Chelsea Legend 11

It won't make us better in Europe as our big game shape is usually 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with Cesc in the 10. In both instances we need another body in there to be a force in the midfield, Song's not that guy.

Decent. The price and HG status is what makes this appealing. He won't make us stronger in Europe but will help our quota...

What is there to agree with? its a fact Remy got injured twice last season at a point when he was likely gonna start. Drogba was called on as a defensive forward late in games and made a contribution, he was also the only target man we had at the club and it was no secret Jose likes playing direct. Does Jose have favourites? I think a more accurate statement is he has people he trusts to do a job and Remy spent a season with us earning that trust. No different to Willian before him actually.

As a Mikel replacement? Sure. anything else pass.

Better in some areas not all. We will be lacking goals, pace and counter attacking awareness(although Ramires seems to always look to get forward) Agree to disagree though, I think Jose loves Ramires and it will take some doing to supplant him in his role at the club.

but a footnote to what I actually wrote... My phone sucks.

Schneiderlin is not going to come here and sit on the bench, he has absolutely no reason to. He is the exact same type of mid as matic and not box to box. If we went with our midfield 3 formation with matic, Schneiderlin and fab we likely would struggle in counter attack, which is primarily our tactic against big teams. I'm also pretty sure I was the first person who mentioned Allan's around here and while I agree he would be a decent addition, he's not going to be the difference between us getting knocked out in the q-finals and winning the champs league... You're basically calling for refreshers not player who will actually improve us. Imbula is a good draw! Though he is young and not exactly a counter attacking threat... I like him though. A lot of those games you mentioned came down to injury or fatigue, our preferred shape was definitely 4-2-3-1 but yes we are a fluid squad and there will be lots of opportunities for a player to come in and play minutes for us. My point of contention is whether Witsel will come in and provide more for our midfield in big matches than a healthy Ramires. Sure he can best Mikel based on what I've seen but Ramires' ball winning, goal scoring and counter attacking prowess make it hard to leave him out of those big games you refer to. He is a ball winning box to box and in my opinion is greatly underrated. And when you said "I can't think of a reason why Ramires should keep getting all those crucial minutes in big games" was the point in which I interjected. Real Madrid wanted Ramires TWICE under two different managers... The only managers to win the Champions League twice see him as a key figure. He has a role to play, what you're saying is you want an upgrade and I'm not sure one exists in the SQUAD player ranks and the only real upgrades will cost a mint. Witsel hasn't shown or proven he's more influential in big games and until he does you can't really slag off Ramires in favour of him, Imbula, Allan or whoever else. We have a high quality squad player who has won everything at the club level and did so play a big role...

Do you really think Gotze was purchased to sit on the bench? really? He's struggling to fit into Pep's system because it doesn't require a 10. But that's besides the point, its clear you see more rotation in attackers than you do, say, in defence. Yes Isco is a casualty of the Galaticos, its clear we can't use them as a model of how to build a proper team. I'm not saying anything more about Witsel other than he is an upgrade to Mikel, how much of one is debatable but I jumped in on this when I heard that Ramires and Mikel weren't good enough to play for a club of our stature... I don't believe that for a second. Last year Ramires was injured for most of it. How many times in a post game did you here Mourinho say " I have my Rami back" ? Its not because he thought he was shit but because he was oft injured.

I get what you're alluding to but what I'm pointing out is attackers are often rotated whereas defenders and holding mids keep their place. Attackers are about form, defenders and mids are about solid partnerships. In the case of our midfield what we need is for someone to come in and spell Matic from time to time and perhaps slot in next to Cesc and Matic for certain games. These types of fixtures don't creep up a lot of the time and require squad players who can perform when called upon. Unless we get a player to improve our XI and thus change our shape or push a starter to the bench, then what we're going to be subjected to is a Ramires, Mikel, Witsel type player. We're not gonna get Javi Martinez to come here and sit on our bench, and quite simply we can't afford a player like that. So when you're looking around Europe be sure to do so knowing that while we are a big club, we don't have the same sort of resources available to make a player who is formidable in our midfield sit on our bench. Ramires is more than fine, who are these squad players at other clubs that will displace him in our team? Or better still who are these better players who are able to play a limited role and still remain good options should something go wrong? There simply aren't enough of those types to go around... Someone like Gustavo chose to go play everyday at Wolfsburg instead of joining Arsenal. Is Guarin really going to make our midfield good enough to best one of the bigs and get us to a finals? I would really love for you to focus on the names of these individuals and when you do so try coming up with a number said player would be available for. Ramires has won everything at the club level and wasn't exactly a passenger for most of those wins...

