Styles

Hazard is too good for the Madrid circus.

Very true. Azpi is a brilliant defender, but Luis needs to be given a chance soon because he has the ability to contribute more going forward. I really don't think there would be that much of a drop-off in terms of defensive quality.

Bosingwa was a better CB than he was RB. His performance at Camp Nou didn't go unnoticed, we were using him wrong the whole time

I don't really understand how playing Luis would be a risk. Luis doesn't need to be eased in neither does he need to play soft games and be protected. I've read around online with some people even suggesting he wouldn't be able to cope with Nathan Dyer...what? I don't know why and how he's started to develop this reputation as a defensively-weak player and/or potential liability. The way some people talk you'd think we signed Bosingwa again.

Haha, PVA is rather weak defensively to say the least. I still think Luis will get his chance and make the position his own though. If he doesn't, however, questions need to be asked.

Hazard and Mikel in one of these ads, please.

And? What's wrong with Turkey?

If he doesn't - and he isn't given an opportunity to prove himself i.e. a consecutive run of games - then it ranks up there as one of our worst buys in recent years. Who spend 16m on 29 year-olds to provide backup? We could have kept on of Cole, Bertrand, PVA or promoted one of our own (yeah right!).

Ouch.

I think he has done well in spells on the left. One game that stands out is Swansea away last season, he started on the right initially but was moved over to the left and was impressive from what I recall. But if Hazard isn't available I'd expect to see Schurrle there as that's his best position.

Almost certainly fake...funny though

It could be one of two things: 1) Instruction from the manager i.e. when you take the lead you tighten up and play on the counter-attack. And to be fair, that's not the worst idea in the world, especially against the better sides. The longer we hold the lead the more desperate the opposition get and commit more bodies forward which allows us to pick them off on the counter-attack. 2) Natural instinct of the players to protect what they have and they, perhaps, subconsciously take their foot off the gas. That happens a lot (but it isn't exclusive to just us); I've seen us go from playing good football and then becoming incredibly sloppy after taking the lead in a game.

I prefer C

Sterling is a hell of a lot better than I initially thought he was. I just assumed he was just the archetypal quick winger but he has a lot more to his game than just speed. I'm amazed the top London clubs let him leave the capital and join Liverpool.

Brilliant finish on his weaker foot.

Hopefully he'll start a handful of games and feature in 10+. And if we have an injury crisis he could potentially get more chances.

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/09/academy-graduates-in-first-team-squad.html Brilliant.

Prowse's set piece ability/delivert is outstanding. I think Barkley is overrated personally, he's a decent enough young player but not as good as hyped by the media. Clyne is quality.

Doubt it, especially since he wasn't taken on tour. I think Baker is the best placed of all the young players to feature.

In his final season Ferguson spent 24m on RvP: a player in the final year of his contract and on a 'silly' salary. I'm sure he's still giving Man Utd advice and Rooney is paid 300k, a player in a deep decline held the club ransom and they caved. Man Utd as a club are bullshitters and they've found out this summer they're just like every other club; if they want top talent they have to pay up like everybody else.

Rooney may well have won us the league last year but I'm glad the deal fell through. He is declining in my honest opinion and has lost all his explosiveness; I watched him against Burnley the other day and he was awful. He may turn it on once in a while but as a consistent, top level performer I think he's finished.

We shouldn't have to make wholesale changes every summer with the squad we have now, just one or two quality additions every now and again. If we go about our business smartly from now on we won't need to do what Man Utd have done this summer. We have a good mix of young talent and experienced players, almost a perfect balance.