bababoom

I was just browsing the Southampton forum and it's hard not to feel sorry for the fans tbh, their best season in years and now that team is getting ripped apart...

Sturridge is the more complete striker (compared to Lukaku), that's why people miss him now even to this day. Sturridge is technically sound, fast and able to keep the ball under pressure. We all know he's a selfish cunt but i have to say under Rodgers he passes a lot more. I still wouldn't say he's world class but he would have offered something different upfront, a new 'dimension' as AVB would say.

£25 million is great tbh, He's very limited and for that reason i don't see him ever being a WC player, he's way too raw. I wanted him to be our second striker because he's better than Torres and Drogba and he still scores goals but if we sell him and bring in a technical striker who suits our system than i'll be very happy. Mourinho apparently wants Torres out as well so i can only assume we want another striker. As i said before, if we don't buy another striker and keep Torres than i'll be pissed, we simply cannot go into a season with Costa, Torres and Drogba, i just cant believe our board and Jose would allow it.

Is there a Spanish Barcelona forum? that barcaforum is full of English members who jumped on the Barca bandwagon a few years ago, they are most likely very young. It wouldn't surprise me if they also 'supported' Dortmund and Atletico...

That's my whole point, it's why i want Mourinho to stay for many years. I'm not saying we should just throw every talented youngster into the deep end, no, we have a fantastic team this season and i expect the youngsters to get their chance in the Cup competitions. Ferguson had a similar approach, first he had a winning team and than promoted youth players so they can train with the first team and play in cup competitions, every year he would slowly use them more and more.

We need to makes sure we keep Mourinho for a few years, stability is key when promoting youth. Jose knows most if not all of the youth players now and is keeping an eye on all of them. Lets say Jose gets fired, we hire another manager who knows he has get off to the best possible start so he spends £100 million or so on new players meaning the youngsters get loaned out or sold... it's just a never ending cycle. It's exciting buying world class players but nothing feels better than academy players making it. I'm getting sick of Chelsea being labeled as some sort of 'graveyard for youngsters', it's true but i'm so desperate for that to change. I cant even get excited when watching the Youth Cup or u21 games... i'm sure we have players of the same caliber as the likes of Shaw, Sterling, Chambers, Ibe etc, we just need to give them a chance for gods sake.

The thing i love about this signing is that he's so versatile, he can be our 'Juan Mata' as a number 10 so to speak but also that deep lying midfielder we always wanted, he can play those two positions so well and it gives us plenty of options.

Jan Oblak Juanfran - Miranda - Godin - Siqueira Tiago - Gabi Turan - Koke - Griezmann Mandzukic Looks very good on paper, i still expect them to be very workmanlike and organised in their approach but the addition of Griezmann adds extra pace and skill on the counter.

Did you just make that up? I doubt Cesc has had a hair transplant...

Lovren for £20 million is decent, i don't know why people mock the price... When the likes of Chambers, Debuchy and Borini are going for £14+ than he's easily worth £20 million. There's a reason why many Southampton fans were more worried about losing Lovren and Schneiderlin than the likes of Lambert, Lallana and even Shaw. He's quality and only 24, great signing IMO.

Zouma was excellent today i thought, last pre season game he was a bit rusty and made a few errors but today he was excellent. Fast, Powerful and that leap is something else... that is a massive asset to have. He's going to one of the best young CBs in a year or so, i have a good feeling about him.

I literally couldn't stop laughing at that miss, fucking hell.

I think he's ready to be in our squad next season, he was great again today i'm really impressed. Luis/Ake for LB and Azpi/Ivan for RB, doesn't sound too bad, does it?

I'm happy, Cesc looks exceptional, Costa links up well and has made great runs, Matic solid as ever and our two fullbacks have constantly been up and down the pitch, Luis in particular linking up well. Boga looks as good as ever on the ball and Zouma has been very solid, how high does he fucking jump? Instead of slagging everyone off remember this is a pre season game, think how good we'll look when the likes of Hazard, Oscar, Willian etc all come back.

Lets be real the way we parked the bus suited him down to the ground, he has decent defensive qualities but on the ball and going forward he's poor. Simple as that. Also Mikel was overrated long before the CL final mate.

Some of you guys should have been here a couple of years ago, back then so many people overrated him, very funny looking back tbh.

