Chelsea Legend 11

IF Mata delivers that telling blow he will have officially earned his winners medal

Nah... not at this point in the season. With 9 games left the mentality has to change. We've been the best team all year having not lost at home and only 3 times all year. Not to mention we have the best record against the top 7 teams. It is set up for us to win it, it may not be in our control yet but I'm not buying this "I'll be fine if we don't win anything" crap. We're close and we're good lets start to turn up the pressure and GET THIS THING!

Okay, Eden Hazard is a special player. Still don't see why you think that because Eden is Eden why the others aren't good enough.

Just get him in... He'd be perfect.

What was Eden like last year? What was Mata like? With more responsibility you get drop off. Hazard, when he's at his best doesn't have to do the dirty work. Furthermore, what you were initially asking for is for another player to take the pressure off of him, I agree, but that player SHOULD be our striker.

World class players play at their top level 90% of the time. Excellent players 80% Good to great players 60% I say Hazard is getting close to World class and Oscar is a great... Willian, good.

I think you completely missed what I've said

Nah dude. This has everything to do with how each member is tactically deployed. Jose doesn't allow for more than one player to have a free role on the squad. The objective is for everyone to work hard without the ball and release Hazard into space. He is another level in terms of talent and very difficult to duplicate... What we do need is a fucking striker.

Absolutely! And I wouldn't mind him either at the right price.

No I'm not in charge of transfers and I'm sure whatever Chelsea do will be whats best for the club. In my eyes paying 20m for an 18yr old LB is not in the best interest of the club, but then again I didn't think 50m for Torres was either...

We need homegrown players, yes... Do we need them to play big minutes for us in high profile fixtures? No. The association rule doesn't mean they have to play x-amount of games it just means they are on the 23man roster, like Bertrand was at the beginning of the year. I want the best players, I'm sympathetic to Shaw because he is homegrown and a supporter I just don't want him for 20M. As for Rodriguez I've watched him and he looks fan-fucking-tastic for Wolfsburg. He make never adjust to the Prem, Shaw may never adjust to the pressure of playing for Chelsea.. these are things we can never answer. All I know is if I'm gonna pay 20m for a LB right now its not gonna be on Shaw, it is WITHOUT A DOUBT gonna be Rodriguez.

So what? Why is that important? who's to say Shaw will be good enough to play at that level anyway?

How many world class LB's are there in the EPL right now? just because he is arguably one of the better LB's doesn't make him a 20m+ player in my estimation. He is considered such because he is English first and has potential... We may well go for Shaw, I'm not against it either. If its anywhere near 20m+ I will be though... He's got potential but his actual value isn't there. Also I agree he can play at a higher level its what level that is that I'm debating, particularly for the money. He's good, just not World Class good in my humble opinion

I'm not disagreeing with you... its still 4-3-3 to me

What are you talking about? I expect us to buy talent that can play on a top 5 side in the world. I expect us to DEVELOP homegrown talent instead of overpaying for English potential.

Homegrown players don't have to be on the pitch... Do YOU not understand that? Bertrand is homegrown.

sure.

much better

I'm not so sure of that. We have differing opinions obviously... I wouldn't be disappointed with Shaw.

Not ridiculous just not likely. You're forgetting this is a club that bought 5 no.10's and Schurrle, Marin and Moses... Again, if it came down to Shaw and Rodriguez I'd take Ricardo based on what I've seen. I've watched him against Bayern, Dortmund, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Leverkusen and in those games I can assure you he was right up there as one of the best players in the match... Not exaggerating AT ALL! He is that good... DeBruyne is without a doubt good enough for the Premier league just not good enough for the way Chelsea want to play... much like how Mata wasn't, let's not go off the deep end. If I told you that in every game I saw Rodriguez in he played exactly like this youtube video what would you say?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIHe9by9tFA

I love the fact Shaw is a Chelsea supporter... I've said about a million times I wan BOTH. If it came down to one or the other I'd take the guy who is not just shown potential but is actually playing at an elite level for the money. You seem to think that at his current level, Shaw is good enough to play for one of the top sides in the world and feature in the Champions league. I'm not so sure whereas I am Rodriguez is that player based on what I've seen of him. Watch him play and then let me know what you think... Put aside the nationality and just look at how they play, Rodriguez is without a doubt the better player and I really like Shaw...

If you're referring to me than a few things you need to consider. I want Shaw just not for anything more than 18m. Anything more than that is overpayment. My opinion. Homegrown is nice to have but its not essential, in the champions league it means more if he can actually play at that level for one of the top 5 teams in the world. Enough with the feel good story about him loving Chelsea... If he can't play at this level what does it matter if he grew up a Chelsea fan? The difference between our arguments are you want him at all costs, you believe he is ready to play at the highest level in europe. I believe he has potential but his true value isn't anywhere near 20m. I need more than him being a fan and English for him to be valued at 20M

You could be right. I'm just not sure...

So now because one of the best teams in the world last year didn't win a trophy is solely because Essien played RB for them? There can only be one winner they fell short, I doubt thats because of Essien... but I digress. We'd also be set with Azpi and Rodriguez, probably even more so if you were to ask me! But to address the first part of your statement, I swear its like you're only seeing half of what I wrote. The FB position is important... Its just not the most valuable position on the pitch. I have never seen a LB go to any team for more than 30M its just the truth. Okay so for you Shaw is the better by because he is EPL trained and a Chelsea supporter? To me, the whole EPL trained thing is overused. The best players in the EPL aren't EPL trained. Its about buying value which is what we've done since the Torres debacle. I love the fact Shaw is a Chelsea supporter, I want him! I just don't want him for anywhere near 20m. If it comes down to paying that for a LB I'll take the current form player over the potential player any day of the week. Cool, lets just carry on conversing at the level of our age group. I don't believe in paying over the odds on potential... Had this been 2009? SURE sign him up!!! But now, Sorry 20M for a LB with potential is madness... He will be good, of that I have no doubt, its just whether he is good enough to be world class and if he can be considered the best at his position now. I'm just not sure.

Just my opinion but I wonder if the reason Azpi is playing LB has more to do with Cole's decline rather than Brana's ascension? I mean if you rank our FB's I'd say its Azpi Brana Cole Its definitely easier to convert a RB to LB than to convert a CB to a RB to a LB... I believe we're using Azpi at LB until we can get one in the next window which will allow Azpi to play RB and Brana to be our Utility defender...