Wxgba

Be careful what you wish for. I remember a certain Loic Rémy setting Ligue 1 alight not so long ago... and now look at him.

Let's all quit the negativity and save it for Saturday (should the team provide us with a reason to be, of course) and let's try and focus on the positives of last night's performance. 1. ZOUMA IS A TANK ...oh, and Begovic isn't a bad second-choice 'keeper, is he?

Good article, poor topic. We, as Chelsea fans, are our own worst enemies at times and expect far too much. If a player goes through a patch of fine form, we begin to expect that sort of standard consistently but the reality of football is that very few footballers in world football can be that good, that consistently. (In fact, two players only spring to mind...) He's played well this season, suffered a dip of form as of late but still managed to score (yes, it definitely was his vs. Spurs) when it mattered most. He's the closest thing we'll have to replacing Drogba so, in my eyes, we should be thankful rather than over-analytic.

That makes two of us... Welcome!

I wouldn't be able to commit to it on a consistent basis but a schedule seems to be something that I'd be able to adhere to with other writers. I'm in.

I like the kit, don't get me wrong, but I'd definitely prefer it if it was to have a buttoned neck.

Clubs and fans alike tend to hide behind their respective "transitions" and often use it as an excuse after underachieving. As Henrique has stated already, if you are to look at the grand scheme of things, most clubs could claim to be in a transition period most of the time. There's always players and managers in and out of the door that leads to this word continually being brought up: "transition". I don't want to direct all of my post at just how misleading "transition periods" can be though so I'll try to stay on track. We are going to be in a transition for another season or two yet while Mourinho gets settled; buys the players he wants and gets rid of all the players he deems to be unnecessary. That being said, this season was the biggest transition as it was his first back at the club and there has been a lot of changes at the club since he was last in charge. He's started to release players that don't fit in with his style of play/management but is yet to make big signings that are his choices. Eto'o was brought in rather rashly and I think that was blatant - he's obviously not wanting to find himself in a predicament such as that again in a hurry. This summer he has some funds to target the players he wants for the positions he deems most necessary. Last season was the biggest hurdle and although we lost some big players (Luiz: big character; Mata: special player; most likely Cole: reliable, experienced defender), it means that José has the summer to focus on putting together a team that he believes will work well and fit in with his philosophies. We may have had a good squad at the start of last season, but quite a few of our players don't fit into Mourinho's way of playing and that is being shown, firstly with the sale of Mata and now with the apparent departure of David Luiz. We should be starting next season with a strong team catered to José's wants and needs so, in theory, we should be aiming for the league title next season although that is not what I'm expecting. I'm expecting top four and hopefully a title of some form, winning the league will be a bonus especially given the fact that our main competitors will all be strengthening their squads over the summer, too.

Try deleting the app and reinstalling it, if you haven't done so already. I reinstalled Tapatalk yesterday after months of not frequenting forums and I've had no issues viewing GIF's on there.

Simplicity is definitely the way forward. I'm glad kit manufacturers have finally started to work this out.

That is adorable.

Looks like I'll be buying both of our shirts this season then if that away one is to be believed. Definitely opting for a long sleeved home shirt this time around though - absolutely gorgeous.

He's got a great cross on him as well. Imagine how good it would have been having him in the team when Drogba was here? I agree with all your points. Sturridge is definitely a frustrating player to watch at times, but he's undoubtedly talented and can produce moments of magic. He grew in confidence as the game went on and started to lose his head during the latter stages as he was shooting from impractical angles and ranges. He wants to score goals though and he's eager to try and score which is refreshing. As selfish as some may think he is - I admit he can be at times - when he did get his head up and release the ball, he managed to create a few chances. Overall, I thought he played well considering it was his first start of the season. As for Oscar, oh my... where do I begin? What a delight to watch. It was so refreshing to see him come on and take a more direct approach; running at players with pace. The same applies for Hazard, both of whom were exceptional when they were introduced. I was tempted to opt for Oscar as my man of the match but Moses just tipped it for me. Moses was undoubtedly our best player in the first 45 - he was one of the few positives we could take out of the first half, for that matter. He's a natural winger that likes getting at players and likes running in behind. We've been desperate for such a long time it's really nice to see him revel out wide for us. With Hazard, Oscar and Mata all occupying the space in the middle of the pitch, it's good to see some width in our play from time to time. Thankfully, we have that now and that made a big difference today. I don't think it was a great performance from us, by any stretch of the imagination, but courtesy of spirit and desire we managed to pull it back not once, not twice, but three times - credit to the players for not giving up and keeping on fighting. It paid dividends and now we look to be favourites for the cup. KTBFFH.

