LDN Blue

I hope none of you actually tweet the kid. If that was a Chelsea ball-boy we'd be calling him a legend.

Oh dear. Stupid, stupid, Eden. Well, you know he's at the right club.

Fair play. I do believe Chamberlain is actually a very impressive talent, but you can't deny someone like Bale either? I understand what you're saying, and I'm not suggesting we do become a feeder club by any means. However that doesn't mean we can't bring through talent without having to wait forever. In fact, that's not even what we do. We take players from these feeder clubs, paying 2-3x what those original clubs paid for them. That's an unsustainable system if anyone ever saw. However, I do agree that Bertrand is good enough & in PvA we've got some good potential. If Bertrand was at a club like West Ham, most of our fans would be saying we should sign him up etc. But without a doubt, Ryan Bertrand is a left-back, not a winger.

Conditions will not work in our favour whatsoever. #GettingInTheExcusesEarly

Yeaa, he was signed by Kazan today.

Take your logical post, and get outta here

Well it's worked out for Chamberlain, even if he uses Arsenal as a springboard. Hasn't worked out for Bale yet, but he's got interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona etc. It's not about Arsenal not winning anything it's about him actually bringing through talent, giving them a chance, and giving them the opportunity to elevate their career.

Precisely. We were actually one of the teams that were highly interested in Oxlade-Chamberlain when he was still at Southampton (I often kept a close eye on stories regarding him & posted on TC). It actually came down to Arsenal, United & Us. He was immediately deciding between Arsenal and United because he knew that we simply wouldn't have given him the chance that Wenger gave to him. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of Bale & Walcott where his impact would come sooner than later. Shaw will be the same. He will only move when he knows he will be given a fair chance, when age isn't going to hinder that chance.

Stop it Spike, I still miss his Chelsea days :-(

I find this whole Mourinho-still-calls-and-texts-Roman all b/s and made up tabloid journalism. As much as I'd love for it to be true, we know it's just not.

True. But then you remember when Cech first arrived at Chelsea, he got his shot when Cudicini became injured and went on to keep that #1 shirt his. It would be a shame for Cech to have to sit on the bench, but if the younger Courtois starts doing better then that's better in the long-term for Chelsea. It's a Joe Hart-Shay Given situation, and we need Courtois to take his shot when it arrives.

Agreed. We desperately need a defensive midfield player right now!

Saw talks of Zola. Please let this be untrue, I can't bare to see another legend disrespected by this club..

I'm sure people are delighted. But after all, this is a discussion about the team over all. Just give them a chance, that's all

So it's all Rafa's fault, now it makes sense! (Just kidding, I know what you meant )

A simple "win" doesn't mask underlying problems for everyone. (btw I haven't seen the game yet, but just sayin', people are justified in suggesting flaws)

LMAO, no way?!

Wasn't the OP referring to the fact Lukaku said he doesn't want to be compared to Drogba?

I agree that he's not the ideal manager at present. But no manager is going to jump ships at this point in the season (well, no top manager). So we have no choice but to bare with Rafa, hope he gets us qualified for the Champions League, and then find someone in the summer really.

To be fair, we're still sitting comfortably in 3rd, so it's not as bad as AVB days.. Yet.

As Spike rightly said, replace him with who exactly? Even Zenden can't take over (do a Robbie) because he's not even f'cking allowed to sit in the dug-out (what a ridiculous appointment that was.)

Would be fantastic if he got CL experience while there!

Another thing that people may tend to forget was Pep's position to make Messi the main focus of the team. So players like Deco, Ronaldinho, Eto'o were all shipped out because Guardiola wanted Messi to feel as if he was literally the man at Barca. It's something I've admired about Pep, although it came at the cost of those players have prolonged success, ultimately the gamble was needed for the long-term future of FCB

Anyone know of an apparent Real Madrid bid a couple days ago? Or is that b/s?

Not liking how they've named Rafa Benitez there