TorontoChelsea

It's true that some of those players won't play in 2014, but some of them certainly will. This run of games has been to see what the younger players can do and the Olympics will be a continuation of that.

Because way too many Chelsea fans (especially those who are post-Abramovich), don't care at all about money or value or what over-spending does to football in general. If we bought Oscar for 40M, the same people would be saying "great signing, he's the next Iniesta, who cares how much we spent?". Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have him and I will support him, we just spent way too much money to get him.

The other starters in midfield recently for Brazil are Sandro, Lucas, Romulo, Caesmiro, and Gioliano. This is not Spain or Germany where the midfield are all world-class. This is a very young and unproven team and have been playing their young players as a warm-up for the Olympics so virtually all their starting players are under 23. If this were the World Cup or Copa America, Brazil would be playing a very different starting XI. For example, you look at the last couple of games Brazil has played- none of Cesar, Danny Alves, Lucio, Maicon, Andre Santos, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ramires, and Robinho played. (and Brazil lost both games).

It's true, and that effects value a fair bit, but it doesn't cut it in half. Ozil went for 15M Euros. If he had another year or two left on his contract, maybe he would have gone for 20M Euros or so, maybe even more. The point is that he still would have cost a lot less than Oscar despite a much better pedigree. The issue with Oscar is not that we are paying a little too much, it's that we are paying probably 10M pounds more what a player of his experience should go for. Yes, he's a wunderkind, he's very talented, etc...but there are a lot of players like that out there. He could become an incredible player, but he could also become the next Anderson. There's simply no reason to be paying such an exorbitant fee for such an unproven player (and at a position where we didn't need anyone). 25M for a midfielder should be an elite, proven, young player, not a prospect.

Ridiculous amount of money for an unproven midfielder.25M for a midfielder should get you a young, proven, excellent player and Oscar is far from that. Chelsea bought Juan Mata, who had had 3 years of success in Spain, for less money. City got Silva , excellent in Spain, for less money. Manchester United got Kagawa who has been a dominant force for the best team in Germany for a year and a half for a lot less money. Ozil went for half the price. In fact, Oscar now becomes one of the highest priced midfielders in history. Hopefully Oscar develops well and makes himself worth it, but this is an enormous and needless gamble. Oscar has to become one of the best players in the Premier League for this to even be decent value.

Not only that but strength from a winger is a very very small part of their game. When you talk about the importance of strength, you're almost always talking about a striker, a central defender, or maybe a defensive midfielder. Hulk has many other skills that make him a very good winger, but I don't care much about his strength.

I don't think Willian was ever an AVB target. Roman and the Shakhtar owner are friends.

http://www.express.co.uk/football/view/332648/Chelsea-set-to-loan-Kevin-De-Bruyne-and-Romelu-Lukaku-to-Werder-Bremen They have KDB and Lukaku going on loan to Werder Bremen. Not sure if this is true, but it does seem very likely that both players will go out on loan. Bremen would be a good place for them if they get playing time although I don't really care much where they go as long as A) it's a decent quality They get to play regularly.

That would be absolutely insane and I doubt it's true.

Yes, but Dortmund did win the Bundesliga the last two seasons which more than makes up for a lacklustre group stage. PSG finished second in a weaker league and couldn't make it out of their Europa league group stage which is much worse. Dortmund still have Hummels, Goetze, Reus, Lewandowski, other top notch players, and play very well as a unit. Until PSG actually show that they are a top club, they don't scare me in the least. Obviously, wouldn't want to get them as the #4 squad, but I don't see why you'd think they'd be better than Dortmund.

Voted for Hazard. Don't like any of the third options. Luiz has been mixed and Mata's kicks have looked pretty soft so far and is more of a finesse kicker than you'd like from a penalty-taker. Ideally, I'd like to see Sturridge learn how to take penalties. He has the confidence and heavy shot that can equal success. Obviously, if we sign another striker, they could be next in line. Really, you only need two players who can take them.

Dortmund will also be in pot 3 or 4 and would also be a very tough draw. There are always some tough groups out there. Last year Barca and AC Milan were in the same group and Napoli, Bayern, and City were all in one group. There are also easy groups but even these can be tricky. Chelsea had one of the easier groups last season and we only got through on the last match day.

I don't think pre-season means much and it's difficult to judge players based on a handful of meaningless games. Hell, it's difficult enough to judge a player on a handful of meaningful games. Marin has played over 100 games in the Bundesliga with some success. He's been capped 18 times for Germany at a very competitive position. Kakuta has played 17 poor matches in the Premier League and 12 mixed ones in France. That means a lot more to me than whether someone looks good in July against Seattle or not. I'd prefer to see him go on loan because he does have incredible potential if he could get over himself.

McEachran really impressed last season and keeping him around was a mistake because he couldn't get into enough games. There simply isn't enough room for Kakuta and he isn't ready anyway. He was benched for not being good enough for a team that is now in the second division in France. Seriously, think about it...a team now in the Second division in France thought "we have a better chance of winning without Kakuta playing on our team". Does that say "oh yeah, he'll be great for Chelsea" to you? That Kakuta doesn't want to go on loan only shows his immaturity. He doesn't want to put in the effort it takes to become a top player. He doesn't want to have to prove himself. You compare that to someone like De Bruyne (or Kalas or pretty much 99% of young players) who wants to go on loan so that he can play a lot of games and grow as a footballer.

