Superblue

They do like to think they're getting a bargain. After all Levy's reported preference in hiring AVB is believed to have something to do with no compensation to pay out!

I think circumstances in England are different to that in America too. Most university courses are 3 years so people finish at 21. A lot of people, including me, also finish school at either 16 or 18 and go down the apprenticeship route which means whichever profession they move into they are generally qualified in by the time they hit 20/21. As I said everybody's circumstances are different. But I will refer back to and stand by my feeling that I would rather a Chelsea player be settled down and going home to his family at night, bed early, etc, than living a wild, partying lifestyle. I have a sister 7 years younger than me and a brother 10 years younger than me. I would encourage them to follow the path that makes them happy but not rush into making life changing decisions.

Each individual and circumstance should be treated singularly. There isn't no right or wrong answer. What I would say is that children change your life forever. I never realised or appreciated prior to my daughter being born the time, effort and responsibility involved. You will never enjoy the level of independence and sense of freedom that you perhaps did before. Having said that, I would do it all again because she is the most important thing in my life and worth it all.

Yep agree with this. My partner got pregnant because she had been ill for a couple of days and it messed around with her contraception. At the time she was 20 and I was 22, and we had our daughter nine months later and were married six months further on. A 'stigma' of under 23 is bollocks. We had been together since I was 18 and she was 16 and seven years on now we are still going strong. We have a mortgage for a three bed house and I'm a qualified accountant, so we are comfortable, certainly given the current climate. I would say someone young who has been with their partner for a couple of years or so is much more mature then, say, a 30 year old who has been with their partner for 3 months and then gets her pregnant and rushes things. How does that show more maturity because they are an older age?! Given the rise of one night stands, single parent families, etc I commend him. I would rather Chelsea players are going home to their young families every night than going our partying, and in turn giving the media chance to hound and bash them!

Only maybe considered if a swap for Modric, or swap for Bale...ah fuck it Levy and the whole football club are a bunch of vile fucks, it would have to be a swap for Modric AND Bale!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-manchester-city-tottenham-and-liverpool-887056 2 things on this story - 1. I bloody well hope rumours of a Walcott/Sturridge swap are bullshit. Sturridge has far more potential and if he went to Arsenal I can see him becoming a big success there. 2. If he does blame Chelsea and Di Matteo for not making the England squad, then that's a poor show for me. He should take it on the chin, realise the reasons why he wasn't playing and strive to make an impact next season. Robbie's choice to leave him out of the big games was ultimately vindicated. What he has got though is an opportunity next season to play games through the middle like how he has always wanted to. It's all up to him now.

I've always preferred him Brana at right back. However one cannot discard the performance he put in at centre back against Barcelona because it was truly epic. He is certainly for my money the best fourth choice centre back in world football, and more than adequate backup for that position. In a 60 game season (which next year is likely to be) I would like to see this being the rough split between our defenders: New RB (Debuchy?) - 35 games Ivanovic (at RB) - 25 games Terry - 35 games David Luiz - 35 games Cahill - 35 games Ivanovic (at CB) - 15 games Ashley Cole - 35/40 games Bertrand - 20/25 games That split would keep everybody very much involved but also keep players fresh, particularly Terry and Ashley Cole who aren't getting any younger and have been overused in recent years. This way a new RB would play a lot of games, but so would Ivanovic. I would be very happy to sign Debuchy, and the idea that he wouldn't play or develop here is nonsense.

If we're spending big money i would rather see it on hulk to fill the RW slot and as torres is going to be no 1 next season. If torres doesn't take this chance then maybe cavani next summer.

Still no concrete news on Eddie Newton yet no??

For a period during that season we were without Lamps, Terry and Drogba. He was captain for a run of games and you really saw him thrive on the responsibility, as he literally carried the team for a few games.

Anything between £6-8m and I think we should get him. A lot of people going on about his age compared to Azpilicueta but you can't just buy a load of 21 year olds. The team needs the right blend of ages and you will still get at least 4-5 good years out of him. For that price I say take him. He looks defensively very solid and disciplined whilst also looking good going forward.

Maybe not quite as unrealistic as some would think. There were strong rumours he was considering his future at Bayern after the 2010 World Cup. He decided to sign a new contract in the end, but he might decide at this stage in his career to try something new. I personally don't think it will happen, but I wouldn't rate it as impossible like Messi or Ronaldo. Apparently he is a huge fan of the premier league and has a lot of respect for Chelsea, and massive respect in particular for Frank Lampard (rates him as his greatest midfield opponent on a football pitch). I know Frank is in the twilight of his career but those two in midfield would be fucking immense. The guy is a class act and IMO the best central midfielder in world football. He can do everything!

