Corner

Let's not be small-minded here. I watch every Barca game and I'm going to say the exact same thing. He's the best DM in the world right now, and he's only 24. He's also exactly what we need in that position. You don't have to watch every Barcelona game to have an opinion on one of their players or to know how good a player Busquets is. So telling someone not to 'speak any words on the matter' or to 'close this thread' is just silly.

I definitely don't think we should give up on Marin. He deserves a chance to show what he can do, just like any other player. Unfortunately for him and for us, he hasn't really had the opportunity to show what he can do yet because of injuries and attempting to break into the first-team. I just think we always be prepared for what may go wrong. Let's say Mata gets injured, then Moses, Oscar and Hazard are going to be our three main starters in the attacking midfield positions but they can't play every game. This leaves only one attacking midfielder to rotate with, Marin (assuming he's fit). I haven't yet seen enough of Piazon in the first-team to be fully convinced that he is capable of being a reliable back-up player. With someone like Isco added to our options, it wouldn't be a bad thing. And it would probably allow Piazon to go out on loan and get some experience if that's what the club feels is best for him. But I do agree. It's possible that Málaga would want to hold on to him. But they can only do so much to hold onto him when they're not paying him at all. But if we were to sign Isco, we would have to act fast. The more hype he gets, the higher that price tag will go and more and more teams will be interested.

Not bad at all. Although if he hands in a transfer request we could probably get him for €10 million. I wouldn't mind getting Monreal from them either if Ashley leaves in the summer. He's a quality left-back.

Ah yes. Forgot about that one. As horrible and incorrect as it is, there won't be as big a deal made about it as some other cases because he's not a Chelsea/United/City player. Fuck the media.

Well, Isco hasn't been getting paid by Málaga for quite a while and has been talking about leaving as a result, so I wouldn't think he would be too expensive. I'd love to snap him up to be honest, what a player he is. Marin gets injured a lot also, and a bit of competition is healthy I think.

Yeah, probably. IIRC, Rafa moved Luiz up to the DM position in the second half against Nordsjaelland.

There's another one? What is it this time?

God, those are some tough fixtures coming up for them. They're lucky Ben Arfa is back though. That 8 year contract gets funnier and funnier each game they lose. Imagine the compensation they would have to pay if they were to sack Pardew though. They would probably be better off buying a couple of players.

What an exciting match! That's the kind of game that I would been shitting myself watching if Chelsea were playing.

Fellaini isn't great as a DM, he's much better as an attacking midfielder (even if he doesn't think so himself). There are much better defensive midfielders out there for much less than we would have to pay for Fellaini.

What's the point in doing that?

He wasn't tackled badly or anything, he just fell awkwardly.

Ah, forgot Lampard. Lampard is already on that list.

Couldn't agree more. Moses is like a gun. Direct, straight to the point, no nonsense and if you use him correctly he will be lethal.

I'm sure Martinez is on the alleged shortlist of managers as a back-up if the whole Guardiola thing doesn't work out. Any manager that plays a short passing game, 'fancy' football, tiki-taka or anything in that vein is probably on the shortlist alongside Klopp, Favre and Bielsa.

I think you could be right about that. He was even registered to play in the Champions League, so RDM must have had faith in him.

I think he said it on Revista de la Liga.

I both agree and disagree to be honest. Stats can be helpful to a certain extent. (And I'm not implying any particular people of being guilty of this) but it's just when stats are taken out of context, misrepresented or twisted to make a point seem like it makes sense when it really doesn't. That's what annoys me.

Yep. I can see why they've become great friends though. Luiz has been a great role-model for Oscar so far.

Yep, I did. Should have been clearer about that.

Maybe so, but he is our manager and a lot of people are just going to have to deal with that. While he is our manager, we should support him. It's all good and well saying you'll support him if we win the Europa League, Club World Cup and gets us a top four finish, but what happens in the meantime while we are working our way towards those goals? Should we continue to boo him? Should we completely ignore how that negative attitude affects the players? The truth of the matter is that he is only an interim manager in the eyes of the board, the fans and it's also his official title. So saying you'll support him after he does x,y and z is no good because he will be gone after that. And we will have no reason to support our ex-interim manager. And for the fans who think they are 'die-hard' or 'true' Chelsea fans... where were the Di Matteo chants in the 16th minute when he was still our manager this season? They didn't exist. Those 'fans' are only singing that chant as a more 'creative' way of booing Benitez and it's an insult to Di Matteo. It's not true praise or thanks to Di Matteo. They're more concerned about hating Benitez than anything. We were 3-0 up against Sunderland on Saturday and the Rafa jeering and Di Matteo chants started again. It's ridiculous, childish and there's just no point to it at this stage. On top of all that, a lot of fans seem to forget that it was no only Di Matteo who helped us to win the Champions League. Let's not forget about the players who did it for us too. Some of those players now have to play on a pitch to hear boos and whistles and it's shameful.

Do you know if people outside of the UK can view it?

Fellaini is not a DM though. He likes to think it's his best position, but that's different.

Ah yes! Thank you!

Okay mate. Cheers.