Superblue

It's easy to say Robben and Sturridge now in hindsight. Robben when fit was unplayable, certainly in his first season, but by the third season he had become more inconsistent, more injury prone and less effective. It's largely forgotten that he didn't set Real Madrid alight and his best years have only been in the last 3-4 seasons. I agree it would be phenomenal to have him now but I also agree with selling him at the time we did. For me the biggest regret has to be Gallas. The 2006/07 season we lost the league simply due to the number of injuries we sustained to our defence (not to mention Cech). Some people may also forget how poor Ashley Cole was in his first season too. Gallas' versatility that season, particularly at centre back, could very well have been the difference in us winning the league that year. It would have been three on the spin and the subsequent seasons after that could have been very different.

I believe there is only one reason why lamps would decide to do this and that's because he either has decided he wants to continue playing for England or Hodgson has asked him to stay on now Gerrard has bolted.

Suppose there's the possibility that we move for Tiago and Drogba to beef up our options, neither will cost so the 'spending would be over'. Having said that, you can't trust anything Jose says...

We could all be completely wrong and he's being lined up to replace Ramires?

It depends if we keep the pivot or revert back to a 4-3-3 which I think is mow far more suitable for the midfielders we have.We are also still not certain where fabregas will play, there is the possibility that he plays as the number 10 if we keep the pivot.

If we're thinking of selling Mikel, Song would be a very good replacement for him and IMO an upgrade.

Big signing IMO, a few people are questioning if he is a 'Mourinho' player and a few also worried his Barcelona form wasn't up to the standard of his Arsenal form. For me to answer both these questions - his passing is so direct. Firstly with regards to Barcelona, coming through their academy he was always going to be technically excellent but his time in England and the Premier League molded him into a direct player, always looking to pass forward and viewing the importance of creating chances over keeping possession. This obviously isn't how Barcelona play, and I think he struggled to adapt to their slow approach and Barca didn't embrace his more direct style (he could have actually provided them with a 'plan b' which Barca are regularly criticised as not having) Now onto whether he is a 'Mourinho' player, at the start of the season it seemed that Jose wanted to play with a team that press high and look to win the ball back higher up the pitch, but when also under the cosh in games could counter and break at great speed. One of the problems with this was a lack of striker to finish off chances, and the other IMO was the lack of a player in the middle of the park who could dictate this style. Fabregas will provide this with his long pass ability and directness to his play. Teams will be scared shitless to attack us too much because he can pick a ball over the top for the likes of Hazard, Schurrle, Willian and hopefully Costa, and he will also provide a cutting edge to our play in and around the penalty area when teams are defending deeper. Superb signing, look forward to seeing him play for us. As I've said many times before, all the top players have an element of 'cuntishness' about them and I think we were missing one or two like this last season. Also with the exception of us in his first reign, Jose took a season before getting it spot on with Inter and Real Madrid. I expect the same again. This is the benefit to having a bit of stability with a manager going into his second season and knowing exactly what is needed within the squad to get us back on top.

It has to be taken into account how much experience within the squad we could lose this summer - cole, lamps, Eto'o, Luiz and possibly the likes of cech, Mikel and torres. We can't just replace them with all kids, we already have a lot of younger players.I believe this window was all about getting 2-3 players at their peak in key positions we needed to strengthen. This, added to the players we already have should put us in a very strong position for the next 2-3 years.

The flexibility that someone like Fabregas will give us has to be a big drawing point for Jose. In games at home against the smaller teams I would expect to see him in the pivot alongside Matic or even a 4-3-3 alongside Oscar with Matic holding which would allow Fabregas or Oscar to push on at different times making it a lot more difficult to pick one up. In away games against the big teams we could play 4-3-3 with Fabregas or Oscar alongside Ramires/Mikel/Tiago (if he joins) and Matic giving us more solidity in the midfield. Not to mention if Oscar's form drops off again like last year, Fabregas can play the role behind the striker. Lot's of options...

Agree about Drogba, but Costa 2 seasons ago played second fiddle to Falcao and I believe operated in a wider role more. This season playing as the main central striker has seen him truly breakout. I similarly agree that one great season is a risk but he's proven he can score goals in a top league and Europe.I think when also considering the likes of lallana and shaw are being bandied about for £30m, this price is a risk well worth taking.

Just pray we don't splash out and then he gets crocked during world cup!

The highest praise I think I can give him is that I can't wait to tell my two little kids as they grow up following Chelsea about how great a player Frank Lampard was in the same way my dad talks about Peter Osgood. Throughout his Chelsea career I wouldn't have swapped him for any midfielder in the world, the greatest goalscoring central midfielder ever!

