CHOULO19

I think Ross didn't want to be third choice and had decided to go somewhere where he can be first choice. Petr hinted at something like this in an interview when the season ended. What if we want to sign a foreign player in January, though?

Even if we're going with only two leagues, we're going to need 24 teams so people won't have their schedules messed up. We currently have 21, so we need 3 more.

Yeah we make a vegetarian one as well, but even that has tons of oil in it!

Yeah, I think the stuffing for the leaves is different. We also cook it with A LOT more meat (and fat for that matter )

Why not? The money they'll get from the spectators of the youth games can save them, but makes no impact on our budget.

I know, they make it in Greece as well. But the Lebanese/Syrian/Palestinian version is sooo much better!

@Barbara, look at what my Mom is making: :D

I wonder what happened to the talk of a PL loan to Fullham and Liverpool.. I think he can get into a few PL clubs. It would so much better than sending him to "the land of the forgotten".

U21 as in he still considered to be in the U21 age category not that he plays for the U21s. Each team must have a squad of maximum 25 players that includes 6 homegrown players (meaning a max number of 17 foreigners). Players who are under 21 or turn 21 after the turn of the year are considered to be in the U21 age group category and do not count in the 25 man squad each team is allowed.

-__________- Don't talk about Mikel! I think they both have quality, but I genuinely believe that neither will produce as much as people expect of them, for various reasons.

Currently writing the news about Hilario's new deal.

Of course it did! This is a Chelsea forum, being prejudice against players that don't play for us is kind of what we do

Hilario Stays For Another Season Chelsea FC have today confirmed, via the official website, that 37 year old Portuguese goal keeper Henrique Hilario has signed a new deal that will see him join all of Petr Cech, Mark Schwarzer, and Jamal Blackman as our first team goal keepers for next season. 'It feels really good to sign a new contract for another year at the club, I'm very proud.' Henrique commented about what will be his seventh year at Chelsea.'I'm really pleased to be part of this great squad and I'm looking forward to working once again with Jose Mourinho.' The deal comes as no surprise after Hilario was included in the 25 man squad that flew to the US to participate in the 2013 Guinness International Champions Cup. The deal was even hinted at by Petr Cech over a month a go. The Portuguese veteran is likely to become Chelsea's third-choice keeper after Petr Cech and Mark Schwarzer. Click Here To View Article.

It's just a prediction. Bale literally had 3 months of incredible form and luck where every shot seemed to be flying in the top corner. I find it unlikely that this form will continue.

Don't we have any remaining spots? I think Oscar still counts as U21 since his 21st birthday was before the turn of the year. I remember reading that somewhere but it could made up.

We'll see..

Thanks guys, it's my pleasure

I wonder who will flop more, Bale or Neymar?

Opposition Views are back, people! Opposition Views 1 & 2 Enjoy

Khaled Rammal, from Lebanese Inter Group, has kindly agreed to answer some questions about our much anticipated match against Inter tonight: -First, how long have you been an Inter fan? And why did you choose the Nerazzurri? I have been an interista since 1998 . I was in love with zamorano and Ronaldo so I found myself watching inter games with passion . -It is always tough going into the season with a new manager, but what do you make of Mazzari? Was he your first choice for the job or did you rather someone else took the reins at Inter? I think he is the perfect guy for this moment ; great character , strict , hard worker, and capable of developing the youngsters skills brilliantly ( hamsik , cavani, lavezzi). -Coming off the back of Inter’s worst season, in terms of final league position, since 1994, how high are your hopes for next season and what are your expectations of the team? Next season will be very tough since all the rivals has spent during the summer and strengthened their squads with players better than our mercato players . I think we can get the 3rd position. -Obviously the transfer market takes center stage at this time of the year, what is your opinion on the signings your team has already made and who would you like to see come in before September 3rd? The signings are very good with respect to the current financial situation, we couldn’t have bought falcao instead of Icardi ; they are quality young players that most of them proved their skills in Serie A . I would love to see Zuniga and Naingollaan in black and blue this year but that will be difficult to happen. -Speaking of transfers, there seems to be a general sense of frustration from Inter fans by the club’s transfer policy and lack of spending. Would you like your club to make more ‘ambitious’ signings or do you think that Moratti is doing the best he can with the funds available? We are not like arsenal , we don’t have money !!!! I think moratti couldn’t do more than that ( with the current balance sheet figures) especially that we haven’t played in CL since two years. -This is the second time Inter participate in the Guinness ICC after 2009 (it was still called Football World Challenge back then). How serious do you think the club will be about the competition? Will the focus be on the result or merely on improving match fitness? I think fitness and the players harmony is the main objective behind participating in such tournaments. -Last time we met, Jose was your manager (and you knocked us out of the CL on your way to the famous Treble!). What’s your opinion on Jose in general and on his ‘dramatic’ return to Chelsea in particular? Jose Is the one who made us achieve what we have dreamed of , and made inter on the top of the world again . As all inter fans I Simply love this guy, his Chelsea return will give big hopes to the fans and the players . -A lot has been said about Wallace’s proposed loan move to Inter. Do you want this move to happen? Do you think the young Brazilian can fit well there? I don’t know him. But if he is a hot prospect , Chelsea won’t let him go easily -Obviously Kovacic and “Capitano” will be huge misses for you guys in this tournament, but who do you think is your most important player at the moment and who should we look out for on Friday? Guarin and palacio -Mazzari is known to be a ‘3-5-2 man’ through and through, so there’s little doubt about what formation he’s going to use, but what lineup do you think he will put out against Chelsea? Handanovic , juan, ranochia , campagnaro, guarin , cambiasso, alvarez , nagatomo, jonathan, palacio, icardi -Finally, please predict the result. 1-1** Click here to view the article

