lionsden

It's easy. They are the defending champions and have won 2 of the last 3 premier league title. that's a known quantity and that's a winning pedigree.

This was my initial statement " on paper that team should walk the league" the bolded clearly indicates that they have the best squad on paper and have the potential to walk the league but football rarely follows logic and it's played on the pitch rather than on paper. but you ignored that part right from the start. La liga last season was a perfect example. Real madrid and barca had the best squad/team on paper in la liga last season and most people would have predicted the two to walk the league leaving AM and the rest in the dust and even though theoutcome was different, does that mean the initial assessment was bogus and that the two Spanish giant didn't have better players/squad than Atleitico? If they lose yaya they still have enough quality cover in midfield and they also lost him to the nations cup the year they won their first league title under monsieur which didn't make a difference to the ultimate outcome. Well pardon me for showing more confidence in known quantity over unknown quantity and as for the bolded it still wouldn't change the fact that they have the best team on paper

No it's not, don't be ridiculous. We have just signed 3 quality players who may or may not flop while City have 5 proven genuine world class players and core in Toure,Aguero,Silva,Kompany and zabaletta who won the league last season coupled with other top class players like Magala,Fernandinho, Nasri and Dzeko. They are not relying on "potential", "inconsistent youngsters" and "new signings" to pull them through but we are. Their core is already settled and world class. they aren't counting on a 23 year old to have an amazing season or their new signings to gel and hit the ground running.

He's a true professional and team player as well. You will never see him throwing tantrums over lack of regular playing time and he usually does an excellent job whenever called upon.

Giving trademark annoying and controversial interviews. if that counts

I forgot what an attacking fullback looks like. I miss those link up and bombing overlapping runs we last saw on a consistent basis in 09/10 season. Luis offensive game is silky and very fluid and it will no doubt bring the very best out of Hazard and Schurrle. He is a good crosser/passer too so I had expect most of our attacking plays to come from the left side as I can't bare too watch any more awful crossing exhibition from Ivanovic next season.

So as things stands they start the season with Hart Zabaletta Mangala Kompany Clichy Toure Fernandinho Navas Silva Nasri Aguero On paper that team should walk the league easily. Well balanced with combination of genuine world class players, physically dominant and great technicians. clichy and hart are the only weak links.

So you think Luiz and kalou gets equal amount of recognition and admiration from fans? despite having very similar personality and similar impact i.e largely frustrating, inconsistent but still contribute to the clubs success. Luiz too me is overrated and over pampered is the point I was trying to make.

I agree with the overall sentiment of jype but what i'm trying to point out is the contrasting views and treatment of two set of players who have equally contributed towards the success of this club and amazing personalities which are the qualities highlighted in his post. why does kalou for example generally gets treated differently than Luiz? They should both be treated with equal amount of respect

Also the way he always jumps in front of the que to take free kicks, at one time he basically monopolised the set piece taking dutydespite having poor conversion rate. The Stoke city with hazard sums him up in a nutshell. http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/cheeky-eden-hazard-stole-a-free-kick-from-david-luiz-chelsea-3-stoke-0/ he was very gutted about it too

I find it hypocritical how other ex players who fit the profile get zero respect from huge majority of Chelsea fans and no one publicly comes to their defence. Salomon kalou being a perfect example. He contributed to our success in the past as well and was one of the nicest and funniest personalities in the dressing room but I guess his lack of Brazilian nationality and curly hair counted against the Ivorian. I have no problem with the showing respect part but it has to be one rule for all and no preferential treatment.

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he made those comment out of bitterness and disappointment and has learned his lesson and any manager that doesn't adapt and learn after throwing away a 3 goal advantage in the manner they did against Palace is just a stubborn goat.

I'm a bit conflicted about his departure tbh. The EPL fan in me wants to see world class players play and flourish in the league which can only be a good thing for the health of the league and further raise its profile while on the other hand, the more cynical side of me is happy of the impact it might have on the scums up north and one less twat the league could do without.

No you aren't. He had his best year at left back so it's not an outrageous opinion at all. He needs to be more adventurous offensively though which can be awkward thing for him to achieve at LB given he's right footed.

Ballack over makelele?

Like I said I can't see all 3 of Luiz,messi and Neymar flourishing at the same time. atleast one of them would have to make a sacrifice for the betterment of the team. The impact of his loss to Liverpool however may not be as colossal as many are predicting because they are a well drilled team offensively which means they will still create loads and score plenty. If they significantly strengthen their defence then I see them challenging again.

With the arrival of Luis it will be interesting to see who Jose rates higher between him and Azpi. Personally cesar is superior and should be the starter at right back.

He hasn't done anything and I have seen nothing to convince me he's a better prospect than Keneth and kalas. His positional awareness, reading of the game and tackling is inferior but there's plenty of time for him to develop

This is the way I see it. How many top teams in the world would Oscar get into as a starter more so as an attacking midfielder?. Now he could go on to have a Muller like development, unlikely but anything is possible. however right now he's simply not good enough to be a starter nevermind part of the team's core considering our huge ambition.

I'm in the minority of those that rate Bertrand as a solid left back good enough to be back up for a top side like ours then. defensively he rarely puts a wrong in for us which leaves me baffled at the staggering amount of people that do not rate him at all. The popularity and allure of attacking fullbacks have made Bertand type fullbacks unfashionable and in danger of becoming extinct which is a shame.

Barca are once again just throwing money around without fixing the glaring problem in their team which is their awful defence and Xavi's replacement. Also Messi,suarez and neymar are alpha who likes to be the centre of attention and dominate posession in the box.. I could see a huge ego clash and another zlatan situation occuring.

What;s the official fee?

Out of all the youth players at the club, Nathan Ake appears as the most likely to properly break through by far. The way the club has treated him tells me he's ahead of even Chalobah in the pecking order and it's easy to see why. he's very highly regarded.

People are finally seeing the light. Work ethic and cute face can only get you so far

Ok so if he continues to clock up huge minute and mileage (and there's little indication that his minutes will slow down significantly sine he's still an integral member of the brazil team and Jose seem to rate/like him) then what? How long should we give him to start showing some consistency? honest question.