Fabregas is a prick, not just playing for two of our most hated teams on the planet, but that dive against us for Barcelona in the Champs League semi could have ultimately cost us the Champions League and still pisses me off watching it back now. But are people seriously basing that as an argument to not have him here?! Do you think Liverpool would have turned down the chance to have Terry in their team at the back end of last season when they desperately needed someone to lead their backline because he's a prick? Or United to have Gerrard or Yaya last season to plug their non-existent midfield despite being the biggest pricks at their two most fierce rivals? What about Barca taking Ramos? A lot of the top players in the world are cunts - it's that selfish, driven, self-confident mentality within their make-up that breeds hatred from us. We need a central midfielder and preferably a creative one that can start attacks, and give us a new dimension. That person could be Roy Keane, Joey Barton or Sadam fucking Hussain for all I care, so long as they improve the Chelsea team and there is no doubt that Fabregas would do so!

Whilst a part of me would love to see this because (1) I think he both deserves and is more than capable of being our third choice and (2) I think he has a big future in front of him, he would likely get a few cup games and some league and maybe European group game sub appearances. Perhaps half a dozen starts and maybe 15 games total. He could go a lot of time during the middle of the season getting barely a sniff. The reason why Ba got games at the end of the season is because our striking options have been poor. However if these are improved, I think Bamford may struggle to get games and then how will this affect his development. I think I would much rather us keep one of our current strikers as third choice next season and let Bamford go out on loan for one more season with Derby if they get promoted. He'll get some really good Premier League experience there which he could bring back the following season and give himself a much better chance of making the breakthrough.

If he's only valued at about £10m and we're valuing Luiz at £25-30m they will still have to pay substantial money on top. About £18-20m + Song would be good business and the homegrown status is a massive bonus. If they want Luiz that badly could always ask for Song and Sanchez perhaps?!

I just want us to get this striker situation right, whether as it seems to be, it's Diego Costa or whoever else. I want to see a striker who can create something out of nothing or score a 'half-chance' let alone the masses of real chances we seem to waste, and by doing so strikes the fear of god into defences throughout the country. Somebody who on a poor day will help us turn these slender losses or draws into a win. In the last 15 years we've had two strikers genuinely do that - Hasselbaink and Drogba. Two! In the last 15 fucking years, and one of those was pre-Roman! Just not good enough and I'm sure if that is rectified, given the rest of the talent in our team and certainly directly behind said striker, we'll be celebrating something next summer.

My understanding (may be wrong so please correct me if so) is that FFP runs over a three year rolling period and therefore if united are back in Europe in the next 3 years, this year they're out of it will still count towards it. Liverpool are the same who have made 2 large losses in last 2 seasons.

The argument of taking younger players for the experience only works if they are going to play. What true experience is obtained by someone sitting on a bench? As far as I'm concerned if (a big and unlikely if, but still) we make it to the quarter finals or beyond and Baines is injured or suspended, I would much rather have Cole at left back than Shaw.

Seen a couple of rumours over last day or two we want rakitic for cash (about £15-20m) + marin. Would be a very good signing for a pretty reasonable price.

What this shows is 1. Uefa are serious about FFP (it's only likely to get even stricter!) 2. It's right for us to be working within FFP if these are the types of sanctions. This means players such as David Luiz who carries a lot of potential sale value but isn't regarded as first choice may need to be sacrificed. 3. It's important to have a strong core of homegrown players.

Exactly sounds the sort of thing that would be said to motivate him.

Thanks Jim, that's exactly what I'd done! You can imagine the amount of notifications I've had today from the activity of the Hazard topic after Jose's presser!

Eto'o goal is up there mate. I agree with regards to the hazard goal against Liverpool, I loved that goal. However I agree, think willian's goal against Norwich is the best up there.

Mourinho did exactly the same stuff to Joe Cole and that was the best possible thing for Joe's career. He took the criticism on board, worked hard and despite some of the English press thinking he ruined Joe Cole's career and stifled his natural ability, Mourinho actually helped mould him into a key figure for club and country until his injury. Mourinho is possibly testing Hazard to see if he will react in a similar way. If he isn't going to, then Mourinho might seriously decide to cash in on him this summer when his stock is so high which in turn may change Mourinho's transfer targets with more money in the kitty. I'd rather keep Hazard and hope this will get even more out of him. To be fair he has been pretty much a guaranteed starter all season, not rotated and Mourinho has regularly praised him in public too.

Given how meticulous Jose is with his mind games, wouldn't be surprised if that was deliberate to try and put some doubt in his mind before the game. He was very complimentary of his performance after the game.