bababoom

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.

What was the score?

I disagree with that, now you can say it was reasonable but at that time i'm pretty sure we were all saying he was too expensive especially since we also paid his agent five million (if i remember correctly). Tbh we were all excited about getting Hazard so we didn't make a big deal about it, but the general consensus was that we were overspending.. The Media and opposing fans definitely banged on about the price tag, even Ferguson came out and said it was too much.

Do you lot remember when we thought £32 million for Hazard was expensive before only the best would go for ridiculous prices, now any young talent can go for crazy amounts, look at Neymar and James... looking back it was a fucking bargain for Hazard, never thought i'd ever say that.

Hopefully 21 goals in the league, 27 in all comps.

I'm pretty sure they're just reporting the Eurosport article.

Madrid finally manage to build a world class, balanced side. They win the Cl and then they fuck it up by signing the flavour of month. They will now sell their best player last season in Di Maria, the player who offered them legs and pace in midfield... Modric - Kroos Bale James Ronaldo Benzema I see this line up doing the rounds on twitter, seriously... against any decent, well drilled, counter attacking side that team will be exploited. Where's the defensive player in midfield? Where's the legs in midfield? Carlo's going to have a hard time building a balanced side with all those players.

I love how you just took a snippet of that quote to suit your anti Mourinho agenda...The full quote, "Chelsea is not made to play football. We are good in playing on the counter attack, a bit like Real against Bayern.", he never said a bad word about Chelsea. The french translation is bad but what he basically means is that Chelsea don't try and dominate possession, instead we counter like Real. He's definitely not having a dig at Jose or Chelsea. Mourinho was right, in this day and age your wingers have to keep track of the opposing fullback, no excuses.

If you had actually watched Madrid at that time you would know Modric wasn't playing well, It was his first season and he had a hard time adjusting. He was actually voted the worst signing in La Liga that year, it was a bit harsh but it tells you he wasn't at his best. Regarding Ozil, Mourinho rates him highly and he did start many the big games but nine times out of ten he would go missing, is that Jose's fault? there's a reason why he's known as the big game bottler.... talk to any Madrid fan and they will tell you that. The fact is Robben was constantly injured at Chelsea and with two years remaining on his contract he wasn't going to renew. It has nothing to do with Jose wanting him gone... in fact Mourinho actually said he wanted to him to stay, so again you're talking nonsense. Mourinho has managed the likes of Deco, Sneijder, Ozil and now it'll be Cesc. At Inter Sneijder was his main creative player, attacking-wise everything went through him and it was under Jose where he played his best football. You can continue to spout shit by saying 'he judges players like a rugby coach' but it just exposes how little you know about Jose, the teams he has managed and football in general.

No, but Real always buy the biggest and newest names in football, even if it's detrimental to their current squad. Jose wants to build a balanced side whereas Madrid care more about prestige and marketing.

We don't really need him, do we?

All the Chelsea fans on twitter complaining about Cesc's hair He just has a receding hairline, he'll be fine.

ESPN are very hit and miss, i don't think they're reliable at all, same with Eurosport for that matter.

No way, The likes of Aston Villa, Burnley, Crystal Palce, Hull, Leicester, Newcastle, QPR, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, West Brom and West Ham are way too strong mate. Seriously, Suarez scored 30 goals while missing eight matches through suspension, Messi and Ronaldo would easily score 40/50 goals.

ESPN and Eurosport, two unreliable sources. He's staying.

Will we get interviews from them today?

Mata was never really good at dribbling though, that wasn't his game. Someone like Silva has it all, Vision, Close control, Dribbling etc he's a wonderful footballer. The thing with Cesc is that he's more of a pass and move type player, especially when he's playing further up the pitch. Also the thing that sets him apart from both Juan and Silva IMO is that his long passing is just as good as his short. Juan and Silva both have excellent short passing i.e little through balls, but you hardly ever see them do a Pirlo-esque long rang pass from deep, where as Cesc does it all the time.

Mata was never really good at dribbling though, that wasn't his game. Someone like Silva has it all, Vision, Close control, Dribbling etc he's a wonderful footballer. The thing with Cesc is that he's more of a pass and move type player, especially when he's playing further up the pitch. Also the thing that sets him apart from both Juan and Silva IMO is that his long passing is just as good as his short. Juan and Silva both have excellent short passing i.e little through balls, but you hardly ever see them do a Pirlo-esque long rang pass from deep, where as Cesc does it all the time. Edit - Sorry wrong thread, this should be posted in the Cesc thread, don't mind me.

He's obviously hardly going to play, he'll be more of a coach than anything. Jose said he wants Lampard to be a coach as well but I guess he wants one last payday in America and who can blame him. Look at what United are doing with their class of 92, I think its important to keep Legends at the club, in some capacity. In a few years time who wouldn't want Drogba, Terry, Lampard and Cech involved at the club.