Strike

this is turning into a frank lampard discussion to get back on topic,if we are in the market for a backup attacker, i think having someone with prem league experience like dembele or moses is better than getting an expensive foreign talent like jovetic at the moment

while it is true that we need a genuine back up to mata, i think kdb will fit just fine for now. in the event that he is sent out on loan, hazard and lampard are more than capable of givin mata cover. stefan jovetic is really a luxury atm.

he was pretty vocal about his displeasure, i am worried he is gone for good even alex is not around now. did i miss a memo?

Gregory van der wiel. enough said

where would you have him go? newcastle, shalke or somewhere else?

i think they are letting go of both salomon kalou has worked his ass off everytime he has been in a blue shirt. its true he makes stupid errors sometimes like valencia away but i dont fault him for the hardwork he puts in. he has chipped in with 60 goals as well but he was always a back up and nothing more than that. he isn't great with the ball and breaks up promising counters with bad passes or his hopeless shooting but at the end of it all, i wish him the best wherever he ends up. always puts in 110%

lacks creativity tbh. a kagawa or a modric instead of raul would have been perfect. now the onus is on mata to find the attackers but the problems he is an attacking position himself. this will force him to drop deep more often and we end up with only 3 genuine attackers 2 of whom will be on the wings and only one through the centre. i hope our attacks are predominantly through the centre next season as dumping in from defenders wont work without drogba

frank will be the first choice for this season atleast. whether we like it or not. so i would prefer ramires over mikel alongside him because that way we get a different dimension to our attack and an extra option for mata to pick out while at the same time, he has the stamina and pace to recover. de bruyne should be incorporated into the first team this season and from 2013 or 14 he can become the first choice if he can prove his worth

we need another forward - backup. an attacker who plays different positions eg - dembele, moses, hoilett. next season will be hectic as hell and backups will be needed and they should be better than kalouda .. de bruyne will plug the benayoun position, marin will be backup to hazard on the left. we need another player who will play forward and wing . that way lukaku can be sent on loan. lukaku on loan for a season and he will be ready i think for the 2013-14 season and this backup winger will fill the sturridge role freeing sturridge up to be played at his favored ST role and we do need a modric-esque player in the midfield. maybe de bruyne will fit that role but our next signing should either be cabaye/moutinho or dembele/moses

suspect defensively. would need a defensive mid or box to box next to him. ramires and de bruyne somewhere down the line?

maybe so. but his development will be hindered by his limited game time even i am not too excited about hulk but i like his strengths - he's big he's strong he's fast. cant go too wrong with that

how much longer do you see frank in a regular starting role? i say one more season tops

Gary Cahill and David Luiz as our first choice central defensive pairing down the line? would be good if luiz continues his mature play of late

as KV mentioned, Sturridge as backup striker is a good idea. he can also play in the wings if needed. however, if we do sign hulk, i can understand if he wants to leave but we have to do everything to keep him here. there is no guarantee that torres will start firing next season so sturridge, lukaku and hulk will all be handy

the reason hulk is being pursued over a much much cheaper dzagoev is position.. AD predominantly plays CAM and we have mata already there with hazard and kdb both capable of playing there not to mention Lamps (if needed) While we do have Ramires and Sturridge on the right wing, sturridge is gonna be ST and ramires will move back to a B2B CM i think. Hulk is a better positional fit apart from his pace, power, strength

it's over. Kalou is gone, cap. It is the new Chelsea now. Hazard Mata Hulk Marin sturridge ramires de bruyne

i would much rather keep him here than loan him to a premship team. unless we retain benayoun, we dont have a back-up for mata at CAM and given how mata's stamina is questioned and our hectic schedule for next season, he would get game-time here

