Leif

AKE IS SO COMPOSED AND GOOD WHAT IS THIS

Benayoun, again, is very underrated by people on here. Loads probably don't realise it but he's probably the main reason for us pressing so high at the moment. He's an attacking player who often wins back possession which I just love.

Oh dat header from Ake mmm

Apparently Ake is actually good in midfield and I need to brush up on our youth

...Ake in midfield? Why? Because he looks like Gullit + Luiz? He's not a midfielder at all. Strange, but excited to see him play - very excited.

Ashley Cole made his Arsenal debut when he was 18 in the League Cup. Luke Shaw is 17 and has been amongst the best and most consistent full-backs in the Premier League this season. Just, yeah.

It's rare these days for top footballers to actually support Chelsea in this country. It always seems to be Arsenal or Livershite, with a few of them liking Man Utd. There'd be more heart in a player who actually supports the club and is a great player than playing some Dutch guy who's suspect at defending yet good at going forward (PvA) and likely supports Ajax or something. There is room for sentiment in football, and when a great player comes along, people shouldn't be so quick to dismiss him. I can still absolutely not believe he is 17. I haven't seen an English 17 year old be this good since, what, Rooney? Maybe Wilshere? In an ideal world I'd buy Shaw, bleed him into the team as Cole's deputy and sell Bertrand in part-exchange to Southampton so he can finally be a starting Premier League full-back, maybe with PvA being a back-up option here once Cole leaves and Shaw is #1. I just don't feel either Bertrand nor PvA are good enough for us as starters.

They're paying too much, but they back up what they spend. We've spent £50m on Torres, half that on Luiz, £35m on Hazard, around £27m on Mata, £20m on Oscar etc. We've actually spent around the same as them if we date back to the Torres purchase - and since then, of course we have a CL title, but their current team in the CL - we are not. And they're on course to win their league - we are not. They also have a board and backroom staff who are built for football; many of which are ex-AC Milan. They've got one of the best managers in the world and market themselves really well while also communicating with the fans.

Surely a similar group to the one that owns PSG could come along and buy us from The Russian (in theory)? PSG seem to be doing things the right way. A very good board, smart transfers, bringing in a player like Beckham to increase the brand etc. (I really doubt Becks was brought in as actual cover for midfield.)

In the 1998 season, almost half a decade before Roman had even sniffed out this club as a potential suitor for his cash, we lost out on winning the Premier League by 5 points (4 points would have tied us at the top with us losing on GD). Say what you want about our debts, that the opposition 'wasn't as good' back then (Manchester United were far better back then IMO) and talk about variables and guessing such as 'who else would buy us and invest so much in us?', but the fact is, we don't need Roman. We can still exist without Roman. You don't need his type of investment to compete for the title. He is not essential to this club. (Also in the same season we reached the QF of the F.A. Cup & League Cup while winning the UEFA Super Cup.) Our starting XI cost around £24m. Obviously there's now inflation to take into consideration, but back then compared to the other top teams in the world that was still really not that much for a full XI, especially one just 5 points off winning the Premier League.

I have nothing to say regarding a transfer, but I do have to say, yes, he's one of the very best. He's just overlooked because of the league he's in.

Not "Ha Ha" funny, but decent:

Being?

The last paragraph was me actually stating what I've both heard and seen. Where did you get that from? I'm sure he loves our money, yeah.

Liverpool have fallen. Arsenal have fallen. AC Milan have fallen. Juventus had fallen. Tottenham have risen. Manchester City have risen. PSG have risen. Valencia have fallen. Lyon keep yo-yo-ing. Inter Milan have fallen. Borussia Dortmund have again risen. Yet people think we're some exclusive magic club that'll never fall and just somehow sit at the top of the football world without merit? No. We can and will fall unless things change soon.

Not anymore really. Love the past though. Lampard & Terry will be gone soon, leaving just Cech from the legends era. Sure, I love Mata and..oh and Cole, but the other aspects of the club would have me considering myself a lunatic to say I liked. Chelsea is like a wife you've been with for years. You're now used to it and love it, but that doesn't mean you like it's traits still. I'm not going to just divorce old Chelsea and marry on-the-rise Tottenham or prettier Arsenal, am i?

