Jase

Not sure if the team will be flying back to UK after the Asia tour because don't forget, we still got the US tour. As you pointed out, our last match in Asia is on the 25th and our first match in US is on 1st August, which is only 1 week apart and it will only cause tiredness if they fly over long distance so many times. Think the Confederations Cup lads will join up with the rest in US.

Premier League gains blocking order on illegal streams: High Court judgment forces six main UK-based ISPs to block First Row Sports

Returning to training on a Sunday? Seems unlikely. If anything, it will be Monday.

Merged with the old thread. Please use the search feature to look if there's already a same thread created.

Not Chelsea-related topic. Moving to the Football Banter section...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2365531/Roberto-Di-Matteo-returning-management-Roman-Abramovich.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-chelseamail&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=socialnet-twitter-chelseamail&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Not sure why some people keep on banging on the notion that our squad is suited for the 4-3-3 formation. Barring 2-3 players, all the other players are capable of playing 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or other formations for that matter. Moreover regarding the 4-3-3, it's not just about the midfield players we have but also the strikers. Torres is not suited to such formation. Ba can possibly function in it considering he used to play there for Newcastle on numerous times. And we still don't know if Lukaku can really play there right now. He has always played in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 at West Brom. As for him being weak against Barcelona, well, that game was never suited to him in the first place give our approach/strategy then. He did alright based on what was asked of him. Against Bayern, don't think it helped him again with a similar approach. We practically just sat back and invited pressure in that game. Hardly any pressing done from the entire team.

Sorry @Tomo. Had to merge that piece to this Emenalo thread. Didn't think it was extensive or contain enough in-depth reasons/analysis as to why you said Emenalo has done a great job. You basically only mentioned one point, which was overhauling an aging squad. Hope you understand.

More from Hazard... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10181423/Manchester-Uniteds-Wayne-Rooney-would-be-perfect-signing-for-Chelsea-claims-Eden-Hazard.html

http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/chelsea-jose-mourinho-won-new-2055845

Hazard on Mourinho, his 1st season in England and potential new signings... http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/chelsea-jose-mourinho-won-new-2055845

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAstj8v0xSg Today's Blues News. Longer version than the one NiclasCFC posted above.

That's like those BS stories saying Cavani will sign in the next 48 hours...and it never happened.

There are more pictures of the lads in the link below... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2364045/Jose-Mourinho-cone-head-Chelsea-stars-splash-pool.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

True but the thing now is, managers, coaches, football staffs, players are much more adaptable in England in regards to tactics and formations as compared to last time when people stuck rigidly to 4-4-2 and allowed Mourinho to cash in on that. The issue now is about introducting a new formation to surprise people or be one step ahead of the the opposition but establish a system(or systems) that can bring out the best in our players in an attempt to be a dominant force in England, like we were last time under Mourinho.

I don't know if people are being selective on Mata and seemingly chosen to focus more on his weaknesses rather than positives. Yes, there is no doubt that Mata's main weaknesses now are his tame physical strength and poor defensive work off the ball BUT these are aspects that he can still improve on, yet I can't understand why the way people have been talking is as if he can't do that. It's not like he has some attitude problem and shown that he can't be helped anymore! Additionally, the thought of some people saying the form Mata shown us last season was his best and he can never get better feels somewhat hilarious. Last season might arguably be his best season ever in his career but is that the best he can offer? No. What he has shown is his astonishing consistency in producing quality assists and attacking play in the final third but there is still more to his locker in that attacking play aspect. What Mata did for us last season was great especially when you consider we can't even retain possession to save our lives and constantly retreated to defend first and when he did get on the back, we saw how great it can be. Imagine if we can fix our midfield problems, keep the ball like 80% of the time in match especially against the lesser sides and be more aggressive on the ball, what can kind of crazy damage can Mata do on the opposition working with the likes of Hazard, Schurrle, Oscar, KDB etc? You have people banging about how Mourinho's return will improve this player, improve that player but when it comes to somebody like Mata, it's suddenly all negative thinking and having thought he won't get any better than what he has shown so far. Hilarious. And seriously, I don't know if people have been well and truly spoilt by watching too much of Hazard or players like him who is flashy on the ball, has the flicks and tricks that has caused some people to seemingly devalue Mata all of a sudden and this is a similar situation with Oscar. Granted Mata may not be like Hazard when he's on the ball, the ability to run at pace with the ball at oppositions' players, dribble past people etc but there seem to be an issue of people not appreciating the brilliance in simplicity sometimes.

Would like to know it in numbers rather than percentages as it can be a little bit deceiving. And surprised to see Baines is not there.

The Question: Can Juan Mata Be Chelsea’s Mesut Ozil Next Season?

No. We did not sign those players only to play in 4-2-3-1 but to be able to play various formations as Mourinho has indicated that with the signing of Schurrle. What we've basically got now is a squad that is versatile and adaptable to play in more than 1 formation and right now, we can't tell what is Jose preferred formation but we will certainly switch between a few throughout the season. Seems rather silly to say we will be returning to 4-3-3 at some point because it fits Ramires, Lampard, KDB, MvG, Mikel etc. Can agree with the former two but KDB, MvG and Mikel?! We don't even know how KDB and MvG have fitted in yet and you just jumped the gun saying they work best in 4-3-3. Similar case for Mikel. He might not have had the best time playing in a 4-2-3-1 so far but it might help him if he were to actually play beside a reliable and solid midfielder in the pivot. Not denying that Mata has his weaknesses defensively and off the ball (which he can definitely work on) but there is so much more to the issue of him going missing against Bayern, City, Juventus etc...

It doesn't matter. Looks in place...

Merged with De Rossi's thread. Don't need for a separate one if you are basically just discussing the same thing (unless you write an article).

If you are tired of waiting, you could always go search it yourself on Youtube. Not everybody is free 24/7 to search, find and be able to share it here. And we don't even know when would other fans upload it on Youtube anyway.

It was a sarcastic reply to Strike's post...

Jose Mourinho wants Didier Drogba to return to Chelsea after striker visits training ground Not sure how true is that but please, hope it doesn't happen at all! Time to move on from the past into the future with the current set of new players and Drogba left the club in the best way possible.

http://www.chelseafc.com/pre-season-article/article/3235930/title/all-about-us Gotta like that quote.