The only place to be

Saw we were 3-0 up and lost 4-3. Good game for the American market and people really don't need to read much into this game. In terms of brand awareness, a win or a loss isn't the most important thing. Having players like Oscar, Luiz and Torres in that team is probably more important than the result. Kit looked really nice, Blackman didn't (which isn't a massive surprise because the people who rate him highest are usually the ones who have seen him the least).

Sadly I think he doesn't have much of a career with us, if at all. To put him into context, he's actually older than Azpilicueta but has less than first-team appearances than Luke Shaw.

There's nothing wrong with people getting excited about a very promising crop of youngsters, and if you think people are going overboard then why not present reasoned arguments that present a note of caution rather than just saying people are overrating them?

Actually we won the title twice with a team without a prolific striker. I'm simply using examples from our own recent history to suggest that you might be wrong in your belief that not getting a big-name striker in will cost us the title. Here's another point - we would've been level on points with Man United if we had won all of our games against the teams who finished in the bottom 7 last season. That includes not throwing away two-goal leads against Reading and Southampton, not losing at home to QPR and not being so naive defensively against Newcastle away. Now I don't know if you watched those games, but my assessment was that we lost those games in midfield as we did so many other games. I firmly believe that is the difference (along with squad depth) between us being a top 4 side and a league-winning side.

I think the general consensus is that they are excellent prospects who deserve a chance. That doesn't mean people are overreacting or overrating them. Also if you're referring to me with the 'Chalobah to become English captain' then I think you've misread or misunderstood that.

So what you're saying is that defence can win trophies too? I never thought of that when we were throwing away two goal leads to Reading and Southampton, conceding from SWP breaks and watching us gift Newcastle the run of half the pitch. I actually agree with what you're saying which is why a 30 goal a season striker isn't the top of the list in my mind. That midfield is. That's the link from defence to attack, that's what will make us hard to beat and that's what will win us the league next season.

Except if they had sold Suarez for £40 million they might have been able to buy other players who made them a better TEAM (remember the other 10 players on the pitch also matter). That's the funny thing with football. Sometimes you can parlay one good player into a number of cheaper players who better serve your TEAM. I think they hand it out to people who can talk intelligently about football - pointing out when people are saying ridiculous things is just the little garnish I like to bring to it, to make it my own. Look, I put together a decent argument about how strikers aren't the be all and end all. You could've pointed out that in both those seasons we had Lampard at the height of his powers (or damn near close) playing almost as a second striker and getting us important goals. Or you might have said that the Cole/Robben/Duff/Gudjohnson group was far more prolific than what we have now. Those are fair points, with decent reasoning behind them. You essentially stuck your fingers in your ears and went 'na,na,na'. Can you blame me for having a small pop?

Close. He's 20 and he will be.....anyone.....21. From that point on who knows. Maybe you're confusing him with Varane, that great defender we should definitely buy except he's 20 as well now. He played well in the Champions League for Real Madrid, but probably needs a loan season at Swansea first before we know for certain. When he can be the same age as Jovetic and hopefully score less goals than he did this season - that's the dream right there. Oh, so he's going to be that young footballer who develops at a top club with patience. I wondered who would be the lucky kid. Look mate, I'm not going to agree with you simply because I've watched this man play all season and think he's ready to be part of our squad. I think he has a level of maturity that makes referring to his age alone SIMPLY FUCKING STUPID. I think we will get another striker and I hope it's Rooney because that allows for the development of Lukaku best in my opinion. But he's a 20 year old man who gets paid to play football and he has a mentality that doesn't come with age. Players either have it or they don't. The sooner people realise that, the better.

Wow....don't even bother buying the dvd. Just stick to licking the tv screen rather than watching football on it.

