LDN Blue

I just hope we don't live to regret this one tbh..

what happened to the older staff members like Kez and the other one who I've completely forgotten the name of (Was it Aesthetic Relic or something?

Lloris started it tbh..

Well I'm sure Costa would've played...... If he didn't pick to play for Spain? He tried very hard iirc, but Costa was already swayed, what could he have done? Didn't Costa even agree before changing his mind?

I don't think you can ever definitively call someone 'best ever' because football always adapts and changes. So much changes, the offside rule, how teams approach football, the evolution of philosophies. So I always go with 'best of their generation', Messi is of his, Maradona maybe of his, Don Alfredo of his etc...

Yeah exactly! The otherside of the coin is pre-season forms gives a bit of a faux interpretation of players. We've had numerous talent that looked great in preseason but didn't reach those same heights in the season.. Marko Marin sticks out like a sore thumb in this context.

Is Paulo Ferreira still around? Gael Kakuta will be rejoining the squad from loan

Indeed, it's the start of the season for both will be key to how they'll progress. But it won't be a main factor, just ask Azpilicueta. That's true Barbra, but you can argue Willian is much freshers having not played as much as our German.

In that case, Ramires is there for the taking

Yeah it's true. Mourinho certainly doesn't rush players back unless there's an occassion where it's needed (Hazard v PSG types), he certainly won't think the beginning of the season is near important enough to foresake Schurrle's overall fitness. That gives Willian a slight edge over his colleague.

They missed a trick with Vela, I would argue that on his day he's one of the best finishers in the world. Great eye for goal, but he does lack other attributes that would have allowed him to be world class.. Like he was supposed to.

I think we will. Something like this should kickstart him again, to continue to try and do it on the international stage by improving club form. The problem is, Barcelona now have Neymar and Suarez where before Messi had the support of Xavi & Iniesta.. I don't really know how Luis Enrique plans to allow all 3 in a free-role when before it was only Messi who was allowed that liberty.

Definitely Schurrle. A Chelsea player who went on to win the World Cup is a feat we're not used to.. Milk it

Lmao did you read how Wenger is trying to buy back Carlos Vela, because he has a clause where he can for £3.5m or something. But the manager of Vela's current club said he doesn't want to go back

The backlash for Messi was hilarious and embarassing from so called "football fans" around the world lmao. Yes, he hasn't won the World Cup for Argentina & I guess he won't surpass Maradonna when speak of them both. I guess he could never do it on a cold night in Stoke either Get a grip. Anyone who thinks Messi, on his form, wasn't the greatest player of his generation is the same people who watch big names for 2 matches and aready decide they're overrated/rubbish (see Cavani v Chelsea this season). The World Cup this season wasn't won by a team with an outstanding individual, it was won by the best team. Messi will still stand out as the greatest of his generation, he earned his stripes already and he shouldn't continue to have to keep proving that. 5 time ballon d'Or champions and his numerous records & accoldaes speak for themselves. So I wholeheartedly believe in the title of this thread.

Exactly. Arsenal get wantaways, but Wenger is still true to his principles (stubborn more like..) and he's not going to break his wage structure. He probably still insists Giroud is good enough

Yeah they could probably strech their finances. But then again, City will be renegotiating soon. Nike now have 1 top 4 club in England signed with them now and if we're not going to move to Nike then they're going to pool all their resources to keep hold of Man City.. I'm sure they can renegotiate before we can even begin and on a mere £12m/year, they will certianly be looking for more than £30m+/year.

Arsenal have the money, your real statement should be "the moment Arsenal are willing to pay his wages.." -- But well, well, well. Isn't this flipping the table upside down. We secure our £30m+ signing in Costa and suddenly Cavani wants in on England. I have no doubt we'll see Manchester City's name crop up soon enough. I'd be delighted if we hadn't already spent big on Costa (a signing which I'm not saying is a mistake though!).. Having Costa & Cavani will be a headache for Mourinho & one he probably wouldn't want.. Our next striker should be cheaper. Much cheaper.

I don't really know why there's so much surprise from people about this. Manchester United are a brand manufacturer's dream, they market themselves and even when they're not as successful they still generate impressive numbers. Adidas predict they'll mak $1.5bn over the course of 10 years, hence why they're offering so much per year and those aren't numbers they just plucked out the air. What does suck is, as I read before, we may be pushed out of Adidas' big PR campaigns. Chelsea & Bayern Munich have been Adidas' unofficial brand ambassadors for their sportswear. On their adverts you generally see us and Bayern. With Manchester United as the 'other' big English club we risk losing our place on the mantle. So there's reason to be skeptical. Unfortunately, we just signed our deal with them last year, so renegotiation can't really happen for another year or so. We can't jump ship yet. Nike probably won't even be an alternative. Adidas are paying what Nike refused after all.

Agreed Jype, but I agree with Special Juan too. Varane will be a shoe in ahead of him, solely because he's going to cost as much as he will (not that I'm discrediting Varane's talent). There's no way we'd sign Varane and Zouma or Kalas would be given a fair chance in comparison. You can argue that Varane did earn his stripes already in France and at Madrid, but what if Zouma is our Varane already but we just never knew because the fair chance never came? I think for this season we're actually well covered at centre back. Terry and Cahill will start with Ivanovic as a back up, for this seasona alone it works because JT is not suffering any fatigue. That's why it's the perfect season to have Zouma/Kalas (now probably the former) to be our 4th CB that will make the last 10-15minutes of already dead games. Ivanovic would provide essential cover, of course, but Zouma to close out a game aside JT/Cahill would be ideal.

You're right. Planning life after Terry, Iva & Cahill has to begin now and players like Zouma, Kalas & Aké are already available to begin their intergration/training into making that step up. But when you're spending a sum of, I'd imagine to be, £20-30m on an u23 year old when we have Zouma, Kalas & Aké it sends the wrong messsage entirely and these youth players will engineer moves away.

I always kin this to "Best general knowledge" so my nomination usually remains.

We've come a long way from when Steve, Alex & Jim used to dominate these awards

What happened to Shon3x?

100 reminds me of Justin for some reason, though in a positive way!