themightyblue

You also tried to say he was better than Mikel and Ramires to be fair....... And rather than pinning all the blame on Zola you should also look at Nat's performance. He was second to every tackle, gave the ball away needlessly and was constantly beaten in the midfield battle. Zola has managed to bring this group of players and take them to the brink of promotion which is an outstanding achievement in its own right and is why he's being earmarked for the Chelsea job in future. Certainly a very good and proper manager in the making

Like I said, it was his debut for the first team against some of the best strikers in the world. Mistakes were bound to happen, especially playing in a team who rested so many players and were suffering from fatigue as well as playing to 'entertain' rather than keep structure and organisation. The positives far outweighed the negatives from the two matches given the circumstances and the fact he's only just turned 17 (was 16 a month ago)

You just said it yourself. He was up against Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko who are some of the best strikers in England, some would argue in the world and he gave a good account of himself. For an 18 year old, making his first starts for the club at first team level, that is very impressive. Don't think those comments being made are way off the mark

Little bit gutted for him. Was a big chance for him to impress on the big stage with Mourinho watching, playing at Wembley etc. Oh well

Have to say, he's been awful

He sounds similar to James Mccarthy who we apparently had interest in a few weeks back

Scores a very nice goal in this video. From about 0:58 seconds in

This is something I don't understand. For me the AM position is a definite problem/worry area. It's ridiculous for Mata, Hazard and Oscar having to play 50 or so games each in a season! We have to be able to rotate effectively in this position next season. Marin doesn't look like making the cut, Oscar prefers to play centrally and long-term future probably won't be out wide and Moses has been ok. Better depth is crucial

Tancredi Palmeri ‏@tancredipalmeri13mIt's no more just a contact,or interest.Since yesterday an Arsenal bid is on Fiorentina's table:30m € for Jovetic,exactly the price tag (1) Tancredi Palmeri ‏@tancredipalmeri11mPlayers fully keen to move.Fiorentina asked few days of stand-by.They will meet Juventus in next hours to check for a raise.Otherwise... Lets hope he goes to Juve

Apparently there is interest from Dortmund for him

But you have to consider the sides they are playing in. As I said earlier, playing in a relegation threatened team KDB got a lot more space to create and work his magic than Oscar as he didn't have to face teams that would put 10 men behind the ball against him. It's also easier for De Bruyne to shine playing with the likes of Elia than it is for Oscar to shine in his first season in Europe playing with Mata, Hazard etc. There's also the fact that Oscar has been playing out of position for most of the season. Playing on the wing in a disciplined role where he had to track back etc was a new concept for him, whereas De Bruyne already had a season's experience playing on the wing. Then there's the factor of the pressure of playing for pressure which is on a whole other level to Bremen. The more you think about it, KDB's had much more favourable circumstances to Oscar this season and even then Oscar has looked just as good

Well when we Rdm played him on the wing in pre-season, he complained to the press about having to play there. And for me he isn't 'great on the wing' he's similar to Oscar. Can look great playing there in one game, then go missing in the next game he plays there. Both much prefer that central role and the only difference is KDB has been afforded much more opportunities to play centrally and thus shine more

The funny thing is lets reverse roles here and put Oscar in the Bremen team playing in his favoured central position (like we see him do for Brazil) and then KDB at Chelsea on the wing for the majority of games, playing twice a week in his debut season in English football against teams who park the bus against us like over half of the premiership teams do. I don't think you'd be saying KDB is better. Oscar is playing at a much higher standard and is afforded much less space than KDB gets at Bremen. At the end of the day they are both special talents, but it makes me cringe how some overrate KDB so much

Just reminds me of Hazard

Well considering he did it for Porto and scores goals internationally for Colombia i'd say he's fair adaptable. Cavani is a bigger risk in this sense

Producing moments of quality in big games. He and Lewandowski both do it. Need to get one of them

Outstanding assist in the final. Please don't go and waste your talent in Monaco Falcao!

