Stats

If we are playing 4-3-3 Oscar is not going to start on the RW. It is that simple. Ramires has more chance of starting RW than Oscar.

Those saying we don't need him will be saying a totally different thing during some point this season when they realise another quality CB would do us the world of good with all the games we have. When Terry retires it is likely that we will go out and buy a big name CB anyway if we don't sign Benatia now. I am all for signing Benatia. Terry and Cahill need to know they have a quality CB ready to step in if one of their performances are not up to scratch. And Benatia would be a good rotation option as I don't think Terry will be starting every single game, even though he is still a quality CB.

They are both different players but the reason I would prefer Bony is because I reckon against these teams that like to play deep he would be more effective. Remy has never played for any major teams and since he moved to England has played for Newcastle and QPR who got relegated. Remy has got pace and is effective when he has space but like the problem we have found before and people said the same with Lukaku, when we play these defensive minded teams I think he will find it hard. He won't be able to utilize his pace effectively. I reckon he is better than Ba however when Ba was at Newcastle many people would probably have said Ba. Bony is not as fast but what he does have imo is the ability to score a goal out of anything. His technique is excellent. Brilliant hold up play. His shooting is fantastic so if he is playing against these teams they will have to think twice. Because in games last season (s) teams no our strikers don't pose a threat from long range. Bony does. His technique is better than Remy and even Costa. His ability in the air is fantastic as well. Something which Remy is not as good and I also think his ability to drop deep and create chances is fantastic. To sum up 27 goals in his first season is simply fantastic. 16 of those being in the league. Perfect second choice striker for me.

Just... NO, NO, NO. Let's not go there

That sums up Costa for you. I am sure managers talk to him about his quick temper and his antics but when he plays and gets wound up it seems he is uncontrollable. Because the last thing we need is a 3 game suspension or even more for his misconduct. I like his aggressive style but he needs to know the limit and understand football is a contact sport but it is not a street fight. Even in UFC headbutts are not permitted but he seems to do it a lot. The incident with Sissoko last season makes me laugh and I don't know why I find it so funny. Sissoko's reaction for a start and then when Costa doesn't get his way he literally tries to throttle Sissoko

They look like they are getting Raul Jimenez. A striker who plays for Club America. He is a Mexican and so are you. You should know this

Time will tell but I would not make conclusions on him based on not featuring in the WC. Sakho and Varane started over Koscielny even though Koscielny had a better season than both. Luis was not called up to the Brazil squad quite astonishingly. Sometimes managers have their own preferences. The price is way OTT but it was an area City felt needed strengthening and because of his age and early reports they paid a large amount for him. Same way Willian is not worth £30m but Jose felt his addition was needed for the team.

He has. He has watched him play and had numerous reports of how good he has been for the last few seasons in Spain. He probably was the best LB in Europe last season. That alone is enough to win Mourinho's trust and that is why he bought him for the particular fee. I can see Luis possibly being on the bench for the first game but sooner rather than later he will become the undisputed starting LB. I am sure of it.

Let's not forget his sublime assist for Salah as well. What a pass!

Hazard had a very good season last season but I just want to see more repeats of that Sunderland game last season where he simply takes over the game and goes solo. He was simply unstoppable that night. Probably is best ever performance in a Chelsea shirt.

We did not spend over £15m on him to be a back up/rotation. The first game or so Mourinho might go with his normal back 4 but gradually, Luis will definitely be the number 1 left back for sure. It is an area of the team we needed to strengthen despite Azpi's excellent performances in that position last season.

