CHOULO19

Or both..

Apparently Jose said that Ramires is ready:

You have to also think what's best for him too. Yes, it would have given the team more stability and security had he stayed, but that would have probably killed his development and saw him sold at the end of the season. Granted it's not exactly going in splendidly for him at Milan (though things seem to be looking up for him now), but at the time, I think it was the right decision.

LOL That was some guy who was badmouthing Mikel before the game last season against Derby and said that he'd his name tattooed on his arse if he scored! Credit to the guy for actually going through with it. Takes some massive balls!

Yes, but with the slight difference that I wanted the team to do well while some people were actually hoping that Rafa, and hence Chelsea, do badly which was the whole point of that last post of mine. Yes, and you can't prove that we wouldn't be winning the CL every season if I were the manager! I really don't wish to revive ancient debates that are now meaningless, but, for me, it was never about the results and I would have said the same had we failed to win the EL, in fact the article I'm referring to was written before we even reached the semis IIRC. It was about the evolution of the squad as whole and the key players in particular in a direction that ensures that the next manager can, with a few minor adjustments, build a team that can challenge for titles, i.e. what Jose has done. But that was not going to be possible, imo, with the tactically woeful manner the team was playing under Robbie. I completely agree that the club did act embarrassingly with a club legend. He should never have been offered the job in the first place as the board clearly didn't think he was good enough to do it. And let's not open and an even older debate about AVB and how and why he was sacked.

This is extremely unfair and even completely false! Marco actually rejected the Milan offer at first and said he wants to stay at Chelsea. Then the club and management convinced him to go to Italy because he wouldn't be getting the minutes he needs here to properly recover from basically a season off from football that he had last year.

Interesting to hear that after the match Steve Holland said that there was no thought of bringing Luis on for Cahill (and shifting Iva and Azpi) because Kurt has been training fantastically well for the past few weeks and his immense performance was not the least surprising for them because they knew that this is his current level. I wish that means he means he will be given a fair chance to contest with Cahill for the starting CB spot, but realistically I juts hope that he will be getting more time and hopefully starts against Derby and Sporting and in the busy Christmas period.

Yeah, but at the time of his injury (which was with the Netherlands U21 NT) it was said that he needed 6 weeks to recover.

I had riots after me when I wrote exactly that at the time! I wrote an article about it before we had secured 4th and won the EL and everyone almost wanted the team to fail to do that so they could say "I told you appointing that wanker was a terrible idea"!

The first statement is demonstrably false. Do I need to remind you what happened when we tried to revolve our team around Torres? And our system never revolved around Lampard. It suited him a lot, yes, but it was never built around him. It was first built around Drogba then around our attacking midfielders. And everyone sucked and still sucks balls for England except for JT. That proves absolutely nothing. Of course it helps to have a system built around you, but all that does is magnify the star player's influence. I'd completely understand your argument if you were talking about Ronaldo, but Messi? Come off it. He's gone through several systems in his time and Barcelona and has always been nothing short of phenomenal. He's never selfish and you never feel that his teammates give him the ball because they just have to like often is the case with Ronaldo.

It's catching on!

Shows how reliable they are. I'm watching the rerun and I just saw Cesc make an interception in the 63rd minute!

I'm sorry, what?! Yeah, totally, consistency is overrated, the real challenge is to have one or two great seasons and then turn wank again. That's why Torres is the best striker of his generation!

Like Jose said, he can play if needed but he won't be 100% and it might affect how long it will take for him to recover completely. Still, might be worth the risk calling him up for Newcastle with Matic's absence.

Turnbull And Liverpool celebrating it like they've won the league

Yeah, I'm confident that Cesc is very smart that way that he can most probably control when he will get the fifth card. Obviously before Derby would be ideal.

Yeah, I distinctly remember a stat that Robbie's average points per game in those last 3 months were actually worse than AVB's!

Yeah, definitely. Wasn't just him though. Everyone just took it a few notches up when Robbie was promoted. Ramires, Cahill, even Raul and Torres. He did some brilliant man management. And I remember that Stoke game very well. One of the most boring I've seen. Absolutely zero chances for 88 minutes (IIRC) and then some absolute magic from Juan and Didier scores.

Alright, I'll start: Oh shit! No Matic??? If Mikel starts we will lose

That was some assist! Perfect first time ball. His third assist of the season if I'm not mistaken, which would make him our third best assister in the league after Cesc and Oscar (tied with Rami). Not bad for someone who should be executed for his lack of attacking contribution

I think we should cope just fine without him. We're lucky that the suspensions have been to players that, although key for the team, have backup players that are very similar to them. Now, Cesc on the other hand, I think we'll struggle without him.

Yeah, that also is a very good point. Yeah, but let's not forget that those performances were only in the big games. People forget that for over a year before he left, in regular games in the league he was often very very poor and annoyingly nonchalant.

Don't that would be unpopular. Seen many suggest and agree with that already. But of course, all this is built on the assumption that Rami is fit and available. If not, then we'll really have only one choice.

People really like to always have something to moan about, don't they? He's been playing fine. Much better than fine in fact in recent weeks. Yes, he has his limitations and flaws, but we all know exactly what they are and I think he more than makes up for them and he clearly deserves to be in the starting XI in my mind. So all this talk about Reus and other players coming in during Jan is just rubbish, imo. There is absolutely no need to spend big money and disrupt the chemistry of the team. Willian is more than good enough for the team right now.

Excatly why I'd like to see all three of Mikel, Rami and Cesc start. Give Oscar a rest.