The Skipper

Why are people acting as if we only have £20m to spend for next season? Now I know Schurrle is not needed as much as say a midfielder but the Schurrle signing makes sense to me. Look at our squad this season - the likes of Mata, Hazard and Oscar have played far too many games and this is simply because the back up we have for them is not good enough. Marin, who I think is a decent player but needs to play constantly for him to be useful, is not the player I would like to see replace Hazard or Mata if they went down injured for a long spell. Marin needs to leave for the sake of his own career. If you want to heavily challenge on all fronts, good squad players are vital. It's about the depth of your squad. Schurrle isn't coming here to start week in week out - he's coming here to bolster our weak depth. €20m for a squad player is the norm these days anyway - look at United for example who've spent £17m on Valencia, around £20m for Ashley Young, around the same for Nani. United win the league this season because they have players who can step in when their starters need a rest/are injured. That's the main difference between us and them now. I know KDB is coming back as well but he offers us a different skill set compared to Schurrle. I still believe that he might be converted to play as a deeper midfielder as I really think his strengths are there but of course, he's a nice option to have when Mata/Hazard/Oscar aren't playing in the -3- either. Presumably, maybe our next manager might even play 4-3-3 which KDB can excel in as well. Becoming dominant in football isn't only about having the best 11. It's about having the best squad. With KDB and Schurrle coming in we'll certainly be up there. KDB, Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Schurrle, Moses, Ramires, Mikel, Romeu, Lampard/[new midfielder], [new midfielder] is a big upgrade from: Benayoun, Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Marin, Moses, Ramires, Mikel, Romeu, Lampard. It changes from having to start (when resting Oscar, Mata & Hazard for example): Marin - Benayoun - Moses to Schurrle - KDB - Moses or Schurrle - Oscar - Hazard or Schurrle - Mata - Moses etc. We'll have more options and we'll be far more unpredictable. Also don't forget that the new manager might put Oscar or KDB in the pivot which opens up another spot in the -3-. Personally, I'm all for this signing. €20m for a good squad player is a decent price - it makes sense to me.

John Terry reaffirmed yesterday that he thinks Luiz is a future captain here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/18/david-luiz-chelsea-captain-john-terry

German side Bayer Leverkusen confirm talks in London about Andre Schurrle http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11668/8650869/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Impressive.

Tie is by no means over yet - Liverpool have decent enough players to turn it around. Hopefully we pull through though.

Yeah, I have said before that the only thing standing in between Luiz and the future captaincy is his language barrier. If he can become a bit more fluent in English then it's his IMO.

"Chelsea tax" has been irrelevant for years now. We pay big money players simply because we're a big club. Any big club would've paid the same for Oscar/Lucas etc. it isn't just Chelsea who do.

You are not a Chelsea fan, stop lying.

Terry himself said he sees Luiz as his successor.

Thanks. I've ordered pills which have 800mg each in them. Is it okay if I just take 800mg instead of 1200mg after the initial high dosage or will it not have the same effect, as in will it be too little?

Troll.

I might start using this. How long does it take to kick in and how much should I order? I've got exams in 2 weeks until the end of May.

I'm pretty sure Oscar was 25m euros. http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/7/25/3186785/oscar-may-not-have-cost-as-much-as-the-english-media-would-lead-you

Adidas produce once again.

There are way too many rumours now.

My opinion is based on the fact that I've seen him play there more than a couple of times. What I'm saying is that one good game at DM wont change my opinion about him playing as a DM for us.

This also proves, once and for all, that you aren't a CFC fan. Troll.

I've been one of Luiz's vocal supporters from day one. he hasn't even improved much as a player IMO - I've always maintained that he's a great player, as you can see he's my favourite player in our current squad and has been for a long time. I've been the one that has always supported him when people said we should sell him and that he isn't good enough etc. Rafa hasn't "transformed" Luiz at all - Luiz has just been consistent this season - he was consistent when RDM was here with JT at the start of the season, and he's been consistent under Rafa too for weeks now. From day one I already thought Luiz was a great player - not once did I say 'Mourinho transformed Luiz" don't be ridiculous, he hasn't even managed him yet. I just believe that Mourinho can make this guy one of the best defenders around, that doesn't make me a Mourinho groupie at all. Look at you trying to give all the credit of Luiz's consistency this season to Rafa. Obviously Rafa has to take some of the credit but you need to look in the mirror and re-evaluate your meaning of "groupie".

