The only place to be

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=314821.0 Meltdown in process. Personally I can't believe FIFA actually did it, but like I said it makes them look tough without it being one of the top tier stars. They're still a bunch of cunts but fucking over a bigger cunt and a group of even bigger cunts (Scousers) makes them less cunty than they were before. Oh, and LOL Don't worry, Rickie Lambert is still there.

Fantastic effort there. Some absolute belters on there too. Delusional wankers.

United have handled this appallingly. They dragged it out, let their fans get excited about signing him (because they can't really sign any other marquee name), watched teams like us get our business done quickly and quietly and that allowed Southampton to ratchet up the price at the last minute. If those figures are correct then they're well and truly fleeced. The pressure on him would be incredible.

FIFA are in a good position. He's a big star, but he's not Messi, Neymar or Ronaldo. They can look tough on 'stars' without losing a real biggie. They have to go hard on him too, because it's absolutely insane that he's done this again. Biting someone on a football pitch for a third time, after a much-publicised rehabilitation is just crazy. There's something seriously wrong with him and exactly why so many people didn't want a scumbag like him at the club. Once again though it's hilarious to see some Scousers (not all) defending him and looking for the silver lining in this. I hope the cunt is gone for some time and I hope it fucks those northern scumbags up too because they deserve it for defending him last time.

So a guy's brother is on his deathbed, but the Abu Dhabi owners thought that the opening of a stadium was more important. OR Toure is slandering the club to get a move. Hmm...don't see how he stays.

Fantastic article and agree with most of it.

Actually I think that's a massively simplistic, patronising piece of writing. Basically we like Cahill because he looks English and we don't like Luiz because he's a proper footballing centre-half. It completely ignores that this is the country that celebrates the likes of Bobby Moore and Duncan Edwards, players who pretty much invented the footballing centre-half. Hell, even Rio could strike a ball pretty well. The reason Luiz isn't rated by many supporters is that his own lack of awareness/concentration issues/immaturity/idiocy lead to mistakes. All players make mistakes but there's honest mistakes and there's mistakes through lack of effort. Switching off at key moments is something most football supporters won't forget, but there is still a huge market for whom 'personality' (a catch all term that means fuck all in the 'reality' era) trumps that. David Luiz is a footballer for the Miley Cyrus generation. He's instantly recognisable, 'fun' and capable of moments of brilliance. That's worth £50 million easily in marketing revenue for a club like PSG.

It's amazing that the people who talk about supporting youth and giving them a chance are the first to put the boot into them and unfairly criticise them. It's simply moaning for the sake of it. Lionsden's assessment of Courtois is massively flawed. Of course he has areas of his game to work on but every player does...but he's 21 for fuck's sake and already better than Cech. Cech has become dodgy at crosses. He's cost us goals, he's cost us points and those points could've cost us the title. Yes we lacked a striker. Yes we are a work in progress, but he fucked up against West Brom and Stoke (amongst others) yet the sainted Cech gets a free pass. I love Cech. He's a Chelsea legend and he rivals Bonetti and Kharine (what?? he was awesome) as our best ever, but he was dropped last season because he made mistakes. Let's assess him fairly if we're going to criticise Courtois harshly - Cech looked poorer last season than he has done in a long time. Courtois just seems to be getting better. Take emotion out of the equation and look at the trends.

And if you can find a single football fan who thinks he's actually worth £50 million then you've done well. I'm not sure if you can be the world's most expensive defender if you've played the majority of your club football in midfield for the last 6 months. Fact is he's hugely marketable which a club like PSG placed a premium on, whereas Jose Mourinho places a premium on winning. It was something of a coup for PSG to sign him. But if you ignore the Instagramming, the marketing, the bobble-head dolls and focus simply on the 90 minutes of football then Luiz just wasn't up to snuff for Chelsea Football Club.

