Hostedenis

iva can't cross for his life! lol

As long as Arsenal drop points I don't care Although City are probably a bigger threat on the long run

Wow Shürlle!!!!

So he is on 7 goals 3 assists now in all competitions, compared to last years 10 goals 14 assists? He should get more goals this season, but it looks like he'll get less assists. That's 6 goals 3 assists in Premier league, if you'd like to know, compared to 9 goals 11 assists last year.

Mou didn't 'not give a chance to Lukaku', Lukaku asked for a transfer request after the Bayern game. Who knows how many minutes he would've gotten under Mourinho. I'm sure it wouldn't be as many as now at Everton, but you can't say Mourinho did not want Lukaku or wouldn't have given him a chance/minutes. Lukaku himself asked for the transfer and for his development I think it was for the best. Good for him (plays and scores a lot more than he probably would've at Chelsea) Good for Chelsea (strengthens Everton, so gives harder games to our competitors but not to us as he can't play against us - look at the Liverpool derby)

Love it!

What is this? I can come to the Mata thread and read the weirdest things! People on here say Mata is leaving because he and Jose don't get along, because Mata doesn't counter well/fast enough, because he's involved in a Rooney swap, ... And now because he cuts inside too much! Mourinho did indeed say that in this particular game he preferred KDB because he kept Evra busy, like you mentioned. But that in no way on earth means KDB will always get preferred. Mata simply is a better player than KDB, and Jose knows it. People, stop looking for reasons why the club would want to get rid of Mata! We aren't. I know not everyone here will believe me (after all, who am I, right?) but that's why I posted Mourinho's quotes, from the official Chelsea website, in this thread. You do believe Mourinho and our board, right? And they're saying there's NO WAY Mata is leaving. (You will have to go to the previous page though, for the quotes and the article, hope it's not too much work) So I don't really get what all the fuzz is about, really... He's staying, and you should all be glad he is. We would be daft to sell/loan our two years in a row best player. And why doesn't he play then, you ask? Easy: he was injured, and is lacking fitness for the moment. Mourinho said he has only been training again since last week and was allowed to play a half in the Hull game, but he still lacks too much match fitness (as was visible) to play in a big game but I guess (this is personal belief though) he'll be a starter again in one or two weeks.

Mourinho on Mata: 'He is very important for me, for Chelsea. The stories coming are nonsense stories, he goes nowhere and is very important for me. He had a very small pre-season after the Confederations Cup, during that small pre-season he was injured. He started training two days before we played the first Premier League match, and had a match last week against Aston Villa, a difficult one, and today I decided to put him on the bench. 'I played with De Bruyne on the right because I know De Bruyne will give complete control of Evra defensively. When Juan plays on the right he comes more inside. I don't say the kid is more tactically disciplined but is more adapted to that situation. I wanted Oscar to play behind the striker so I decided not to play Juan.. Minute 70, 75, I was feeling [it was] difficult to win, I don't want to lose, so I made the changes to control the last few minutes of the game, but no chance Juan goes anywhere.' And from a very reliable source: http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3438268/title/final-whistle-verdict-a-fair-point See, he's going nowhere! I told you guys!

What is this shit?

Aaaaand city dropped points against Cardiff

We are not signing Eto'o now. We're not signing anyone before the Old Trafford game. And I actually hope we don't sign Eto'o personally... Too old for the philosophy of the club, and a different sort of CF than what we need. I still hope we sign Rooney, and although I don't like his history (being or having been a Man Utd player) you have to give it to him - he's a great player and the sort of player we need. Great link-up play, an eye for goals, can drop back and collect the ball from the midfield, and good finishing. Despite his history, I'd prefer Rooney over Eto'o any day of the week. And I hope and think we won't sign Eto'o. But then again, I didn't want Willian and that transfer didn't make much sense either (but it's not yet complete though... Here's to hoping it'll never be) so I guess you never know, huh?

Why would you play KdB central (when he's a great RW) and play mata as RW (when he sucks at RW)? Switch them, put Iva as RB and Luiz/Cahil as CB for Azpi and I think you have a great line-up (probably not Luiz because he hasn't played lately)

A Deep Lying Playmaker Cheers!

I've just watched him play the first half, and gotta say... I want a new striker as well, but he has played an excellent first half! I know it's just 45 minutes, but he's been very dangerous. And I'm not a fan of Torres. But give credit where credit is due (although it's only been 45 minutes). I do hope we get to see some Lukaku though, around the 65th minute.

I think you might be spot on, mate! Or at least close to it! I personally don't think we'll play Luiz because of his injury, so probably Cahill instead of him. And I hope KdB starts but it'll probably be Moses with KdB coming on later on in the game. I'd also prefer Van Ginkel and Lampard, but I think Mourinho will play Ramires and Essien as you say as well. Mourinho really likes Essien. [rant] I personally would keep Ramires or Lampard for the bigger games and when we play sides like Hull or Cardiff or smaller relegation-probable teams we should give minutes to Van Ginkel, Lukaku and KdB, our new talent. Not Moses, he's a great squad player but can also be used in the bigger games, he should be used as a sub when we're ahead or as a starter in smaller games, to rest Mazacar. As should Shurlle, I feel. [/rant] But man, I just can't wait! Just a few more hours and Mourinho is back at Stamford Bridge! I really do hope we give him a big welcome with many banners and chants! And finally, we can watch our blues play epl football again!