So what you've gathered is the best teams have loads of attacking strength? Who of those names are squad guys that can come in a do job in the midfield for you? Isco started 26 games... Varane wants out... Pepe made the most appearances out of all their CB's... Gotze made the second most starts to Neuer... Muller the same amount... 28 starts. Martinez has been injured but if I'm to give you credit here I must also point out Bayern activated his buyout at €40m(are you advocating we do the same?) Pastore 31 starts... Moura got injured but made 22 starts... Cabaye wants out... Nasri is shit... and injured. Marquinos is young... Coentrao injured and we have Luis in a similar role. Pedro unlucky. I'm wondering if you even bothered to look this stuff up? Its clear to me that finding high calibre squad players, the types that can win you a game and not see a drop off in spot starts, are hard to come by. Everyone wants to play and the better ones won't settle for a reduced role when they can go elsewhere and start. And in your opinion Witsel is better than Ramires and is the difference between us getting to a champions league final? hmmmm.... not so sure of that.

And what of the servicing? Remy getting the two best chance creators vs. Falcao with some of the worst. All I'm saying is trying to compare the season of Falcao to that of Remy's is poor. Its an old cliche that strikers need servicing to score and Remy got loads of good servicing whereas Falcao got next to none. Do I think its a definite that he will come here and be Falcao of even 3yrs ago? Hell no, but as a striking option off the bench for a year what is the risk? Low if you ask me. Many here were very critical of Eto'o when he arrived and that was quickly put to bed too.

This has nothing to do with my wanting Pogba! My Pogba obsession stems from the fact I think he will make our midfield the most feared in all football for many years. Ramires is more than fine to start big games for us, it just depends on what role you assign him and how you'd like the team to play. Ramires was injured for large portions of last year but the year before he played a shit ton of big games and did a decent job for us. He wasn't great this year but Ramires is a near perfect squad player, part of the reason why both Ancelotti and Jose love him so much.

I think what you're missing is the fact that its hard to get players of an elite level to come here and sit on the bench, let alone come here, sit on the bench then perform when called upon. Not a skill many possess. You talk of top clubs but who of them have bench players you value in the midfield? Real Madrid? Illaramendi(at €32.2M), Khedira who wanted 200k to play for Arsenal? Barca? Adriano, Roberto, Xavi...? Look, you are a very strong opinionated individual but every now and then you let FM 15 cloud your judgment about what is feasibly possible at big clubs. No one wants to sit on the bench, furthermore you aren't going to get top talent to come here and sit on the bench. If we sign Witsel its awesome, he'll cost about the same as mikel and potentially may provide a bit more of what we need in a back up. That doesn't make Mikel or Ramires shit we're just looking to freshen up the roster. Mikel was a serviceable CM who was always ready to play, not something you can say for many bench players.

Mikel and Ramires are fine squad players, the exact type you want in a lot of ways. Ramires is all action, scores goals, covers a lot of ground and positions. Mikel will go months without playing and come into the champions league fixture and play a blinder. These are the types you want in your squad, they don't publicly complain about playing time and when called upon they can deliver. Witsel will have to show that he can perform in a limited role to be compared to either of these two, its not as easy as some might think!

He provides the same stuff Mikel did but on a higher level. Mikel had very good technique as well he just never got forward enough to display it. Its astonishing how similar their career paths are, both very promising youngsters who never really kicked on and lived up to the hype. I know Witsel is an upgrade to Mikel but I really don't see where he fits into our XI. He looks like our depth signing(if we get him) who will take Mikel's minutes and also the ones given to Zouma in the midfield, aside from that its hard to see him displacing Ramires, Cesc and Matic if we do go with three in the middle. Some might argue he is better than Ramires but he doesn't really offer the ball winning ability and counter attacking pace. He probably is the better footballer but I don't see him as a better box to box mid.

You're talking about a box to box mid.... I think we'd be a little underwhelmed using him in that role but you're probably best directing that question to Wreckerz...

Without going too far down this rabbit hole can you tell us what type of player he is now since we're all making baseless assumptions?

Honestly, without coming off like a hater he is quiet simply an upgrade to Mikel. How much of an upgrade is hard for one to truly discern... He won't displace Matic that is 100% a certainty.

ZENIT... and you don't have to watch millions of games to get a sense of what type of player he is.

except schneiderlin is a more action guy. Wins tons of tackles and can boss the midfield... Witsel is a good replacement to Mikel but not exactly a midfield boss

meh if the rumoured fee is accurate I'm okay with it. He doesn't really do anything brilliantly but as a squad player seems to be an upgrade to Mikel.

Falcao sucks.

One more thing that gets overlooked is our late game plan b with two strikers up top. Remy and Costa never worked at all, for a two-striker system to work you need to have an understanding and form a partnership. Few can argue that Costa and Falcao never had that at Atleti. Its an important detail if you ask me...

But we can all agree he has earned the right to work with whoever he deems fit, right?

I noticed you omitted Man Utd this time around... Good idea.