Chelsea Legend 11

Starting to wonder if Courtois slept with your girlfriend too... He's a kid, 22, what's the problem?

So what? He took offense to it. Have you never been subjected to an offensive joke?

I have absolutely no problem with what he's said he was asked the question and answered it honestly. Its true too why should a club who have two world class keepers keep them both? They both deserve to play. It would make sense to keep Cech here for at least the first half of the year just to make sure Courtois adjusts well but aside from that Courtois is clearly the future and he knows it. He not slagging Cech he has acknowledged on many occasions that he thinks he's one of the best in the world and that he shouldn't play 2nd fiddle him either.

You guys slagging Eto'o are morons. He has every right to be upset, he made important contributions to the club this season. Jose needed to show more respect and in the end it burned him. Move on its a lovers quarrel and won't effect the squad going forward. Eto'o is a proud man trying to carry on his career and Jose may have damaged his value a bit... nothing more nothing less.

I'm not sure I like the idea of him being bandied about as a possible 3rd choice striker. Was that conversation before or after the interest in Mandzukic? I mean if he is in the running for 3rd choice doesn't that mean Costa, Torres and Bamford with Lukaku gone? Or does it mean that Torres is indeed gone and we will have Costa, Mandzukic and Bamford? Or Costa, Lukaku, Bamford? I'm so confused... Maybe they're just dangling the carrot to get him to sign a new contract

Seems the writing is already on the wall if you ask me. They will come to camp together and likely start Courtois then move Cech in January or in the summer. Makes absolutely no sense to keep Cech and allow this 22yr old phenom go to the highest bidder, we're building for the future and right now Courtois is playing at an elite level. Its too bad, Courtois just matured faster than anyone would've ever expected him to. Having said that I'd keep Cech for a bit longer just to make Courtois' adjustment run smoother

Looks like Christensen is finally getting some good advice. He's too young for the first team and will need to go on loan to get the experience necessary to challenge for that role in the future.

Having said that I doubt he signs here with us, our club policy is anyone over the age of 30 gets one yr deals. That applied to everyone even our very own legends.

If he's forcing a move there is no way he would cost £40m. If he can be had for 20M.... well now... Matic and Yaya??? Even if its only for 2yrs I would LOVE to see that!

YES, I hear that.

Can you tell me what he excels at?

I see what you're saying but why are you so hellbent on us signing a 30yr old? you have any idea how sharp the drop off can be at that age? Also for someone his age trying to come over and adjust to a new league isn't really the best idea. This only works if you still see Azpi as the 1st choice.

excuse me?

no its just too bad neither of them have the same influence on the team as Yaya does. Not even close.

He's by far their best player, hardly even debatable.

To be fair he deserves more cash.

Promote from within. We weren't hurting at LB or RB last year. Promote from within and see if anyone can benefit from having Jose train them. Otherwise get the best young back out there in Rodriguez.

Marcelo, Coentrao, Arbeloa? Aina, Ssewankambo, Wallace, Cuevas? Don't we have Jay Dasilva?

I may have thought that way of him too until I saw him play this year, he's improved quite a bit this year. And this Bertrand hate is so misplaced! HE HAD THE BEST LB IN THE BUSINESS AHEAD OF HIM! I think you guys have been spoiled, Bertrand was serviceable, just not Cole. And I don't understand why people paint every player with the same brush! Is Van Aanholt and Bertrand the same player??? NO so don't evaluate them the same way. What makes Ryan tick and what makes Patrick tick are completely different! Perhaps Ryan comes back from the world cup and is buoyed by the experience and his career kicks on? Perhaps seeing that he doesn't have the best LB in the world to contend with spurs him on to greater things? Its so silly to assume that because one hasn't made it that another can't.

Not in this day and age. Most LB's we see today are basically wingers. Again only time will tell, not claiming to be a know it all like some here just think from what I've seen it wouldn't be a bad idea to recall him and give him a look.

Shaw has not shown much going forward, lets be honest here. Ricardo has shown much more attacking acumen than Shaw even if he's 3 yrs older. I would agree composure is essential in a footballer and that the quality may go down in a faster paced league but even having said that I believe that even if Ricardo's skill of picking a pass and crossing is somewhat downgraded in the EPL vs BL he will still be ahead of Shaw in those areas. If Cole is your benchmark I feel you're going to be disappointed.

A guy like him can benefit from having Mourinho teach him. We can all agree Patrick looks fantastic going forward and I will say this, what I saw from Azpilicueta last year left a lot to be desired, this year he looks WAYYYY better! Same can be said for Cahill. I'm advocating giving Patrick a summer in the World Cup and a training camp with Jose before we look to spend 20-30m on a left back. I mean its not like we struggled in that position this year with Azpi. Let Jose be the one to evaluate him up close, if he fails to impress there will be other targets to acquire

Who said anything about Ashley Cole? the best LB of his generation? Anyways I'm starting to think you've never seen Ricardo play, he is a very good defender right now and also possesses the ability to get forward. Much closer to Ash than Shaw for sure.

Being behind Ashley Cole may have stunted his growth is all. You could be right though, maybe he's just not good enough... I always valued Van Aanholt over Ryan anyway. Yes the weaker teams argument... So we should refrain from buying anyone who played in a weaker league than the strongest league in the world... Listen man I'm not all too concerned about where someone applied their trade previously, I watch them for what types of qualities they bring to the pitch. Patrick, if brought back will be playing against "stronger teams" but will be aided with stronger teammates too. I think he's actually physically ready to at least challenge for a spot here, I'm not calling him our starting LB but an option off the bench.(Club Trained) Has it ever occurred to you that the reason Shaw is so hyped has something to do with the league he's in and the academy he's out of? I don't give two shits about whether or not I've heard of Rodriguez at 18, to be honest with you I don't follow the swiss league at all so it would be hard to tell you who the next up and comer is in that league. Also, it matters not when you've heard of said player, what's important is how he looks now! And in every category measurable, Rodriguez is miles ahead of Shaw. The only thing that sort of tips the scales back a bit is Shaw is a Chelsea fan and in homegrown, from a footballing standpoint you can't tell me Shaw is on his level. He does look like he is more composed and maybe more focussed but lets not forget Rodriguez is still young too in football and that sort of composure/focus usually comes at an older age. Shaw has that now but his skills don't measure up.

Well only time will tell I don't want to go back and forth about something that is impossible to prove. I feel Patrick deserves a chance he's matured into a decent attacking LB and with the help of Jose and staff could very well become a fantastic LB. The Bertrand comparisons are moot, he had Ashley Cole to fight with and was never given a chance to grow. Again we've been down this road before and it just ends in agree to disagree, I DO feel Ricardo is MILES ahead of Luke Shaw, I don't even know one thing Luke Shaw does better than him. I also don't know one thing Luke Shaw does at an elite level. He is good English talent that can be hard to gauge on, he may be the heir apparent to Baines or he may be another Bertrand... Bottom line is if I'm putting down the sort of money that's being bandied about for Luke Shaw, I'd DEF be looking at Ricardo Rodriguez first. Nothing against Shaw, he seems decent just not what I envision as soon to be world class.