Rmpr

I like the lineup, Willian-Mata-Hazard sounds promissing!

You can use my membership to buy tickets if you want...

Rafa, where are you now?

That is actually pretty hilarious!

Excellent article! I find it very interesting that many coaches are playing on a counter-attacking 4-2-3-1/4-5-1, it is like the new 4-4-2 of the last two decades.... But...but...No Chelsea News?

Than not even Santos would have that much. I actually wouldnt know most of the first pro teams players were with...

Yeah, Real would too.. And why wouldnt they play for Barcelona? Isnt it the first professional team they play?

Than that is an easy question...Santos and Barcelona! Santos: Neymar, Ganso, Robinho, Diego, Andre, Elano, Zé Roberto, etc. Barcelona: Messi, Pedro, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, etc.

You know what would happen in pratical terms? Clubs would either take 8yo children away from their home or we would return to the past! So, I will be a humanitarian and assume kids wont have their childhood stolen and only predict one of the possibilities: Brazil, Germany, Spain and Argentina would probaby have the best leagues by far. On the other hand, EPL would be shit as hell by depending on English players (and so on with the other small countries)... This would prevent us from having a top tournament like the Champions League, where every single top player come together. Because it is impossible to constantly have matches between South America, Africa and Europe. Meaning football would pretty much return to the 50s-60s, before this huge Globalization! All of that would weaken club football and remake the World Cup the best possible tournament. Which is bad, because right now we have UCL every year, while the WC only comes in every four years. And that is not even tackling the fact dream teams would never ever be possible again. I would hate not to see new Ajaxs, Milans, Barcelonas, Chelseas, etc.

NO ONE!

Fucking horrible, with a lot of mediocre teams!

None of that is actually a problem when you are a big nation with lots of options...As a Brazilian, I can write a post in the same mood as this one for every single World Cup we have participated (including 2002)! Now, the absolute must to win a 1 month tournament is to believe you can pull it off. You can have the best team, but if you dont have 110% confidence you are the best, you wont win a WC. Something very clear in the last two winners. Italy and Spain didnt play great and even faced 'better' teams, but they were certain about what they wanted! The problem with Germany (and England in 2006) is that they dont have the manager who will put that inside the players head. They dont have the leader who will make their players give that extra effort. Overall, if you dont have a manager who is both a leader and a motivator, you will never win a WC. And neither Löw nor Capello have these attributes... World Cups are like this, if you are in it you have a chance. But the problem is making your squad believe in that. Something Felipão knows!!!

I view our situation a little bit like that of Indianapolis Colts' Peyton vs Luck one a couple of years ago... Although the difference in quality between Manning and Luck is greater than that of Cech and Courtois, there are many similarities. Peyton still had 4-5 years of top quality american football left in him, with a good amount of chances of him winning another SuperBowl. However, a very young and promissing Andrew Luck would give the Colts 15+ years of playing time, securing Indianapolis chances in the long term. Their owner decided to have a drop in quality by giving up on Peyton Manning, in order to secure a future top QB! We will have to decide between the same thing. Do we want what is still left of our best GK ever (who is still the best one in EPL) or do we want to move on and have 10+ years of an amazing young keeper? I personally dont know the answer, but whatever Mourinho and Emenalo decides, I will back it up!

It is not about what is important to know! If Tomo created the thread it mean he WANTS to know what people prefer, it has nothing to do with if it is important to know or if you give a damn about it. Just dont go posting someone's thread is useless just because it doesnt interest you...

This thread makes absolute sense because all he wants is to know what members prefer the most, their club or their country! Each person will give their personal opinion and end of story, no right or wrong answer...

That is a hard one... I guess I prefer club over country for 3/4 years, but the atmosphere of the World Cups are just unbeatable, nothing even comes close. I have seen Brazil win the 2002 WC and I was in Munich in 2012 to see Chelsea win UCL, and it is fucking hard to decide which one I was most happy about. However, think of 2002 as if all of England was celebrating like Chelsea fans with parades throughout the whole country (quite literally). I think that can give you an idea of what the World Cup is like here in Brazil! Nevertheless, while I like pretty mich everything involving club football (the league, the cups, champions league, etc), I only enjoy one tournament that happens once every four years in international football. Anyways, wrote all of that and still couldnt give out a clear answer!

The amount of qualified teams depends on number of countries and total fifa ranking points each continent has... (a bit like UCL)Europe: 13 places Africa: 5 places South America: 5.5 places Asia: 4.5 places North/Central America: 3.5 places Oceania: 0.5 places Oceania used to have one place in the WCs, but since Australia is so much better than any other team in Oceania, FIFA decided to put Australia in the Asia Qualifiers (adding one more qualifying spot) and taking away Oceania's automatic qualified team. The play-offs are done by rotation. One time it is North/Central Americas vs South America, another time is Asia vs South America, North/Central America vs Oceania, and so on. And since Europe and Africa already have way too many countries inside their football associations, they have internal play-offs. Now, if all of that is fair is very debatable, but that is how it is...

:worship:

No, it is not over the top because it was only a single member who posted that, it is not like there is a legion of fans posting Oscar is world class and better than Mata! It escalated quickly to what was a single post from a single member. Nothing more than that. The rest was us making fun of Liverpool fans and the media for the Coutinho wanking that happened in end of last season and early August. Also, it was way more for the way he changed and lighted up the game than for the goal he made. People just reacted positively to what has been our best player so far... However, when Lukaku scores for Belgium, there are pages and pages of 'suck you haters' and 'Mourinho out'. Which is simply pathetic, because he is better off loaned than to not play here! You cant criticize a Belgian without having to deal with 3-4 members defending them at all costs. It is not even comparable with Oscar, or any other players for that matter.

The overreactions towards our Belgian players (especially KDB and Lukaku) are, way, waaaaayyyy higher than that of Oscar!Sorry mate, but you cant denny that...

Well, this is pointless as we all know Coutinho is better than everyone else! Also, I think you said it perfectly. Mata is the better player right now, but Oscar has a higher ceilling and will probably end up being the best out of the two...

Yes, I think you might be right! Dont get me wrong though, I definitely want Terry to stay forever with us, but I am still very skeptical about it...

I would be happy if we did, but I am not entirely sure we will... I think Mourinho has a clear order to renovate our squad and move away from the old guard. I just find it very suspicious all their contracs ends at the same time! P.S: Moved it to JT's thread.

There are actually great options out there and we should definitely try to get at least one top defender to replace JT at the end of the season...Mangala and/or Subotic would complement Luiz brilliantly. Both can realistic come to Chelsea! There are also lesser popular options, such as Otamendi, Papadopoulos, Hummels, Garay, etc. And.....we could try to get one of Thiago Silva, Varane or Chiellini. Luiz and JT are proving to be a great partnership, with both players showing they still got what it takes. However, Tomo was more concerned about long term, as we know Terry hasnt got much gas left in him. I have doubts Chelsea will renew with the likes of Cech, Terry, Cole, Essien and Lampard. If we do renew (at least) with John, then we dont need any nee centre-backs. But if we dont, we cant go into a full season with Luiz, Cahill and Kalas!

No, he isnt. He isnt being marked any different than the likes of RVP, Aguero, Suarez, Bale last year, Ozil now, etc. Yet, he hasnt been able to produce 10% of what he is capable of!Eden Hazard is our best player and he must start acting like so. And we as fans must charge him for it, not blame the oppositions' defences... Besides, there isnt even something as triple-marke, lol.