He is clearly not ready. He got off to a good start with Dijon, scoring 5 goals and getting 2 assists in his first 9 matches, but then he had no goals or assists in his last 7 matches and was benched for the last 3 matches by a team that was fighting for its relegation life. So, I don't see how a player who was not good enough to play for a relegated Ligue 1 team deserves to be playing at Chelsea. In fact, it clearly shows the opposite. He's still only played 43 professional games. He needs to go back out on loan. I have absolutely no idea who is voting for the "keep him around, he's earned a crack" because it's pretty obvious that he hasn't.

I think they'd sell too, but he'd cost a lot and he's not a natural right-sided player. With Bayern he functions mostly as a second striker which is why he wasn't playing as much (Bayern was moving away from that formation). His ideal positions IMO is either as second striker or as an attacking midfielder. He is a terrific player and will do well anywhere, but if Chelsea are looking for a natural winger, he really isn't one. Personally, I'd love him with Chelsea because he's such an intelligent and talented player and has proven his quality at the highest levels. An attacking midfield 3 of Mueller, Hazard, and Mata would be fantastic (and all three are flexible enough where traditional roles needn't apply.) As for Schurrle, I think he'll be a very good player, but he took a step backwards last season. My big concern is what his arrival would mean for Sturridge. The idea of spending 20M on Schurrle and then selling Sturridge for 10M seems absurd to me.

This is just not true. Lampard struggled during November and December but was very good early in the season. Lampard's first 10 Premier League games last season, he had 6 goals and 4 assists. I hope he struggles that badly this season. Essien's days as a box to box midfielder are over. It is possible that he can re-make himself as a defensive midfielder where he doesn't need the explosiveness he once had, but I have my doubts. Keeping Benayoun will probably have a lot to do with if Chelsea feel De Bruyne is ready or not and whether he would get enough time at Chelsea. If you're going to have someone only start about 5-10 games all season, I'd probably it rather be someone like Benayoun who can be help out at a decent level but doesn't need to develop for the future.

It's almost like Dalglish was a double agent. Absolutely agree, don't see Liverpool being better than 6th no matter what.

That's not what I am saying and I notice a lot of people here not understanding the verdict. Not guilty is not the same thing as proven innocent. It just means that the burden of proof to establish guilt has not been met. Not every person who is found not guilty is innocent. In order to successfully sue Ferdinand, Terry would have to 1) Prove that he didn't say anything racist (absolutely impossible either way) 2 Prove that Ferdinand knew that Terry didn't say anything racist and that he was lying and maliciously set out to frame Terry (not possible to prove) 3) Prove that he was harmed by Ferdinand's "lie" (easier, but still not a slam dunk, losing a captaincy is a prestige thing, but Terry has not lost any money from this which is the easiest way to show harm.) The only course of action for Terry (also the best one) is to let it go, and get back to football.

Yes he would. You can sue someone for defamation only if what they are claiming is false. Since what Ferdinand claimed cannot be proven to be false, you cannot sue him and win. It's a he said/he said situation. The same lack of hard evidence that made it impossible to say one way or another what was said in a criminal case, would make it equally impossible in a civil case.

Because he'd lose. He'd have to prove conclusively that he didn't say anything racist which is impossible. The reason Terry won the case is that there was no conclusive evidence either way. He still could be in trouble with the FA because their burden of proof will be a lot lower. It might be hard for them now though once a court has already ruled in his favour. (I hope)

The correct verdict. This never should have gone to trial.

Congrats!

I'd like to see PSG do well. Good to gave top clubs from different countries and leagues, I just hate the way this stuff is done with massive spending over a very short period of time.

Yes, you have to be good to play in any decent national side, making that level means you have at least a certain quality, but it doesn't mean you are fantastic by any stretch of the imagination. There are a lot of factors. Depth of the position in the country, style of play of the coach, direction of the squad, etc... This is not the Brazilian team of a decade ago, filled with stars who played regularly for top European clubs (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, etc...). They are going full-on with youth which I think is probably good for them long-term and for the World Cup, but it means that players that are older like Ronaldinho, Ramires, and Kaka, don't really play. Do you think Sandro is a world-class talent because he plays regularly for Brazil? Giuliano? Do you think Meireles is a fantastic player because he starts for Portugal? Jordan Henderson must be amazing, he got called up for England. Is Mata crap because he almost never plays for Spain? Are you really trying to argue that Oscar's 6 caps are proof that he's a great player? Do you think everyone who has ever played for Brazil has gone on to be a world-class player? And Neymar is much sought-after because of his achievements in the league. He was named best forward in Brazil the last two seasons. He was named best player in Brazil last year. He was named South American player of the year last season, he scored more goals than anybody else in Brazil in the last two seasons. To be the best player in Brazil at 18 and 19 is incredible. It's like Hazard, someone very young who has dominated a decent league. Even he might not be great in Europe, but there is a real reason why he's so hyped. You simply cannot say the same thing about Oscar (or Lucas Moura or any of the other Brazilian wunderkind)