Tomo

Mata's goal and assist's record last season was scary, even more so when you consider the mess we were in. Build the team around him, the assist machine will go into overdrive and he will force his way into this Spanish side.

@Volt-age Im happy for him and hope this will boost him, but it doesn't change the fact he has made Kalou look like Pele for the last 18 months.

Heres a thought. When Lampard scored against Sunderland, the whole off the MHL thought Nando scored off the crossbar, when Neil announced it was actually Lamps that scored half the stand groaned like the goal was disallowed. Supporting Torres is one thing but that was quite Frankly embarrassing.

@The Skipper No one is disappointed about him being golden boot winner, im just getting royally annoyed with the double standards ive been seeing with Torres in the last year.

I hope that's a joke, even when Kalou scored a hat-trick against Stoke he was still treated and talked about like he just got caught red handed smacking kids with a baseball bat.

Torres up front on his own for us against big teams next season will be like to trying to attack lions with a feather.

If we have to play Maicon against Spurs it will be the same as Ferreira playing against them in December 2010. Just because Bale got the better of him last time the world and his dog assumed he will do again by right, and like Paulo then, Maicon will surprise us.

I would love it if Torres proved me wrong but there has been nothing in his whole Chelsea career that suggest's he can. Even his so called greatest moment for us in Barca came after he lost the ball in a dangerous area and if it weren't for Bosingwa's (of all players) interception would have lost us the tie, then Cole hit it up and he went from near villain to hero.

Rafa's boardroom power struggles are his worst aspect, to make a back me or sack me demand to Morratti while he was taking a team that won 5 previous title's to 7th beggars belief.

We haven't got rid of the Kalou "curse" as some so nicely put it as we still have Torres who is an even more frustrating version of Saloman.

There were some good one's, but for one Xavi Alonso there were a group like Degan, Nunez and N Gog.

@BlueDutchy Breaking through works both ways, they have to be patient and determined, like Berty he wasn't going to rest until the club noticed him and it eventually happened. Same would have happened with Stoch. @Joker10 Regarding the use of Stoch, he was in a different situation to Danny that season, Danny was still inexperienced and without a decent spell on loan or with regular first team football, Stoch just finished a successful loan spell in Holland, so im sure Carlo would have deemed him "experienced" enough if it came down to it. @Blue-in-me-Veins That's the point, very few products these days are good enough for first team football and most that are have not patients.

The ironic thing is what Kalou gets a battering for are also the things that are used to make excuses for Torres displays in a Chelsea shirt (workrate, odd goal).

Can't fault his effort but for the most part he was never that good and the stats backed that up. Is there any idea where he is off next, even a rumour?

With Kalou gone, im guessing Raul will be the new scapegoat, i noticed a quiet transition in that regard last season.

After what happened in Carlo's 2nd season, that type of experiment is never going to happen again.

Im some instances that's not wise, would you let Kenny Dalglish or Rafa Benitez have control of £150m, for example.

Really? i was always under the impression it was the other way around with Bruma? I know Leicester fans gave him a good bashing when he was there.

Quite often of various football forum's i have seen "sign player x and player y's development will be blocked", an argument i have never brought because i believe if some player on the books off the club is good enough and have patient's, eventually they will find a way to break through. Look at Ryan Bertrand as the prime example, in 2009 we signed left back Yuri Zhirkov for £18m while we sent Ryan on his umpteenth loan, this time to Reading. Not only did he have 2 experienced LB's in Cole and Zhirkov ahead of him, another young left back Patrick Van Aanholt was widely regarded by the club and fans as the better prospect. A year later, despite impressing greatly at Reading (where he was part of a run to the FA Cup quarter final), nothing changed and PVA getting included fully in the first team squad looked like it was the end of his Chelsea career, but he came back from Forest mid season and made his debut against Birmingham in April 2011. A year on and he hasn't looked back, a MOTM display at The Emirates aswell as an appearance in the CL final, his patience through numerous loan spells has payed off and he is now the only real candidate to replace Cole when the latter retires/slows down. Miroslav Stoch is another player that would have made it but he just didn't have the patience, he would have been part of the squad in 2010/2011 after his succesful loan at Twente and judging by the form of Malouda, Kalou and Anelka that season it would not have been too long before Carlo started playing him. If we have a young player on our books who is genuinely good enough to play for Chelsea and is patient enough to seize his opportunity they will make it regardless of who we sign while he is 'developing', Ryan Bertrand is the prime example.

Good post leif but i just want to say one thing I don't like the "blocking development" argument that get's used often. If they are good and patient enough they will force their way through in the end regardless of who we sign, Bertrand is the prime example of that, this time 2 years ago he was behind Cole, Zhirkov and Van Aanholt in the left back pecking order, now he is almost certain to be Cole's successor.

Or just play Ivanovic there.

:lol: i actually joked the day he signed from Spurs he would go West Ham next because he is a London slut :lol:

Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign to be first to feature goal-line technology http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2165643/Goal-line-technology-introduced-Club-World-Cup.html Interesting!!!

Robbie benched Lampard as often as AVB did yet Lampard can't speak highly enough of him (Robbie), that should be enough evidence in itself.

Would make no sense now, if were looking for a decent number 2 it should have been a keeper that is a stop gap until Courtios comes back, ie Jussi before Big Sam pounced.