The only place to be

Because Oscar is knackered so stick Ramires on the wing because his one redeeming quality is that he can run for 90 minutes. Need to maintain the press. In 2011 we spent £73 million on a striker who can't score and a defender we can't trust to defend.

What midfield?

I don't think we're going for the draw. I think Jose's looked at our midfield, realised he's got the two dumbest players we've possibly ever had playing and decided to bring on a proper midfielder. Plus there's constantly space on the edge of their box.

Lampard on. At least we've now got a midfielder on the pitch.

Good luck boys. See you on the other side. Allez les bleus.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10740521/Chelsea-hooligans-go-on-the-rampage-in-central-Paris.html Wankers on a jolly.

Oh no, some kind of cart has fallen over!! Seen some dodgy reports on Twitter, all stemming from ONE person's twitter account. Think I'll wait until there's a few more credible reports.

Good point. Schurrle exploits space created by the striker going ahead of him (Stoke away) or the striker dropping off and dragging a defender forward (Fulham). The key will be the interplay and movement with Hazard and Oscar.

That it's better to play with a false 9 than a false footballer. I think.

Re-watching the story of the 2012 win. Need the Rami that was so influential in that run. Looking forward to the first time we pick the ball up and look to go on the counter.

Hey Monaco, how did that work out for you? Snivelling little shits trying to stay relevant when their average attendance is lower than MK Dons.

We bought Torres for who and what he is/was as well. You still want to keep him? You want just 1 player for each position? Of course you don't. You want to replace him, and that's what I want to do with Luiz. If Cahill or Terry is injured, Luiz isn't a good enough replacement for them. The evidence is in his performances this season. Oh wait, I see where you're confused - you think I want to sell him right now. No, I was thinking about waiting until the summer when the transfer window is open. Plus I don't hate Luiz, I just don't think he's good enough for us as a defender. Neither does Jose. That's why he's played less games as a CB than Ashley Cole has at LB this season.

Need him for what exactly?

It's April 2nd and there's a possibility of us doing the double still. The clocks have gone forward and we're still in the title race, not shitting ourselves about missing out on the CL. No-one's started a thread about the 'Next Chelsea Manager' yet (although there's still time), there aren't any crap chants about the manager not caring about us, Mikel is barely getting a mention, one of our players is one of the players of the year and even Barcelona are getting sanctioned by FIFA. :carlo2: The sun is shining, the birds are singing, it's summer dress weather and we've got the best coach in the world. If you ignore the dippers then it's actually quite a nice time to be a Chelsea supporter.

He's got a very valid point about the crowd noise, but the funny thing is that whilst you may not resort to insults you do like to lie about me in much the same way Henrique does. I don't defend Mourinho to death. I have in fact criticised him this season for the Eto'o deal and the Lukaku loan amongst other things. The thing is that I'm prepared to be patient with the man and give him time to turn around a club that has been managed so poorly for the last few years. I'm also grateful to him for completely altering the atmosphere at the Bridge. It was toxic at points last season and fans we actually fighting with each other for the first time I can remember. Now there's a sense of pride back in the club, like we're all pulling together and moving in the right direction behind a man we all love. That's why I find it so hard to believe people think this season could be such a failure. There's a renewed sense of optimism amongst every Chelsea supporter that I know or randomly bump into, that when you do see fans so insistent on looking for things to criticise that it does make me wonder what these fans want. Anyway, let's just agree that you disagree with every other Chelsea supporter

You're being utterly ridiculous if you actually think that Everton are in the same position as us. Seriously, you're either trolling or you're stupid. Martinez has the freedom to take punts on the likes of Barkley, Stones and Deulefeu partly out of lowered expectations and partly out of necessity. Ake probably will be sent on-loan because he needs it. He's unlikely to get ahead of anyone in the first-team so why not give him first-team experience? Chalobah has a chance next season if Mikel and Lampard do go, plus he's versatile so is good to have on the bench. Bamford needs a Premier League loan next season, whilst Baker has probably outgrown the reserves. Your arguments now are becoming ridiculous. I asked you when you would've liked to have seen someone like Kalas get a chance and you couldn't answer. There's no point in talking to someone who speaks in generalities without actually talking in real terms. I think that's best. The funny thing is that no-one seems to agree with you.

