CHOULO19

He didn't have his best season because he was playing in a more advanced role, he had his best season because everything he attempted to do seemed to be exactly like he wanted. For me he was the best player in the world that season. He didn't play in the hole for Netherlands because they played 4-3-3 and he is not playing there for Galatasaray, in fact if you've watched his games there you'd clearly see that he is playing the deepest man in a 3-man midfield (which is why I compared him to Pirlo and Xavi; I meant his position, not necessarily his playing style). We obviously have different definitions of what the number 10 role is, which is fine. For me this role is personified by Mata; someone is a creative midfielder and can find that killer assist but is also a second striker and can get in the box and finish very well. On any account, however you define the number 10 position is irrelevant to the point I was making the first post and that is: Sneijder cannot be Mata's replacement in our current system.

He played that role one season only which was the treble winning season and even then he was by no means a pure number 10. He was given a special role by Jose and license to go forward quite a lot but he still dropped deep often to play long balls to Milito and Etoo. Jose created a role for him that managed to combine the two and that only worked at Inter (it also helped that he had the best season of his career that year). The rest of his career he has played deeper. He likes to have the ball at his feet with space and time to pick out a pass. Playing him behind the striker would be a complete waste of his abilities because he does not have the instinct to get into the box or make runs behind the defense like Mata. One season does not change the fact that he is NOT a number 10.

Wesley plays deep, sometimes even the deepest in a 3-man midfield. He sits there and dictates play not unlike Pirlo or Xavi. Mata on the other hand is practically a second striker. They have very little in common. I can't see him coming here unless Jose plans on playing 4-3-3.

Can we get back on topic, please? @Sam, stop it, please. You are needlessly insulting a member and derailing this thread. You're a good member who makes very good arguments but this behavior is against forum rules and cannot be tolerated.

Alright, can we please quit the petty insults for people who don't agree 100% with our opinions? This is supposed to be a happy moment for us fans, let's try and enjoy it. Same here. I feel your pain bro.

Yeah Jype is sooo much better than that shit Pr22 member we used to have

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhQKEEwzbAc&feature=share

More importantly, can he do it on a cold night in Stoke?! Jose Morais is the unknown man Mourinho is bringing with him. Apparently he was brought to replace AVB at Inter and has stayed with Jose since which means he's probably a scout.

OH MY GOSH, This is such a surprise! No seriously, happy to see this finally confirmed by the club. Hope it means everyone calms down now.

Overlooking the exaggeration that Ribery was the second best player in the world, those things still apply to him very much. I have no doubt that both him and Arjen are excellent players, but you don't pay 20m+ and 150k/wk+ for a player who's going to give at most two season at the top level. Robben hates, Jose. Says that he was mean to him and never took care of him when he was injured here. I've heard him say this a couple of times in interviews. I very much doubt he'll want to work with him. Secondly, 25m is way too much. I'm not denying he's a great player, just saying that it makes very little sense for both him and the club to sign him.

Let's try and stay on topic, please. We have a Luiz thread, feel free to take the discussion there. So basically everyone in the world has confirmed the return of Jose, including him, except for Chelsea? Typical..

- He's 29 and past his prime. - He won't come cheap and probably on ridiculous wages. - His relationship with Jose is bad. - He can't finish for his life. - Why would he leave Bayern who are likely to dominate Europe for the next couple of seasons to join us? Those are a few "Why not"s that come to mind first.

Watching Neymar yesterday against England, I couldn't help but marvel at the immense talent, skill and pure creativity..of his agent! It's just amazing how he's managed to secure him a move to Barcelona and for 30m as well!

Very underwhelming performance by both teams. I know it's a friendly, but I can't see either of them beating the likes of Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain..etc

Spike for me this month.

This just ruined Toy Story for me, so I thought I'd ruin it for you as well

The problem is, Cleverly has one good game every 10. On any account, you're better off having a formation that puts emphasis on wings since that seems where England are at their most dangerous going forward. If you want a straight swap in that formation, I'd go for Rooney there and play a pure striker up top. As for Walker, I'm a bit old-fashioned about full backs. If you can't defend, you simply shouldn't be playing in defense. Give me Richards over him or even Smalling at RB any day.

Walker and Cleverly should be no where near the NT.

Hahaha. Tbh, 'manyak' is not exactly an insult you use to upset someone, 99% of the time it is an insult you use to joke with a friend. If you want to insult someone Lebanese, call him "ibn el sharmoota" or son of a bitch. Mom insults are NOT okay in Lebanon! He'd probably knock your teeth out if you call him that

I bet he's going there to win trophies

Very true. You don't pay 20-25m for a squad player. I think Jovetic is likely to stay in Italy, anyway.

That's an excellent point! Funniest thing I read today, is that we're looking to sell Luiz to fund the Matic deal Tha irony there is almost painful! Resigning Matic would be a huge "F*** You" to the Chelsea board and youth policy and a confession by the club of making a huge mistake. A confession that I'm not sure they are ready to make, so I very much doubt the deal will go through.

I think he can be converted to play behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1. After all that is where Mata played for the last two months of the season (although it was more of a 4-4-1-1).

That is what will happen most probably. Cavani was most closely linked with Madrid since Jan and I don't think we were ever going for a pure striker this summer because we just signed one in Jan. It was always a case of the supporters wanting a Cavano or a Falcao. We will probably sign a player like Schurrle who plays on the wings but can cover at ST.

Hint: If they are not automatically detected, you can add 'media' tags to YouTube links just like you add spoiler tags