The Skipper

I still think Mata is better than Oscar, why is that so funny? Because Oscar scored a deflected goal? Oscar definitely has a higher ceiling and will most likely become the better player, but as of now Mata has been the better player, which is only natural as he is older.

Yes, because Chelsea will casually sell De Bruyne to United for €15-20m...

Severely underrating Cardiff mate. They'll be a tough nut to crack. They're better than Fulham, Hull etc. and could potentially be as hard as the Norwich game IMO. But of course anything could happen.

Logical choice would be him either joining us, Arsenal or United (if Rooney goes). If he was to come though, we'd surely be the most interesting option for him (even with taking out Chelsea bias). It would be an outstanding signing, definitely.

In Holland his name is spelt Cruijf, so drop it.

He's not comparing their technical ability though, don't be so ludicrous. All he was saying is that you don't need to be "fast" to be technical, and he gave examples of those players, so stop taking it out of context.

He's got high work rate, can make a lot of tackles in a game and is a nippy guy. Not that outrageous to say Oscar is good defensively.

Personally I'd like to see a very dynamic pivot of both. Ramires - Pogba. Both covering each other, both physical. Pogba has a nice pass on him - Oscar can drop and link play up as he does for us atm. I think a dynamic pivot is the way forward.

Van Ginkel & Mikel would be behind Nat in my eyes + Marco needs to recover from his injury so wouldn't be surprised to see him go out on loan to another club to get regular minutes. I don't think RLC is anywhere near ready compared to Chalobah so I wouldn't involve him in the conversation just yet. You're right in regards that our fans in general probably care more about titles but there are a lot at the same time who want to see Chalobah come through because he obviously has the talent. Personally, I would love it if Nat made it and I'm pretty sure he actually will - but signing another midfielder will not hamper his development IMO especially when Lampard and Essien are leaving in the near future.

This is how I see it as well. Nothing wrong with having Chalobah as next in line as the 3rd choice CM. He'd still get plenty of game time. I understand TOPTB's qualms, we all want to see our academy products make it, but I seriously don't think signing an extra midfielder who would start alongside Ramires would hamper Chalobah. If anything I wouldn't want Nat to be thrown into the deep end simply because it's a lot better if he become a gradual starter over a span of two years or so - but as said before, being 3rd choice would still get him plenty of game time.

I see what you mean but honestly if Oscar keeps developing his game - he's very effective at connecting the whole team - something like a very dynamic Pogba - Ramires pivot could be outstanding. Pogba isn't a shabby passer either so if we did have the opportunity to sign him I'd take it.

Lampard's on his last few legs - so is Essien. That automatically opens up two spots in the squad in the very near future. I'd imagine Chalobah filling in one of those naturally. Pogba is miles ahead in his development than Nat, and RLC is far behind Nat so they aren't really comparable atm. Let's say we sign Pogba - it wouldn't really affect Nat IMO. In the very near future our midfield options would look something like (realistically): Ramires, Pogba, Chalobah, Mikel, MVG. Which is very solid IMO. Pogba is better offensively than Nat, I'm not sure that Nat will develop that side of his game yet, but they could in the future easily be our engine room. A Pogba - Chalobah pivot looks awesome in theory. I would definitely love this signing, and I really don't think it'll prohibit Nat.

Pogba would be a nailed on started for us, forget his youth. I wouldn't classify him as a young player either - he'd surely command a fee of around £30m. It'd be similar to the Hazard signing. It isn't stockpiling on youth at all. Like it isn't a MVG signing.

Pogba - Ramires pivot? Tasty.

Another attacking midfielder at Chelsea? Right...

Personally I'd like to see something like KDB - Mata - Schurrle. Rest Hazard, Oscar & Willian for the Schalke game. Possibly rest Ramires and Lampard too. Is Torres back for the Cardiff game?

And so is Chelsea's. Roman has invested a lot into the youth academy since he's come here - difference is though it's a 100 times easier to break through to the Anderlecht first team than Chelsea's (or any top European club), which in turn obviously means talents get a larger scale of opportunity there. Doesn't necessarily mean their youth academy is better than ours. Players like McEachran and Chalobah would easily start for Anderlecht by now (no disrespect).

No Phil, you cannot use one isolated game to prove your point sorry. Had it been 4/5/6 consecutive games that Mikel didn't make the bench then you'd have a point. But until then...

No, Lampard is not playing very well, that's a ridiculous thing to say. He's been okay this season given he is still adapting his game to a more deeper player but to say he's played "very well" is astonishing. As I said he's been okay and has done well for the team but he's had to sacrifice his main game thus he's obviously not playing to his full ability. Lampard has in general been average this season and so has Mikel (before you bring him in). Ramires has been our stand out player in the pivot by far and he's the only player out of those three that you could say has played "very well".

I seriously don't know how you can come to such conclusions over a span of 2 and a half games. I've seen you've reverted back to your "Jose doesn't rate Mikel" argument but where were you when he was being played two and a half games ago? You really need to relax with your obsession over Mikel.

Not too worried about his injury because I do believe Bertrand can fill in easily.

I remember being blasted on here when I suggested one of the main thing Eden needs to work on to be a more complete player is to develop his finishing a bit more? I still maintain that that's true. If he could do so he'd be so much more dangerous.

Yeah that's true, so he'd have to be around England for 3 more years. It's a possibility if England could sway him (doubt it though, I think he'll end up at Belgium).

If he stays for a bit longer he'll be eligible for one though. England are trying to nick him.

Spot on Chou.