robsblubot

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/shakhtar-signs-gremios-fernando-133600671--sow.html Brazil-international who has started several times for Brazil (only 21) sold for 11m. BTW, reaction time and pace are IMO the most important attributes for the role of someone who has to provide cover.

You are right, but these types of players, who sit deep and do little else, are out of fashion these days. Even on this thread we have trouble finding another (top club) player who shares the same characteristics. All we find are players far more mobile and rounded than Mikel. The stats posted here about the win ratio with and without Mikel are very telling: at the very least his style does not seem to fit the current system.

Sanity says, "perhaps time to switch to another target..."

Tal Ben Haim was the worst defender I've ever seen playing for a top club... ever. thankfully we did not keep him for long.

Don't believe it either. I do believe that Mourinho can make David an even better CB. However, I reckon it will be difficult for him to work on his concentration in defense without losing some of his attacking aptitude (e.g. fantastic long balls/assist). It's understandable that his attacking focus demands some level of concentration which is taken away from his defensive game. Perhaps Mourinho will be able to help David to strike that balance, or perhaps he will decide that David would lose too much by becoming the CB Mourinho needs and so use him the middle. We will find out soon enough.

That's not true. Mourinho will get swathes of information on the current squad. He will also receive insider's info from the staff , which includes a lot more data/stats than what we have access to (for example fitness levels). It is likely Mikel will get a chance, esp if we don't sign a new holding mid, but I'd not believe for a second that Mikel's performance last season won't be taken into account by the new management. BTW, that's assuming Essien does not regain some form.

could not disagree more. There is a lot better football to be watched instead. When an African nation win something or at least make it to a freaking final somewhere, anywhere, then we can have a discussion about quality. BTW, I invite you to watch every state cup in Brazil. You will get to watch countless 'divisionless' teams playing against the few top sides who are coming from vacation. There will be countless matches to watch. They are all crap, but only after you watch a few matches from one of the states' cup you can then move on to the next state. There are many states, so you will be quite busy for a while...

One does not need to actually watch the games to have an opinion. Suffice to look at their World Cup record and compare it to other continents/zones. Another piece of evidence is the performance of our players when playing for their countries: regardless of how you rate Mikel, he is certainly not as dominant in the BPL; same goes for Moses. In football, respect is earned and the African nations haven't yet done that.

Seems strange to consider Rooney and Cavani for the same position, unless we are looking into getting both for different roles. Cavani is the opposite of Rooney, as in extremely high workrate - completely different type of players.

We will find out soon enough... if he starts more games next season. Mikel has started only 26 times compared to the likes of Ramires and Luiz, 42. Now, I believe his wages are over 100K weekly, so he might be unwilling to leave. Furthermore, it is very difficult to find equivalent players starting for other top sides: they no longer employ pure DMs like Mikel.

I guess you did not get my post, because it has nothing to do with what you just wrote. BTW, I also don't think much of BA. Boy he must have sold a lot of shirts...

People are missing the obvious point that Torres cannot be sold for a profit; and I am not talking about the amount paid to liverpool, I'm talking about what we'd have to pay him until 2016 to cover his wages (wherever he goes). nice explanation here: http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2013/6/8/4408864/can-chelsea-sell-fernando-torres The same physical presence Ba offers (questionable as he does goes to the ground a lot) we can get from Lukaku (perhaps better). Ba does score goals, but in this day of age with the likes Lewa, Aguero leading attacks I reckon a club like Chelsea cannot start a simple old-fashioned striker like Ba. Now, if neither Torres or Ba is good enough, why would we sell Ba? Well, because Ba *can* be sold and for profit considering we've oly paid 7m for him.

not really a big fan of Prince, but the rumors tell an interesting tale: the type of player CHelsea may be after. It seems we a re looking for high workrate and high level of aggression. I guess someone did notice our midfield crumbling a few times this season, specially against that side from Manchester.

Fair point. Although I reckon Essien at his peak, before the knee injuries, was twice the player Mikel is. Also, what you say of Mikel can also be said of Torres. The fact that neither is good enough for Chelsea, makes it a "good thing" when and if we unload them.

that and they don't have any cash because the Neymar saga cost them a total of 57M euros. I think in the long run Neymar will deliver, he's only 21 after all, but their short term needs (in defense) will go unanswered for a while, which is good news to all other clubs.

Guys, the only players who are non-negotiable are the bad ones. This applies to any player in the squad, including Mata and Luiz. It's just a matter of price and opportunity. For example, as good as Cech is, and considering we've got the very promising Courtois, Chelsea would probably entertain a sizable bid for our top keeper.

