Chelsea Legend 11

The reason I opt for Zouma is to negate the presence of Yaya... I don't think Mikel is the type to mark someone out of the game. If you can think back to City away 2 yrs ago. Jose played Matic next to Luiz and with Ramires leaking out on the right flank. The results were incredible... Zouma is different to Luiz but I feel his physicality and defensive awareness can be useful. Not to mention the fact he's an extra threat in the air that I don't think City will be able to cope with. Zouma, Matic, Cahill, Terry, Brana and Costa is a lot for any defense to cope with from set pieces let alone one as porous as City's

I think there is a need. Our defense is looking woeful and we will need to win the midfield battle in order to come out victors. I like the idea of shadowing Yaya with Zouma and giving Matic the role of ball winner. We play him there because he has the physicality to cope with players such as Yaya and also he gives us an extra threat in the air for set pieces. He can also drop in and cover for the mistakes someone like Cahill or Brana will likely make. In short, I don't think we're stable enough defensively to cope with the immense talent City have offensively. Bony will definitely occupy our CB's and Matic will have to fill in the gaps and with Sterling and Silva buzzing around I'd rather have defensively astute players for this one.

wow... why is this whole thing even newsworthy?

Not convinced... They need defenders desperately

Stop the momentum early. Don't give them anything to build on... Begovic Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Cesar Zouma - Matic Willian - Oscar - Hazard Costa

I'm still waiting for the day when people of this site finally come to grips with the fact transfers aren't one sided. Bertrand wanted to leave...

he has family in london

Brana has better acceleration but Zouma has better top end speed for sure

Everyone complaining about whether or not he will play need to relax. He's here to give us numbers, how much he plays is up to him. Luis didn't play because defensively he never gave us enough. On the flank where hazard plays you need a disciplined lb. Baba will play if he proves to be better than brana or Cesar. I believe he may be.

It's done. Finally

If Chelsea want to play a high line like they did on Saturday, you can't have a back four consisting of Brana, Cahill and Terry... Its just suicide. I would imagine the acquisition of Stones would put one of Brana or Cahill under direct threat. Zouma is not a ball player so you can't have him next to terry, he is Terry's long term replacement.

I don't know what the fuck the problem is here. Our transfer policy this window has been horrible! Just pay the fucking money and give Jose a full compliment of players to compete for the title again... First off the whole idea of internal strengthening is bullshit. When you have your opponents on the ropes you knock them out! Chelsea, with two or three astute signings could've blown the competition out the water with the head start we were given last year... Now we're waiting for them to hit before we hit back! This is so frustrating! get the players in and lets fucking go!!

Why add rubbish to our squad?

I actually liked what he offered over there. I think its what we are expecting should Rahman join... Better defensively of course.

Look so bad... nothing in the engine room... Everyone looks out of shape... for a squad that is unchanged we look like we haven't played together at all. We just don't look like we're ready to start the season at all.

We're not ready. Look sluggish everywhere...

Is there somewhere else we should be?

I'm about 98% sure of both yes. LOL Begovic is definitely not gonna be given a chance to fight for the shirt. If you think that you're pretty naive... He has no chance at the GK spot unless Courtois gets a long term injury.

But what about what the player wants???? Why are you ignoring this? Begovic came here to get paid...

Ya thats smart, leave a very good LB in his prime to rot on the bench and when a club comes in to acquire him tell him "we need you for the bench in case Azpi gets injured, don't go!" He could go start for a team that can win things.

I love how this is a one way street. Perhaps Luis wanted to leave to play more football? Why hold onto a great guy like that if its his aim to leave? He'd be demotivated and that sort of thing has a knock on affect.

of course there is. But whats the sense in commenting on someone you've never seen play? or commenting that we spent too much money? Let the manager and scouts earn their money, if they prove to be wrong you have every reason to voice your opinion. The worst thing you can do is make ignorant statements about a player you know nothing about.

Good question.

Yes this is true! Because as you've seen with Lukaku, Debruyne, Mata and to a lesser extent Luiz, players who are young with potential have sell on value. When we buy players with one contract left in them and likely no chance of them re-signing, it puts an enormous amount of pressure on our wage structure should that player be a bust. (See Torres for more evidence) Ever since Jose's been back he's stressed the importance of building the next chelsea for 10 yrs, what you're advocating is the type of reckless spending that got PSG and City in trouble. Let the people who run the club do their job, they know more about the inner workings of our financial situation than either me or you. The time to scrutinize their decisions is when the moves they have made look terrible(see Torres again) Until then relax and stop sweating the small shit, if Chelsea want a player they usually get that player. Nobody is holding a gun to their heads making them pay crazy prices, if the board see it as worth it they will do it!

I don't know what you're thinking but there are more factors than just transfer fee and availability that go into player acquisition. Yes, wages are a factor to consider! Chelsea pay top dollar for top talent, that doesn't mean we have the means to pay 8 or 9 players that sort of money its about balance young grasshopper. FFP does still exist.