RhesusReus

we can keep dodging 20 year old English players. Buy 26-30 year old English players and keep them for 3-4 years and then replace them with more 26-30 year olds that have lost the hype and shine they had at 20. Move out Mikel, Ramires, Falcao, and Cuadrado, and fill those squad places with good English players.

Why must we only buy the top rated prospects? Was Azpi a top rated prospect? This idea that only the best 20 year olds will make the best 26-32 year olds is silly, as the world of football is littered with mediocre 26 year olds that were once the future stars at 20 years of age. At 20, did you think Matic would be the best DM in the world? Nope. You don't always have to pay exorbitant amounts for players in hopes of them turning out great. All it takes is smart scouting. Just look at Juve. I'm just hope we won't pay 30m, or anything over 20m, which is already too much given the price of Zouma.

You are fine with paying 30m for a 20 year old? Azpi: 7m Cahill: 7m Ivanovic: 9.7m Zouma: 12m Luis: 15m That's what a a proper defender goes for. United just signed Darmian for 12.7m. English teams sell young players at a ridiculous price. I'd buy young European prospects at the 10-20m price range, and buy established English players for homegrown quota after they've had their 15m fee for potential future ability tax taken off. 30m is ridiculous. we laughed at PSG paying 40m for Luiz, who was a Brazil International, Champions League winner, and a big part of our team already, both as a CDM and as CB. This is a joke.

Let's put aside your ad hominem attack. "Stones is amazing." What? Thiago Silva is amazing. John Stones is decent. He's not some can't miss talent like Varane (who is also currently decent). Stone's a good CB with good potential. "Half the english players would have been good if handled by the right coaches." Wild assumption and completely irrelevant to wanting us to sign Stones. It's not descrediting his hype to claim that Cahill is a better CB. Cahill gets shafted in this team. He's the one that is left out on an island so Terry is protected. Ivanovic basically plays in the opponents half to provide width. In games where we park the bus, and Ivanovic actually plays in tandem with Cahill, it's a completely different story. You hear Gary Neville talk all the time about the space between a fullback and center-back as being the most important factor in defending. Well, if you haven't noticed, Ivanovic and Cahill are always miles apart, while Azpi is tucked in tight to Terry. Stones isn't really a requirement and that 30m can be better spent.

thanks.

that's laughable.

Barcelona isn't the only team that can over-run your midfield. Any team with a quality midfield will overrun us. Unless we go old-school and play two holding midfielders like Arsenal did with Petit and Viera. But I doubt replacing Cesc with Mikel to play two strikers will lead to more goals, since neither Costa nor Remy are close to the level of Henry and Bergkamp in terms of creating chances for themselves.

"They probably would not have made it." Why? How do you know? Would they not have had quality coaching and facilities? Would they not have been loaned out to a team like Vitesse (playing in a better league than the Belgian league)? What would have stopped Courtois from becoming a great keeper? What would have stopped De Bruyne from becoming a good midfielder? Nothing. They had talent and they were going to get plenty of game time in a good team, like Courtois did at Atletico and Lukaku did at West Brom. As for us developing players: The Academy has really gotten to being world class in the past 5 years or so, and you are starting to see the like of RLC making into the first team squad. Not every player is going to make the Chelsea squad, which is a top 5 European squad. Most will be like Ryan Bertrand and Patrick van Annholt and will be sold: both play regularly in the EPL. One or two every 5 years or so will make the Chelsea team. You make it sound like every prospect in the Chelsea academy is as good as a Courtois, or a De Bruyne, or Musonda. Most of them are pretty average talents. Right now is the truly great crop of academy players we've ever had. Before this period, Josh Mceachran was the best talent we've had at the academy, and he's no where near a Courtois or KdB or Musonda. You are going to see the likes of Boga, Musonda, Baker, Brown and Bamford all have good careers at other clubs besides Chelsea in the coming years. These players are the products of Chelsea academy when it became really top notch.

he's not. he's decent.

nope. don't want.

wow. some of you lot are getting out of control now. chill the fuck out. no one is ruining anybody. If you're talented, committed, and motivated, you will make it. Just look at De Bruyne. We aren't ruining anyone. These kids are getting their profiles raised by signing for Chelsea, they are getting the best facilities in the world for training and developing, they are geting paid handsomely, and they are getting loans to quality clubs. I like Musonda, and think he should be getting 1st team chances, but this absurd victimization of Musonda/youths and this pity party for the fallen young is silly. No one's career has been ruined because they signed for us. They either made it into the 1st team (like Courtois and Traore is about to) or they get sold to quality clubs (like Lukaku and KdB and Bertrand). again, calm the fuck down. If we have the next Hazard or Cesc in the youth, nothing Jose does is going to prevent that kid from making it big. Every youth player nowadays has a highlight reel on YouTube, gets insane social media attention, and has tons of games in u21s and European Club tournaments to prove themselves. So, stop crying tears for Musonda. He's going to be a great player if he keeps up. It's not going to be for us, of this I'm pretty sure, but Chelsea isn't ruining his career. He is considered one of Europe's best prospects and he'll have plenty of suitors.

