EskWeston

Last night was a brilliant game. When you look at the Arsenal squad you see a very big team physically. We coped with that and played some very nice football putting them under some serious pressure and it is amazing that we didn't score more goals. Lalkovic, Saville and Chalobah the top performers for me on the night but everyone did their bit and like last season worked as a unit. If we can get Prosenik back and keep Josh in the team then this team can go all the way again with their attitude and ability: ...................................................Blackman.................................................. Kane.........................Pappoe...................Chalobah..............Deen-Conteh ..................................Saville...........................Clifford................................. ..................................................McEachran................................................. ....Lalkovic................................Prosenik....................................Devyne... I was worried near the end of the game because a lack of games recently meant that fitness was low and we did struggle a little but we took a chance well and got what we massively deserved from that game. Rushden & Diamonds or Barnsley await us in the next round. Highlights will beup tonight.

IF we spend £25m and sign Luiz then i will definately think that the club has gone bonkers!! The first time for years we fork out £20m+ and it is in the ONLY position where we do not need to strengthen. At Centre back we have team captain, England international and one of the best Centre Backs in the World John Terry, Serbian international and one of the best centre backs in the premiership Brana Ivanovic, Brazilian internation and again one of the best Centre Backs in the premiership Alex plus as fourth choice a Dutch U21 international with a couple of full caps. OK Alex is injured but only for a couple of more weeks. Cant think of a team with better options than that. Left back is probably the only other position where we have really good cover. Right back is debateable, Bosingwa runs hot and cold and Ferreira can be a liability. We are without doubt short of numbers in central midfield even before the injury to Benayoun and Lampard. And in the forward line we are short on numbers and massively short of form.... If we are spending that sort of money on Luiz but will back it up with more quality signings then that is a different matter, but we need to strenghten in other positions first. There is no such thing as a "watertight" defence, everyone will concede goals and our record isn't too bad this season, Luiz would save us potentially what? a maximum of 2 goals this season considering the quality we already have. And we still won't be able to stick the ball in the net ourselves.... Just does not make sense to me unless we are looking to actually rebuild the squad and improve all over.

Luiz is a very good player but i still don't understand this move! £25m for a player when we have 3 world class players for that position already? Terry, Ivanovic and Alex are not exactly underperforming, and you don't spend £20m+ for a 4th choice player. Yes Alex is injured at the moment, so Luiz is behind Terry and Ivanovic, then what happens when Alex comes back? If we are spending £20m+ on a player i would much rather we spent it on an exciting attacking player to push our ageing and underperforming forward line!!!

Yes both would have been handy additions to the squad. Neither though look like having any long term future at Chelsea.

What a waste of money, how can there be any justification for those sorts of fees..... absurd

Can help with these no problem: 1. Yes they will get chances if good enough, look at Josh, Patrick, Jeffrey and Gael at the moment. OK not getting LOADS of matches but they shouldn't be regulars at their age anyway. Tore shouldn't have had an appearance yet, massive erratic in performances at youth level and is only now making an impact at reserve level. A good talent but has some way to go yet before he comes near the first team. Clifford is a cracking player but he is being developed in the right way i.e. out on loan / playing in the reserves. Lalkovic (sorry to say this if he is your favorite) is NOT an upgrade on Kakuta, he has no-where near his skill level and his performances are a little inconsistant and an arogant streak makes him a little frustrating at times, the potential is there but there is still a lot of work to be done for Milan. Lets not rush these players into the first team at 18/19 years of age and expect them to be world class. 2. PVA is getting the chances here and there and doing well with those chances when given them, at the start of the season PVA would have been thrilled with 6 starts for the first team and a dozen sub appearances or so and he will be near that come the end of the season. Ashley Cole is the best left back in the world and Van Aanholt (and Bertrand) cannot and would not expect to be starting ahead of him. 3. Marko Mitrovic is still injured, he suffered a long term injury but isn't too far away from fitness i believe. We have 2 good young strikers in the club Mitrovic and Prosenik both are top quality and can do very well, unfortunately both are currently injured.

Voted 5* , lol TalkChelsea at the top of the pile. Top stuff

Ideed, Van Aanholt and Bertrand are both top class and we would do well to keep hold of them both for the future. Aziz Deen Conteh is another top prospect at left back and looks good for sure and i hope he continues to develop in the same way.

This is without doubt the best and more importantly the most friendliest Chelsea forum on the web.

Welcome back, you have been busy indeed if there is a little one on the way congrats. Good to have you back, always nice to see the old names around still. Oh and the sleepless nights will carry on long after the birth just something for you to look forward to...

Rob it was i think, went by the name Robaldo. I think the old site was on the verge of being taken over by someone involved with CFCNET i think just before it went down but nothing got sorted in time so it went.

Sturridge has always looked bright and it is crazy he hasn't got more starts, he deserves a run of least 5 games starting in the squad given what has been served up by the current forward line.

For me Carlo has to start with basically the same team. Why change a winning team especially when the players that will more than likely be brought in have been playing so poorly, but something tells me that there will be plenty of changes. One thing is for sure if Sturridge does not start then it is criminal.

We do not need any more squad players, we need players with a cutting edge who are going to improve us...

Very suprised to see him go to a Championship club, he will in all likelyhood be moving on in the summer so he will be looking for club. I would have thought he would have gone further down the league with his next loan move, this will be tough for him.

Josh and Connor do work well together for sure and this is because they are top class. Both have already shown that they are more than capable playing with the big boys. With a holding midfielder behind them they are very difficult to stop, with Josh creating chances and Connors drive through midfield it is a very potent midfield. I hope they both go on to do big things for Chelsea and i am sure they will.

Pato, Aguero, Neymar, Lukaku - these are the type of players we should he looking to sign. Would be great if we can sort out a deal for Pato..

Lol, yes Badboy has come a long since those early days bless him.... Hanuma was a poster that it was a shame to lose, and some of the others that you mentioned are also very much missed. I think the first thing i did on TalkChelsea was to leak the new seasons kit as i had contacts in Umbro, havn't been able to do it since we moved to Adidas. For me this is the best Chelsea forum around, friendly, multi-cultural and always plenty to discuss.

No real suprise if this is the case, it has been on the cards for a while. But what a f**king waste. This boy is a class striker and knows how to score goals.

Was trying to remember the other week what the name was that we went under temporarily but couldn't. Thanks for the reminder Pretty sure my first post was during the summer of the 2005/2006 season..... Well done to all the new legends, fully deserved.

He is a very very good player and will do well for himself. It is just a shame that the club don't think he is worthy of a chance with us. Although with Bertrand back at Chelsea it may be that the club DO still see a future for these loan boys.

Well yes the players are a joke at the moment but there are better ways to go about airing your feelings. And your right, it's not as if the players will give a damn anyway...

Yuri for me is too much in limbo, neither a settled left back or a winger. If we are taking a good look at our squad then i would like to see us fill the spot with someone more settled. I would rather he was used as a winger anyway but it doesn't happen. Mikel though is a important player for us. Our best player at the start of the season and no more to blame for any problems than anyone else...

Absolutely, i put on a few pounds over christmas but i am sure it will be fine. If Drogba can play with Malaria that i can play with a little excess baggage

Oi!! Someone else trying to muscle in on my action Hoping to get longer highlights to put up later...