The Skipper

And this is why Luiz is a candidate for captaincy.

Schurrle has always been a decent player but it was his price tag that was the problem. We offered around £17m for him if I'm not incorrect which is a fair price but Leverkussen were looking for £25m-£30m.

He really wasn't.

Nope, not ashamed whatsoever. I still believe in this squad & IMO, we're just basically going through a mini crisis. We have the talent to beat anyone, it's just a simple matter of marrying that talent with our performances on the pitch. I have the patience to wait and see if the club can implement that. Until I see that our long term future is bleak, which it is not atm, I think our future is actually very promising if they can pull it off... I won't be ashamed. KTBFFH!

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that we'll see a different Chelsea, the one that matches our true abilities on Sunday. I have a slight feeling that we might come away with a good results against the Mancs.

Simply because I think he needs to be more exposed to top level football. He's got all the ingredients for a top player, he just needs to be tested at the top level at a frequent rate. I really hope Watford get promoted and keep Chalobah on loan for next season, it'll do wonders for his development rather than coming back to CFC and having the odd game here and there, he'd be starting week in week out at Watford. The current bunch as in? Could you please elaborate the question?

Chalobah, Feruz, Piazon and Ake aren't ready to be part of the 1st team because 1. Their development will be hampered by not playing regularly and 2. They aren't good enough yet to start week in week out for the team.

This is shocking.

Congrats to mon frère @Peace., who deserves to be MOTM with a lot of great, intelligent and intriguing posts. Can't believe I got 14 votes from you guys, appreciate it a lot!

Luiz is too offensive in the pivot to play with Modric in my opinion. You need a holding player if you're playing with Modric in the pivot, something Luiz hasn't exactly been brilliant as, he's been better as the player next to the holding player.

I personally want to see if Chalobah can show the same consistency he's showing right now in the PL. He won't be used properly at CFC because he has Romeu and Mikel in front of him - he'll barely get games which will obviously stunt his development. You seriously underestimate the vitality of experience IMO. It's not just that that Frank brings to the table though - he's obviously still a very decent footballer. Good enough to be a vital squad player for us as I've said many times before. It's like SAF starting Giggs in probably their biggest game this season last night - sometimes you need your more experienced players to step up to the plate. Regarding your academy statement - we've seen that the club are shifting away from buying overpaid superstars and are focussing more on youth. We're getting there and I think in that aspect the club has actually done well to reduce the age of the squad and we look in prime position to finally bear fruit from a few of the younger players we've brought in. Lampard might be overpaid at this very moment but if he were to stay obviously it'd be under the conditions of reduced wages. No one can't expect us to just chuck out the likes of Cech, JT, Lampard and Cole especially when we've witnessed something like it before (when Ballack, J Cole, Carvalho etc. left and faith were given in the likes of Kakuta, Josh etc. who obviously weren't ready) so I think having JT, Lampard and Cole around for another season will be the best option for everyone. Like I said before, it's about having the right mixture of experience and youth, you don't want too much of either. Keeping them for another year allows us to be in that situation. Muzchap, this is actually a great example - look how long it took Gareth Bale to finally break through in the Tottenham team (amidst injuries). You don't want to be in the situation where you don't have a good experienced player around when a younger one is failing.

DP.

Modric would be immense with Mikel in midfield, simply because both keep the ball so well and because Modric provides decent defensive cover. If we were only to sign one player next season, Modric would be my man. What a player. That is all.

I watch Chalobah a lot, have even been to a couple of Watford games as one of my mates is like the biggest Watford fan going. Chalobah is very, very talented but he isn't ready to play 20-30 games for CFC just yet simply because he isn't developed enough, and that's why I'm praying Watford get into the PL next season so he can gain that vital development. Chalobah and Frank are different type of players anyway so we shouldn't really be bringing him up - right now he has Mikel and Romeu in front of him so he's better off developing his game further somewhere else for now IMO. I agree Mata has been great in digging us out of trouble this season but IMO Mata isn't a big personality off the pitch just yet for us. It's important to keep Lampard in that aspect too IMO - sure, play him against the Stoke's and West Broms and bring him on or start him in the big games where experience is vital... That's fine. But like I said, I firmly believe that if you want blood in new players you do that slowly, you don't just get rid of your more experienced players who your young players look up to.

