The only place to be

Not a swearing mess...but you know exactly the response you'll get from Chelsea supporters if you disrespect someone like that. If you don't that's your problem. If you're offended then I apologise. If he's good enough, he'll get his chance but we played 3 games in the first week of a new season so it's hardly the time to start blooding youngsters especially away to the champions. We're Chelsea - we're in the business of winning trophies, not making sure 20 year olds make international squads 9 months away.

i know you didn't. Anyway....3 games, 7 points, Old Trafford ticked off. I expect us to give the players who need a run-out a go on Friday. Super Cup is nice but we need to get players fit, which means I wouldn't be surprised to see Mata, Luiz, Azpi, Mikel, Bertrand and maybe a couple of other surprises in there before getting back to the real matches,

It's not taboo, but it's just inaccurate to say we parked the bus. We simply worked hard and kept things tighter than usual. We still attacked with numbers, we still had possession in their half for stretches of the game and we created some nice chances. This early in the season players struggle with basic passes sometimes, so you have to legislate for that and not go hell for leather. United are a good team, they're the champions.

We went to Old Trafford with a young, new team and got a point. We kept Van Persie quiet for most of the game and we showed some good things but were ultimately let down by some inaccurate passing which isn't that surprising this early in the season. Some of the reactions in this thread are thoroughly embarrassing.....which might be a bad thing if it wasn't so utterly predictable nowadays. 3 games. THREE GAMES. Jose himself said it would take time. You don't just click a few buttons on a mouse and all of a sudden your team can play in a different style. It takes time. Now the Premier League isn't known for being patient so whilst you're working on these new things it's important not to lose games and we haven't. Against Hull we showed flashes of brilliance and against Villa and United we've shown grit and determination. It might not have looked pretty but you don't get points for playing beautiful football. We got a point away to the Champions. That's a good result right now. Oh and if you want to see 'dynamics and intensity' then look at our defensive performance - that's how football works. If it was just about how you do with the ball at your feet then they'd give each team a ball and mark them out of 10 for 'style' and 'prettiness'. This isn't fucking gymnastics - it's football.

Fantastic performance in my opinion and put in a great shift. Harried the defenders and forced a couple of mistakes, whilst making some decent runs that would be picked up by our midfielders better a few months into the season.

Lukaku isn't an idiot. He realises Benteke is playing at a club that is probably mid-table at best whilst he's at a club pushing for domestic and European honours. So he probably doesn't think that, does he? He hasn't ignored him. He's a young man with immense potential and we've played 3 games in 8 days at the start of the season. He'll get his chances and I'm confident he'll take them, but people need to be a bit more patient.

Jose's going with guys he can trust and who know this league. There's nothing disturbing about that - your reaction on the other hand....well it's predictable. I do hope you find a way to enjoy this football club though.

Thought he put in an excellent shift last night and loved the way he ran down Valencia. Needs to show more going forward but that will come in time.

First three games of the season - we play about 60 games in a season. He'll get his chance, that's been explained to him but the Premier League is a tough league to come to which is why Jose in bringing him along slowly and going with players who know the league. And that 35 year old is Frank Lampard - have some fucking respect. Are you? Are you raging that we're top of the league too? Some people need to remember this isn't a video game but a real league where people have jobs that are dependant on our success and that you can't always take a punt on the youth. They'll be managed and brought along properly, but bitching about this type of shit EIGHT DAYS into a new ear for this club is absolutely fucking cringeworthy.

Got to page 4 of this thread before I had to stop reading it. We went away to the Champions of England in only the third game of the season when we're still finding our feet as a team and we came away with a good point. The selection seemed spot on in most regards, and I was massively impressed with Schurrle's workrate whilst Hazard continues to grow as a footballer prepared to put in a shift working back. We didn't park the bus - anyone suggesting we did doesn't actually know what that term means. We created some excellent chances and had periods where we dominated both possession and territory, but this United team are FAR further along in their development as a team. We're three games into our's - some people need to be patient, or simply reasonable. This was a hard-working display. He went with people like Lamps because he knows he can trust them, so whilst I'd love to see Van Ginkel and Lukaku being used I do understand him wanting to bring them on a little bit slower (but I expect both to be getting significant play time in the next couple of months). Defensively we were solid and the changes under Jose are clear for everyone to see - we defend as a team, from the front. When we broke we actually go forward as a team too but both teams made simple mistakes which is something you expect this early in the season. For me, there was enough good stuff on display to be heartened by this performance and things were only off by a couple of inches. But I simply don't understand some people on this forum. The pessimism and impatience and quite frankly the ungrateful attitudes are a massive fucking turn-off.

You don't win the league in August, but you can certainly start losing it.

What a little bitch....perfect for Spurs. One thing to lose your best player, but to lose his replacement before he's even signed - maybe we should be nice to AVB and offer him back his job editing videos of our opponents. Probably be a pay rise over what Levy's paying him.

It's not so much about being into accounting (apologies to the accountants out there), but more about being into the 'real world'.

No, it's an economic reality.

No Kompany or Nastasic. Vinny is a massive miss in particular, but relying on Lescott and Garcia is a recipe for disaster.

Pellegrini :lol2: :lol2: And to think some people wanted this guy here.

Makes more sense if you want to keep it tight, probably with Van Ginkel and his workrate in both defence and attack.

Huh? I didn't type that. In fact I haven't typed anything in that box, but that's purely because I don't have the wit to come up with something as incisive as your's. That isn't the argument though is it? The argument is that the people in charge of this club think this about this player. You may have your opinion, but why should anyone care? Unless you provide incisive, convincing arguments to back up that opinion, what's the point?

Mourinho is a voice in the room, but this is a transfer we've been looking at for a while. You may wish to refer solely to Jose but it would be incorrect to do so. That was my point. You can disagree with Jose if you wish, but I think most people are going to view you as nothing more than a fan with a tiny platform.

How much something or someone costs isn't a load of bollocks. I did underline the word 'realistically' for a reason. That's not quite true though is it. Again, the word 'realistically' is a little bit important.

Unfortunately when you cost about £100 million you get more opportunities to impress. That's just how the real world works. His contract was running down though and realistically I don't know what the club could do to be honest - and please see I've used the word realistically. In fact I'll underline it and bold it.

I know Robbie had some free time on his hands, but I wouldn't call him a top manager.

And Mourinho isn't beyond bending the truth if it suits him. There's no reason to say a player is for sale unless it is absolutely necessary. I'm simply pointing out it's not inconceivable that it might happen if circumstances dictated it. So that's what the fuck I'm on about, ok?

I haven't said anything about people who raised concerns - I specficially alluded to those who took it a little further than I'd seen before. I made that very clear. Please comment on my posts rather than what you think I've written. I'm also all for people raising valid concerns about transfers, but sometimes there's a clear lack of understanding about how a player will fit into the side and that's totally understandable - I can't say for certain where he'll fit but I admit that. That's my starting position and I go from there. Ok?

To make ourselves feel important? Also you're confusing brain size with knowledge. I'm simply saying there's nothing wrong with entering into a discussion with the position of 'I don't know'. You decided to reference just Jose in this transfer when that's a factually incorrect way of describing how our transfer dealings work. We've been interested in Willian for a couple of years now. You can question the manager's decision, but shouldn't you be questioning the whole club's decision? Would you liked to be viewed as something other than an 'average football fan'? FYI - most people on this board have more than 3 brain cells. That isn't a dig at you, just a fact. Anyway, we have players like De Bruyne and Oscar who have shown the ability to supply that creativity behind the striker. They haven't done it over two seasons like Mata did, but let's not whitewash Mata's Chelsea career. He can blow hot and cold and has had some absolute stinkers. He's been a fantastic player for us in seasons when we haven't mounted a consistent title challenge - that's a fact. It doesn't mean he should be sold but it's not inconceivable that he might.