The Skipper

Relax guys, we've got this!

Come on Leif, don't overreact like that.

He wasn't one of the best players in the league at all. He's only been appreciated as a player when he's moved up further in midfield - no one wanted Fellaini here till his recent attacking displays. You're trying to rewrite history yourself. You can't prove that Fellaini was one of the elite DMs in the PL when he played. He's only started to really excel when he's been moved up forward. He's not better than what we have when he plays as a DM.

^ haha, brilliant.

Replace his "mediocre" term with "slightly above average" and he's spot on. Fellaini wasn't a world beater at DM.

Any idea when he's actually coming back?

So we should just sell him because he's declined as a player? Forgetting that he can still be a great squad player and forgetting that he's one of the few experienced heads left at this club? Forgetting that he's one of Chelsea's best ever players? Giggs and Scholes aren't anywhere near the players they used to be but I guess because they're old and are wasting the wage budget they should be moved on as well right?

You can't really expect Mikel, or anyone in his position, to solely be responsible to get the ball forward. All an opposition manager would have to do to counter that is to keep pressure on Mikel and blocking his lane of vision and that would completely nullify the front 4 as they would rarely get the ball.

I would love Alex Song. Being wasted at Barcelona.

We have Mata, Hazard and Oscar.

PAULO'

Well done for once Fernando.

Luiz is having a bloody brilliant game.

What are you exactly basing this on? Because he's been good as a SS for Everton? Doesn't mean he's an upgrade on Mikel in DM... Doesn't correlate at all. It isn't his best position - he hasn't been playing well and scoring from a DM position, so why do people compare? He came to the UK as a DM but has redeveloped his game massively since.

After thinking it through a bit, I would like us to now purchase Fellaini to 1. Challenge our trinity 2. Provide options in the pivot if necessary. 3. Provide us a different option when going forward (aerial threat) 4. Add more steel in the team. I was against this transfer before because people wanted to see him in the pivot which I don't think he's good enough for, but I can see him playing as an AM or SS effectively for us when needed. It all depends whether we want to stick with this supposed new philosophy the club is trying to create or not. If the aforementioned is the case then obviously his purchase would be going in the wrong direction for obvious reasons but I personally think we should have a varied style of play... If Fellaini would come in for anything under £25m (unlikely) I think it might just be a decent investment. He'd also be good if we switched to a 4-3-3 - e.g. Have a Mikel - Ramires - Fellaini midfield to physically dominate in the middle or have an Oscar - Fellaini - Mikel midfield for a more balanced approach - adding KDB, Lamps and McEachran in that we'd have plenty of options and combinations. Another purchase I would absolutely love is us signing Cavani. The guy is talented enough to play in any system, he's that good... It's pretty self explanatory why he'd be a better signing than Falcao as he offers a lot more to the team in build up play - whether you're knocking it up the pitch or playing on the break or aiming to keep possession - he's that athletic and technically sound. At 6 ft. 2 he's no pushover either. In the summer if we managed to bring in Cavani, Fellaini (for reasons stated above), bring back in McEachran and De Bruyne and let them challenge for the pivot... Sell Fernando - bring back in Lukaku and let him and Sturridge provide good back up to Cavani; I'd view this as a great summer. We add physicality and talent going forward with Fellaini and Cavani (and Lukaku) whilst adding technically to our pivot by bringing back in KDB and Josh.

Come save us Edinson!

The "try finding 5 CBs" argument is a bit irrelevant since we're talking about strikers...

Fair enough - but like I said that's Mikel's job, to protect the back four. The only person with the skillset to harass opponents on our team is Ramires - but we need a change in formation for the to happen. A 4-3-3 would be more suitable, as that'll allow Ramires to be free of the shackles he seems to be under in the pivot. If I was Rafa I'd try to stick to a rigid 4-3-3 whilst sticking out Hazard and Mata out wide but let them act as inside forwards, let Oscar/ Lampard and Ramires act as the two offensive midfielders whilst sticking Mikel in a true DM role. Keep it rigid and simple, keep the team sturdy. Cech Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole Mikel Ramires - Oscar/Lampard Mata - Torres - Hazard.

Only short sighted people thought that. We need the likes of Terry, Lamps and Cole to stick around if we're going to take this transition seriously.

It's not even that - if he were to sign for us and play in the role he's so effective in - which is NOT in the double pivot - we'd have to bench either Mata, Hazard, Oscar or Moses. He doesn't fit into the style of play we are *supposedly* developing.

Where's the excuse mate? Point them out. And my personal opinion on Torres? I don't even want to say, I'll probably get banned.

You're right, but we're human beings and we all have a right to voice our emotion/opinion about something we're so passionate about. It shouldn't have happened to begin with but it has now, it'll take different times for different people to realise that. As I've said, dark days ahead. It's going to be a long season.

Not an excuse at all, but you demonising one single player to be the fault of this defeat is ridiculous. Where was Mikel? Go watch the goal again - he was marking Carlton Cole. Mikel could've done a lot better with the Diame goal in handling Carlton Cole, but Ramires got caught ball watching and that's why Diame was allowed the space to score - go watch the goal again like I said. Again, the whole team was horrible today, especially in the second half, but to once again single out Mikel for the defeat is ridiculous IMO.

That's why it was ridiculous for the board to sack RDM and appoint RB as his replacement. This was bound to happen. Poor decision from the board.

Sell Luiz!!!