robsblubot

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.

Better rounded player who can defend and contribute to attacking (numbers don't lie)? for some reason don't think we are going to change your mind though.

I believe Gustavo is as good as Mikel supporters claim Mikel is at defending, and as good as Mikel actually is at attacking. In other words, not sure we'd be able to use him well in the current system with the 2 mids.

When Rooney plays against us I'm nervous when he has the ball at his feet. When Suarez plays against us I'm nervous whether he has the football or not. Rooney is/was good when in possession, while Suarez is a typical Uruguayan player with high work rate that borderlines dirtiness; he's a fighter and a handful to deal with. Let me emphasize it. I'm originally from the southernmost state in brazil, where the weather isn't as nice, cooler temperatures (esp winter) and therefore different style of playing than the rest of Brazil. The state borders Uruguay, so you you drive south for a few hours, you are in Uruguay (long distances/big country). Great country! Montevideo, the capital, is a fantastic city with great restaurants/cafes and night life. So, we are VERY familiar with Uruguayan players and the way they play. The "winning at all costs" attitude that ppl so much dislike in Suarez (yes, it's all there is), DOES WORK! You may not like it, but I've seen it work way too many times before. Sure enough a few years ago when Liverpool were playing Sao Paulo for the club championship, and lost the same way we lost to Corinthians. The difference was that Liverpool played in Sao Paulos's half for most of the game, but Lugano (Uruguayan International) was just dominant and secured the 1x0. So, if we get Rooney and Surez ends up moving to Arsenal, I'll have to admit that then Arsenal could be very close to title contenders. They'd still lack a bit of steel in the middle, but that's something a lot cheaper to fix.

Don't get me wrong, I also prefer David in defense, BUT I still think it's absolutely crazy to say the *experiment* was an "absolute failure." In other words, give him a proper preseason along with time training in that position and he may address many of his deficiencies. Because, in my opinion, and many others apparently, David as a gifted natural footballer could indeed do exceptionally well in midfield. Again, whether Chelsea have the need, time, or inclination goes beyond the merits and conclusion of the experiment, which by the way, was repeated over and over again. Since we have completely opposite views on Mikel, it may be that we value completely different things in a midfielder. Which might explain our different positions concerning David in midfield.

that's a very personal opinion to which you are entitled to, of course. However, you write as fact while a mere quick google search will provide very different views. I've read a few like this one: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1654066-david-luiz-why-chelsea-should-play-him-solely-in-midfield-next-season

We clearly have a very different understanding of what an experiment is. I frankly do not understand what people were expecting of him, considering again, he does not practice in that position. Perhaps people who don't like fantastic goals and assists and prefer sideways passing would rather see other type of player there for sure - not my case though.

you mean aside from the spectacular goals and assists from a player playing completely out of position and on CB training schedule (no focus on stamina, midfield movement, etc). Or our absolutely fantastic win ratio while he played in the midfield?! In my view, and apparently several articles out there, as an experiment it was a rotund success! Whether it should be pursued or not depends on a number of different factors though.

Torres has a 100K release clause if the buyer agrees to pay his wages in full...