Strike

final of UCL is not an expectation for any team. Real Madrid and Barca even. Look at what happened last season. Real Madrid had a perfectly good team and did little wrong but were dumped out in a shootout. any team needs a huge slice of luck to reach the CL final and u can't just expect luck to go your way

do not be under the impression that by adding Hazard, we will play expansive attacking football overnight and start gettin bucketloads of goals. We still need 2-3 more players to reach even top 4 level. let's face it, our build up play was beyond shit last season and all we did was dump it long to Drogba - eg - Spurs semifinal where we couldn't exert pressure and then Lampard dumped long to Drogba for the first goal. Our best football was played on the counter but you can't expect us to set up a counter attacking game against majority of the premier league teams. it all depends on the pre-season. still optimistic that our ground passing, build up play will improve but to assume that it will improve is irrational

yeah. that's all true but when we face a team like wigan or qpr for example, 4-4-2 may well be useful. i am totally against di matteo's current policy where he plays only 1 striker even when we are chasing the game. example - fulham away, spurs home, wigan home, CL final...he brought on torres and played him Wide where he couldn't influence the game much. he would have been better of at CF as we were just dumping the ball in anyway

i have no idea how it happened. (or i am subconsciously trying to catch up with your post count )

Newcastle United?

Newcastle United?

Newcastle United?

yeah. tour de france, wimbledon and the British GP this weekend to keep me contented. what's our pre-season like this time? only 3 games?

Yep. 4-3-3 on the attack and 4-5-1 on the back foot. di matteo needs to get the formation right

this is boring. a month without football

we open the season with the 3rd kit :|

pre-season is de bruyne's chance because mata wont be there. he should convince di matteo that he is more than an able back up to Mata for the creative midfielder role.

yeah. i am in favour of either the 4-4-2 with sturridge and torres or even an attacking variation of 4-5-1. out with the double pivot. its time we play dynamic midfielders who influence the attack as well. i don't know how much you can look into preseason because of the unavailability of the players selected for the Olympics. di matteo may start playing a new system but things will become clear only after sturridge, mata, luiz etc come back from the Olympics

i would prefer to see us sign a player whose secondary position is Centre forward - just to give us depth - and make torres and sturridge our first choice strikers with Lukaku third choice. signing another striker - falcao, cavani etc seems a luxury

yeah. optimistic about bertrand playing a bigger role next season and todd kane getting a few games at right back as well

danny will get his chance this season. hopefully, he can reproduce his 2011 form this season. maybe be a better bet in attack than torres. who knows

ji sung park is an underrated performer. very good in the box to box role. qpr have made a bargain there

Maicon/Debuchy - Modric/Moutinho/Cabaye - Hulk/Moses

true but the problem lies in the fact that we have international players as 3rd choice for a position. a youth academy talent as 3rd for the team would be a good idea.

as i said, he has to perform next season to make his chelsea stint relevant for a few more years.

i think the jury is still out on torres. Yes, he was better under di matteo but not great. next season is his final chance to make his chelsea stint mean anything.

yeah. Sinclair is another. both were great for swansea and borini is now in the italian squad i believe. shouldn't have let go of them easily.

Not anymore

agree on that... as i said, i am not at all against this deal and coming to think of it, the Board may have thought about Todd Kane and Billy Clifford while choosing Maicon, if he does sign.

BluesMaster or SeB. Can't Separate