Corner

That's the role he has been asked to play at Bremen. It doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to play a more defensive role.

Please come home, Mourinho. God, what I would give to see him in the dugout at The Bridge next season.

Not exactly. Shakhtar are not going to want to finish second because then they would draw a team that topped their group in the the knockout phase. Not only that, but Shakhtar seem to be out to prove themselves, and they will want to take down another domestic champion.

Mourinho documentary on in a few minutes.

Don't sorry, it's not at all true Just the media trying to make Chelsea look bad as usual, saying we could sack Benitez after two weeks, etc.

100 per cent agree with all of this. You're on fire mate. The first thing comes to mind for me when I think of our defenders: Terry: throwing his body in front of a shot, not caring where or how hard he gets hit. Sticking his head in front of a high boot. Willing to take getting hit for the team. Ivanovic: Last ditch challenge. No nonsense defending. Cahill: Playing the offside trap perfectly. Celebrating if the opposition fail to score. A lot of heart. Luiz: Taking the ball around an opposing striker. Looking for a long complicated pass. Standing over the ball for a free-kick. This says it all really. Luiz is more of a footballer than a defender. And that would be great if we kept possession of the ball for 70 per cent of the game like Barcelona. But we don't, and we're not Barcelona no matter how much Roman wants us to be. In my opinion, the more advancements we make with possession football (which is what Roman wants), then the better Luiz will be in our team.

No. You've misunderstood completely. No one expects them to be leaders. What I was getting at was that the board seem to forget about player personalities and have not signed any leaders over the past few years which is why we're left with none when Terry and Lampard are injured.

I think Mikel has been performing that role really well this season though, so I could only see Fellaini being signed as a back-up. You also have to remember that Mikel seems to be held in a very high regard at Chelsea. A damn good back up, but would he be content with that? Who knows.

I actually agree with Luiz being a good centre-back, and that some people only see some players' mistakes (Mikel seems to be the biggest culprit of this). But if you start an argument with an insult or calling people 'retarded', do you really think people will listen to you?

Well, I've heard Walcott's name being thrown around a fair bit, and I would would take Demba Ba any day over Walcott.

I think what Rmpr is getting at is that Chelsea need a deep-lying playmaker in the mould of Moutinho. Someone who can control the tempo of our play, basically. Whether Roman wants this I don't know. But it would make sense to sign a player like Moutinho if we wants to play possession football. Playing Ramires alongside Mikel makes no sense to me unless we're going to be playing counter attacking football, and even then I would still think someone like Moutinho would be much more successful in that role.

Apparently, Chelsea have insisted that there's no truth in the Avram Grant rumour.

I'm delighted we didn't to be honest. Even though I don't believe Barca ever made an approach for him. I wouldn't want to give them a rotation option for Pique. I just know Luiz would absolutely flourish with their style of football.

Haruki Murakami's '1Q84'. Oh yes.

I agree. Most successful managers always consider personality when signing a player. But how long has it been at Chelsea since a manager has even been allowed to be in charge of transfers? Our board (or Emenalo) is great at spotting talent, analyzing ability and reading player statistics but seems to completely forget about how personalities affect a team. We've done brilliantly to sign a lot of young and promising talents over the past while, but none are leaders. The board may not want to sign players who are approaching their thirties anymore but there are players in their mid-twenties out there that are born leaders. One example that comes to mind is Mamadou Sakho, PSG's 22 year old centre-back and captain. Let's face it, the likes of Oscar and Hazard are not leaders and more than likely never will be. Juan Mata has pretty much stepped up as our leader on the pitch this season with Lampard and Terry being out for the majority of the season so far. As a goalkeeper, Petr Cech can only do so much in terms of leadership. I can only hope we see Guardiola or Mourinho (or any good tactician with great man-management skills) in the dugout next season at Stamford Bridge. In football, man-management is just as important as being tactically astute and the board are fooling themselves if they think otherwise.

My god, that looks good! The sooner Ramires is out of that pivot, the better. Even if that means switching to another formation, like the 4-3-3 you posted. He would excel in a 4-3-3 where he can gallop up and down the pitch all day long and let Oscar take over the initiating of attacks. And obviously, Moses up front sounds much better than Torres up front right now. It's worth a try. My only worry would be he may not have the composure to be a striker yet. Also, if Roman wants to play a high pressing possession game, then 4-3-3 is best. Three strikers closing down the opposition defence is always better than Torres doing it alone.

I know, which is why I said when he's not trying to be a box-to-box midfielder. He just needs to be more disciplines as he certainly has the vision and passing ability to be one, and he showed that during the second half of last season.

Maybe if we bribe them... they might 'take care' of things.

According to PhysioRoom, he should be back by 8 Dec. So he could just be back in time. More than likely as a sub though.

Don't worry, I noticed too. And not just against West Ham, I've been noticing for the past while now. But RDM and Benitez are both using Ramires in a role that makes no sense for him to even attempt playing. I mean, Ramires as a deep-lying playmaker? It's a ridiculously stupid idea. And it leaves Mikel trying to do everything. Mikel is trying to be both an anchor man and a playmaker that controls the tempo of our play. Until we fix the pivot, we're fucked. And that's not going to happen until January when we either sign someone or recall Kevin de Bruyne. Unless Lampard makes a recovery very soon. Lampard is a great deep-lying playmaker when he's not trying to be a box to box midfielder.

The right manager is whichever manager will be given time by Roman and the board and have time to implement his ideas without getting sacked if he doesn't bring instant success.

As much as I would love to see that, I can't imagine a Benitez team smashing anyone. I'm not being negative or anything, he just loves his discipline.

Oh please no. Just no.

I agree. But it's hard to give a manager time to develop youngsters when the manager himself never gets time at Chelsea.

TorontoChelsea