The Mak

These players have not had a WC; they need slightly longer match practice to get back into the swing of things. This is especially true for the younger players (Zouma, Salah etc.). Relax. Save the majority of criticism for real games.

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Edited and answered from a marketing perspective

Would've prefered him over Mikel. Oh well.

...injured for half the season?!

Give him away for nothing for all I care. Just get the cancerous leech out of our club.

Aké counts as HG from this year onwards as far as I am aware. Though it's looking like he'll be taking Bertrand's place as cover for LB and Moses could still leave so I still think we're short.

Hopefully that was the intention, but he was still the chairman who oversaw that whole upheaval. Dude in an official Chelsea capacity needs to choose his words more carefully...especially after that whole Mourinho/Rafa introduction thing at the start of last season.

Have to say, Neil Barnett is a disrespectful c**t. Saying 'back when Wimbledon were a real club' right in front of their ex-chairman. Tosspot.

2 positional errors from Zouma but he still manages to get back and block the cross right back into his mush! Haha, brilliant.

Maybe because he is still a Chelsea player? This is irrelevant compared to what he has said most recently. You do not seem to fully understand my perspective. Let me be clear: If Lukaku leaves, for whatever fee, there is obviously some want for the player to leave himself. Otherwise he would simply say 'No, I want to fight for my place/be the future of this club' and sign a new contract. So let's get that straight. It will not matter who, as long as they accept their role as no.2 and do not try to create discontent it would be more progressive than having someone who sulks when he isn't picked. Chelsea will always attract good talent anyway. You are confusing problems. Our main problem was not having a competent no.1 striker, that has been solved (most likely). Our current problem is Lukaku, a striker who isn't happy in his role. Remember how terrible it was to have Torres moaning at every opportunity, blaming his shit performances on everyone and everything (including his teammates)? Remember how shit that was? Well that will happen again if we just go into this season 'hoping' Lukaku is fine with the situation. It has to be sorted beforehand. No mate, the harsh reality is that Lukaku has basically talked himself into a corner where he has two simple options: 1) Accept being no.2, sign a new contract and be patient. 2) Be sold. Right now, he is taking option 2 unless he decides otherwise.

I've noticed a theme to your posts. You like to question things, that's fine. But a post such as this is simply either: A. Questioning something while actually being completely ignorant of the realities of the situation. or B. Questioning something just for the sake of questioning something in a vain attempt to be different/controversial. You can't deny that it is very clear from what Lukaku has said to the media that he isn't 100% happy here and seems to have a sense of entitlement. And that's fine, as long as it is kept private. However, going to the media to air his grievances like he has done so many times is basically a death sentence under Mourinho. Therefore, the 'betterment of the club' this season, as you say, is to not have a single 'bad apple' in the group (especially in the eyes of the manager). The manager needs to be 100% sure that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Mourinho cannot be sure with Lukaku, so unless we see a miraculous change in attitude (accepting his position as no.2 and maybe signing a new contract to that effect) the best thing 'for the club' is to move him on for the biggest price possible, as soon as possible.

About to say exactly this. It looks like he'll be a great positive influence around the dressing room. And his level of English is better than mine! Even so, at least we found another Brazilian 'Luis' to take care of Oscar! Maybe he won't even notice if we tell him that 'Luiz' just changed his number and bought a hair straightener!

Ah, finally! Thank you Barbara!

Haha, 'almost'! Yeah, I suppose you're right. I mean, even pitbull puppies are pretty darn cute... until they grow up!

Ok, look. Here is Costa playing for Braga in 2006: Now, the only thing that gives away that he's a teenager is his voice. Other than that, he still looks like a Columbian druglord. I don't think we should be worried about his age...the dude just looks rough! Which is good for us, because he's one scary looking motherf****r!!

That's it though! They suffer from 'shiny new toy syndrome'. I'm never too worried when a young player well suited to our team goes to Madrid because I know there'll be a very good chance we could sign them as soon as they get bored and move to the next hot prospect. Example: Ozil was available for the right price to fund the move for Bale and now Di Maria/Khedira/Varane seem to be available to fund moves for Kroos and possibly James Rodriguez. The same can be said for Barcelona now I guess with the whole Sanchez/Suarez and Fabregas/Rakatic deals. So, who knows?! We could have Varane or Kroos in 2 or 3 years! They're like a very expensive loan club...

Because every year Sunderland sign a bunch of players and every year they get into a relegation battle. Their players are a bunch of mugs who lazily go through 90% of the season not giving a shit until the last few games.

I really wish he was able to take the chance Rafa was going to give him because I think it was pretty clear for even those very few games that he prefered him over Mikel. I hope he gets a similar chance either here or at another decent club.

Can't wait till Rio meets Costa. He's not even the best defender in his family!

Spirit is great and all, but now when I think of Ramires I automatically think of this (substituting 'I' for 'he'):

Great take from Bamford. The boy looks ahead of his years with a finish like that.

We were never getting a decent fee for him, I don't know what people are complaining about. It's better just to be shot of a player who clearly does not fit the squad profile. He takes up valuable playing time the likes of MVG could be occupying. I'm still skeptical if we'll even manage to get a buyer, but listening to some in here over the years we should have a queue around the corner for him!

Anyone who pisses off Messi is fine by me (especially for putting him in his pocket).

Brilliant stuff. A WC overlapping left-back in his prime to help out our boy Hazard. I thoroughly believe Luis was purchased to help fast-track Hazard's development. Shaw would've been nice, but let's face it, Hazard is currently the main man of this team and he should be given every single chance to develop his absolute maximum potential. Exciting times!