Leif

Alves comes in-field loads, wow. He's basically playing as a CDM for most of this.

I hope this doesn't end in a draw.

Luiz is too good of a passer to play CB ._.

Mourinho will be scouting the next Chelsea #11 he's going to turn into a star tonight, heh

Why is Luiz captain ahead of Thiago Silva?

Just a thought - If the Illuminati exists, I get the feeling Roman is a high power in it. Like if there's a table somewhere at the top with 10 people 'round it, he'll be one of those 10. Heh. Idk.

I have to say, I completely disagree with the notion some have that this would be a 'step backwards' - absolutely not!! Mourinho and us have evolved completely. When he arrived originally, we were still becoming a top club. Now we are a top club. Mourinho was facing his first test after Porto to prove his CL win wasn't a fluke; to prove he really could become great. Now he is great. We, Chelsea, and Jose, have evolved at a very similar rate and to a similar level. This is also a brand new challenge for him, don't forget. The location, owner and fans may be the same - but that's it really. When he arrived and during his transfer windows, we focused on powerful work-horse type players who'd scare opposing teams into their shells and bully them off the ball. A defensive approach with counter-attacking. He had ​to do similar at Inter because they had similar resources and players to us - if he did anything else he'd be foolish and he would have lost games! This has created the notion that he's a counter-attacking manager - but I completely disagree. He's a smart manager who does what needs to be done and gets the best out of every single player in his presence. Give him Barcelona and believe me, they'd probably be an even more attacking team than they were under Guardiola! This time around, he has a plethora of attacking midfielders to work with, all of whom are versatile and have maturity far beyond what players their age usually have. He has a young, hungry striker in Lukaku and a young player he can bleed in (Chalobah) much like he's done with Varane. He has that 'next big thing' in Hazard - a player not too dissimilar to Ronaldo who he's nurtured into one of the greatest players in history. (I genuinely believe Mourinho has done more for Ronaldo than SaF could have ever done.) So while this is a new challenge, it's not completely alien to him. We possess potentially similar players to his current Madrid team (Hazard/Ronaldo, Mata/Ozil, Ramires/Khedira [if nurtured correctly], Moses/Di Maria) etc. The only thing lacking is that Xabi-Alonso-esque player. Maybe he could turn Mikel into that? Maybe he could sign the next Alonso? Who knows. But if he does return, I'm positive he'll treat this as a new place to continue establishing his legacy - not just a stagnated club which is missing it's clog to get running again & revert back to the team of the mid-2000's.

Kalas himself has come out to say he needs another loan - before us or anyone at Chelsea has said so. I think that shows maturity and his desire to press on and get into our team ASAP. Good for him. Note: ​When I mentioned that Leverkusen would be a good fit for him, that was under the assumption he'd return to his centre-back role.

I think he'd do best to join Bayer Leverkusen. I can't think of a better team for him.

Just a note: The fact that Mourinho was indeed in Portugal just a day or 2 ago for a ceremony and that Porto-based Youth Coach then brought up last night that he'll be joining us adds to the credibility IMO. (Mourinho always visits the Porto HQ when he's in the country apparently.) No doubt Spanish papers that are pro-Madrid will try and make it all out as "Mourinho is just on holiday in London", but honestly, I doubt it. Who wants to holiday in some rainy grey city the very day after being in sunny Portugal? Hmm.

wat

Clyne (apparently) & Shaw (definitely) are Chelsea fans. SIGN THEM BOTH! I'd love to have an English back-line even if just for one match. Cole/Shaw; Terry, Cahill, Clyne; against some minnow team. That would be domination. Mmm.

We need options in defence. We need more English talent especially if Lampard leaves (HG spots etc.) so I guess this Clyne rumour does actually have a decent chance at containing some substance. Also as mentioned above, Ivanovic looks more likely to be sticking to that central role with Terry's decline. Makes sense.

I choked on my drink

Liar.

Oh yeah, just for those who've forgotten - Jose has beaten Barcelona three times this season. Once with pretty much Real's second team.