Those kids have some seriously prime-time genetics. Seesh.

He's too good for the U21s and not really ready for Chelsea attacking-midfield. So, it's a really tough spot for him. There are three options open to the club: 1) Take a chance on him and throw him out here in proper matches to blood him. 2) Loan him out for a season to a professional team that will give him proper game time. 3) Sell him. I don't think Musonda spending another year in the U21s is helpful at all. He's ready to step up. I don't see why we can't play him in cup games. Throw him out wide in an attacking three of Musonda-Willian-Cuadrado and see what happens. And honestly, can Charly do any worse than the half-dozen games Cuadrado played? Juan was dog shit poor, and yet Jose has faith in him and thinks he'll come through. Why not show that faith in a youth player? Why does he reserve faith for the likes of Falcao and Cuadrado who may come through and not Musonda who may also come through. All three are a risky play. Of those three, i'd put faith in Musonda at this point. Game time can only benefit someone this good. He's not one of those that is going to crumble mentally if he has a bad game. He has future top player written all over him.

Schurrle wanted to leave. Do you understand that? We didn't sell him because we wanted to. He asked to be sold. HE ASKED.

Costa with his kids, and their friend.

AvB?

Victor Moses took his spot. Not too happy about this. Moses is fine and all, but Musonda is an extremely promising talent and we should be using these opportunities to give him experience.

Matic. Why? Because he's amazing. Sacrifices for the team. Gives his all. And is cool as a cucumber (well, until you try to snap his leg in half).

He'll get plenty of chances. For those claiming that getting double figures goals is easy because of Messi and Iniesta. Well: Hazard created 100 chances; Messi 93. Cesc created 93 chances; Iniesta 20, Rakitic 33, Neymar 53. Basically, Hazard and Cesc alone created more chances than the entire Barcelona attacking unit combined. He won't be starved at Chelsea. If Schurrle hadn't been dog shit to the start the season and ill, he would have been still with us because he would have scored 15 goals easy. Remember when he missed wide open net twice against Sporting? Pedro is a good sigining. Just not a great one that will push us into the elite bracket. We'll still be able to compete, but will need to have perfect performances against Barca and Bayern if we meet in the champions league. That's what's a little disappointing about the signing.

wouldn't give us Ox for Cech, but will give us Ozil? haha.

As long as Jose has a striker that can score goals, he'll win the league. If Costa is healthy, we'll just be fine. UCL, however, is different. away goal rules are really troublesome.

I'm talking about DMs. Busquets is 6'2. Javi Martinez is 6'3. Matic is 6'4. These are the top 3 DMs in the world. You can have small midfielders, like a Verrati or a Pirlo, but you better make sure you have a Thiago Motta or Paul Pogba beside them.

They are suing us. They want 3m from us for "raising Mo Salah's value", or they will go to court over it.

Follow footballitalia‏@footballitalia #Fiorentina want Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan and veto Mohamed Salah to #Inter , which lets in #ASRoma http://www.football-italia.net/69117/salah-roma-loftus-cheek-viola … #CFC #FCIM So, they are saying they won't sue us, but we have to loan them RLC. That's some Mafia shit these Italians are pulling off.

Maybe youth will get a chance? Maybe Traore and RLC will be actually utilized as something more than bit part players. Isn't that what people have been crying out for? Clubs can't bye 2-3 world class players every transfer window and bring in youth players. I don't see many La Masia players breaking through at Barca now that they have gone the Galacticos route with Neymar, Suarez, Arda, and soon Pogba. If Jose is going to bring through Traore and RLC, then I'm all for not signing world class players this window. Sure, we aren't likely to win the UCL that route, and will struggle to retain the EPL, but I'd like to see us add some young players into the mix so that in 2-3 years, they are top notch and competing at a high level as we reap the benefits. But if Jose pussies out and plays Ramires out wide and Mikel beside Matic as the primary alternative to our best XI, then I'm going to be miffed. Maybe the new contract he signed had guarntees that if youth players come through, the pressure to win trophies won't be so intense on Jose that he fears for his job. I hope that's the case. Otherwise, we're basically watching our rivals strengthen and hoping they are not improved enough to catch us. A dangerous game.