The Skipper

Mikel is a great passer I think. When he plays for Nigeria as a playmaker you can truly see his full passing range, and it is better than Chalobah (Nat's a good passer as well though but you can't play him as a playmaker like Nigeria do with Mikel).

It really isn't. Chalobah made a couple of good passes but Mikel can do those in his sleep. Mikel is the better passer. Chalobah is the better athlete though.

Horrible tackle.

Why? He's playing as the holding player, he's not playing as a B2B midfielder in that 4-3-3. He needs to keep it simple and needs to stay disciplined tactically. He's simply playing to instructions. Can't really "impose" yourself when you're playing as a holding midfielder.

We're playing 4-3-3. Blackman Wallace - Cahill - Terry - Cole Chalobah Ramires - Van Ginkel Moses - Ba - Hazard

We can offer that as a signing on fee. It isn't £3m that's keeping Rooney from putting in a transfer request.

Well, I guess David Luiz and dozens of other players are as big of a cheater as Suarez is as well then, seeing as they've also had their fair share of bad tackles and bad elbows...Rooney isn't anywhere near as dirty as Suarez, like I said before, Rooney's a saint compared to Suarez. You just seem to have a personal hatred for him. I've followed his career since his time at Ajax and you can't compare him biting opponents, his racist remarks and what he did against Ghana (and plenty of other things, he really is a scumbag who takes winning at all costs to another level) to anything Rooney has done.

DDA, Hutcho & Peace.

Oh I do, but because we're in the DDR thread I didn't want to elaborate because it's off topic. My main opinion on Mikel is that he's very talented but he's just been restricted/misused here at Chelsea. If you want to discuss about Mikel though just quote this post in the Mikel thread.

Hey Peace. Thanks for the thought provoking and balanced argument. You made a lot of valid points and I can't say I disagree enough to send you back an argument of equal quality. At least you can still admit that he's still a good player unlike others who don't want Rooney.You're right in basically saying that Wayne won't get any better - that Wayne peaked early. I don't disagree with that. What I do disagree with though is the notion that he's basically "over-the-hill". What I personally see in Wayne is a very talented player that is frustrated at not being allowed to play in the best circumstances and we at Chelsea potentially have the right environment for him to excel. He's a player that when fit, motivated and under the right roof is easily a top 5 player in the world. I still believe he's in his peak but just had a season that didn't go his way last year. You bring in the Villa, Pirlo, Xavi and Lampard arguments and they're all very plausible but to me Wayne's situation is different. The players you've mentioned above are all above 31 whilst Wayne is just 27 and clearly has still got plenty of top level football left in him. You are correct in saying that he's somewhat lost his power/pace from his youth days but it doesn't matter if we were to sign him. If we needed a striker that brought pace to the table because there is a lot of space in behind the defence and in between the lines - we'd just play Lukaku, simple. However, knowing that that won't be the case for the majority of our games, a striker who can play in tight spaces and bring in other players is invaluable and Wayne is one of the best in the world in that aspect hence why it would be a great signing. Wayne is very strong technically, has a great first touch, and doesn't get bullied off the ball easily at all. He's also got a knack of finding himself in the right place at the right time. When Rooney's at his best he's unstoppable. He'll win you games. That's why I believe he'd be a great signing for us because he does offer something different at a high quality level. I also want to say this - Rooney is still very mobile as a player even if he has lost a little bit if pace and power. He's not like Villa for example who you could definitely say is in decline because of career threatening injuries he's suffered late into his career - the same can't be said about Wayne's who has still got at least 3/4 years left at the top. He's still at a moderate stage in his career. Like I said before, I still think he's in his peak. Even when he does decline, it would be a steady decline - he'd still prove to be a very valuable player because he doesn't rely on that pace/power unlike Torres. Again, Rooney would be a fantastic signing because it would truly go a long way to us having a versatile squad which will allow us to be far more unpredictable thus giving Jose more options. If we get him for around the ~£30m it will be an astute transfer for a world class striker.

You might not rate Mikel as a player but giving the ball away? He very rarely does that.

I like that idea. If 60 people pay £1 a month we're already covering the cost for the current server.

Didn't they just sign Higuain? What about Insigne and Pandev will they just be shoved aside or?

You really don't know Suarez if you think Rooney's more of a cheater than him. Rooney is a saint compared to Suarez. You really can't call Rooney more of a cheat than Suarez. That's ludicrous.

CHOULO19 makes a valid point. Our team revolves around our attacking midfielders - and whilst having Wayne as our striker would obviously be an improvement because he can play in tight spaces and his movement is excellent - our team is more geared towards our attacking midfielders. Getting Rooney would be fantastic but it wouldn't be the end of the world if we didn't either.

I think Rooney would rather stay at United than go to Arsenal to be fair.

Higuain and Reina having medicals at Napoli.

You're trying to put words in my mouth - I never said Rooney wouldn't perform to his best. All I'm saying is that it isn't as black and white as you're making it out to be - you could be right, I could be right. Thing is, nobody knows except for Rooney and his camp right now. As I've said before, the ball is in his court. If he really wanted to move he'll put in a transfer request. If not then obviously he wasn't really up for the move in the first place. We won't know until the window's shut or until the Rooney camp come out and make a statement either way.

*bump*

Will they really be laughing when they've got an unhappy player in their camp, causing a sour atmosphere? It isn't as black and white as you're making it seem.

United and City all offered high wages. You've got poor memory if you think Hazard chose us over United and City because of money. Don't you remember that Lille had offers from all three clubs accepted and that Hazard sat down with all teams who all offered him similar contracts? He chose us because we had the most interesting, ambitious project and because he would be the main player for us. Simple. Anyway, back to KDB talk. Hopefully we'll have news regarding his injury real soon.

Bad news for United if true. Is Moyes just a puppet?

Tool? Ha, funny. It's the way you insinuated your post. I never said that you said that his "play acting" got Terry sent off. What I am saying is that you shouldn't hate him for it because what JT did wasn't good to begin with. Don't know why you'd hate someone for that. And as for his footballing ability? You can call him overrated or whatever, I don't really mind that. But to say he's a "terrible" footballer is just naive and stupid. It isn't as simple as that though. Right now, the ball is in Rooney's court. If he really wants the move, and hands in a transfer request; it is only then we can push through and up our bid.

Van Ginkel isn't a number 10.

No, he isn't a terrible player at all and no, Terry's stupidity got him sent off. Even Terry himself said it was stupid.