More efficiently? What the fuck does that mean? Do they take less touches to score, ergo reducing the wear and tear on their boots? Do they cover less ground this reducing the strain on the pitch - great thinking. With less ground staff needed we can easily afford to spunk money up the wall on these players, because as everyone knows the ground staff at our club are the really big earners. We won two league titles without a 20 goal a season striker. We have players like Hazard and Mata who contribute goals from midfield....oh and we have a young striker who actually scored 17 goals in reduced minutes in his first season, but all those goals were deflected in off his arse so they don't count. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Liverpool had the second top scorer in the league last season, and they finished 7th. The relationship between a striker who scores goals consistently and the league champions isn't as definite as some people are making it out to be.

What a fucking amazing response. If you think the striking position will dictate next season for us then I'm envious of you, because you clearly haven't watched this club at all last season and had to put up with the amount of shit the supporters have. Just skip to the end of the Season Review DVD and watch the Europa League final. I won't spoil it for you, but don't switch off at the end. :eyebrows:

So you tell me the day in the next 20 years when the pressure at this club will be any less. You tell me when this man (he's a 20 year old man who is paid to play football professionally by the way) who loves this club will not be under pressure wearing the shirt. This guy has shown a mental toughness that few players much older than him have and the fact that we're having this discussion in a thread about buying Steven Jovetic is absurd.

Is our striker the only person who can score goals for us then? I'd point you in the direction of our 2005 and 2006 title winning teams. We didn't have a single striker who scored more than the 17 goals that Lukaku scored last season. In fact Drogba scored 10 and 12 goals in those seasons whilst other strikers like Crespo barely reached double figures. We were a team that relied on goals from around the team. With players like Mata (12 goals) and Hazard (9 goals) we seem to be building that again, and if you want to look at reasons for us dropping points then I'd suggest the midfield is of greater concern than our strikers. Not every team has to do the same thing and be built the same way. Personally I'd still like us to add a striker and for me that would be Rooney because I think he fits the squad better, but if we go into the season with the four striking options I mentioned but improve the midfield then I'd back us to win the league.

Is there a particular reason you think we need a big name striker? As I've said to you in the other thread, we do have a young striker who scored 17 goals in the league last season (that's more than Jovetic has ever scored in a single season btw).

So we won't sign Falcao and might miss out on Cavani. That's not the end of the world. A front line of Lukaku, Ba, Schurrle and Torres is capable of winning the league if we actually sort out the midfield. Is that going full retard?

I like Khedira. I think he'd add steel to our midfield, but also seems to recycle possession well. As much as I love Rami he can be a little inconsistent with his passing and that Villa game showed that he can lose his head a little at times. I don't know how much you can rely on him, but he'll stick around because he's versatile and offers a more attacking threat from midfield. Ake had a very good game at the weekend, contributing directly to our two goals with his distribution and also his ability to break up opposition attacks. Yet he's still not up to Chalobah's level which is why I'd definitely want to see him given a shot at this position. Then there's Romeu who could go either way. He's a very good player but he's coming off a long lay-off. Any three of these players could prosper under Mourinho. But I still think that we need someone like Alonso alongside them. For me, he's the archetypal deep playmaker who also has a physical presence similar to Schweinsteiger and there really aren't many of them. Maybe it could be Oscar who has a tenacity and ferociousness in the tackle that belies his size or maybe Mourinho can coach Lamps on the defensive side of the ball a bit but for me that link between defence and attack has to be the priority in the summer. That's where we lost points at the end of games and that's where we failed to create enough in matches where we dominated possession.

