CHOULO19

First article I've read that is actually about the incident and not completely about Jose's comments.

If you're going to get upset and not actually argue the points, then never mind, I was just looking for a decent debate. Certainly not looking for a holier than thou/patronizing "expected better from you" crap......I expected better from you, Skip!

Yeah, compared to the other deals we done, 16-19m for a back up LB is over paying considering that defenders are usually less expensive than midfielders and attackers. He's actually currently by far our most expensive defender and he's not a starter. Jose and the club clearly overestimated him. Go back to what Jose was saying in the summer and all he could talk about was that "we went for players with very small adaptation time", now that has obviously not happened with Luis. A couple of months into the season, that talk has changed into "we wanted an experienced squad player to push Azpi and Iva." Sorry Skip, but you can't just dismiss the points I made by not quoting them. I already answered the things you mentioned in your post: If the issue is physicality, then he can work on it in training and in the gym. Giving him "consistent" playing time over someone who has clearly been better than him is beyond ridiculous. And he is very clearly getting enough playing time. Here's a stat for you: According to Squawka, Luis has played 1138 minutes for us this season compared to Azpi's 1455. Stop making excuses! I'm not writing him off, I'd be delighted if he steps up and becomes our first choice LB, but I'm talking about his performances with us so far. "Got it in him" sounds nice and poetic and all, but unless he 'gets it out of him' and starts showing it on the pitch, it means absolutely nothing. I go back to my original point: "Everyone should stop whining when Luis does not start because he has not really made a case for himself to be our first choice starter."

No way ref could see it all the way from where he was standing.... Probably would have still escaped punishment if he had punched the ref himself!

Name: Weilsider Reason: Other Punishment: Content moderated permanentlyAbility to create content removed permanently.Suspended permanently Also move to Banned

Anyone want to have a bit more fun with him or should I ban him already?

Feels kinda like this: Now you tell me, how does it feel to be such a sad and bitterly jealous cunt that you actually spend time on poor attempts at trolling?

And that rule about players over 30....but I'm certain Jose will push hard enough in the right way.

Hmmm, that is a possibility, but I just can't imagine him telling the club to hold onto Torres instead! So, you're saying we should loan him to Inter?

Well, it's all about the taste so I'd say it really depends on the person (and probably what he ate that day). Nationality doesn't come into it. Why? You looking for tips?

Would love it. I really like the Russian anthem. The music is beautiful.

Yes, I remember, we've been linked with him since summer 2012. In fact, I was watching the other day an old interview with him December 2012, he was having the Christmas break in UAE and had an interview with Abu Dahbi Sport channel and he actually confirmed that he was having talks with us. But my point is that Jose explicitly said that he wanted Schurrle, not that he merely approved it. Obviously that's easy to say after we had signed him.

Because we thought he was better than he actually turned out to be and that he would fit and adjust better with the team? Btw, wasn't it 19m? I think we overpaid for him but we could afford to because we made a lot of excellent deals in the summer.

I actually feel embarrassed for him....

So we need to not play our best option in that position for a "run of games", risking dropping points, in the hope that he might improve his physicality? I'm sorry, but that is not AT ALL a realistic option.The team always comes before the individuals. And physicality is not something you improve on the pitch. It is improved in special training and in the gym. It's not that his defending isn't Azpi level, it's that it's not even Iva level! And I'm not talking about a specific performance but very clear issues that happened time and time again since he's joined. He gets over powered and beaten way too easily. Even yesterday, two or three times in the first half, players just breeze past him. One was even at the edge of our box and luckily JT and Matic were there to cover for him. And it's not like he is getting the Sturrdge or Bertrand treatment. He is getting more than enough games. He's started almost every CL match, and had a run of 5 consecutive starts when Azpi was suspended. After all of what we've seen of him I think most of agree that he should start against teams that are going to park the bus, especially at the bridge, but he really hasn't made a case to be our first choice LB. Honestly, this maybe cynical, but I think that his price tag and the fact that we don't want to admit that we completely overpaid for him, is affecting the judgment of a lot of people. Some people on here still calling him "arguably the best LB in the world" is on the RAWK or "Kagawa better than Hazard" level of delusion, imho.

