dee25

TOP OF THE LEAGUE!

Azpilicueta is seriously a trojan

Oscar's vision and passing just comes alive when he's deeper. I don't think he's as good at influencing the game when he's further advanced but when he drops deep, he immediately begins to pull the strings. Matic is not fully settled yet, but I think it's clear for all to see that he's top class.

Wow. The league leaders getting trashed by a team 8 points behind them. Such a crazy league. Really wished we had brought in an elite striker last summer and gone all out for the title this season. The league definitely won't be this open next season.

There's certainly an air of hypocrisy about Jose's comments, but he's absolutely right to shine attention on City's spending. I mean, they not only have the most expensive squad in the league but they also have the 2nd most expensive squad in Europe. Not to mention the amount they spend on wages is significantly higher than ours.

No. No. no. YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE THAT COUNT!

Ohh, hazard. Too slow! They have to make those situations count.

I think Demicelis will have an easier game than most people are expecting. It's a shame Oscar isn't included because Oscar, Hazard and Willian will create a lot of problems for them.

That's true. I remember there were rumours about them being interested him to replace De Gea but I didn't think a bid was actually made for him? And what I mean is that I think Chelsea has been very accommodating of him. Not just in allowing him to play in the super cup but they very well could have brought him back this season but were mindful of his wishes to play regularly in a world cup season. While they can't take credit for his development, I think they've done everything they can to put him on the right trajectory. Anyway the club has made their proposal to Courtois. Regardless, of how talented he is, I don't think they should allow themselves to be held to ransom. Why should they be rushed into doing something they're not prepared to do? Just for the fear of losing out on a top goalkeeper? When, they think the time is right to move Cech on, they will. If Courtois isn't prepared to deputize for Cech for a short time, then believe me, I think we'll survive without him. I personally think it's important that Cech remains as 1st choice for several reasons. The main one being that I would like to see Zouma gradually integrated rather than farmed out and I would also like to see us bring in Shaw. If Courtois is no. 1, and if Shaw & Zouma are going to be given sufficient playing time....that's a lot of changes to our back five. It just makes more sense to me to first work on phasing out players like Cole and Terry before even touching Cech. Courtois being no.1 next season isn't going to improve the team.

He's really turning me off with the comments he's been making. I'm not saying that he doesn't have a right to demand the no. 1 spot here, but to me the way he and his father are going about it, it almost sounds like they're holding us to an ultimatum. If Courtois wants to come here and immediately be handed over the starting spot, then I say let the kid walk. This is one of the top clubs in the world and the way he and his father are acting, it's almost as if they think they're doing us a favor. I understand that he's right up there among the best, but would he even be in that position if it weren't for Chelsea? In any case, I think this is a different situation from Cudicini. For starters Cech has built rapport with Mourinho and I think Jose has too much respect for him to just drop him like that. Courtois will surely get his chance (if he comes) but it needs to be done in way that's respectful to Cech and that might mean him spending some time on the bench while Cech is gently phased out. If that's such an unbearable thought to Courtois, then let the kid go and collect a hefty fee for him. We can't miss something that we never had.

Can't believe he's only 20. Certainly has time on his side. I was really hoping there was something in the rumours that Real Sociedad wanted him. I think that's what Josh needs right now - to experience an entirely different football culture and get out of his comfort zone. In any case if a decent club comes in for him then I think we should consider offloading him (for his sake). He needs to be let off his leash and he needs a club where he can settle for a few years while playing regularly. These eternal, never-ending loans won't do him any good.

8 defeats! And it's only the beginning of February...... Mata deserves better than this.

There's also Ivanovic though..... I'm really curious to see what Mourinho plans on doing with Luiz. Right now Cahill is in the form of his life and Terry has been our most consistent centre back. Is Luiz going to be happy sitting on the bench and just being a rotational option?

Mata has drifted in and out of the game. But something tells me he'll score. Utd have really missed van persie though....

I said it before, but he is quality. Believe me. The only question mark I have about Matic is his fitness. Whenever I see him play for Benfica, he seemed to get noticeably tired as the match progresses and against Stoke, you could tell he had tired legs.

Hazard, Oscar, Matic.......killing it. Just killing it right now.

Eden. Stop it. He's killing it right now.

It's obviously not true guys. The fee has already been agreed. Mourinho said on Friday that the paperwork has been signed between Chelsea and Basel. Everything has been agreed. It's just formalities left. There's really nothing Liverpool can do unless the player suddenly changes his mind, but for Chelsea to announce that an agreement is in place then they obviously are confident that the player wants to join the club.

lmao. Hopefully he sticks around this time. Noticed he conveniently disappeared when United showed to everyone how shit they are.

This kid just keeps scoring.

He'll do well for them. I Just feel it.

Exaggerated how? I'm not understanding this argument at all. You're making it out to seem as if anyone can achieve such fantastic stats if they were the first choice set-piece taker but that's far from being true. This really reminds me of the rhetoric we usually get from cynics about Lampard's goalscoring ability, that his goalscoring stats are inflated because he's the first choice penalty taker. Lampard is 1st choice because he has such a knack in converting goals, whether from the spot or in open play. He has a specialty skill and that puts him in a position to achieve remarkable numbers. There's nothing grossly exaggerated about it. Same thing with Mata, whether in set pieces or in open play, Mata creates goals. That's what he does and because he's so exceptionally skilled at it, he's obviously going to be first choice in delivering set pieces.

*clears throat* soooo, is it too soon to talk about who might get the no. 10 shirt? Time to move on. No?

Eh? Why would he beg Jose to stay on the bench? Is he an idiot?