The only place to be

He hasn't been consistently brilliant though. He's been good at times but he was by no-means guaranteed a spot in the team, and was maybe even a slight doubt for the squad. Unfortunately one of the main obstacles he faced getting into that team was the emergence of Nat Chalobah who had a couple of really strong performances in the last two friendlies. Next season is absolutely massive for him so he needs to get fit as soon as possible. But I really don't know what the plan is for him at the moment.

The immediate reaction from Boro fans online (admittedly not that many) doesn't exactly seem to be a ringing endorsement of his win. Unfortunately it looks as though he's having surgery on his ankle. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/boro-fc/2013/04/30/josh-mceachran-in-england-setback-84229-33259576/ On the plus side that might explain his latter season form, but he could miss the Euros. He really needs to be fit for pre-season.

Still can't quite see a point. Yes I understand they want a 'voice' but I'm still not sure specifically what they want to say and what issues they realistically think they can influence.

Where have I said he should be England captain without having a single cap for England?

The problem with Josh is that he's not exactly got much to offer to a team if he isn't at the heart of everything, and it's hard to encourage a team to do that when he's on loan. In all honesty, he's a very, very limited player. He's a fantastic passer.....and that's it. He's horrendous in defence, he's got a pretty poor workrate, he's not a great finisher, he's got very little pace and he's got the backbone of a jellyfish. He's found it very hard to impose himself on games which means all his talent goes to waste and what's most worrying is that he's a really timid lad. I don't see that fire in him that you need to make it at the top level. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on him, just that I've got a lot of reservations about what he can do. Someone on that thread compared him to Joe Allen and that's not a bad shout, but he's had a rough time at Liverpool this season and the jury is out on him.

The Swansea team should wear them in honour of the measles outbreak in Wales.

Guardiola represented a new type of football as this club, but he's not available. The interesting thing is that Barca were destroyed by a Bayern team who play a similar style of football to Chelsea c.2006. That doesn't mean tika-taka is dead but it isn't the only way. I'd have loved him to come but he's off the table. That leaves only Klopp and Mourinho as real top-class coaches at this moment in time who are at the right point in their careers to take us on long-term. Part of what I like about Klopp is his character, and that's why I don't think he'll leave right now. That leaves Jose. I agree that people aren't talking about the reality of Mourinho as coach too much and a lot of it is tied up in nostalgia, but I personally think that's what exciting about his appointment isn't what's old but what's new. He's seen the world, won everything in Italy and had his Spanish experience. He's been humbled somewhat and maybe he's learning to appreciate different things in life, which is why coming home might make perfect sense. Roman too has had his fingers burnt and seen that the grass isn't always greener. Maybe I've overly sentimental but this seems like the perfect marriage for these two men, and we could all benefit. Yes I have reservations about his appointment, but I'll be excited to see what he does everyday. At the end of the day, in a rather silly game of kicking a ball around isn't that the most important thing?

He had £200 million spent on making the team better - if he's happy to have that happen to his team without saying anything, why on Earth should we want him here? Madrid is the place for a seat-filler, a custodian who will manage for a few years, keep the stars happy and then move on. I don't think many strong-willed managers would do well there to be honest. Mourinho being more trouble than he's worth is perhaps accurate. He's high-risk/high-reward but he's a great tactician, a great motivator and someone clubs can get behind. It happened here, it happened at Porto and it happened at Inter. If you want someone 'competent' without 'extra drama' then I think you're at the wrong club. We've always been a bit dramatic, a bit high-maintenance and a little bit Hollywood Diva. It's part of our appeal and it comes with being in 'fashionable West London'. That's why Jose was the perfect choice. Pellegrini is low-maintenance, competent and won't cause much drama - he's the perfect choice for Arsenal. He ain't Chelsea. I'd rather have Ranieri back if we're going down that road.

So Mourinho failed at Madrid because he only won one league title.... But pellegrini is a good option for us despite coming second in the league with Madrid?That expensively assembled squad... Who helped assemble it expensively? I get that you don't like Mourinho. I don't quite understand why but he's clearly the fans choice. He helped build what this club is now and whilst he ain't perfect neither is this club. But he gets this club. He understands the culture. He's got the arrogance and the swagger that is such a great fit. Exhausting other options is the best way to describe the appointment of Pellegrini because he'd be gone before March.

So who would you suggest?

Because that's what people do. If you're leaving a job the first thing you do is sound out current clients and potential clients so you hit the floor running. You're not supposed to and you keep it quiet but when every other club is starting to plan for next season, you need to be doing the same. If a big player is moving, then a lot of people are involved. Agents are one thing but then you've got marketing considerations to bear in mind. People at Adidas would be getting winks about who might sign depending on the profile of the player. Most rumours turn out to be bollocks because most of the time people are guessing, but sometimes they do actually have a scoop. The better reporters are the ones who can discern between what is a solid lead and what is just a coincidence. When a reporter names four players all of whom have the same representation as each other, usually they're just guessing. The kernel of that story is almost certainly, someone at Chelsea spoke to either Jorge Mendes or someone related to him.

Because if he wants someone, the first thing he does is sound them out (not tap them up). His agent might ask the player's agent if he's happy. The agent then might (but doesn't necessarily always) mention this to his player - the agent obviously has a financial interest in the player either moving or signing a new contract. From there anything can happen. The player's current club could sound out other clubs or agents for replacements, the player could do something stupid like ask mention something to someone else in his entourage/management, even his wife could mention something to her hairdresser who then mentions it to someone. There are so many moving parts in a deal that leaks are always happening.

