Joker10

Damn that article demoralized me.

Why bother buying another AM, when Mou is going to play Azpi or Ramires as forwards.

Hakan is an excellent tracking back, he is really a Mou type player. Hakan and Badeji will play elsewhere next season, they are excellent players.

Reus>>>>>> I would rather sign Reus if one of Oscar or Willian is not with us next season.

???? Words cannot describe how disappointing that would be. Paulinho>>>>Khedira. His injury is the best thing that happened to Madrid and quite frankly i don't rate Paulinho. Beside Pogba, i rate Schneiderlin as a utility player not regular Chelsea quality, and Bender would be an option if we miss out on a few players. Pogba or Vidal would be the ideal scenario. Vidal is going nowhere, only club i can see him leaving for is Real Madrid. Pogba still facing unresolved contract issues, and imo we should do whatever to sign him up. As for Paulinho, for me he is another Guarin. A good player that is a slight upgrade to what we have. A pogba, vidal, Koke, etc are massive upgrades. Kinda like how much Matic improved our midfield.

Mou has some great individual players on this team, can add to that in the summer. What i want to see next season is that we need to play like a big side when we actually do play good sides. I believe that the best way to play football and the most entertaining football is when a side plays without fear and are proactive. For me what will be most telling about Mou plans, is what he does with our fbs. I know most of my posts about our fbs but i think it is a big obstacle from a being proactive side. For me what being proactive means is making the other team adjust to your style. The way to do that is a team that can attack and defend as a unit. For me the biggest Barca accomplishment is how they made everyone react to their style and everyone played like a small side. Barca played their style with possession, but you can do it other way like Jupps Bayern or klopp Dortmund. Bayern in 2013 was the monster everyone was hoping for years to face Barca, they didn't react to Barca they played how they always played. The key is attacking and defending as a unit. Anyway back to our FBs, we need much more from fullbacks going forward. Ivanovic is just too limited going forward, he doesn't scare anyone going forward except in set pieces obviously. On the left is the same Azpi is the same, Azpi going back to his right side will fix the issue on the right. On the left we need a LB that is comfortable going forward, the way the game is played i will always prefer a great attacking fb then a great defensive one. Let me use Marcelo as an example, who is great going forward and but very suspect at the back. I have watched latterly so much of Real Madrid to know that he does not get tested, because the opposition is not trying to exploit him because they are sitting back worried about CR7 and Marcelo going forward. Marcelo was so much missed last season, because his contribution is truly underrated. His presence allows CR7 to get 1-1 against opposition. If Madrid are willing to sell him i would take him in a heartbeat btw, you wouldn't see Hazard being surrounded by multiple players. Fortunately this summer there are numerous great LBs we can get, i would also personally would keep PVA and his ability going forward is why i always rated him higher then Bertrand. Having fbs that can go forward allows you to achieve mass and allows you to overwhelm your opponent. We conceded the lowest amount of goals this season, so Azpi and Iva is a success in some form. For me it would be very telling how we play next season, lets see if Mou changes it up in the summer.

Its pretty obvious and beaten to death that we have issues with our strikers. But lets not make our strikers the scapegoat for everything. First credit where credit is due our strikers have showed up in a lot of our big games. Yes signing a big time striker will help, but we have deficiency in other areas. Mou has had a whole season with this squad we will see if he address them. Some i wonder if he sees it as a problem, for example lack of attacking threats from our FBs. If he actually plays like a big sides against good sides.

Agreed to an extent. Guardiola had a winning formula, i dare to say last season Bayern Munich would beat Peps best Barca side. Bayern were so dominant, he broke that team style in favor of his tiki-taka. This Chelsea side has enough attacking quality to play more expensive. You would think that we were facing CR7 by playing Ivanovic and Azpi on the right side. Schurrle, Oscar, and Willian have amazing individual quality but they also have great work rate to track back on the defensive end. Hazard is also usually pretty good at tracking back. It is going to be interesting to see what he does in the summer. Because by now it is pretty clear the holes this team has, but he need to accept some changes.

Absolutely one of my favorite non chelsea players, i would love to see him here. After Ibra, imo him and Rooney are the best all around strikers in the world.