And you prefer one who has 'concentration issues'? The argument about these big clubs wanting to buy him is great....except another big club sold him. In fact a big manager (Jose Mourinho) rated him so lowly that he barely played him in defence when he had the choice. That's a lie. No-one thinks he's the worst defender ever. In fact most people think he has the ability to be the best defender in the world. The problem is his mentality, or as The Skipper quite rightly criticised him - his concentration issues. What good is a defender who has 'concentration issues'?

Really? Both defences are arguably the best in their leagues and you probably won't find a closer analogue for our defensive structure than Atletico's almost anywhere in Europe. Of course there will be changes, but I don't think you could ask for a better team for a goalkeeper to come from than Atletico's. Having watched both keepers a lot, Courtois is better right now in my opinion. Cech has not looked like the Cech of 2012 for a while which is worrying. Put it like this. I don't think we lose anything by putting Courtois in goal for us next season and I think there's a chance we actually become a better team with him. Pre-season is about fitness, not competition so I don't know how useful a yardstick that is. Pragmatically there's no reason not to go with Courtois, but emotionally there's always going to be a pull for keeping Cech and football is about emotion. Either way we've got one of the top six (?) keepers in the world in goal for us.

Ivanovic is too much of a hot-head for me and I'm not sure he's guaranteed a start anymore. Plus we're talking about replacing JT as captain when he's only 33. Ivanovic is 30. It's hardly a long-term appointment. Cahill is a good shout but like Barbara said, he's a bit quiet. Able, loyal lieutenant but captain...I'm not sure. Wouldn't let you down though. Matic is a decent shout but it's too soon to know. He's only been here 6 months and was still bedding himself in but I could certainly see him grow in importance if he continues his progress. I think it's too soon to know though. JT is captain right now and there's no reason to think he won't be that come May and possibly beyond. It's basically about waiting to see who emerges from the current lot and takes the opportunity that is going to be there. Ideally though my choice is one of the young English lads on the fringes of the squad, preferably Chalobah. I like the way he conducts himself, he plays the positions I prefer skippers to come from (defence or midfield, defensive midfield probably the perfect choice), he's Chelsea through and through and he's a quality player. A similar argument could be made for Lotfus-Cheek too, but these are both some ways down the road.

Will Cech even be fit for pre-season? But let's just get this straight....Courtois's last two club games were winning La Liga at the Camp Nou and the Champions League Final, but you want to judge his ability to keep goal for us against Olimpija Ljubljana and Vitesse Arnhem. That's like the owner of The Ivy taking a couple of chefs to McDonalds to see which one if best suited to running their kitchen. There was a reason to bench Cech last season....in fact he was. His form last season was iffy at times and for the first time ever he looked dodgy at crosses. I have absolutely no idea what you think we're going to learn in half-a-dozen pre-season games that the coaches don't know from watching Cech and Courtois over the last 18-24 months. Pre-season might actually be this 'mystical entity' with the stock you're placing in it. :eyebrows:

45 minutes a game? Goalkeeping is as much about building a rapport with the defence as it is catching the ball. Stability in that position is paramount to it's success. Chopping and changing between matches is a nice way to cause uncertainty amongst the back five.

Oh look, using the word 'retard' again (before the edit). http://thesaurus.com/ You're welcome.

I don't think I've ever known a player who is so happy to talk publicly, but so utterly unaware of how to conduct himself in the public eye. The guy speaks 6 languages, but manages to say pretty much the wrong thing every time and when a billion people are watching him around the world he throws a strop when he's subbed. Yes I understand the frustration and maybe that injury is still holding him back, but once again it's all about Lukaku. Of course he's still a young man, but you don't really see many other players conducting themselves in this manner. I think we're also seeing the same problems Everton fans saw in him - he's a pure goalscorer. That's great, but if it's not his day then he really doesn't offer a huge amount to the team. He is a problem. Selling him now might make some sense, but I'd quite happily like to see him sign a new contract and then maybe go on loan. At the moment I could see anything happening with him...literally. If he said he wanted to retire tomorrow I probably wouldn't be surprised. Jose needs to handle this situation and we need to trust him.