That is incorrect. Jose said in a couple of interviews last year that he himself picked Schurrle and communicated to Chelsea to sign him before his return was officially announced. You're forgetting that decision to bring Jose back was agreed long before it was actually announced.

Yesterday was a game where Ramires should have started, not Mikel. But with Rami not being fit enough to start and Oscar's illness, we had to go with Mikel. That said, I think he had a good game, overall. Not great in the opening 30 mins as was the whole team, but was very good in the remainder of his time on the pitch, especially in the second half when he did very well with ball recoveries to keep the pressure on the Soton defense. We were just missing that final ball and maybe a little bit of luck as well. As for his overall contribution to the team in recent weeks, I think he emphasized what we (or at least I) already knew about him: He's a good defensive midfielder and a consistent player who will do a job for the team whenever called upon eight times out of ten. Yesterday was his 6th start in the last 7 matches if I'm not mistaken. I think it would be very hard to find a better squad player who could come into the team in December, after not playing much, and perform as reliably.

But this is all incorrect because it is based on this single sentence that is completely false: "Complicit in all this is the media. If Mourinho’s comments had been dismissed as another attempt, by a master of the art, to influence the public debate they would not be as effective." That is not at the case because ALL the papers today are talking about Jose playing mind games and no one about the fact that we would have had 2 extra points if it weren't for a terrible refereeing decision, and that, while most of the previous bookings for diving for our players have been correct, no one makes nearly as much fuss when players from rival teams dive and often escape bookings even though the ref does not give a foul. I said in the match thread, I have no complains about not getting the pen because our players have been diving recently, but other teams should be treated in the same manner. It is a campaign when the media only talks about the incidents involving us and not about Yaya Toure or Sterling diving almost every match, or Mane faking injury 3 times in the last 10 minutes yesterday and the ref only giving 4 added minutes, or the fact that opposition are actively trying to injure our players.

1. Luis was playing with Atleti last season, not Marseille. he doesn't need to time to raise his level to Chelsea's because he was already playing in that level. 2. Azpi was 22 when he joined us and hence it was only normal that he can still significantly improve and develop, while Luis is 29 now. 3. Luis has had more game time than probably any of our non-XI players, so the argument that he has not been given chances is obviously baseless, and I think we've seen more than enough to start to judge him. 4. Given point 3, I have no idea what you define as the "needed amount of time", because in most of the matches, you can't afford not play your best players which are very obviously Iva and Azpi. 5. Saying that Luis has been playing better than Azpi or even Iva is just deluded if I'm honest. In his time with us, he's looked physically weak, gets beat way too easily and even in attack is very inconsistent and gives the ball away too cheaply. Again, I think he's a valuable squad player to have, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he's starting XI material yet. Hence why we should really stop moaning about him not starting games because he has not at all made a proper case for himself till now.

Sometimes, you read the players threads on here and you just have to wonder: How the fuck are we top of the league if the majority of our players are so incredibly shit?!

Maybe give him the band just for the Arsenal game?

We created more than enough chances against Soton to score at least 3 or 4. The issue was in the final ball. All of Hazard, Costa, Cesc, Willian, and Drogba had more than one instance each where they had the ball with time and space inside the Soton box but failed to pick out a teammate or work the keeper. Our movement inside the box was also below average.

The guys running the Soton Twitter account are so much cooler than the people running the Chelsea one: :lol:

Can we stop whining about him not starting before every single game now? This is probably harsh, but physically, defensive, and just overall, he is not at the level of Iva, let alone Azpi. At the moment, excellent squad player to have, but not at all Chelsea XI material.

There are literally no world class CBs available right now on the market. The club would be beyond stupid not do everything to make this happen. As for wages, he's still one of the key players in the team, so there is no reason for the club to reduce his wages.