Peace.

oooops, wrong thread.

If we don't change something, we will be smashed down...

Ah... If I didn't develop the point about Mikel any further that was because it wasn't really the topic of our talk. But well, whatever. Let's agree with something, when I talk about skill, it is his raw skills, not what he does of them on the pitch. Yes Mikel has skills. He has a very good passing game, most of his passes are completed, he has a good long range pass. His stats prove this (whatever if it's side passes or stuff). Then, he has intelligence when he plays passes. For instance, he doesn't put the same power in the ball when he does a long pass to Cole or to Ferreira. He also has a good control of the ball, when the ball arrives to his feet, it stays at his feet. He isn't the best dribbler out there, but he knows how to dribble and beat a man. Finally, he has a good flair when it comes to make interception.

You could add "a 27 years-old Ghost Spanish" to this list.

I'am against this signing. We aren't in a situation where we just have to make some adjustements to the squad. If it was the case, why not ? But we can't afford us to spend our time to get old and average players. We need to rebuild our squad, because it lacks of quality and freshness. What we need, is relatively young players (under their 26 I would say) who are at the top level, or who have the potential to get to the top level. Scott Parker doesn't fit the description. Though, if he is on a low basis wage and if his price tag is quite cheap, plus depending to our other signs, I wouldn't complain that much...

He is at Tignes, where he is training with France U20.

Yeah, King Kenny has a masterplan.

Barcelona's little players have ripped apart ManU's big boys.

We're agree. Though, I'd add to that list a second creative midfielder and a striker. Another creative midfielder because at the moment we have only McEachran and Benayoun who fit this description. Josh is too young to be an important player for the squad. And for Benayoun... He really isn't a world beater... A good little player yes, but he isn't the man who will make us beat Barça or ManU. And if the first creative mid is Mordic (what I hope for), then I want us to get someone who plays higher on the pitch, a bit like Nasri, Pastore or Ganso. A striker because Sturridge is the only striker we have in which I have confidence, for the whole season. Drogba is still good, and imo he can still deliver some classy performances, but he is 33 and will turn 34... I don't think he can be good all year long. I don't see why I could have an ounce of confidence in our very own Ladyboy. And then, we have Kalou... Do I need to explain ?

Why would we need him to replace Essien.. ? Anelka is here

Yes, and.....?

Lol, Chalobah is 16,5 years-old ffs.

Quite useful game actually, it has just proved that we have to offload : Anelka, Malouda, Kalou, Bosingwa if we want to be competitive.

Put Kalou and Bosingwa in a bag and ship them far away from England.

I co-sign.

Because, just as Arsanal, they're jealous of us.

Or he is underrated... Depends from which 'side' you are.

Yeah, by no means Hart was better than Cech or Van der Saar. I don't know which one from the two of them was the better, because they was both outstanding and really important for their team. But what is 100% sure, is that they were a class ahead of Hart.

Welcome back

Exactly my mind. To be honest I'd rather have Falcao or Aguero, but as you said that is better than nothing. By the way, 15m€ is a fair price compared to the £20m which was announced some weeks ago.

Fuck... We should try Aguero now.

Welcome back

Ahah...lol. Chill out man. That's just a picture. What I wanted to mean, is that we don't need another player whom the game is based on physical and athletic abilties. We just don't need someone who when you think about him, the first thing coming to your mind is "he is a beast !", but "he has a nice passing game". For example, what do you think when ou think about Essien ? "He is the bison", aren't you ? That means his physical abilities are more important to his game than his skill, or at least seem to people eyes to be more important. When thinking about Xavi Hernandez, the first thing coming in mind is his marvelous passing game. That is plane as that... Try to understand what is behind words. PS : Mikel has skill.

I would neither take the gamble to leave my hopes be laid on Torres' shoulders. Though I'm agree with your post. Thus it is kinda a dilemma.To my eyes, the better to sort it out would be to buy a new striker and let Drogba leave.

Don't know what make about this interview... Because obviously, he won't come out and tell the world "we're desperatly searching a man to replace Essien". I assume he said this just to calm down journos, and to prevent teams to inflate the price for their player. Either that or he means we won't look for another box-to-box midfielder.