The Mak

Happy we've finally signed a CM even if it's someone I don't particularly like (putting it nicely). However, my favourite part is the fact that we still have plenty of the Luiz money left over after signing an, admittedly, WC player! Cheers PSG!

I really don't know what's with people being so god damn pessimistic about everything... We need a striker. We sign a striker. People already write him off or fear the worst. I'm not picking on you in particular, but your comment is typical of the negative atmosphere that often surrounds such a signing; even when that signing just had a very impressive season. I'm not saying or implying he will be as good as Didier, but Jesus, he's a lot better than what we currently have, he's relatively young, has every chance to improve and he's a big, strong, scary looking bastard. I know people will always have opinions, but I don't know what more you could want in a striker. We can't realistically sign anyone else and I doubt Mandzukic is vastly superior. My main point though is for everyone to be happy, we're signing a striker and to maybe even be a little optimistic about it. His name is Diego Costa and not Didier Drogba. I wasn't trying to explicitly trying to compare the two, I was trying to use Drogba as more of more example of a player others were fearful of. However, if people start with negative comparisons i.e. "Oh Drogba would've scored that" etc. well then of course they're already setting themselves up for a disappointment. With such attitudes, I can sadly already envision a scenario where Costa turns into a villain much, much quicker than Torres did simply because he isn't as clean cut, didn't come for a insane fee and isn't "PL proven" (which means fuck all in all honesty). Let's all just put our negativity aside for a while and support our soon to be player, shall we?

I remember last year (12-13) when Gary Monk, I repeat, Gary Monk said of Torres: "I came on a free when we were in League 2 and he's cost £50m. I didn't give him a yard". When Gary Monk is effectively saying that he's had your striker in his pocket, things are terrible wrong. Can you imagine someone saying that about Costa? Maybe. But I doubt they'd be looking forward to facing him next time. They might be missing some teeth. Remember when Benitez tried to get into Didier head? During the CL in 2008. It backfired massively: (0.30s) This is what we need again. Fear.

Let's do a Wenger and bid £1 over 33m so they can get 50p for us acquiring their 'legend'.

You think he's good enough to be no. 1 then? Because I'm saying he is not and nothing more. I was one of Lukaku biggest advocates and was all for supporting him, but in a realistic capacity i.e. as our no. 2 striker and eventual no. 1. However, when he starts spouting off as if he's bigger and better than the club that I love, excuse me if I withdraw my support. It might be alright for some fans, but not me. I couldn't care how many goals he scores in his next club because he's still a Chelsea player at the moment but he is not acting like one.

Then he has the freedom to leave provided we get a nice fat inflated fee for him. Good luck to the next club that has him. God forbid they don't give him his daily foot rub and pat on the back, or worse, drop him. He is a child in the world of football and he's acting as if he has a divine right to be our no. 1 when it is clear as day he is nowhere near ready. Playing no. 1 for mid-table teams and playing no. 1 for us are different leagues altogether. By comparison, Costa has pushed Atletico to their first La Liga title in nearly 20 years and a CL final. To be honest, transition time is finally over; Costa is the type of no. 1 we need, not an arrogant yappy kid who moans when he doesn't get his way.

So the so called 'fake' quotes are still heavily circulating this morning on reputable sources...

Yeah, if true, I doubt very much Mourinho will tolerate this for a second; It'll be goodbye Romelu. I've said it many times before that the kid needed to learn to shut his mouth so it wouldn't surprise me if it's true. It looks like he talked his way out of this club as I imagined he would if he didn't stop running his mouth.

This is exactly what I did to Torres in Football Manager. The board wouldn't let me sell/loan him, so I put him in the U18s squad and gave him the shirt number 50 and 'Flopess' as a nickname.

I was all for him moving on because I think the time has come, but I still don't think this will set in until I see another name on the no. 8 shirt...*shudder*

I really think people need to come to terms with the fact that a lot of DLP start off as attacking midfielders. Scholes was, Pirlo was and Modric was. Where does Modric play now? Dictating the tempo for one of the best teams in the world. Where does Rakatic play for his country? Both he and Modric play CM together in the national team and they have problems because they are too similar. Any player who is too similar to Luka Modric, eh, can you say 'yes fucking please'?

We need an adept passer of the ball, so I believe Pogba is not the answer. Great DM prospect, but I think other players would suit much, much better i.e. Rakatic.

