Magic Lamps

Costa-Falcao strikeforce can be brutal when playing some annyoingly stubborn defences like Southampton's or West Ham's. a nice old-fashioned 4-4-2 also would spare us Oscar's usual incompetence at the no.10 position. However it only would make sense if we also play filipe luis or another decent crosser. Having lost his anyway not exactly blistering pace, the only way falcao still scores is from his quick reactions after crosses. Not even sure if still has that crazy leap tho. btw i have no idea what he will cost. I suppose 25-30m when he is not worth anything above 15 and on huge wages, this would be a huge gamble on a 29 y.o. striker in rapid decline.

Last time City splashed the cash they were the newly-rich kids creating a completely new, dynamic squad. This time round they are only a washed-up club of have-beens, with deadocked hierachies and a bunch of big lazy egos on big money contracts sulking on the bench with a senile, small-time manager who is only still in charge because we randomly gifted them a title. I struggle to see how they will attract any world-class players. I'd even be surprised if Sterling went there. And even if se he would barely be an upgrade on Jesus Navas.

I somehow refuse to believe that Salah is considerably worse than Willian and Cuadrado. And if so, no wonder he also is 5 years younger and can still mature as player whereas Cuadrado and Willian will never be more than technically gifted workhorses with below average output. I also refuse to believe Willian, Salah and Cuadrado are considerably worse than Reus, Griezmann, Fekir or Felipe Anderson. But i guess the grass is always greener.... However I have accepted the fact that our RW problem will not be solved by throwing money on it. I would like to give someone of our army of wingers at the club or out on loan the same chance Willian has been given if the latter fails to deliver at some point next season.

Luckily the only one linking us with him is himself, advertising himself like a cheap whore. That would make him a great fit at Bayern. Would love them to sign him as a replacement for Ribery so we all could welcome them back to mediocrity where they belong.

So with Liverpool further trusting Brenda he will basically wait a year to join f'kin loserpool. Poor guy.

I guess if Lamps would have gone out and said "I am joining City" , who just had leapfrogged us to the title, people would have hated him as much as they do now. The same goes for Cech. If he dealys that decision forever it does not feel great either, but neither Lamps nor Cech's story is such a big deal IMO. We,Chelsea, should stand above that.

Otamendia , Witsel, Falcao sounds like a plan even though I am not a fan of any of those. IMO Jose for sure has not yet included the replacements for possible leavers in his list, exp considering luis and cech leaving we will sign backups. As for all ManUtd's money with the fees they pay the only one they strengthen is the clubs they buy from. There are simply are not many real world class players available atm. Jose today hinted at a swap deal regarding Cech to Arsenal. The thing is, even if they give us Sanchez, their best player by far, they are still better off. Cech wins you titles, raising his performance in big games, whereas Sanchez.... Does any of you think a swap deal would be realistic? And if so what player would you want, how about Ramsay bolton ..err.. aaron ramsey?

Meh. boring boring UEFAlona.

that was some brilliant improvisation from neymar to set up the goal. also iniesta and rakitic were pretty unmarked. juve had about 7 defenders in and around the box and none spotted their runs. pathetic. have seen much better defending from them this season. will be an uphill struggle for them now.

Whilst all are unlikely the only one i can eventually see here is benteke at a very far stretch

Falcao proved, even though he always tries hard, that he is unable to be effective playing 2nd fiddle. Higuain on the other hand is prolific as a back up and almost as good as Costa anyway. Imagine Diego has his usual end-of season hamstring issue, I'd feel more confident going into a possible CL final with a player who is not yet struggling to get even close to the player he once was. HOwever, whilst I do not want either player here, we have to acknowledge the need for an experienced back up striker who is comfortable holding the line in a big match on his own. Mou has not trusted Remy on this one.

And still only 25. A manager like Mou who kicks his ass would transform him with his anyway brilliant footballing and athletic abilities to a great all round b2b midfielder. He really could be everything we have missed since the bison left. Like ESS he is a physical monster with better technique than people give him credit for. On the other hand that does also mean he surely will not be the solution for ou creativity and goalscoring deficit in midfield.

Good read, decent bloke but that article already says it all. All he wants is playing time, so he won't come here.

This probably means Wenger will still be in charge the next year and another year Arseanl will only pretend to challenge for the title. We should ask Arsenal how relentless and proactive we were when smashing them 6-0 last year.

the best player in germany sends his regards. A really nice showpiece of Gemran football this game. methodical, yet stringent, tactically excellent, fast in transition, variable. Not as robust and fast paced as English football and not as technical and intricate as Spanish football, but still entertaining. effectiveness beats posession and wasted chances as usual.

shay given, how about just fucking move? so a london derby it is. IMO we have really underachieved in the CS in recent memory. last win has been 6 years ago. We really are due one here. But fine, we owe Arsenal a thrashing anyway aftr the ref spared them a humilation last month.

Villa have really been shit today. A historic chance for the club and the players look like they don't give a shit. no fighting, no running, just pumping high balls to benteke. pathetic.

and just as deserved that sevilla turn the game. awesome power play from them

That Dnipro team is great. Amazing effort and combativeness from that side. Never seen an entire team run that much. absolutely deserved lead. 2 players completely undid the entire sevilla defence with 2 simple passes.

I never got why this fairly average player always gets so much praise outside Germany. He has always been a passenger with the world cup final being the exception. He started as a winger but when people realised he was far too slow and technically weak to play there they put him in the middle to play As a number 10. But soon it became evident that he could not score or assist to save his life, so they put him into DM but his defensive statistics were just as bad. So they turned him into a sort of defensive no 8 with 0 creativity and almost no output. By far his best position. Emphasises his few strengths (Strategic mind, good reaction, immense work rate and stamina, leadership, OK technique and passing) and covers up his weaknesses (physically weak, slow AF, ineffective in attack, weak tackling, no leap, immobile, ponderous). Also he is also injury prone and always out of form. Don't get me wrong. Personally I like him. He is a decent bloke. A silent leader. Matured from a choker to a winner just in time to make the game of his life in the WC final by surpassing his own narrow limitations. Now at 30 he is considered past his best already and should not be more than a squad player for any top club. And rightly so. He always considered himself to be a poor man's Lampard cos he always tried to emulate his style but never got it right. At close to 31 he will start next season on the bench playing his usual bit part role he has played for 10 years in a rapidly declining Bayern team. At 31 in 2009/10, Lamps started 58 matches for club&country, scoring 36 goals and assisting 24. Fabregas has not managed to succeed him here, so Schweinsteiger would not even a new Ballack. As a squad player he would have been an option because of his tactical abilities, work rate and experience but IMO RLC can easily be better than Schweinsteiger ever was if only he works half as hard as basti did.

with the difference being that remy is 10 times better as a player.

srsly what does willian have to do to score in a match? such bad luck. and that counter attack was wasted btw. remy wtf

Gerrard getting battered on his final EPL game by Stoke, Lampard signing off with a world class finish against the best defence of the league.Difference.

Lets hope he will put himself in the shop window at the CA. Barca is rumoured to be interested in him.

Spot on. At the age of 20, Reus was exactly like Sterling is today. Always full of running,not scared to lose the ball, great dribbler, two-footed, but full of loose touches, erratic finishing and turnovers. Reus still has some bad finishes and turnovers every game but he more than makes up for it with his defensive workrate and the constant threat his offensive movement poses. Though Reus, despite being so skinny also has always had that fighting spirit in him which is why I would love to see him in a physically more demanding league. I have not yet discovered that in Sterling but time will tell.