Madmax

Overreactions again, I see.

We've made things difficult for ourselves but there's no "massive blow" as you call it. A win against Valencia is all it takes.

Cech : Good - Leader, good form; Bad - not great on crosses, only viable GK option Ivanovic : Good - Leader, set pieces; Bad - pace, uncomfortable at CB Luiz : Good - Confidence, potential; Bad - marks opponent too tightly, challenges for impossible balls Terry : Good - Influence, passion; Bad - pace, influence Cole : Good - stamina, link up play; Bad - petulance, crossing Alex : Good - reads game well, freekicks ( ); Bad - concentration lapses, injury prone Bosingwa : Good - pace; Bad - crossing, gets sucked infield too often, bit of a donkey Mikel : Good - ball retention, knows his role well; Bad - pace, lapses of concentration Ramires : Good - stamina, work rate; Bad - touch, finishing Lampard : Good - professionalism, intelligence; Bad - pace Meireles : Good - utility man, punk rock bastard; Bad - jack of all trades but master of none Malouda : Good - plays several positions, works hard; Bad - selfishness, groupism Mata : Good - intelligence, vision; Bad - size Drogba : Good - strength, selfless; Bad - moaner, pace Torres : Good - movement Bad - confidence Sturridge : Good - confidence, pace, footwork, Bad - one footed Only named those who'll play often this season.

Sad thing is, it's not an exaggeration. Roman's lent his yacht multiple times to several players for occasions like holidays, receptions, etc.

Notice CFC's fail in the description below the youtube video - calling him Romelu 'Lukaka'

Of course job security comes into it, you're not likely to take chances on unproven talent when it's your head on the chopping block.

Will probably end up at Hamburg

Agreed

Not on those wage packets.

A big mistake was to renew long term the already staggering contracts of Lampard and Terry back when Inter and City showed interest. Essentially we now have two players who shouldn't be playing every game of every week, yet who're getting upwards of 150k each. That's close to £30 million a year!

Yes we do. Finishing second in the group will open the possibility of coming up against the likes of Bayern, Real or Barca at the pre Q/F stage.

lmfao haha Barton, you mean?

Bundesliga is arguably the most competitive league in Europe atm, in the sense that anyone can beat anyone else. Not so in England (eg Wigan - United) or Spain (lol). The Bayern game didn't show you the best of Gotze, not by a long shot. He was rather quiet, apart from the goal itself.

The real reason younger players are preferred with UFFP around the corner is that they require lesser wages than a been there-done that superstar. With the ruling that player wages cannot exceed 70% of our income under UFFP, and our revenue sources limited in comparison to other big clubs, looking towards young all-to-prove talent is a natural consequence. The tranfer prices don't come into it at all, they are amortized over the length of the contract anyway.

The CL spot would have been sealed even with a draw, Desailly's leveller was the million or billion or whatever pound goal in effect.

Neymar. I wish I could do that him.

Breaking up player power is the biggest challenge Andre faces. Unless and until the French speaking group and other 'strong characters' are told to fit in or fuck off, we'll never rise above petty temper tantrums.

Hah point out the part where I said he was solely interested in money. If you'd read my original post you'd know I alluded to the days of unquestionable commitment, days of playing matches after taking painkillers and all that. But fact remains, at this moment, his wages are entirely disproportional to what he brings to the table, as are those of most others.

Those stats are irrelevant. Scolari took over a team that had come within an inch of being European champions. AVB has a bunch of misfits.

And give up the 150k odd he picks up each week? Sure ...

4-3-3 isn't or shouldn't be set in stone. Our best performance this season came in the second half at OT when we shifted to 4-2-3-1.

Agree with this. JT has never been one who you'd call adept at 'reading the game', he's had the likes of Carvalho do that for him while he covers.

This is how the dictionary defines transition : So what you're seeing now at Chelsea is not transition. Merely putting Mata in a team of 7 30+ year olds doesn't constitute a shift of any relevance. 7! No top team in Europe does that, yet we continue to stick with the old and hope for the best.

He isn't even getting minutes in the reserves fixtures.

Not disputing that ... The commentators kept going on about how they could 'hear a pin drop' etc, had to watch on mute once their anti-Chelsea rhetoric reached nauseous proportions.