manpe

Ivanovic still on the pitch. Bad non-move by Mourinho.

What a goal, what a player. Dude is simply all over the place in a good way. Barely playing as a winger, he's pulling the strings today. A shame that all the pressure is on him to make goals, because the rest of the team cannot be trusted to keep the lead.

I'll make it short and sweet: No sight of Ivanovic and Cahill till the end of the season please. Zouma and Azpi need to play or we are gonna throw the title away.

Sell him. Let him leave while his status and legacy is still somewhat intact. His decline has been jawdropping.

From the times I've seen Koke I think he's well equipped to play alongside Matic. And he's good enough defensively not to be replaced with Ramires or Mikel in the so called big games. That would simply be our best midfield line-up in any circmustances. I think I am one of those guys who prefers Koke to Pogba. He seems to be like an all-round midfielder who is smart and mature enough to play in any role.

How much would this guy cost approximately? Is it between the 20-40M£ realm, or are we talking Torres price?

I thought so too at first, but you need to read his other posts more often, not only the repetitive Mourinho ones.

Is this video sped up? Everybody looks unnaturally quick, especially Salah. Seriously i can't tell, help.

Chelsea transfer news: Jose Mourinho told FFP cash boost could allow him to sign a superstar Chelsea will have access to an extra £40m in extra FFP cash this summer which makes a move for a big name player like Paul Pogba or even Lionel Messi possible.

We could get the drive by playing a natural midfielder instead of Azpi in there. I'm still advocating for Ramires.

If we're going to park a bus, then this could work. But against a side like Hull I'm afraid it would lack the much needed drive in our midfield.

Fabregas plays as 10. I explained my idea behind it a bit more in depth in the Luis Filipe thread. Have a read if you're interested: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/18488-3-filipe-luis/?p=1074117 Would like your input.

Place Matic and/or Ramires to fulfill that gap when Luis is forward. Defending doesn't earn you wins, it earns you draws.

Fair enough that's your opinion. I would rather find someone else to partner Matic though, not Fabregas. There is absolutely no reason to replace Matic, that would be imo unnecessary bordering on idiotic. He's been one of our most influential player since we signed him. Matic isn't only a rudimentary defensive midfielder as well, he is incredibly useful in attack too. At times he resembles more a box-to-box midfielder than a standard DM. Long story short: Replacing Matic with Schneiderling would be stupid.

Who are other candidates? I imagine Kane, Fabregas, Costa, Sanchez and Agüero are in the run?

He can pass, but he's inconsistent in it. It's not his main strength in attack. It's not like Oscar is out of this world in that regard either. Maybe our ball retention would be a bit worse, but I think we would recover possession more often and have more impetus in attack. Ramires is no scrub when it comes to attacking the box and even combining with other players when opportunity arises. He can be very unpredictable and mobile on a good day. And more importantly, in regard to defense, I think his pace would be of great help to help our defenders with average pace. Luis would have a similar effect imo, as he's more aggressive in his movement off the ball than Azpilicueta is. Furthermore, trusting Ramires more with the dirty work could possibly improve Willian's attack, as he wouldn't have to worry so much about tracking back. He could be freed to press further up the field, which increases our chances of regaining possession further upfield and hit back on quick counters where Ramires would be a great asset, which is the whole point of proactive pressing. Fabregas as the advanced playmaker would act as the main outlet when in possession to find Willian, Hazard, Costa, Ramires, Luis and Azpi/Bran with quick releases behind the lines and into spaces. At the moment our attacking options are much slimmer thanks to having too many players who either don't go up aggressively enough or come towards the ball not the goal, as it is their natural instinct. Ramires doesn't do that, he acts as a distant marauding outlet, not as a playmaker, who we have enough of already. I don't know, my tactical opinions lack credit, but in my mind it makes sense. At least to try it out from time to time.

Having watched yesterday's Atletico game, I was very impressed with their pressing when they were trying to grab the game by its throat. Leverkusen couldn't do anything when Atletico ran at them. And Luis, having played integral part in that system for years, would surely be a better option with this mentality programmed into him than, say, a right-footed defender camping behind just to cover for Terry when the opposition reach the proximity of our area? Have Matic cover that area more aggressively when needed, imagine Matic and Luis both applying pressure on attackers on that side of the pitch. Then you can have Ramires partnering Matic to provide further cover in the exposed areas of our third while also providing useful pacey and energetic impetus in attack. We can't really afford doing that when we have Fabregas partnering in midfield and when we also play Azpilicueta on the left, we lose one important attacking option in our game because he needs to stay behind to cover. Playing Luis and Ramires could possibly make our game more dynamic in both ends of the field. Fabregas' and Hazard's game is also limited when their only overlapping passing options are Ivanovic and a restricted Azpilicueta (safe side-way/backward passes, no regular penetration). Luis needs a fair chance.

So there are already inevitable stories circling around him leaving. Is Del Horno still playing?

If others attempted as well I'm sure his attempts would end up being doing some shit.

Luis, Zouma. Also given Ramires' impact in the last game and his general form lately, he should start ahead of Oscar. That's three players, but it would bring 5 changes to the team's shape.

Actually that is not a surprise, I knew from the moment we signed him that it would be this way. But I didn't realize it would be so extreme. Having said everything, I still love Jose and I don't want him ever to leave. I am willing to accept his quirks and methods because for me he's proper blue. I just wish if he's serious about staying long term, that he would run the team in a way that reflects that more. At the moment it feels more like he's at another club in a quest for quick success and it doesn't matter what comes after. I accept that, as long as it's a short term vision by him to get a monkey off his back. Even if it continues like that next season, I won't call for his head to be chopped off, but I will continue expressing my opinion and if that means criticizing, then so be it. It's fine to criticize, I welcome such in depth discussions, but one thing that absolutely cannot happen is letting Jose go. It shouldn't enter anybody's mind, not so soon at least.

Doubt it. He may get the Ake role in COC games, but starting eleven? I wouldn't count on it if I was you. Wasn't somebody supposed to be an "important player" this season according to him from last season? I don't remember who it was, but I know this player got sold or loaned. Kalas maybe? Don't listen to Mourinho's words, and by his actions there is absolutely nothing to indicate that Lofty-Cheeks will not end up in a dead-end loaning cycle. I will remember his words about RLC, I will write it down, and next season we will see how man of his word he is. Maybe what he means is that there will be another "academy day" next season - a whopping 15 minute cameo when we're leading 3-0 at home against league 2 side of course. I like your optimism, maybe sometimes it's blind optimism, but I still like it. However, I myself tend to fall to facts and evidence when I want to analyze the real world. Zero evidence so far.

Could it be that he did that to win the game in order to earn points to the EPL? Though it would be a shame if the league as a whole means more than our own team.

Good post. Could be. Though I'm wondering to myself if we really believe something's gonna change or it's just wishful thinking. Next season he'll have the pressure of winning it back-to-back, which is even more difficult. Actually I can't imagine a season for Chelsea without pressure, so it remains to be seen if the theory of him getting one out of the way holds any water. And most importantly, if we win the league this season, why should he consider changing a winning formula? He has already excused the CL elimination by saying that they didn't lose any matches.

I asked to bring examples bar them two. Both of them are extraordinary talents that were brought in not exactly for small money. He's been in management for 15 years, so far we have only two very recent examples. Any more? I'm genuinely asking because I'm not that familiar in depth what he did outside of Chelsea.