Obviously a sly dig at Mikel. He played well in the DM role yes, but his best performances this season and last season have come when he's been deployed forward. One game won't change my opinion about him.

Honestly I don't think there's any need. Simply because he can still be an effective attacking outlet whilst he's playing at CB - it makes us more unpredictable and it also means the team has an extra spot in midfield open for an extra player who has a different skill set. His best performances this season have come at CB. Just because he's got fantastic technique and is a great footballer doesn't mean you have to shove him in midfield. Sure, he can play there, but it would take him seasons to fully understand the role. He can fill in there for us if we need to, but I'd rather us buy a proper midfielder. David Luiz has been our best player after Mata and Hazard this season. Bring in Mourinho and he'll make this guy one of the best.

If you want to win trophies consistently then you need to have a competitive squad all around. It's been one of main downfalls this season. Manchester United demonstrate this excellently... They have Young, Nani, Valencia, Kagawa, Welbeck and Rooney to an extent, who all rotate out wide - combine their costs and you'll see that they come to around the same amount of money. Having Schurrle and KDB in our roster simultaneously opens up a lot of options tactically. Schurrle, Moses, Mata, Hazard, Oscar, KDB fills me with a lot more confidence than Marin, Moses, Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Benayoun. It's not as easy as saying "I'd rather have KDB than Schurrle" as they both bring something different to the table. Schurrle gives you direct wing play, something we only have with Moses and arguably Hazard atm, plus is sound defensively. KDB is more of a creator which is something we have plentiful in our squad already with Mata, Hazard and Oscar. I can see your point but personally I can still see one of Oscar or KDB developing into that deeper player for our pivot - that depends on our next manager - but it's a good problem to have. Our attacking trio is the most important part of the team so in my opinion, in order for us to challenge next season, a pool of players which consists of something like Schurrle, Moses, Mata, Hazard, Oscar & KDB is almost as important as us strengthening our pivot/midfield. I'd be against this signing if Schurrle was just another attacking mid in the ilk of lets say, Isco, but he's a lot more direct and more natural out wide than Isco is plus can do a decent job up front as he showed at Mainz under Klopp. It's why I wouldn't mind the signing.

Well in that case he isn't that bad, it's his consistency that's the problem - as the cumulative chart shows. Take Matuidi for example, if you look at his cumulative performance chart and you'll note that defensively he consistently adds to his cumulative score simply because he's a very consistent player - also note that Matuidi has played a lot more matches than Mikel in the French league.: Defensively, that's not the case with Mikel unfortunately: However, what must be noted is that Mikel only played in 20/31 (majority of the missed matches were under Rafa) in the league and those stats only show his domestic performances which exclude some of his best performances e.g. that game against United in the FA Cup. Interestingly, the stats also show that he's more of a possession player but that's a bit misleading - some of the things Mikel does for the team when he plays, good or bad, aren't really quantifiable. Not aimed at you Spike but there's no hiding that Mikel has been inconsistent this season and has under performed compared to the performances he was giving us at the end of last season (mind you he did have a good start to the season with Ramires in midfield) but that doesn't mean he's a useless player. Yes, he had a bad game, but most of the stick given out on here is extreme IMO. Mikel's excellent performance in the FA Cup quarter final at Old Trafford was one of the reasons why we even made it this far in the competition. Yes, he's had a couple of bad games this season, probably 4 or 5, but that doesn't really justify to me that we should sell him. He can still do an excellent job when on form. I think in order to get his consistency levels up he needs better competition for his position.

Fair enough, decent examples. But everyone of those players bar maybe Schneiderlin (who's an excellent talent, would love if we signed him to give Mikel some competition which I feel he needs to be more consistent) and Sven Bender contribute a lot more to their respective teams attack so it's natural they'll get more performance points. Interesting website though, thanks for sharing.