I'm racking my brains trying to think of the last big transfer that involved a cash+player deal. It always gets brought up but how often does it actually happen? Plus whilst I'm sure teams from Accrington to Wimbledon would like Luiz, how many teams can A. afford him and B. play a style of football that he fits? Bayern PSG (maybe...Thiago Silva's presence helps) Barca Real Madrid possibly Barca needed him, apparently wanted him and could afford him. Like I said in the other thread I'm hoping they appeal this decision but even then they're probably not signing anyone until January.

Fingers crossed but a bidding war between Bayern, Barca and PSG would've been good news for us. David Luiz is probably the saddest man in Paris right now.

What a ludicrous statement to make. Even with the caveats that followed there are vast differences between a manager returning to a club and Everton taking a punt on someone like Martinez. The level of expectation in the two clubs are worlds apart. Neither Salah nor Zouma are 'ready made talents'. They're both young prospects who are really no-lose punts, a bit like De Bruyne was. I simply think your expectations are wildly out of kilter with those of any reasonable football supporter. We HAD to build a foundation first which is why the back four has hardly changed (not that fans like you were moaning when we went on the winning streak over the winter months) and it has nothing to do with a refusal to play young players. Ashley Cole, Ryan Bertrand, Michael Essien and Tomas Kalas were all treated fairly similarly. In fact Bertrand was allowed to go on loan and Ake was promoted to the first-team squad. Whilst I am very sympathetic to those who want to see young players promoted at this club, beyond Chalobah and Lukaku I don't think any other player could really have been given a shot this season. If this continues next season then your point would be valid but I think you're prematurely eviscerating Mourinho to fit the agenda you held before he was appointed as head coach.

Think you're right. Ban for 2 windows, reduced to 1 on appeal.

FUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26852466

That's harsh and I pray that they actually get around it. It's also hilariously funny especially considering the holes in their squad, but for our own sake I'd rather they could be in the mix for Luiz.

One striker away from what? We're one striker away from winning the league this season in my opinion, so if we had got Rooney we'd be top right now. Or is that nuts? We'd probably have a better chance at the CL as well. But we'd also be a much better team if we had another midfielder who could pass the ball better, left-back cover and also a decent alternative at CB. But I'm rather perplexed as to what you're actually saying. A world-class striker would completely change the way we play, he'd give the creative players more options and space and he'd probably have turned drop points against the likes of West Ham, West Brom and Villa into wins (as top strikers tend to).

So we tie him down to a longer-term contract and Cech gets one more season to get the clean-sheet record before bowing out with a league medal? It's quite conceivable that we lose Cole this summer possibly alongside Lamps, Cech next summer and then Terry the summer after that....jesus. Meanwhile we've been linked with the Forest keeper Karl Darlow. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-transfers-karl-darlow-nottingham-3302166

You'll find no greater supporter of youth around here than me, but this was not the season to fuck around with things and I'm sorry but if the best example you can come up with is Kalas then you're barking up the wrong tree. The defence was too important to make any changes to it. Bertrand couldn't get a game, neither can Cole so Kalas had no chance. It's unfortunate but unfortunately it seems necessary. Chalobah could've played a role as a midfielder in Mikel or Essien's place. Neither of those is likely to be here next season so I'd be shocked if Chalobah doesn't get a chance. Lukaku is probably the only other player you've got a case for (beyond Baker and Ake) and as I've said I'm massively disappointed with the fact he went out on loan and I think that could be the difference between us winning the league and not winning it. But honestly I think your point is spurious at best and if you're bringing up the lack of playing time for Tomas Kalas as a point in deciding whether this was a successful season or not then I think this discussion has run it's course.