Hazard is player of the year and imo it is not even a question. He literally carried us for a very good stretch, when Oscar was poor and Willian was dog shit. Simply Hazard has been everything in our attack. Our defense has been great which is pretty obvious statement, i personally think Ivanovic has been underrated compared to Azpi. The obvious knock on Ivanovic is he is limited going forward, Azpi is not much of a threat going forward either. Simply if Azpi did more going forward, maybe i would consider POTY closer race. For me in the summer it is a priority to sign a LB, modern football expects more from fb going forward.

Its truly a tale of two different players between the Nigerian Mikel and the Chelsea Mikel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M17SGuhMglc

As a ball playing CB he is pretty darn good. Seems like even our fans stereotype him as a stereotypical English kick and rush CB.

Fact is England youth setup is the bigger problem. There need to be a Chelsea B team, its hard to integrate players when you are relaying on other teams to help and develop our kids to make the jump. Simply being at the mercy of other teams to develop our players is pretty shitty.

Lmao people think Reus can't play opposite of hazard on the right side. Reus is a great footballer play him on the left, right or center he can be effective. No need for him unless one of our AMs is sold not named salah or schurrle.

The Barca rumor is probably untrue. But the only explantation i can give for their interest in Ramires would be they want to experiment him as a RB. For Juve? Maybe play him in Asamoah position and as a rotational CM. I have always felt that to get the best out of Ramires would be to put him in a position to play him wide, that he would have space and can bomb forward. That is what his role basically was at Benfica 4-4-2 and where he once thrived for Brazil in Dunga 4-4-2/diamond formation. Obviously in our system we don't have such role and he is not good enough to make specific accommodation. But at Juve such role does exists in Conte system and at Barca their RB plays very high and Ramires has the stamina and speed to bomb forward and track forward. So for me from a tactical standpoint the rumors make sense.

watching the arsenal game; the only thing i can think about is how good Ramsey fits into our team. The guy is class, he would be player of the year if he didn't get injured.

His shit performances is one thing, but the fact he is a ticking bomb every single second he is on the pitch is the bigger concern.

He is simply playing his two best fullbacks, playing Azpi on the left is simply the best choice for the team. You might have an argument if he continues with Ivanovic on the right and Azpi on the left next season. Simply modern football asks more from fullbacks in attacks, especially if Mou continues to play left footed attackers on the right(Willian and Salah) and right footed players on the left(Hazard).

He had Macon at Inter bombing forward and Marcelo at Real Madrid. Azpi and Ivanovic are not good enough going forward as simple as that.

Videl is Better without considering other circumstances. When considering the system Mou operates, it becomes a no brainier videl fits much better. Mou likes to overwhelm teams with speed and intensity, videl is a perfect fit.

Agreed. Videl for me if he leaves it is for Real Madrid, he has been quoted admiring the club. Pogba on the other hand has not resolved his contract issues with Juventus. If we offer 50m I think they will bite. A lot of money but he is worth it.

More likely to get Pogba out of Juve grasp then Videl tbh.

I would welcome cesc with open arms personally. Lol cesc being 10x creative then kroos, just no kroos is a proper playmaker. He may not put up the assist cesc does, but he does so much more and builds attacks better. Kroos > Cesc, and most definitely in the pivot. Kroos can actually might be better In the pivot then as a 10, if you give him the freedom that lampard and Ramires gets when playing next to matic.

I thought you might have learned a lesson after eating so much crows after being so wrong about Sturridge. I remember you compared him to some random and forgotten Chelsea/England youth player from 20 years ago. I am not trying to throw that at your face or anything, but you shouldn't be so anti a player especially one as talented as Mikel. I have the same feeling about Mikel as i did about Sturridge, he is going to make his haters look stupid. Watch him go to Inter(rumored) or some other club and turn head. If he lands in the right situation and we don't sign a marquee CM, fans here are going to be like Mikel is exactly the CM we need. He needs a change of scenario, the difference between the Nigerian Mikel and the Chelsea Mikel is one plays with supreme confidence and allowed to express himself. With Nigeria he takes on players, he has great movements going forward, and he attempts passes that we all know that he has in his arsenal. I rather keep him then Ramires, but the best decision for him is leave Chelsea.

Not really an marquee signing but Morgan Schneiderlin would be a good addition to this side.