Indeed, one was a penalty (struck not too hard but very well placed in the bottom corner), second goal was nice! I'm curious, Gilvorak, as to where English people go to watch the Belgian Jupiler Pro League? Livestream? And off-topic, but boy oh boy, I can't sleep. Return of the special one to Stamford Bridge tomorrow! So excited to see our boys play epl football again!

I know, and he was Bundesliga 11-12 topscorer as well. He's good. And not as pricey as Rooney/Suarez. He's old though. 31 if I'm not mistaken (Should look it up). But that's still younger than Eto'o, and he's playing in a much more competitive league than the Russian one. And was topscorer the season before last. And cheaper and on lower wages than Eto'o. Don't see Chelsea going for him though. I'm just saying it's not Eto'o or bust. But I don't really see Chelsea going for Eto'o either. He (or Eto'o for that matter) don't fit into the club's current philosophy. He'll probably finish his career at Schalke. Pity though, would've been a good striker to have for a year or two, which is about the time Lukaku needs to step up his game.

Had to dig pretty deep into the pages to find this guy's topic. He's good. He's not world class, but i believe he's better than the current Ba, current Torres and current Lukaku. But more importantly, he's better than Eto'o which some people on here are naming. I don't understand why you'd want a 32 year old who has been playing in Russia for the last few years. Even if he was great with Mourinho at Inter. Huntelaar's better than Eto'o. And our strike force isn't good enough as it is now. I'm not saying we SHOULD go for Huntelaar. All I'm saying is that now that the Rooney deal apparently is off (it changes every three days though) people are saying it's Eto'o or bust. Like they were saying it was Rooney or bust last week. All I'm saying with this post is that we do have other options, like Huntelaar. I'd prefer him over the scum that is Suarez or a personality like Rooney any day. But yes, Rooney or Suarez are both better players. Huntelaar's cheaper though. A lot. And there's some other options left too.

Here you go: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2389052/Gary-Neville-The-Premier-League-needed-Jose-Mourinho-dont-write-David-Moyes.html

Hazard without a doubt MOTM!

Apart from the Dutch articles with are easy to find, here's an English one: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2060132/Manchester-City-keen-PSV-Eindhovens-Zakaria-Bakkali.html It's from the Daily Fail though. But shows you City were interested back in 2011, but they lost the race for him against PSV. More recently, rumours have been coming up about again. Now that he's playing first team football since preseason he has seen a lot more of the spotlight, and hence teams have seen a lot more from him.

Manchester City were after him back when he was playing for the youth of Standard Liège in Belgium. That was at the same time PSV was interested and got his signature. I seem to remember other teams were interested too but can't recall which teams. I'll back up the City interested with a link, just give me a minute

While I do agree with you and we've had a big increase in talented players for the last 5 years, I do sometimes regret the amount of times and posts fellow Belgians on here make about our national team. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. And this isn't aimed at you directly (more at all the Belgian posters on TalkChelsea). I do like the increase of talent in our NT we have had the last few years, and yes there are a few more talented youngsters just sticking their head out of the water for the last few months like this guy or Januzaj but I somehow feel this is still a Chelsea forum and not a Belgian NT forum. And we don't want to over-glorify every new young talent either, I feel. Don't know who said it (so again, not aiming this directly at you) but lately I've been reading on here that Praet or Tielemans are Chelsea-quality. I'm not saying they're not (well actually I am, but hear me out): they aren't yet. That's what I'm saying. And that's not a very big 'yet'. They're talented, they might become Chelsea-quality, but they aren't yet and might never be (more likely I feel). But enough about Praet or Tielemans, this discussion is about Bakkali. And he's good. Big talent. Chelsea quality? Don't know. Wouldn't want to place money on it. But he's playing very well and if he keeps this form up or keeps improving like he has the last year, who knows? To give you an example, remember Dries Mertens form at the beginning of last season? Played for PSV as well. Try looking up the statistics of his first few matches (first 5?). He broke some records then as well. And although I like Mertens (a lot), I wouldn't call him Chelsea quality. Very excited about his transfer to Napoli though. Have been watching his preseason. But don't get me wrong, as a fellow Belgian off course I am excited about our squad as well. There're just better places to discuss that, I feel. No hard feelings!

Scored a hattrick today, youngest player ever to score a hattrick in the Dutch competition! http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/matchcenter/mc_voetbal/Nederland_1314/MG_speeldag_2/1.1698731 (Dutch) Has also been called upon by Wilmots for the NT friendly against France after his good performances against Zulte.

Official news is he's injured