BlueLion.

It WON'T Happen

No, but he'll play there. Because he won't get in ahead of Mata/Oscar/Schurrle/Hazard.

Romeu needs to play every game. Won't happen. Essien offers RB and CDM protection as a secondary option. Essien is hardly world-class these days, which means for game-time for MvG, which was one of the things he was promised when he signed for us.

Yeah, but let's be fair, none of us ever want to win that competition ever again. Mourinho is not disrespecting the trophy, he is simply setting his sights on bigger targets. Mikel said he "couldn't motivate himself" for Europa League matches. That's a kick in the nuts for the fans, isn't it? £80,000 a week and he can't motivate himself for Thursday night football? I'd play for that amount every year and I wouldn't need any motivation.

Fernando has always been getting himself into good positions, but just couldn't finish half the time

Ah in that case then fair enough. Mikel/Essien/MvG will do as CDMs.

He must be giving Mourinho sexual favours

A - that's another fake Twitter rumour. B - Mourinho would never openly state he is after a player, as it automatically attracts attention from elsewhere.

BULLSHIT. United wouldn't turn down Mata. Not a chance. Not after losing out on Cesc and Thiago.

^ still, those quotes are fake. The BBC reported nothing like that.

Never one to be outdone, José Mourinho has wasted little time in demeaning Rafael Benitez's tenure as interim Chelsea manager. Despite helping the Blues consolidate third place ahead of London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham, reach the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup, and, of course, that late triumph in Amsterdam courtesy of the forehead of Branislav Ivanovic, Mourinho has hit out at his one-time rival. Football is nothing if not cyclical. Mourinho, obviously, is returning to Chelsea for the second time. he arrives from Inter Milan, via Real Madrid. Benitez, the latest in a number of Stamford Bridge outgoings, replaced Mourinho at Inter and was then courted by Real - before they eventually settled on another ex-Blues boss in Carlo Ancelotti, who himself enjoyed a healthy rivalry with Mourinho's Inter while he was at AC Milan. A "managerial merry-go-round", indeed. The Special One has wasted no time in trying to erase the all memory Rafa Regime. It's hardly surprising, really. They don't like each other much. Mourinho has questioned the value of May's Europa League triumph. Whilst it is another European honour in the trophy cabinet - and consequently one that puts the Blues alongside the illustrious company of Bayern Munich, Ajax and Juventus as one of just four clubs to complete the set of UEFA silverware - the Portuguese has gone on record as saying to again compete in that competition would be 'a big disappointment'. Though he famously led Porto back-to-back UEFA Cup (as it was called back then) and Champions League titles in 2003 and 2004 respectively, Mourinho has identified himself as one who is ahead of the curve and not merely 'one of the bottle'. José Mourinho has become synonymous with the image of the allure of Champions League success. Despite coming close, but not quite close enough at both Real and during his first stint as Chelsea coach, he was able to sample the sweet, sweet taste of victory when he led his all-conquering Inter side to the title in 2010. Mourinho clearly has his eyes set on the big-eared prize: 'that's the only European competition we have to play and that's the European competition we have to give our best'. The Special One has also targeted a first Premier League crown since 2010 for the Blues in order for the West London outfit to reassert its dominance of the previous decade. Stating that it is only natural to wish to compete in what he describes as the 'world's best league', Mourinho has demanded an improvement on last season's third-placed finish. This represents a reassessment of the mentality of Chelsea Football Club. The club's league performance in 2011/12 and 2012/13 was, on the whole, largely unsatisfactory. Finishing sixth and third on the back of consecutive top-two finishes since 2004 (2008/09 besides, where the Blues were only just beaten to second by Liverpool) is, in comparison, a considerable backwards step. Targeting the Premier League crown therefore represents a shift in the club's ideology. Whilst mid-term dismissals of Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto di Matteo later led to cup glory, in both seasons the side's league fortunes have faded away dramatically after positive starts - last season, for instance, the Blues were at one stage six points ahead of eventual champions Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson's side finished fourteen points ahead, ultimately; a swing of twenty points. 2011/12 was even worse; it was a case of all-or-nothing. Roberto di Matteo gambled horribly on the club's Champions League future by trying to qualify for the tournament automatically by winning it. Okay, so he pulled off the Italian Job, but what a futile endeavour it proved to be as the club nosedived out of the competition at the group stage. Furthermore, the club finished. rather embarrassingly, in sixth. That represents the worst-placed finish since 2002. Aiming to win major trophies comes as part and parcel to a big club. With the greatest of respect to those who have followed in Mourinho's footsteps - Hiddink, Ancelotti, and Benitez excluded - this big club now finally has, once again, a big manager to lead it in the right direction. Villas-Boas and di Matteo were both failed experiments that suffered from immaturity and a lack of managerial experience. Phil Scolari fared little better, such was the gamble of appointing a man who had only enjoyed success at international level. The cynic would say Avram Grant - someone we probably hadn't even heard of before the 2007/08 season - benefited from having the best squad in the club's history and the genius of Steve Clarke as his assistant, and yet he still failed to win a single piece of silverware. Those managers lack the guile and charisma of Mourinho. His winning mentality is infectious. The x-factor he brings with him is something that can tip the scales for the betterment of the club. And his natural inclination to go for the "big ones" - namely the league crown and Champions League glory - represents a shift away from the papering-over-the-cracks attitude that has been evident since the demise of Ancelotti, and the adoption of a new all-or-nothing approach. Mourinho doesn't just want to win. He has to win. The club described last season as a success thanks to winning what the Special One considers to be UEFA's B-list trophy; he would be ashamed to win a second-rate cup at a club like Chelsea. To him, another triumph akin to Amsterdam would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. The Special One wants more special moments at Chelsea, and whilst we all enjoyed the win over Benfica, it pales in comparison to toppling Bayern in their own back yard. That difference in mentality will be the key in whether Chelsea can address the gulf in quality between themselves and the Manchester clubs. Many bookmakers have installed Chelsea as at least joint-favourites for the Premier League title next season. The squad has been improved by the return of various loanees such as Lukaku and de Bruyne and of course the arrival of new faces, such as van Ginkel, Schwarzer and Schurrle - but there has been no marquee signing. There has been no serious signal of intent, such as United capturing van Persie last summer, or Barcelona's big-money move for Neymar. The real difference is that it is José Mourinho back in the dugout. He is the major signing of the summer. The ultimate man-motivator, don't be surprised if he gets even the misfiring duo of Demba Ba and Fernando Torres firing again. He won't settle for second-best, or somehow masking grossly underwhelming campaigns by ending up with a trophy. Of course, silverware is silverware, but Mourinho wants more than mere domestic cups. The fact he is targeting bigger and better things can only be of benefit to Chelsea Football club, and certainly bodes well for its supporters. We're in for a whirlwind ride. Strap in, folks.