The atmosphere at a club has nothing to do with the trophies. That would be like a Liverpool fan saying "we should be much quieter at Anfield so the players can concentrate. That's how Chelsea get all their trophies!!!", no? As for the points regarding Arsenal, did they not finish higher than us in the league last season? I don't think it's bad to aspire to be like a team who plays better football and finished higher in the league. Also out on loan they have Ryo, Joel and Afobe, all of which are expected to actually be a part of Arsenal one day, unlike 98% of anyone we've ever loaned out. Instead of going out and splashing a cool £35m or whatever it was on Hazard and £20m on Oscar, they've brought through Wilshere, bought Oxlade-Chamberlain (who's probably had about the same impact Hazard has had with us IMO yet cost just a 3rd or something of Hazard), Gibbs, Coquelin, etc. When players who are ex-Arsenal go on to win trophies elsewhere after failing to do-so with Arsenal, when they talk about their past, there's always a spark in their eye. A spark of happiness. They're proud to say "I played for Arsenal." Whenever ex-players of ours in the Roman era bring up "I played for Chelsea" I expect and have experienced seeing them feel awkward saying so. Notice how whenever Ashley Cole speaks of his past, just about everything positive he says is about "Arsenal" and fuck all about Chelsea? There's more to football than trophies.

I do actually agree that while Roman is the best thing to ever happen to us, he does actually need to go. He is SO out of touch that it's hard to believe. Everyone has contrasting opinions, but completely honestly, I'd rather be trophy-less Arsenal who invest in and use youth (which brings pride to the club), have stability (which brings around more passionate & permanent fans), have a plan (which usually means no huge slumps out of nowhere) and compete as a proper football club - not a football business. I honestly would rather that than having a new face at the helm every season, buying the 'best' players available for every position (it really isn't needed. Arsenal, Barcelona, Tottenham, Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Milan - they all do well without that trait) & having a board who know nothing about football yet win a trophy every season or 2. I really would prefer the first option. I want the atmosphere of Anfield, the resourcefulness of Arsenal, the pride of Bayern Munich and the stability of Barcelona. Oh, and I want back the fortress & 'never-say-die' attitude of Chelsea. It's not impossible - if you have a plan and a fucking decent board. You can say "Oh, Lukaku and De Bruyne are having good loan spells." Yeah, so what? What's your point? Is that going to prevent the board from going out and buying Falcao because he scored loads of goals, thus destroying Lukaku's chance here? Is that going to prevent the board from just outright selling De Bruyne? No, because they're clueless. What do we honestly have to be excited about, hm? I don't think I'll feel even a shred of excitement unless 'you-know-who' returns or we somehow start competing for the PL & CL titles again, but even with that, none of our policies will change and we'll still have the atmosphere of a library.

He must be having a really good day. That's not normal for him I don't think.

Less than 10 times have I seen a match where he's started in central defence and come away thinking - "He's a really good defender." He's got around 100 appearances for us now. Surely that should worry people...

My post the other day doesn't look so harsh now, does it? heh

I won £12.36. I'm poppin' bottles!!! (of water).

The thing is - he's now used to playing with another striker alongside him, isn't he? It remains to be seen how he'd work in our system, which he failed in with the limited amount of shots we gave him. He seems to play at his best when the opposition are focusing on the other striker and forget about him. Playing as a lone striker here though means he'll constantly be tightly marked. This could work in our favour though, especially against young & inexperienced defenders, as he could flick the ball into the path of a player like Hazard, ultimately (and hopefully) leading to a goal. (I believe Hazard - Lukaku could be quite a nice partnership like Hazard - Sow was at Lille.) He should either be brought back next season, thrown into the deep end, and we all just hope for the best - or he should be loaned to a new team next season, maybe even just until January - but a team which primarily uses a system utilising a lone striker. He'll also offer us a new option assuming Torres leaves - which is Ba & Lukaku up-top - which could perhaps get the best out of Ba like we saw when he was partnered with Cisse (who I don't even believe is as good as Lukaku. He only has better finishing really.) That would possibly be a good idea against teams like West Ham United, Newcastle United or any physical teams really. Either Mata can go out on the left side of midfield (we saw last season he can hold his own there) with Hazard on the right, both on their strong feet meaning they can get in some lovely crosses - or keep Hazard there on the left and put Moses on the right with Mata being rested in those games, maybe even with an Oscar + Mikel partnership in midfield (if Oscar stays back a bit) meaning through-balls galore. Lukaku offers options, something Torres does not.

His 2nd goal was genuinely the best I've seen in any league this season I think. Dat workrate, mmf.