The Mak

Exactly. He knows more about football than everyone here combined. We are we to question him?! We're just the fans who have been supporting Chelsea all of our lives! (or the majority of)

Sturridge: Liverpool are a bigger club than Chelsea, I'm NOT a selfish player and there's nothing like a Merseyside derby http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2511989/Daniel-Sturridge-says-Liverpool-bigger-Chelsea-selfish.html Not selfish? Ha! Pull the other one Danny. He even tries to excuse himself instead of denying it by saying 'I was only on for 5 minutes'. Someone should've told him that you can make an impression with assists as well, but whatever. The Scouse delusion has obviously got to him. He should also show a bit more respect towards his previous club and teammates. We had Didier until last season, so he was never getting ahead of him. He was given over half a season out wide in 11/12; had a very bright start, fell away and everyone realised he was too greedy for the position. So you could make the argument that the only time he wasn't given a proper chance was the first half of last season when Torres was constantly played - which was ridiculous (I think everyone can admit). Other than that, I don't think it was as bad as he's making out. A lot of the time he was a victim of his own selfishness.

May as well delete this thread!

You're complaining about us buying players and loaning youth, but who are you complaining about exactly? If I was a lesser poster I would just resort to the 'Mourinho knows more about football than anyone here' argument... Sometimes you just have to accept the nature of the business and the club. Abramovich is all about results and we all know what happens when he doesn't get them, so it makes it even less likely for us to gamble on youth - no matter the potential, there is still a risk. Right now we can only hope that they develop nicely somewhere else and that their position isn't overflowed when they return. Nat still has a great chance as long as he makes the most of his loans because the likes of Lampard, Mikel and Essien aren't getting any better. He is. And until there is some rule that backs youth development, I don't really see things changing.

It's pretty old compared alongside Witsel, Gundogan, Pogba, Chalobah etc. who we'd get much more milage out of. I see Nat as a better option than Lampard right now and, if he keeps going the way he is, he'll also surpass Mikel easily. So in a perfect world we would have Chalobah developing in the pivot at this very moment. But we're not in a perfect world; we're Chelsea, not Southampton and we're in the most competitive league in the world, not the Serie A. But Witsel is perhaps the best DM in the world right now. At this moment he could have the capability of changing the whole dynamic of our team because he's the player we've been craving for years. It looks like Nat's time will have to come later. Essien's contract won't be renewed and Lampard could be on the way out in the next season or two. So he could very well be 3rd choice for us next season or the season after. That isn't bad for someone who'll still be under 21 playing for a team like Chelsea.

Similar to the Ozil/Arsenal situation, if a player of his quality becomes available you just have to snap him up regardless of price. The difference is that we actually desperately need a player in his position. Overall, I cannot think of a better DM in the world right now. Even if you think of Alonso, who is old, and Gundogan, who is injury prone. Also, if you think of the players who will most likely be/should be on their way out next summer: Ba (7-10m), Moses (7-10m), Marin (4-6m) and maybe even KDB (10-15m+) the price doesn't seem too steep. Buy, buy, buy!

Can we just update the forum rules? Whoever mentions or refers to the F-word (Falcao) is banned. Deal?

Kill it with fire!

Ok.... This! I was going to say that it seems Mourinho thought he was capable of this (being able to perform whenever called upon); so he obviously rated him highly at the start of the season. If he didn't, he would've just been sent on loan with the likes of Moses, Marin etc. Hopefully he can improve his mentality in this regard because all he needs is one really good performance to push himself back into Mourinho's plans...but at the moment I do think he'll end up on loan.

Bit much isn't it? I mean Lukaku, Courtois and Hazard are all getting regular playing time, it's only Kevin who's having a hard time at the moment. And the players who play in his position aren't exactly bad either...

Did the Belgian fans actually boo Mourinho because of KDB? Was it only in jest or?

And maybe you should stick to discriminating against supporters who can't attend matches, because you articulate that sentimentally very clearly...but you don't, however, have the sense to back it up with anything remotely logical.

David Weir? Look no further than the original! The man, the myth, the legend...Gary Breen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykp9m_zG6K8

But then again you can also say that they look a little clueless because they always seem to have to come so deep to receive the ball. As a result, they always seem to be facing two blocks of 4 instead of one. There is no one in the team that can get the ball to them quickly or someone with enough composure to help press further forward allowing the AMs to try to make those dangerous runs in behind. We then shoot ourselves in the foot by asking Oscar to come back to help the lack of creativity coming from there - pretty much making it that much easier for other teams to defend against. I suppose we'll really see if a DLP can help with that though. I think they'll find that little bit more space and eventually become confident enough to attack it. At least, that's the hope....maybe I'm just rambling!

