CHOULO19

Can we make a rule of never signing anyone from scumpool in the future please? They somehow all turn out to be cunts.

I'm glad we turned him down, If we didn't he'd probably be warming a bench at Vitesse or Hamburg now.

The thing with the Iva-Cahill partnership is that neither can distribute effectively from the back, and with us not having a holding midfielder atm to drop and receive the ball from the center-halves we are doomed to either playing long balls which, with our front four, no one is going to win except the opposition defense, or play to the fullbacks and get squeezed to the touch line and almost certainly lose the ball. Luiz has excellent distribution (although he does over-do the long passes at times). Terry's distribution is criminally underrated. In his prime, I can't think of a center back with better ability and eye for a pass.

Here, have a cookie:

Sure mate, any time you want.

Everyone but you can see them fine. Sure, let's blame the images!

This has the same issue as most of the managers people are suggesting: Why on earth we he come here?

@LDN Blue, is stalking me: :P In all seriousness mate, I literally wait for you to log in because I really enjoy discussions with you

That does seem to be the rule with footballers, but in any account, we have Ryan and Ash for next season so we don't have a place for Luke. We'll just have to wait and hope he's an exception to the rule.

Thuram One of my fav all time defenders. Damn that Juve side was good!

Not saying he is world-class, or even a permanent solution, but he's done a good job in a few clubs at the top level. I mean Mourinho aside (don't think he is an option) who is better and available for us?

I actually expect his goal return to drop if we get a striker. Atm, he benefits from Torres always running away from the ball dropping deep and exploiting the space behind him to score.

What good is European football if he is not actually playing? I read quotes of his when he signed his new Southampton contract and the lad seems mature enough to realize that his best interest atm is to stay put.

Mancini would be eaten alive here. If he can't handle Tevez and Ballotelli he won't be able to handle the Chelsea dressing room. Besides, his Achilles heel aside (Europe), he is too "Italian" for my taste. Imagine we're desperately in need of a goal and he brings on Mikel for Mata for example, Roman would probably sack him mid-game

He's just signed a contract till 2018 saying he's not going anywhere. When Bale and Walcott left Southampton were not in the PL. If they manage to stay up, I am sure he will stay there. What more could he hope for at this age other than regular PL football.

Not sure if this has been posted, but according to Peelegrini's agent, we made an inquiry for him: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/15/chelsea-malaga-manuel-pellegrini?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Ffootball%2Frss+%28Football%29 I'd take Pellegrini. Good manager whose style suite our current players. His lack of experience in English football is the down side.

^^ That actually looks so...wrong!

Extremely well taken goal.

Like said, I would take him in a heart beat, but I don't expect him to be as successful here as in the serie A. I don't think I'm being unfair, I'm a Juve fan, I love Pirlo, but I also know his style very well. For the record, Pirlo would never work in the double pivot. He doesn't have the defensive work rate for it. He also never runs, he just floats across the pitch

I know it's a big step, buddy, but it's also an important one. Best of luck.

Yes, but did you do it with swag? For some reason, only half or so of my players who get an increase in skill actually gain a level.

I've had similar trouble in the past. It doesn't work if you just edit the previous poll. You should remove the poll completely then add a new one for it to work properly

So in other words, you miss mommy?

I've missed your match reports, Alex! Great point about the club's European coefficient, I'm sure not many people, my self included, realized that. But i felt you should give Sparta a bit more credit; what they lacked in individual skill, they more than made up for in organization. Their lines were very close and made it very difficult for us.

They are hardly minor tweaks because the wingers are the most important part of the attack in Mourinho's teams. Moses fits indeed. But Hazard, despite his improvement, would be out of place in Jose's style of play. And I'm not just talking about defending but also pace and the ability to play on the counter. If Jose does come and is given control on transfers, I see at least one of Mata/Hazard/Oscar leaving and us buying a winger in the mold of Duff/Robben/Cole/Pandev/Di Maria..etc