Tomo

This will be a big season for him, sink or swim in some aspect's. Next summer as it stands i think the club will prioritize a defensive midfielder, even more so if Romeu goes back to Barca, it's up to Mikel to prevent it being a Vidal and more a back up/prospect. If he has a stormer this season, i have a feeling the defensive midfield position could be his to keep but i wouldn't have him as a 'spine' player yet.

@capriccioso, fully agree about Essien, which just goes to show our lack of numbers in that age range.

Although i rate Modric the thought of us funding a Spurs move for Oscar

Peace did a fantastic piece (excuse pun) yesterday about the balance of our team in terms of the technical ability, i thought i will access the balance of our squad in terms of age. I've put it into 3 groups 19- Very rarely proper ready for first team action in these years. Talent is obvious but still very raw and it's not a given they will make it in the first team. 20-24 Career at the top level is starting to really kick off. Your a trusted member of the squad but still have enough time to grow and get even better. The hunger to succeed is there. 25-29 The peak of a player's career. These years is when you have a perfect mix of experience and hunger and when you hit the very peak of your powers. 30-34 Vastly experienced, not got the hunger you once had but the presence rubs off on the younger players. You can still offer a lot to your team, all be it in a more reduced role than before. 35+ The time when your body can really start to slow down and test you to the limit when it comes to continuing your career. Can't play that often anymore and must be managed with care. But at the same time your wealth of experience can only be a benefit to the younger players in the squad. Which player is where? Ignoring the goalkeepers as it's a completely different rule for them, i will put our first team players in the bracket they belong in. 19- McEachran, Piazon, Chalaboh, Lukaku. 20-24 Romeu, Ramires, Mata, Oscar, Marin, Hazard, De Bruyne, Sturridge, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Kakuta. 25-29 Ivanovic, Luiz, Essien, Ramires, Torres, Mikel, Meireles, Cahill. 30+ Cole, Lampard, Malouda, Ferreira, Terry, Benayoun. Ill cover each bracket one by one and give my views on how we are in that area this season as things stand. 19- Most players that age won't get that amount of playing time anyway. We have those four sniffing around the first team squad and many more up and coming. This area for me is fine. 20-24 That's our best area at the moment, fantastic numbers there aswell as superb players that can only get better.I can't wait for most of them to climb to the next bracket. 25-29 Now this one is the real concern for me, especially when you consider we need to look at identifying a new spine with our successful one well in their 30's. Not only do we lack numbers in this age bracket we lack quality for a team that wants to challenge for top honours on a regular basis. It's this age group we should really be looking at to form the spine of the side. Looking at the list however for me only Ivanovic, Luiz and Ramires i could see suitable to that role at this moment in time. Essien and Torres are not what they use to be while Meireles is just not good enough to be a member of the spine. Mikel im not too sure is suitable to the way we want to play. A view that is likely to cause a bit of controversy Cahill, a fantastic signing he has been, is still to convince me he can be a permanent first Xl fixture let alone a member of the spine. With the rest of our business this summer im hoping we can look at this age range. Cavani and Falcao are the most sought after forwards in Europe for a reason, they could come in and go straight into the new spine straight away. There has been rumors that we are trying to hyjack Arsenal's Cazorla transfer, he would be ideal a winger and at 27 would add to this age bracket. With the talent in the 20-24 bracket their is defiantly some brilliant future members of the team 'spine' but 25-29 imo is the age we should look at in that regard as i feel we are lacking some real quality in this gap. 30+ There are only 6 members of this outfield group left, its for that reason i think Malouda and Yossi must stay for at least this season. Not only are they proven quality but they are experienced and would every handy squad players. Enough experience has left this summer already. If there is anything we should have learned from laughing at Arsenal these last 7 years is that we cannot put a price on experience. Conclusion The conclusion is the future of this club looks very very good, but in the present we need some more players in the 25-29 bracket, it is the most important area of the squad and we are seriously lacking in both numbers and quality in that department. The only problem is, any high standard player in that bracket is likely to cost alot.

They are not selling to us, best forget and move on with the players we have got.

I still don't understand why we didn't sign him in 2008, when he was available for £16m.

Cup next season or no?

