Madmax

Jesus, what? No! Can you imagine the media circlejerk? Louis a genius, United a phoenix, etc. Would like a complete outsider to nick it (Boro!) but if not, among the three red shits I'd prefer Arsenal because the monkey's off the back anyway.

But tell us how you really feel, Henrique

Still referring to us as 'this club' :') Good luck and #behappy Shirley

Prepare to be really disappointed.

In theory, yes. But in practice, Chelsea go about in a way that makes longer contracts more sensible ... our transfer fees are large even for squad signings and wages are relatively modest; that's the idea with buying young. Torres was a one-off ... we've learned our lesson. Besides, on loaning out unneeded players it's the transferee club that picks up the FFP hit because they usually pay some if not all the wages.

No because France doesn't possess some extraordinary football brains like Jamie Redknapp.

You really, really think Hazard is worth more than Messi right now?

Agree. I made a comparison (league goals in 14/15 so far) with the other two teams mentioned, Arsenal and City. The results are as follows - No. of outfielders with no goals scored Chelsea - 6, Arsenal - 8, City - 8 No. of oufielders with more than one goal scored Chelsea - 9, Arsenal - 7, City - 7 Total % team goals supplied by top scorer Chelsea - 33%; Costa, Arsenal - 27%; Sanchez, City - 31%; Aguero Total % team goals supplied by top 3 scorers Chelsea - 60% (Costa, Hazard, Oscar), Arsenal - 57% (Sanchez, Giroud, Cazorla), City - 58% (Aguero, Toure, Judas) Total % team goals supplied by strikers Chelsea - 45%, Arsenal - 25% (52% if you count Sanchez as a striker), City - 46% Total % team goals supplied by midfielders Chelsea - 43%, Arsenal - 61% (34% if you count Sanchez as a striker), City - 46% Total % team goals supplied by defenders Chelsea - 12%, Arsenal - 11%, City - 6% Yep, I have a lot of time on my hands

That'd be a disaster FFP-wise. The greater he length of the contract, the smaller the yearly FFP hit on the books.

Good point, but Willian has been outscored by more or less all his competitors in that Shakhtar side when afforded similar game time : Alex Teixeira 09-10 : 0 goals (3 appearances) 10-11 : 5 goals (26 appearances) 11-12 : 7 goals (26 appearances) 12-13 : 10 goals (27 appearances) Douglas Costa 09-10 : 5 goals (13 appearances) 10-11 : 5 goals (27 appearances) 11-12 : 6 goals (27 appearances) 12-13 : 5 goals (27 appearances) Jadson 07-08 : 7 goals (27 appearances) 08-09 : 1 goal (26 appearances) 09-10 : 9 goals (26 appearances) 10-11 : 5 goals (24 appearances) 11-12 : 3 goals (11 appearances) Ilsinho 11-12 : 1 goal (7 appearances) 12-13 : 6 goals (19 appearances) Mkhytaryan 10-11 : 3 goals (17 appearances) 11-12 : 10 goals (26 appearances) 12-13 : 25 goals (29 appearances) The guy's simply not a goalscorer and never has been. Although credit to him for the assist numbers he racked up in 10-11 and 11-12, nobody comes close to it in that side during that period.

He doesn't come close to being prolific Shakhtar/Anzhi days (league numbers) : 07/08 - 0 goals, 2 assists (20 appearances) 08/09 - 5 goals, 5 assists (29 appearances) 09/10 - 5 goals, 5 assists (22 appearances) 10/11 - 3 goals, 10 assists (28 appearances) 11/12 - 5 goals, 16 assists (27 appearances) 12/13 - 3 goals, 7 assists (21 appearances) That's 21 goals and 45 assists from nearly 150 games. A goal every 7th game and an assist every third game isn't that impressive given he played in a two-team league.

I don't even know why most people have just assumed that he will threaten Willian's place. Going by how much Mourinho seems to rate him and how Oscar puts in very nondescript performances from time to time, it's the latter who could find himself sitting out if he's not careful.

This guy is the lead pundit for the Champions League broadcast show here ... you do not know the pain.

Let me guess ... Paul Parker?

More like he's typing whatever the adidas guys tell him to.

Really sad to see him depart but he made the correct career decision. Thanks for everything and go well, Berty.

Yeah, completely forgot those lol. Weirdly enough, my next most vivid memory is Anelka hitting the post with a free header from 2 yards out in 10-11, game in which Josh started and Bosingwa made a comeback. That, and fucking James Collins and Richard Dunne scoring from corners in a 2-1 win for them.

Have we ever won there in recent years except in Guus' first game? (lovely goal that day, btw. Lampard or Deco to Anelka it was, I believe)

Do you speak from experience?

Seriously though, a scare before and a boner after ... the best kind of boner.

That Aguero tackle gave me a boner. https://vine.co/v/Otpi3JXd2Og

Doubt it; Deschamps has gone on record saying he can see Jetpack captain Les Bleus one day.

People who're moaning about our (lack of) attacking impetus yesterday need to ask themselves this - how many decent openings did City create, that were not gifted to them by us? 1st half : Fernandinho cross/shot wide of the post due to Azpilicueta's partial block - after Ivanovic gave the ball away just outside our box Aguero shot from a pretty tight angle beaten away by Courtois - only half a chance, if that Aguero shot wide of the post - came after Terry completely missed his clearance from a long ball City goal - mistake from Matic, Courtois 2nd half : absolutely nothing of note, unless you consider Milner's tame shot that dribbled wide a 'chance'. Seriously, watch this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zZRRGJRdcw So what, a solitary effort that didn't result from an opposition mistake? In a game their manager described as a must win. Against a knackered side missing 2 of their 3 best starters and 4 of 7 bench options. I know who should be more disappointed with the draw and the attitude.