Jype

Benfica have a title deciding match against Porto only three days before the final, they can't afford to lose it with the gap only four points between the clubs.

Fuck, I wish some things could be unseen.

A special goal from a special player.

A great match and a great result. Key players got some rest and the ones on the pitch didn't really have to do too much. No injuries and no suspensions, what's not to be happy about? Luiz my man of the match, a sublime goal to finish off a solid performance. Amsterdam! I envy those who can make it to the final, be sure to make it a good one for the rest of us who can't get there!

Oh how I wish I had the money to go to Amsterdam for the final. Great city, an even greater occasion.

That Luiz goal was one to challenge Oscar v Juventus. There, I said it.

What a run by Hazard leading to the goal.

Sure did.

I'm out of words.

Oh fuck off, always have to make it hard for ourselves.

Unfortunately not: @premierleague: Howard Webb has been appointed referee for Manchester United v Chelsea on 05/05/13. #MUNCHE #BPL Oh well, at least it's not Chris Foy.

It's Howard Webb...

Fair enough, but I can't see us selling him on the cheap and judging by his days at Lille, Hazard doesn't struck me as a guy who would weasel his way out of a contract by blackmailing the club into selling him for below his market value. If there's no one willing to pay enough for him, then he stays at least until 2016 or even longer if he at some point pens a new contract with a couple of additional years in order to get a raise.

That's because an offer of £80m appeared on their table. If we too can keep Hazard for like four years and then sell him for £80m, I'm all for it. Can't see that happening though.

Good lineup. Should things be easy, Mata and Oscar can sit on the bench for the whole match and stay fresh for the weekend but it's good to have the firepower on the bench if needed.

Signing of the season: Eden Hazard Was there ever any doubt after the young Belgian signed the contract? Similar impact to what Mata had on the team last year and pretty identical stats too. Not that it matters much what the goals are like but Hazard has been scoring some beauties. Expecting even bigger things from this lad next year when the team is hopefully managed by someone better than Rafael Benitez and when Eden is fully settled in the team and has learnt the language too. Scary to think how good this bunch of players will be within the next five years if we can just hang onto them and why wouldn't we, after all Chelsea are not a selling club. Best value for money: Cesar Azpilicueta With Eden Hazard being one of the most expensive players the club has ever bought, one can't possibly name him as the best value signing no matter how good he's been, especially when our season has been a disappointment. Azpilicueta however has been a great player and cheap too, how often does a club like Chelsea get a regular first team player for a mere 7 million? Having become a full Spanish international after the transfer I bet his value is now around 15 million if we were to sell him, which I'm sure we don't because this one is so good. Can see Azpilicueta staying at the club for a long time. Only way I can see him leave is if at some point of his career he wishes to return to Spain and the big clubs come calling but other than that I can see him sticking with us. Could have done better: Victor Moses Inconsistent performances from the Nigerian in his first season at the club. Sometimes he shows glimpses of the player he could become but other times he just seems hopeless. This inconsistency was a thing well known from his days at Wigan and to be fair one couldn't honestly expect to get a 22-year-old homegrown player with skills like Messi for only £10m. Good squad player and has done well to fill the boots of Kalou and Malouda but there's still a lot of work to be done if he wants to be a regular at a club challenging for silverware season after season. Consistency improves with age but considering how well the other new young players, some even younger than Moses, have done in their first season at the club Moses has a long way to go before he gets to their level. Similarly to Kalou, I can see Moses staying at the club for quite a long time and being a good squad player who won't complain with the lack of playing time if there are better players than him playing ahead of him. In the end Kalou never improved but it remains to be seen whether or not Moses can fulfill his potential and be the player we all know he can be if everything works out the way we want. No hope: Marko Marin Another gamble of a signing last year but sadly this one didn't work out at all. I had such high expectations for young Marko after seeing him play well in the Bundesliga and for Germany some time ago but I guess his career at Chelsea was over before it even properly began when the club signed Eden Hazard only a month after signing the former German international. Had we not won the Champions League and therefore signed Hazard, Oscar etc. things could have worked out better for Marin but I'm not complaining. Marin wasn't an expensive signing nor are his wages too high so I wouldn't expect any trouble in moving him on this summer. Great thread, @manpe!

