The only place to be

In 2012 Jose used Benzema and Higuain almost exclusively. Look how many minutes Ba got this year behind two average strikers. Lukaku simply won't get enough minutes in my opinion. I'd rather look at Drogba in a player-coach role or even use a youngster.

We're a counter-attacking team. Costa will lead that. If teams sit deep then we tend to pump more crosses into the box - Mandzukic is an excellent aerial threat. Lukaku really isn't necessary next season if we have both these players offering these options. So from a tactical sense it does make perfect sense, although I'd love to see you try and argue that it doesn't.

They have three first-team defenders. Phil Jones Chris Smalling Jonny Evans Hold your horses there. They have a vast rebuilding job to do.

The New Chosen One?? Make it happen Stretford End Flags :eyebrows:

Willian, Schurrle and Salah have just finished their first season here and we're already looking to add another player there? Jesus

Because he offers something different to Lukaku and Costa. He enables us to change the game (as numerous people have already pointed out in this thread). From a tactical perspective it makes perfect sense.

If he's genuinely interested in coaching and Jose sees something in him then why not? Personally I've never thought he was the type to go into that side of the game....generally speaking I think defenders and midfielders tend to make the best coaches. If he did come back then why not give him a playing contract as third striker behind Costa and Mandzukic? It's hardly that many matches per season.

If England can keep it tight at the back then maybe the likes of Rooney, Barkley and Sturridge can get something on the counter. Unfortunately the skipper is a bit of a bottle job and a cunt to boot. Already thrown away the league for Liverpool so can't count on him not to slip up.

He'll be part of the new spine rather than having the team built around him, along with Hazard, Oscar, Courtois and Costa (and the defence).

Third choice striker and coach? Still casts a big shadow and out of all our legends, he isn't the most obvious future manager/coach. JT is far and away the most obvious choice to do that, Lamps could go into TV or live off his property/writing whereas DD also struck me as the type to take the George Weah route into political/humanitarian work.

If you look carefully you can see a guy who went from being a masseur to one of Beckham's closest advisors and a highly successful sports businessman. Very interesting story.

It was on Eurosport. The final will be as well.

England U-17s playing Portugal's and Izzy Brown and Dom Solanke starting for England. Portugal really should be out of sight (hit the woodwork 3 times) but Solanke has scored an absolute peach of a striker's goal. Ball over the top, controlled and then dinked over the onrushing keeper. Brown's shown some nice touches too, as has Patrick Roberts who starred for Fulham against us in the Youth Cup Final.

Baker and Swift probably need loans, preferably to someone like Boro. RLC could leapfrog that process. I think this pre-season is going to be fascinating in terms of competition for spots.

What if those two things are one in the same? I don't know who this 'quality, long-term partner' is (maybe someone like Rakitic who would cost £25 million) but is it definitely not Van Ginkel? Is it definitely not Chalobah or RLC? I'd be content with taking a flyer on a low-risk option like Paulinho or Song, but then you look at what City got from Fernandinho....

Ramires simply isn't the guy I'd want as the senior voice amongst the midfielders. He still struggles to speak English for fuck's sake....mentally he's just not there. This isn't just any 36 year old either. Frank showed against Liverpool that he can still do a job for us, maybe not as consistently as he did a few years ago but every now and then he's still more than good enough for us.

Because we're the club he's always wanted to play for, and we're one of the biggest clubs in the world. If he wants to go and play for a team like Everton or Spurs then he can do that and I would wish him happiness. If he wants to go abroad then the same applies. But this club will survive and prosper with or without him. Honestly speaking, if we do get in Costa and Mandzukic then it really doesn't matter what he asks to do. His value right now is quite high but it could quite easily decrease if he doesn't keep progressing as a footballer. Conversely it could increase if he adds more to his game. The potential that it could increase is why we should probably loan him for at least one season. He's still young, he has time and that's what his advisors should have told him at the start of September.

How many starts did Azpi get in those four matches? How about minutes? Less than a minute at United. His first start was a month later in the COC but he took that chance, worked his bollocks off and became a first-choice member of this squad. That's the type of player Jose likes. I also think he's poorly advised. Last season he had Torres, Ba and Eto'o as competition. The shirt was there to be won. Next season he could quite possibly have Costa and Mandzukic as competition. If he wants to leave then we sell him for a profit or loan him. If he wants to stay and fight then good for him. Ultimately this club wins and that's the most important thing. As I've said before, he needs Chelsea more than Chelsea needs Romelu Lukaku.

Lamps is also a fantastic ambassador for this club and a great example for every player in the squad. He can still play a role in certain games but it's also important to bear in mind that if he were to leave then our senior midfielder would be Ramires at 27. A player-coach role on reduced wages is probably my preferred option for him.

I don't think we should sell him necessarily. I think a year or two on loan might be the best if we get in Costa and Mandzukic and then assess him from there. Having said that there's also a case for selling him for profit and using that to strengthen the squad in the short term.

I know exactly what you said. Make all the excuses for him that you want but the guy was getting chances. And you're a little keyboard warrior who can't debate without resorting to insults, usually calling people retarded.

11 league assists in his last season here. That's only two less than Gerrard managed this season. Eden managed 7.

He featured in 3 of our first 4 games including one against the European champions.

Plan A with us next season is almost certainly going to be a counter-attacking tactic. Costa is ideal for that (his running off defenders reminds me of Crespo at times). He also offers a threat in the box. Plan B is going to come into play when we face teams who defend deep and with numbers and what you want then is an aerial threat. Mandzukic is strong in that department. Now in my opinion, Lukaku fits in better right now as a Plan A type player, drifting wide and using his pace to get behind defences. He's bizarrely weak in the air (or not as strong as he should be at least). I don't know if he does the Plan B stuff as well. So it comes down to a combination of complimentary strikers who allow us to do different things.