Joke is bleacher report is actually pretty good with the american sports, use it a bit following american football. But our football they haven't got a fucking clue!

I wonder if Adam Johnson was foreign whether he would be mentioned as a target. I somehow think not, he is decent but vastly overrated. Willian I think would have been a target if we were in the europa league next season. Jovetic doesn't play RW. I want a natural fucking RW, is it really that much to ask for?! We've spent four years playing players out of position on the RW. Hulk is the best available RW we can realistically buy. Yes he is expensive but I'd rather pay a few extra million than get someone cheaper who quite frankly is second rate IMO.

At the risk of entering into the war of words, I think that if Jovetic were to be brought it would be instead of Hulk, and it may change the dynamic of how we're looking to shape up next season. I don't see anything wrong with a '3' of Mata, Hazard and Jovetic because I think the potential of all three together over time could be magic. However my biggest concern is one will have to shape up on the right, particularly when defending, and none have good experience of playing this position. We have spent far too long playing players on the right wing who have never previously played there for significant periods of their career (Anelka, Sturridge, Ramires) and although they have all done admirable jobs, I would love to have a natural RW to give the balance the team needs. That is why Hulk is still my first choice.

My best mate's a gooner and reckons arsenal should build the team around song. Very underrated.

I'm not concerned about price the club will decide what's reasonable. What worries me is if he goes to the olympics he'll miss out on pre season, adapting to his teammates, etc. I know mata didn't have a pre season with us, but it is more beneficial to have one!

Yes but he wasn't trusted for the big games. There's no doubt he knew and all of us knew he was second choice to drogba and that can affect confidence. I just feel the responsibility of being outright first choice next season, 'the main man' like at liverpool will be an atmosphere he'll thrive in. The difference though will be where liverpool had noone else so played him until they burnt him out, sturridge will get games and keep torres fresh. There is no logical reason why i think torres will do well next season, its just a gut feeling - and without comparing myself to mystic meg i did feel if we got past napoli in the second leg then we'd win the champions league!

We can all just hope a run of games under robbie is what is required to get him firing. With drogba last season they rotated and he never got that 'run'. He got one at the start of the season but in fairness most played pretty dire under AVB. I do believe robbie can get his confidence back high again.

With torres arriving back late after the euros and sturridge likely to be in the olympics its a chance for lukaku to make early statements in pre season. Remember he arrived after the season started last summer, a good pre season could be the making of him.

Agreed, just because AVB came in as manager doesn't mean he automatically deserved their respect and trust, he had to earn it and vice versa. That happens in all walks of life and employment. To pin the blame solely on frank is unfair, although he does need to share some responsibility in the circumstances.

Ronaldinho had more natural talent than Messi or Ronaldo. Look at what those two have achieved through dedicating themselves to football, and are both still in their mid 20's. Ronaldinho could still be one of the best now if he applied himself properly in the past.

It seems a common trait amongst attacking Brazilian players over the last 15-20 years that they fizzle out by the time they're about 27/28. When you see the longevity of other players you can't help but feel these players could have achieved more. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka all were the greatest players in the world at one stage but all were shadows of their former selfs before even reaching 30. Edmundo, Adriano, Fred, Luis Fabiano, the list goes on... Also have to think about Essien in this subject. Serious injuries spread out over the last four seasons have robbed him of what should have been the peak years of his career. He should still be considered the best box to box midfielder in world football if it weren't for injuries. Essien five years ago was a lot better than Yaya Toure is now IMO.

Maybe given our track record he felt he wouldn't get the time. I actually think if we had consolidated last season he would still be in a job now and continuing with his project. I sincerely hope Robbie gets the time to do things his way. It's a strange circumstance because any other manager over the Abramovich reign would have been bullet proof for a couple of years having won the Champions League, but Robbie doesn't. I just want to see him shown some respect and backed accordingly.

I could appreciate some of the changes AVB was trying to implement, but it was a case of too much too soon. For those that felt Robbie went in and made no changes, just reverting back to the tried and trusted, he successfully implemented a 4-2-3-1 to get Mata in the centre and a formation which I see us building towards next season. It is a subtle yet largely effective change to the way we play. I see further subtle changes over next season, as we slowly move to what I would expect to be a more expansive, expressive style of play, but I think Robbie will be smart and not try to change too many things all at once.