Going off what Rafa said yesterday which is we'll spend close to the 100m mark on 3/4 players (which I have no reason to doubt considering he spends time with the board, is reportedly close with Emenalo and know's what is going on behind the scenes), I'd go for something like this (realistically as possible): Schurrle (20m + 5 year deal) Rooney/Gomez (30m + 5 year deal) Khedira (20m + 5 year deal) Di Maria (25m + 5 year deal) - If Madrid signed Bale Loans: Lukaku, Chalobah, Mceachran, Kalas/Omeruo (one stays, one goes), Piazon, Romeu(can see him possibly being loaned out for regular game time given that he's had 3 serious injuries in the last 3 years and Mou likes Essien), PVA, Thorgan, Ake Outs: Benayoun, Malouda, Marin, Torres/Ba, Ferreira, Hilario, Bruma 25 man squad: GK: Cech, Blackman, Turnbull DF: Azpi, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Terry, Bertrand, Cole, (Kalas/Omeruo) MF: Mikel, Ramires, Oscar, Khedira, Essien, Lamps AM: Mata, Hazard, Di Maria, Schurrle, De Bruyne, Moses CF: Rooney, Torres/Ba First XI: Cech Azpi Luiz Terry/Ivanovic Cole Khedira/De Rossi Oscar Di Maria Mata Hazard Rooney Subs: Blackman, Cahill, Ivanovic/Terry, Ramires, De Bruyne, Schurrle, Torres/Ba Then you have Moses, Mikel, Lamps, Bertrand etc for depth Honestly think this summer will be a big one and we all know how Mourinho likes to make a statement and isn't shy in the transfer market. Roman will also want to bridge the gap between us and United and with both Manc clubs likely to spend big, I doubt Roman will sit and count his chickens. Don't want to get into FFP as those that understand it will know that we are well-placed, and if those transfers i've suggested do come to fruition, it would only equate to around 20m once the fee's are ammortised over the likely length of contract. With players like Lamps, Cole, Essien, Terry, Torres/Ba and maybe even Ivan approaching the age/time of contract where Chelsea usually deem players surplus, it would open up gaps for the likes of Chalobah, Lukaku, Ake, Kalas etc for the 2014/15 season providing they have productive loans. Quite hard to speculate as some of the loan players this season might come back and really impress the new manager in pre-season

The thing which declines most with age is dynamism rather than physicality and dynamism has never been a prominent part of De Rossi's game. He's probably still got a good 2-3 years left in him

Well I was told on twitter by Paulo Freitas who works with Sky Sports that we've been following Paulinho for a long time and Fellaini said himself that Chelsea are interested. All of the links have pointed to a DM coming in, but anyway

We've had long standing interest in Fellaini and Paulinho and when rumours are so consistent there is bound to be at the very least a hint of truth involved. Anyway don't see how can you state so definitively that Mikel will start next season with no evidence to back it up. Straying off topic now

Thank you! What many seem to forget about FFP is that fee's are ammortised over the length of the contract and so signing Schurrle on a 5 year contract for 20m doesn't make that big a financial hit on us. Likewise Di Maria at say 25m

Khedira, Matic, Paulinho, De Rossi, Fellaini, Kondogbia all recent rumours. Can't just assume that Mikel will be the player to retain his place. And i'm fully aware about what 100m is. Just quoting Benitez who has been working at the club.............

Wouldn't assume that we'll sign someone to play next to Mikel. Most players we've been linked too recently are DMs meaning he'd be the one replaced. And it depends, I could see us signing Rooney, De Rossi, Di Maria and Schurrle this summer. All fairly major signings which still wouldn't equate to 100m

Wasn't able to find a thread on him, but anyway there have been a few rumours regarding him. Gianluca Di Marzio ‏@dimarzio15 May@inspectorsaab @honigstein di maria, probably to chelsea with Mou. And even Coentrao could leave Real Di Marzio was saying that Madrid want to buy Bale and in order to do so Di Maria will likely be sold. As shown above, he thinks he's going to chelsea. Also been rumours that we've already placed a bid: ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer15 MayChelsea have submitted an opening offer of £18m for Di Maria but #RMCF only willing to sell at £30m. #CFC expected to return with 2nd offer. If there is any truth in this then it's a clear sign that Oscar will be moved into a deeper midfield position predominantly, with Di Maria playing on the right like he has done for Madrid under Mou. Would be a bit of a luxury signing