CHOULO19

Excellent first half. Ran the midfield very well. Went close on three occasions and probably should have scored one. That volley at the end was delightful!

Well so far they are kicking your butts!

If FIFA rankings are anything to go by, Russia (10) should kick Brazil's (18) butt!

There were rumors that he was detained in the US by the FBI but his spokesman denied it. Later the FBI denied it as well. Probably just a ploy to affect the stocks of his oil company.

Hmm, weird, for some reason it's not showing for me that he is followed by them...anyway..

A lot of difference, imo. But what does it matter really?

Probably because the pic Wilshere is from this season when he's, what? 20? 21? While that picture of Josh was probably when he was 16 (look at the kits, his face, the fact that PVA is next to him..)

He was just going in for kiss..

^^ That was quick! was just coming here to post it Well, at least it's not Webb or cuntenberg,

@tancredipalmeri: According to Telegraph, also FBI denied Abramovich arrest, and that's it I'm no expert, but someone must have made millions in the fluctuations in the stokes of Roman's oil company today.

FBI can confirm that Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovic, has been arrested for charges of financing the assassination of Chelsea's tittle hopes through buying Torres..

I blame Rafa!

Kevin is my type of player. Hard working with excellent technical ability. Any manager in the world would be happy to have him in his team. Bringing him back next season is an absolute no-brainer.

Of course you need to find the right loan, but loans are extremely important for young players because they offer them a chance to learn and get valuable experience through actual match time. That's something they won't get here.

But that's exactly why you train and loan players, so that they are ready when they get a chance at Chelsea. Of course every loan they get affects tremendously whether they impress or fall flat when they do.

No he's not.

Not saying that he is not joining Chelsea in the summer, just that that's probably not why he's in London now.

Right, before this gets out of hand, people do know that Jose has a house in London and that his daughter goes to college there, right? He probably visits London a dozen times a year... Jose really does like to make headlines, making sure he gets spotted in London just as the rumors are picking up steam

It was joke that if Jose had Mancini's squad he'd win 2 PLs and FA cups in one season..never mind

In one season!

No of course, that won't change a thing. You'll hardly see anyone who cares about our youth academy products more than me, which is exactly why I want him loaned until he is 100% ready to perform at the top level. Because at the first time he under performs, and he will naturally have sub-par performances in his first season in the PL, the fans will be calling for his head and manager will be under too much pressure and will probably bench him for a month. That's unfortunately how it is at Chelsea. Take a look through the Bertarnd thread for example, he went from "The next Ashley Cole" to "We should recall PVA because Bertarnd is just not good enough" after a couple of below average performances.

So how a player is handled and how good the academy and coaches he has aren't important? Never mind, you're clearly just arguing for the sake of arguing now.. Well Josh and the board sure expected him to get more than 2 games. What it proves is that had Josh not been so over hyped by the fans, the board could have gotten him a more realistic loan and he would not have missed a whole year of development at a crucial age.

Josh when joining Swansea last season: "I expect to be starting most if not all the remaining games for the rest of the season" Completely disagree. The way youth players are handled can make or break their careers. That's why clubs pay millions on youth academies to try and find the optimum way to handle young players.

It wasn't only forum fans. He was hype by the entire English media which the led to everyone having unrealistic expectations of him, even our board. You can blame AVB all you want, but he's not why everyone thought Josh can walk into the Swansea team. So am I, and what I'm saying is not that Nathanial still has a lot to learn to be good enough to get regular minutes here. So you're saying playing a group of youngsters with no European experience in a CL final, even if they have the skills, is the same as playing players with years of experience at the top level? I'm not saying we should never play players with experience, but it's very important, imo. Lukaku got chances here last season and he was terrible every single time, even with the reserves. What he got at WBA is regular playing time at a top level and that is what Nathanial needs next season as well.

Really? Because as far as I remember he missed a whole year of development last season because he was so hyped by everyone, we all first expected him to get regular minutes here then we all expected him to just walk into the Swansea team. These types of expectations are also the reason everyone is writing him off now because he is not performing up to the unrealistic standers they expect of him. Same could happen with Nathanial if we are not patient. I believe we have a real talent on our hands, I really do. But if we don't take care, he'll turn into another "could have been". He's doing very well in the championship and he's learning a lot. If we can get him a loan at a lower PL side where he is guaranteed regular playing time, then that would be great, if not I'll be very happy to see him loaned back to Watford. Hopefully in a couple of seasons he'll be ready to be a squad player here and get regular minutes. I'll be the first one to call for youth integration, but to expect an 18yo with no PL experience to just jump into a side challenging for the tittle is just an insane risk, imo. The expectations here are too high and the managers and fans' tolerance too low. Even if he's rose up to challenges before, there is no need to throw him in the deep like that because if he drowns there won't be anyone to save his career here.