The only place to be

So you don't know? I assumed you did because you said he left because of Torres.

What was his camp saying when the club approached them about a contract extension?

Why should anyone be paranoid? Mata is a great player but if Jose thinks the team can be more prosperous without him then I'm happy to trust him.

That would be the same summer that he moaned about not being given the right eggs to make a good omelette wasn't it? Suggests they weren't his preferred signings doesn't it? (so that would probably be a no to your question)

This isn't just Jose though - this is our scouting department who have been very good roughly since Emenalo came in, both in acquiring talent and developing them either in-house or putting them out on loan. Sure people can say they might not fully understand this deal, but there is the small caveat that their footballing knowledge is rather minuscule in comparison to the people the club employs and their familiarity with the deal and the club's plans for this player are slightly above non-existent.

So 27 year old Rooney has peaked, but 30 year old RVP is in the form of his life? When exactly did Rooney peak by the way? Was it in 2010 when he scored 34 goals or what is two years later when he scored 34 goals? There's a lot of bullshit spoken about Rooney when the sensible thing is perhaps to hold your hands up and say you simply don't know what you're talking about. I don't know whether he's peaked or not, but I do trust the views of Jose Mourinho and he doesn't seem to think he's peaked does he?

No such thing as a guaranteed goalscorer, but saying that someone who has scored 100 goals over the last 4 seasons is definitely not one is a tad strange. Was Willian a viable option before we signed Schurrle? As for Schurrle and his conversion rate, coaches I know will always say that finishing can be worked on but that knack of getting into the right positions is something instinctual which can't be taught. Schurrle gets into those positions, but he needs to work on his finishing. What we have now is depth and options in one of the most important positions for us on the pitch. Again, I'm happy to give the club the benefit of the doubt on this one because they know far more about football than I do.

Saint isn't the most obvious antonym of cunt, but I'll take it. As for Mata, he does seem the odd one out of the attacking players we have purely because of his workrate. Not saying he's lazy but if you're looking for 11 players to have that physicality to defend and attack as a unit for 70-90 minutes then he does have question marks in that regard.

I can't remember posting much about those players, but you're willing to look. BTW, we've just confirmed the signing of Willian.

I'm gonna be honest - I've avoided this thread since our interest ramped up again and that's not because I'm against this signing. Personally I don't think it's massively necessary but I trust the club and I'll always support any player who wears the blue with pride. But there was a really nasty undercurrent that cropped up in the Schurrle transfer. People who didn't like him or were worried about him cutting into the playing time of other players were not just writing him off, but seemingly willing him to fail before he even kicked a ball. That isn't something I've ever seen before in this club's support, or many others either. So whilst I'm not the biggest fan of this transfer, I'm willing to suspend my own reservations and get behind someone who is undoubtably a fantastic talent. Welcome to the club Willian, and I hope you contribute to our golden future.

Well you enjoy that. Personally I'm not of the opinion that we need a striker 'banging in the goals on a consistent basis'. When you have talent throughout the team like we do then I think you need a facilitator more than anything. You don't get more points for a goal if your striker scores it than if your left-winger does. Like I said, I'm not disputing what you've said about Torres but he still pulls the shirt on every week so I don't see why people constantly feel the need to abuse him. But then there's a few things about certain supporters that confounds me nowadays.

We have looked to rectify this issue in our team though. We've also looked to strengthen in other areas though and in players like Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Willian, De Bruyne, Lukaku etc. we have some of the brightest young attacking talent in Europe. I'm not saying it's ungrateful to harp on about the sale of Sturridge but it is wonderfully myopic to focus on that one instance. My view is that maybe we shouldn't have sold him but circumstances did perhaps necessitate it. That doesn't make it the worst mistake in our history, and as a club we're actually far, far stronger overall than we were when he left. That's why I simply don't understand the maudlin, depressing, constant rehashing of this one point. If I look at Chelsea Football Club there are dozens of things to be excited about, so why people choose to focus on this I don't understand. It happened, I wish him well but quite frankly he's dead to me now. He chose to leave the greatest club on Earth and joined a 'humongous' one (I think that was the word he used). I'll shake his hand, say thanks and then check on how Izzy Brown and Lukaku are coming along, but that's just the way I choose to view life.

Do you know the great thing about 'next big things' - there's always a next one, and in Romelu Lukaku there's a strong case to be made that he's it considering he's about three years younger than Sturridge. Fans like you can continue taking a pop at Torres and that's fair enough - there will always be people around to go for the low-hanging fruit but I personally don't understand how that's fun. We're a club going places, and the enjoyable thing from my perspective is to enjoy the ride. Constantly living in the past has never been for me, and it's a very Liverpool thing to do. Not having a pop at you but if you like Sturridge and living in the past then there are other clubs that better serve those things.

Really?

I expect Chelsea to be at least three spots above Liverpool in the league. I expect us to be challenging for the Champions League too. The Torres deal went south fast and it had knock-on effects, but you can either look at the mistakes we made in the past or focus on the good things going on now and in the future.

And if someone says something in a PM that upsets you, start a thread about it right Choulo? He's right though didierforever - if you want to continue having a pop at me, feel free to do it in PMs. Love you. :heart:

I don't though. I'm happy to disagree. I'm happy to have a bit of banter with supporters. That's exactly what you don't understand which is why you keep on having pops at me saying I think I'm the best Chelsea fan ever. I don't. I know some of the best supporters, the guys who kept this club alive through blood, sweat and many, many tears so that people could still enjoy this club now. The guys who turned up in the pissing rain when it wasn't fashionable to do so and worked their bollocks off all their lives so they can continue to do so. And I love the guys who travel from places like Belgium and Holland every other week to support this club because they enrich this club. I don't think I'm anything special - I think I'm very lucky to be part of this club's family though which is why I don't constantly look to rehash old transfers and take pops at the club. I leave that to 'fans' like you, and I will occasionally criticise that. Either in person or on t'internet. Enjoy. :heart:

There are so many exciting things happening at this club, and Eto'o's signing would not be one of them by any stretch of the imagination but they don't all have to be. He'll provide a short-term option in a position where we need more of them and by next summer he'll bugger off and we'll have either Lukaku or Rooney as that main guy in all likelihood. Reminds me a lot of the Weah signing of a few years ago. Nothing spectacular but sort of served a purpose for a while and that was about it.

Sorry, but didn't you call someone a 'silly boy' a moment ago?

I guarantee you don't.

I can remember plenty of people being excited about Oscar because he genuinely looks like he could become on of the best players in the world in the mould of a Kaka. Not entirely sure where you were hanging around to not see supporters excited about us signing Brazil's number 10 (as he was then). This isn't necessarily to say that there aren't people excited about Willian, but he's probably seen as more of a role player at this point in time than someone who radically redefines us as a team.

I know Chelsea has more than one fan. I love Chelse supporters, they've been my family (literally) for most of my life. Thank god the football season is back so I can talk about Chelsea with Chelsea supporters every week. Oh, and if you want to call me a cunt in person then feel free. Seriously.

Thank god we're getting back on topic.

Calling you a wanker at this point seems a little redundant.

Yes. It's the second game of the season. It's a long season. I'm no worried in the slightest at this point in time. Want to make a thread crying like a little bitch about me? Again.