Chelsea Legend 11

The only thing he won of significant note is Champions league (which is obviously the holy grail) and La Liga. Still we're talking about the biggest job in all of football I don't for a second think Bentitez's CV gets him on that hot seat... Sorry he just hasn't done enough to warrant taking over. Having said that I hope he gets it I would love to see that team fall even further from grace.

It means he didn't really win anything at all....

Say what you want, the Europa league title is not what Chelsea want to be winning. Had Jose won that last year it would've probably led to his sacking. I can't believe you are comparing the Europa league to 4pts from the title(the biggest turnaround in one year ever) and semis of the champions league. Where we finished last year did WAY more for the club than that shitty little trophy. The money we earned going deep in the champions league is 10 times the amount we made from winning the Europa league....

He won a second rate trophy and lost a 6th rate trophy.

Benitez will not be able to handle the egos and the pressure of managing Real Madrid. The mere suggestion of such a thing is hilarity...

That would literally have me rolling on the floor in laughter.

Its who comes in? Its not just as easy as saying "Carlo you're out!" What managers out there have the sort of resume and experience to go into the Real dressing room and have their respect? Klopp?

All hell would break loose if they did that with so much still to play for. I can't see it...

Isn't that tampering? he's under contract, no?

Mikel's first appearance after a long lay off and injury is not gonna be a start. He will likely come in as a substitute at some point but thats about it. No way Jose starts him.

Oh I have no doubt in my mind we will sign another CF I just highly doubt it will be one of the premier CF's the world has to offer. I can see another Remy signing, the kind where the player hasn't proven himself at a high level or at a big club but has done enough get a chance. I would love Benteke or Austin personally.

We don't play a two striker system enough to utilize them both. What we need is a secondary striker not another prime time player. Lewandowski is not gonna sit on the bench and neither is Diego, they both could feature regularly for pretty much any team in the World. If we want to keep with our policy of making the right buys and not the dumb luxury buy then Lewandowski makes no sense.

I guess the next question is how much would he command? 10m? 20m?

I think the win at Hull pretty much cemented the title. I was so worried we were not gonna show the resolve necessary to hoist the title but after getting knocked about a bit in the first half and then seeing the miraculous saves from Courtois, I was left not only buoyed when Remy hit the winner but also supremely confident we have the mettle to win the title! 6pts with the game in hand against the most likely team to get relegated has me waking up each day thinking those bookies who paid out early are geniuses. If the Southampton game and the Hull game are any indication of how we are going to play here out we should be elated! In both games we employed a high line, it seems as though Jose is going to attempt to seal the title playing the sort of football we played at the beginning of the year. That would be the perfect way to book end a fantastic season! Courtois' triple save pretty much locked us in the for title. Hazard is without question about to cement his status as a Chelsea legend. We win the title and he wins POTY and its a lock! We might be witnessing the greatest Chelsea player of all-time if his trajectory continues to point upwards. He is now looking like a talismanic figure at the club, a guy who you can depend on week in, week out to be at his best. 2yrs under Jose and now we once again look like the team ready to dominate for years. I really can't wait to see what year 4 and 5 under Jose will look like! We have now become the most desirable place in England to come play.

Bale is a decent player but adding him for the fee associated with his transfer would be the dumbest thing the club could do since Torres. He gets injured a lot and doesn't really work hard at both ends despite being a former wingback. I also don't like the fact that he has poor technique and can't play quick passes to release players in tight situations. He adds pace, goals(maybe) and long range shooting but I don't think he makes us a better team overall. Especially for the amount he would command.

Why would Lewandowski come to Chelsea to share time with Diego? Never gonna happen. He can easily go to Utd, Arsenal, Real and be the top dog.

