Strike

Good read. Agree with most points

Chalobah over Essien.

Klopp is a man of his word. He stayed with Mainz for 7 years, even though Mainz got relegated once in b/w. He would've built a better identity/philosophy here without necessarily winning trophies. In 1-2 years time, he could be a world beater but Dortmund's players are leaving and I think he'll fall from 'fame' if Dortmund struggle next season, which is a shame because Chelsea consider 'fame' (recent success) as a big factor in a manager

don't think it's fair to assume that Jose will not look at the youth this time. Ofcourse, if history is any indication, then he won't use de bruyne, chalobah etc and i will not argue saying he's used Varane in Real because Varane is a diamond in the rough. But with the work put in by the club to upgrade youth system and sign young promising players, i think he's going to give the youngsters a fair chance. the club obviously are working towards the goal of putting together a vibrant young team, which, in time, will take over from the spine i.e the old guard and the current crop of youngsters are a plane above the ones when Jose was here first time.

But I am not really convinced that Jose's managerial abilities are suddenly on the decline. One bad stint at Real can't make him a bad manager altogether. At Chelsea, Inter he had close relations with the players. Lampard, Terry and a few others still call him 'boss' years after he's left. You have to look at the Real Madrid dressing room and say, there's something seriously wrong there. He has been out-thought at times but overall, i'll put Madrid down as a mixed bag. Last season's 100 point haul and La Liga win seems to be forgotten over this season's problems and also, Champions League is an intense competition in the later stages and in the past 3 years, I feel Jose has been quite unlucky not to have reached atleast one final. I think he's the best manager for the job. A lack of real options may be the main reason for it but I'm hoping he can return to the club and go about business like it's 2005. A rough target over 2 years - Bring Chelsea upto PL Title Race level, few good cup runs (1-2 trophies) and integrate the youngsters. The last one - integrating youth - is something he failed to do last time around but he has the talent now compared to Sinclair, Sahar and Hutchinson back then and i am hoping that he gives them a fair chance i.e Chalobah over Essien, Lukaku over Ba etc.

Jose Mourinho's first Press Conference on his return : "Frank has agreed a new contract" Emotionally speaking, that would be incredible

Falcao - di Maria - Moutinho - Pepe Maybe - Yes - Yes - No

He was pinging fantastic through balls to Srna during the games vs chelsea. Plus, I don't remember him losing out in a challenge in the games

Genius from Jose. Hardly anyone talking about Real's exit . . .

BUMP.Looking forward to some of the reasons. I went for Modric - obvious and Diego Lopez - Looks like a good backup keeper who'll do well when asked to step up

Luka Modric - DLP Diego Lopez - To replace Hilario and Trollbull

I prefer Lampard's technique though. Blast it. For instance, if Hazard get's it wrong like vs Nordsjaelland, then it's an easy save for the keeper but in Lampard's case, the power of the penalty alone is enough sometimes even if he get's his direction wrong Lampard vs Neuer - Neuer positioned himself well but it was past him before he could react

Agree with Bale. Can't point to 'inconsistency' this season. He's been unreal. As for Rio, The big club factor helped Ferdinand. Performance for a big club > similar performance for a small club. Ashley Williams and Jagielka had good seasons but Rio is under the spot-light at United.

true but Nastasic? Jagielka? Ashley Williams? have all had good seasons. consistently better than Rio imo

Yes. I agree. Adding Lukaku and de Bruyne will not drastically improve our squad. I will focus on Lukaku. He will add that bit of power and depth up-front but I really think we need another striker, one who can take half-chances and drag us out of tricky situations. Chelsea have always relied on a bulk of the goals from midfield but it was no coincidence we won the league when Drogba got 29 league goals in 09/10. he scored 6 goals vs Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal that season and we didn't drop a single point vs those 3 teams. as for who we bring in; Falcao will be a big statement of intent but I would have Lukaku and Lewandowski sharing striker duties with Ba as the impact sub. That would be a dream

It's not competitive football doesn't mean that we will play Ake, Piazon, Feruz in it. Some of the seniors will be indulged in it and it will become a nuisance to the team. Regarding your points - All true but look at the degree to which we have to improve we are what 20+ points off the top now? there's a lot of work to be done to the squad to challenge for the title. That kind of work, unless Mourinho does come, is near impossible imo but we will progress.

Rio F***in Ferdinand in the Team of The Year? I give up......

That is true. We won't turn into f****in Liverpool but it slows our transition period down. In the case of Falcao, Modric etc, I don't think ALL of the big players will come tempted by money. A few might view the PL as a step-up while others might be aiming for first-team football but I don't think ALL the big-name players can be tempted by money if we don't qualify for CL, we will be in the Thursday night freakshow again and that is worse because Thursday-Sunday is a lesser gap than Tuesday-Saturday or Wednesday-Sunday. Plus, EL is a bunch of meaningless games compared to CL. In the view of our players; Out in CL groups this year. No CL next year and some star players will be thinking of moving if we don't win anything next year as well - *cough**Eden Hazard**cough* I get your wider point. We won't slip down to midtable or anything but Fergie will be around 2-3 years and he'll be looking to keep winning league titles till then btw; ignore the conspiracy theory. I was clearly on something

Tbf Oscar's first touch was very frustrating.

It must kill the players. So near yet so far

This weekend makes up for last Sunday

Giggs misses. Damn it! That would've eased a lot of nerves

Cech was bored lol. No shot on target in the first half

Already finished Rubin!