Tomo

Yes finishing is a part of the game, that night we took our's and Munich didn't. But Munich (apart from the finishing) were good that night, they made us look like school boys, if Drogba skied that header they would have probably been lauded for such a dominant performance in the biggest stage of all.

You can't be serious?

At the end of the day we are on the same points and United and City (yes the same City who are apparently a super team who are going to dominate England and take Europe by it's neck, that one)

We won the Champions League final but lets not kid ourself's, it was the most one sided Champions League final for a long, long time (even more so that Porto vs Monaco). It should have been a humiliating defeat, but some sort of footballing god was on our side. Munich was probably our worst performance in the Roman era, our whole team apart from Cech had a mare, we will never be able to truly re pay Cech for that night, ever!!!!! The point im trying to make is we got away with a shite performance that night, but we didn't get away with it forever (Athletico and Juve the following season, going out at the group stage), the same as we won't lose forever if we keep performing like yesterday.

I wish their was a Giroud thread we could bump every time he scores.

I only hope Moyes carries on persisting with Young and Valencia while ignoring Kagawa and Nani.

Fair enough but like i said i don't hate Mikel, im more than happy with him staying but imo we were absolutely awful in the Champions League final, we couldn't get out of our own half for most of it. Yes the players were playing their heart out but you don't concede god knows how many chances if your defense has been good, it was the most one sided cup final i have ever seen. Chelsea fans, players and club as a whole will never be able to properly re-pay Cech for that night.

Interesting, if it does happen that will probably mean Moses will be gone for good and one of our current 6 AM's will make way next summer.

Im by no means in the hate Mikel society but i the only person who was great in that final was Cech, he made so many great saves, Bayern had 34 shots with 21 on target, it was probably the worst Chelsea performance i have ever seen, just happened to be our best result also.

Chelsea, Champions League. In a perverse way winning the WC is probably the worst thing that could happen to England in the grand scheme of things.

Rather unfair comparison, Kakuta and McEachran were raw kids with next to no top flight experience, Courtois has already won the title in Belgium (and if the title decider was anything to go by, played a huge part in Genk winning), the Europa and the Copa Del Rey. By the end of this season he will have Champions League experience under his belt too, Not to mention weakly exposure in one of the strongest league's in the world for the pat three season's. The Kakuta and McEachran comparison is well off, they were getting hyped up because of their potential, Courtois is getting hyped up because he is the real deal, obvious by the fact he could (if he wanted too) walk into Barcelona's team next year. Its not just Chelsea fans who think so highly off him, near enough all of Spain do. I spoke to a Real Madrid fan when i went to Costa Rica and when i asked him about Courtois, he said (can't remember the exact convo but something along the lines off) "he is amazing, if you don't take him back soon us or the Barcelona will get him, you watch". Whether he is on Cech's level yet is debatable, whether he is a world class goalkeeper tho, shouldn't be.

Then a month later there's another one for the play off's

I have been thinking long and hard these last few days about what to do next summer with the goalkeeping situation and i had to let my head rule my heart on this one, Cech is still a top, top keeper without a shadow of a doubt, but what have teams who have success and sustain success been good at in the past? making changes while it's not really nessesery, if that makes sense. For example Barcelona in 2008/2009, Henry, Eto'o and Messi scored over 100 goals between them and looked a deadly trio, and there was no urgent need to make changes to it, but Pep knew there would be sooner rather than later, so that summer he benched Henry, sold Eto'o and the new front 3 were Ibra, Pedro and Messi. The reason we stagnated so bad in 2010/2011, is we left our players be until father time called, we should have slowly started to rebuild after Moscow in 2008. Yes i know we won the double and it was a great last horrah for those players at the top (whether we like it or not, our CL win was riddled with lots and lots of luck) but we paid for it the next term, we should have slowly started building for the new era in 2008 (for example, instead of an ageing Deco, Luka Modric was available). Now their is rumours Cech may have to retire early, even Courtois himself said it (yes i know he should have kept his gob shut over club affairs, but that's not the point) which will mean he could start to decline at any given moment, now right now Cech is on top and there is no urgent need to replace him, but it's best to do so before it does become a necessity, and if we sell Courtois then Cech starts declining, we will all off a sudden be fucked and probably need to spend big on a goalkeeper. I love Cech, always have and always will, he will have a rightful place as a Chelsea legend, but to run a successful club you have to let your head rule your heart (like it did to bring Cech ahead of Carlo in the first place), and i think next summer, the club might just do that.

