Superblue

Terry's organisation and leadership is second to none although in the barca away and bayern games it showed we had others with the mettle to step up in the big games and lead by example, particularly ashley cole. I would love to see how Cahill and Luiz develop as a partnership and as they gain more experience playing for a big team. Especially Cahill who has only had 6 months at Chelsea, and a handful of England caps and european matches. Remember that Vidic and Kompany were not brought as world class centre backs but developed into them at united and city. I have hopes that Luiz and Cahill can similarly follow suit.

He played well with england defending deep and getting men behind the ball. He plays this superbly for chelsea too as people cannot get in behind him with pace. However as we look to play more offensively this season, we will not be looking to drop so deep. This creates space behind terry which makes him extremely vulnerable. Against the big teams he still has a role to play with his experience but against smaller teams looking to play us on the counter at pace, i would choose luiz and cahill at the back.

Agreed if he was leaving for his true market value but if bilbao are forced to sell cheap (under £20m) then it is still a great buy for a player in his prime years. Also we have a lot of versatile players which i agree gives us extensive options. However a lot of these versatile winger cum forward players chip in with goals but don't score enough to either put sufficient pressure on torres or to carry the load if torres misfires.

A big plus is he is a completely different type of striker to Torres. His size and strength gives us a more direct option to be able to bang it up to when we're struggling to break teams down, but he also has a lot of skill and ability on the ball for a tall man and given the attacking, passing philosophy that bilbao implement, i think he could also flourish in a shorter passing game with the creativity we have behind hin.

We already have 2 younger - Sturridge and Lukaku. This makes absolute sense for the right price. He's £20m+ less than Cavani and Falcao, would command lower wages, his pricetag and profile wouldn't cause another Drogba/Torres situation and he's only about a year older than them.

Bilbao have publicly confirmed that he won't sign a new contract - this should be the striker we get! Proven goalscorer in a big league and europe, experienced but at a good age to get 3-5 years out of him and good value with only a year left on his contract. Somebody who was mooted to value in excess of £30-35m previously can probably be got for £15-18m and wages nowhere near the bracket of Cavani.

A wing back doesn't need to be a natural defender. They enjoy the luxery when the opposition are attacking down their side of an extra centre back who can move out wider to provide support. Ramires' ability to get up and down the wing would be a huge strength in getting the formation to work over time if we were to go with it. However it just won't happen.

In theory it sounds great - An extra body in defence would compensate for Terry's lack of pace, and Luiz's tendency to take chances A right wing back role would probably be a much more effective role for Ramires than a RW. A Cole and Bertrand are naturals for the left. Two players likely to be given freedom to push closer up to Torres in support. However my biggest worry would be that we have a lot of players who have still been here a while and become accustomed to the 'Chelsea way'. Whilst the 4-2-3-1 formation shows a change, it is not miles away from the 4-3-3 and both can relatively easily be tweaked to be able to move from one to the other. Playing 3 at the back is completely different and alien to most of the players. It would require a huge amount of time spent on it to perfect how the three centre backs work in tandem, when the wing backs push forward and when they don't, how the central midfield shape up. I would just worry that at this point in time, the players we currently have show a rigidity which would mean we would struggle to make such a radical change in formation work.

You happy with the sale mate?

Right my views on the game: Firstly Torres - love him or hate him, he is going to be our main striker, at least to start with, this season and we have to support him and hope he fires. Today was a good sign, against good opposition. His goal showed his predatory instincts, the type of chances we need him to put away when we're struggling to impose on teams. I was just as impressed by his second half performance. He chased down everything, and the times when we did attack he looked sharp running at their defence. His strength in holding up the ball and laying off for Sturridge was also crucial in the build up to Bertrand's goal. The signs are positive and it is important for him to hit the ground running. Ivanovic's tackle was a red card. These things happen, it was a stupid tackle but we move on. I was more annoyed that the referee bottled a potential decision with Savic, although it was in good spirits towards the end that he decided to show leniency for not giving Ramires a second yellow. Following on from the red card, we could have shut up shop á la Barcelona and attempted to see the game out. However RDM was quite right in sticking to his guns and keeping us set up to still attack City. Yes it would have been nice to win the trophy but it's not high on the list of importance. I think it was more important to give Mata and Torres a good run out each, and allow Hazard to acclimatise to an English game before Wigan next week. Keeping ourselves open was our downfall but I fully agree with RDM's decision to not 'park the bus'. Hazard looked good without pulling up trees. Forget his slip when trying to backheel (Aguero missed a sitter remember), he looked sharp and caused Savic problems. He was a lot more disciplined playing wide left today and showed a tenacity I hadn't yet seen in his play. He will be a big player for us, make no mistake. For me our biggest problem could be Terry. Whilst we won't be playing a highline like AVB, we also want to be closing up the space behind the pivot and pushing teams back. Terry's pace has become near enough non existant now and he pulls the defence back so deep. There were also times today he committed himself like David Luiz but without the pace to recover. His clearance for the first goal was poor because he was flat footed when the cross arrived, and Tevez strolled past him for the second. I love Terry, he's a club legend and still has a part to play, but if he remains an undisputed first choice it could cost us. The ironic thing is that a sizeable ban for Terry may actually play into our favour long term that it gives Cahill and Luiz the chance to establish a first choice partnership. Bertrand will play a big part this season and in the future of our team. We finally have a player I feel comfortable filling in for Cole. Ramires continues to frustrate me in terms of not being able to pinpoint a spot in the side that should be his. His distribution was poor today, but his stamina, and ability to both break up play and endlessly press teams is vital in pressurising teams when we don't have the ball. He has also developed a knack of producing a big moment in games even when not playing well - His assist for the Torres goal was excellent and came out of nothing. The problem is that there are deficiencies to his game which go against him in certain positions. Should he be number 1 choice in a certain position, or is he yet another vital squad player who's versatility to fill in anywhere down the right and centrally is priceless? In the second half Mata played on the right, and Hazard the left. When fully available and with 11 players on the pitch this is where the two should operate to allow Oscar to play in the centre of the '3'. I do however suspect him to play right and Mata central.

