The only place to be

The difference between Cole and Lampard is that Cole is still the best in the world in his position. Hate to be the cunt in the room, but it's true in my opinion.

I don't trust The Sun but I hope this is true. Get him extended and then hopefully pick up Luke Shaw to learn from him. Now I hope he just sorts his barnet out.

Mikel has played about 300 games in his career. Now lets say he's played 45 minutes in each game. That's 13,500 minutes of game time. But this video that is less than 3 minutes long is going to convince me that he's a far better player than I've seen in his 6 years at the club? :lol2: Next you'll be telling me what percentage of his balls travel forwards. An absolutely fair assessment in my opinion.

Nationality has got fuck all to do with it.

That guy's been on the wind-up since he joined. If you can read his posts and think he's being sincere, then I'll apologise.

Really? We're talking about people who are apparently Chelsea fans who were criticising Makelele. I didn't see any in his time at the club. I'm sure there might have been some guy in a Chelsea shirt sitting in a pub in Russia or the Congo shouting the odds at him, but I don't care about that guy's opinion.

I could respond with 'Mikel sucks', but that wouldn't be true. He's a decent squad player.

Let's not start this shit again.

Well they weren't at any of the games I went to, any of the trains I travelled on or any of the pubs I watched games in so I really don't value their opinion that highly. Maybe we've just forgotten how good DMs can be? And yes, JT is better than Nesta in my opinion. He reads the game better than almost any defender I can remember in the last decade which he had to do because (like Tony Adams and Bobby Moore) he didn't have much pace to rely on. Nesta is better physically and a truly tremendous defender, but JT's intangibles make him the better player in my opinion. I'm not defensive or insecure and i made it clear that the over-reliance on statistics (when it suits people it should be noted) is not something unique to you, or even something you do. I was referring to the wider debate on Mikel which tends to include pass completion and how many passes went forward (which is a stupid debate to have). I am very predictable, but my final point will go back to my first point (circular arguments indeed). I've never known a player to inspire such division amongst fans. I don't hate him like I might hate Torres, I just wish he was better. I wish he was younger so I could make excuses about him being inexperienced, or I wish he'd just take a game by the shirt rather than being a passenger too dependent on what those around him were doing. I wish he'd just look like he was giving a shit once in a while. I wish he'd show some balls and assert himself, because he has the size and skill to do so. I wish he was a man, a leader. I wish he'd puff that chest out and put the team on his back. But I just don't think that's who he is as a person.

Then why are Man United struggling to replace Van Der Sar? Why did they struggle after Schmeichel? I think you're completely understating the job of finding a top-class keeper, which is why we did so well not just to get Courtois but also secure a great loan for him. Neuer cost €22 million because he only had one year left on his contract from what I recall. I hate the idea of changing keepers between games. It messes with the rhythm and it's unfair to drop someone after a good game. I think the idea of benching either one, or ever paying both of them is the wrong route to take.

Then we have a tough decision to make that is nowhere as simple as you've suggested. Either way, we're going to be better off be it financially or by having a young player who could serve this club for some time. It's why your constant jibes about the decision to buy him are ridiculous.

Bull, and indeed shit. I never heard a single worg against him. Everyone I knew said he was underrated, when I think looking back that shows how valued he was. Just look at the Charlton game in 2005, where everyone loved the fact that he scored. We wanted him to score because we thought he deserved his name in lights for the season he had. If Mikel doesn't score again I don't think many people would care. So because there's a death of quality DMs, we should lower our standards? Plus JT stacks up very well against players like Bobby Moore in my opinion. He's not really the same type of player as Beckenbauer and he's better than Nesta in my opinion. I don't hate him. I just wish he was better. And how do you know I don't know him personally? How do you know I don't know people who know him? How do you know I don't know people who have coached him since the time he arrived in this country? Nothing wrong with statistics backing up an opinion, but it's when there's nothing but statistics without proper interpretation that it becomes meaningless. There are certain posters who seem to watch games entirely through the prism of stats and 'whoscored.com' rather than watching the matches themselves. Like I said, I've never known of a player who so divides intelligent, thoughtful football fans like Mikel. I don't hate him and I don't think he's a rubbish player. I just don't think he's that great. There's nothing wrong with being an above-average player, but I don't think he's good enough to be a key player on this team. In fact I don't know if any other top club would conceivably bid for him. I've never heard of any other club being interested in him in fact.

Now you're just talking utter bollocks without the pretence of being a Chelsea supporter.

The category which doesn't believe there are just two types of people in the world. And you're not doing a very good job of 'leading' if that's your aim. You've not made a single convincing point because you don't seem to know much about football, and even less about Chelsea Football Club.

You're the only one.

Roman might not, but the club has to account for it's finances in a post-FFP world. Signing Courtois has not affected our ability to sign any other players. He hasn't cost us a penny in wages and his transfer fee was relatively low over 5 years.

Claude Makelele. Adored by every Chelsea fan, missed by them too. Ah, the 'football fans just don't understand him' argument. Two words, Claude Makelele. Could it just be that Chelsea fans have been well educated on what a DM is supposed to do (we also got to see Deschamps up close and personal) and Mikel simply doesn't come up to our high standards? Could it be we're not dumb and that we do in fact know what DMs are supposed to do and no amount of stat-wanking will change that?

Actually, there's a lot to think about. You have to weigh up the money you'd get for either against the amount of seasons you'd get from them, plus also the chance of getting another keeper of his calibre. Cech was a once in a generation signing for this club, and it looks like we might have done it again with Courtois. Which makes your constant jibes about his signing even more ridiculous. In the worst case scenario, we've at least tripled our money when we sell him. At least. Best case scenario, we've found a replacement for a key player who can be a feature for at least a decade.

I do. I also understand that sometimes you have to make tough decisions regarding players and this is one we'll have to make.

You realise that players can be sold whilst still under contract don't you? In fact that's the only way they can be sold (over a certain age). Why would you not keep players with transfer value under contract?

Mikel played about as many games under Ancelotti in 2010 as Kalou did, didn't he? Do you have any idea why he's so divisive amongst the fans?

To me, he has the potential to be a top keeper for over a decade. I don't know why we'd risk losing someone in a position that is notoriously difficult to replace. There's always the option of selling Cech and bringing Courtois back.

A fair point, but he's not the type of guy I want in that position. Maybe I was a little unfair on him, but to me he isn't a leader of men. He isn't that big presence that you need in the centre of the park. I have to keep reminding myself that he's almost 26 and that he will have played about 250 games for the first-team, because he still reminds me of a kid sometimes. Our success in recent years came on the back of men....leaders. Now we're reaching a point where he needs to step up and I simply don't think he does. I've never known a Chelsea player so divide fans (apart from Torres maybe, although most people were on the same page with him). To my mind, he's not good enough to be one of the main men in the team.

Why don't you tell me why you'd like Moyes here? Like I said, great manager but I simply don't think he'd be the right guy.

I'm not so sure Mourinho us unrealistic and out of those available, I'm not sure how Moyes is the best option. Good manager, but not really the person I'd see fitting in at our club especially when you look at his footballing philosophy.