In the midst of a glorious period in Chelsea history, the fact that Roberto di Matteo is still “interim” manager casts a dark shadow over the club. Given our recent managerial roundabout and the subsequent calls for stability, I am surprised that as of now, we have no permanent manager The plan for the summer – 1. Sign wingers – check 2. Sell dead wood – check 3. Send-off Drogba – check 4. Hire manager – TBA Even though the transfer window isn’t officially open yet, Chelsea have made waves in the market snapping up highly sought-after Belgian attacker Eden Hazard and have also added German winger Marko Marin to the side. The Chelsea team, all of a sudden, looks devastating in attack now and with the impending arrival of Hulk it can only get better. While I agree with the club’s decisions on the transfer market, I feel that this Abramovich-fuelled pursuit for Pep Guardiola is pointless. Sure, Pep is a great manager but getting him here is a very risky move given that he has managed only Barca so far Roberto di Matteo’s record as interim manager of Chelsea P W D L W% 21 13 5 3 62 I wouldn’t read too much into the 3 losses because 2 of them came with a second string team when he had already sacrificed the Premier League for the Champions League. His record is fantastic given the team he had at his disposal and as Sloth mentioned, di Matteo’s abilities are underrated. He had to juggle with his defenders getting suspended, injured and also with a mediocre attack at best. He got his tactics spot on in most of the games – especially in the Champions League. When we had to attack against Napoli, he put out a very attacking side with Ramires Mata Sturridge and Drogba all piling forward. At Benfica, he put out a cautious counter-attacking side and nicked a valuable away goal. He picked muscle over pace in the semifinal ties and once again, he was spot on. Sure, he got lucky with the Messi and Robben penalty misses but any team has to ride its luck in order to win the Champions League. Moreover, di Matteo (and Eddie Newton for that matter) is a Blue blood and I feel THAT is the biggest advantage of hiring Roberto. He knows the club inside out and has a connection with the current crop of players. He has shown that he isn’t afraid to take a leap of faith - While AVB didn’t trust young left-back Ryan Bertrand to play an FA Cup game, di Matteo played him at the Emirates (where he was clearly the MotM) and in the Champions League Final as well. The same goes to Salomon Kalou and Jose Bosingwa who put in inspired performances at a crucial stage of the season and all because di Matteo trusted them to step up. The only other candidate I would consider for the managerial position is Jose Mourinho and it is ironic how Jose and Roberto are poles apart in their management style. Where Jose is a maverick who engages in mind games, di Matteo is calmness personified responding to tricky questions from the press with generic responses. Mourinho, with his swagger of arrogance is a walking double-edged sword as his bold statements could easily backfire while di Matteo carries on with his job without the additional pressure of the press. You might say there are similarities in the way their respective teams play but I think judging di Matteo’s style of play now is unfair as Chelsea are on the brink of an overhaul. Only if di Matteo (deservedly) retains his managerial position for next season, you can draw comparisons between his team and Jose’s back-to-back title winning teams. The defensive style of play is the only criticism against di Matteo. While it is true that Chelsea did play defensive football at times, holding that against di Matteo is harsh. His previous team West Brom played vibrant attacking football (came back from 2-0 down to 2-2 at Old Trafford) and to be fair, I don't think any team would go to the Nou Camp orThe Allianz Arena and try to attack, that too with the 2011-12 Chelsea squad. Next season, with Hazard and Hulk replacing Kalouda, I am sure di Matteo will turn us into an attacking force again. The future looks bright for Chelsea Football Club and hopefully with di Matteo in charge, the Italian Job can continue Click here to view the article

Even Lampard. Neuer almost knew that Lampard was gonna put it there but the power in the penalty - absolutely brilliant. Just smashed it in

i think a box to box like Ramires will be good alongside a creative deep player - Lampard or Moutinho/Cabaye. Mikel and Fellaini is too negative imo. we have only 4 attackers then, much like this season

The signings made so far have been fantastic. Good to see that we arent just spending truckloads on expensive attackers. Marin and de bruyne are good additions to the squad as well. The new manager will have a balanced team to work with if we get hulk and dembele/moses now. Di matteo wouldnt have to chnge much. Just attack a bit more and reduce the long balls from defens to attack

Yeah, would take moses or dembele over willian. We need quality backup attackers unlike kalouda in the past. Willian will want a starting role and in the midst of hazard hulk marin mata,i dont think he wil start oftn

If the club plugs the backup attacker role with either moses hoilett or dembele AND signs a creative mid like moutinho or cabaye , this will turn out to be the perfect summer imo

benayoun is a good midfielder to have in the squad. he links up the mid and the attack brilliantly and it was painfully obvious through out the season that chelsea have a one dimensional attack - dump it long from the CB's or the Fullbacks. even when Mata got the ball in the space between the opposition defence and midfield, he did not have enough options to use. Kalou is hardly the player you would spread the ball to on the wings and drogba was usually marked by opposition defenders. lampard and mikel rarely involved themselves in attack. maybe ramires was the only option that would be open to him often and that has to change next season i say move ramires to the double pivot rather than have him on the bench behind hulk. ramires will give us a lot more going forward than mikel but at the same time is not a defensive liability. and the attack will be much better when mata has hazard, hulk, ramires and torres as options to look to next season where does yossi fit in all this? benayoun is the perfect backup to mata. mata, as we know, can't be asked to play 50 games in a season. he's no ramires. and whenever mata sat out last season (arsenal, newc, liverpool), we were clueless in attack. so, we need a good rotation option to mata in case he is injured/suspended/rested and i can't think of a better option than benayoun. he is good, underrated and would agree to 20-30 games in a season, something similar to the season he had at arsenal. de bruyne and marin will be viable options but banking on them to come good instantly is insane. new signings need time to adapt and i think benayoun should be kept around atleast until de bruyne is settled here.

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