The only place to be

You don't know that. :banghead:

But Mikel and Ramires are? There's a distinct lack of soul in your writing. Maybe it's the language but it reads like a collection of statistics with very little interpretation except to support you pre-existing biases. There's no talk about heart, effort and personality in the article, presumably because there's not a statistical measurement for that. Statistics have their place, but there's also something called the 'eye test'. It's what football fans develop over time, seeing players and learning about the intangibles, the X-Factor.....IT. I know the statistics for Mikel are good. I know he has a wanktastic pass completion percentage but the guy has played over 200 games and there's still question marks. What's the statistical measurement for body language? What's the statistical measurement for giving a fuck and getting stuck in? When I see Fellaini play, I see a guy prepared to put his heart into the game and work for the team, carrying it on his back if he needs to. That's something I don't think you can measure, but it's something every team needs. Statistics and numbers have their place, but footballers are people at the end of the day. The first thing you need to do is watch them, otherwise you just become a weird guy analysing passes completed like AVB. Is that really how you want to turn out?

So you don't know what our Gazprom deal is worth then? Can we assume that you don't know what our other commercial deals are worth, besides the Samsung and Adidas ones? I'm starting to think that you might not have seen the books in quite some time. But it's good that despite the complete lack of knowledge of our income you're prepared to say that there is 'no way we can afford this'. Most people would've simply said they don't know, but you've really put your cock on the block and come out with a definitive answer. Congratulations on having the confidence levels of a far more knowledgeable person. Oh, and we've gone from making heavy losses to actually being in profit whilst amassing a rather impressive pool of young talent, improving our training facilities and also winning the biggest trophy in our club's history. So yeah, I do think they've done a good job.

To be honest, I could've offered the same criticism after watching him against West Brom or Liverpool or a few other games this season.

First goal against Arsenal, equaliser against Norwich, first two goals against Sunderland, third goal against Reading, second goal against Newcastle. Let's be fair to Torres.

FFP is pretty simple and it's all published online. The problem is that no-one on here is privy to the club's accounts and plans going forward. I've mentioned it twice now but no-one seems to know exactly how much the Gazprom deal is worth (apologies if someone has posted it and I missed it). No-one knows what will happen with the contracts of certain players in the next year. So people saying 'we don't have the money' simply don't know. What we do know is that the board have done a pretty good job in taking us from a loss-making enterprise to a company that more than breaks-even.

Watching the highlights of the Leeds game and one thing that is becoming apparent about Torres is that he doesn't help the players around him. When you talk about great players, you say how they make other players better (look at Mata for Moses goal, drawing defenders away and creating space for a shot). With Torres it's the opposite. The passes to teammates aren't clean, which means they have to break their stride. He doesn't make sympathetic runs to create space for them. He doesn't make the right runs into the box (Hazard put in a perfect cross and Torres was 3 yards from where he should have been). It really is like playing with 10 men sometimes. It shows how good we are that we're still competing with him in the team, but I can't wait until we have another striker doing the RIGHT things up front.

I do agree with you - you pays your money and you can sing pretty much whatever you want. I just make the personal choice to support the team positively rather than chant negative stuff about people associated with the club. We aren't Blackburn, we're Chelsea and we're fucking lucky. To me some of the chants can come across a little spoilt and entitled, but people can sing what they want once they've paid their money and travelled a fair way on a shitty night. But I will say that the support was fantastic and in my view the anti-Benitez stuff is on the decline. It helps when you're at Elland Road because there's many more loathsome things to sing about.

Whilst I don't agree with everything with Rupert says, I do think people who want Jose to return need to ask themselves why. Do they think he'll stick around for more than 3 years? Do they think he'll start this conveyor belt of youth talent that everyone else at the club is aiming for? Are we looking for a short-term fixed based on massive expenditure that puts us in a hole or do we want something sustainable? Ultimately do some people like the idea of going back to 2005 rather than the reality of having Mourinho as manager in 2013, where FFP and soft wage caps might be the norm?

