The only place to be

Now look Oscar, Willian, Andre, Eden and Mo....if you don't work your socks off without the ball then we'll sell you to a shit team up north too. Oh and Mata....

Terry, Cahill, Zouma, Ivanovic, Omeruo, Kalas. That to me is sufficient centre-back cover. I really do like Zouma and although we talk about his potential I think he could contribute like Varane did at the same age for Madrid.

Cahill has been a fairly consistent, unspectacular player for much of his career and I don't think he's massively changed from that. He's playing under a better manager in a better, more solid system and he's simply carried on doing the simply things he's always done fairly well. David Luiz is the same player he was when we signed him, except he hoofs the ball out a little bit more than he used to. Under Mourinho he's been dropped twice and seen more time as a midfielder in the last few months. But who knows, maybe Luiz can peak in a year's time. That might be around the time he gets a start in defence next. If Barca come in with the £30 million bid that was rumoured a while back, why not let him go? We have midfield cover now in Matic and a bright young prospect with amazing potential in Zouma. Here's the thing....you talk about Luiz in terms of potential, but the guy is 26 and is making the same boneheaded mistakes he made when he was 23. Where's the progression? Where's the ability to learn? I would honestly take Zouma over him as third choice centre-back next season and use the money to invest in other areas. It's not nonsense to suggest we sell a DEFENDER who has played in defence TWICE in the last THREE months in the league.

You said 'who the hell is supposed to take over his spot?'. I asked to which spot you were referring, his spot on the bench or his spot as a DM. We've signed Matic so its less likely he'll play in midfield. So I assume you mean his spot as third choice defender, and for that I'd probably go with Zouma next season. If Terry is injured then I'd start Cahill and Zouma and move Ivanovic to third choice. That's based on us getting a left-back in the summer (hopefully Shaw) and being able to play Azpi at right-back more often. Against Liverpool? I dunno. Can we trust Luiz in defence against a team as good as Liverpool? How many games as Luiz played as a centre-back since November 2nd (or the last THREE months) in the league?

On the bench or in midfield? In midfield I'd choose Matic. As third choice defender, why not Zouma? Why not Ivanovic? Maybe even one of Kalas or Omeruo.

Does he need to do that on a consistent basis? Why not just pass it 3 m to the guy in midfield and minimise the high-risk balls?

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/everything-you-need-know-about-kurt-zouma This article suggests that his reading the game is one of his strengths. Again, his stats with the ball are actually pretty good. 86% pass completion is on-par with Cahill's stats. Fingers crossed. Deschamps marked him out as captaincy material.

Fantastic move for us and massive potential. How far we've come from the transfer window of 2011 when we blew £70 million on Torres and Luiz to one where we bring in young talent like Zouma and Salah (and a new starter in Matic) based on an actual playing style. Hopefully this guy can contribute from next season. Reminds me of a young Desailly.

Why 12 years? So you can exclude JT? Fair enough. Why not look from 2007 when the youth system and facilities were completely overhauled with the opening of the Cobham complex?

Because any club with ambitions to succeed in an era of FFP needs to develop talent. It's as simple as that. Matic is a shockingly bad example to use for the simple fact that we signed him when he was 21. He's hardly a typical 'academy prospect', although the decision to let him go does look bad in retrospect. Kakuta simply doesn't seem to have the attitude required to be a professional footballer and that's probably the single hardest thing to teach youngsters. The same could be said for Josh, but that doesn't mean the academy itself is pointless.

I'd be absolutely stunned if he went on loan next season. I'm not saying it's not possible, but from what I've seen, heard and read about him then I think he could definitely be a third or fourth choice centre-back for us. As for Luiz, the guy simply isn't trusted by Jose to play in defence at the moment against anything stronger than Swansea. In fact he's more likely to pop up in midfield then in defence on Monday isn't he? If Barca came in with a bid like the one they were reported to have made last summer then what is the reason to say no? Potential? We now have a 19 year old with potential.