Now that's just stupid thinking. Out of Falcao's 49 league goals for Atletico over the two seasons, 13 are penalties. And how many of those penalties were fouls on Falcao himself in a position he would have most likely scored a goal? With the way Atletico play, I bet it's more than half. Also, it's worth saying that Falcao rarely misses his penalties so that's got to count for something too? For me, Falcao is probably the best finisher in the world right now. As for Lewandowski, I too would prefer him over Falcao at the moment for many reasons. Firstly the price, much cheaper than Falcao because of the situation with the contract. Secondly Lewandowski is younger than Falcao, not that it matters much with Falcao only 27 years old himself. Last and most important, Lewandowski would in my humble opinion suit our team better than Falcao at the moment. He has experience of playing in a similar team to the one we are trying to build right now whereas Falcao is currently playing in a team built only for his strengths. Would be very happy to get either of them this summer but I think Falcao would be the more realistic of the two. Because of the high asking price, there aren't that many clubs after Falcao than there are after Lewandowski. From what I know Lewandowski would most likely choose Bayern or Manchester United ahead of us if he had the choice but after many years of scouting and trying to buy him Falcao would probably choose us over any other suitors. All in all, Lewandowski would definitely be better value for money but getting his signature would be much harder than getting Falcao's. For once, let the new manager decide who he wants to bring in and whoever that is, I'm happy. Would be happy simply recalling Lukaku and not buying anyone too.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, isn't it? Bertrand and Shaw are both solid full-backs with lots of potential to improve so why always compare the two? Personally I would've preferred if Cole had left after this season and be replaced with Shaw, leaving us with these two young English players Shaw and Bertrand rotating at LB but I guess that plan could well be delayed for a year with Cole's new contract running up in 2014. At the moment however, I wouldn't be taking Shaw over Bertrand. Not because I don't rate Shaw as highly as I do Bertrand but because the club needs stability and homegrown players. If we're going after Shaw this summer, we'd be better of loaning him back to Southampton for another year and then get him back once Cole leaves but getting rid of Bertrand and having Shaw as a backup till Ashley finally moves on would be nothing but a pointless short term solution and expensive too.

:blue scalf: :blue scalf: :blue scalf:

It's what they do because that's what sells papers. Especially now that Mourinho is likely to return, they start linking everyone and their dog with a move to Chelsea because that's what people want to read about. Also, whether or not the interest is real, being linked with nearly every quality player on the planet is bad PR for Chelsea because people have even more reason to dislike the club and the way it is run so it's pretty normal for them to be writing that stuff with their agenda and all. "Oh look, Chelsea are buying three more £50m strikers. Abramovich trying to buy them the title again after failing miserably this season" and so on. When most people already have a low opinion of the club, they find it easy to believe such stories but with any other club they just disregard the rumours and call it the usual media bullshit.

Emenalo doing his job brilliantly once again by scouting the unknown talent. Maybe the club should consider giving him a raise.

Pretty much what I was saying the other day, good to see other noticing it too. Probably one of the few things Benitez has gotten right during his time at the club.

Emenalo is also the man who convinced Abramovich to hire Rafa. Just saying...Also, anyone could have (and did) spotted the quality of the players you mentioned. By the time Chelsea bought them they were already on everyone's radar so giving Emenalo credit for actually getting them on board is ridiculous. Sure, he might have played a role in the negotiations but considering the amount of money spent on those players, around 100 million pounds if I'm not mistaken, he didn't really do his job very well. Had he gotten players like that for cheap before they made it big time, he would be getting more credit but playing real life Football Manager and buying the best talent in the world by outspending other teams isn't really that hard. De Bruyne and Courtois on the other hand have been good signings and cheap too, I'll give him that. What on earth has Michael Emenalo ever done to get so high up the food chain at a club like Chelsea? No footballing merits gained by coaching U13 girls so it must be something else. Being friends with Roman shouldn't really qualify and if his incompetence is standing in the way of the club going forward then he should be removed from his position, simple as that. With the sacking of Di Matteo, Roman showed that you can't be too sensitive when running a football club so now's his time to make some sacrifices for the good of the club as well.

Hazard involved in 6 of the 10 goals as either the goalscorer or having provided the assist. Also, his goals against Sparta and Man United should definitely be up there. Not bad.

PSG rumoured to be after Benitez if Ancelotti leaves. Mourinho -> Chelsea Ancelotti -> Real Madrid Benitez -> PSG Pellegrini -> Man City Mancini = fucked One can only hope.