Chelsea Legend 11

Aston Villa - 11 Lionel Messi's right foot - 12

Everyday you say something more outlandish than the day before. 'Hazard lacks the natural instincts of an attacking midfielder'???? Try this, he is the prototypical attacking midfielder! spend some time watching this guy, his idol play the 10. The reason Hazard isn't our 10 has more to do with the demand Jose puts on the position.

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2014-15/feb/040215-juan-cuadrado-can-light-up-barclays-premier-league.html

really think Oscar gets a bad rap around here undeservedly. He is a tireless competitor who makes it hard on the opponent to play out from the back... Furthermore 6 goals in 19 games is about 1 in 3 for a guy that doesn't take penalties in the 10 role that is pretty good production especially when coupled with 7 assists. He's a good player for us because when he's not scoring he's still working for the team. But I digress... Anyways on Schurrle and Cuadrado, I think what we have here is a case where we couldn't bring in a direct replacement for Schurrle in terms of style(Walcott, Sanchez, Reus etc.) especially for a direct swap in fee, so what we've done is added more flair to the squad. Granted you are right we will be less balanced since we lose diversity but at the same time we will add more pace and guile. I don't see the harm in attempting it either since clearly Schurrle wasn't and hasn't worked. If Cuadrado can be the same unpredictable dribbling threat as Hazard is on the left flank it will present all sorts of problems for defenses and also open up more space in the middle for Costa, Fabregas and Oscar. Not to mention when we overload one area of the pitch with Hazard and Cuadrado working in tandem against one side of the defense. Could be deadly. Have some faith, Jose loved Schurrle he clearly went for Cuadrado because he feels it makes us better.... I trust Jose.

We have more than enough goals in the side when you look deeper into the squad. We have the most in the league and also the most in CL.... Why do we have more goals/ Because we are a threat from set pieces and we have the ability to break down teams that sit deep. Really wish people would stop comparing what other teams have as a way to show why we're deficient. City, with all the goals they have in the side illegally won the title last year by 4pts... We don't have similar systems to the other teams out there, we are a lot more balanced and adaptable to many situations. Its why many have tipped us for the title and will not rule us out in the champions league. Cuadrado will help us be more successful when trying to break teams down.

If you're gonna include Giroud might as well include Remy

I really don't care if they score 10 so long as we score 11. Remy deserves another start to continue on from an impressive showing. Courtois Brana Zouma Terry Luis(Azpi looked dodgy) Matic Fab(if fit) Ramires Willian Hazard Remy

I like that comparison. Makes sense to me.

We'll see! I'm neither here nor there on Cuadrado, I haven't seen enough to say with real definitiveness whether he will be a flop or a success. What I do know is that neither Salah or Schurrle have given us enough from that RW slot and that even if we are just shuffling the decks its a good thing. It wasn't working... Perhaps Cuadrado comes in and its the same as Schurrle? highly likely, does that make us better or worse? neither if you ask me. If he can't adapt then all we've done is switch out one dud in hopes that the bloke we bring in can gel with the team. The worst thing you can do when clearly something isn't working is not try and change it.

So true. People forget that Schurrle was also rarely used in his first season at Chelsea and was told he needs to get in better shape to play for Jose. I think the World Cup has robbed him of his proper fitness levels but having said that he hasn't really ever shown he has the workrate to perform at this club.

When you are the only creative conduit on a team this happens. In a team where we have creativity in the middle and opposite flank and can't see a scenario where Cuadrado's exploits will lead to bad decisions. Having said that I can't understand why you'd prefer Schurrle whose conversion rate even before he came to Chelsea was amongst the worst in Europe and his technique is next to non-existent. He is decent once every 4 games and that's not enough for a team like Chelsea. If Cuadrado can come in, and yes dribble dozens of people, give us natural width(which we haven't had with any of Schurrle, Salah and Willian) and open up space for others as a result thenthis ends up being a fantastic signing. Many are crying out for end product, I'm not! I want a winger who can utilize the touch line and get crosses in, he is very different to Willian in that respect. You say he's worse than Schurrle and you haven't even seen him in our set up? That to me is poor for a poster like you, Barbara. It all comes down to fit, you haven't even addressed what Schurrle brought to the team and countered that with what Cuadrado can; that's at least the bare minimum before you make a statement like that. What do we need from our RW? How do we deploy our right winger? What problems are we experiencing in the RW that make both Salah and Schurrle expendable? And if Willian actually dribbled people would he be a bad player? (I don't even think Willian is a bad player for us) Yes Schurrle is different to both Willian and Cuadrado but that doesn't mean he's a better fit for the team. He was actually quite poor and inconsistent and often didn't look like he understood what the team was trying to achieve. Regardless of his skill set, if he can't play within the team philosophy what value does he carry? Mata was a brilliant player for us and was moved for the exact same reason as Schurrle was... They don't work in a Jose team. We have less competitions to be involved in so the need for another winger, a la Salah, is less. Now that spot is reserved for the youth like it should be.

Doesn't really matter now though does it? We can't afford to pay that for Sterling

So sick of hearing "he's just another Willian" We're 1st! Willian has been good in our system, he just needs more end product. What we're looking for is for someone to come in and sustain our level of football and inject some dynamism. If he's like Willian, which I don't think he is, its a good thing when we're looking for sustainability.

I call that the wing. We played 4-3-3 if you ask me.

really? When?

Both could be under threat. Willian hasn't really ever played 10 for us and Cuadrado has is predominantly a right winger so its easy to see how this can play out.

Do you really think either Sterling, Shaw or Stones will be made available at a decent price? Shaw went for 30m and 100k/wk... Sterling is in dispute with the Scouse right now over fee, he will almost assuredly go for no less than 40m if he's made available.

I think most of you here are missing a key component in all of this, what did Bertrand want? Its clear he wasn't happy with the club and didn't want to play for Chelsea anymore. Southampton have given him a chance to play regularly and he's excelled, he was clearly fed up with waiting and even claimed he was lied to by the club. I wish him nothing but the best, he was never gonna sign on again so 10m for a player who was likely off isn't awful.

We've already done a variation of this. its basically 3-5-2 instead of 3 CB's I have Matic in the Libero role.

Exactly. I also like the tactical options Jose has at his disposal now too. Cuadrado provides proper width, if you put him at wingback and Willian at RW you have loads of pace and technique to overload the right side of the attacking 3rd.

4

Cuadrado whoa, Cuadrado whoa! He's Chelsea's 74! He'll bring you out of bore!

I'm talking about him numbers for the rest of the season with us.

6 goals all comps

Done deal announced on Weekend Review