I saw the thread titled 'Signing Out' and the last post by "Kojo", aka Sloth, and thought to myself "Thank fuck for that!", only to then realise my horrendous misinterpretation and that it is in fact Artinho that's departing, not Sloth. This day continues to get worse... On a serious note, a great contributor to TalkChelsea in so many ways, and it's a shame to see us part company with a lad who is wise well beyond his age. Good luck in your future endeavours, Art, whatever they may be.

It can sometimes be a negative as it often restricts the way in which the members goes about their debates/discussions. It's not applicable to everyone and I hope if doesn't affect you or BluesMaster. Not a negative as such, really.

Congratulations, lads, thoroughly deserved. One negative: all the best posters are becoming part of the staff.

Steve, you are a God amongst men. It's been a long time coming. I wonder if he puts his money where his mouth is and attempts to create a Chelsea forum with a "better server"?

Any thoughts/comments/feedback?

Great effort. Doing Chelsea proud!

Upon seeing Marouane Fellaini's imposing physique - all 6' 4" of him - it's hard to believe that he's only 24 years of age. Fellaini is a player who's now been plying his trade for almost five years in the Premier League after signing with Everton for a club-record fee of £12.9m (€15m) from Standard Liège in 2008.<br /> <br /> Everton had previously had a bid rejected by Liège but Moyes upped the ante and offered a bid they couldn't refuse and Fellaini signed at Goodison Park with minutes to spare on Deadline Day, 2008. He'd broken the club's record transfer fee, and Fellaini became the most expensive talent in Belgium. This was before anyone knew of Eden Hazard, remember!<br /> <br /> Marouane broke into the Liège first-team at the tender age of 19 and only six months after making his league debut for the club, he found himself within the national team set-up. His inexperience meant he lacked discipline though and often found his name in the referee's book. Upon his arrival at Everton, he racked up an alarming 10 yellow cards in his first 17 appearances for the club. He soon calmed down, though, and a couple of good performances started to see him win the fans over... and thus began the "afro" revolution at Goodison Park...<br /> <br /> His time at Everton has been hampered with injuries over the years, suffering a few long-term injuries along the way that may have hindered his development, but every time he returned, he continued to impress. Although Everton's finances may have seemed a stalling point in Fellaini renewing his contract at the club, the departure of Mikel Arteta allowed the board to offer Fellaini a much better deal - one which would keep him at the club until 2016. The club's persistence paid off and were rewarded with more dominating performances from the Belgian, and has seen him since become the heart of Everton's midfield.<br /> <br /> Fellaini has gotten off to a flying start this year, too, scoring two goals in three games. The big Belgian single-handedly beat Manchester United and it was his goal that proved decisive, earning his team three points and himself a very well-deserved 'Man of the Match' award. He's since sparked quite a lot of interest in the media, particularly after he'd come out to the Belgian press expressing his desire to leave Everton in the near future - which Fellaini later openly denied via his official Facebook account. Although he may deny such stories, it's obvious that he's ready to move on from his time in Merseyside. He may have become a cult hero amongst the Goodison faithful, but it's apparent that he's achieved all he can with the Toffees. He's been at the club for almost five years, managed to enhance his reputation, and at the fruitful age of 24, he's still got a left to offer.<br /> <br /> The silver lining for David Moyes and Everton fans is that if Fellaini is on his way out, he's guaranteed to bring in a large transfer sum. If they allow him to go in January, the price is always going to be inflated and I imagine the Belgian international would bring in a fee around the region of £25-30m. If they're wanting resale value, it's better for the club to let him go sooner rather than later; if he suffers another long-term injury, they'd find it really difficult to bring in such revenue.<br /> Considering the fact that Chelsea are overloaded with attacking midfielders and Manchester United have recently signed Shinji Kagawa - both of whom surely have to be the favourites for his acquisition - where would Fellaini go? I doubt Arséne Wenger would pay the price Everton demand for the player which would exclude them from the run-in; Spurs snatched both Dembélé and Dempsey, leaving little space for the Belgian and Brendan Rodgers has rather sensibly admitted he doesn't want to pay big fees for transfers. Once again, it leaves Chelsea and Manchester United to battle it out for his signature - unless he attracts interest from abroad, of course...<br /> <br /> Fellaini, although often left isolated in an attacking role for Everton, is more than capable of being deployed in a more defensive role as he's displayed on many occasions for Everton. He has all the attributes to be a great box-to-box midfielder, he just doesn't hold the physique. He's good at tackling, great with both feet and, more importantly, fantastic in the air.<br /> <br /> Personally, I'd love to see Fellaini join Chelsea and occupy one of the spaces in the double-pivot that Roberto Di Matteo deploys. The departures of Michael Essien to Real Madrid and Raul Meireles to Fenerbahçe, there's a significant lack of defensive midfielders within their ranks.<br /> <br /> John Obi Mikel is arguably the only out-and-out defensive-minded midfield player Di Matteo has. The young Spaniard, Oriol Romeu, is a player with the potential to make that role his own, but Di Matteo seems to disagree with the fans and Romeu has barely featured since he came in. Barcelona hold a buy-back clause so could take him back if they so wish, but it's believe that Valencia are currently keeping a close eye on him and his progression. As much as I rate Frank Lampard as a player, he's not able to play in a defensive role and we have more exciting talents occupying the roles further up the pitch. He's finally succeeded in European glory with the club and he's soon going to become a bit-part player for the club, if he isn't considered one already. A lot of Chelsea fans would like to see Ramires played as one of the defensive midfielders, but I have my doubts. He's been utilised in so many different roles during his time at the club, I don't think he has the discipline it takes to hold the midfield. He's got a massive engine and his stamina levels are insane - they would go to waste if he was deployed as a defensive midfielder. If Chelsea were playing 4-4-2 with a box-to-box midfielder occupying one of the spaces, Ramires is your man. Ramires, unfortunately, isn't your man when it comes to the double-pivot positions in a 4-2-3-1.<br /> <br /> Fellaini would compliment Mikel well as he possesses more of an attacking threat, in the air and going forward. Mikel is a player that plays well according to who's playing alongside him, and a defensive midfield partnership of Mikel-Fellaini is a recipe for success. It would fill a void in the team that needs filling and would I'm sure would please a lot of Chelsea fans.<br /> <br /> Chelsea were rumoured to have been interested in the the Belgian when he was undergoing contract negotiations with Everton, and I'm sure he'd have been interested in a move to London had Everton not come to a mutual agreement on a contract extension. Fellaini put pen to paper on a five-year deal with Everton in 2011, so I don't think Fellaini will go anywhere for under the region of £25m, leaving the club with a big profit from a big Belgian.<br /> <br /> If you click here you can see Greg's own blog; Swing It In, Son! for more articles!<br /> <br /> Click here to view the article

