Slam Dunk

When you're playing a game every 3/4 days, there is no time to hang around feeling sorry for yourself.

Comfortable? I doubt it. Doesn't matter who is playing for Leeds, they will raise their game, no doubt. Obviously with the quality in the squad that we have, this is a game we should win. But with the team morale low and injuries/suspensions we have, I can see us making this hard for ourselves. Saying that, I do think we can win this, as long as we don't concede first.

Very sad news. Hope he makes a full recovery, and soon.

Does it really matter how many times he's said it? Whether he wants to play CF or is willing to play RW, he's not playing in either position at the moment, whatever the reasons.

Because of his contract situation.

What I don't understand is why people are so sure this deal is even going to happen in January, so discussing transfer fees and wages is irrelevant at this point considering the only foundation for these rumours are what Spanish TV have said. I'm not so sure Atletico will sell in January, and i'm not sure Falcao would want to leave in January anyway. My prediction: Torres won't leave in January, and Falcao won't join. Sturridge will leave and we'll sign a DM and a striker to compete with Torres, not replace him outright. In the summer, we'll sign a marquee striker and Torres will leave. You heard it here first.

Well the board have backed themselves into a corner by risking Torres coming good this season without a genuine alternative. Now, we're forced to buy in the January market which is going to drive up the already-inflated price tag of any player having a good first-half of the season (not necessarily Falcao btw, I don't buy the 'done deal' reports one bit). We're desperate and other teams know it. Sturridge is not the answer to our striker problems. Frankly, I think half of the opinions on here about how good Sturridge is stem from how bad Torres is. Neither are good enough to be leading our line imho. To be honest, we (the fans) kind of knew this was going to happen (I remember saying it ages ago), obviously the board didn't.

You have to ask though, if he 'deserved' them, why didn't he get them? Actually, why did he 'deserve' them in the first place? Maybe that's something we, as fans, will never know the answers to. The Welbeck/Sturridge comparisons are interesting. Welbeck is far better though imo. His work rate/all round game is much better than Sturridge's. Saying that, do you/anyone ever see Welbeck being 1st choice striker for a club like United? Because I don't, and it's the same with Sturridge. I don't think he'll ever be at a level where he's our first choice striker. In an idea world, Sturridge would be our 3rd choice CF, but you can't keep everyone happy. A shame, because he's a talented footballer (footballer, not striker). He'll do well at Liverpool, because they can afford to nurture unproven talent, something that we can't do, unfortunate as it may be. And for the record, £12m is good business on our end imo.

If (and it's a big if) this is true, then it'll a good deal for everyone involved imo. Liverpool are about at his level and I think he'll do well there. They are desperate for a new forward, Sturridge wants to play (although I have a feeling he'll still be primarily used out wide there) and we get £12m for a player who wants out and who's contract is soon up to put towards this year's FFP books, leaving us to sign a new striker so Torres can finally take a well deserved, nice long period of time spent on the bench.

Done deal? I seriously doubt it.

£20M? Never going to happen.

Whether tiredness/fatigue will come into play we'll have to wait and see. I reckon we'll see a few changes, nothing major though as Benitez will want to make up for what happened on Sunday. The thought of both Lampard and Oscar in the midfield actually makes me scared - Neither of them work hard enough. Maybe we could put Luiz in there and play Ferreira at CB or something. I suppose blondie will be starting, although I've just heard Benitez say Sturridge has been training, so I think he might be available, but probably won't start. We could lineup something like: Cech Azpilicueta - Ivanovic - Ferreira - Cole Luiz - Lampard Moses/Marin - Oscar/Mata - Hazard/Bertrand Torres/Sturridge

Can't link, but it's on the last page, and the image is hosted at www.freeimagehosting.net Also, i'm not getting notifications when someone quotes my post, like when you quoted me above, for example.

I had that message earlier. I think someone linked a pic that was uploaded on a site that Chrome recognised as potentially dangerous, so not a fault of the forum. I think it was in the Torres thread in the Player Database section.

We'll never replace Lampard. The guy is a one-off. Such a shame he doesn't suit the new style, but it's time to be realistic and accept the fact he's on his way out of the club. Speaking of younger players coming through, what's the plan for De Bruyne? Wasn't he tipped to take over Lampard's role a little while ago? Whenever i've seen him for Bremen, he's been playing much further forward though. I've a feeling his passing range is going to turn into something really excellent.

Personally, Moscow is the lowest point i've had as a Chelsea fan. I'm sure it'll be no.1 for most. I know most of these lists will be from fans who haven't been supporters for that long, and that's not me calling people 'plastic' or 'fickle', it's just the result of the average age of posters on here. I'm sure some of the older members who've supported the club through it's worst times could come up with a million and one things worse than losing a one-off game that we qualified for by winning the biggest club competition in the world. For all the shit we've endured through the Abramovich era, there have been moments in the club's history that make appointments like Benitez/Grant and the CWC Final pale in comparison.

I agree with whoever said the formation isn't as important as the players out there on the pitch and their roles in the team. From now until the end of the upcoming transfer windows, it's damage limitation as far as i'm concerned. I posted my thoughts about the christmas tree formation ages ago, and i'm still waiting to see it, but if we're insistent upon sticking with 4-2-3-1, then we need to be lining up: Cech Azpilicueta - Ivan - Cahill (JT when fit) - Cole Luiz - Mikel Moses - Mata - Hazard Torres This has to be our starting lineup. The midfield is seriously lacking in power and on-the-ball ability going forward (we all know this), so Luiz needs to be there, especially as Romeu is out, Lampard isn't and never has been a deep-lying player. I know he only played the role against a poor opponent, but Luiz is our best option imo. This also means he isn't at CB, which is fine with me So Ramires is out of the team, and so is Oscar. Having Oscar in the team means Mata has to play on the wing, in which he doesn't work hard enough up and down the flanks like Hazard, who, by the way I have been very impressed with lately, we're going to have a very complete player on our hands soon, as opposed to a new 'Messi'. Anyway, Mata is so crucial to the team (unfortunately) and the fact that we rely on him so much means he has to play the no.10 role even if he is a little too weak on the ball for me. Torres is our only true striker, and like it or not, he will be until we sign a new 'marquee' striker imo. The only way we're ever going to get some kind of form out of him, is with Mata in behind him. This means our best option for RW is Moses, who works incredibly hard, even if his end product is lacking. It may be like having a more powerful, more technical version of Ramires on the wing, but it's all we've got.

Class act.

Easy enough. We'll need to find second gear vs. Corinthians though.

Haha we concede a goal and the forum goes into meltdown. Who cares about the clean sheet? It's a one-off game, clean sheets don't matter.

Nice to have someone with real pace up front, isn't it?

You should be allowed to make as many subs as you want in this tournament imo.

Come on Benitez, surely it's time for a few subs?

Sturridge can't play, as far as i'm aware. There's a mark on the teamsheet next to his name, same with Terry, same with Humberto Suazo (who returned home). Looks like Benitez has moved Hazard to the right to help Azpilicueta. Good move.

Lmao.