Jase

Never mind that he left after only 1 1/2 years at the club, I feel it's a shame that he (or we) didn't win anything during his time here. He's yet to win anything at club level.

Never said Ake hasn't done well for us because he has. But you can't deny that he's still learning. The main point, however, is that I was only trying to explain why Mourinho brought on Cahill rather than Ake to nullify Lampard. Wasn't talking about the overall ability of either Ake or Cahill.

Well, as long as we win. It doesn't matter. But if we don't.....

And Mourinho picked Zouma against City because he was our fastest defender. Doubt he would drop him now with Villa having some speed merchants of their own, even if they are average.

Was talking about the match alone and why Mourinho did what he did, not their capabilities as a DM in a broader sense.

Surprised Daily Mail hasn't come out with the story - 'Shocker! Cesc Fabregas wants to join Mohamed Salah at Fiorentina!'...

Bayern Munich vs Schalke tonight. RDM goes back to Munich and he faces Guardiola again. An intriguing game.

Locking this thread. Discuss all transfer related matters in here - http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/15742-summer-transfer-window-likely-ins-and-outs/page-95OR the General Transfer Thread.

Was silly with so many going bonkers over a shirt number.

OR maybe, too many here have believed the BS from Di Marzio rather easily...

Shocked to see Bertrand leave in this window but on the other hand, happy for him. Deserved the playing time he's been getting there. Will always be remembered and appreciated, especially after Munich. Will never understand why he's never been the chance. Should have gotten that LB spot. Always put in solid performances for us, at least 8/10 in every game. Only had 1 bad game for us - against Shakhtar at the Bridge. Even then, he had to defend the whole left flank by himself. Oh well. All the best at Southampton!

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/02/cuadrado-signs-.html He'll be wearing No 23. Confirmed.

Has joined Southampton permanently...

Message from Schurrle's GF... + Azpi and Fabregas... http://instagram.com/p/ynUW8MvT8B/ Thank you for the memories @andreschuerrle you'll be missed! Good luck with your new club, I know you'll do well! #ForverBlue #chelseafc #cfc #ktbffh #wearechelsea

Waiting for the official confirmation.......

Think some people might want to actually watch the City goal again. Yes, Hazard kept the ball in but as one can see from the image above, it was an extremely close call and with things playing out so quickly, it's almost impossible for the linesman to see Hazard actually managed to retain the ball in play. These tight decisions can go either way. Blaming the referee is a tad harsh here. If we really want to blame someone or people, then we need to look at ourselves. After City took the throw-in, we had actually won the ball back (Azpi regained possession from Navas) but then Matic pathetically tried to force a pass when two City players were in front him and because of that, we gave away the ball stupidly. Once that happened, it was a catalogue of errors from one player to another - Matic, Azpi, Courtois, Ramires etc as City just passed around us. The defending for the goal was abysmal.

Unconvinced about Cuadrado but he should be fun to watch, one way or another.

His experience. Mourinho used him to mark Lampard. Ake may be able to play as DM but lacks the know-how and playing him is more risky against someone as experienced as Lampard.

Never said Fabregas doesn't press but compare to Oscar and Willian at their best, he's nowhere near as good as them especially in the manner that Mourinho wants from the No.10. Also, I mentioned Mikel (with Matic) previously because Mourinho has always played the two behind Fabregas as the DM and allowed the latter to play a freer role attacking wise but defensive wise, we have tended to suffer a bit from that.

Gutted to see him leave. Top player, top lad and can see he really loves playing for the club. Huge shame things didn't work out. Scored some really big goals and some fine ones too - Manchester City (twice), Arsenal, PSG, Fulham, Stoke and Burnley. Thanks for the memories and all the best at Wolfsburg.

And he scored one against us 3 seasons ago...

Gary Cahill fighting for Chelsea future as Real Madrid's Raphael Varane emerges on the radar again Luckily, that new contract hasn't been signed yet...

Think we could easily point out games where Oscar and Fabregas succeeded and failed in the No.10 role. With Oscar, he has proven that he can do the job in that position under Mourinho since last season. Just needs a bit more consistency. As for Fabregas, well, I'll remain unconvinced in him playing in that position until he's been given a run there and see how he performs because there have been matches where he did well and not so well.