How do you know we don't have it? This club has been run rather well on the financial side in the last few years. How much was the Gazprom deal worth? Don't forget that in all likelihood Cole, Lamps and Malouda will drop off the payroll in the next 6 months. Plus you've got to bear in mind that Falcao's goals might be what pushes us into the top four and secures Champions League money next year. At the moment we're playing matches with 10 (and a half if I'm being super nice) men.

Just having a flick through the match thread. @YouNameIt - I hope Leeds trash us really hard. This is simply not good enough. It's pathetic and embarassing. @Changingman_2000 - fingers crossed (that Rafa gets sacked). @didierforever - come on leeds... 3-0 and benitez out... please... come on... What. The. Fuck. The support last night was fantastic yet you get plastics literally hoping the team we despise more than any get a result just because Rafa's in charge (yes he got some stick last night but he did his job). What. The. Fuck.

Actually forgot how much I hated Leeds. But I also forgot what an absolute cunt Michael Brown is. Then you've got Diouf and Warnock. Beating them was a brilliant Christmas present but I really thought we were awful in the first half. I'm going to avoid criticising performances that I normally would and put it all down to the effects of long flights and minimal rest. Glad we've got this period of games out of the way and we can get back to normality against Villa.

I actually predicted they would beat Liverpool and then lose to us because I couldn't see them losing both games, but I didn't think they'd win both either (bizarre logic I know). Despite their win, Liverpool should've put them away early. They had enough chances and I expect Villa will come for the draw. The key is locking down Benteke who has been rather impressive so far. It might be a good game to try Luiz in midfield again. Honestly could see this game going in any direction. If Villa get their tactics spot on then we could see another game like the Stoke home one, but if they make a mistake early on then I can see the floodgates opening.

Give Woodgate some credit for not injuring himself doing that. Anyways, off to Elland Road for the first time in over 15 years. COME ON YOU BLUES! :blue scalf:

Defoe is arguably the best natural finisher this country has produced in the last decade. Danny isn't. He's a good player with a ton of potential but he's still the same kid who left City because they wouldn't pay him £60k a week. Personally I think we've done well to replace him with Moses and if we get him, Walcott. I'm not that upset he's leaving either - I was more upset when we sold Jon Harley if I'm being honest. Or Sam Dalla Bona. Ultimately though it comes down to the contract situation. £12 million for him would be pretty good business if we're being honest.

I'm driving up separately and leaving the shirt at home today. If it wasn't so near Christmas and I didn't need to look so pretty I might brave it. Plus I'm going up with the old man. If things get hairy he's slower than me.

Having gone through that, the best thing I can say about it is that it's long and seems to have a lot of stats copied and pasted. I think you've used some stats to support your agenda and I think that damages the credibility of this attempted article. For instance I don't think the stats you're using throughout this pertain to Fellaini's possible position at Chelsea (a DM, not the second striker/no. 10/advanced midfield role he plays at Everton). I also think you have to bear in mind the fact that he is playing for a significantly weaker team who don't put such an emphasis on possession as Chelsea do. One of the points I do think has some merit is It’s fair to say that Fellaini offers something in between Ramires and Mikel when it happens to recover the ball. Right now we seem to have two players who do the job of one. Ramires tends to cover Mikel's deficiencies without offering enough going forward. There are also questions over Mikel's workrate, which I believe is an area where you praise Fellaini in particular his stamina. One think I don't see you make much mention of is one of the things you really notice when actually watching the games rather than relying on stats - attitude. Fellaini is a personality in that midfield, someone who steps up and puts the team on his back. Just look at the Man United game where he went on a one-man wrecking spree and drove his team forward. Mikel, in my view, is the complete opposite. He looks good when we're playing well but he has a tendency to disappear when the going is tough (Juventus, Shakhtar, West Ham, West Brom). To me that comes down to his personality - inside he's still the same kid who turned up late for training and nearly got chucked out of the club. In that position you need a guy who doesn't shirk challenges (Makelele, Deschamps, Wisey). And the Shawcross incident is nothing - even Spackers twatted monkey-face on the odd occasion. :lol2:

I actually agree with this, but I will point out one thing about Falcao - Guardiola is a massive fan of his. He's commented on him a few times, calling him the 'best in the box in the world'. I wouldn't discount this signing actually being either the 'presumptive next manager's' choice or at least a bit of bait to get him.

