BlueLion.

If we sign Reus, I'd go as far as saying we'd have the best front six in world football.

Is that a new formation? Would like to see us try that.

This is called an article. If I posted this in the Courtois thread it wouldn't get the forum any hits, plus the article would have thousands of unrelated replies. And let's be fair, this is a discussion about Cech as much as Courtois. So should I post it in Cech's topic as well?

Would anyone begrudge Cech if was more or less rotated as number one with Thibaut between now and the end of the season? 12 more appearances and he passes the 500 game mark. 7 more clean sheets in the PL and he's the top goalkeeper in the competition's history in every possible statistic. I can see him making those dozen appearances across all competitions (potentially 3 more League Cup games to play, could be a fair few FA Cup matches as well, and he's been our designated UCL keeper this season, so why not?) but the clean sheets record is just beyond him. His ratio is 0.49 clean sheets per game, so he'd need to play 15 more league games (in theory) to attain that record. Unless José is a canny sod and plays Cech against all the teams we're basically guaranteed clean sheets in

Has he had a bad game for us yet? The moment in the second half where he picked up the ball on the edge of the box, had no pass on, so he just bombed forward with surprising speed and played the ball out wide into Hazard. Class. Very tidy little player and far more comfortable on Cahill who tends to hoof the ball upfield. I'll be surprised if Cahill isn't recalled at Swansea though.

I liked this only for the first sentence. I don't think you can attribute the blame to Courtois for any of Spurs' goals. Kane's goals were epic, Chadli's was an horrific deflection, the penalty was unstoppable and Rose's was down to sheer bad luck. I miss Cech playing, always will be my favourite Chelsea player and an inspiration. He's the reason I became a goalkeeper.

I would say the only AM who has been more consistent than Oscar this season is Sigurdsson, but when Oscar is at his best he's different gravy.

Yeah sorry about that, can't help being a boss when it comes to these articles though

Spot on, if it was serious then Blackman would be on the bench. However why risk even a slight injury when you have a guy with 225 clean sheets for the club on the bench?

One of the players in this picture is someone who gave their all to Chelsea even when things didn't go well. The other is Frank Lampard. Already it seems such a long time ago since these two were wearing the #8 and #9 though.

What a waste. I'd take Jovetic though....

Yup: http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jamal-blackman-returns-chelsea-having-8382609 Blackman leaving is the reason why Kalas' loan to Boro was finalised.

Agreed, can't be that serious, but it is increasingly easy for goalkeepers to play with broken digits (trust me, I'm talking from experience). Neuer had these SMUs made up in 2013 so he could play with a broken finger: It's a risk, but if necessary then you can play with a broken finger. It obviously isn't a bad break or he'd have been subbed off at Spurs and wouldn't have been on the bench yesterday. But why risk him when you have a quality GK on the bench?

Messi is arrogant and selfish below the surface. Ronaldo is just arrogant and selfish.

Thibaut Courtois has a broken thumb, according to Chelsea assistant manager Steve Holland. Holland, standing in for José Mourinho for the Blues' obligated pre- and post-match press conferences, announced that the Belgian broke the thumb on his left hand during Chelsea's defeat at White Hart Lane on New Year's Day. Confirming that the injury was not terminal, Holland explained that the decision to retain fans' favourite Petr Cech in goal was so that Courtois' ailment would not be risked. "It was something that Thibaut picked up in the game against Tottenham", he said. "If it had been vital to play he could but when we had Petr Cech as a replacement it was a no-brainer". Cech, who now has 225 clean sheets for the club, made his tenth appearance of a frustrating season when he took to the field against Newcastle on Saturday, where he made one particularly fine save to deny Remy Cabella from giving the visitors a lead their play deserved in the first half. Instead, the Czech's intervention proved the foundation from which the Blues went on to cruise home to a comfortable 2-0 victory. After also playing - and keeping another shut-out - in last weekend's FA Cup win over Watford, Cech's fifth clean sheet in just nine starts this season means he has an incredible concession rate of one goal every 183.6 minutes this term - compared to Courtois' rate of a goal conceded every 95.5 minutes. "Obviously the clean sheet makes it even better but the most important is the three points because after the defeat at Tottenham, we wanted to bounce back in the league", said Cech after the game. "We had to really dig deep and in the second half we improved. Obviously the first goal helped us get over a difficult moment. In the second half we improved and then we had the chances to score more goals".

We should break the bank and give him anything he wants monetarily, as far as I'm concerned.

Totally agreed. That's what separates him from Messi, IMO, is more of a team player.

Locked as we have the other thread open See the link in Royal Blues' post.

If it's a strain rather than a pull or a tear then happy days. Maybe up to a week out of training at most, though I can see him being rested for next weekend.

You can play "well" and statistically have nothing to show for that performance. Conversely, you can have a below-par game and end up with a well-taken goal and a genius assist. I'm quite happy seeing more of the latter. For his entire Chelsea career, Oscar's contribution has been for the team and rarely ever individual. By that, I mean he isn't an archetypal number ten. He is the least glamorous of our attacking players based on the role he does for the team, which is not to score or assist goals; his role is to be a combative little terrier in the middle of the park who effectively acts as a screen in front of our two pivot midfielders. He pops up with the odd goal and assist because he often plays a lot deeper than the number 10s mentioned above. The way he interchanges with Hazard, Willian and Fabregas is excellent and his versatility makes him a very useful player for us. José could "let him off the leash" and allow him to play his natural game, but for our present 4-2-3-1 system to work it requires more of a box-to-box player in the number ten role; something Mata simply couldn't fulfil. I think Oscar is a terrific player whose contribution to the team shouldn't be measured by assists and goals. If we were to let him have free rein, he'd pop up with 15 goals a season and 15 assists. But if we did that, defensively we'd be horrific. I'd agree, he might occupy the number ten position on the starting line-up whenever Sky do their thing pre-match, but the reality is he does have a free role behind the striker - but unusually it is more of a defensive role than an attacking one. Whichever way you choose to define it, he's a top midfielder and shouldn't be judged on the goals and assists he provides because ultimately Oscar's contribution to the team is the lung-bursting run he makes to get back and make a tackle after having supported attack after attack. His engine is incredible, but because we were spoiled by having some incredible attacking midfielders, not least Lampard, Ballack, Essien et al., anyone who plays as an advanced midfielder for Chelsea has to score 15+ goals a season, just like Frank did. The fact is he is now starting to show more individual impact upon the game in terms of goals and assists is positive, IMO. He shouldn't be judged on that output but nonetheless he is an attacking midfielder and will be expected to offer goals and assists.

He is a proper striker. At times he makes even Drogba look like horse shite (that is not meant as an offensive comment, Drogba is my second-favourite Chelsea player of all time and I have his name on more shirts than anyone else) - what I mean by that is his ability to finish, which is the bread and butter of a forward, is better than any other Chelsea striker I've ever seen. Power, surprising amount of poise, and equal parts precision. The man is a beast and will finish with at least 25 in the league alone this season, possibly pushing 30 in all competitions. It's still a concern (well, sort of) to me that he hasn't scored in Europe yet.

I didn't think Willian was that bad. Oscar was atrocious before the break; both Hazard and Fabregas were totally anonymous. Mourinho clearly ripped into them at half-time - he's my MOTM.

Courtois broke his thumb - why risk playing him when you have another of the world's top five goalkeepers in your squad?

19/19 please.

I wouldn't care if Pornhub sponsored us and put a picture of a dildo on our kit tbh. Okay bad example, but if they're paying more than Samsung then that's fine with me.