The Skipper

1) If you look at the calculations, I've taken that into account. I divided Ba's amortised fee by 3.5 years as he signed for that long. The others I believe signed 5 year contracts. 2) Because it's £50m of amortised money available. If we sign 4 player worth £100m all together on 5 year contracts that comes down to an amortised fee of £20m (£100m/5yrs = £20m a year) - so even if my calculations are slightly off you do get to see the bigger picture where I believe we can afford to spend another £100m in the transfer market next year if we really want to. Not that we really need to, I think around £70m will be enough but it's there if it's needed.

Mata, simply because he isn't as versatile as the other two. Oscar and Hazard can still have great careers even if they don't play CAM whereas I don't think that we can say the same for Mata.

Agreed. He could be easily be the link between our defence and attack. If we need more attacking prowess/game plan isn't working we can always take off one of the three that aren't performing ahead of him, throw on another midfielder and free him to join the attack (Yaya Toure like). I personally see his future in the pivot.

I guess it's down to personal interpretation/experiences. In most cases for me anyway, when discussing with a mate about football, mentioning the word "striker" will bring up names like RvP, Falcao, Cavani, Torres etc. and not Mata, Hazard or Pedro.

I've never heard someone call Hazard or Mata a striker - in most cases they're either called forwards or attacking midfielders.

People have only been calling Messi a striker in recent times in my books due to how he plays at Barcelona now (false 9). Regardless, I'm sure the OP meant it in that sense as you can see by the formation he put up (Mata as a 9/False 9).

You might be lost in translation but in english football culture, a striker = a CF. Pedro is a forward. Ses (no idea who that is) is a forward. Ronaldo is a forward. I'm very sure the author meant Mata as a number 9, as a CF, and not as a forward, as you can see by the formation he put up.

The general consensus is that a striker = a CF.

No one's saying Mata isn't a forward because he obviously is, but he isn't a striker; he would be very ineffective as a number 9.

Not a chance. That completely takes away from what he's actually good at. Mata is a creator, he likes to create, granted he has a great finish on him but he wouldn't work as a striker at all simply because he isn't that good at holding up the ball and his runs from deep are far more effective, he can't be the focal point of attack (as in the most forward player as he needs to get involved in play) and physically he isn't up to it. Mata is a wonderful player but he isn't Messi, no one is.

But what makes you think that someone else's opinion wasn't out of strenuous thinking and reasoning? You can't really compare your opinion on SFL being by far a better player than Scholes or Gerrard to a proven mathematic algorithm.

Adidas have a great marketing team, must be said.

Okay, let's say the transfers from last season aren't included in our profit figure. Hazard - £32m/5yrs which comes down to £6.4m. Oscar - £20m/5yrs which amortises to £4m. Victor Moses - £9m/5 = £1.8m. Azpilicueta - £7.5m/5yrs = £1.5m. Marko Marin = £7m/5yrs = £1.4m. Demba Ba £7.5m/3.5yrs = £2.1m. Total = £17.1m which still gives us a leeway of around £22m. We lose about (estimate) £10m of that obviously because we didn't get far in the CL and that leaves us with potentially £12m to play around with. That doesn't look as promising but our youth expenses are not as negligible as you put it either - last season they were accounted as £18m - which bumps up our total money to around £30m on a rough estimate (in FFP terms) assuming we get roughly the same figure this year which is still quite a lot to play around with. You're also forgetting we sold Sturridge and Meireles for around £20m combined which also gives a lot of leniency - which brings our total figure to play around with to around £50m (estimate). Not to mention we might sell guys like Michael Essien who's easily worth +£10m, Kakuta, PvA etc. and a lot of players are leaving on a free therefore freeing even more space on the wage budget - Add to that the fact that the PL will give us a a few more million for finishing 3rd (and the restructuring of PL money being factored in) and also the likely additional monies made from our CL win (the merchandise, growing fan base around the world etc.) and you'll realise we still have a lot more to play around with than you're giving credit for. Of course we'd have to wait and see for the next set of financial information the club will release to confirm all of this but we're fine regarding FFP and we do have the ability to spend another £100m from what I've gathered. It's more than possible - but again, we'd have to wait for the accounts the club release for this past season to confirm this and see where we're exactly at so we can the have a definitive answer but from what I've gathered we look capable.

I'm not - those fees are already being amortised and are already included in our balance sheets and we still made a profit this season. Read this article about our situation with FFP and you'll soon realise that we can easily afford Falcao or another £100m.

Not true Choulo. We can still spend £100m on players regardless of FFP, I've vaguely explained this in the Roman Thread before. FFP is a very misunderstood concept and isn't as strict as you'd believe it is.

I think Eden will win the POTY next year as well to be honest. Ended the season very, very well.

If we aren't getting Schurrle, then Di Maria would be a great signing indeed. Nothing more than £25m though. Cavani Hazard - Mata - Di Maria Oscar - De Rossi Looks good to me.

I like the idea of this actually.

Will PM you one of these days.

Laughing at people who said this was a "token" signing because of his older brother. Thorgan's got talent of his own and had a wonderful season, 2 goals and 2 assists today isn't bad at all. We shouldn't place any high expectations on him yet though in my opinion - let him develop at his own pace. Could turn out to be a stellar signing if we do that.

Ahh dang. Not a problem haha!

Can I use this?

Beckham was a bigger celebrity than he was a footballer.

After winning the Europa League and confirming our top four spot and as the end of the season dawns it's only right that we sit down and analyse how well each of our players have performed and where we go from here heading into the future. I will analyse and evaluate the general performance of each player in the first team squad at Chelsea FC and give them a rating out of 10. Please do remember that these ratings are in the view of my own opinion and are in no way definitive. In part 1, we review our goalkeepers and defenders and glance at the long season they've had: Goalkeepers: 1. Petr Cech Another solid season from our evergreen goalkeeper Petr Cech. Whilst he hasn't had to perform his Munich heroics over the year, he has still at times single handily kept us in games. Not much to say about Petr apart from the fact that he has been one of our most consistent players this season and has also grown as a leader. Still one of the best in the world. Season Highlight: I'll just leave you with this little gem. Rating: 8/10 22. Ross Turnbull Unspectacular season from Ross, in what looks like to be his last season at CFC with his contract expiring. In the handful appearances he did make though he was mostly dreadful. Ross made 7 appearances this season for us, in which we lost games against Swansea and QPR, whilst also drawing against Reading and Brentford. Chelsea must look for a more competent second choice goalkeeper next season, preferably homegrown. Season Highlight: None. Rating: 2/10 40. Hilario N/A. Didn't make an appearance this season and seems to be off as well with his contract expiring. Good luck, Henrique. Defenders: 28. Cesar Azpilicueta A break through season for the young 23 year old Spaniard who has done remarkably well to establish himself as Chelsea's number 1 right back. An excellent defender, Cesar has exceeded expectations and deservedly won his first Spanish cap after some stellar performances at Chelsea. One thing young Cesar can improve on though is his attacking prowess. Whilst not bad at getting forward and providing the team width, Cesar needs to work on consistently putting in accurate crosses for the benefit of his team. Definitely one of the better RB this season in the PL. All in all, not a bad first season at all from the young man, who has great potential. Season Highlight: Stellar defensive performance against Norwich away, in which we won 1-0. Rating: 8/10 2. Branislav Ivanovic Quite an average season for Branislav. Started the season relatively poorly by his standards but slowly got back in to form as the season progressed. A fierce defender on his day, he has been quite solid after featuring more at centre back than right back this season where he became one of our better defenders as the year went on. Still provides excellent versatility as he's able to slot back in right back at any time - but this season has shown that his main position is probably at centre back, which will be an interesting conundrum for the club to look at. Do we give Ivanovic a starting berth or should we look at other options? Overall, an okay season for Branislav, who remains an excellent player for the squad. Season Highlight: His scintillating header to win us the Europa League final. Great header; deserved after he missed out on the Champions League final last season. Rating: 7.5/10 19. Paulo Ferreira Our ever-present veteran defender hasn't had much to do