The only place to be

His brother might be but I like Yaya. I think the comparisons are in their builds but also in that laid-back way they move around the pitch. I'm glad he's staying at Watford but he needs to be given a chance in the summer. If we do get a new manager in then he'll want to assess all the players and I think Chalobah has got a good chance of winning a spot in the squad partly because of what he's shown on loan but also because of his versatility. And if Watford miss promotion (or maybe even if they don't) they can take a couple of other youngsters like Ake or even Feruz.

Retiring the shirt is unlikely. It's not like it's the number 25, it's number 8 which probably sounds weird but actually makes a lot of sense..... maybe Anyway, it's sad and there will be tears at the end of the season but this is football. Old heroes move on so that new ones can take their place and I've said it before, but you have to give the board credit for the job they've done recruiting young players to fight for that spot.

I felt the same when Neil Shipperley left.

The club isn't falling apart - it's just moving from one phase to another. Lamps, JT and Drogba defined the last decade and another group will define the next. The pieces are all there but we need to get the right man in charge to put it together.

Good thing he's at Tottenham then.

I think he'll be let go next season. I wouldn't be surprised if he retired though, rather than find another club. Firstly, he's Mr Chelsea so I doubt he'll want to. Secondly, I don't think his body will be up to it and most importantly, I don't know if another team would make a move for him. He comes with a lot of baggage.

I still think you're way off the mark with regards our board. Firstly, our squad is assembled by far more people than simply the four that you're apparently aware of. Secondly, if you look at the academy and reserves the identity and system of football is relatively uniform which has contributed to a decent amount of success in the youth teams. You don't seem to give the board any credit whatsoever for this. They've also amassed a shockingly large amount of young talent and secured a surprisingly high number of them high-profile, rewarding loans. That is invaluable. The one point I think you're correct about is the need for stability in the coach position. But I actually think they've identified the guy they want and are doing everything possible to secure him for next season. Plus NONE of our managers have been sacked out of nowhere. Each one knew it was coming and I actually don't think any of them have been that unfair. But clearly the board actually recognises most of the failings you have identified and have been trying to rectify them, but they've been unsuccessful thus far.

He's a massive fucking dick, with a demeanour that some football followers think is 'personality'. He's got serious issues which his talent simply isn't consistent enough to apologise for and signing him would be a clusterfuck.

That was last year. It's different this year and he's been key to everything we do going forward. What we missed was penetration last night which was why the defenders were shooting - Harry would've loved to let them have the ball and set his team up deep. The problem wasn't just us missing Mata, but the deeper players like Lampard and Luiz not offering anything either. Personally I would've liked to have seen Oscar deeper and Mata in his normal position. Rest the players against Southampton's reserve team in the FA Cup or against Swansea. Send Mata for a few days in Dubai or a health spa in Berkshire for fucks sake. Don't rest him in the league and don't rest him against QPR.

I'd hate to be in a position where you have a poisonous presence up-front who struggles to score goals and actually makes the team worse.

There's a difference between what we should be doing, and what we're capable of doing. Leaving it so long was fucking ridiculous.

Like I said, it's still QPR. That means something to Chelsea fans and it should mean something to the club.

We aren't in a position to rest Mata for important games. Yesterday was an important game whereas the cups simply aren't as important right now. Yes we spent a fair amount of money in the summer but £30 million of that was on the bench alongside Mata and the rest simply aren't able to cope in their absence. At the start of this thread we had people saying we should win 9-0 and QPR are shit and they lost to Liverpool, but everyone knows that local derbies are different beasts. You could feel the tension in the ground when it became known that Mata wasn't starting, and the wait to bring him on only exacerbated that. Even if they were bottom of the league with 0 points, they're still QPR. That ALWAYS means something.

Did you also miss the bit where we finished last season sixth, got knocked out of the Champions League and that whole two decades where the Champions League became the most important competition in European football? Did you also miss the bit where we drew against QPR in two of our last three matches? What about the bit where we drew against teams like Fulham and Swansea who aren't the strongest teams in the league? There aren't any easy games in the league so we can't really take chances. I suppose the idea was to rest Mata by having him on the bench, but it didn't work out so basically every aspect of this strategy failed. And who gives a fuck if we do something in the cups? The league has to be the priority.

