lionsden

I thought the clause gives us the choice to either agree or reject barca's offer after 2 years?

This is bad news. . . gutted. It sounds like a serious injury which could sideline him for minimum of 6 months

I just hope AVB can see that Anelka, kalou and Malouda are not good enough and we desperately need a winger As much as I would welcome the acquisition of a creative midfielder, a productive winger should be our top most priority as I strongly believe Josh is the answer to our creativity problem. De bruyne/hazard/mata are my preferred choices in that particular order

Hopefully De bruyne and Modric

The logical choice from Belgium should have been De bruyne or Hazard but logic and the Chelsea board doesn't go hand in hand these days. all the same, he's still a good signing.

Purely on the basis of ability and merit. Josh and Sturridge should be in the starting X1. the age and experience argument is becoming increasingly redundant imho. some players are extremely talented and mature at exponential rate to handle the pressure of playing regularly at the top level e.g Wilshere, Ozil, Goetze, Rooney (X1 at age 19) Messi (X1 at 18) add Josh and Danny to that list as well. Lampard and Drogba should be relegated to squad players next season.

. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cech . . . . Bosingwa .. . . . . . .. Alex. . . . . . . .Terry. . . . . . .Ashley . . . . . . .. Ramires. . . . . . . . . . Mikel . .. . . . . Josh. . .. . . . . . .. . . .. .Danny. . . . . . . . .. Torres . . . . . .Malouda

Thanks for the great memories Yuri and best of luck

If the amount of minutes played could indicate AVB's preferred starting X1 then I'm afraid Kalou may be the preferred choice on the left wing forward. on the basis on this pre-season alone, we are deficient in that area and desperately need reinforcement because while Kalou and Anelka are clearly mediocre, Malouda doesn't exactly inspire confidence neither. I was quite impressed with Josh today, who needs Modric when you have this gem, who already possesses unique skill, maturity and intelligence that most midfielders in their prime can only dream of. one more thing, Lampard should leave set piece taking to someone else, enough is enough and Torres had his best performance yet in blues shirt, Ray wilkins words must have sank in. all in all, AVB's influence on the team is becoming more noticeable with every match, that was quite evident in the confident and precise passing and moving football we displayed today.

I have no idea.

Good to see AVB experimenting with Chalobah at DM. . .it would be interesting to see how he deploys D' Luiz next season. btw why didn't he feature in this game?

At this point in time, I had rather play Malouda ahead of Kalou and Anelka next season. Our front 3 should be Sturridge, Torres and Malouda (it wouldn't hurt to get a better winger though)

Lampard should be banned from taking set pieces for us henceforth.

The assessment is about right. given the quality and depth of our current squad, it would be a remarkable achievement to finish above man utd and City next season.

Gourlay- didn't your mama teach you not to make promises you cannot keep?

Wow really? Do you realise this same mikel completed more passes than any other player in the premier league last season according to highly credible and accurate "opta stat". let's try and be objective here.

After all the promise sturridge showed last season at Bolton, I will be very disappointed if he fails to flourish at Chelsea next season.

Why would you be concerned about a rival club that you don't support though. . . . .shouldn't your wish be for anything that could give Chelsea a competitive edge to happen rather than the other way round? if man city further strengthen their squad while we remain fairly stagnant, how could that possibly benefit us?

Why are you so concerned about man city if you don't mind me asking?

mata or shakhtar's william would be better value for money . . . english players are outrageously overpricedbut if the price is right then I don't mind Johnson

My sentiment exactly. . .I can't remember the last time he produce something meaningful from set piece

Pastore and Yann M'Vila

We already have Mikel and Romeu, we don't need another DM. our priority should be a creative midfielder and a winger.

Andy cole and Dwight Yorke partnership?

The problem is since we signed him, he's never given us even a single game that is reminiscent of the "old Torres". when other world class player lose form temporarily, they still show glimpses of their true quality (Rooney, David Villa, Eto'o as references) which gives the fans a reason to believe and Torres has yet shown anything to suggest he might/could/will return to top form. 17 games of abysmal performances is simply unacceptable at any level