Some wild outlandish claims in this thread. I think Jose said it best a few will be going out and a few coming in, not like 5-6 players like some of you have alluded to here. I envision 1-2 marquee signings and a few padding signings. My guess would be we will need a keeper and the best scenario in this regard is a british veteran. That would help with our HG status and give us a veteran presence behind Courtois. GK - Shay Given? Robert Green? We definitely need a CB Terry isn't getting any younger and clearly the wear and tear of a long season is getting to him. If we want to play true attacking football we need a CB who is good on the ball and not slow... Varane makes too much sense, I just don't see how adding another youngish CB helps us all that much next year. Sure we have to start thinking about the future but is Cahill (English vice-captain) really gonna sit on the bench? and what happens to Zouma? does the acquisition of Varane help Zouma's progression? I'm not 100% I guess in the ideal world we play 60 games next season and with 4 CB's who should play how does it get divvied up? 120 games - JT 45 games - Varane 35 games - Cahill 25 games - Zouma 15 games??? Jose doesn't like chopping and changing so I doubt this would happen and selling Cahill isn't gonna happen since he is integral to us meeting our HG quota. I feel the time to address CB might be after JT is gone, thinking Kalas gets called back and we look for a stud the following year. CB - Kalas? Omeruo? Varane? Howedes? I haven't really done a good job at hiding my obsession with Paul Pogba. In my eyes he is the prototypical Jose Mourinho midfielder. I have no doubt Jose is salivating at the glands at the prospect of having Matic AND Pogba in that holding role... the amount of shapes and lineup variations he can provide is mind boggling! (3-5-2, 4-1-2-1-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1 etc) he should be our no.1 target, bias aside. People say Koke is another player we can add, I'm not so sure he comes here, seems like a Xavi/Iniesta replacement. CM - Pogba? We will need a third striker and I'm sorry those who are screaming for Bamford to be that guy will be sadly disappointed if you ask me. Only way I see this scenario play out is if Remy wants to move on and we can't get a replacement at a decent price. Patrick isn't even playing as a lone striker at Middlesborough, there is no way Jose gives him a chance to do that for Chelsea. My guess is he goes to a team that will guarantee him CF play and maybe the year after he gets his chance at Chelsea. What we will need is a striker who can compete in the air should we have a need to play more direct. That is the sole reason why Drogba gets games, has nothing to do with loyalty to Drogba he's still fantastic with his back to goal. So who out there can be effective with their back to goal? Surely Christian Benteke is an appealing option off the bench! I also think a buy like Charlie Austin is interesting if QPR go down. He provides HG quota and also decent aerial ability and finishing, not so certain he'd come cheap though and his acquisition does block Bamford. Bas Dost... hahaha. I would try and pry Benteke away from Villa and go with a strike force of Costa, Remy, Benteke with Bamford a year away from challenging. CF - Benteke? Austin? Dost? Kramaric? Anyways I don't think we'll make a lot of moves I do think players like Mikel, Cech, Moses, Salah and perhaps even Oscar will be moved to make way for a couple key signings. In Oscar's case he only gets moved if the notion is we're playing more 4-3-3 with Pogba coming in.

Wow... you couldn't be more wrong!

Wouldn't mind that at all! If there is ever a time for this sort of lineup it has to be Stoke at home. We lose size without Brana but Stoke haven't really been that much of the threat from set pieces this year. I worry about not having an out ball with this lineup as well, the players would have to work extra hard at getting to the second ball. I just want to see what we can be like with some real pace in our AM area. No doubt we will press high and Stoke will lump balls up to Crouch but so long as we win second balls and utilize pace we should be able to implement this lineup with success. Just have to put enough pressure on the midfield to produce turnovers

No chance.

Really want to see this please post a link if you have it

Bale doesn't use the football well for me, in a lot of ways he'd be like schurrle... A very expensive Schurrle!

I don't know if Bale is the kind of footballer who makes us a better team. He's not exactly technically gifted and doesn't really work hard all over the pitch... If you ask me the best position for Hazard is on the wing because it gives him more freedom and its less congested. Pogba is the guy for me.

His status as a Chelsea legend will be cemented if/when we win the title this season.