The only place to be

Does he need to do that on a consistent basis? Why not just pass it 3 m to the guy in midfield and minimise the high-risk balls?

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/everything-you-need-know-about-kurt-zouma This article suggests that his reading the game is one of his strengths. Again, his stats with the ball are actually pretty good. 86% pass completion is on-par with Cahill's stats. Fingers crossed. Deschamps marked him out as captaincy material.

Fantastic move for us and massive potential. How far we've come from the transfer window of 2011 when we blew £70 million on Torres and Luiz to one where we bring in young talent like Zouma and Salah (and a new starter in Matic) based on an actual playing style. Hopefully this guy can contribute from next season. Reminds me of a young Desailly.

Why 12 years? So you can exclude JT? Fair enough. Why not look from 2007 when the youth system and facilities were completely overhauled with the opening of the Cobham complex?

Because any club with ambitions to succeed in an era of FFP needs to develop talent. It's as simple as that. Matic is a shockingly bad example to use for the simple fact that we signed him when he was 21. He's hardly a typical 'academy prospect', although the decision to let him go does look bad in retrospect. Kakuta simply doesn't seem to have the attitude required to be a professional footballer and that's probably the single hardest thing to teach youngsters. The same could be said for Josh, but that doesn't mean the academy itself is pointless.

I'd be absolutely stunned if he went on loan next season. I'm not saying it's not possible, but from what I've seen, heard and read about him then I think he could definitely be a third or fourth choice centre-back for us. As for Luiz, the guy simply isn't trusted by Jose to play in defence at the moment against anything stronger than Swansea. In fact he's more likely to pop up in midfield then in defence on Monday isn't he? If Barca came in with a bid like the one they were reported to have made last summer then what is the reason to say no? Potential? We now have a 19 year old with potential.

Yep. Why else rest him against West Ham? Plus he got 90 minutes against Stoke and looked far more effective than our other options. I'd be surprised if he didn't start to be honest.

Love the way we've done business (no fucking around) but also love that Mourinho is really being given free reign to build the squad that he wants to. We've made good profits on players we don't need and bought in young players on good deals who can contribute either immediately or from next season. Just need Shaw and a striker.

Established as what? He's right now the third choice and doesn't seem to have Jose's trust. What's the point of having a £30 million rated defender (according to reports linking him with Barca) on the bench? We keep on talking about promoting youth, then why bother having a 26 year old on the bench instead of a youngster like Zouma? So you think that David Luiz might be one for the future then? The guy will be 27 before the season is over. Ooh, let's play a game. Right, we have 13 Premier League fixtures before David Luiz's 27th birthday (just to put that in context, he's one year younger than Vincent Kompany and roughly 18 months younger than Gary Cahill). How many games will Jose trust David Luiz to play in defence? Sometimes you have to do business when you can. Maybe the club is worried about City or United going for him in the summer. He's been linked with both for a while and both clubs are looking at centre-backs.

Really do think Luiz could be on his way if he doesn't buck up his ideas. If we can get one more season out of JT then he and Cahill could well be our first choice pairing next season, and Zouma could take Luiz's spot as third choice with Kalas and maybe even Ivanovic covering (if we get Shaw and can move Azpi to the right). Since he was dropped after the Newcastle defeat, of 13 league games we've had he has played just TWO in central defence. Those were the games at home against Swansea and Crystal Palace. Both games can when we only had 3 days rest before the preceding game and before the next game. Either side of the Swansea game we faced Arsenal away and Liverpool at home - Cahill and Terry started both. If we can get £30 million for him then would it not be madness to turn it down?

Same reason Mata was sold. Could attract a big fee, isn't a first choice, doesn't seem to be trusted by Mourinho. That's the point though. He could take Luiz's spot as 3rd choice CB.

Are you serious? Rami isn't my first choice as midfielder but he has a role he can play in the squad. to say that Hazard, Oscar and Willian can't pass the ball is ridiculous though.

Boo, and indeed hoo. Sounds a little spoilt to me to be honest.

I don't have to use the word fuck but it does a good job of highlighting my frustration with people who use a 3-1 win over United as a sign of us being unambitious and 'the fans' being disappointed we didn't go for more. As for Rami and Ivanovic, they're not perfect but they do add certain things to our team. Ramires had a bad game and I think we will replace him somewhere down the line. Ivanovic has his uses, but I think the amount of bitching that has gone on after we created 39 chances against a team who came to defend is a bit of a joke to be honest.

The right-back isn't the heart of the team. Fact is we've spent £21 million on Matic who combines what you want....so what the fuck are you still moaning about?? I'd like to see both of them phased out of the team but it takes time. Mourinho has done a tremendous amount in his first season. Yes...all around the Bridge were sad faces that we didn't get a fourth against United.

He also plays Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian in most games. These are fantastically exciting players but he isn't adverse to throwing in some work/warhorses at the same time to balance it out and keep things tight at the back. Are you seriously moaning about us not beating United by more than 3-1??? We've beat them 5-0 in the past but it didn't make us any more likely to win the title. That was a fantastic result. Because we were beating the league leaders 3-0 at home so why bother risking it? Sorry, but I have to ask....what the fuck do you want?

I respond to a lot of posts, but you do seem to moan an inordinate amount. That's your prerogative but if you post an opinion on a forum then there is a chance that someone might have another opinion and they might post that. No need to moan about it.

Yes....come to a big club that has fantastic facilities, coaches and opportunities. I know the point you're getting at that we haven't promoted as many young players as we would have liked but there is a genuine commitment by the club to doing so now. We can either support that or bitch and moan constantly about it....and everything else apparently.

No magicians in the crowd but plenty of comedians apparently.

Because you have a mix of players in the team. You have the water carriers in the team who get the ball and then give it to the magicians. Lets not talk shit. He's a very solid defender who offers a threat at set-pieces as well.

The defence over Mikel seems to be that it wasn't his type of game last night. Hmm...so if there's more space ahead of him Mikel doesn't know how to operate? He can't take it upon himself to move forward with the ball and try and create something? Is he technically incapable or is he simply too thick to do that? Either way, who gives a fuck? We spent £21 million replacing him with a player who is better defensively and doesn't short circuit his brain when space opens up ahead of him. The next time we're defending a lead then we can bring on Mr One Note to slow everything down and be a shield in front of the defence. Then we can hopefully buy a proper midfielder in the summer or just promote one of the youngsters. Let's be honest...when we talk about transition, it won't be complete until this passenger is out of the club. Dear (insert name of random Turkish team), please come buy Mikel.

Mourinho values athleticism alongside technical ability.

Or use someone like Kalas or Kane. Can't see Jose getting rid of Ivanovic though whereas I think he could get rid of Luiz. I think the new reality is that you can't keep £30 million-rated players at the club if they aren't an integral part of your plans going forward. That was true for Mata and I think it might be true for Luiz.

I think we've been ahead of the curve when it comes to the new transfer system for a while now. Our link with Vitesse, our targeting of young players who will either get better and contribute to the squad or simply make us a profit when we sell them, the way we re-sign older players and the occasional marquee signing means we're nicely placed going forward. Over time our revenues will continue to grow but the single biggest bottleneck right now is the stadium. Until that is sorted (and it'll be May before anything is even close to being discussed, let alone being decided upon and then built) then we're going to have to be a little bit smarter than the Arsenal's and City's of this world.

Roman pushed for FFP though. He's never been against it because it's actually to our advantage for it to come in.