The only place to be

No reason not to start a full strength team and rotate players in and out at half-time and just after. I doubt the players will be going at breakneck speed, but it'd be nice to win these games.

I disagree. It's where he came to prominence at both Liege and Everton and being moved into a more advanced position seems to have wiped the collective memory of football fans of this point. In fact I'd say one of his most impressive games this season was away to Arsenal when he had a deeper/box-to-box role and was probably their man of the match. With the options available, he can't be overlooked and he really doesn't deserve to be dismissed. He was influential from a deeper role but he did have an injury that kept him out for a while. He does have a bit of rashness about him but I'm sure the right coach could help him channel that better. As for going to United, he might just be going there because he's a good midfielder and they're crying out for one. Someone should probably tell Moyes that he's not good in a deep role if he's planning on sticking him there though.

I disagree with a lot of what you're saying, but you're factually incorrect on why he was moved forward. It's simply a pragmatic move based on his aerial dominance and strength. We can discuss whether or not he has poor tactical understanding or not but on this one point you're just wrong. It's interesting that despite all that you still think he'll make a move to the champions though. But I'll have a look through the thread to see if anyone has made the points you're unable to.

Why wasn't he in the squad yesterday? Is he now behind Ake in the pecking order?

Why? He's got a good engine, good distribution in that position (his passing percentage seems to drop off when in more advanced positions which isn't that surprising), he's good in the air, strong and offers a goal threat. He's not perfect (I'd love Javi Martinez but that ship has long since sailed) and I've got high hopes for Ake, Chalobah and Romeu but it does look like we're going to buy a midfielder and at the right price he does need to be part of the discussion. Personally I'd be happy going into next season with Oscar, Lamps, Rami, Chalobah and Romeu but I think we do need one more for that position and I think it's too early for Ake (although he was very good yesterday) and I'm not sure about De Bruyne in that role.

He's probably still in the discussion because who else is there? I'd love for Romeu, Chalobah and Ake to kick on but realistically we're going to invest in someone to play alongside Rami and Lamps and Fellaini is a good player if the price is right.

At least we had fans like you to make it as hard as possible for him. I've criticised the guy and he does have tactical limitations, and I'm glad he's gone...but give it a fucking rest. This squad was designed to reach top four this season - anyone who thinks differently is a fucking moron and I couldn't give a fuck where Robbie got us in his few months in charge because IT WASN'T GOING TO LAST. We were directionless, relying on moments of inspiration from players like Mata and Hazard. We got knocked out of the Champions League not through bad luck but simply because there were two teams in our group who were better than us. This was a stop-gap season, a moment of transition before Guardiola came and boy did that fuck us up. We're lucky Mourinho is coming back. Despite all that, we managed to finish top three in the league and win a European Cup. I hated the idea of Rafa being manager, but he did a decent job and now he's left us in a position from where we can challenge for the league next season. I'm not going to miss him, and I'm certainly not going to miss some of the absolutely classless shit that a minority (and it is a small fucking minority) of fans have come out with over the last six months.

I honestly don't know if Makelele would fit into our team anymore. I think players like Martinez and Khedira have taken that role forward, albeit in a slightly different direction. That's what I think Ake coud emulate, getting up and down the pitch with a greater emphasis on mobility and endurance.

Just to give this kid more credit, but both goals came from good defensive work by him. The first goal starts with him playing a one touch ball out of defence to start the break which is key to catching Everton in transition. The second goal all starts from him putting a strong tackle in on Pienaar, knocking the ball into Mata and then getting the ball back off him before putting it into Torres who then knocks it wide for Oscar to put his cross in. What's more impressive is that he continues to track the play forward and occupies the space about 5 yards outside the box so that if the ball does come out he's ready. He could be the modern day DM we need. His first instinct always seems to be to defend (he dropped in to cover Luiz and Cahill on a number of occasions) but he's a very switched on player in attack too. I love the effort he puts in. You can easily see why some people have been omitted from recent squads when we have young, hungry talent like this on the cusp.

Have you learnt nothing from watching Mikel play? When you make a mistake, the last thing you do is go to ground. What you do is stand there for a few seconds and do nothing.

