The Skipper

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.

The Bridge now and then, but mostly on TV or online. Can't afford to go to every game.

If you've watched us in any sort if capacity you'd see that Torres is playing exactly the same way you describe how Benzema wants to play. Torres is very involved in the build up play. Whoever plays up front is expected to contribute to the creation of chances at CFC. Benzema would be a much better fit than Higuain for Chelsea if what you say about his preferences are true.

Can I please see this video where Falcao claims Real Madrid are his favourite club?

Great article. Agree with everything apart from the Makelele bit - Makelele was more of a holding player than a deep lying instigator.

Best Spurs signing so far this season? Will Chelsea finish above Spurs?

Exactly. An average Hazard is still very effective .

What makes you think he hasn't watched him for a while either?

If Defoe starts then I reckon we should focus on playing centrally (as in starting the trio of Oscar, Mata and Hazard) as they wouldn't have a target man to aim to from their wing play. Also, if Defoe starts I believe it's essential we start Luiz. Luiz will be vital against Defoe's pace and agility.

Why do people want FL as the number ten? Even when he was younger and in his prime he wasn't really good there. Playing him there will just turn the formation into an inverse 4-3-3. I'm not saying FL shouldn't start but come on, emotions aside guys, let's play to win first.

To be honest, we could just have Ramires on the right side of the pivot to help out Ivanovic negate Tottenham's left side. That way we can afford to have an extra outlet in attack on the right. If Hazard, who is quite decent at tracking back, remains quite stationary on the right, we could have the left side pegged down. It'd be Bale tracking back to help out his left back from the onslaught of Ivanovic, Ramires and Hazard rather than us trying to negate Bale. Ergo, we'd have: Cech Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole Ramires - Mikel Hazard - Oscar - Mata Torres The team we started against Arsenal. Different mechanisms involved though especially regarding the double pivot covering the wide areas, which would mean whoever is playing number 10, preferably Oscar, would drop deep as a further outlet and as an extra body to limit the spaces created by the double pivot covering out wide... Thoughts?

Ridiculous.

Man City will never sign Falcao unless they are planning to let Balotelli and/or Dzeko go, and if they are willing to bench either Aguero or Tevez which I can't see happening.

So because we made the mistake of signing strikers we didn't really need we should continue that way? Too many hypothesises. You really can't tell whether the CFC board plus coaching staff are willing to give Sturridge and Lukaku a chance ATM, so blindly assuming that to justify a Falcao purchase doesn't do it for me. (Not you per se). Listen, I really, really rate Falcao, but I can't see us getting him unless Torres is sold which is looking unlikely ATM. People shouldn't get their hopes up, that's all I'm trying to allude to really.