The Skipper

This will never happen.

Why the hell would anyone want to sell one of the best keepers in the world? The best keeper in the PL?

No, it has nothing to do with the fact that there are more males on the forum... I just think you're overreacting a bit. I doubt any guy here would be offended if you made a similarly comment but stated pretty much straight afterwards the comment. You shouldn't let a light hearted comment like that stop you from posting something constructive in this thread in my opinion .

I personally like how Mata is now harassing the opponents.

Oscar vs. Juve was just godly. Definitely goal of the season so far for me.

He was only joking.

Yeah, neither are natural DMs so it's definitely going to be lopsided.

Exactly this. Ramires isn't Romeu or Mikel, so the dynamics change for Oscar.

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.

I've lost so much weight since university, went from 175 lbs to 164 lbs. Need to bulk up again ASAP.

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.

This thread is brilliant.

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.