Mike Whittaker, one of the founders of Nerazzurri World, has been kind enough to answer a few questions ahead of our clash with Inter in the Guinness International Champions Cup. Here is what he had to say: -First, how long have you been an Inter fan? And why did you choose the Nerazzurri? I've been an Interisti since 1995. I've loved Italian football since the early 90's but it was always the team in black and blue that caught my attention. My Dad is a devoted Man Utd fan (Sorry CFC fans for mentioning that team) and when he told me Paul Ince (Probably the only Utd player i ever liked) had moved to Inter I started to take more notice of the Nerazzurri and have been addicted to them ever since. -It is always tough going into the season with a new manager, but what do you make of Mazzari? Was he your first choice for the job or did you rather someone else took the reins at Inter? Honestly I believe Mazzarri could be a good thing for Inter. His experience, charisma and tactical knowledge will be an important factor for this new Inter to fight back towards the top of Serie A. I really wanted Diego Simeone or Walter Zenga originally as they are both Inter fans but I think Mazzarri was the right choice from an experience point of view. -Coming off the back of Inter’s worst season, in terms of final league position, since 1994, how high are your hopes for next season and what are your expectations of the team? Obviously I'm not expecting Inter to knock Juve off their perch this season but I am expecting them to fight for a top 3 position. Given how strong the top teams of Serie A are looking this season, this may also prove to be difficult but a return to at least the Europa league is a must. -Obviously the transfer market takes center stage at this time of the year, what is your opinion on the signings your team has already made and who would you like to see come in before September 3rd? So far I'm very happy with the signings made so far, even though it looks like some are going straight back out on loan (Diego Laxalt and Ruben Botta for example) In my opinion the main spots that need strengthening are the right wing-back spot and a solid defensive midfielder. I'm interested to see what Chelsea's youngster Wallace can do for us on the right (if the rumours of a loan are true). The one player I really want to see however is a forward - Lavezzi from PSG, he is a player I've wanted at Inter for a long long time. -Speaking of transfers, there seems to be a general sense of frustration from Inter fans by the club’s transfer policy and lack of spending. Would you like your club to make more ‘ambitious’ signings or do you think that Moratti is doing the best he can with the funds available? Like all Interisti I would love to see the big spending of the past return, but as a businessman myself I understand that creating financial stability for the club is far more important for the future of Inter than buying superstar players that they can't afford to pay or keep. -This is the second time Inter participate in the Guinness ICC after 2009 (it was still called Football World Challenge back then). How serious do you think the club will be about the competition? Will the focus be on the result or merely on improving match fitness? After seeing how Mazzarri has approached the pre-season so far I'm expecting the competition to be a mixture of improving match fitness and also perfecting the tactics he wants the team to play. -Last time we met, Jose was your manager (and you knocked us out of the CL on your way to the famous Treble!). What’s your opinion on Jose in general and on his ‘dramatic’ return to Chelsea in particular? I'm a huge fan of Mourinho, when he joined Inter I knew he'd be the man to win us the treble. There is no manager that comes close to him tactically in my opinion. That being said though I'm one of the few Inter fans that doesn't want him to return to Inter, I believe the expectation placed on him following the treble would be so high that even he could never live up to them. For Chelsea however, I think he will take your squad to the next level. I don't know too much about your team because I don't really follow EPL but I do know players like Hazard and Mata will become even better under Jose's guidance. -A lot has been said about Wallace’s proposed loan move to Inter. Do you want this move to happen? Do you think the young Brazilian can fit well there? As I said in an earlier question I'm interested to see what he'll be able to do for Inter, but until the other day I hadn't even heard of him so I can't really judge whether he'll be a good signing for us. -Obviously Kovacic and “Capitano” will be huge misses for you guys in this tournament, but who do you think is your most important player at the moment and who should we look out for on Friday? I'm expecting big things from Mauro Icardi this season so I think he'll be one Mourinho will be watching for in the game, but also Fredy Guarin has the ability to cause Chelsea many problems from the midfield. -Mazzari is known to be a ‘3-5-2 man’ through and through, so there’s little doubt about what formation he’s going to use, but what lineup do you think he will put out against Chelsea? I'm expecting- Handanovic in goal. Campagnaro, Ranocchia and Juan Jesus in defence. Jonathan and Nagatomo on the wings, with Cambiasso in the centre of midfield and Guarin and Kuzmanovic on either side. Up front I expect to see Palacio as second striker just behind Icardi at the front. (3-5-1-1) -Finally, please predict the result. I'm expecting Chelsea to win if I'm completely honest, but I would like to see a 2-1 win for Inter to set up a pre-season Milan derby in the next round. Click Here To View Article.

Don't get so cocky, your team would win the league even without a manager..

I bet the Brazilians will disagree.. *evil laugh*

I'm pretty sure he was talking about Iva's role alone when he said that. EDIT: "Branislav Ivanovic I think more of using as a right-back. I see Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta as our two right-backs" http://www.chelseafc.com/pre-season-article/article/3323505/title/mourinho-talking-backs-looking-forward

Llorente is not a starter for Juve