CHOULO19

So, is the bet still on? If we win tonight, I change [b]@[member='BluesMaster'][/b] name to #1 Belieber :yay: 

Because getting rid of Petr and bringing Thibaut is also a significant risk. No doubt, Courtois is performing at the level of top 7-8 if not even top 5 keepers in the world, but the fact that he's doing at another team and in a different league all together means that there is a risk of him not being able to replicate that here at Chelsea or take a season or two to adjust. Selling Cech before making sure that Thibaut can play better or at least as well as him at Chelsea is a risk. For me, ideally, I'd have Thibaut here next season to fight for a first place with Petr. But every time I suggest that, I get told that it is physically impossible, immoral, against human nature...etc. But like I said, I'm fine with whatever Jose decides. PS: 4-5 years is long-term in football!

Match Preview. Not sure what the 'D' is, though

Nothing to do with Courtois, I'm just asking how a lot of people seem sure that Petr will only play at the top level till he is 32 or 33 and not till he's 38 for example. Another thing that people say that perplexes me is that the choice is pretty clear. We've had pages and pages of debate about the matter this season. It's obviously not an easy or clear choice. For me, Friedel played some of his best football at the start of last season and end of the previous one. Mark is 41 and is practically playing at the same level he has always played. Fair enough about Jaaskelainen, but even if we agree that his peak was in 2007, he was 32 back then. And that's not to mention great keepers outside the EPL like Weidenfeller and Buffon. Even Kahn, for me the best keeper of all time, played till he was 39 IIRC.

He's 31. Keepers are much more likely to keep going well into their late thirties than outfield players. It's not nearly as rare as you're saying: Brad Friedel, Tim Howard, our own Schwarzer, Jaaskelainen...etc recently from the EPL alone.

Mowbray actually played him on the right wing

RLC and Lewis Baker to start in the pivot..

I'm not saying that we should let Thibaut go or anything and as I've previously said, I'm fine with whatever decision Jose and the club make, but how in the world would you Petr only has one or two years left? How can you predict that? Based on what exactly? Apart from a minor dip in his form at the start of this season, the past three years have arguably been his best and, for me, last season was his best season for us.

No seriously, I don't know if a NT has previously won two consecutive continental titles and the WC between. I know that Italy won the WC twice on the trot, but that's about it. So if you say that it's been done before, then fair enough.

The posts about Diego Costa in every single thread are getting incredibly annoying. Am I missing something? Did we buy him already? Half the football fans had never even heard of him a year ago and now he's the flavor of the season...smh

He's still what? 21? 22? With loads of potential. I think 15m is the smallest offer we should even consider.

Apart from Swansea where he had absolutely no hope of getting into the team, is this the first team that we've sent him to that actually plays proper passing and possession football? I know that those are hard to come by in the championship, but the thing about Josh is that even after his failed loans I'd be thinking that he'll never make it here, then he'd come back here and play in preseason or play with the England U21 and he'd be a joy to watch on the ball and I'd say that we'd be fools to give up on him. The kid's just got so much natural ability.

Scouting Report Here by @hjperdeath

Great job, mate. Well, I didn't actually read it, but I'm sure you did a great job

Well I don't claim to be an expert on the history of international football, so if you say so..

  AVB brought this up once got slatted by the media for wanting to change English football.   But I think, in order for big clubs to be able to meet FFP regulations, that will be necessary in the future. 

I never said that they were one of the best teams in history, I said that they are one of the most dominant NTs in history because they've won every thing in the past 6 years and they could extend that further this summer. How many NTs have won three consecutive major trophies in history? Very few, which would make Spain in the past 6 years one of the most dominant NTs in history.

Yeah, read about it on Twitter yesterday and did a little research to find out who he was. RIP.

Great through ball: Was he...running at defenders there?! Haven't seen that from him in ages! :')

First impression: Damn, that guy can jump!

How many NTs have won two consecutive Euros and the WC between them? Maybe not the most dominant in history, but surely one of the most.

http://www.oneboro.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6048&page=34

At RB actually according to a Boro forum.

Nope. Jose has always said top 3. He's said it countless times this season. You can't change the manager, half the team and the entire system and go from 15 points off the top to winning the title in one year unless the other title contenders majorly f*** up.