Courtois has obviously been the best player this year, and we could probably sell Cech and stick Courtois between the sticks and not miss a beat - he's that good. Lukaku has scored 17 goals in his first proper season in the league. That's not something you fluke and if we got the right player in (I'd say that was Rooney due to his versatility and possible price) then he could flourish as our second striker under Mourinho, getting maybe 30 starts next season. He definitely needs to go on the summer tour and is the type of pro we need at this club. De Bruyne - turns water into wine, deflowers virgins just by making eye contact with them and is the Chuck Norris of Chelsea Football Club. Even if he never plays for us he should have his shirt retired and be Player of the Season every year until one of his many red-headed spawn joins our ranks. Or he's just a very good prospect who needs some time in our squad to really make a position his own. Worst case he becomes something of a utility player in the front four. Chalobah - love this kid. Love his attitude, love his spirit, love his technique, love his tactical appreciation of the game in both defence and attack, love his physicality, love his passing and I love the fact that he can contribute goals too. Carried that Watford team at times and the easy thing to say is that he should stay on loan there if they get promoted. Personally I'd like to see him back for the summer tour and given a fair crack to win the shirt. He's played 41 games this season - Romeu had played 49 games for Barcelona B before we signed him and used him in our squad. Why wouldn't we do the same for Nat?

He did come in last season away to Benfica, lacking in match fitness and ran his bollocks off for 80 minutes. Let's not pretend he wasn't part of this squad over the least few years. Maybe you just have a different criteria for judging players and that's fair enough, but the guy is very much loved because of his attitude and his character - precisely the reason some other players don't get quite the same affection. That love was on display on Sunday.

Their squad is going to need tweaking because they seem hell bent on changing to a 433 (oh hi Txiki). They've got a nice spine to their team (Hart, Kompany, Yaya, Silva and Aguero) but some of those parts might not fit quite so well into this new system and the bits around them will need a serious upgrade. Plus there are massive question marks over Pellegrini if he is the guy they bring in. Completely unproven in this league and with a rather pathetic resume he could be their Big Phil.

He was a good bloke who was always prepared to do a job for the team, and was always very good with the fans. He wasn't flash, he wasn't spectacular but he was someone you could rely on week-in and week-out to give EVERYTHING for the shirt. No-one attached to the club had a bad word to say about him and he never sought the spotlight or attracted negative attention. He just turned up, did his job and represented this club well. That's why there's love for the guy.

Based on where we are at the moment and assuming we get Jose then I think we're in a very strong position in the league. Of course the transfers made in the summer will be decisive but I think we've got a great shot at the title. If we had won our games against the bottom seven teams (not throwing away two goal leads against teams like Reading and Southampton, and beating teams like QPR) then we would have had 89 points this season. We're not that far away from being a very good team and the two teams above us are also going to be going through bigger changes than us (CIty tactically and United having a massive change at the top). The same could also apply to the European Cup with so many big teams changing their managers. It's going to be the most exciting season for years, but I think we're in a strong position to do well.

Couldn't disagree more. That strike force is capable of winning us the title, so long as we improve the midfield. That's where we lost games this season.

Not sure whether to put this in here, or just start a 'let's all laugh at Liverpool thread' but http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/8725273? Liverpool in for Kolo Toure. :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: Here is a picture of Kolo Toure in his girlfriend's shower (that would be the girlfriend he told he was a car salesman named Francois, despite being married).

Why weren't they in for Azpi? Or De Bruyne? Or Courtois? This is just how football goes sometimes. Other teams have other priorities and see different things in different players. Clearly the people at this club see something in this guy and it's not something impulsive or recent.

Sounds almost too good to be true with the talk of young talent, dynasties and even recalling people like Lukaku but it's something I suggested a few months ago. People do change and the way they approach their careers changes with them. The targets that Mourinho had 10 years ago won't be the same ones he has now because he's pretty much done it all. There are no more leagues left to conquer, so you look to build a massive kingdom in one of them. If the first 10 years of Roman's reign was to establish us as a leading force domestically and continentally (which he has certainly done with the league titles and European cups) then the next phase is to consolidate that and make something that is both self-sufficient but also consistent. What does success over the next decade look like? Ideally, Mourinho in charge, Chalobah, Lukaku, Courtois et al established in the team, five league titles, at least two Champions Leagues, solid financial results, increased commercial income and a new stadium. All that starts the moment we hire the new guy. :blue scalf: :blue scalf: