The Skipper

I don't think anyone can compare Oscar and Neymar's prices, that's daft. Neymar's got half a year left on his contract if I remember correctly and he's still going for 28m? Would've been a lot more if he had 1 more year left on his current deal.

Chalobah's future is not in defence.

Most likely.

I'd have:Aguero Hazard - Mata - Silva Yaya - Ramires Cole - Kompany - Luiz - Azpilicueta/Zabaleta Cech. I'm pretty sure City fans would take Hazard, Mata and Ramires.

Hazard, Mata, Ramires, maybe Azpilicueta and maybe Luiz.

What are his flaws then Leif? Kindly point them out to us?As the article says, most people's criticism on him was that he wasn't an elite footballer or footballing person and that he should be dismissed because the only coaching experience he had was coaching an under 12 girls football team. Which aren't actually flaws - he's worked his way to his position and people were disgruntled about it for no reason. Again, I reiterate, what are his actual flaws when it comes to being a technical director if you'd like to point them out?

Why is it?

4 years is a big indication he's sticking around for long. When was the last time we gave a manager a contract of that length?

LOL you know what I meant Jype!

Please Rafa, I will actually love you if you take Torres off us for cash and Cavani. PLEASE!!!

Interesting. Good luck Rafa.

If it's not a friendly then what is it? Do we get a trophy out of this?

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Haha. People scream for player loyalty but when it comes the other way around it goes out of the window. Double standards. Wouldn't sell Ramires at all.

Please make it happen. £15m is a steal of the highest order. Perfect player for our pivot. I'm sure we nearly signed him a couple of seasons back?

Welbeck, Hernandez and Rooney can all play whilst RVP is playing. Most games United have started and played atleast two (sometimes even three) of them this season due to Welbeck and Rooney's versatility, usually on the left wing for the former and in behind the striker or in CM for the latter. It's a different situation at CFC simply because here we have Hazard on the left wing and Mata in behind the striker, so we really can't compare what United's team is like to ours.

Also, Lukaku was 12m euros rising up to 18m euros, not £18m.

Anyone taking anything serious out if this game need their heads checked in my opinion. It's a glorified post season friendly.

Torres is a revelation when he comes off the bench? What? Point me out five games where he's changed the game after coming off the bench, please. How can you have someone who's on £175k a week as a second choice striker? No way. If we got an offer for him I'd sell straight away simply because it'll alleviate his wages off of our wage budget which will allow us to get in a proper starting striker. Demba Ba is the perfect second choice striker in my opinion. Shame people are simply now overlooking him because Torres has been on form and Ba hasn't. Ridiculous.

Strike, you like bringing up clubs that usually play with two strikers (some out of position). WBA, United and City always play at least two strikers for the majority of the season. Their strikers are versatile enough to play other positions rather than out and out. You can't say the same for Chelsea simply because the positions their strikers play in when playing out of position are already occupied by Hazard and Mata, our two best players. Man City usually at least play a two-combination of Dzeko/Tevez/Aguero. At least two of those are starting usually, sometimes all three even. United are pretty similar in the sense where they can play Rooney in behind RVP or Hernandez, or on the left or in midfield - similarly with Welbeck. WBA are similar in that aspect where they can shun out the likes of Fortune, Odemwingie, Rosenburg and even sometimes Lukaku or Shane Long out wide. It's not the same at Chelsea, that's pretty obvious. Do you really expect us to play Torres or Ba out wide regularly? They're out and out strikers. More than 3 strikers is impractical for us, you're naive if you think we'd be able to keep four strikers at the club happy, especially if we're going to continue with the 4-2-3-1. You just have to look at this season where Torres and Ba split minutes quite effectively. Adding a third striker to that is just about pushing it (he'd have to be versatile e.g. Rooney to get more minutes) but adding a 4th striker is completely impractical. Waste of squad space. Waste of money.

What if Lukaku's unhappy? Should we just sell him off as well yeah? There has to be a balance.

So we should ignore that United and City play at least 2 of their strikers in almost every game?It's not an excuse. It's rational thinking.

/closethread.

Why are people assuming that Lewandowski, Cavani, Falcao and Rooney are done deals? They're nowhere near done. The transfer window isn't even open yet.