I honestly don't think he's more than a short-term deal and if he helps us get top four then that's worth millions. We sold a player who was on an expiring contract and wasn't being used whilst replacing him with one of the top scorers in the league shoring up the weakest position in our team. Don't see a downside to this deal.

We spent £250 million, but 1/5th of that was on Torres who is probably the biggest flop ever. Maybe in the years 2008-2010 our transfers were horrible but they were the result of short-term thinking. In fact I think it's much too early to suggest that the transfers from the summer of 2010 have been 'horrible'. The likes of Mata, Cahill, Azpilicueta and Moses all seem to have been good value whilst we've spent big on Courtois, Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne and Oscar who are all good prospects for the future. As for City, they might have bought Nastasic cheaply - they also bought Sinclair, Rodwell, Savic and Balotelli who haven't been quite so good. I don't know what their long-term plan isto be honest. United have made a couple of good signings in Jones, Smalling and Powell but I honestly don't think Fergie is looking that long-term. We're in a position where we're resetting the way we do things. We had to spend big to achieve parity with the top teams at the start of Abramovich's reign but he clearly wants something more sustainable and I think we're going the right way about it. That might mean some tough years but longer-term I think it's going to pay-off. Of course we'll be expecting improvements next season, and then the season after. People just need a bit of patience and understanding.

Pretty much summed up everything wrong with Chelsea's transfer dealings a couple of years ago. - At the end of his prime - Expensive for a reserve - Wages too high - Didn't really fit the system

Yes, I'm telling you that. I'm telling you we're not in a position at the moment where we can afford to take chances in league matches by resting our most important player, especially when we have two cup games coming up where he could be rested with lower stakes at risk. If you want to give up based on that, then fine. But you'll note no-one is saying that we should use the same 11 players every week. Hell, Mata played 50 games last season - I'd be quite happy if he played just 48 this season and they were just the remaining league games. Of course all this completely ignores the point that he wasn't rested and was eventually brought on much too late. We aren't in the position Barcelona are in unfortunately.

Isn't the youngest player out of that lot at least two years older than Oscar? A couple of years ago fans were moaning about us going after older, established players and now we're looking to develop younger players and people are still finding fault with it? For me he's shown enough for me to be happy with him, but now I actually think he's being mis-used by Benitez. We could have done with his creativity in the double pivot last night with Mata further ahead, but he was stuck in a position where he had no support from his striker yet he still showed some good flashes. Personally I'm happy with the club valuing long-term, sustainable success over short-termist thinking which is actually what has led to our current problems in my opinion. The club are clearly trying to set themselves up for next season by targeting a quality manager and young players who fit his system and style of playing. I've said this before but we're not going to spend big like we did in 2004.

I agree but for me it's a case of prioritising stuff. I'd rather play a weaker team in the cups and play a full-strength one in the league, whereas Benitez seems to have focussed on making sure Mata and Hazard were available for the next two games. Now he might be following orders, but whoever made the decision got it wrong. The cups might be great this season, but we need to secure Champions League football for next season and at the moment he doesn't have an investment in that.

I'm not so sure. If the guy is actually risking our top four aspirations by resting players so they can be fit for cup games, then he's a massive cunty twat and you can understand people's anger towards him. The league has to be the priority for Chelsea Football Club. But he doesn't get a photo with a cup or something to put on his CV for that.

So it's dumb to point out that Mata has been one of the three best players in the Premier League and that we rely on him for most of our offence? Try watching some of the matches and seeing how much he contributes to bringing other players into the game. Then look at the game QPR set themselves up to play, where it was obvious they'd get men behind the ball and need to be broken down. Oversimplifying things by saying he rested two players (arguably our two most penetrating attacking forces) and brought in two internationals is the definition of dumb.

Which goal was beautiful? He scored 3 rather lovely ones (Two against Juve, one against Shakhtar). You sound as if you haven't actually watched much of him.

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: This kid has the potential to be the best in the world. He has the technique, he has the vision and he also has tremendous workrate and commitment. Personally I think he'll drop back into the midfield and play in the role we targeted Modric for (like Alonso at Real), but he hasn't really been used there yet which is a real shame. :banghead: Arguably the best player for us in the Champions League.