Tomo

Terry, Benatia, Cahill and Zouma would be a good combination of centre halfs.

Still can't get over Henry and Rodgers acting like 5 year olds when Arsenal made a bid for Suarez. Never seen such an club so insecure about themselves in my life.

If he wins tonight it will be the first time a player won the world cup while playing for Chelsea since France 98.

I actually think the last two months helped sugarcoat some issues in 09/10. First half of the season we were conceding far to many goals from set pieces, Cech was off form and Carvalhos decline was alarmingly obvious. After the Inter and Blackburn double header there were people seriously wondering if our squad was to old and simply run out of steam (There were a lot of signs that this squad was approaching father time, and we should have acted that summer). We were like a team possesed from then on and really proved them wrong in style, but that season wasnt all champagne and 7 8 goal wins, we had to cross some serious obstacles to cross the finish line, the back to back seasons were much more straightforward in comparison.

The calendar year in 2005 was the best imo, we were ruthless, the results getting chalked up were like mine on fifa career mode. It was absolutely insane. The air of invincibility around the place was so high merely conceding goals even if we went on to win were annoying. 09/10 was amazing team, but was still behind the back to back winning teams in terms of quality, Carlo did amazing getting what he did out of the boys, shame he undone it all and then some the year after.

Ash was the best LB in the world but isn't no more, nevertheless he is still a LB. I find it harsh that a player who was once the best RB in the prem regularly (as good as) gets branded a fraud in that position (he was actually good at crossing back then, when he had Drogba, Flo, Kalou, Lamps and Ballack getting on the end of them, coincidence?). Maybe the system helped, but the system only helps players so much, the rest is down to them.

Ivan is a better at RB than given credit for, he was the best in the league under Carlo so it's a bit unfair to say he's a CB playing there. I agree Azpi's the better option in this current day weighing it up however.

Im wondering what's happening regarding Oscar, the Pogba rumours are slowly hotting up and you know what they say, no smoke without fire. If that happens that will mean Cesc would be number ten or the most advanced midfielder in a 4 3 3. Whatever happens im fine with. ----------------Courtois/Cech-----------Iva/Azpi-----Cahill------JT-----Luis/Azpi-------Matic----------Pogba/Cesc-------Willian/Schurrle---Cesc/Oscar---Hazard---------------------Costa---------------- Rest of squad from- Schwarzer, Blackman (if one of our keepers leave) Zouma, Ake, Rami, MVG, Tiago, Mikel (if he stays), Salah, Aubamayeng. That would be a perfectly balanced squad imo (maybe an extra defender) in terms off playing style and youth/expierence.

I know you said that in jest but I don't have a problem with that policy. Ultimately in FFP era we can't compete with United and a few others flat out financially, so this is how we make up for it.The best one's (Courtois) will effectively come in as a free signing later down the line and the rest get sold for profit and fund moves for players we need (KDB paying for Matic in January for example). Clever way to make up for our lack of income in comparison to United, Barca, Bayern and the rest of the supergiants imo.

Basically we are all saying the same thing just In different ways

That's a big if, if his interview after the Chelsea and activity so far is anything to go by, it's not very high in hus list of priorities.

I think he might have Ivan and Luis with Azpi covering both, which will still leave more than enough games for Cesar. I seem to be alone but I think the Spaniard is better at left back.

A Chelsea man in the sky had control on the games, 2 years on and that's still the only logical reason i can come up with just how we pulled it off.

Have you seen John O Shea's CV? He at best is a good squad player for us but he doesn't want that, infact ask a Villa fan about his time there and none are overwhelmed. He seems to be over rated by us because he started in the best night in our history, so did Bosingwa.

Too much is made of the age thing, we have been signing players for the future for years and still are, the pressure to win next season us huge so it makes sense to sign one of the best full backs in the world right now.

We had no identity on the pitch in the team in the 3 years between Carlo's 2nd season and RDM/Rafa season, we still managed to pick up the knockout cup's due to the fact the team still could do it in one of games, but there was a reason we kept falling short on the league. Jose has set a blueprint for solid, counter attacking football and for the first time in ages it feels we are heading in a good direction. Im sorry but we will simply have to agree to disagree re the managers, money helps but the manager aspect is a lot more than the points you made, Moyes spent 65m to add to a team of champions and ended up taking them to 7th, below his old team, where he constantly used money as an excuse for not being able to take them any further, and to expand further his successor has argubly done just that. While money helps, a lot, if your shit at your job like Moyes or Sherwood, then you ain't going anywhere.

I agree to some extent, but managers actually make a hell of a difference, if any set of supporters should know that it is us. Scolari is a awful manager, if we didn't have a group of experienced serial winners in or around their prime's he would have ruined us, as soon as Rafa showed how to counter his tactics every one else followed suit and he had no answer.

He was horrific tonight, goes with out saying, however Dante, Marcelo, Gustavo and especially Fernandinho also looked like school boys out there. He should never have captained the side mind, he isn't a leader.

Easy, remind them they spent the money on Carroll and Henderson.

He can probably extend his career even further in Italy with the slower pace of the game. Good luck to him.

If we win nothing next season should it be considered a failure? probably, if we get say 90 points but someone gazumps us and gets 93 then im not sure, that's something you can't legislate for. However Jose should not be sacked whatever happens. With United and Spurs sacking there village idiots and appointing a world class and very good manager respectively, competition for top 4 places will be bigger than ever before, never mind the title, and if we sack Jose and then make a Scolari lite error, we could be in trouble. For aslong as Jose is around we at the very, very, very least will be competing at a high level and you know what they say, keep challenging for the big titles and you will get them eventually. Furthermore, if we are struggling to win the title under Jose, it will be even harder with someone else. With the competition getting fiercer than ever, having a competant manager is vital, and we have one of the best of all time.

3 to 4 years is a very long time in football, for perspective Ivanovic broke into the team 5 years ago, and it feels like he's been here forever.

Actually didn't Eto'o catch up with him in goals per minute? Eto'o contributions last season are criminally underrated and given the youth of AMs, experience was needed upfront. Ba 'outperformed' our strikers in 2011/2012 yet we know what happened when he put our shirt on. If Hernandez signs for Everton this summer he would probably score about 15, would that make him good enough to be our number 1?

Speaking of Gerrard every time I see them make a "my Xl for next season" Gerrard is still there as DM, even suggest Gerrard is past it and they go mental, I mean we accepted Lamps weren't the player he was, United did likewise with Giggs, it can't be that hard, can it?

Athletico did face packed defenses last season, they were further ahead in team development so found a way nine times out of ten compared to seven for us. And us struggling vs those defences owed to us making awful decisions in the final third more than how good the defenses were, hopefully with Cesc, Costa and the rest a year older that won't be as bad an issue next term. Im not saying other leagues haven't declined defensively aswell, but I do believe that the PL don't have the best collective defensive units either, 2nd place Liverpool shipped 50, 6th place Spurs lost 20-1 overall to the top two and 4th place Arsenal conceded two 6s and a 5 away against the teams above them.