The Skipper

I read it perfectly well mate. I know that example wasn't the best to use but to say Neymar would suffer up front against a team like Stoke because he has no aerial prowess/physical built is quite irrational. My point is I know that Neymar isn't naturally a striker but... You don't need a big target man up front to beat Stoke.

Matthew Harding Lower for sure! Why don't the mods make a poll?

OMG I know! Imagine Hazard, Mata and Oscar against Stoke as well!!!

Ridiculous topic.

Even though he'd have Busquets, Song, Mascherano and possible J Dos Santos ahead of him? Here he only has Mikel ahead of him. We're not ruining his potential at all, people (not you per se) just have this silly expectation that he'll nurture into a world class DM and that Mikel is holding him back. Garbage I say.

He achieved his world class status whilst playing with us.

Agreed. Ozil is class but I'd rather Iniesta in my team. I don't think they're that comparable anyway since Iniesta plays deeper than Ozil. Andres doesn't really play number 10 for Barcelona due to them employing the false 9 system with Messi.

DP.

I like Romeu but he isn't better than Mikel. I'm glad the management and the players know how valuable Mikel is to the team. Don't know how anyone could regularly start Romeu when you have Mikel on your team. Besides, I think a Mikel - Oscar combination would suffice more than a Romeu - Oscar pivot. So you think I'm defending Mikel for likes? Shame on you.

Of course that would've made a difference, but if you think Josh is as talented as Oscar then surely he would've been given a lot more chances by now? I mean you here people saying that out of Oscar and Hazard they believe Oscar could possibly go further and be better. You don't hear the same about Josh. No way is Josh as talented as Oscar. People overhype our youth way too much sometimes. Let Josh develop himself without this expectation that he needs to become a world class player and we might actually have a good player on our hands.

Mikel over Romeu and I might agree.

I hate how people bring United and City into it. It's irrelevant because they play two strikers at the same time, so the culture is different. United and City can afford to keep 3/4 top quality strikers for that reason alone. At CFC we only have one spot up front. If we buy Falcao it'd be ridiculous to have Falcao, Torres, Sturridge and Lukaku all vying for the one spot upfront next season. It's illogical and quite wasteful. Not only will that harm squad harmony, the likes of Sturridge and Lukaku will look and think, "there's no opportunity for me here, it's better if I move". Torres wouldn't be satisfied with not being the main man either, and he'd cry about leaving too. On top of that add transfer fees, wages etc. and you'll soon realise its illogical to keep both Torres and Falcao.

So people that are expecting Falcao to come... Are you expecting us to sell Torres too?

Mata's blog. http://blogs.grada360.com/juanmata/

Because they play two of them at the same time. They can afford to do that. At least he's shown he's good enough in the first team. RDM and co have faith that he's a good alternative to Torres that's why we obviously didn't buy a striker. Sorry this logic confuses me... How is getting Falcao suddenly going to change what happens behind him? We've been beating teams at "football" this season. The trio of Oscar, Mata and Hazard still have to gel fully, and until then there's no point in signing a striker especially if Torres is already having a decent season. If Torres messes up this season them by all means, sell him and get Falcao. There's no point right now though.

I don't think it's audacious in any way to say that Oscar is more talented than Josh. Josh is a talented guy indeed, but he doesn't have the mantle to play in that number 10 role Oscar plays in. He's not going to play in the pivot either when he has Mikel, Lampard and Ramires in front if him. I'm saying that Josh isn't ready yet because he isn't even close to finding where his best position is. Is he good enough to start as a number 10 week in week out like Oscar does for CFC and Brazil? Is he good enough to displace the likes of Lampard, Ramires and Mikel in the pivot? The answer right now IMO is that he isn't, not yet anyway. We'll see how he develops during this loan spell. He's still got a lot of time on his hands to develop and integrate into the first team, but for now in my honest opinion Josh isn't ready yet.

Exactly this.

Proven fact is that hardly any big teams give their youngsters a chance unless they've proven themselves on loan. We cannot afford to give too many youngsters a chance if we want to consistently challenge for trophies. Unfortunately that's the cold truth.

Oscar is a lot more ready for first team action than Josh is. Remember, Oscar is practically the starting number 10 for the Brazil senior team. If you or anyone thought that Josh wasn't ready for first team because of his size, then shame on you. It's not his size that kept him out of the team. It was because he isn't nowhere near ready, unlike Oscar who is far more experienced and has more talent too.

There will be a moment in time where Hazard will realise that he'll always have 2/3 players constantly marking him. When he's enlightened about that he'll step his game up to a new level. I believe he has the ability to do that.

Why recall him when he obviously wouldn't get as many games? Just let him develop further at Werder.

How has Mikel developed that significantly over the last couple of months? He's always been good, people are just coming round to it now. And isn't Torres a "big name striker"?

I don't think Ba would come from starting for a decent team like Newcastle to being a rotational striker at CFC.

I'm not confusing myself at all. I've given you my opinion on why I think Benzema would fit better for Chelsea as he likes to create too (according to you) which is something Torres does this season, and even last season, where he got around 15 assists, which obviously tells you that our striker, whoever that is, is also responsible for creating. Nowhere have I said that Torres is proven either, all I said is that there are people in this thread who equally think we don't need a new striker, unless Torres goes of course. I never said CFC should go for Benzema, Higuain or Falcao. All I said was that Benzema would be a better fit in my opinion. If you think that's not right then fair enough, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. It's called an opinion. People opine on forums, it's the main point of it. I've given you reasons why I think Benzema would be a better fit than Higuain, and I'm not really going to go over them again because they're there to read. So we'll just leave it there.

Wrong where? Don't call me your "boy" either, no need to be patronising. You were the one that described Benzema as a striker that enjoys linking up and being involved in the build up play. I stated that Torres does that for Chelsea right now, in no way am I comparing Benzema with Torres, all I said was that he'd be a better fit for CFC than Higuain (based on your opinion that Benzema prefers to play part in the creation of chances) as Torres does a similar thing at CFC right now. I don't think it's as simple as us needing a pure goal scorer, Torres is a pretty potent one, but like I said if you've watched us this season you would've noticed how involved Torres is with the build up play. Which is why I said my comment about Benzema being a better fit than Higuain at CFC. Yes Torres has three playmakers behind him, but because they don't really provide width, it's essential for whoever plays number 9 to be involved in the play as there won't be a lot of spaces to run into especially if an opponent sets up a low block formation. It isn't as simple as Torres/whoever sitting on the edge of the box waiting for our playmaking trinity to create chances for him. Also it's very naive to think that the title of this thread represents the view of the whole forum. If you would've bothered reading through the pages, which I'm guessing you clearly did not, you'd see people disagreeing with valid points and opinions with the opinion that we need another striker.