The only place to be

I've made a few changes - promoted a few youngsters like Ake and Feruz, moved Chalobah to DM where he's been playing at Watford etc. Courtois will get another loan next season in all likelihood. The key positions for me are LB, DM and ST. If Bertrand kicks on then it can be a young back-up, if not it's going to need to be someone more established but Bertrand needs to be given a chance first. We need a DM who dominates the ball. I don't know if that's ever going to be Mikel or Romeu and Chalobah is still young. Maybe we could get by with those players and Chalobah needs a chance, but we need to sort that position. Ake has played further forward recently. As for David Luiz in DM, I really don't understand the logic behind people's suggestion of this. The one thing he lacks in his game is intelligence and discipline. The one thing that position absolutely requires is discipline. If we could get £20 million+ selling him in the summer, I'd take it. And then there's striker. Lukaku seems to really be finding his feet in the Prem so he's going to be at least a good back-up/Plan B. Then there's young Feruz who deserves a go in my opinion. I'd be including him right now in fact. But we'll probably need a main guy and that seems likely to be Falcao. I have reservations about signing another 26 year old striker whose game is all about goals. We've never really been a good club for that type of striker with players like Drogba and Stein the exception rather than the rule. I'd prefer someone like Cavani who has much more to his game in my opinion, or someone cheaper who is more of a gamble.

My problem with Jose is the old mantra of 'never go back'. Plus when Jose left, it wasn't as though there was much of a legacy in terms of continual building from season to season. We essentially had what he built and now they've gone we're struggling. That isn't just his fault but it does seem to have happened at Inter. The idea that Pep Guardiola 'didn't have to do much' really doesn't chime with any of the stuff that I've read about him or his time at Barcelona. They were already strong, but so are we in many respects. What we could do with is the cultural change he effected at Barcelona to build something new here, but something also different than we had before. You're right about the differences between our youth systems, but we've invested massively in our academy and we need a manager who will utilise the young talent we have and create a conveyor belt system. My personal preference would be Guardiola, but that's not to say I wouldn't welcome Mourinho back. We'd be lucky to have either one. But based on where this club is, what it aims to do and what Roman wants, I think Guardiola is the best choice.

What does this actually mean? Maybe we'll go back to the good old days of the late-90s when we'd never ever sack a Chelsea legend who became manager.

Don't you think that any of the stuff that Guardiola did actually improved the team?? We have something very special at Chelsea potentially, why not get a guy in if all he did was take a good collection of players and turn them into arguably the greatest football team ever?

In what way was Kakuta rushed? I can't remember the last time we put a young player into the first-team with any sense of urgency, and that hasn't exactly been a resounding success has it? The kid has stepped up to every challenge he has faced. Why not throw him in at the deep end rather than sending him on a few loans to lower division clubs in the hope he might get some playing time, but will in all likelihood stagnate and be sold to Cardiff City in 4 years time?

I've never quite understood why people would think John Terry would make a good manager. As a player, he's committed, brave and a strong leader. But he's too fucking thick to be a manger. Sorry. Lampard on the other hand probably has the intellect required to be a modern manager, but I don't know if he'll want to. He's establishing a life after football and I think he's going to leave the game and go on to other things. Having read the two rather long posts above, I'm not really sure what their conclusion is beyond Mourhino was a good manager and we had good players who carried the team for a long time. I agree with that. Up until last season, this was still Jose's team. Watching the match on Wednesday I came to the conclusion that I don't know whose team this is anymore. There's no leadership on the pitch and Benitez isn't Chelsea. We need to secure Champions League football though. If that means limping home in fourth spot then so be it. It's going to be messy, but it's a necessity. Then we can reach summer and that is when the rebuilding can start and our owner seems to have just one man in mind for that - Guardiola. Managerial longevity exists when clubs find the right manager to take them on. We haven't had that since Mourinho left, but that was in 2007 and 5-6 years isn't uncommon for teams to 'drift' having lost important managers. Look at any successful club and you'll usually find periods either before or after 'iconic' managers were hired when the club was somewhat aimless. We're in that period now, and Roman has looked for the next long-term Chelsea manger but it hasn't worked out. It will though.

There's no guarantees in football. All you can do is look at what qualities a person seems to possess and judge whether they are right for your team. When you look at what he did at Barcelona and how he moulded a team out of a collection of individuals (not all, but many) and you see the issues we have at the club, then I think he is about as good a manager as is around (and available) at the moment. He is also massively respected throughout the game because he did it both as a player and a manager. Look at the problems AVB had when it came to man-management. Guardilola can be a figurehead for the whole club and he can become that person who changes how we play football at every age-group. We shouldn't keep changing managers, but you need to find the right manager to stick with long-term and we haven't had that since Mourinho. This club is still very much based on what he instituted - we need another big manager to come in and take us on to the next stage in our development. It's all here waiting for him if he wants it.

Without wanting to sound rude, you don't seem to have any idea of what Guardiola did at Barcelona. The players he offloaded, the players he bought in and also promoted from withint, the changes in terms of discipline and work ethic, the very idea of what they were supposed to do as employees of Barcelona. Honestly, if you want to know what he's actually like as a manager and how wrong you actually are I'd suggest picking up the new book on him written by Guillem Balague. It's a nice introduction to Guardiola the manager.

They might be West Ham, but they're a tough team. They're fairly dependable in most positions and they have a hard-working midfield that has goals in it (primarily Nolan). Plus they have Andy Carroll up front who can have moments where he's unplayable. Anyone thinking this will be an easy game is kidding themselves.