Same bullshit report from yesterday. Sorry. Nothing to see here, folks.

A brilliant squad. Certainly better than anything France, Portugal or England can conjure, but some way behind the powerhouses, ie. Germany, Italia, Holland and Espana.

THEN TELL THEM TO STOP HURTING MY LITTLE OSSIE!

Thought this was the Hazard thread. Must have clicked the wrong topic.

Lukaku has the temperament, most certainly. My concern is he hasn't scored a professional goal for us. How many games will it take? One, two... ten? My concern is if we go into the new season and we have three strikers failing to score, we're again going to be relying on 80 goals from midfield.

Think this may be on. Us talking him up at the same time he's received a massive kick in the teeth from Moyes. He'd work well with Hazard, Mata and Oscar as well. You can imagine the four of them rotating constantly with one another. Talk about dynamism.

I win.

And the inevitable name-dropping begins... http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/07/15/exclusive-chelsea-plot-move-for-real-madrid-striker-karim-benzema-after-missing-out-on-edinson-cavani/

I'm locking this topic because I'm fucking sick of it. Feel free to discuss the move when it is official by making a new topic in Football Banter.

Of all the things you can criticise him for, the one thing you can't say is he has no ambition - PSG is one of the big projects in world football. Could potentially become the first French powerhouse of the modern era.

^ I believe he is referring to Oriol Romeu Vidal.

Look at Chal in the background, serious DAFUQ moment