Spike

Hate the club. Hate the team. Hate the tactics. Hate the manager. Hate the owner. But most importantly I hate the sport. Goddamn soccerball, flopping and diving all over a green field.

At least I have half a tub of Vick VapoRubTM up my nose. You bastards can't say the same. Have fun with your shitty match with no eucalyptus and menthol goodness.

Mirallas is 15cm taller than Pedro. Geez, cut the guy some slack, he showed tenacity to go up against someone considerably larger than him. He fucked up but at least it's something.

Fucking run faster than m8, get off your phone and get into the match.

He is big and he is black. He wears number 10 on his back. 90% cacao Belgian chocolate, baby.

Generic whinge about Chelsea #174958737385670

If they could position themselves correctly and retain possession their speed wouldn't be an issue. They don't though.

He is just a rubbish player really. Not talented enough offensively to be a winger or defensively to be a fullback. Maybe he'd be good in a team that absolutely dominates possession but there are better choices out their for offensive fullbacks. Just another case of people being blindly optimistic about the clubs youth, I suppose.

Eh, I'm not too sure about that. He may look better going forward as a fullback because he gets a lot more space coming from deep. He might not get enough room as a winger.

I haven't seen an individual performance as bad as Kirchoff's for a long time.

Pato is preferably; on his accord a winger. A wide-forward, if you will; capable of playing as a centre. It has been reiterated constantly. Pato would cover several positions if signed, limiting time to both the younger strikers and wingers.

Who actually cares where the manager has been? Bloody Ashley Cole is a legend here and he was an Arsenal lad, Lampard was from West Ham. etc. It's completely arbitrary and irrational. Concerning Garcia; Mourinho was also sacked when he became a Chelsea coach as was Benetiz and Robbie di Matteo. The same 'huge budget and better players' applies to Garcia as well as Simeone. Cholo is one of the best manager in the world, but I don't like his style, I'm sick of this physical nonsense purveyed by coaches like him and Mourinho. Those managers are proven they've all been around for 7+ years, not every manager signed has to have the pedigree of Ancellotti or Guardiola. Simeone is also a risk. Any manager is a risk, any transfer is a risk.

Pep, Pellegrini, Sampaoli, de Boer, Emery, Garcia, Conte or even Rogers.

I meant new as in a new approach, not over physicality and aggression; both hallmarks of Simeone and Mourinho. I said 'something new' not 'someone new'. So you replied to me in the completely wrong manner ayy lmao Besides, Simeon has spent a ridiculous amount of money in the last few seasons, so I don't I see him as a 'shoestring manager'. Chelsea aren't as skint as people believe, the club isn't and won't be for a long time at a point where it can only spend money when it sells or whatnot. Chelsea aren't an underdog, that is the belief Mourinho instilled in the team [to seemingly the point where they grew tired of it], they are one of the richest clubs in England and are expected to win or at the very least challenge every year. The players know they aren't underdogs, so why does even factor in?

Simeone draws too many comparisons to Mourinho for my taste. Both talented managers, but I'd like to see something new.

Yaya was not at his peak then. For some unknown reason people had it in their minds Yaya was a CB or a DM. It wasn't until he was allowed to be a lazy fuck that scores goals and dominates in attack did he reach his peak. 2013-2015 Toure is one of the best players you'd see int he modern game. He was completely reborn at Manchester.

He was fine. I don't expect genius ball retention or decision making from a ninteen year-old.

A little laziness doesn't exactly mean 'questionable character', this isn't bloody Samir Nasri or Yann M'Vila we are talking about. Mark Hughes was a lazy bastard in training but a dynamo on the pitch, nobody questions his character. Besides in the last year Lacazette has gotten more caps than Gignac.

If anyone thinks any manager could have trumped Real Madrid and Mourinho the way Pep Guardiola did, they are delusional. Guardiola took what Johan Cruyff implemented at Barcelona in the 80s and 90s and brought it to the next level in the modern game. He reaped that amazing youth system like no other manager before him, and cemented the ethos and philosophy Cruyff planted all those years ago. Only another person with the understanding of the club and it's philosophy could have done what he did.

He isn't a striker primarily. Only on FIFA is he a centre forward. He is a wide forward, usually on the left. http://www.whoscored.com/Players/23158

You say youth can't be judged because you don't get the opportunity to watch them. Just curious to how much of Pato you've watched since he left Milan? I can safely say that I haven't seen much at all besides clips. So I'm just curious as to why you can pass judgement on Pato but not the youth?

Fuck em. Youth comes and goes like the tide. I bet they could do amazingly worse, if not they'd be getting minutes. If they aren't impressing during training and what not they aren't going to be getting minutes.

Because the youth are just as shit (if not more) and none are wide-forwards like Pato is? I'll put my eggs in the baskets' of RLC and Kenedy, no one else.

Well if what rmpr said is true (and I trust his judgement fully) and he is more of a wide forward than a striker; I would be over the moon to see him playing out on the right over Pedro.

I wouldn't say he is washed up yet. He is still very young and has at least a few more attempts to prove himself. He has stayed relatively injury free lately, also. A gamble but not as big as others.