Yep. Why else rest him against West Ham? Plus he got 90 minutes against Stoke and looked far more effective than our other options. I'd be surprised if he didn't start to be honest.

Love the way we've done business (no fucking around) but also love that Mourinho is really being given free reign to build the squad that he wants to. We've made good profits on players we don't need and bought in young players on good deals who can contribute either immediately or from next season. Just need Shaw and a striker.

Established as what? He's right now the third choice and doesn't seem to have Jose's trust. What's the point of having a £30 million rated defender (according to reports linking him with Barca) on the bench? We keep on talking about promoting youth, then why bother having a 26 year old on the bench instead of a youngster like Zouma? So you think that David Luiz might be one for the future then? The guy will be 27 before the season is over. Ooh, let's play a game. Right, we have 13 Premier League fixtures before David Luiz's 27th birthday (just to put that in context, he's one year younger than Vincent Kompany and roughly 18 months younger than Gary Cahill). How many games will Jose trust David Luiz to play in defence? Sometimes you have to do business when you can. Maybe the club is worried about City or United going for him in the summer. He's been linked with both for a while and both clubs are looking at centre-backs.

Really do think Luiz could be on his way if he doesn't buck up his ideas. If we can get one more season out of JT then he and Cahill could well be our first choice pairing next season, and Zouma could take Luiz's spot as third choice with Kalas and maybe even Ivanovic covering (if we get Shaw and can move Azpi to the right). Since he was dropped after the Newcastle defeat, of 13 league games we've had he has played just TWO in central defence. Those were the games at home against Swansea and Crystal Palace. Both games can when we only had 3 days rest before the preceding game and before the next game. Either side of the Swansea game we faced Arsenal away and Liverpool at home - Cahill and Terry started both. If we can get £30 million for him then would it not be madness to turn it down?

Same reason Mata was sold. Could attract a big fee, isn't a first choice, doesn't seem to be trusted by Mourinho. That's the point though. He could take Luiz's spot as 3rd choice CB.

Are you serious? Rami isn't my first choice as midfielder but he has a role he can play in the squad. to say that Hazard, Oscar and Willian can't pass the ball is ridiculous though.

Boo, and indeed hoo. Sounds a little spoilt to me to be honest.

I don't have to use the word fuck but it does a good job of highlighting my frustration with people who use a 3-1 win over United as a sign of us being unambitious and 'the fans' being disappointed we didn't go for more. As for Rami and Ivanovic, they're not perfect but they do add certain things to our team. Ramires had a bad game and I think we will replace him somewhere down the line. Ivanovic has his uses, but I think the amount of bitching that has gone on after we created 39 chances against a team who came to defend is a bit of a joke to be honest.

The right-back isn't the heart of the team. Fact is we've spent £21 million on Matic who combines what you want....so what the fuck are you still moaning about?? I'd like to see both of them phased out of the team but it takes time. Mourinho has done a tremendous amount in his first season. Yes...all around the Bridge were sad faces that we didn't get a fourth against United.

He also plays Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian in most games. These are fantastically exciting players but he isn't adverse to throwing in some work/warhorses at the same time to balance it out and keep things tight at the back. Are you seriously moaning about us not beating United by more than 3-1??? We've beat them 5-0 in the past but it didn't make us any more likely to win the title. That was a fantastic result. Because we were beating the league leaders 3-0 at home so why bother risking it? Sorry, but I have to ask....what the fuck do you want?

I respond to a lot of posts, but you do seem to moan an inordinate amount. That's your prerogative but if you post an opinion on a forum then there is a chance that someone might have another opinion and they might post that. No need to moan about it.

Yes....come to a big club that has fantastic facilities, coaches and opportunities. I know the point you're getting at that we haven't promoted as many young players as we would have liked but there is a genuine commitment by the club to doing so now. We can either support that or bitch and moan constantly about it....and everything else apparently.

No magicians in the crowd but plenty of comedians apparently.

Because you have a mix of players in the team. You have the water carriers in the team who get the ball and then give it to the magicians. Lets not talk shit. He's a very solid defender who offers a threat at set-pieces as well.