Gilvorak

Stop it lad. He's miles better than both Azpilicueta and Ivanovic and it isn't be a debate. Only a handful of fullbacks can pull off that assist yesterday. Juventus, Atletico, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern the elite teams all play with offensive fullbacks stop acting like it's a foreign concept in football that's only limited to Arsenal.

How is this Varane nonsense still going on here? We have zero chance of getting him. ZERO. Stones is more realistic.

Yep. We already have a Khedira-lite player in Ramires. No need for him here.

Are football fans always this naive & dismissive of other teams? You think Arsenal will go on forever without challenging for the title? Throwing out baseless & cringeworthy lines like mental strength & grit is ridiculously short-sighted. They can actually keep their best players unlike a few years ago, they've went from signing average/marginal talent like Gervinho, Benayoun to World Class players like Ozil, Sanchez, it looks like they've finally found their solution in DM with Coquelin & we can no longer throw the trophyless jibes at them considering they've won trophies in successive seasons now. The only remaining question is can they keep their best players fit for long periods? If Cesc, Oscar, Costa & JT all missed large portions of the season where would we have finished exactly? And I said better SQUAD which is undeniable. Comparing player vs player is entirely subjective & pointless, we undoubtedly have the superior names but there's no question they have the squad depth we severely lack. Ours is bare thin after the first XI which is why our starters were forced to play so many minutes while they have first XI quality players like Wilshere, Walcott, Chamberlain etc in reserve. Like I said Jose's not stupid. Mourinho on if Cech can join Arsenal - "My answer would be no way, but if the owner has a different answer, I have to accept". He'll be wary of Arsenal's challenge since he's thinking with his head not heart. Handing them a World Class keeper on a platter would be idiotic. That's unless the striker, defender & midfielder we're supposedly after are Benzema, Pogba & Thiago Silva anyway.

Am I the only one that legitimately can't understand why we would sell Cech to Arsenal? I know football fans love to dismiss them because it is Arsenal & Wenger after all but the law of averages suggests they'll get it right eventually & what better way to start than acquiring one of the greatest goalkeepers of the modern era? Hell, I'd argue that even without Cech they currently have a far better squad than us right now. I say we forever alienate Cech and force him to either join United if De Gea does indeed leave or sell him abroad. We simply can't hand our #1 title challenger a Legendary goalkeeper on a plate. The increase in quality from Ospina/Szczesny to Cech is way too huge. I simply can't see Jose cosigning this decision.

This is basically a high risk, high reward transfer. He flops & we have another Shevchenko/Nando liability type signing on our plate, he regains his pre-Monaco form & we've got WC player for a bargain. I'm not in favour of this signing purely for the fact I prefer multi-dimensional strikers such as Benzema, Ibrahimovic, Suarez, Lewandowski over outright poachers but I can see Jose's thinking behind this.

Eh not really. They're extremely direct, play with so much energy & cause havoc with their movement off the ball. Too many footballers want the ball played to their feet all the damn time these days.

You're right but I feel we're too merciful. We go 1 or 2 up & we're content with that lead. No one can convince me that magical 09/10 season wasn't the peak of entertainment for us as spectators. Lampard, Drogba & co showed absolutely no mercy that season while Hazard & Costa are fannying about outside the box letting defenders off the hook. Even Neville has touched upon it several times so take it easy on me people.

Meh, excellent player but he would have been restricted here anyway. Probably for the best we sold him since he needs freedom to fully excel. Love watching players like him & Ramsey. Such a pleasant change from the Zidane wannabes running rampant these days.

Arsenal play magnificent football. Wish we were that proactive & relentless at times.

Swansea in January our last great performance. They were playing Sigurdsson in DM that day.

LOOOOLL WHAT!?!?! Why do football fans always do this whenever they're clearly wrong? Talk about straw man. And Torres was aggressive when he wanted to be. Remember the daft eye scratch on Vertonghen? Fans will condone just about anything if the player is scoring goals. It's so unnecessarily tribalistic. No one would be complaining about his behaviour if he didn't pull the same thing off in just about every damn game. Cesc's head punt or Matic's push on Barnes for example were both out of character while Costa's thuggery has been a constant throughout his career. Hopefully he sorts out his behaviour like Wayne Rooney did because if he carries on in this nature it will undoubtedly cost us big time.

HAHAHA. You can't be serious. What was Luis supposed to do there exactly?

Shocking keeping from Courtois. Just play the youngsters, most of these players are on vacation.

All it takes is a sending off in a crucial big game & posters won't be getting criticized for questioning Costa's behaviour. It's all well & nice until he gets sent off against Madrid in a CL Quarterfinal.

Hard to take the people who defend his antics seriously. He's fortunate the refs have been extremely lenient on his idiocy this season. We might need to start shopping for a new striker if he's going to act like a moron even in dead rubbers like this game.

Another awful game by Hazard. No vision.

All because of Costa being a dumbass. Fucking annoying.

Yeah that Oscar Brazil thing is a myth. It was under Menezes that he was by quite some distance Brazil's best player. He's been shifted out wide under both Scolari and Dunga. He's had some impressive performance but they're quite sporadic unlike under Mano where he was consistently the team's best player. I still feel this upcoming season is the one where Oscar finally explodes though. A lot of Chelsea fans have already written him off but I have faith in his ability as do his teammates and managers.

Might want to re-read the thread and see who the people who brought up Oscar actually are. I've already said I'm going to play the waiting game with Oscar and clown his detractors when he inevitably explodes next season and makes the haters backtrack on their words. Re. Willian. These are hard hitting truths not vitriolic abuse like our "fans" give Oscar. Unlike Oscar there's no room for improvement with him & Jose knows it which is why we're chasing after Griezmann and not another attacking midfielder. Mr. 8 goals in 2 seasons will have to make do with a squad role ala James Milner, Ji Sung Park, Dirk Kuyt & other utility players of that fashion.

27 this year and he's played in virtually everygame this season and John Terry has outscored him while Ivanovic has bagged more assists. World Class #10 that. 8 goals in 2 full seasons. EIGHT!!!!

Wonder what world these lads live in. World Class #10 that has never shown he can score or create on a consistent basis. I can't wait for Oscar to make them inevitably backtrack next season. Imagine thinking Jose is signing Griezmann to play with 2 strikers upfront. The same Jose that's never in his entire career played in that fashion. He'll obviously be played outwide just like Pandev, Eto'o & Cristiano Ronaldo were.

Watch and weep. Willian has no room of improvement at 26. 8 goals in 2 seasons, equally as atrocious records in nothing Leagues like Russia & Ukraine he's a squad player next season. It isn't a coincidence we've signed Salah, Cuadrado and are now chasing Griezmann since Jose's been here. He knows he isn't good enough & desperately wants a replacement. Oscar on the other hand is highly rated by not only his fellow teammates but managers as well. The likes of Cesc, Neymar, Deco, Pele, Marcelo, Hazard to Jose, Dunga, Scolari, AVB, Wenger all speak very highly of him. Griezmann has been a winger for the majority of his career. Jose isn't signing him as a striker because of one year at Atleti.

Nonsense. He's a natural born finisher and is movement is elite. We desperately lacks goals and runners in this team. He has incredible potential in a wide forward role and would be a massive upgrade on Willian.

Van Ginkel's chance of making it here went after that injury.