Why are people linking Drogba's arrival with Lukaku's potential departure? because the arrival of Drogba means we most likely wont be able to REPLACE Lukaku, unless we manage to sell the useless cunt, Torres, which is highly unlikely. We have to sell two players in our squad as it is so we definitely wont have 4 strikers. I am happy with Drogba coming back, he knows Chelsea inside out, he's a leader but lets face it he's past his best... we shouldn't be pinning our hopes on a 36 year old to be our second striker. Now regarding Lukaku, his attitude is appalling, he talks too much and should learn his place BUT how can we speculate and say he's not willing to fight for his place next season? if Jose went to him and said "i trust you 100 percent and we need you next season" than i'm sure he'll stay... lets be honest Jose could convince a straight man he's gay ffs. I still obviously haven't changed my tune regarding his attitude, i think these past months he's been acting like a petulant child. With all the reports coming out (respectable ones) saying Jose doesn't rate him than i have no problem with him wanting to leave or Chelsea selling, but at least replace him with someone half decent, who also fits our style. Tbh i can understand why Jose doesn't rate him. his first touch is poor, little to no hold up play, dribbling in tight space is relatively poor... Gary Neville even alluded to all that, but he still scores goals and is our second best striker, lets be honest about that. Again i know I may be jumping the gun, but with all these reports the last few weeks, i honestly think he'll be sold.

Costa, Torres and Drogba... seriously? my only hope is that we sell both Lukaku and Torres and then bring in a top striker. If we don't bring in another striker and keep Torres than our board and Jose have had a shocker as far as i'm concerned. Drogba is clearly past his best, yes if we're chasing a lead throw him on and obviously in cup games he can play but i highly doubt he'll start many PL/CL games. I thought and still expect him to be more of a coach. I don't even want to talk about Torres, he's garbage. Costa is our only great striker right now but what if he needs time to adapt or gets injured? I refuse to believe this, but if we sell Lukaku we have to sign a decent replacement.

Mourinho - "We needed a player for the midfield with a different footballistic profile and a pure left-back - a real left-back. I explained to Fabregas the move was perfect for him, while Filipe gives us more solutions because we can switch Azpilicueta [to right-back] and play Ivanovic at centre-back if we want to." "Fabregas is a player of control. Hes a player that wants the ball, a player that needs the ball. It means in those away matches we lost last season we will have much more control of the game and much more initiative than we had before."

Jose pointed it out, he's not just a big 'Andy Carroll' esque striker, obviously Costa is much better with the ball but he's also very smart without it, his movement is what excites me the most though, how long has it been since we've had a proper striker who makes smart runs? Feels like forever. Also after reading what Jose had to say re Costa, I believe this guy will be a massive success here, can't wait for the season to start.

It has to be Torres, but i do say that in hope... i mean surely we cant send Lukaku out on loan again especially when we have just signed Drogba. I'm not Lukaku's biggest fan (he is talented but he is nowhere near the 'complete striker' he thinks he is) but I said all along if we sell Lukaku than we need an adequate replacement, not a 36 year old Drogba. I believe Drogba may start a few games here and there and maybe come on late when chasing the lead but his real impact will be in the dressing room and around the camp. We need a suitable second striker, what if Costa gets injured? Torres is fucking hopeless and Drogba wont be able to play 90 minutes week in week out,... it'll be a big mistake if we sell/loan out Lukaku. I'm praying our board don't fuck up this marvelous transfer window. EDIT - i thought you said who are we loaning out... well my point still stands.

I don't think he'll play many games at all, well compared to Costa and Lukaku that is. Drogba knows he's near the end of his playing career ,if reports are to be believed, i read a few days ago that he's going to sign a one year deal with the option to be a coach the next. I think that may be the case.

Now we need to hope Torres gets sold. I haven't been Lukaku's biggest fan these past months but he has to be our second striker now, Jose cant loan him out. Drogba's here because he is a leader, he knows Chelsea inside out and has that winning mentality. Yes he may play the odd game but IMO we bought him because of the influences he has inside the camp. Costa (Prime and in the best form of his life), Lukaku (Young and talented) and Drogba (older and experienced) = perfect, whereas Costa, Torres, Drogba = ... not so.

Romeu>Mikel for me, he just has that aggression i like in my DM, his passing is decent (direct) and he's very mobile. I personally think Mikel should be sold, 8 years here and has never really been a standout, surely he's a big enough name to be sold for a good price? 5-8 million, perhaps. Selling Torres would be a dream, but the fact is we wont sell him unless he wants to go... and from what i can tell he likes it here. His wage demands are too big for the likes of Inter or Atletico i'm afraid. I would love for - Costa, Lukaku and Drogba to be our strikers next season... they may have all similar traits (Height, Strength etc) but they offer all offer something different. Costa has very good control and hold up play, he's very direct and loves runs at strikers. Lukaku is not very good in tight spaces or holding up the ball but on the counter where there's space he can be lethal with his pace and strength, he's also a solid poacher tbh. Drogba at the age of 36 is obviously not the same player he once was, but his hold up play and control are still solid, he's also still very dangerous in the box. Drogba also knows the PL inside out. I would be very excited with those strikers, Costa, a man in his prime, Lukaku a young promising striker and Drogba an old experienced striker. Perfect.