Fantastic article. The adopting tactics is vital, as you said it gives us the chance to adapt to the opponents weakness and as RDM showed in his caretaker role he does seem pretty good at making use of his resources. The defense is fine and now if Ivan needs to go into the centre again due to injuries or bans to 2 of our 3 centre half's, we don't need to worry about Bosingwa being there, even more so is Azpi is around. You hit the nail on the head with the defensive side of midfield, the defense really do not get enough protection by the midfield, Mikel although i am by no means a Mikel hater, there are better options out there. I really do think we should ditch the double pivot formation and revert back to 4-3-3, we have players more suited to do it now. But regarding the defensive side of midfield, i really do think it will be a position which will be seriously looked at next summer once the flair players have settled. Would not be surprised to see Vidal here next summer. Fully agree with your points about Malouda and Yossi, they are experienced internationals who have been around the block, that aspect of the game is really under-rated. If there is anything we should have learned from laughing at Arsenal's failed build a great young team policy it should be that. Im not going to say much about the forwards because you have pretty much said what i have been thinking all summer. There will without doubt be inconsistent results this season and i don't think there is much chance of league success this time around, genuine domestic progression, the world cup cup and if im being extra greedy The FA Cup (really don't know why that competition is downplayed, i love seeing us win it) would be a fantastic season. The future is bright, as good as it's ever been, but the frustration's we have endured the last 2 years is not completely over yet.

The thing is with youth players at top clubs is very few transform their talents to be first team quality and are not patient enough to wait. Piazon will probably make it if he is patient enough but we really don't want to be rushing young players through at an early age because it can go wrong with either confidence or injury, Jack Wilshere is a prime example of the latter.

I think Justin deserves a mention, been as active as anyone this month and doesn't have silly arguments with users any more.

-----------------------------------------Cech(Hilario)---------------------------------------- Ivanovic/Azpi-----------Terry/Hutch----------Luiz/Cahill---------------Cole/Bertrand --------------------------------------Mikel/Romeu--------------------------------------------- ---------------Lampard/Ramires-------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------Oscar/Moses-------------------------------- Hazard/Danny------------------------------------------------------------------Mata/Marin --------------------------------------------Torres/newforward----------------------------------- Think we should ditch the double pivot, that will be our downfall if we stick to it for too long. Back to 4-3-3 suits our new players anyway. Yossi, Essien and Malouda can play the roles of floating squad players if they stay.Get Kevin and Josh out on loan. The reason i put Mata on the left side is sometime's i noticed last season in the first half, when he got put on the left and drifted in to the centre he was unplayable, because one player was already occupying that space so Juan coming into there caused absolute havoc. But the truth is those 6 behind Torres and new striker could just drift between each other and cause absolute havoc.

I still maintain letting Yossi go will be a mistake.

Welcome back mate,

I personally reckon we should give him a whole month off. He can take a holiday, go to the national side in September for the International's and then come back. We might suffer for it in August but in the long run it will be worth it.

[AVB] Its not about the one member, its about the group [AVB}

The thought that he could easily have ended up signing for Spurs makes me positively shudder.

If we do sign Moses we have to revert back to 4-3-3.

I am genuinely feeling terrible for the things ive said about Gourlay in previous season's.

Lamps did say a while back that if their was a genuine world class player to take his place he would step down, i think his main gripe was getting replaced by Meireles, who wasn't that good in comparison, and not only that the results were shite.

I think he should play on the wing personally, his pace and trickery will cause problems to any full back.

We will get a forward and a right back i think. Azpi and Cavani i hope.

I think we seriously need to consider ditching the double pivot and reverting back to 4-3-3.

Arre my eyes deceiving me? im pretty sure i put can play on the wing if need be, i never said he was an out and out winger.

Defiantly, he only failed to score at West Ham because he had no service

Chelsea look set to make a shock move for former West Ham youngster Freddie Sears. Roberto Di Matteo is understood to be a massive fan of the 22 year old and believes he can help unlock the potential that Sears showed in his early day's after breaking into the Hammers side. Although Sears has signed a contract with Colchester United following his release from West Ham, the Essex club will let him go for £1.5m, a fee Chelsea are set to match. Sears has scored 5 goals in 107 career appearances so far. https://www.skysport...hock-Sears-move