robsblubot

2 subs GK who are not expected to play and who are not homegrown... difficult to understand.

Incidentally, Fajitas, Burritos, etc are not found in South America. well, perhaps in the equatorial region. I know that Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina don't have that. First time I ate a Burrito or any "Mexican" food -- authentic or not -- was in the USA. First time I (tried to) eat a Tamale I wasn't aware I wasn't supposed to eat the banana leaves... Back to Mata... I reckon much of the speculation stems from the contract discussions; he's a very expensive player and the club is certainly taking their time negotiating. Mata could, for instance, demand Rooney esque wages to force a transfer, not that I'd expect him to do that though.

imagine we are leading Stokes by a goal away from home when they start? playing long balls into our box exclusively (without the usual sideway pass for good measure). That's one of the very few ways one can diminish the influence of a great midfield and midfielders -- by avoiding them altogether. If you are defending against such strategy, why not replacing a midfielder with a defender? But then you lose a midfielder when you have possession and have trouble keeping it--you end up playing long balls yourself. However, what if you already have a defender on the pitch who can also play in the midfield? Just add another defender and give him even more freedom to join the midfield when in possession. Essentially with David you get the 3rd defender, when defending long balls, without losing the midfielder, because in possession he moves into the midfield. Ppl are missing the point here: David is so special because he has the ability to join the midfield when attacking and sometimes defending (applying pressure with high line) EVEN when playing CB! That's precisely what differentiates him from a simpler defender who can only block and kick it upfield.

Are you guys not talking about "work rate"? Or perhaps work rate with and without possession? Work rate is just as much a mental trait as it is physical. I don't think Rooney has ever shown high work rate, but it has been declining. He even does not look as fit as he once did. Yes, it matters! Dedication during a match won't mean much if the player is physically incapable due to slacking in practice. I'm really unhappy with our striker situation. The only interesting player -- great prospect but awfully young -- is Lukaku.

Sure did. Still think he will not play much -- both Torres and Lukaku will play more even if we don't sign anyone -- and he will still be quite content come next transfer window.

Translation: another leach on wages way above what any other club would offer him... He will never leave.

I think you meant 40m - Torres bid...

No, I understood you point. I just consider Ba an awful player and that's the reason I think Torres is better; Torres is not an awful player, even now. Torres is an awful player if you consider his wages, expectation, and fee. However, as an alternative, he's quite interesting. I just look a their technical ability and really don't see enough in Ba's play to justify him as a Chelsea player. He's got a poor first touch, can't turn, isn't strong enough (goes to the ground way to often for a guy of his build), isn't quick enough, can't link up play. Scoring goals, which he also hasn't been able to do, is just part of the deal for a top team. We cannot afford having a pole in the box these days. Again I compare Ba to our opponent's options and I'd rather have any one of them over Ba. Edit: I guess I'd also take most of them over Torres too. Oh well.

Ba deserves nothing! He may be a good/decent player, but Chelsea cannot, must not, wait to see if Ba makes the cut. That's why we have a bunch of well-paid coaches who crunch numbers, watch our players every day in practice, and can judge the players way better than we. IMO Ba is nowhere near Chelsea's quality; not based on the number of goals he's score (or didn't), but his technical ability or the lack thereof. I'd rather give Lukaku games than waste time with Ba.

if he's going for a scan they don't really know how serious it is. hopefully no ACL damage.

I'm not overrating them, the final standings put them in 4th pace (without a top striker). I actually dislike their football, the strategy, but I don't question results. Right, but again we don't agree whether *we* are title contenders. Also, like I wrote before, getting the top striker is the most difficult signing for a top club. Once that is done, improving the squad further is a lot easier. If they add a bit of steel in the middle, perhaps all their defensive frailty may magically go away. Nobody can employ Mikel Arteta as a holding mid and expect the defense to hold. Edit: apparently they might sign Luiz Gustavo, which would provide them with the steel I was talking about.

It's certainly a theory... a plausible explanation for sure, and good for you both if you believe that. I don't buy it though. To me our opponents, esp City (United are looking for starting XI signings still) have better starting XI and we are going to struggle against them. And concerning Arsenal, if they do get Suarez they will be very close to title contenders. We might not need to find out, whether just more strength in depth would do the trick, since apparently we aren't quite done in the transfer window.