The local lads still need scouting and developing so I'm not quite sure I agree. Obviously if there is a fee attached then the club probably has a duty to try and get the most out of them but from my experience the coaching staff treat the kids equally and the players who get a shot are given it on merit. The financial commitment to someone like Loftus-Cheek will guarantee that he gets chances, but he also happens to be a very good player who probably has the skillset best suited to making the transition to first-team football. Baker, Swift and Kiwomya probably won't get similar chances but that's primarily down to them not being quite as good/ready. All three of those need loans to Championship/League One clubs first and they'll all need to show something to be considered for a first-team shot. Oh well.

Pretty much exactly how I feel. I like the guy from what I've seen of him and he does have a pretty good engine which is something we definitely value at this club nowadays, but I also trust our scouting department. This isn't an impulse buy for the latest flavour of the month, this is someone we've studied over many years and still want to get in. The same was true of Lukaku, de Bruyne, Courtois, Azpi and a few others who are on the cusp of breaking through. Let's be honest, when it comes to players aged around 19-23 we've got a pretty decent recent record. I'm absolutely prepared to give the board and this kid a chance.

Because the youth are the future of this club, and that's something people care about. As for your assessment of those three players, I think you're wrong but that's up to you to choose to be wrong. There are plenty of people who have watched these kids over a number of years and believe they've got a good shot at making it at this club and I suspect if they don't they will shed a tear because they've emotionally invested in these kids because they're part of the Chelsea family. How silly of them.

You're right. He could really love that club and want to stay, and then you'd have to wonder what we would need to do to bring him back... Oh right, I forgot....WE OWN HIM. We essentially click our fingers and tell him to come back.

I can't understand why we're playing these games. Sure it's a massive media market and sure it's the fastest growing sport in America and we need to be at the forefront of this explosion in popularity in order to grow our brand worldwide so we can then reinvest the money in growing the club so it can be more successful, maybe even reinvesting some of that money into a new stadium so we can take greater strides towards self-sufficiency and really 45 minutes of playing time in a glorified friendly is a small price to pay not just for the short-term income (measured in millions) but also the payoffs down the road, as well as it being a little thank you to the fans who are in these markets but never get a chance to see the team..... but why? just why? I just don't understand why?

I think his recent run of good form certainly puts him in the shop window and there will definitely be teams who take a look at him - one of them will be Atletico. I also think some of the arguments being put up against his move don't quite chime with 'reality'. He's a professional footballer and a decent bloke by all accounts so I could imagine him taking a slight pay cut if the circumstances were right. As for his agent, he'd probably have him moving every other season because that's when he'd get paid the big bucks. There are teams with money who want to win the Europa League and he's had a very good season at that level, and there are leagues in the world where he would put away 25 goals a season. If he does stay then there have been a few things in recent weeks to suggest he could be a useful player but we've all seen this before. Ultimately he's enhanced his reputation in the last 6 weeks not just with prospective buyers but also with the fans a little bit.

Really grew into the game yesterday after a few early missteps and has real composure on the ball. Obviously needs a bit more experience and might be one of the first players who has a loan arranged next season but it needs to be akin to Chalobah's where he is playing competitive football in a decent team week in and week out. If he does stick around then one of the main things he offers is versatility. He's a proper Dutch sweeper-type player although at some point he is going to have to pick a position and stick to it.

Nice end of season game in the end. Nice sunshine, people in their new kits and generally a good mood around the place. The videos seem to be popping up online of the lap and it was a beautiful moment for everyone. There's a real sense of family and pride at this club that's been enhanced by people like Lampard, and I'm so glad he's staying for another season now. Just compare it to the City lap of....whatever for a comparison. The match itself was a nice little contest in the end. Great to see Ake get his first full start and he really grew into the game as it went on. If bringing this kid on was Rafa's only legacy (which it isn't) then I think we'd look back in a few years and say well done (although some people never will because he said some mean words when managing a different club). Nice to see Torres score too and hopefully that makes him a little bit easier to sell in the summer. Part of me was thinking that he could stick around, but I think this recent purple patch is too good to cash in on. At least if he does go there will be better feeling attached. Had a tear in my eye when Paulo came out too. It's felt like he's been on his farewell tour for a few years now, but he's just a great pro who always gave his all for this club and seemed to enjoy every moment of it. There are certain players who might not have been involved yesterday who could do with an ounce of that type of dedication. So a nice end of term get together, played in relaxed conditions for the first time in six months and a nice way to put a full stop on this chapter of Chelsea's history before starting a new one. After moaning for months that I wanted this season over, now I just want the new one to start.

