OneMoSalah

Similar to Hazard, amazing close control and retains possession in tight areas when it looks like theres no space for him. Really starting to like him and I can see why he cost 30m.

Was really good against Derby. His passing was very neat, he won tackles, did some good covering for Cole at timesand he would have an assist as well if Eto'o didn't approach the goal like a pensioner with a zimmer frame. He got a goal too jesus christ and also got to wear the captain's armband, very good day for him, hopefully he'll start most games this month due to Lamps injury.

15m I suppose is a fair price, good rotation option, means we can play a more dynamic pivot too at times or a good 3 man midfield with a decent physical presence in it like we used to have with Essien - Ballack - Lampard but now with Ramires - Mikel - Guarin..

15m? Fuck off get the 25m. If hes really that good nobody will be afraid to pay that given he's only 22 or 23 with a lot of potential. Think his failure here has been more mentally than anything else, hes never had serious competition.. he's gotten it here and struggled. I mean look at Willian, came in nobody thought he'd be a regular in terms of who we already have but the chances he has had he's taken them and he has looked the real deal for us. Maybe loan Kevin and hope he adjusts his mentality next year and see what happens or sell for 25m. We don't normally sell and I don't expect anyone of our players to go cheaply, especially with Jose in charge.

Should have bought him in the summer, 9 league goals in 16 appearances, decent strike rate 1 in 2 basically similar to his Madrid record which was something like 100 odd goals in 200 odd games. When it was announced he would leave Real I wanted us to get him, everyone called him a poacher, there is much much more to his game sure hes not Suarez or Aguero but hes a hard working forward, who is very clinical and is sufficiently capable of linking play like he does with Callejon, Hamsik and Insigne/Mertens. 50M though? Na not worth that. Could have gotten him for 30 odd M in the summer, if Jose really wanted him he'd have got him.

Still the best manager in the world.

Damn Ramires is suspended for the Liverpool game, hopefully see a 3 man MF of Mikel - Essien/Lamps - Oscar (best we can do right now haha), double pivot of Mikel-Lampard and I will cry.

Set up not to lose. We didn't lose or concede, had more shots and shots on target than Arsenal. Pretty decent result. Jose is still the king when it comes to tactics, its crazy people see this as a bad result. Sure we could have won but who says if we opened up we would have won then? That is the best defensive display against Arsenal all season, they struggled to create any clear cut chances bar Giroud's one which he somehow fucked up and it took them 85 minutes before they got a shot on target (at home may I add).

Cash and Lukaku for Costa? Fuck off.. unless its a season loan but I doubt it given his transfer request carry on.

fuck it i'll play upfront for Chelsea until I am 59... since we need a striker so bad....

If we sign Costa we will need to adjust how we play, have the attacking midfielders play around the striker, as opposed to playing within themselves like Carlo said but he would be a good signing no doubt. Robust, pacey, powerful, good in the air can finish can find clever passes, why not?

Actually warming to signing him, if we go to a 4-3-3 and play a MF of Ramires - Mikel - Guarin then our pressing would be better as Rami and Guarin are good at winning the ball back. Thats why Inter deploy him as a 10 to win the ball back when they press. Obviously hes a bit similar to Lamps was a few years ago as in he doesn't particularly excel at one thing, he can tackle, pass, shoot, etc so he could be a good signing but its still a risk as well tbh seeing as hes coming from Italy to the PL where its much faster and a lot more physical but you never know.

annoyed we lost obviously but fuck me some reactions here.

Overreaction much? Given he is effectively 6th choice. struggling to get minutes it's obvious that he's going to be rusty. Remember Mata when he was out the team at the start of the season, he came in after a few weeks out played 1 or 2 games didn't look great, its the same with Kevin, needs more minutes.

If Suarez wants to come to Chelsea well he will force it, same with Torres who had for the last 2 years before coming here had an interest in playing for us but they will want at least 40m if not 50m.

Hes not ready to start for Chelsea, hes better in France for now. Has a lot of potential but he needs more time to develop.

Really... I wouldn't say that, I feel he doesn't give away unnecessary fouls like other players do when they are in positions when they cannot really take the ball without taking the man (Luiz, Ramires, Lampard).

Nailed it. This is why Falcao will never play for us as hes a poacher who doesn't necessarily do anything other than score (which isn't a bad thing I suppose but still)

Inter are also only selling him so they can raise funds to sign Lavezzi...

Oscar vs Juan Mata: EPL games: 13-10, Goals: 5-0, Avg. passing accuracy: 82%-88%, Chances created: 17-24

Hes really a box to box player, would be a decent rotation option for Ramires but nothing more as he's quite frankly average and not better than Rami. Some Inter fans are a bit confused as to why he was signed as Stramma used him as #10 but not to create chances but to win the ball up further up the pitch as hes much more of a combative player than a creative one, which is an ok idea but when your team lacks creativity like Inter did... not a very good idea. He has a good shot, quite a physical player but has ridiculous decision making on various things like passing, tackling and when to shoot and when not to shoot. Would like Kovacic from Inter though, he's a gem, can be what we need in the middle of the park, good passer, has incredible vision, perhaps he will end up playing further up though I was tweeting an Inter fan the other night who said hes being moulded into a Pirlo like player by the looks of it but he thinks that he'd be better closer to the strikers. Or even Taider he's more in the mould of what we need than Guarin.

Which holding midfield player does anything specifically special on the pitch? Not many do. Its just some sort of myth because Sergio Busquets since he broke into the Barca team, Xabi Alonso although I find it hard to believe hes a holding midfielder and Alex Song in his last season at Arsenal (when he basically played as a box to box midfielder) played some nice passes in between the lines. Its not that Mikel can't, he just plays his role very well, safety first, no risks, fills in when he needs to do so and tackles when he needs to tackle. I am honestly baffled by this argument, I've seen others post it "I don't think hes good enough because he does nothing special" other players like Arteta/Carrick/Britton/Lucas/Allen etc. do a similar sort of job, just keep the ball moving on, safety first, no risks as do other players...

Sorry stopped reading after seeing that 'statement'. We struggled due to poor defensive organization, not the fact we didn't create a lot of chances, as we did especially in the first half. It was nothing to do with Mikel and Ramires' passing, who did what they had to do, play the ball to the creative players and Ramires then joined in the attack when he could. We need to score more goals, going in at 1-1 at half time was ridiculous, we had been all over them, it gave them a little bit of belief and what do you know they end up winning due to some shocking defending from Ivanovic who has given away points already this season in the CL and PL with some dreadful games and an allround terrible defensive set play. Azpilicueta lining up against Walters was also a pathetic decision by Jose imo, Walters is a strong lad, Ivanovic would have been better suited to playing on the left side against him as opposed to Azpilicueta even though both are naturally right sided players. More or less every header between Azpi and Walters, Walters won, this was evidently something Stoke looked to use and exploit, similar with Newcastle against us with Sissoko drifting out to the right to challenge Cole in the air. Cechs ridiculous decision to try and punch a ball he was getting nowhere near was baffling, then to find Crouch unmarked basically, even more baffling.

I thought all of those predominantly played on the left though? They can play there but Kevins much more of a natural there. Can't see any of them bar Hazard unless he plays on the right starting ahead of Kevin..

Well if Luiz decides to start doing crazy shit like he has in the past then I wouldn't fancy any of them two haha! Still waiting to see him play at the same level consistently for a season with very little mistakes but obviously I believe Jose can change him. But yeah Luiz > Cahill, by a mile.