Chelsea Legend 11

You do realize Blind played LWB for Van Gaal in the biggest tournament in football right? Its perhaps the reason why he was acquired.

You mean the guy Van Gaal ordered to go train on his own because he's out of shape? Ya... Not so sure about that one. He's injured now but before that he couldn't even train with the main group. He has potential, nothing more.

Couldn't be further from the truth. Those clubs are huge because they win and have been winning for a long time! Has nothing to do with the homegrown quota. Barcelona for instance have an incredibly rich DUTCH tradition! They also have a rich BRAZILIAN tradition, that's not HG that's global. Real Madrid? Perhaps in the 30's and 40's but today they are getting killed for not having a lot of HG talent which is why they paid an arm and a leg to get Isco and Illaramendi two years ago. What people who spew this tradition tripe fail to realize is the game is GLOBAL now and its grown beyond the borders of the borough or city or country it originated from. In order to grow the club further we need to continue to win and buy talent. In a sense it IS like Football Manager in that the winning and players you acquire make you a bigger club. No different here. If Chelsea put a team out like this: Hart, Cahill, Johnson, Baines, Azpilicueta, Barkley, Matic, Lallana, OX, Willian, Sturridge they would be popular amongst the local supporters but definitely NOT a Global brand capable of grabbing the attention of a kid who loves football in Sweden. This is what football is about now, beyond the border marketing and growth. Its why they do preseason tours at every corner of the globe.

He'd have to be acquired on a free. If Lallana was 27m and Shaw 30m, I don't even want to think what Barkley will cost...

Quoted for truth every word of it is 100% accurate. Makes absolutely no sense to overspend on English talent just so they can sit on the bench and so the supporters can say we have English talent on the team. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly not well in tune with the economics of the game we're playing these days. The way to graduate youth to the first team is with a stable management group who drill the kids with our philosophy from 14,15,16 and on. The ones that adapt to what we want to do as a team will get promoted, the ones that aren't quite there will be sold to a lesser side. The problem with the growth of our first team players is exactly the same with our youth, we can't keep changing philosophies every year or so and expect players to adapt and grow... When youth players experience a change at the top they usually have to wait a couple years before the new Manager can fully assess them and possibly integrate them. Its a slower process than people want to acknowledge, especially at a top side like Chelsea.

Honestly I didn't even bother reading them, was way too long to engage.

Not at all. I think you guys fail to acknowledge the playing field has literally changed. We can no longer go out and just buy whoever we want like we could when we got Cole and Lamps, the punishment for doing that is severe.(sort of) Beyond that the reason we could put money into buying Cole and Lamps is because the club deemed them as or projected they would be world class in a few years and they were. You say you want people to sit on the bench, how much money would you spend to buy AOC and sit him on the bench? Do you think Shaw was a gross overpayment? Lallana for the same money Cesc was purchased for? I think you guys are overlooking the simple logistics of it, we have the squad we do because we plan to develop our HG players not spend ridiculous fees to acquire them so we can save face amongst our english supporters.... Its the right thing to do!

Yes we would be because Alex would cost us a fortune to acquire. We need to develop HG talent not buy it.

Jebus some of you need to start your own blog! But isn't this supposed to be a board of directors love fest? Emenalo is the king! English players, later for that..

I have read your posts and if you read mine you would see that I don't think overspending for English talent is prudent with FFP. If you want to see English players in the team then you'll have to wait till Jose is here for more than 4-5 years. And for all of you talking about culture and tradition there is no better way to preserve that than by producing our own.

I think you're missing what I'm saying. They are both class but I think costa has the edge when it comes to technique and possibly is a bit more clinical. You don't have to remind me about didier, like I said he's my favourite athlete of all time, costa just looks like he may have that little bit more in terms of technical ability and finishing off chances.

Wilshere over Fabregas? doubt it. Not even over Oscar. It doesn't even matter though the fact that you're struggling to find even three names of English players who can get into the side shows what type of talent Chelsea have assembled and the gulf in class compared to the English players.

What english players can get into the Chelsea XI as is right now?

