Superblue

Anybody who claims RDM: (i) is tactically incapable (ii) lacks man management/motivation of the squad (iii) isn't strong willed enough to make the big decisions needs to go back to last season and watch our Champions League run. Are we saying because he unbelievable won the Champions League last season he shouldn't be given time and patience to rebuild our squad?!

People are right, the fact it's just pre season shouldn't take anything away from such poor performances. However, to put things in perspective Man City have lost a couple of games this pre season including against Oldham. The biggest key thing is that given the players we have brought this summer, we should look to persevere with a 4-2-3-1 formation as Plan A, or some similar variant that gives us effectively four attacking options. Our defence on paper should be solid enough to give a good base for these four players to play with freedom. Man City themselves would be the best team to use as an example for this. The quartet of Nasri, Silva, Tevez and Aguero are given freedom to roam between themselves, making it difficult to pick up. When not in possession they are in position to press high up the field and have the intelligence to all revert back into a defensive position based on where they are on the pitch. If this means we have to play a pivot then Ramires should play in it. He provides energy and drive. A player alongside him who can dictate the pace of the game and is more comfortable in possession such as Lampard or Mikel will allow us to bring the best out in Ramires. The pivot must be aware of defensive responsibilities but also too many fans are still taking a defensive mindset. We should be looking to be on the front foot. City play Toure and Barry, Madrid play Alonso and Khedira and United play Scholes and Carrick. None of the mentioned are what I would say specialist defensive midfielders. Thirdly I worry about Terry in this new formation. We will be more susceptible to the counter, although this is expected taking a more attack minded philosophy, but it means Terry could be left exposed for his lack of pace more frequently. Without playing a high line like AVB, we cannot play too deep as it will leave too much space between the lines. I'm not for one minute saying he's not good enough and sell him, but I can see him from this season onwards transitioning from automatic first choice to a squad player. A possible suspension for the racism issue may be the start of Chelsea adapting without Terry at the back. The 4-3-3 is far too rigid. It left us predictable by the end of it's span and it is all towards adapting to a 4-2-3-1. We showed how it can be utilised effectively in a defensive, counter attacking setup last season, and teams like Real Madrid show how devastating it can be in a more attacking mentality.

So....we've gone back to 4-3-3 like everybody has pleaded for on here. We still get exposed at the back and now we're anonymous in attack! Yes 4-3-3 will be a good Plan B but IMO we must persevere with 4-2-3-1. It gives us an extra body in attack and prevents the striker from getting isolated. We used to get away with it with Drogba because he was a target man who could conjure up something from nothing, but he isn't here anymore and we must adapt. 4-3-3 never suited Mata, it doesn't seem to suit Hazard and I don't think it will suit Oscar. These three over the next few years should be the fulcrum of our attack and we need to find a way to suit all of them.

Pretty much sums up Liverpool and Arsenal fans doesn't it?! How can Liverpool expect, with the same side so far as last season (bar Borini) suddenly expect to finish above us? Last season we were unbelievably poor, but the scousers have been used to mid table mediocrity for the last couple of seasons. Our team still won two trophies, including the big one, which means most of the squad now have experienced 'winning'. We will not perform as bad as last season with the influx of talent we have purchased. And Liverpool saying Lampard is too old need to remember they can no longer rely on their saviour Gerrard who is himself now 32, and having suffered a lot of injuries, looks to be on his last legs. IMO Liverpool are taking the biggest risk of the lot employing a vastly inexperienced coach who finished below them last season. Yes Swansea might have played some nice looking football but they struggled to break teams down and score...which is exactly what Liverpool suffered last season. So what are the scousers exactly expecting to change?

Arsenal second assuming they sell RVP?! So does that mean he thinks they'll win it if they keep RVP? Tell the twats we'd happily take 6th over top four again for a continuance of domestic cup dominance and the tag 'Champions of Europe'. That's the difference. A shit league season but we still roll in the trophies!

