Kostas

Can't say I trust talksport for such stuff but I certainly hope it's true. No club can afford to let a talent like Kakuta walk away without giving him a proper chance.

After the Stoch shock I don't have enough courage to follow our loanees.. I wish good luck to Ryan as everything suggests that he has no future with Chelsea.

Why do you bother with that crap?I've been getting all my Chelsea news only from various forums, blogs and twitter for some tme now and haven't looked back.

The only thing I can say with certainty is that we overpaid for him. As for the rest,the jury is still out.

I'm certainly not comparing our success with Barcelona's. What I'm saying is that both team worked and operated like a perfect machine. Cole's overlaps were tactical just like Lampard's late runs in the box,Messi's dribbling,movement and his 1-2s with Alves. Sometimes I'd rather watch unpredictable but flawed players like Ronaldinho(05-07) than Messi as most things he and his Barcelona side do feel a bit mechanical/industrial. I'm probably using the wrong words but the point that I'm trying to make is that the "perfectness" of their style/play can get old to a non-supporter. A perfect example of how it can get boring after a while is the World Cup winning Spain. They were playing much like Barcelona (being more or less as effective as them) but were lacking the extra inspiration that Messi sometimes brings to the table, IMO it made them one of the most dull and boring national sides I've seen. It was probably a bad example but when Di Stefano's Real and the Dutch Milan are being mentioned in the same breath as 1970 Brazil by everyone I can't doubt those teams. Milan were certainly in a more competitive league and not knowing about Spain's league back then I am willing to assume that it could hardly be less competitive than the current La Liga. Cool

Anything from playing in an uncompetitive league to preferring sides with more flair could be used against them. Last year some described Chelsea as a well-oiled machine and that's exactly how I feel about the current Barcelona side. As a neutral I would vote for any of the brilliant Brazil teams or the legendary Real and Milan teams as I value unpredictability more than effectiveness. Oh and I still hate them for 2009

Calling them the best ever is a bit over the top but I can't see how anyone can argue against them being the most dominating football side ever.

Guess he needs his own thread then..

Unlucky kid.

Casillas Maicon - Samuel - Terry© - A.Cole Essien(v2008-2009) Xavi Messi - Drogba - Villa - Ronaldo

I've read nothing but praises about this one. Does it live up to the expectations so far?

Guess this suits the Mancs. Still I'd rather face them when we're in better form.

http://tinyurl.com/35gfnva

Not related to football matters ≠ Matthew Harding Stand

Considering his effect on the Community Shield game this is almost as good as Lampard's return.

I'm shocked but this is a perfect draw, even at our current form their no real match for us. Arsenal should forfeit, losing 3-0 at Camp Nou is the best they can do. United got an easy opponent and Spurs will be a match for AC Milan.

Agree 100%, especially with the bolded.

Since when are we that obsessed with huge and strong strikers ? I know Drogba is the best of his kind and that we've grown used to his style but shorter,weaker and better dribblers have certainly their uses. Under Ancelotti good crosses are few so it's not like we are build around his style of play.

To be honest I wouldn't mind if his goals led us to a PL-CL double and >80 millions for our club Everything I've read about Ganso suggests that he's as good as you say. And I can certainly trust the opinion of Brazilians as they have seen the likes of Romario, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho before they were even known in Europe.

Not on the bench they cant.

København would be great. Knowing UEFA and their draws we'll probably get AC Milan or Roma. United will have the easiest draw and Arsenal will ..uhm..nevermind.

^^ Saved.

Agreed, while I've been arguing that we're short of numbers at central midfield and central defence what seems to have hit us is being short of quality upfront. God knows what happened to Anelka and with Kalou being a non-option and young Sturridge being played out of position we are left with just one Striker. The Board tried to get Neymar but just like with Begovic the selling club didn't give in and it was decided that we shouldn't bid for someone else. I don't have high hopes for January, our summer targets are unlikely to move and Srna will only come if Bosingwa doesn't get a new contract.

LMAO @ Tony Blair being a skater. I agree with zolayes (!), stupidity and ignorance are common among humans.

We did bid 30m for Neymar during the summer, check the previous pages.