more ambitions and in my point of view a far better player who is able to play in the UCL. Big fucking win! If Griezmann is also on the table, i would take him over Aubameyang, we'll see how it will turn out. I think we'll get some players in the upcoming window.

What about Aubameyang? This dude is banging them in for fun. I would be surprised seeing Costa gone, but a good second striker is desperately needed...

It seems that the so called one piece will be staying whole for some time. I prefer it this way. We'll see, but i expect a busy window, Mourinho will go guns blazing, should be fun, can't get worse anymore.... Who knows, we'll have to speculate and see how it will turn out, exciting, not giving up... :blue scalf:

Ramires has already renewed his contract, of course he's staying. Mikel is useful to have as a backup, doesn't complain about the bench, could be worse... Matic will command big bucks, for quite some time he has been playing absolutely shite. If Mourinho would like to make the change and bring in a better player, it's his call to make. I don't find it that astonishing that some of last season's key players will leave, we desperately need to make changes. Can't continue like this...

................Griezmann............Lacazette....... .............................Fabregas ..................Willian.............Texeira...... .............................Neves...... Azpilicueta...Zouma...Stones...Fabinho ...........................Courtois........... RUTHLESS...

Griezmann is missing, then we're good to go.

Bring this boy home... Maybe there is going to be a massive exodus in january, PSG has a lot of players i'd like to snap up. Verratti anyone?! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3318837/David-Luiz-does-not-want-return-Paris-Saint-Germain-fears-family-s-safety-following-terror-attacks-France.html

Bieber is successful, can't take that away. But take a good look at his awards, has he won something that makes him compete with someone great like Adele? I don't think so, the juries do have the some opinion, earning money doesn't make him a serious artist, therefore he gets no significant trophies! Serious cups are important, whatever you do, bringing the trophy home make most people happy. All their hard work they have had to put in have been rewarded, for me there's no better feeling. You are relevant, you are getting good results. What's boring? I think being a loser, being useless and minor, i don't want that and most of the football players and non football people don't like that either. Currently, our style of play is shit, but it's not always been these way, which Chelsea manager played better football than Jose 2014?

Money is important; almost everyone needs it and lots of clubs have money, but the question remains: On whom do they spend it on? You must put brain on it; an idea has to be developed, money alone will get you nowhere. It's a sad example, but because of the money the Premier-League clubs should do much better in Europa, especially in the Europa League. Spanish clubs use their brain and dominate the Europa League, unbelievable. I don't like Roberto Mancini, but you have to give the man some credit! 1 Supercoppa Coppa Italian twice 3 times in a row the Italian Championship (Ferguson did it in a tough league, who else?) 1 FA Cup 1 Championship (won the battle against Ferguson, who never ever wanted that to happen) For me that's very impressive! He is far away from being a crappy manager! Achieving those things is not that easy, a lot of skill is required! But he ain't word class, i give you that. Luckily, we don't have to make a binary choice! Pellegrini won the Championship with Manchester City, because he is also a good manager. If money is the only thing needed to win trophies, why is Manchester United doing jack shit with one of the most expensive squads in the league's history? What happened in Madrid during the past 13 years? Lot's of years they crashed out early in the UCL, but they almost always bought in some very expensive players. PSG are trying everything they can to win the UCL, but until now they haven't done it yet. Titles bring the club in the spotlight, but establishing an identity is similar important. Mourinho doesn't only bring in titles, he does far more. I have seen Chelsea play a lot and sometimes i take a look at other teams, but cross your heart: Chelsea 2004/2005 and Chelsea 2014/2015 were one of the best teams in the history of the club. Apart from all the glory and the expensive players, he made it work more than once. That's very impressive and at the end of the day should count for something.

Lets use simple maths. Which football manager has won more cups than Mourinho during the last 12 years? Which manager tested himself in the 3 big countries? Name me one, please!

I don't think the likes of Payet, Cabaye, Cedric, Van Diyk and so on are currently used as a fiat. They dominate and and their teams are playing to their strengths. For me the so called small teams have stepped up big time and no other league has that amount of competition in their league!

I think the big money coming in from the Premier-League sets Swansea up for good. They have a lot more money than most teams of the german league or your austrian league get. Overall, i think Swansea has regressed in their style of play, too many hoofballs in the direction of Gomis, that's not a nice change of play. If Chelsea goes big in january means, will Jose still be in charge? If so, i think we will go guns blazing for John Stones and other hot prospects, they won't fuck around anymore, we'll get at least one good player. Will that lead us to better times in the future? Don't know, but i think you're way too pessimistic. We have lost a lot of times during this early spell, but now we have a short break and after that easier games than before are coming, so we should really climb in the table and get some confindence back. Then we'll see.

Maybe he is a good coach (friend of Mourinho) but not so good when we're talking about buying the right players for the team. Swansea was really good, nowadays it's not looking so good for them, i like their style of play, but Gomis is a poor mans Bony. Jack Cork, happy that he made it, deserves it.

There are some legends out there, but i want the best coaches for the youth, not the best ex players. If you were a great player means jack shit, when we're talking about educating young prospects. Thierry Henry was a great player, but as pundit he is really bad, i think we're talking about Championship level as a pundit. That can also be said about the coaching ability from some of the former world-class players. The former Bayern Munich player "Mehmet Scholl" recently hit out at the new generation of the so called "laptop coaches" and "class winner coaches". Ex players feeling the heat and that's a good thing, nowadays football isn't only about balls and huge will, no it's a lot more strategic, you need to know how to use your brain. Lamps, Terry, Drogs will always be welcome at our club, but they have to compete with other guys (academics) for the job.