Agents, intermediaries and entourages. That's where leaks almost always come from. Look at what happened last night. We were strongly linked to Mourinho, and he's represented by Jorge Mendes. Then we were linked to four players by Sky Italia. Pepe, Di Maria, Moutinho and Falcao - ALL represented by Jorge Mendes. So journalists actually get solid leads from these sources or they put two and two together, and guess.

I don't think those two are mutually exclusive. I think Mourinho has changed and appears almost humbled by his experience in Madrid. He's literally looking to go back to where he was loved.....we're looking for someone to love. This could be the perfect marriage.

Twitter lighting up now....every reporter trying to get the scoop.

That is about as big a 'come and get me' as anyone could expect at this point in the season. He's a professional, we've got stuff going on so he's not going to be too blatant but.....I mean come on. :blue scalf:

Fuck You ITV.....FUCK YOU!!! Literally watching that interview screaming 'SAY CHELSEA!!! SAY CHELSEA!!!' and they cut to ad-breaks. This is why everyone hates you ITV. You miss goals and you miss exclusives. Bunch of twats.

For the first 20 and the final 20. In between they had as much of the game as Madrid and should've had two goals at least. They did what they needed to and defended well. Modric was absolutely phenomenal tonight though. Drove that team on when players like Ozil and Higuain failed to turn up.

Not to tempt the mockers gods, but I haven't thought this United team was that good all season. In fact their midfield has been an area that needs improving since 2010/2011. In the CL Final, Barca showed that they have a weakness in between their defensive and midfield lines that teams can exploit. Spurs did it at Old Trafford, Everton did it at Goodison and we did it. If you match up with them in a 442-type formation then they're comfortable but as soon as you play midfielders deep and have playmakers stepping off the centrebacks then they are vulnerable. And you're right that Hazard changed the match too. He gave us that drive and made them a little nervous, which of course makes them drop even deeper.

Luiz has shown himself to be a leader and to be fair, he has won the Champions League. In fact he was apparently crocked in that match but played anyway and did us all proud. If he isn't captain material then who is in the current squad? Cech - I'm not a massive fan of keepers being captain, but he's a good shout. Mata - leads by example but not the most vocal player on the pitch. And that's it.

Luiz is a defender. That's what he's going to be for us and that's where he's been best this season. Converting him to a midfielder full-time isn't realistic and this is similar to last season when we had Bertrand on the left-wing to do a job that we didn't have the personnel to do. Two things about Mikel - the idea that he needs to be pushed is embarrassing, disgraceful and probably true. I've alluded to his attitude before but that's one of the reasons Luiz gets the nod ahead of him at the moment. Not to turn this thread into a Mikel-bashing thread but he's not the type of person/human/man I want representing this club. I also think you've got it back-to-front with Mikel in terms of teams who press him. Southampton did it and we lost. Steaua did it and he looked unsteady. The great myth about the Man United cup game is that he came on and changed the game, but the truth (or the way I saw it anyway) is that United stopped pushing from midfield. They sat back and we managed to get on top of them. If teams give Mikel time then we'll win but if they put pressure on him then we're in trouble. Luiz is by no means the perfect midfielder, but he's never a passenger. He will actually drive the team forward at times - just look at those straight, powerfully-hit passes he'll knock forward to Ba or a winger cutting in that slice through a teams first bank of defenders. When teams set up with two banks (as Swansea did for the first 30 minutes on Sunday) those passes forced them to re-align and it creates a sense of urgency in both teams. He also gets stuck in on the defensive side of the ball, but he can be too ambitious and get caught out sometimes. Hopefully we either bring someone in next season or Romeu picks up where he left off and becomes that guy who invigorates the team going forward but is also a strong defensive presence.

Pretty much spot on. It's a similar situation to how Everton use Fellaini - he's better in a deeper midfield role but they need what he brings to the team in an attacking role. Luiz has been our best defender this year and that's where his future lies but at the moment we can get by with Terry, Ivanovic and Cahill covering the 2 CB roles and pushing Luiz forward. The reason we need him there is simple - Lamps, Rami and Mikel have been inconsistent at best in that role in the team. What Luiz brings is energy to the role (like Rami) with a bit better technique (like Lamps) and an ability to defend (like Mikel can allegedly do). He might not be better than each of these players at these particular aspects of the game, but he's probably offering the best combination of them at this point in time. Plus he's emerged as a leader. He gives a shit, gets stuck in and steps up when we need him to. Is he perfect? Fuck no. But one of our midfielders managed to misplace a pass against Swansea that should've resulted in a goal for them and it wasn't the guy who has played about a dozen games in midfield who made it. It was the guy with about 900 appearances as a midfielder. So basically, some people need to back off. He's not perfect but he's doing the job we need him to right now as well as being a leader in this team. There are other midfielders far more worthy of criticism.

If we actually go for Pellegrini when Mourinho is available, things could get a little ugly.

Can't blame Davey for the penalty. He slipped and still tried to make the tackle with his head. Thought we had the better of the game but were simply too wasteful in front of goal, and like everyone else I'm a little concerned about Feruz. He hasn't looked nearly as clinical as he has done previously but he still works his bollocks off up front alone. Got to give Norwich some credit for sitting back and hitting us on the counter for much of the game but we dominated that match for at least two-thirds of it and once again showed that we're turning out quality players who are comfortable on the ball and physically strong without it. Yes the silverware is nice, but at this level it's all about creating players who can make it at this club, or at least have good careers elsewhere and I think we're doing that. Thought the celebration was a bit much considering there's a second leg to come but it just shows what beating our academy means to clubs nowadays.

Strong team. The only surprise is perhaps Colkett instead of Swift considering we're away from home but good to see Musonda there.