You clearly know nothing about Jose. His first spell here there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING close to a proper youth set up. When he went to Inter he basically built that foundation for them and brought in Balotelli into a treble winning squad... And yes at Real with their high standards he got Varane, Morata and Jese through. What you guys will all come to understand sooner rather than later is for youth to come through you need stability in the management position. Until Jose is here for 4-5 yrs you won't see youth brought in. You can wank all you want over Luke Shaw, he hasn't proven anything to me other than having some potential and being an English Chelsea fan... That's it. 30m for him looks ridiculously dumb.

Seeing that he's hit the ground running and has clicked with Fab, I think at least 25 goals this season from all comps with no pens(unless on a hat trick). I have to admit I wasn't expecting him to come in and instantly be a success. He's surprised me with his speed and how well he reads the game. Its been a while since we've had a leader at the top end of the pitch, Diego is authoritative is a real presence up top, the type of striker that can lead a team. Drogba is my fave athlete of all time, not just because of his contributions on the pitch but also off of it. Having seen what Diego Costa can do up front I might be inclined to say he's probably more clinical than Didier and also has better technique. He looks like a complete striker, not in the way Drogba was since he isn't near as good in the air, but his technique and finishing is without a doubt world class. If he is what I think he is, I have a feeling this season we're gonna win a few titles. Want to see him in a big game though, seems like he has the winners mentality that was missing from our key players last year. He makes everything work because his temperament is that of a winner's, that's my initial assessment anyway.

I can safely say you have low standards.

You clearly don't know Jose Mourinho, its about who is the best for the situation at hand. Positions aren't one based on transfer fees or place of birth(though I do think British talent would take precedence if all things are equal). If Loftus Cheek and Chalobah are good enough they will play ahead of Van Ginkel, its as simple as that. As for buying Shaw at £30m your fucking head is GONE. In no way did he prove he was a £30m player, not even close. Right now he's just potential English talent that has yet to be realized.

Real and Barca or Spanish talent is still amongst the best in the World. You want Chelsea to by Jack Colback, Fabian Delph and Adam Lallana instead of Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard? We need to develop the next english star, not buy him.

At the risk of being unpopular, while I see your point about 'this being an English club...' What I don't agree with is 1) paying ridiculously high transfer fees for 'English talent' 2) downgrading the quality of the squad in order to make our XI more England friendly 3) looking at the models laid out by Liverpool and now Arsenal as the blueprint for success. We are in it to win it all, you can't have both since English talent is piss poor right now. While there is a need to stay true to the local supporters, football is a GLOBAL game now and though the games are played at SW6, its watched by millions of people all over the globe who have taken this club as their own. Chelsea FC is not limited to its English borders anymore, and to be the global entity we are and a top 5 team in the world the faces around the club can't be limited to English... Unless they are the best in their position. That to me is the only policy, if you're good enough you will play. If you're good enough and English preference will be given to you first, nothing more. Luke Shaw was bought for £30M and likely won't even start at Utd... This is the price you guys expect Chelsea to pay in order to keep up with the EVER-CHANGING culture around Premier League clubs? Hell no. Sorry there is a limit to this madness and I for one am glad we aren't paying the English tax anymore. The way to integrate British born home grown talent is to develop it, not buy it at ridiculous fees... We have a nice young core coming through now but they still have to work extremely hard to get into one of the top sides in the world, that's just football now.

Realistic predictions: Chelsea win two trophies Chelsea turn a profit this year Jose wins Manager of the year( with all the change over to get us to play incredible football so quickly can't be ignored) Diego Costa POTY No less than semis of the Champions League. Bold Predictions: Chelsea win a treble - Carling, Prem and European Cup Diego Costa scores 35+ goals Cesc gets Ballon D'or consideration Chelsea top the league with more than 90 points.

lol...

LOL.... Anyway, Matic is adjusting to a new role this is no longer a pivot, looks more like an asymmetrical 4-2-3-1 where he's the only holder.

I don't know if this is a joke or something but I have no clue what you're talking about. On my screen I see one post... That's it.

I don't even see that... But anyways if/when I do I'll make sure to erase it and write double post....

NO actually I don't, where have I triple posted? It doesn't look like that on my screen.