I'm an accountant and to sum it all up - Chelsea are sitting back and laughing at FFP and those that think we can't work within it.

Azpi and Moses are the obvious looking two, but I still think a striker could be brought - possibly the final transfer could be the biggest!

I would be happy with Ba to boost our striking options for £7m. Also with Torres upfront, he won't play every game which should help him get sufficient rest for his knee. Similarly he is a good option, along with Sturridge to also give Torres sufficient rest. It is no coincidence that he was injured so much at Liverpool when they relied so heavily upon him and burnt him out. Since at Chelsea, Torres hasn't had any injuries from what I can remember, which IMO has been aided by not playing every game as we had Drogba also. However Kojo, you want to keep Benayoun, Malouda and Ferreira for experience, but Essien and Mikel have similar levels of experience to them and can still offer much more on the pitch than any of the mentioned. I would keep Essien and Mikel and get rid of the other three.

I can understand people's reasoning behind keeping players like Ferreira and Malouda for experience, but the club still has plenty of experience within the squad and in players which are going to get games. Cech, Ashley Cole, Terry, Ivanovic, Lampard, Essien and Mikel have all been at the club and in the first team picture each for longer than 4 years or more, and as a result know the club well and have played a lot of big games. Torres has bundles of big game experience aswell, as does Mata despite his young age. As an example, does Benayoun have more big game experience than Mata? Just because we have brought a lot of young players with a relative lack of experience this summer, people are now worrying we won't have enough experience within the squad. We have plenty within the squad. Also don't discount the importance of last season. The struggles during much of the season, and the triumphs and experience of winning the FA Cup and Champions League will have also set up players such as Cahill, David Luiz and Ramires very well. If the only argument for keeping a player is experience, and he can seemingly offer nothing of note on the pitch then I wouldn't keep them. So IMO I would look at letting Benayoun, Malouda and Ferreira all go. All on high wages and taking up foreign spots in the squad.

I know it would be a risky move but IF (and that's a big if) he could prove his fitness i would look at rossi. Having been injured all of last season and with villareal relegated i can't see him commanding a large fee. He is still young with plenty of time to come back from his injuries, and is a player who was being mooted for a £30m move to barcelona only 12-18 months ago. We could get him, moses and azpilicueta for less than cavani - then job done and squad complete.

^^ this. I don't condone racism but the hypersensitivity in society nowadays is beyond ridiculous. If a different ethnic race called me a white prick and i reported it i would be laughed at so why is it different?

This was always going to happen to save the fa face and reputation, not withstanding the ridiculous media pressure, especially from a number of black sportsmen. The whole thing seems a witch-hunt. Are the FA really above the court of law? I can't see Chelsea accepting this!

How about a modified 4-3-3 whereby Oscar plays slightly ahead of two more defensively minded midfielders, any two really from Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Meireles, Ramires, Romeu. This allows Oscar to play centrally as the 'link man' without leaving us vulnerable in the midfield. It would also allow Ramires to play in a more suited central position. Further up the field could be Mata and Hazard flanking Torres but ultimately given more freedom than that of orthodox wingers to drift around into space and making things happen. Marin and if brought Moses would provide alternative options as players who can play more as orthodox wingers to stretch teams out wide.

Hazard is more a dribbler, and Mata and Oscar's passing is of a much more direct nature than the tika taka style. Yes the club are buying players who should in theory improve the standard of football being produced, but if we are to continue being successful we must adopt an approach that suits the Premier League. We struggle at times to break teams down because our build up play is so slow, tika taka is even fucking worse! The attacking play should be more fluent and pleasing on the eye but it will be much more direct than tika taka.

I don't know what it is about Hazard, but he just seems to have 'it'. He will be a massive player over the next few seasons at Chelsea but he must be given time. Luckily thanks to the abundance of riches we now have at our disposal in the attacking midfield department, time is something that we can afford him. I've said on here a couple of times, a combined contribution of goals and assists at around the 20 mark in all competitions would be an excellent first campaign at the club.