It's a tough one to explain, but the culture at Chelsea changed with him. That arrogance and swagger just fits Chelsea Football Club so well, and it endured after he left. It took us to the Champions League final in the season he left, and it was also evident last season in the Lampards, Drogbas and Cechs. That resiliency, that strength and that pragmatism were all something that Jose bought to the club. And there's still a strong bond with him that one might call love. You love your stats but this is something that goes beyond stats (although I'm sure Jose has some impressive ones still). It's about the emotion of sport, the unquantifiable and the intangible. What Jose does is he creates a team, a 'siege mentality' where it's us against them and that was something magnificent even when we weren't winning things. Things weren't perfect and that has as much to do with the board at the time as it does with Jose, but both those things have changed. We're not the club who buys Benayouns anymore (hopefully) focusing more on young players with tremendous upside and he is coming off a tough experience in Madrid (where he still has a pretty decent record). It's hard to explain, but this just feels right.

You're actually completely wrong on your appraisal of that incident. It was the perfect cross from Di Maria and Courtois saw it across the box perfectly. His first move was to try and claim it but it actually swerves across the box rather than being a straight ball. Perfect keeping. His second move is to meet it where the striker should be attacking it - between his centre backs. If a number 9 does what he's supposed to in that position, Courtois will meet him head-on. Again, perfect keeping. His final move is to cover anyone at the back post and as everyone can see, he does that perfectly too. Anyone looking to criticise this piece of play really needs to give up - this is football at it's finest. A perfect ball, a perfect back post run and a perfect save. Maybe stick to gymnastics where you can knock off a point for a person taking a step after doing a quadruple tuck somersault.

In years to come, Benayoun will probably symbolise everything that Chelsea did wrong in the first decade of Roman's ownership. I think that's why he gets so much 'hate' (resentment is probably more accurate though) because it was just such a 'meh' deal. 30 years old, cost a fair whack in fees and on big wages. Fortunately we've gone from signing Benayouns to De Bruynes (same price...ish, cheaper wages, massive upside) and I think what a lot of people who are nervous about certain things in our future (Mourinho coming back, some of the players we're being linked with etc) have their roots in this type of deal. Pretty much the same player at the end of the day. Busted flushes, no dynamism, no game-changing ability and both very much on the downswing. Joe Cole had the bonus of being homegrown and a Chelsea fella but he was pretty poor towards the end of his time here and it was sad to see. The ball would get to him and everything would slow to a crawl.

The problem we have is that no-one knows what he is actually earning, and how that money is actually made up. Is it a flat weekly wage or is it dependent on appearances, goals etc. Is the money itself coming out of the general wage budget or is it made up of his image rights and other such things. Lamps is still a very visible player in terms of our marketing (although he was left off the new kit ads for whatever reason) and he's a fantastic ambassador for this club. I've been conflicted about re-signing him because my head sees the 35 year old player who doesn't quite fit our system week-in and week-out. But for my heart, it's an easy decision. When you see him interviewed, he's just a fantastic guy and sometimes that's worth keeping around for a bit longer. He's also had five months where he's been able to sign with another team and there hasn't been a massive rush, whilst he's also proclaimed his desire to stay here. In terms of negotiating he's put himself in a rather weak position and the market hasn't exactly helped him. The club aren't fools - I suspect they've got him on a deal that reflects his actual market value.

He looked like a 30 year old who has had two bad knee injuries. Apparently West Ham are interested so now might be the time to cut our losses especially considering the wages he is on.

Youtube videos.... :lol2: :lol2: We get it...you really like Frank Lampard but this is getting a little silly now. It's like listening to a One Direction fan slag off Led Zep and pointing to their lack of Brit Awards.

My view on Madrid is that they don't really want a manager, and certainly not one with personality like Mourinho. They want an accountant, someone who just sits quietly in the background and let's the money do it's thing on the pitch. Despite this Mourinho will leave Real Madrid with the highest win percentage of all managers who have taken charge of more than 100 games. And being sacked by Madrid isn't the worst thing in the world - just ask Heynckes when he brings his Bayern Munich team to Wembley next week.