And when I previously spoke about this, I repeatedly said that Rafa 'making Luiz a better defender' was a myth. If people paid enough attention to his form, Luiz ALWAYS had good form at the end of a season and he ALWAYS started seasons terribly. In that way, yes, he was consistent at being inconsistent. It's like he always needed a number months to adapt to the PL all over again. But every team, not just us, needs a defender who is good for the entire season, not half of it. Yes, if by 'system' you mean teams that are attacking 'top heavy', play attractive football and win next to nothing? All of those teams are heavily reliant on blowing teams away with their attacking prowess or possession based football. However, their defending always leaves something to be desired - their unbalance is what stops them from challenging on all fronts and that is why these sorts or teams will rarely dominate in the PL. - City's defence aren't reliable and can't defend without Kompany - they are the exception rather than the rule, they can get away with it because of the amount of quality strikers they can 'afford' (by breaking FFP). However, they can't even buy a spot in the late stages of the CL and won the PL because we and Liverpool threw it away. Hardly convincing. - Arsenal are too reliant on possession football, leave too much space in behind, get slaughtered on the counter-attack and won 1 trophy in 9 years. - Liverpool play great football, but simply can't defend for their lives. Yes, Luiz would probably look fantastic in these teams, but he'd win very little. However, he'll win a lot with the likes of PSG, Munich, Barca domestically because their leagues are so terrible, but when it comes to Europe, these very exploitable weaknesses would still exist. Mourinho is trying to build a team with no such weaknesses, and he's starting by getting a reliable defence.

I've been suggesting we sell him for the past two years because of the exact issues you've highlighted...I was lambasted every time! As I said at the time, there is only so long a club like Chelsea can wait for this supposed 'world class' defender to consistently show up, especially when he seemed to continue to make the same mistakes he was making when he first arrived at 26/27. In the end, he just wasn't suited to the PL. He'll do very well in pretty much any other European league.

Stop that...where is the ban button on this thing?

Fully expecting a top Striker (Costa), CM and left back now. None of this Guarin, Paulinho, Filipe Luis stop-gap bullshit. No more excuses, buy the top dogs in the positions we need. Transition time is over.

Probably the most pointless thread in this entire forum.

If Mourinho really does plan on keeping Ba,Torres better be gone. Clearly Ba wanted to leave until he spoke to him and he wouldn't be short of suitors, unlike Torres. I really hope Mourinho gets this striker situation sorted and in the right way. If we end up keeping both strikers who are well below Chelsea level and loan Lukaku again, then there really is no hope for youth development under Mourinho - I have to admit, I'd lose a lot of faith in Mourinho if that happened.

Fucking mug crying over his birthday. Is he 31 or 1? He's a muppet and if City bend to his will and give him a bigger contract, they are also muppets.

Offensively? Yes, definitely. Defensively? No way. On the biggest stages like Ash? Not a chance in hell. I've yet to come across another fan (United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle) who said he shouldn't go. In fact, a lot say its madness after what he showed against Atletico after being on the bench for so long. Sorry, but shouldn't the point of having a back-up is that they be somewhat a reliable one? Again, Cole was on the bench for pretty much all of 2014 until called up against Atletico and he absolutely bossed it. The reason he was dropped was because it seemed as if he didn't care for the smaller games, a bit like Didier was from 2010-2012. But like Didier, he revels in the big games, so to have him as your number 2 in a World Cup is very reassuring indeed. And how will sitting on a bench help Shaw exactly?! I suppose the 'atmosphere' will help him or something?!

To be totally honest, he could contribute a hell of a lot more than Lampard next season. He'll be missed as soon as Azpi takes his rightful spot at RB or injuries/suspension take their toll, because...

As many AMs as we already have, I have to say that the potential wing combination of Hazard+Sanchez sounds absolutely mesmerising. Defenders would be terrified of either of them getting into the box - our penalty count would double!

It'd be nice to have to back as a coach. Even if he was assigned specifically to Lukaku, I think it would be well worth it. He'd be a pretty inspirational figure as well. He could also give Costa a few tips to help him settle quicker!

Christ on a bike, no. Just no. Anyway, Kalas > Jones

I was sort of under the same opinion but as far as 'it made sense' since Sturridge wasn't happy, wasn't getting chances, was greedy when he did and was injured for a good while at the start of that season. But I was still aware of comparing players when one was a lot younger and had a lot less starts in his natural position while Torres was practically being forced to 'come good' by playing every conceivable game. Just like that situation, there are positives and negatives to everything and each needs to be evaluated. However, as both you and @didierforever highlight, people have a tendency to get a 'recency effect' by only focusing on the most recent positive or negative. But when you look at Costa objectively, his positives far outweigh his negatives. I won't list them, but all I'll say is: A professional footballer pulling his hamstring? Stop the fucking press. If he scores the World Cup winning goal for Spain watch this forum go in overdrive.