Football has changed a lot--just look athe the CL finalists and how they play; and whatever Mourinho did at Real did not work very well. To be entirely honest I understand the reasons for wanting a 30M. However, I'm actually concerned about David giving Barcelona one of the few things they lack. David Luiz could become a scary player in Barcelona's system. IMO he can be a lot better than Puyol was--far more technically gifted.

He'd leave in a heartbeat. There is no way, aside from form, that a player like him would sit on the bench. If we wanted a squad player to run on the wings, well that's Moses (and we thought Marin), not Oscar.

This is a discussion we've had around here before: judging current ability is much easier than potential ability. Demba Ba is 28, his game will not change that much--same with his body. We've seen countless games of him playing for Newcastle and now Chelsea. Yes, he can improve a bit. More adapted to the team and the training, but what I see is a good squad player nothing more. He is just not technical enough for a team like Chelsea. Smaller sides can start a player like him and play to his strengths, but Chelsea need a player who can participate and link up play with the other technical players we've got. I reckon Ba just doesn't have the quality to do that (first touch, quickness, short dribbling, etc). Ba is a good player, but expecting him to be as good as A RVP or Aguero (would cite others but let's not go there) would be delusional. Ba is a lot better at finishing than Torres ATM. Ba can also handle physical game a lot better (though I feel he goes to the ground too often for a guy of his size). Everything else, other aspects of the game, I think Torres is (still) superior. Yes, my opinion is debatable, esp because confidence and form do affect technique (Torres end of the season > start of the season). Some aspects are not debatable, such as pace and quick turns, etc. With all that out of the way, let me emphasize that IMO neither is good enough to start for Chelsea. * and Torres not being good enough does not make Ba good enough either.

Fair enough. I've watched very little Santos myself and didn't think much of him for Brazil (still don't). However, it'd be like getting Hazard before he joined Chelsea, still used to a completely different tempo and defending, and then expecting him to perform against an international side. So, it does not surprise me one bit when Neymar struggles against international defending, tempo, and especially officiating. 2012: Brazil (Serie A) - 17 matches, 14 goals, and 8 assists / Libertadores - 12 matches, 8 goals, and 3 assists Pretty incredible numbers for a 20-year-old.

How on earth did you read that Hazard is one-dimentional from "Compared to Neymar, Hazard's game is a bit one-dimensional." His finishing is nowhere near Neymar's (even when comparing what they've done in lesser leagues). Neymar is a lot more creative as well. I guess we will find out very soon.

yeah I've watched Modric a lot... against far better sides than Real Sociedad and he's just a good player. His influence at Real and Spurs wasn't that evident was it? Have spurs done any worse without him? If he were that unplayable, Madrid would certainly not let him go. It's fine if you rate him that highly, but I don't. He's a good player but nothing more for me. BTW, I said replacing Modric with Dembele did not result in *much* loss of quality. Modric has better technique while Dembele is lot stronger.

IMO, Neymar has the potential to be as good as Messi. He's still 21 after all... doesn't get any fresher than 21 in my book. Whether Neymar will fulfill his potential is, of course, yet to be seen, but he is already twice the player Robinho was. There is no chance he will turn into robinho because he's already a lot better than Robinho. Hazard at the moment is better than Neymar, but Neymar IMO has a lot more potential. Compared to Neymar, Hazard's game is a bit one-dimensional.

Disagree. fullbacks and perhaps an extremely defensive holding mid may be off the hook to score, but aside from that if the player can do his job *and* score, all the better. This idea that only strikers should score is not right as you really need the surprise effect when yours attackers are taken care of. So, lets take players of the same position: Yaya scores and is a lot stronger than Modric. Fabegras, Barca rotation player, is a lot better than Modric IMO and scores plenty. Modric's replacement at spurs (Dembele) doesn't score much but I reckon they've made a lot of money without losing much quality: Dembele is about the same player right now and is younger (stronger too). I usually say being good enough on the ball is the most important thing, and it is. However, once you are good enough on the ball, and Modric certainly is, then you've got to look at other traits such as composure, aggression, long shots, etc and that's where Modric falls short compared to the alternative.

Really don't think he is or can be a world beater. He lacks a physical presence, which makes him sit deeper than he should. He ends up scoring very few goals. He has been improving though--his last season at Spurs and the few games I watched him he looked better. Still, just don't see him providing any kind of midfield dominance, esp in a two-player pivot.