Is it 3 matches for Ivanovic?

Man City have been linked strongly with De Rossi and De Jong may be leaving so M'Vila would make sense in that regard for them.

The way it should be done, nobody wants another Robinho saga.

I would take Llorente over Damiao given the rumoured transfer fees for both being bandied around.

With Mata and Hazard already here, a lot of people are naturally assuming buying Hulk would leave Oscar as the 'fall guy' in the attacking midfield trio from a 4-2-3-1

Again i don't dispute but neither are going to start or play all 60 games. IMO Ramires and Essien are the next in line for the pivot role. In those 5 midfield positions we start the season with Mikel, Lampard, Essien, Ramires, Romeu, Marin, Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Moses and some of them are versatile, we'll have a great pool of talent to work with and everyone should get plenty of chances with so many games to play - this is before considering injuries and suspensions.

Benayoun doesn't have a squad number, Meireles is being linked to Napoli and Malouda struggled for starts last season with little competition for places. With a right back and striker still required and squad spots full some are going to have to make way. I've already stated by Oscar playing in a 4-2-3-1 and his tendency to drop, it will improve the fluidity for us to switch between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 depending on the situation and will also allow ramires to play centrally. I don't dispute he might play in big away ties at RW when RDM is looking to be a little more cautious but not regularly.

I agree but you never know when a striker gets on a role. We haven't seen if Lukaku can thrive when given a genuine run in a Premier League team? For every Carlton Cole to Villa, there was Mikael Forssell to Birmingham.

We are likely to have around 60 games next season in all competitions. In a 4-2-3-1 formation we need at least 5 senior players to fill the '3', if not 6, 2 per position: Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Moses and Marin would all get plenty of games.

Would it be wrong of me to put a cheeky bet on that he outscores Torres next season??!! In all seriousness, I really hope for his and Chelsea's sakes he gets good minutes and a few goals under his belt this season. A couple of loan spells in the premier league over the next couple of seasons will hopefully mould him into the player we need him to become.

If the Champions League final start wasn't enough, this call up is further proof that the lad can achieve everything he wants to at this club. He has shown patience and professionalism and it is paying off. Hopefully an England debut next week will be a great boost starting his season and Robbie hinted today he will play a big part this season. IMO 20 starts and a few sub appearances will be progress from last season and give Ashley Cole both sufficient rest and competition. Anything more will be a bonus, but definately our future number one left back no question!

Drogba and Anelka both cost a lot but were exceptions (which there always will be). However in the roman days we've spent lots on Mutu, Crespo, Shevchenko and Torres and even pre roman the likes of Sutton who was expensive at the time. £15m isn't peanuts but in the current market it is good value. We should move now whilst juventus are still chasing van persie and city trying to shift dzeko.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2186264/West-Brom-want-Chelseas-Romelu-Lukaku-loan.html

Well if he is off, and Lukaku's agent has confirmed he's going to go out on loan, we would have to be looking to buy at least a couple of new strikers. Cannot see that being the case, pretty sure Studge will stay.

If Llorente is available for £15m then you could feasibly buy him, Moses and Azpilicueta for around £30m total, which would be less than Falcao and Cavani. i'm not disputing the ability of Falcao and Cavani but our track record in recent years of splashing out big money on top name strikers has backfired spectacularly. It makes me reluctant to see yet another striker struggling with the burden of a high price tag and high expectations. Llorente wouldn't represent that problem at a much lower price tag and would more likely represent value for money. £80k per week wages are also likely to be only half of what Falcao and Cavani would expect. And I would rather Llorente over Schurrle or Jovetic because he's a genuine striker, capable of playing the lone front man in our team. Age doesn't come into play as we already have Sturridge and Lukaku as young striking options to develop for the future.