The Rising Sun

People havent mentioned Mikel yet. So.... Mikel. He is still here so nothing to stop him from justifying the hype in his younger days, not likely though. ZAKI - Forgotten Obafemi Martins - i thought he had great potential in his first season. Aquilani - Lol

Bottom line is that Schurrle in pre season, hasnt done even one memorable thing as yet, which is hugely disappointing. I have been more impressed by every other player coming to chelsea except him atm. He is here now, and i will support him as much as any other player, but atm im sceptical and hope he proves me wrong. Nothing would make me happier to be wrong.

Kevin De Bruyne what a player!! He is going to be the difference for us this season. Along with Mata they will demolish opponents week in week out. Now even if Mata is having an off day, we have this guy to do the business. So happy he has become such a deadly player. Schurrle on the other hand, i had seen all his youtube videos to see what the fuss was about, and didnt get it then. Having seen a little bit of him, albeit not full fitness, i still dont get it. Presently, based on his youtube videos of full fitness play and best highlight videos + what he has done in preseason, i dont think much of him. He hasnt given any signs regarding his movement, shooting, skills etc.... I hope he steps up bigtime over the next few weeks. We couldnt have paid 20 odd mill for another moses/marin level player..... Lukaku is a step above Ba IMO, and MVG is settling in quite quickly....expecting good things from him in the near future.... The second half of this game was probably the worst pre season game i have EVER seen in my life. Now looking forward to the return of Mata,Torres,Azpi,Luiz and Oscar. The depth in our squad is looking good .... finally. Its been a few years.

Learnt a harsh lesson by not getting on the Van Persie + Gareth Bale bandwagon last season, and later on couldn't get them in as they were too expensive and i would have to change too much of my team = lose too many points and players to get them in. Not this time. Also learnt the value of having a squad which is well spread out through the teams, top to bottom. Having only the top team players never works. Hoping to get the formula right this season from the get go and to unleash !! Best of luck to you all.

i thought he had signed for PSV..... read it on SS a few days ago.....

Young Chelsea fans seem to like to buy Torres chelsea shirts for some reason, so in terms of marketing he's still the top dog i guess.

Robinho - good player but never became great, or stuck to a team long enough.

good squad player , has his strengths but doesnt really have the intelligence required to manage his strengths. He has the shot, the speed, ability to dribble and turn.but cant use them all at the same time for some odd reason.

He seems to lack cheerfulness to me. Whenever he has spoken to the camera there hasnt been one smile, joke or anything. Its like he doesnt have ANY expressions. Dont know about you guys but ive seen his interview on CTV yesterday a few times now and it bothers me a bit....... whats up de bruyne? cheer up man.

Just came across some interesting imagesof Pre season training in the early 50's ---- thought i would share. Training surely has changed tremendously from then to now, atleast in application and focus.

Haha too late with the image. Eva is back too.

By 'chance', i mean - not giving someone else the undisputed No. 1 role That is specifically why i did not want a Cavani to come in, as that pretty much makes him the undisputed no. 1 , while Lukaku gets 20 mins here and there in the PL and starts some cup games. Even if he does splendidly, Cavani will still be No. 1. I want us to sign someone who is a top striker, but at the level where he will accept having to fight for a starting spot with the rest of our striking pool week in week out. That in my view is giving Lukaku a fair chance and for us to make fair judgements.

I agree about his experience, but i dont see him getting too much gametime this season. For a player of his age and progressing fast, it might be good for him to continue getting as much competitive football week in week out in the PL to make him a star. If we keep him and are not able to give him much gametime, which does happen sometimes, then that will hamper his development. It will be the worst case scenario as he will move to a new league with higher standards and then only get gametime every once in a while, and without any momentum it can all go wrong. I dont know really. Both sides of the coin exist. He looks quite good from what i have seen, so would like for him to be at Chelsea, but he needs to continue his momentum , which might not be available to him by us. Catch 22.

Glad this soap opera is nearing an end. I am very proud of our board and club for learning from their mistakes and for atleast trying to make decisions based on what we value a player, rather than some exorbitant valuations/clauses by the owning clubs He would have improved us no doubt, but there are plenty of fish in the sea who will improve us as well.

Van Ginkel needs a PL loan like Lukaku, in a team which really needs a midfielder. I dont see the point in loaning him out abroad.

that persons comments reflect ignorance and misguided flamboyance towards the situation, which should be a cause of concern for any govt. Torture i.e., not that person being MP or not. Anyways! those were just my views!! Moving on!!

I never said he was an MP in my post.

Dont see anything wrong with Torturing a Terrorist for Information. The problem comes when an innocent person is tortured based on the suspicion of terrorist links etc. A terrorist doesnt see a pregnant woman and decide not to attack, so electrocuting his balls is equal treatment. But he MUST 100% be a terrorist. However, that persons comments reflect ignorance and misguided flamboyance towards the situation, which should be a cause of concern for any govt.

Even though they play in different positions, if could keep only one player in Chelsea, then between Cavani and Mata, i would choose Mata every single time. That is how important he is to us. Mata is Class, on and off the pitch. I will smack Yaya Toures balls if i ever see him in public. That is how much Mata should mean to every Chelsea fan.

Come on! We have been playing Torres as our No. 1. Lukaku is 5 times the player he is. He was leading the charge to get West brom European football and doing it with style. He has already terrorised top 6 teams and i cant see him choking playing with Hazard Mata Oscar etc with him. I personally only see it ending well, but if you think its a risk, then lets take it! It all depends what formation Jose plays,,,, a 442 will suit Lukaku perfectly and 433 as well. 4231 I hope we dont play at all ever again.

I love this club and its supporters, but this plastic surgery approach is something we need to get rid of.

We sent out Lukaku on loan to prove himself. He did that. Murdered top 6 teams, scored hattricks against united and so much more in a mid table team. He also became a good finisher, taking chance after chance. Now you dont want to give him a chance ? So what if we dont win the premier league this season. Y2K aint gonna happen if we come second. Ambition is one thing, but doing it at the cost of having no identity is not worth it. We can buy success no doubt, but do we have to?

i would rather he comes back to Chelsea, as atleast we can give him gametime in the cup competetions and some PL too. We need to actively monitor his progression and make big decisions in his training etc, rather than send him to another club where they only care about their result and not Josh's personal development. On the top of it, he needs to MAN UP, grow some muscle and become stronger. He is too much of a schoolboy ever since he showed up. He can only get better in Chelsea, even if he gets lesser time on the pitch. He kind of reminds me of Granero, a guy who was developing well at real madrid because he grew up with quality players around, but the moment he went to a club with inferior players, he could not influence the game. Josh's case is similar and he needs to build his game and potential here. I dont see ANY PL side giving him regular football. That is where he is at presently. We need to personally give him that extra bit he needs in order to take that next step.

Atleast 40. Torres scored 22 this season.

Well in my view, Mikel doesnt have the greatest first touch doesnt have a good through ball doesnt have a good long ball and doesnt have the pace to run at players, or behind players. Most importantly i think he doesnt have the vision to take us to the next level. I think its a real long shot expecting Mikel to transform to that extent. Every player has potential. 7 years is enough for me though. We are getting a different level of players now, which represents new talent and new energy for me. Mikel after 7 years is no longer new energy and his transformation can only happen at a different club with different players around him.