Styles

Classy.

I don't care! Mods do it.

I nominate mon ami @Peace. :tophat:

Dropped from the national team and playing in Turkey. Yeah definitely not my kind of player

I'm coming at it from the angle that circumstances aren't good. The salary, transfer fee and profile of the player doesn't add up for me. I've long been an advocate of having a deeper squad. Our thin squad is why we have underperformed for several years, not just in the last season. I'd prefer we used KDB and sign another player of that profile i.e. young enough to come in as cover but with scope for long-term development.

Which is what I was alluding to. Value tends to be found in younger players. Demba Ba was a unique transfer in that he had a buyout clause and was on relatively low salary. As far as I'm aware Sneijder has no buyout clause and is earning big money. Why would Galatasary accept an arbitrary figure like 5m? We need to beef up the squad but there's no value in a transfer like this at all. He's 29 soon and would be on a prohibitive salary in relation to the role he would be required for as a squad player. I want Hazard, Oscar and Mata to play the large majority of our games and be the future of the club. Their cover shouldn't be earning more than them.

Oh god that was awful. The main reason for the Steve Kean link was that he spoke Portuguese. Mourinho obviously needs a translator you see.

Total non-starter. This is the type of transfer we've stopped making. This summer is going be tedious with Mourinho linked with every ex-player of his.

I don't believe somebody as experienced as Mourinho would allow us to play an entire season with the thin and/or unbalanced squads we have been over the last 2-3 years. Just addressing that issue alone will make us more competitive then you factor in his ability as a coach and we can seriously compete. Top 2 in the league is a minimum.

Must have been a good message!

Some very encouraging words from him there.

Ramires would be better than Paulinho in that case. More dynamic. Hernanes should be a starting player, he would improve the midfield a LOT.

Really? He looks stiff and looks nothing like an attacking player. I watched him at Club World Cup and a few times for the national team and have never been impressed by him.

I don't think there's much wrong with any of our defenders individually. It's the team shape, tactics, formations etc that have made all of our players, not just the defenders, look bad. The truth is we've been a badly coached team for going on several years now. Luiz would look a lot better in a more organised team than we have been in his time as a Chelsea player. You would think somebody as good as Mourinho would be able to take advantage of his many strengths (speed, interception, playing from the back) and mask his deficiencies.

Another solid performance for his country. I don't think I've seen him play badly for Brazil and I've been watching him play for the national team since the Olympics. Chelsea and Brazil's number 11 has a nice ring to it. The O11 brand is about to take off, don't get left behind fellas.

Some great goals in that video. He looks more direct than any of the current attacking midfielders. A very respectable 14 goals 10 assists last season. He averaged 4 shots a game in the BuLi last season (which is the most) and had 122 shots overall. He may not be the best player in the world but he's a massive upgrade on Marin and will be a good squad player.

Perhaps De Bruyne wants to guarantee first team football to ensure his place at the World Cup. I believe he's good enough to contribute next season but perhaps the player himself doesn't want to risk it. The only way I would sanction another loan move is if the player himself is pushing for it. He has a contract until 2017 so another year on loan wouldn't be the end of the world.

Great guy, so mature for his age.

Football is funny like that. The player who isn't hyped up as much could easily become the one to break through. Baker is very good though so it wouldn't be a surprise. Swift is quality as well and doesn't get much hype either.

That's terrible. You would want the best teams competing against each other. Wouldn't making it an U21 tournament make more sense?

Yeah he stands off because he's weary of being beaten for pace if he gets too close. Ivan isn't slow when in full stride but he doesn't have good acceleration. Azpi gets a lot tighter and is a more natural RB.

Good post and I know exactly what you mean. The least he should be able to do is close down passing lanes, perhaps Mourinho will be able to coach that into his game. He doesn't have the energy and intensity to be able to press for any substantial amount of time. Mourinho will have to find a way to at least make him less of a liability, if possible, than he is currently when we don't have possession.

A 'lot of method' is pushing it. There is a clear structure and style of play at youth and reserve level but not at the senior team. The senior team relies heavily on individual moments of quality/skill and isn't a well drilled team especially in comparison to the top European clubs who press as a team, have rehearsed patterns of play etc. In fact I've long thought one of issues regarding youth integration is they come up from a well oiled machine at youth and reserve level with clear roles and step up into a senior team that doesn't function well at all.

For this approach to work we'd need a settled first team, a clear style of play/coaching and a manager wiling to trust young players. At present we have none of those things so we're stockpiling hoping some come off and making a profit on the others. There little method to the madness at present.