Yet if he has a dip in form (like Oscar did) then you'll be the first to slag him off. You want young players but you don't want to deal with the reality of young players. You're basically one of these 16 And Pregnant mums, who wants a real life doll but doesn't want to deal with the piss and shit.

Oh well. Liked the idea of him coming here but staying in Germany on higher wages seems like a no-brainer.

I don't know. Since reading this assessment linking Mourinho's psychological state to his fashion I've worn nothing but suits. Made washing myself a bit of a struggle in the shower but I'm thinking my bank manager will be impressed with my commitment to maintaining a professional air at all times. So do shorts and a t-shirt. Honestly I might boycott all games until every player takes the field in a three piece morning suit. God forbid if a player continues to play after their top hat comes off....sartorial elegance must be placed above form and function at all times. Sure the players might slip in their wingtips but that's the price that must be paid for us presenting a better image to the masses watching around the world.

And how does that fit with our sponsors Hackett? Isn't his image linked to our sponsors, the primary one being Adidas. Again there are a lot of marketing factors at play that have nothing to do with this pseudo-psychological assessment. You might want him in Armani, but he's obliged to wear Hackett and Adidas gear a certain number of times per season in each competition. Was Steve Jobs sponsored by Fruit of the Loom?

Because that's what he felt comfortable in, and he was pretty mental. If you want money from someone in Silicon Valley, 9 times out of 10 they'll wear a suit. At a certain point though people just wear what they want and what they're comfortable in. For some that will be a suit, for others it might be something different. Sometimes people might want to wear a suit one day and a tracksuit another. They might just feel a bit bloated one day and not fancy wearing a suit....I think you're just placing far too much stock in cod psychology.

Nope. He deserves the credit that most supporters gave him...he was widely viewed as one of our best players last year and in my opinion he actually picked up a lot of the slack that JT leaves nowadays because of his advancing years. Those two together complimented each other perfectly. Your comment about replicating performances in a shittier team could apply to Lamps, JT, Cole, Cech etc. In fact JT is a great example of a player who simply didn't replicate his club form at international level. Do you want to criticise him? Of course not. For some reason Cahill is an easy target. Great point. Cahill isn't world class, but very, very few players are. Defenders are going for £50 million who aren't world class, such is the dearth of decent options nowadays.

And some people place far too much stock in image. At some point you grow up and learn to be comfortable in what enables you to do your job best. Sometimes you might want to wear a suit, sometimes you might be more comfortable in a tracksuit and your mind might be on the task at hand. That type of comfort with the way you dress and not being beholden to a few people on the internet is generally a sign of maturity and confidence.

Here's a little trick I've developed. If you look about 4 feet to the right (or left depending on where you're sitting) of the dugout at around 3pm on a Saturday (time may vary), there's occasionally a football match going on. That should take your mind off the pointless sartorial criticism. To be honest I think you spend way too long worrying about what we wear. Football isn't a fashion contest.

He isn't world class, but he doesn't get the credit he deserves and people bang on far too much about the system we employed to diminish the performances he put in. I'm not sure why that is....actually I've got quite a good idea why that is and so does any member of this forum with half a brain. Indulging the witless cunt(s) who have an agenda and look to serve it at every occasion must offer up some pleasures, although what they are is beyond me. Chelsea have a system that requires every player to do their job and Cahill has never let us down. He wears that shirt with pride and puts 100% effort in EVERY time he wears it, unlike some other players. That might not make him coveted by some of the bigger clubs but to Jose and to the supporters in the ground, it's invaluable. For England he gets very little protection in front of him and very little from the full-backs (who in turn get very little from the wide midfielders). That isn't because it's an attacking formation, it's because it's a formation under the guidance of a very average, tactically naive manager. He's a great bloke and a fantastic defender. Not everyone has to be world class to earn the respect of the supporters.