Go watch the game again.

So the old guard get all the flack for what happened with AVB? AVB has to take responsibility too. I rate AVB as a manager, things just didn't work out for him, I was gutted he was sacked but the situation was untenable. He had to go. It really wasn't a one way street regarding what happened with Lampard and AVB - they were both at fault. Cole, Terry & Cech didn't really have problems with him either. I seriously don't see the problem in giving Lampard at least another year with us simply because the likes of Chalobah and McEachran are far from ready, and yes KDB is coming in next season but Frank can still get close to 30 games under his belt due to KDB's versatility. Honestly, I'm not asking for Lampard to stay and be a key man and start every game, but I'd rather have him stay than us buying some second rate midfielder because we need back up in the middle. For our midfield next year I would love to have something like Romeu, Mikel, Ramires, Lampard, KDB, [insert deep lying playmaker here] and maybe [insert extra midfielder here, whether that's someone from the youth or a new player]. I think that that midfield has the right balance of different talents and experience and depth, which is what we obviously need if we want to challenge on all fronts. You really don't go into a season as a club with massive ambition like we do without experience all over the pitch. With all due respects to the likes of Mata, Ivanovic etc. I think Cech, Cole, Terry and Lampard are the true leaders of the squad, whilst also being more than decent footballers themselves. You don't just get rid of that because you're in a transition. You need to slowly faze them out.

According to the referee he "dived".

You obviously don't know Mourinho's style then. Mourinho uses the press to influence his players a lot, even in his CFC days. You should know this. I know you dislike Mourinho but stop looking for every opportunity to put him down.

Because in a transition, you don't throw away your core from the get go. The best way to allow a transition to become successful is to slowly integrate new blood into the team - you don't just get rid of the core of the club like that. Lampard has proved this season in games like against the Everton game you mentioned where he did single handily win us the game that he can still add value to the squad. Chalobah, Ake, Piazon shouldn't even be mentioned as both you and I know that they are nowhere near ready to be thrown into the team. They aren't even ready to be effective squad players IMO - and that's where Lampard and his experience comes in the game. My point is that there is no harm in signing Lampard on for another year as he is easily good enough to be great squad player for us - essentially playing the role that Giggs does for Manchester United. That's why most people want Lampard to stay on; I would honestly rather us hang on to Lampard who is decent in the pivot than go out there and buy a second rate player to replace his likely role in the squad next season, simply because Lampard is still a very decent player, has bags of experience, still grabs vital goals and most important of all is a fantastic role model to the younger ones coming through. I honestly don't think we have enough experience in the squad without the likes of JT, Lampard, Terry and Cole. I want these four to stay for just a few more season to make the transition of a new CFC smoother. That is my main gripe with Lampard leaving. At least having the four of Lampard, JT, Terry and Cole until next season is essential IMO. At this very moment, these four are the soul of our club.

LOL I'm so sorry my geography is quite bad! Welcome anyways! You'll love it here.

Possibly JT very few seasons back.

Hey Meilka, welcome to the greatest CFC forum on the internet! It's a very helpful community here so don't worry, you'll fit right in! What is interesting though is to see that you're Polish yet live in Indonesia? How did that come about? Hope you enjoy your stay here!

And Watford move to second place...

People do realise that most of those that want Lampard to stay don't want exactly want or expect him to start or play in every game right? If Lampard is going to sign, I would still want us to sign a midfielder in the Modric ilk, especially if we are continuing with the pivot. Lampard needs to stay around to help the club transition into the next level, he'd be an excellent squad player.

Cardiff is a good uni, could've got in with my grades but just didn't want to go there because I wanted a change of scenery and more independence etc. What does she study?