LDN Blue

Carlo was brought into win this. If we do not progress past Copenhagen, Carlo must be axed. There is no 2-ways about that. He is the knock-out competition expert. He was brought in specifically for this cup. He must deliver this, so we (Abramovich) can move on with securing the club's future!

Ah my mistake it was €100million. I'm pretty sure Pastore won't wait for that sort of bid though.

Haha he can't play.. He's cup-tied. (Still wouldn't stop the media ignoring that little fact though)

Just realised this will be a great business venture! Might convince the old man to buy a couple and then sell them for a giant profit

We'll have to wait for and see the details of the plan. No. That's not what I'm saying at all. It's the cheek of them setting it up, right near our very own training ground. Almost taunting our academy.

LOL this coming after he signs a deal which sees his buy-out clause increase to £100million. Nice try CaughtOffside.

You can't be serious? Barcelona are the best team in the world right now. Their reputation of bringing players through their youth ranks outshines any club in the world, their future and present is backed up by their past too. As a player if you're offered the chance to play for Chelsea or Barcelona, you'd go to Barcelona. (As a young player) The point of the article is, they're opening the academy, regardless. The debate of when is pointless.

There's direct quotes. In reference to Chelsea as well. It comes from Barcelona, via SkySports.

If this was any other player, Carlo could use him in the Pippo Inzaghi role. However with an ego, the size of Drogba's (as reported), this seems improbable to foresee.

Lol, what more proof do you need?

Yeah I mean, the youth coaches. All that would run through our players minds are "Wow. Those kids are playing for Barcelona!"

Not even on that scale.. It's like putting a Tesco supermarket opposite a grocery store :\ It's ridiculous! I fear to think what will run through the minds of players like Kakuta when they're training, to see the highly skilful Barcelona managers and players opposite the road.

Well, he's only here for one more season.

This makes things worse for us. The attraction to Barcelona is much greater than Chelsea.

No doubt. But as a player, he wasn't as great.

Yeah, very true. However, he seems to be perceived as too young, which then creates an underlying problem. Of course the board could not predict Lampard would be injured for such a long period of time and that Essien would have his share too, but the naiveness of the board to not prepare for such scenarios should be something the board should fix asap. That being said, we do have to look forward to Benayoun's return. Several fans have stated, he will fix our problems (like had been said like Lampard & Essien). So let's see if that will solve our problems..

Don't want him to go. This will be a true test of his character. Will he stay and fight for his place or run?

Welcome!

Well if you haven't recognised it by now, I don't think you will..

Exactly! My words exact after that game Mikel has been our most improved player in the last few years. From constant red cards, to a vital member of the squad. Brilliant!

Fair do's mate. Hopefully Mikel will keep his consistency when he's called up, and will sway your mind

Essien was. Until Mikel came along. Essien has so much more attacking flare. He's wasted at DM. That's what "everybody" said, so we asked, and received. He's much better going forward and staying there, and going back to help out Mikel, than he is starting there. This is because we rely on our full-backs for the width. This means we need our DM to stay back and cover. Essien likes to go forward and if we keep him at DM we'll lose so much drive in midfield. Mikel there is a better option for both parties.

Yeah you could be right, thinking about the start of the season now. We all know how blind management became back then, ignoring the fact we'd lost our sense of creativity

Mikel is so important to the team it's unbelievable. He is a much better DM than Essien for the reason Styles stated. His ability to hold possession is something we've severely lacked. More times, than ever, he's kick started our counter attacks with intelligent ball control and distribution. Everyone was singing praises of him in October, now he's gone under as a dark-horse. I believe Carlo makes a mistake when using Essien instead of Mikel.