That's the same 'agent' who said Drogba was going to Barcelona and Terry was going to Valencia. He sacked Scolari because we were shit and he sacked Ancelotti because the football in the second half of his second season was fairly poor. Personally I like the idea of us getting Guardiola. I think he'd be given more time to try things, and that includes giving the young players a chance. Who doesn't want to see what Josh McEachran could be with Guardiola's influence on him?

I've defended him since he joined, but against Man City he twice had a chance to get clear of the defence and COULDN'T. He's clearly lost the yard of pace that made him so dangerous. He still has that striker's instinct (the Arsenal and Man City goals showed that) but he just struggles to get into decent positions and then seems to hesitate because his confidence is completely shot to pieces. In position and without having a chance to think, he's a good finisher. But that isn't what we paid £50 million and it isn't what a top club needs from their main striker.

I agree that he is important, because he can drop into the back three and distribute short passes. I simply don't know if he does it that well. Last night Ramires seemed to bomb forward a lot more than against Man City, whilst players like Azpi were roaming across midfield which is what led to the Risse chance. Even if Mikel was playing, the amount of players going forward would've caused us problems. I like Mikel, but I'd like to see if someone like Romeu or Chalobah couldn't do his job better. Let's not ignore the fact that Mikel can have moments where he simply switches off - in that position you can't ever do that.

Or....when Rafa took the job it was made clear to him that Mikel wouldn't be available during the African Nations so he's decided that he should probably see if other players are capable of playing that position before the transfer window opens. Or he simply likes what Romeu offers to the team. You never know how players perform in training and Romeu does have a lot of things going for him, primarily his distribution. It's one of the most important positions in the team and Mikel does make the odd costly mistake.

So if he eliminates 1 touch from each possession every year, he could be a 2 touch footballer by the age of 29? Personally, I'm hoping that Nathanial Chalobah can continue his improvement and become that holding midfielder we need.

I wish I didn't care. Unfortunately last night was one of the worst nights ever for supporting Chelsea. Watching a shit match and then looking at the players on the pitch and realising there was no-one on the pitch who was proper Chelsea, apart from Cech. And then looking across to the dugout and seeing Benitez in charge. Just want this season over - now I know how Arsenal fans must feel.

What do Ramires, Mata and Ivanovic have in common? A. When Marin put the beauty of a cross in at the end, they were all about 8 yards ahead of Torres in the box. That's our problem in a nushell.

I agree with this. We were better than United until Torres's red card and Man City looked good, but not unbeatable. This season was wide open for someone to take it but we're simply not good enough. Fortunately teams like Everton and Arsenal have dropped points but Spurs could be a danger to us now.

Unfortunately everything about this club right now is linked to Torres. The defensive issues, the managerial issues, the goals issues, our transfer issues....I've never known our club to have been so fucked by one player. Even with Shevchenko, we still coped because other players stepped up. Now it's not just other players not stepping up, it's other players being denied the opportunity to step up. The Champions League win and his amazing corner-winning exploits have papered over too many cracks. The sooner he leaves, the better.

I think you're probably hitting the nail on the head. I'm still trying to be nice about Torres, but his attitude is just awful. Torres works best with fast breaks, or at least he used to when he had pace. Our team is set up to dominate possession and for the whole team to move up and down the pitch, so he simply doesn't seem to fit in our system. I'd rather we have someone like Lukaku who can at least hold the ball up and use his strength to buy time for the rest of the team to get past him. I've said something similar about Feruz in his thread. Obviously Liverpool don't have the expectations of their season that we do so they have more time to experiment with young players. But right now I don't think Feruz could be any worse than Torres. In terms of physical development he already seems to be about as strong and fast as he's ever likely to be - in that regard he's like Rooney where he develops faster than those around him. But the other notable thing about him is that he works his bollocks off closing players down. Now I know that in terms of endurance, the Premier League is a big step up but sometimes you have to throw players in and see if they sink or swim. It's not like our policy of developing players slowly has had much success.

Can someone remind me of the arguments against playing Islam Feruz in the first team right now? Would it be a significant downgrade on Torres? Would it impinge his development if we played him early (unlike all those other great players we've developed slowly like Kakuta, Mancienne etc.)?

Well that's a lie. It's just because they dominate other teams in possession and territory that he often moves further forward, just like Mikel does when we have periods of possession in the opposition half. You don't seem to understand the basics of football. No wonder you're a Torres fan.

When Torres finally fucks off, will you go with him?

I've said it in another thread, but right now Torres is a cancer at this club. It's not necessarily his fault but it's got to the stage where it's not simply his own form that is suffering anymore, but everyone's. The pressure to keep playing him is denying other players starts, the fact he can't hold balls up is putting pressure on the defence and the pressure to try and help him score looks to me like it's making other players second-guess what they're doing. Until he goes, this club could have serious problems especially with players like Hazard and Mata. As for Feruz, I know there are arguments against playing him but he looks physically ready and seems to have the arrogance to do something at this level. Sometimes you just have to throw a player in and see what he does, rather than taking it slow like we did with other players (who have all failed to make an impact).

Because when he actually manages to control the ball, he holds onto it for too long and defenders converge on him knowing that he's unlikely to knock it past them (because he isn't quick enough). That makes him very easy to defend because there's nothing to worry about with him.

Busquets? 1 assist all season, about half a dozen goals in the last 5 years. Barely any better than Mikel yet he's probably the closest player to him in terms of what they're asked to do. His job is to sit in front of the defence, slide back into defence when the full-backs advance and the centre-halfs spread out and lay the ball off to either an attacking player, or an available player. He has one of the most important jobs on the team and he's done it pretty well in most games.