Since the Champions League actually became the Champions League and not the "European Cup", Porto are the only team outside of the top 5 leagues (PL, L1, LaLiga, Bundesliga & Serie A) to win the trophy. Inter were the first Italian side to ever win the treble; and only the second team out of the top 5 leagues to do such a feat after Manchester United. Chelsea hold records in the PL for most clean sheets, least goals conceded, most goals scored, most points at the end of the season etc. Porto was managed by Mourinho. Inter was managed by Mourinho. Chelsea was managed by Mourinho and every manager after him used the spine of the team which he built. Name one manager in the history of football who has done something like Mou has done here. /discussion

I am nearly crying. In my head, this move doesn't make loads of sense. He plays counter-attacking football. But at the same time - I believe he's the only one who can take Hazard to the next level and genuinely make him the best player in the league. I also can't imagine anyone else being our boss next season and being successful. He isn't known for youth integration, yet I have such high hopes for Chalobah, Feruz, Loftus-Cheek (won't make it here I feel but I'll follow him regardless), Baker, etc. and would be very sad to not see them in our team under him. Include Kalas, perhaps Piazon & McEachran and some others in this list too. He brought us our best times, happiness only rivalled by Di Matteo's time in charge (in my opinion). He could come and leave, leaving us in shambles in the process. Am I blinded by sentiment? Probably. But he literally is like a God here so I can't be blamed. Like Maradona is to Argentina, SaF is to United, Henry is to Arsenal, Raul is to Madrid - he is the top guy here regardless which club he's at. My head's a mess. I feel like people who only started following our club recently don't understand the sort of connection he made with fans & players here. Shit man. I HAVE BUTTERFLIES JUST THINKING OF HIM BEING AT THE HELM NEXT SEASON. I need a drink. I'm ageing. This is stressing me out.

Who knows. For all we know, we'll sign Mourinho, then viola - Chalobah is our Varane - only playing in midfield instead. Or defence. We'll see. No one can determine whether he is ready or not. I respect both opinions. I personally feel that he is ready to be thrown into the deep-end, but at the same time, I'd much rather see him loaned out for another season so I can get excited while tracking his progress over 30 or so games.

He's always played above his age group at both youth level and U21 etc. with the national team. I don't see why he can't do the same with senior club football at Chelsea.

Cousin #1 just dropped out of college and decided to apply for the army today. Cousin #2 just sent off his CV to work in a small shop which sells petrol and basic items today. (In fact he was here 5 minutes ago to use my printer to print his CV off.) They both stayed in school as long as they could, and now after leaving, are instantly going to be spending another 8 or more hours of their day every day working below someone to do a job that they don't even enjoy, living in a rural area where they don't even need the cash. I dropped out in my 4th year of school with 0 qualifications or GCSE's, Standard Grades, any of that stuff, despite being top of (most) of my classes, yet made £30k last year in my first year of self-employed business at the age of 16 (with guidance from my mum, which we split around 60/40.) QUALIFICATIONS, JOBS AND INSTITUTES ARE OVERRATED bye.

Had a dream last night that we were against Celtic next season in the Champions League with all our senior strikers injured as well as all our goalkeepers. Mourinho was manager. He promoted Islam Feruz to the starting line-up for the game. He got a brace inside 5 minutes. Mourinho started as the goalkeeper..

Chris Cohen has also tweeted that Roman + Mourinho met today. (The guy who does the songs when our players arrive...)

Just gone through that Porto Youth Coach's Twitter. Went through his faves and noticed professional footballers (not incredibly well known) have tweeted him a few times. He's been favouriting tweets since 2011, so I assume this is a 3-year old account. The majority of favourites are in Spanish. Edit: The account has now been, er, deleted, I think. Second Edit: After doing loads of quick internet research (articles tagged with his name and Twitter, now deactivated), I personally can confirm in my mind that is/was a real account. Another Edit: Account is back up and running. I AM FUCKING EXCITED.

Never understand the want for Bony considering how similar he is to Ba and Lukaku.