I'll never get that image out of my head now when having a serious debate with him

Mata coming home early?? This summer just gets better and fucking better!!!

Take that malouda and benayoun will be sold, de bruyne, mceachran, romeu and lukaku should all be loaned out to give them all the maximum chance of getting games. Buying moses will give us by my calculation 10 senior players to play in the five midfield positions during the season, 11 if you also count sturridge. This will be required during a 60 odd game season - 2 players per position. IMO another right back and striker are also required to complete the squad.

One of the key things to consider is sharpness. We're playing in high heat and humidity against players half way through their season and accustomed to such conditions. It's why they're good matches to have. City have lost this pre season and united have struggled through also. It's about getting everybody fit and ready which means at times playing scratch teams and making lots of substitutions that can disrupt rhythm. If such problems are still occuring regularly at the start of the season then we have a problem, but no worries just yet.

Fucking stupid laptop just overheated and switched off! Is it trying to wind me up at 3am!!!

Firstly I've looked at him quite a bit since his link started materialising into a likely move and I really like this signing. I think most of us are of the belief his long term place will be Lampard's. This for me may well be the most important piece of the puzzle in regards to our team over the next few seasons. We have been fortunate to have enjoyed Lampard's extraordinary goalscoring exploits from midfield season after season. I always felt a couple of years ago that when we looked for Lampard's replacement we may need to go down a different route. Yes we could have looked at another goalscoring midfielder, Sigurdsson for example, but we could never guarantee the same output that we have got from Lampard. The team in the past has been built around Lampard and Drogba to get the best out of them because they were the two players who produced more often then not. Now looking to the future, we have some serious creative talent further up the pitch, particularly in Mata and Hazard who are likely to be our 'main men' over the next few years. Add to that Torres and Sturridge being completely different style players to Drogba, who will prefer the ball on the deck being brought further up the pitch before being released, allowing them to make runs, as opposed to a more direct approach to Drogba. All of this will require somebody to pull the strings in the middle of the pitch, which is what Oscar will do. He seems to be a player with a 'less flash, more substance' style which I think will be truly appreciated at Chelsea. Modric could have been brought as an immediate fix but we do not need an immediate fix. The transition must be gradual (AVB last season anyone?), and having a younger player come in will hopefully allow him to come in under slightly lower expectations to a Modric and slowly blend in, whilst still having Lampard whilst Oscar adapts. I also believe moving on that as Oscar makes the transition to first choice, Ramires will continue to play in the team to give the side a greater balance. Yes it's lovely having all these attacking players playing in front of Mikel, but in theory it is too risky.

A player like Moses is really difficult to predict just how well he would do at Chelsea. The number of young British players who have moved from being a big fish in a small pond to one of the big clubs in the modern era is vast but there seems to have been just as many failures as successes. For every Damien Duff or Joe Cole there is a Shaun Wright Phillips. The one thing I will say however about Victor Moses is if we get him for £6-8m (not counting bonuses, as bonuses will be worth paying in the future if they are an indicator of his success at the club) then it is not a very big risk. We would be able to command a similar fee in a couple of years if he hasn't developed as well as we would have liked.

^^ This. He will come in under the radar for little money and go out on loan. Having the chance in the future to train with his brother and better players in general could bring out the best in him. My understanding is his skillset is very similar to his brother's, he has just never had the same application to being able to unlock that potential. Hopefully joining a bigger club will bring that out of him, who knows?! It would be great though if in 4-5 years time after Eden has ripped up Premier League defences and helped us win a stack of trophies, Real Madrid come in with a £100m offer to take him, and his brother replaces him and becomes just as successful One can only wonder!

Remember that McEachran is only 19. Bertrand is only just coming through now and he's nearly 23. For a player to break through at Chelsea regularly at josh's age would need to be truly, truly exceptional.

Who do people think will start in united's back four next season? And is vidic going to be fit for the start of the season? I always like to build from the back and have a strong defence but given the high prices this year i may have to rethink that strategy!