Madmax

The apple never falls far from the tree

Really pleased with and for him tonight. Looked like he had put the other day behind him (in as much as you can put such a thing behind you so quickly), gave it his all and dragged Brazil forward. Good performance all in all. Hopefully he'll go away now and get a nice little rest to further clear his mind and come back fresh and eager to do well for us. Wish we have a big season from him.

Tiago and maybe MvG.

Which will show exactly why he's been sold. Zero respect to the club who done nothing wrong to him. Good riddance.

The new toy syndrome in some fans is really fucked up. I'm normally not one to pass judgements on other supporters because we're all hypocritical and fickle to some degree but that post above was ridiculous. Khedira is a marginal improvement (if at all) on Ramires, who while being far from a world class player, is more than useful to us depending on the game situation and has been a high level performer for much of his time here. P.S : That recording of Collymore getting trolled never gets old haha.

Get the same impression from his twitter.

City do start as favourites in my opinion. Settled squad, strong spine and better strength in depth than last year. Toure may or may not have another season at a similar level to the last but if they keep Aguero and Kompany fit (a big if), they won't need him to step up all the time. We'll be right up there with the signings we've made and I can see United really coming back into it because they don't have any threat of distraction and injury/fatigue from the UCL. Not too concerned about Arsenal at the moment, their 'title bid' will last till November.

Barcelona have certainly bared their teeth here but it remains to be seen if they've bitten off more than they can chew with this signing. Suarez will definitely add teeth to their attack but whether Messi and Neymar will be chomping at the bit to have another world class forward alongside them is a matter of debate. Having lost the league by the skin of their teeth last season, they'll be anxious to fight tooth and nail for this one and would want to get the bit between the teeth as soon as possible. However they're still toothless at the back and only time will tell if their bite is worse than their bark.

West Ham would be a good option given their reliance on wing play and his primary competition being Jarvis and Downing.

Incomparable situations. As much as I love that 09/10 squad and the season, it was made up completely of experienced players who'd been here a while - and had everyone playing at their peak, especially from the 5-0 at Portsmouth onwards. This squad is nothing like that. But I tell you what, if we do manage to win the league this season, it'll be a far bigger achievement than 09/10, simply because of our relatively young squad and the enormous growth in competition compared to 09/10.

Scouse fire brigade department will be busy tonight.

For his sake, I hope he moves. He's right when he says he needs to be playing consistently at a decent level, he's nearly 25 or something. He has practically zero chance of getting into Mourinho's backline because Mourinho does not rotate it, and he's a better player than to be playing just our Carling Cup games. If Mourinho indeed doesn't fancy him, we have to go with what the manager says, simple really. I don't even mind him playing at Liverpool or Sp*rs, he'll always have a soft spot in my heart for being a Chelsea boy and for starting in Munich. Good luck, Berty.

He doesn't want to stay as backup.

lol, he names Robinho among his top 5 favourite players ever. Others are Zidane, Riquelme, Henry, Ronaldinho.

I honestly don't know how TC has reacted to his 13-14 season, I didn't browse at all from September onwards till the Liverpool game in late April. But from what I read on twitter and on the comment sections of various newspapers, he was nearly always immune from criticism, even in the dark days from January onwards. For the record, I think that 'you're only as good as your last game/fans only remember your previous game' talk is bollocks; it's too simplistic and most people are more intelligent than to truly believe that.

I get the exactly opposite feeling, that people are too lenient with what he gets away with, compared to say Ramires or Schurrle or Salah. We're still hearing the 'potential' and 'talent' argument (I don't entirely disagree, fwiw) but at some point it's got to translate to tangible performances consistently for it to be of any good to us. He will be given chances, of that I'm sure. Mourinho identified him as one of pillars for the coming season - and whatever people may think about Mourinho, it's unlikely he'd embellish in this stance - but he's at the juncture where him being given opportunities has to be earned on the pitch.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10958923/Chelsea-want-8m-for-Liverpool-and-Tottenham-transfer-target-Ryan-Bertrand.html

Hi Kurt, welcome to the club. How does it feel to finally arrive at the training ground and meet your new team-mates? I’m really happy, this is the perfect team for me. In my opinion this is the best club in the world, with the best coach and many excellent players. I’ve spoken to most of the players, including Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic and Demba Ba. They’ve all been really friendly and made me feel very welcome. Tell us about your style of play… I play mainly as a centre-back and I like the physical part of the game. I’m very good in the air, with a big leap, which I would say is probably my biggest quality. I can also play at right-back. I’ve played there occasionally but I am most comfortable in the centre of defence. As a youngster growing up, who were your idols? My favourite footballers as a kid were John Terry and Mamadou Sakho. Terry is a great leader and the perfect example to young players starting out in the game. How does it feel for you to now be a team-mate of John’s? It’s very exciting for me, I’ve always looked up to him as a player and now I just want to learn as much as possible from him. I spoke to him briefly and he’s a very nice man. Have you had a chance to speak to Jose Mourinho? Yes, I spoke with him just for a short time and he explained what he expects from me. He’s the best manager in the world and I’m so happy to be able to work with him. Over the years Chelsea have had some wonderful French defenders, including Marcel Desailly, Frank Leboeuf and William Gallas. You must be excited to be following in their footsteps… It’s a big honour for me, Marcel Desailly was a fantastic defender, a great example, and I would love to be able to have a career like his during my time at the club. I hope I can become another great French Chelsea defender. You’ve played for France across the younger age groups but last October you were called into the senior squad for a couple of matches – how was that experience? I was called up for two matches, a friendly against Australia and a World Cup qualifier against Finland. It was an amazing feeling to be involved, I was a substitute in both matches and it made me want to be involved with the national side more often. Did you watch much of the Premier League last season? Yes, I saw a lot of English football while I was living in France, it’s very enjoyable to watch. Chelsea did well last season and hopefully we can do even better this time around. I can’t wait to get started. You must be looking forward to testing yourself against attacking players such as Oscar, Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres in training… Definitely, there are so many good players in our squad and I’m very happy to be working alongside them. I’ve played against Hazard before in Ligue 1, he’s such a talented winger and very difficult to play against. How important is it for you to be playing in the Champions League? I think it will be crucial in terms of my development. It’s the biggest competition in club football and hopefully I will be involved. What are your hopes for your first season at the club? Initially it will be a period of adaptation but I hope I can improve as a player, get into the team and just play as many matches as possible. http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/07/first-words--kurt-zouma.html?WT.mc_id=social_20140710_27582176

Cool. I really like La Real.

^I like how cleanly and crisply he strikes the ball. Sound technique.

That's why we have Torres Nah, fair point.

They saw Jamal Blackman and got confused.

I think with Tiago, we're okay in midfield. Of course, if a top player becomes available (Vidal/Pogba), an interest may accrue. Ramires and Mikel both have their uses. What I'm hoping we do is get a #2 striker. I'm not sure Lukaku's going to be around.

That you dig it?

Check out the big brains on Brett!