The Skipper

So because of one incident we should forget that a lot of referees haven't royally fucked us over in the last couple of years? Laugh. Out. Loud.

Fixed. Would love something like that. Even though I know Aké probably won't make it as a CB but still a very strong team for the future!

Could be good news for us, meaning KDB is staying next season...

Stick around, I love reading your stuff!

Just wanted to say that I thought he was excellent last night. Solid defensively and a great outlet in attack. First game back since his injury and it looks like he's been playing week in week out. It's a testament to the player he is really.

Just seen that I forgot to reply to this! Nathan has a good shot at making the first team soon if his development continues at this rapid pace, seeing as our national team is going under massive changes, especially at the back. He's played a few games for us this season so he definitely has the spotlight on him now from our coaches. He's always been ahead of his age group at the international scene; breaking through to the U17 at around 15/16 and making the U19 at the age of 16. He's currently the captain for the U19, and has also lifted the U17 European Championships trophy, captaining the side to the feat after they beat Germany IIRC on penalties. Defensively, the only thing he has against him tbh is his height but I think he'll make a fine player a bit further forward in let's say a holding role. He's a bigger talent than Bruma, a lot more intelligent than him. He has a bright future if we manage him well.

The love I have for Luiz, unreal, what a guy. I thought he was great today simply because he stayed within himself and played excellently as a holding midfielder - he rarely went forward, kept possession ticking and fought excellently for the ball, and to top it off scores the winner with virtually the last kick of the game. Yeah his challenge was quite nasty but he didn't mean it IMO. Regardless, I think your team sometimes needs a little bit of nastiness - I'm not condoning what he did but I just love the tenacity he shows. Luiz my man of the match, followed by Moses who was excellent in the first half, and then Hazard who showed flashes of what he can do as a number 10. Hazard wasn't as sharp as he could've been but it was a promising performance - it means we potentially have three great players who can play number 10 - and it's exactly why the Schurrle transfer makes sense to me. We can easily play Schurrle - Hazard - Moses if we need to rest Oscar and Mata and if we really want to have a direct team; all three run at defenders, have pace etc. I really don't know what to say about Torres. Oh and btw, these UEFA refs have really been terrible against us penalty wise. That's three games in a row now. Good game and I'm glad we grabbed our deserved win in the end. Credit to Rafa as well for picking a nice team, has to be said.

I think I lost a couple of IQ points after reading this.

Moses has been awesome. Ramires should've finished that tbh.

Interesting to see how the team has been dynamically switching from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 and to even a 4-4-2 with Hazard coming off Torres.

Moses having a good game, so is Ash.

that's true.

Moses' goal.

Come on!!!

I could actually see him doing well there. Club of his stature IMO.

I know, I would've started Mikel today because he thrives against teams that press heavily. Lampard isn't that good under pressure either so you're right, we might get run over in midfield. It'll be an interesting match up regardless.

I'm not really a fan of Luiz in midfield either but think Ramires will tuck in and help the midfield, forming a midfield 3, with Eden going wide. I don't really know much about Basel but it's a strange selection so there must be a reason Rafa's playing Luiz in midfield. We'll see anyway.

Hazard at no. 10. Interesting. Was hoping for a Cahill start but happy to see Ash back in the team!

FIXED! Double fixed! Still a decent team .

This.

WARNING: HIGHLY UNREALISTIC. Out? Torres (24m) Essien (14m) Marin (6.6m) Malouda, Benayoun, Lampard and Ferreira (free) --- Subtotal £44.6m Total £114.6m In? Schurrle Lukaku, KDB, Courtois (free) Luka Modric (31m) Cavani (48m) Sergio Ramos (31m) Schneiderlin (2.6m) Subtotal £112.6m Profit/Loss 2m XI Cech Azpilicueta - Ramos - Luiz - Cole Mikel - Modric Mata - Oscar - Hazard Cavani Bench Courtois, Schneiderlin, Lukaku, KDB, Terry, Schurrle, Ivanovic World domination with 2m to spare.

Both of these papers have reported Mourinho's return as well. I wouldn't read too much into it but the noise surrounding Mourinho is a lot more than the noise surrounding Pellegrini. I think the club have got Pellegrini on the short list, but don't think he's first choice.

Please point me to these sources? The credible only thing I've read about Pellegrini is that he's being looked at as an option.

Thank you.

I'm not really a financial expert but I'll try and explain; many people really misunderstand the concept of FFP. One must remember that the likes of Malouda, Benayoun, Hilario, Paulo, and possibly Lampard as it stands are being moved on so there will be additional space in the wage budget. Wages aren't really that big of a concern - if they could potentially shift out Fernando for around £15m-£20m then even better as this would free up a lot in wages as well as practically paying off the rest of his amortisation fee - but I'm not banking on that. We are officially allowed to go €45m in the minus with FFP because Roman can cover us, that's the maximum he's allowed to cover us for. That works out to around £38m. Let's for arguments sake say we sign Schurrle (£20m), Moutinho (£25m) and Lewandowski (£25m) on 5 year contracts - this rounds up to £70m in transfer fees. 70/5 = £14m in transfer fees for the year - whilst also having freed up initial space in our wage budget with the release of former players, we could realistically afford it. We'd still have a leeway of £24m.