You must be kidding right?! At the very least they might finish ahead of us. They've finished 2 points behind us with Giroud... Also, what makes you believe we are title contenders? We've got 2 mid-table strikers to use, while all our opponents have better, or a lot better; after all we've been chasing their second-choice striker. Our team is essentially the same as last year, so now Mourinho will do magic and make the same roster (plus a few youngsters) perform a lot better!? This is key here: a little better won't do, it's gotta be A LOT better with the same players. We should start a prediction thread. Mine would be that without further acquisitions, we'd be fighting for CL spot again and without a shot at CL glory.

Fair enough... just different opinions. Just think ppl overvalue honor and dignity and undervalue what really counts on the pitch: quality. however, I was talking about picking up a ridiculous red card for kicking a player in the semis of the CL and then missing the final.

I guess we all just see the "win at all costs" attitude differently. Incidentally JT did fuck up when we needed him most. Perhaps I've met too many players in RL; perhaps I've seen the strings and now the magic is gone.

Honor and dignity in football ... Who's being childish now? This is a game nothing more nothing less. Professionalism is the only quality you really can demand and even then you find many footballers who don't even give you that. Can we criticize Suarez at the same time we praise John Terry? I at least try to be consistent, and not a hypocrite, by praising both excellent players-the only thing about these two guys I really care about.

Yes, Roy Keane was also mental and played over 10 years for United always giving them a competitive edge. So, yes, Suarez is a dirty player; he can be a dirty player for us or against us. I'm sure our defenders would rather have him on their side.

so, you quote me, but only addressed others. There is NO FUCKING WAY someone can read ANY of the quotes and conclude that "He was an awful midfielder and a borderline liability at times. Benitez was clueless." That was your personal opinion and remains so. I reckon Luiz WILL play in the midfield in the next season. Hopefully not as often as he did for Benitez, that was overdone because of small squad, but it is a valid strategy for specific matches and opponents. For example during a match, moving David into the midfield by adding another CB could be a very effective strategy to secure a result against an opponent that is playing long balls.

good points, but all our rivals have better strikers, some even sitting on the bench. Yes, even Arsenal as I see some qualities in Giroud that none of our strikers possess. And our midfield is just lacking. Some are expecting Mikel to do what he did for Nigeria, but he has never been able to do that for Chelsea in many seasons, so call me skeptic.

It's difficult to understand why we have 2 subs GK that do not qualify (for HG).

That's Not what u quoted btw. He also said, "He CAN help the team playing in other positions."Have no idea how you went from that to "he's an awful midfielder." I guess we hear what we want to hear. Of course he is a CB first, but CAN play in the midfield, which is something Mourinho obviously values.

I watched Higuain perhaps only a few times, and really don't think I need to watch any more to agree with you. If we were to sign the likes of Higuain, I'd rather jsut keep Torres then. Yes, really!

Mata can be a brilliant attacking midfielder and at the same time not help at all when defending. And it's not like he could do it if the manager asked him to, he just doesn't have the tools for the job (not even work rate is there). That's a deficiency in Mata's game, and that's the difference between him and say Iniesta, or before them a Zidane who are/were far more complete players. Now, like you all say, it's up to the Manager to find out how to accommodate his players with their virtues as well as their deficiencies. However, I am NOT optimistic we can, or Mourinho can, accommodate both Hazard and Mata (plus a striker) because they are both pretty fucking horrible at defending. Yes, they are amazing attacking players, but that doesn't help us much when we don't have the football--say when we play City. It's wishful thinking when ppl say that if we get this or that player to replace Mikel, all our midfield problems will be solved. I'm not a fan of mIkel because I just don't see much quality in his game, especially the so important finesse (the final/decisive touch). But replacing him won't solve the lack of defending, in numbers, that we sometimes suffer from.

like I wrote, no doubts about the defending part, but not sure about attacking; haven't seen him doing much attacking wise. I have not been following him at B. Munich though, so it might very well be Scolari instructed him to play almost as a holding mid for Brazil.

heh for some reason I thought he was lightweight, but from the video he looks pretty strong. Really looks like he could play anywhere in the midfield.