I want Courtois as our no.1 as I believe he is as good as Cech if not better and is the future of the club, however one of the other factors why i want him as no.1 is that it will show that there is actually some evidence where our loan system has worked with us loaning him out and him, successfully becoming integrated into the first team rather than selling every single player we loan out. Sturridge can somewhat be considered as someone it worked with because we loaned him out to Bolton, then the next season he earned his place in our team and scored but ultimately we made a horrendous mistake in selling him so I hope with Courtois that if he becomes no.1 here he is the keeper for the forseaable future and then yes guys, we actually have proof that one of the players in our team proved the loan system is not all about selling them for profit

The slating of him is way OTT like wow. This just came out of no where. He might of not done a lot stats wise but I think people underrate his contribution to the team. People are just looking at the transfer fee and judging that he is a flop. I was impressed with him last season despite the stats. I think we will see more goals and assists this season. To compare him to SWP is laughable. Willian has came of his first season which I thought he done well. If anyone is using his stats as a way to say he was poor, I completely disagree. In many games where we won, he was a contributing factor. Anyway people using stats to prove their point won't change my view on him because I know what he is capable of and that he contributes a lot for the team offensively and defensively. He just needs the stats to show. Also as with people saying Willian is no upgrade on Moses, like seriously I hope this season he adds more goals to silence some of these fickle opinions of him. As people say Mourinho is the best manager we have had and arguably the best manager in the world and I am sure he has the final word on Willian and he knows how much he rates Willian. I am sure it is more than a lot of people on here

Has indeed joined Walsall. Good luck to him http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/08/clifford-joins-walsall.html

Although I don't think pre-season means much, Napoli are a very good team and Messi and Neymar are still away. No shae in losing to Napoli. Bayern played a team made up of the best players in America whose fitness levels are much better than Bayern currently but while I don't think/hope the loss to Bremen will impact us in anyway it certainly shows Mourinho has things to work on because while they may have started their preperations a week or 2 before us, they are quite an inferior side to us.

I do agree with your posts sometimes but it does come across that you have an obsessive love affair with Arsenal. Everything you have said there about who to be the leading this, best player and so on is all about Arsenal apart from RVP but even he has a connection with Arsenal You also said Koscielny is the best CB in the premier league. Not that you are wrong to say that as imo he is up there but come on man, a little support for Chelsea or our players. Why Ozil POTY and not Hazard? I reckon Hazard will go up another level with the additions to the team. I can see why you would think Ozil would have the most amount of assists but once again I reckon that could easily go to a player like Hazard or Silva. Hazard had the most created chances last season and you only think now we have a clinical striker his assists stats will improve. But yes Ozil struggled without the likes of Walcott last season but this season when the likes of Walcott and Sanchez are fit you will see the best of him. Like, yeah your predictions are not outrageous or anything but it would be bloody pleasing to see you credit our team and players a bit more

Essien is a holder of a European passport. Asamoah as well. Atsu might not have a British passport but that is irrelevant as he is here and likely to move on loan to a team in England. In countries such as Italy the rules are different. Mikel right now would affect the criteria in Serie A. Seydou Keita holds a French passport so he does not take up the non-EU spot in Serie A. It is that simple. Roma wouldnt have signed him, I am sure if he did not have a French passport but because he does he does not pose any problems. So there

If you bothered to read the last page or 2 and then you might see why. Maybe to do with the fact that he does not currently have a British passport. Going back to his playing abilites I do think his long range passing is underrated.

Let's not forget that when we went to the Emirates last season and frustrated them and cut of the likes of Ozil being effective, Mikel was excellent for that. Mourinho came in with a game plan that worked and Mikel done his role brilliantly. Mikel had Ozil in his back pocket. Same when we beat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield last season in a game many people expected us to lose as we played a weakened team, he was excellent and the likes of Sterling, Coutinho, Suarez and Sturridge were innefective. With the games you have mentioned and the ones I have included he has more than proved he is a very reliable player when called on. This is why I have no problem with Mikel staying and Romeu going out on loan. Mourinho knows he is a reliable player thus why he wants him for another season. He is a solid player and for one who is happy to take a more subsided role, people should be more greatful and appreciate the fact that we have a solid squad player at the club.

Look how much goals SAS scored last season and it helped that they were not in Europe. Even Sterling got 9 league goals. United are in the same position and you can see that trio sharing quite a lot of goals between themselves. So far the 3-4-1-2 formation is a perfect fit to get the best out of Mata and also have RVP and Rooney playing together.

