Strike

Spawned by tribalfootball? Complete BS then

He had a good run at Centre Back. Average at Right Back.

Mata at CAM is a double-edged sword. He is our best player. CAM is his best position but ironically, it poses a problem. His lack of leg-work in midfield is a big problem for the midfielders behind him. With a better pivot this should be no problem, but I'd like to see Mourinho take the bold step and take off Mata during the game when Chelsea are leading. Oscar or anyone else at CAM will be better defensively. When opponents start attacks from the back, Oscar will put much more pressure on the defenders than Mata and this will lead to long-balls/clearances or delay the attack. Back then, Mourinho used the more compact 4-3-3 where the midfield 3 would all put a shift in. Now I think 4-2-3-1 is the way we will go. Jose used this at Real as well. Mata in the hole behind the striker. His defensive contribution is next to nothing but he will be a definite starter no doubt. Jose will know that Mata had a great season and was Chelsea's best player

He has one bad game in the final and the rest of the season becomes irrelevant. Nat had a very good season, initially as DM and then as the season progressed, he got forward a lot more. I wouldn't say any of his skills as a centre midfielder has reached peak level and I certainly don't think he's ready to be an out and out starter at Chelsea. Another loan is a logical option, maybe an aggressive one in the Premier League club like Hull, Sunderland, Villa where he can grow into a midfield role. This way, Chalobah can return next year with a full PL season under his belt and can compete with Essien(if not sold yet) and Mikel for the DM slot

doesn't take away from the fact that he's gone off to Monaco for reasons outside of football

^ What Shogun posted.. have the dates for the semi and the final been announced?

Difference in quality. Cavani, di Maria etc will produce the goods faster than Lukaku, de Bruyne. They are already in their peak, so no question of 'developing' any skill. They'll cost a fair bit more and I would like to see the club incorporate some of the youngsters atleast as rotation option but they will go for instant success i feel.

Would you sign 3-4 world class players and presumably challenge for the title next season or would you push de bruyne, lukaku and go through another transition season? Almost everyone would pick the former.

Everyone points to his great record of escaping relegation but no-one notices that since 2009, he hasn't made any real progress in Wigan. A good end to the season cannot take away the average work done in the other 2/3rds of the year

Yeah. And Juan Mata - unarguably our best player works best as a CAM, so 4-2-3-1 is here to stay.

Modric would shine in a midfield 3. Don't think he can pull off the leg-work (tracking back, cutting out angles, tackling, intercept) needed to operate in a 2-man pivot

This is wrong on so many levels. if Jose preferred Essien why play him out of position in so few games in a season? He would be starting in the pivot alongside Alonso, but he preferred Khedira there

A problem with continously buying young players is that each player needs a transition time before hitting peak performance level. That is lesser in the case of 24-28

and Ferreira. don't forget ferreira. that's basically his job

Yeah and I'd happily take 25mil for Ramires and replace him with a proper DM - de Rossi, Capoue, Gonalons or Matuidi

Disagree. Player attachment is one thing but blatantly rejecting big offers for players like Ramires and Ivanovic etc is stupid. No harm considering them. But I say nothing about Luiz or any of the other core players. Only players we can manage without

No. Napoli will deteriorate no doubt but Inter, AC, Fiorentina will be heavy competition for the two CL spots. (Juve is a given) Also depends on whether they can keep hold of Lamela etc

Then don't claim recognition

You'd deserve it if you hadn't created about a dozen transfer threads.

I think the spine of the 'new' team is yet to emerge but that doesn't mean it's not there. Cech,Azpilicueta, Luiz, Mata, Hazard are increasingly becoming part of that new spine and with 1 or 2 good additions (especially CM), the core team should be fine.

I absolutely despise these 'pattern' pics but the thought of this one makes me tingle

ha! yeah. missed quite a few chances but was very calm when the ball deflected to him in the 89th

Maybe you should've bolded and that part in the OP. Bold and size 48

The USA tournament was completely unnecessary. Chelsea have been to the US twice in the last year, so brand promotion is hardly the concern there. I hope the manager is smart and rotates the squad and includes a LOT of youngsters in the team