Pizy

Isn't Brad Friedel like 63 years old?

Both are far too good to be riding the bench. Begovic is good enough to start for a big club.

He'd hopefully be taking your lover Oscar's position in the first XI rather than Willian who has been one of our best players in recent months.

Your avatar will either act as a good luck charm or a jinx.

Does Neymar ONLY score tap-ins at Barca? Just about every time I see him score it's either a tap-in set up on a golden platter for him like that goal was or it's a breakaway 1-on-1 where he easily walks past a keeper.

There is absolutely no way we'd pay those fees being reported. I don't believe he really has a clause that high.

He's also 4-5 years younger than Reus and Griezmann and has been playing under a mediocre manager who uses him in stupid positions all the time and with shit players around him.Under a top manager like José he'd improve immensely.

And I'm sure that if (God forbid) Mourinho's job is in jeopardy we'll be linked with their manager too. We really should form some sort of partnership with them. We can send our most promising youngsters on loan there like we did with Courtois, they develop them, and we can then either bring them back or Atleti can buy them.

If we bought both Griezmann & Koke I'd feel bad for them (and over the moon for us) but not if its just Griezmann. They'll simply buy some other striker and he'll become a star just like they always do.

I'm sorry, but this feels like such a pointless signing.

Great question Maybe he starts with it on just in case the match is very physical and then once he realizes it's not he takes it off? It definitely is weird/funny that he always ends up removing it.

It probably gets super sweaty and uncomfortable.Maybe it affects his peripheral vision as well?

Honeslty, I can't see any of these things happening.Ivanovic will certainly remain undroppable. Cahill has reverted back to his best form and has nailed down his place again so I can't see him just suddenly moving back to the bench. Even if he does would we really bring in a to new CB and forget about using Zouma? Can't see it. Even getting a new RW is difficult for me to see at this point since we just spunked £26m on a flop. Getting a new striker is really the only nailed on signing I can see happening at this point.

In order for him to have this "evolution" he'll have to play every match. Which means there's no way we're buying a world class CM. The likes of Koke aren't going to come sit on the bench. Oscar's position in the first XI is really the only first team place that an upgrade is sorely needed. If he isn't replaced then I fail to see how we improve next season.

Uhh, why?I don't want to see Sterling playing off of guys like Silva and Agüero. Plus whoever else they bring in.

He almost looks like he won a "be a Chelsea player for 6 months" competition. Hard to believe it's the same player as the Cuadrado we saw at the World Cup. Painful watching him.

We wouldn't really need him to be a scorer for us. Just wreak havoc in the final third with his relentless pace and energy. He'd open up so much space and deny opponents the ability to double up on Hazard. The pace of Hazard, Sterling, and Willian behind Costa. Damn.

Much as it pains me to say this of a Liverpool player, he's a fantastic little footballer. If Bale or Griezmann are no-goers Sterling would be a great signing. London boy as well, yes? Should give us a leg up on City should we go after him.

Out of his depth? What match were you watching?Looked perfectly able and assured. Didn't panic and didn't give the ball away once. Clearly he didn't take any risks and played it safe, but that's to be expected of a teenager making his debut against a heated rival. Had a nice combative side to him as well. Got after them nicely.

Looks like we can definitively rule out the sale of Oscar, then. Which in turn means we're unlikely to sign a new CM because it would mean Oscar is on the bench. *sigh*

True. And also because Matic and Cesc have almost no pace and struggle against those who have pace themselves.If we changed our formation next season to a 4-3-3 we could have another top class player in there who can be used to outnumber opponents and control the game. We need to step up and become a bit more like the top 3-4 clubs in Europe and be more aggressive with possesion. No more counter attacking and letting the opponent have the initiative. Not saying we play tippy tappy nonsense like Bayern or Barca, but with someone like Koke in our midfield along with Cesc we can take our side to the next level.

I was all for this signing but fuck me...

I'm Filipe Luis' biggest fan, but you could see that match why José prefers Azpi. Luis gets exposed when he's caught out on an island in one on one situations often times. The thing that Azpi excels at. As for the match, great first half for the most part and then coast mode in the second half. Like someone above said, our midfield gets carved apart far too easily. This is why we need another top class and athletic player in there. We need to control the midfield. Hazard had a few flashes here and there but most of his attacks fizzled out. You can tell he's been through a grueling season and is cranking his level down recently. Willian and Cesc were very good I thought and JT was JT. Don't think anyone had a poor match. Just the usual brain fart from Ivanovic that gifted them the goal.

Imagine if Iva did that in a match of importance... Dominated them for the most part. One lapse on a set piece and we concede.