Part of the reason why Mikel is more difficult to sell is because he does not currently have a British passport. Once he gets his British passport in October he will be more of an attractive option for other clubs. So he could move to the Serie A without having an effect on rules of non-EU players but right now it will have an impact on such teams if he were to move. So people who think he can't be sold because he does not offer anything need to use their brain a little and think why. Once he gets his British passport he will have quite a few teams after him. I like him as a squad player anyway so I am happy to see him here for the upcoming season. A reliable player who does what is asked of him.

Mourinho is praising Solanke. WOW. That does not mean he should play him. He has bundles of potential but he is only 16 years old. The step up is completely different. He has just left school. Solanke will not be involved with the first team for sure and I am supportive of that. He will develop with the U18s and U21s. While he has scored bagful of goals for the youth side you can't put two and two together and think he is good enough for the first team. It is a massive step up and we don't need to rush him. Like Van Gaal does? With who? He has only joined as United manager and he certainly won't be playing any 16 year olds during the competitive season.

That is where you are wrong. Mourinho sees Drogba as a key part of his plans for the season. He may say a lot he does not mean but he already said that he is bringing Drogba back for football purposes and not sentimental ones. He wouldn't describe him as one of the best strikers in Europe unless he is serious about him. If Drogba's role was to help the young ones he may as well of been instructed to motivate Lukaku to stay. There is a lot Mourinho decieves people about. This is not. We got rid of Lukaku and it does not look definite we will sign a new striker. A lot of people would rather Drogba have a subsided role but that is not the case. He will see a lot of game time. Mourinho has not described Torres as one of the best strikers in Europe before. I think that indicates that Drogba may well be our 2nd choice striker next season with Torres as 3rd unless Mourinho goes out and buys a striker. I love Didier for what he has done but I am not really supportive of the idea of him coming back here, especially with the way signals coming across how Mourinho plans to use him.

We signed Costa for £32m to be our main man. Mourinho wouldn't sign a striker like Cavani who is likely to cost more to then rotate the two. Costa is the main man and I don't think he has the intention of rotating Costa for every other game and he certainly is not going to play 2 up front like you said so I don't even think Cavani is a possibility for Mourinho. He will be at PSG unless some other club makes a ludicrous offer for him.

I don't think he is being a coward at all. He just has that arrogance to himself where he considers himself good enough to be starting in the best league in the world. Realistically he could have fought to be 1st choice striker but with the signing of Diego Costa it is very unlikely. If it was not for Costa signing I definitely think he would have been up for the challenge but we signed him and yes we needed a striker like Costa but in Lukaku's view that was probably the final straw for him. We can keep going on about fighting for his place but assuming Costa continues doing what he does best he was not going to be anything more than a super-sub and a striker who makes a few starts in cup and the odd league games. Costa is only 25 as well and can be leading the line for us for the near decade. But yeah I agree with you in that he could have had a chance to play at his boyhood team, a team who will be challenging for major honours for the forseeable future and he might think 'what if?' but I am sure he thought about his decision. I do think you are underrating Everton though. They are growing. They have a good manager, did very well last year and I think fatigue and a lack of squad depth prevented them from getting 4th spot last season but with the right additions they can mount another serious challenge and it is not impossible for them to win the F.A Cup plus they are in the Europa League as well. A bit of a hindrance but still a European competition. But at his age now he probably thinks the mose important thing is to play and I can understand that. He is at a very good team. Like I was saying if he stays here it might take him ages to ever prove he is capable of being the no.1 forward here and he could end up being frustrated. Look what happened last season to start with? He could not initially get ahead of Ba and Torres. Now we have Drogba and Costa who are better than both those strikers so realistically it would be very hard to prove himself and the majority of his appearances will be limited to 20 mins cameos or so. But yeah good luck to him. He could have stayed and fought for his place but he has gone to a good team where he feels wanted, a team with potential and most importantly for him a team where he is guaranteed first team football and will be able to showcase his talents more.