Magic Lamps

At Chelsea, no one gives a f*ck about FFP. Righly so. The burgeoning new Television deals have greatly enhanced our income once more, additionally we got a record sum from the CL win, some big-earners are off the salary list and as Champions of Europe we are to be rewarded with extra cash-deals. Gourlay would knew if there was anything to fear about corrupt UEFAs little games.

There's no real excuse for not thrashing Brighton this time. Expect a totally different match to the former preseason games, when Lukaku has been our prevailing front man. With Torres who is actually able to hold up a ball and create goals and space with his movement, our attack is provided with further options.

yeah, Di Maria and Oezil are just soo hot

your are right, about everyhting harms his confidence, so either sell him or not, buying a rival striker hence is inconsequent. the Club has opted to keep Torres. Period.

RW, RW, RW ??? We have had no proper Right Winger since Tschoäi Kohl (Joe Cole) left us. We might have bought a bunch of Offensvie midfielders and have some left wingers at our disposal but there is simply no out-and-out right winger, which is simply poor for a club like us. Moses or Hulk should be top priority

Apart from the fact that about everything harms Torres confidence, why would a player like Rondon who is 22 and raring to go be satisfied with sitting on the Bench? If we buy a striker then s.o. reliable, experience adn cheap, a proven scorer who can offer an extra bit, Hoarau or Kerzhakov go in that direction.

A young, amtitious striker being signed will only harm torres confidence. We either have to sell torres or keep him as undisputed first choice, otherwise he is uneffective. Apparently the club has chosen to Keep Torres... Otherwise, 3 Strikers, of which one is inconsistent, one is transfer-willing and will need extra time to recover after the Olympics adn one is unproven, erratic and has little to offer apart from his physique sounds a bit of a gamble.

Indeed can't see the club spending for more than a RB adn a ST/RW. We'll atleast have a try until Winter before buying a new CM/DM. We lack a bit of quality in that position but perhaps its an opportunity for Romeu or McEachran to demonstrate their ability to step ahead. ATM a major factor is numbers. We have to get rid of players to buy new ones whilst at CM we are - with regard to numbers - fulled up. Provided Essien and Meireles leave us ( which I wish they would and still trasnfers are not off as Ess is past it and Meireles has always been an average player with a bit of shooting ability and experience )there would be a blatant neccessity, but don't expect the club to rush before. . As for Mikel, he's always been a decent defensive midfielder, of course he lacks the drive and commitment wich becomes more obvious in a doubole pivot than in a midfield three. aS he's our only viable opiton it leads us back to the initial topic, our system. I think a 4-3-2-1 interchanging with a 4-3-3 would fit most players individual strengths -------------Mikel----------- ---Ramires-------Lamps-- -----Mata----------Hazard- --------------Torres-------- Mikel - works best in a midfield three as the holding midfielder Ramires - has not quite the technique for RW but his pace, drive, energy are wasted in a double pivot. Best position is RCM Lamps - always likes to draw back before making his trademark runs, so a classic numer 10 would place him too far in front, whilst his offensive abilities would be limited too much in a double pivot Mata & Hazard have very much freedom roaming about, interchanging sides both being kinda number 10 AND winger whilst having enough space not to stmap on each others toes. As for width, I assure u this system would provide our fullbacks the opportunity to sprint forward and otherwise Hazard is a brillant and Ramires a decent winger with their pace, so they could both do a job there by changing position. In case it should have to be really offensively this can easily turn into a 4-1-4-1 with Lamps going next to mata in a double no. 10 hazard left, rambo right, a 4-2-3-1 with either lamps going forward to no 10, mata on wing or lamps withdrawing into double pivot with mikel and rambo on wing or if we need to counter it could be a classic 4-3-3 with mata nd hazard on the wings

yes but i think this comparison is a bit off. Marin's play is based on his dribbling, turning ability and acceleration. For Zola this acceleration was only as much as he needed (even though he was in his mid30ies he was much faster than Mata is with 24) for his game. Zola lived for the surprise, the extraordinary. He was a scorer, a scorer of chipped, curled or backheeled efforts. You seldom see Marin score. he is more of a "solid" dribbler but no one as creative and brillant as Zola. Additionally Zola was a rather a striker, Marin is rather a winger.

Lukaku said in the facebook chat on CTV, that Didier Drogba is very much of his role model as he himself reckoned how similar their playign styles were. Of course its a huge legacy and theres probably no way Lukaku will come near Drogba but hey, where was Drogba when he was 19? Lukaku is a great physical specimen with power and pace and enough time to work on his weaknesses. Its far too early to write him off already

nonetheless, frustrating game, no real urgency anywhere, the players did not really look fit. Is it just me or des anyone else think (independent of that game) thate we are missing a worldclass man either in midfield or in the wings to make us challenging on all fronts? Even when we buy Oscar, its only a bunch of kids +lamps +torres (who is not always that consistent). Don't know how those can compete with ronaldo, messi or agüero, silva for the big titles.

t Marin has been one of our best players in preseason so far, don't know what u expected of him to justify a place in the starting. Piazon been decent

incredible how malouda does not shoot us to victory there

Because they are German ... as our incredibly biased, hyping media who always proclaim the national team or our sides as favourites would wish Actually as a German u rather perceive German players being less consistent than italian, spanish or english players.

marin should have got a penalty there, bright move by him

Why do English commentators and journalists label anyone above 1,85m (6'1 for all who still dont know about the metric system) as "big" no matter how thin they are?

hate Ashleys new haircut. Looks like a mix between nacker and dinosaur. think piazon is our new striker

ivanovic with th 4th volley mishit for us in the game, must work on those.Woeful chance conversion rate.

dont know if "great" is the right word. He might be a decent playmaker but his major assets are his pace, his dribbling adn finishing ability. His passing is ok but he does not have the vision of Lampard or Mata.

Mikel might be no KüchenXabi Alonso or Alex Song but he still is a decent holding midfielder. Tiote is just a light version of Essien at that age, who passes to opponents for fun and commits about 900 fouls a game

we are bit sloppy, off pace. Build up play is a joke, just no urgency. Hope Ramires and Marin will bring us an extra bit. Hazard wants to be number 10, but the only thing he does there is playing passes, everyone could play and trying shots or tricks that simply do not play off. Still don't know who told him he would be a playmaker, but the search goes on

our corsses are extremely poor and tc and/or my browser obviously want to hose me.

It was coming. cahill should not be so nutmeged by those kindergarden tricks by Paslowe Kakuta and de bruyne look lost on the wings adn hazard is absolutely useless without space. should play on the fuckin left wing

It was coming. cahill should not be so nutmeged by those kindergarden tricks by Paslowe

thanks for the stream nice to c Alex, Maka and Carlo again of course. Alex was a loyal servant, never forget his freekicks and a more than solid defender, put on some of the most flawless performances I have ever seen of a defender. carlo was a consummate Gentleman, another milestone of Chelsea's Italian connection.