Strike

yeah. probably not 3-4-3. I think 4-3-3 is not an option unless Mata improves defensively. Probably continue with the 4-2-3-1 but improve over last year

Would love to see this happen. Maybe in a tough away game, 4-3-3 would not be a bad way to go. Mata, as good as he is, offers no tactical flexibility

Spurs have Paulinho-Sandro-Dembele. That is a good midfield for away games. Solid defensively. But I doubt they will offer much in terms of attacking Chelsea play only 2 classic Centre-Mids, so maybe Spurs midfield is better defensively but with de Rossi-van Ginkel/Ramires, our midfield should be beast in carrying the ball forward

I seriously doubt Wenger will break Arsenal's transfer record twice in one window

The Mirror is reporting that Chelsea are in for rumoured Liverpool target Tiago Ilori. Ilori, who represented Portugal in the U20 World Cup in Turkey this year, is a 20-year-old Centre-Back from Sporting valued at around GBP 8.5 million http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-liverpool-transfer-news-jose-2037023 Comfortable on the ball and very pacy for a CB. Could be a good prospect to consider when Terry eventually leaves.

not to mention Mata

Welcome to the Forum!

Pretty sure DDR and Alonso both won't come..Only one of them might come

Yeah. club laid off few (especially Malouda) who were on sizable wage. Shouldn't be a problem especially if transfer fee is less as reported

Daily Star is very unreliable but Alonso rumours have been on and off all summer. Wouldn't be surprised if this happens

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2013/7/6/4498984/bruma-sporting-lisbon-contract-dispute Bruma could be available on a free at the end of the month due to a contract glitch.

Negredo looks like he's off to City. Honestly at this rate, I think we'll sign Papiss Cisse on deadline day

On another note, I don't think he'll have trouble fitting in here as well. Him and Ashley Cole are big buddies and he knows the England boys from the NT. Suarez will be an unknown quantity here and things with Ivanovic will be awkward at the least. Not that it is such a big deal or that we're in for either of them. Just saying really

Watford created a tie-up with a foreign club. If more teams start doing this, English players will suffer

isn't it the same with England? Every week they hand someone new a debut cap. Just a big squad. No core team

Sky Sports said Chelsea made an approach for Cavani. They're proving to be very trustworthy in the last few months. Reporting only actual contact and not what the rags pull out of their arses

and don't take everyone and everything on the list as a firm opinion on my part. Just put up 10 alternatives.

Yeah. I got the crux of your point But current forward line is thin/not good enough for me. I would definitely look to add a forward. As good as the midfield is, the bulk of the chances fall to the forward over a season. I think Jose will sign/try to sign a forward.

I don't think he has a problem with Spaniards in general. Just had problems with the Spanish divas at Madrid

You're spot on with that. The attacking mids making runs into the box is a big part of our play but a good striker will only improve this team. edit: I don't know what's happening with the font. seems bigger

I don't know from where you get that Romeu is competing with Mikel/Ramires etc because that is not true. He's played alongside Mikel last season. Man United League Cup game and there were a few more i think. he is capable of playing as the DLP. he's played only with Mikel or Ramires alongside him (not entirely sure though) don't think he's ever played with Lampard. hence he's directly competing with Lampard To be fair, there were lot of weird combinations in midfield last season

Ancelotti approves this

As the footballing saying goes, Goals change games. It’s no coincidence that Chelsea’s last Premier League title came when the club had a striker in majestic form. Drogba’s 37 goals went a long way towards securing Ancelotti’s double. Since then Chelsea’s stock has plummeted in the League. Here’s the breakdown on how the strikers fared in the last 3 years Proportion of goals scored by strikers* 2010-11 – 30/99 – 30.3% - (TopScorer – Anelka – 16) 2011-12 – 25/112 – 22.3% (TopScorer – Lampard – 16) 2012-13 – 29/147 – 19.7% (TopScorer – Torres – 22) Comparing this with 2009-10 2009-10 – 57/142 – 40.4% (Top Scorer – Drogba – 37) Or 2004-05 – 38%, 2005-06 – 34% A good striker hides half the team’s problems. Manchester United make a living out of this cliché. Chelsea’s midfield and defence may pop up with their fair share of goals but an in-form striker up-front makes a big difference to the attack, especially in the bigger games which are often decided by slim margins. Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s chief striker at present, has scored only one winner i.e game-settling goal in 2 ½ years at the club. That came in the last game of the season against Everton in May. At the start of the summer, a world-class Striker was probably at the top of every Chelsea fan’s Summer Transfer Wishlist. Various names were discussed but 3 players stood out – Falcao, Cavani and Robert Lewandowski. All 3 with an impressive goal-scoring record, good all-round attributes and at the peak of their playing years but just 1 week into the transfer window and it looks more and more likely that none of the Big Three will come here. So, with pre-season beginning in 2 days, It maybe a good time to look past the big names and into the under-belly of the Striker market. Ten Alternative Strikers 1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – If PSG do sign Cavani, it might be worth it to put in a cheeky bid for Zlatan 2. Wayne Rooney - Ignore personality qualms and you have a great striker 3. Stefan Jovetic – He may not possess the big frame that other top strikers do but don’t let that fool you . 4. Alvaro Negredo – Scored for fun towards the end of last season. 25 in all. Bit of a Jermaine Defoe in taking shots though 5. Gonzalo Higuain – Hijacking Arsenal’s bid should be easy. Chelsea did it with Mata 6. Mario Gomez – Great poacher in his Stuttgart and early Bayern days. Available on the cheap 7. Fred. He maybe the Flavour of the Month but he did bully some of the world’s best defences 8. Roberto Soldado – Good record in La Liga and did well for Spain recently in the Confeds. 9. Burak Yilmaz – Scores goals. That should be enough 10. Jackson Martinez – Snap him up before the price balloons *Note: - Only goals scored by players playing as Centre-Forward. For eg – Sturridge’s goal against Spurs last season doesn’t count as he was playing as a winger but his goal vs Manchester United counts as he was playing as a striker Click here to view article.

Bruma seems like a good flair player. An improvement on Moses but we're fairly strong in the AM department all of a sudden with Schurrle and KDB coming in. Wouldn't mind him though. Very talented with raw pace and balance