Bir_CFC

I'm not thinking like either rather myself. Lamps has been found wanting against almost any team with a half-decent midfield and his only contribution is goals and they will be easier to come by in open games and against sides that may concede the midfield to us. Against sides with a good midfield, Lamps won't even get a sniff at goal if we can't first secure our midfield, otherwise he'll cost us more goals that he'd score. Now, if we're playing 4-3-3 then I'd start him against anyone.

Yeah, he should be used when games are a little open and the opposition automatically concede the midfield. Otherwise, he's not good enough to control the midfield against top opposition anymore, especially if it's just 2 in the middle.

Always been defensively sound, it's his offense contribution that has been found wanting. Cole is also absolute shit in the build-up but he still ends up contributing more because of how many runs he ends up making.

I think he's 4th best after RLC, Boga and Christensen.

Yeah, he barely played in preseason so no way he gets a start. It'll take a few of them a couple more weeks to get match fit. He was absolutely shattered at half-time against Roma.

Ben Watson sounds just like John Terry. Almost exact same voice and accent.

3 at the back? Didn't Ramires just move to RB when Terry went off? Ramires - Cahill - Ivan - Bertrand

Why would you say he was poor for majority of the season? If you do want to have a debate you actually have to try and make a point first instead of just throwing out random statements. Poor? How so? Cause some his flicks didn't come off? Because he only averaged 88% pass completion instead of 90%? Because he was tied for 2nd most assists in the PL and not 1st? Or was it because he averaged more dribbles per game than Bale but not Messi? Or maybe because even though he was dispossessed even fewer times than Mata himself, it's unacceptable for an attacking midfielder playing in the final third to loose the ball at all?

That pass to Schurrle in the 2nd minute

Can Hazard do this tho? SELF NUTMEG!!

Marky mark nutmeg's himself hahahahha

Hard to pick the first half MOTM, I picked Schurrle just because he probably made the least amount of mistakes. Not sure how KDB got any votes, I thought he was horrible. 2nd half almost everyone was probably better than their 1st half counterparts. Hazard changed the game completely. Special recognition to the pass of the preseason by Mikel in the first minute to start the counter that resulted in Essien goal.

sweeet, i remember asking for this last year, should be awesome!

Google search for "chelsea forums" joined this one along with a couple others but I liked this one the best.

Why are people comparing Bale to Mata in the first place? You start stupid comparisons obviously it will lead to no conclusions and people just picking fights. Completely different players and it would depend on your team and your playing style to determine who would be the better fit. Both are ridiculously dangerous in their own right. I think Bale would be a beast in a fast paced counter-attacking team, like Jose's Real, he would be an absolute monster. While Mata would be a better option for possession based teams. Combine the two and you get HAZARD HAHAHHAHAHAHA Game.Set.Match!

Are you making these claims based on a few preseason games?

As close to the strongest 11 should start imo. Other than Luiz and Mata since they are injured. Start with this: Cech Azpi - Ivan - Terry - Cole Ramires - MVG Moses - KDB - Hazard Lukaku End with this: Cech Ivan - Cahill - Terry - Bertrand Essien - Lamps KDB - Oscar - Schurrle Torres

Mourinho on Madrid match: “This was a friendly, so there was no celebrations when we won friendlies, and no dramas because we lost,” “We could see the difference in approach from both teams. They have been here for three days, they are preparing for this match.: “I know they have trained once a day and I know one of those days was a recovery session." “They play with their best team for the first minute and they made their first change when it was 3-1. We had a completely different approach. I need to see my players. I need to make conclusions.”

Seriously, Ramires is easily our best 1 on 1 finisher and it's not even close. Unbelievable composure.

you should post like this after every loss

when you loose 1-3 most likely the team wasnt good, so when people say he was good, its relative you have to understand that much he was one of if not the best chelsea player, so not sure why you're making it out like just cause hes new he's getting hype, he actually was one of our better players today and people often look at the bright points during a loss and he was one of very few people get overhyped during friendlies but some get discounted just as much even when they put in good performance because its preseason, it goes both ways

reality check? how so? did you really think we were at real madrid level already? if so, then it's not chelsea that needed a reality check

yeah i agree with you, i saw that interview too and he def didnt mean it like a jab, he just said "real" instead of "brazilian" and it almost seemed like he was going to retract or correct himself but didnt care for it as didnt seem like a big deal that said, it's mourinho we're talking about, people hang off his dick after his interviews saying how he always gives world class answers so from that point of view maybe it wasnt just a slip but was in fact a jab mourinho playing mind games on us even when he doesnt intend to lol

btw for those that couldn't watch, here is the formations we put out 4-3-3 in the first half (Van Ginkel, Lamps and Ramires in the midfield) 4-2-3-1 in the second half (Van Ginkel and Ramires holding, KDB as CAM) 4-4-1-1 to the end the game 4-4-1-1 was interesting, i mean it could have just been cause mou wanted to make subs but maybe could be a formation he wanted to try in the future Cech Azpi - Cahill - Ivan - Cole Moses - Essien - KDB - Schurrle Hazard Torres