Leif

I think only Roma & Seville are playing the sort of football that'd nurture Musonda close to his full potential, bar Barcelona. It'd finally be the right move, if he plays.

My grandfather actually slit his stomach open with a katana when I let my hair grow past my shoulders

This is why I've decided to shame my family and become a gambling addict this season. Jose got me hooked on rage, a rage I can only feel now by losing money, a rage I wouldn't feel like a Chelsea supporter without.

I wonder if it yields as much as Conte. It says it needs 8-11 weeks to flower; Conte only needed what, 3-4 weeks?

When Conte has shown so much quality and know-how, why wouldn't you trust his pristine wisdom that Michy simply isn't going to get goals for us?

I know it's easy to make rash comparisons when things just keep going swell, but Conte's starting to remind me of Buddha.

I think he'll be off to China.

History matters, not just the present. And history shows, he doesn't give a fuck about Chelsea when we aren't top of the table, and he shows no gratitude for us both bringing him into the limelight and then too giving him the chance to shine in La Liga. His 'come on'!'s when we score now look like the most contrived celebration I've seen in my life, and it's no coincidence these celebrations come along at the same time as his interviews saying we all misunderstood his intentions, and that he's remorseful for it. Someone has clearly had a word with him that his attitude stinks, or he's seen it on social media and agreed, and such a bad apple will eventually spoil the fruit around him. Not by being outwardly negative, I highly doubt that, but he's like that 1 'friend' who doesn't get to know anyone in the group, never celebrates the small successes day-to-day, but wants to jump in when the rest of the gang are being lauded. He's a fraud, and he was not very great before our 5-defender system either. 5-10 great saves does not define a player as must-keep. Not when last season he cost us so many points. As i've said before; take 50-60m or even more if possible for him, reinvest around half into our next goalkeeper who'll no doubt be a more grateful guy, and enjoy what gratitude brings - success.

sorry I meant the fact he put Hazard in his dream 5-a-side ahead of Duff, lunatic

I really thought we'd have at least 1 post today about his comments.

To me he's an atypical Bergkamp offspring, of course not to the same level but made in the same ilk, essentially meaning his job is to play off the goalscorer, not be the goalscorer. We already have a player (Hazard) who's more efficient at that role though, so I'm sure Conte's scratching his head wondering what he actually offers to this team. Of course when you play in Ligue Un, you look like you could bang goals in overseas too (just look at Balotelli this season, or any Nice forward, which I'm sure would fail here). But the reality is, in the top leagues, we're a step ahead tactically, and we cannot afford to play strikers who assist more than they score anymore, not when the past 5-10 years has seen the rebirth of attacking midfielders being the hot shit. He is definitely made for a 2-striker system, but not for a top team. Not even for a Tottenham. His level, and I watched Marseille a lot before we were even linked to him, is West Ham UTD. But, I'd trust an avid follower of the Belgian National Team over my evaluation since he gets to play with better players there, so if your opinion contrasts, throw it at me.

If you think, that 'maybe', if everything works out for the best, there's a chance, that a player could be good/great for your team, you don't break your transfer record for him. You break transfer records for players CURRENTLY at the absolute top of their game, bossing every team they play against. Anything else than that approach when dealing with such large figures is lunacy. This figure would be enough to buy Messi in a couple years, even Ronaldo once he declines more; and once they do decline, they'll still be better than James at their old ages.

Heskey had all the 'physical tools' and currently RLC looks like that may be his eventual level. Lukaku is not decent. His wiki stats for his goal record completely contrast what Everton fans say about him. He gets constant abuse week in week out, and all he'd be good for here is being a poacher sub which if we prayed, may get a goal sometimes when we're losing and start pumping the ball forward.

We're not linked to the guy at all, I'm sure we'll never be, but I'd much rather go for Kevin Kampl. He's for the most part consistent, and like Essien was he can be your best defensive player on the day, then your best attacking player the next. Failing that, Franco Vazquez has been the best midfielder in La Liga for me this season, and nobody from Seville would turn down a move to us. He's more attacking oriented but again, he has those days where he intercepts & tackles more than everyone else. I want to say 'Enough kids' before we turn into Arsenal. I would take Schneiderlin too, as a back-up player. Just because he's been mismanaged at United doesn't mean the qualities he showed at Southampton are magically gone.

If we refuse (which we seem to have) the asking price for James, I believe it'll motivate any other suitor (Man Utd) to negotiate a slightly lower fee. That in itself sends a reminder to Real that they cannot ask for whatever price they want and get it with ease. This could be the start of a knock-on effect to reverting things to how they should be.

He's one of those players that I believe will, many years from now, look back on time and feel he enjoyed his time here more than any other club. Obviously that's no reason to keep a player, but it makes any potential departure hard on the heart. My god I miss Mata.

It doesn't have to be that way. If some key teams simply refuse to play to this silly game of inflated fees, like ourselves, Arsenal (lol), 'Pool, Spurs, all the German teams bar Bayern, Juve, & then again all La Liga teams bar the top 2; so essentially anyone not named City, Bayern, Barca or Madrid; things will return to normality in European football. Those who'd be willing to pay more than us, only those 4 teams, can buy only so many players. Once they're full of players, any teams selling players wouldn't find any teams they're able to extort, since the rest of us would be rooted in reality. With a world class scout team & board members who see that big names aren't necessarily better than cheap, hidden gems, we'd always be able to compete at the top, with the rare splash on someone worth the sickening fee. (Just look at Atletico/Seville, Dortmund, Napoli.) Summary: We should and perhaps must refuse to pay over the odds for players. Don't adjust to the demands of other teams. Only weaklings allow others to dictate the value of what they seek.

I maintain that the 1 team on earth he is made for, and would be more than happy to have him, is Barcelona. With the amount of possession they have and whatnot, he is the perfect player for retaining the ball and passing it to more talented teammate while also offering a Dani Alves-type defensive cover. Some players are shit for a lot of teams, but superb for others. That's just how it works in football. And regardless of the terrible performances we've sometimes seen from Willian, he's shown a plethora of qualities which others, just not us, would benefit from. He isn't a Premier League type player, but put him in Serie A or La Liga and he'll be amongst the top 10-15 players in the league. We didn't target him for nothing. He obviously has a very impressive player in him. Just like Salah was shit here, and has exploded in Serie A. Both are brimming with potential which we as we often do failed to unlock.

Liverpool & Arsenal fans creaming themselves over the idea of signing Draxler. Absolute lunatics, 95% of which have no idea he's the German Ross Barkley.

You're probably right. My answer then would be Julian Brandt, because I think he's turning into the player we all thought Schurrle had the potential to become. When I mention such players, I'm keeping in mind the hope and belief that Conte can transcend players, in a way unlike any other manager on earth at the moment.

Good, that's his level. To even entertain the possibility that right now, he's anywhere close to the best midfielders in the Championship, would be lunacy. We've essentially been playing with a physically disabled guy when he's on the pitch.

Koke with a high enough offer. Weird how people have forgotten about him, considering he's le messiah. In theory when you have as much money as we do, every player should be available. If we want a potential superstar who'd cost less than James, and perhaps as high potential with a similar playing style, I'd go for Felipe Anderson from Lazio.

We're playing very hard to get. I'm sure James wakes up with sticky sheets these days.

'Willian' is trending on Twitter for absolutely no reason at all. I guess even the gods recognise his greatness.