As far as I can remember, Ivanovic had his worst season ever last year. It certainly seemed that way. Maybe you just remember his goal in the Europa final...think of the amount of times he got caught ball watching as a CB which led to a goal. And Azpi nailed down the RB spot after a couple of months for a reason. Anyway, I don't even know why you want to compare them in the same season when their positions were different... No actually. If Ivanovic only has a cross completion rate of 16% and Azpi 29% (over many more games) then that pretty much means that Azpi is TWICE the crosser that Brana is. He also creates more chances per minute with 1 every 92mins compared to Ivanovic's 1 every 225mins. Again, this is over more games compared to Brana. So i'll ask you, if it is clear that Ivanovic is better defensively then why is he allowed to roam forward so much? If he's a better defender, shouldn't he be sitting while Azpi goes forward? Even if Azpi is slightly better (according to you) going forward than him? He can still go up for a set piece and all that can't he? Mourinho has it the wrong way round as far as I can see. Ivanovic should sit and Azpi go forward.

And he deserves every penny. He made history for this club and, because of that, also made millions for the rebuilding process. He could sit on that contract until the last day and manage a rival club for all I care, he's still an absolute Legend...unlike AVB who did sit on a similar contract but thankfully got the Tottenham job as soon as he could, which gave me another reason to continue to dislike him.

Ah ok! To be honest I personally don't see it happening anyway. Any german club outside of the top 2 would be practically falling over themselves to get him on loan as they know what he can do in the league. It would be nice to see a PL loan, but I don't know if that's an actually reality...it'd be even better if he played his way into our team!!

I know, but it was a misunderstanding. Moros cleared it up!

I'm a massive fan and I'm surprised his buy-out clause is so low considering the level he is at. He'll get you almost a goal every second game. Insanely talented player, but we're overstocked with AMs at present. However on the off chance José doesn't see 2 of our AMs fitting into his plans and he's looking for more of a direct player, he should look no further than this guy.

I have to say that this is a myth. We only hear the Kop when we go there (a.k.a. a big game) and even sometimes you can't really hear them. There's also a big difference between us playing them and the likes of West Ham or any mid-table or below club. So many time last season it was like a library waiting for Suarez to score against the likes of Fulham/Swansea etc. And the place was dead when they were losing to what they thought were lesser teams (just look at their abysmal home record in the past few seasons). Besides from they're little sing-song before each game, they have the same problems as any other club who has fans with ridiculously high standards (do remember that they are deluded).

Hang on just a minute there mister! I mean, how dare José question the fans at the game! They're the 'real supporters' after all! Us peasant Chelsea fans who can only watch the games on T.V. will just have to dream of one day of being one of those 'real supporters'; because going to the games is the only way to support the club!! And if you can't get to the games because of your geographical location, or if you're busy with college/work/family or even if you're just plain poor, well then tough luck! You're not a 'real supporter'! Until then, we'll just have to continue giving the club our peasant money by paying for the sports channels, the replica kits and all of the other merchandise the club doesn't rely on at all!!

What are you even on about now? Another 'special' set of Chelsea fans who are better than others? I was talking about if some people on here had the same opportunities as you they would go to the games just as much as you, but whatever. Just forget about it. I can see you'll drag something else up to deflect attention away from you discriminating against Chelsea fans by using your own 'real supporter' measures and i'll get nowhere.

Yes, but according to you there's still an 'elite' set of Chelsea fans; those who can go to the Bridge on most occasions. And you think others on here wouldn't do the same if they had the chance?!? Listen, you've made your position very clear in the past. There's not much point in you trying to sugar coat it now because I'm going into a big debate about it. I'm going out to watch the second half of the Newcastle game anyway.

Sorry, but I don't have my own independent measure of 'Chelseaness' to discriminate others against because I know that each supporter is different. Just because I get to see the match live most of the time doesn't make me more of a supporter than those on the other side of the world who have to live off highlights the day after. The same way that just because you're in a more privileged position to actually see most of the games doesn't make you more of a supporter than anyone else. And the fact that you believe it does, well I feel sad for you in all honesty. There is not just one way of supporting a club.

And you denote this 'meaning' from...your own personal beliefs? Is that really a measure to discriminate others against?