this season, but he's always performed decently whenever called upon. A great influence on the squad, it's a shame that it's his last season with us due to his contract expiring. Loyal servant and Paulo are quite the synonym, so it's best we wish him best in his next career move. Thanks for the memories, Paulo. Season Highlight: None. Rating: 5/10 4. David Luiz Luiz has been a breath of fresh air to many of us this season. Constantly berated for his proneness to mistakes in defence, Luiz started the season with a reputation of being a erratic centre half and he has done exceptionally well to turn that notion around. Defensively, Luiz has become a lot more consistent and has often been called and heralded by some Chelsea fans as their best defender this season. Luiz has also shown great versatility and performed well when placed in midfield where he has performed at a solid level. He has this season evolved as a player and shown that he can be a great leader, often being called the future captain by some. It has been a stellar season for Luiz, who'll look to establish himself even further next season. Season Highlight: David scored some great goals this season, so I'll leave you with two of the best: Rating: 8.5/10 24. Gary Cahill An indifferent season for Gary. Some thought that after last seasons heroics in the Champions League that he'd push on as John Terry's successor but unfortunately he's all but confirmed this season that he'll never get to that world class level as a centre back. He however, does remain an excellent 3rd choice centre back and squad player. He has also reminded everyone of his finishing ability - grabbing 6 goals this season as of date. A great player to have around the squad that has done a decent job despite being overplayed this season in my honest opinion - mostly due to John Terry's injury ravaged campaign. Season Highlight: Scrumptious volley with striker-like technique against Spurs in one of his finest performances in a Chelsea shirt and his last ditch tackle against Benfica. Rating: 7/10 26. John Terry © Overall, an injury ravaged campaign that saw John miss out on quite a few games. John has still provided the team with leadership and was great at the start of the season when we raced to the top of the league before he got injured. John still provides that presence whenever he plays and the defence in general look a lot more coordinated when he's in it but he's not the John Terry of old - he now struggles to play 2 games a week which is natural after the way John has put his body on the line for this club. Still a great defender to have around and a great leader of the squad, overall John has had a decent season and played a major role in our run to the Europa League final. Season Highlight: The Liverpool game which we drew 1-1. Before he got injured in the game, JT provided great defensive stability and an air of presence in a defence that was lacking leadership at the back sorely at the time. Scored a great header as well and looked well on his way for the MOTM until his horrific injury which sidelined him for months. Rating: 6.5/10 3. Ashley Cole Mr. Consistency. Still impervious at the back - maybe not as flying going forward as he was before but still a great asset to the squad. Ashley's had a good season, often his good performances have gone unnoticed simply due to the consistency in his performances; it's almost normal for Ashley to have a good game. While he is getting older and therefore can't get up and down the pitch as often as he used to, and has lost some of his defensive tenacity, he is still a great offensive outlet and very astute at the back. Solid season from Mr. Cole, who recently signed an one year contract extension. Hope to see the same solidness in his play next season. Season Highlight: His winner 5 minutes before time against Stoke. Rating: 7.5/10 34. Ryan Bertrand It has been a difficult season for young Ryan - who was seen by many after last season as Ashley Cole's potential heir. Provided he's rarely had the opportunity to show what he can do at left back (constantly being played out of position at the left wing), Bertrand managed to redeem himself somewhat when Ashley Cole came down with injury for a few games. He was given a consistent run in at left back and showed that he has the potential to be a good player there. Whether or not he's good enough to eventually replace Ashley Cole remains to be seen. Season Highlight: The solidness he showed at left back when Ashley Cole was out for a couple of crucial games. Rating: 6.5/10 *To be continued... Look out for part 2 where we discuss and analyse our midfielders and forwards. Click here to view the article