Agree with all of that too. I think Roman knew but simply how Rafa was viewed but simply decided to press on with it because he's looking at a much bigger picture. The guy sees us with a top manager (Guardiola) moving towards a more self-sustaining period through the academy and scouting systems, on the way to a new stadium somewhere fairly local and with the club becoming bigger overseas. i think he just decided 'fuck it' and go for a bit of short-term pain. Not looking forward to the Leeds game because I think you're right about Warnock. Leaving in a few hours for it and I'm going to be sick the whole way up. Coe is my ideal choice. A man of integrity, beloved by everyone in this country and a bit further abroad and like you say, a proper Chelsea fan. I remember seeing him years ago at the Bridge, usually around the ramp that used to lead into the East Stand (him and Alec Stewart used to hang around there from what I recall), and I think it would help our image enormously. Those days of Duff and Robben were fantastic but the whole club is moving towards something a little different underpinned by better longer-term planning.

Think you're being a little pedantic there. The view is that Torres won't score the goals that we need. That's not just an assumption but a verdict most fans have come to having watched him for two years. They're reasoned guesses more than assumptions. It's the reason Falcao will cost us so much, because there's a view that he will score goals.

Huh? I'm saying that there's a concern over Torres being able to score the goals we need to finish top-four. I'm presuming the reason we're entertaining the notion of spending £40 million on a striker is that he will be more likely to score those goals. So no, it isn't self-contradictory.

A lot of assumptions being made in this thread. 1. The view is that Falcao will enable us to get into the Champions League next season and that's not something you can say about us with Torres as our main striker. Next year's CL revenue is kinda important so waiting until summer when Lewandowski might be available is a little unlikely. 2. Torres future isn't certain at this point in time. 3. Falcao's £200,000 wages seem to have originated in the Mail. 4. No-one is sure exactly what the recent commercial deals are actually worth. The figures surrounding the Gazprom deal in particular would be fairly interesting. 5. The expiring contracts. Cole will be expensive to replace, but I'm not sure we need to replace Lampard because I'm not sure he has a position in the squad at the moment that requires replacing. We'll have McEachran returning next year as well as De Bruyne. Those are two, young cheap midfielders. I actually think we may well be looking at Fellaini too. 6. The board have done a pretty remarkable job in recent years so I'd be inclined to trust them on this.

Torres will almost certainly still start the rest of the games in 2012. Playing a Championship side might be a good idea to get his eye in whilst not risking another injury to a player we're looking to offload in about two weeks. Let's be honest, Torres doesn't seem to have a problem scoring against shit teams in recent weeks.

In hindsight, the concerns surrounding Torres at that time are easy to see e.g. the injuries, the loss in form etc. Falcao does seem to be bang in-form and much more resilient. The most important factor for me has been his place in the squad six months down the line. It's all well and good spending £80 million on players but if they aren't going to be in the next manager's plans then it's all rather pointless. However it does seem as though Guardiola (if we assume he is the first choice) is a fan of Falcao, as are the higher-ups at Real Madrid so you'd assume he wouldn't be too hard to sell if it all goes pear-shaped. The other important factor is Torres. I've always thought Athletico would be the best place to sell him to for all parties concerned, so I'm hoping he's going the other way at the same time. I simply don't see the value in having him around the club. Over the past 18 months we've had some unfortunate things happen and he happens to be one of them. It would be cathartic to see him fuck off (I mean that in the nicest way possible).

Not sure what the value in playing Sturridge is when he seems to be leaving.