Then it's up to him to show that and force his way into the team.

He should have sought advice from an expert on how to answer it in a political manner to keep both sets of supporters sweet. On the other hand it was unprofessional of Everton TV to ask that sort of question anyway.

Roy is such a poor manager at the top level, my mate is fully behind him and always has a go at me for not being the same and keeps referring to beating Brazil, so what? his Liverpool team beat Chelsea. Only England could turn down Pep for Roy.

The Russian League isn't as bad as general opinion suggest's, ok it may not be the PL but it has strong teams in it who have upset teams from "strong league's" on more than one occasion. CSKA nearly winning at Old Trafford, Rubin Kazan winning at the Nou Camp and Zenit thumping Bayern a few of the examples in recent years.

This is probably the first time he has hit form and there hasn't been post after post about how he's the next captain and playing like JT in his prime. But yes he has stepped up this season and England vs Scotland aside been superb in every game he has played in this campaign, hope he keeps it up. What makes his performance yesterday more impressive is that he was practically up against two players because of that Bosingwa mini me constantly being caught out off position.

Where can he go in the PL tho? he can't go to one of our rivals for obvious reason's and sending him to a midtable club now he is established as one of the top keepers around is illogical. Barca and Real Madrid have made it clear they will sign him with their eyes closed, so sending him somewhere like Southampton because he isn't "PL proven" just isn't going to cut it. He was no where near the level Courtois is now, on a personal and playing level. De Gea had a season and a half of gametime for his home town club, he was moving abroad for the first time in his life so obviously there was going to be the initial struggle. Courtois already won the league title in Belgium (i know, weaker league, but it's still experience of being a winner) and if the title deciding match was anything to go by, he played a huge part in winning it for Genk. Then he left his home country and been playing in La Liga, he has helped them win the Europa League and was the main reason they won the Copa Del Rey, beating Madrid in their own back yard in the process. He will also probably have about 200 career games under his belt by the end of this season, that's a lot in comparison to De Gea's 84 when he joined United. A keeper that will be able to walk into Barca's starting lineup next season is not going to accept a bit part role in the cups even for one campaign, when/if he does return it will be to replace Cech, not deputize for him. It's not a similar situation to Lukaku where he is still a bit raw and needs parts to his game finetuned, Thiabut is widely known around the planet and one of the best keepers in the world already. Also the De Gea factor is blown way, way out of proportion, for one De Gea there's the likes of Reina and Cech, also Courtois will be closer to the age the latter two were when they came to the PL than the age De Gea was.

I would rather play Ross Turnbull than Butland.

Exactly, its beats logic how some think he will return to be a rotation keeper, next summer is decision time, we can't make him second choice and gradually bring him in, we certainly can't loan him in the PL. Jose has got a horrible but also very nice decision to make next summer.

But the problem is, Courtois is fully established as one of the best keepers around at 21 and on current form is the best keeper in Spain, bringing him back to play what would effectively be the Cudicini (of Mourinho's last spell) role is not an option now, neither is a loan to a midtable PL club, which was initially the plan.

Doesn't beat his two gems previously. Saying Oxlade Chamberlain did well against Pirlo and Ambrosini, one left the club the previous summer and the other was suspended and then telling a fan on the London Underground that Ferdinand's England career was over. The England manager every one, who we supposedly turned down Guardiola for

Agreed, it's decision time next summer.

I think it's best tbh, as pleasing on the eye as the Mazacar are, we concede far too many goals when the play.