Follow me, @gdostephens, and my new blog site, @SwingItInSon.

If you fail to sign Luka Modric, try and try again. And then at the last minute turn to Raul Meireles... After months of chasing the Croatian midfielder; the player himself handing in a formal transfer request and still not getting any further, Chelsea needed to look into alternative options. On "Deadline Day", with hours remaining in the 11/12 transfer window, Meireles handed in a transfer request and found himself signing for Chelsea not long after, where he was reacquainted with André Villas-Boas. Meireles conceded that he didn't want to leave Liverpool, but the chance to work with his old friend AVB was too good to refuse. So Chelsea forked out a reported £12m for a player that wasn't exactly wanting to come to Stamford Bridge. It's fair to say he wasn't welcomed with open arms. Not initially, anyway. Although he was a last-minute coup for Chelsea, Meireles' services were desperately needed with Michael Essien having suffered a long-term injury. He was thrown straight in at the deep end and struggled to make an impression. However, as the season progressed he grew in confidence and succeeding in winning over the fans (just about). He was an integral part of the team that managed to overcome the might and force of Barcelona, even sacrificing himself playing in the Champions League final (of which Geoff Shreeves was the first to remind him) by taking down Mascherano on the halfway line to save his team-mates from a counter-attack. That moment of self-sacrifice is one of the few moments that will remain in the memory of many Chelsea fans, alongside that goal against Benfica en route to Munich. What. a. goal. Having signed for a rumoured £8m at Fenerbahçe, Meireles leaves a tender Chelsea midfield looking even more depleted. As Meireles prepares for bigger, better and hostile things in Turkey, his ex-colleagues in Lampard, Mikel, Ramires, Romeu and even Brazilian wonderkid, Oscar, are left to fight it out for the two "double-pivot" spots in Di Matteo's 4-2-3-1. With five players fighting for two places, you would think there's a lot of cover and strength in depth. Oh how numbers are deceiving... There's a lot of question marks surrounding those five players. Mikel and Romeu are the only two distinguished, out-and-out defensive midfielders out of the bunch, both of whom still have a lot to learn. Mikel has severely improved over the years, but he's still not a definite name on the teamsheet. Lampard fought valiantly for the remainder of last season in a position that doesn't best suit him, and it could be argued that the formation isn't to his taste, either. Ramires is full of energy and would probably be best modelled as a box-to-box midfielder, though he's been deployed in more attacking roles since Di Matteo came in (perhaps because Chelsea were lacking the personnel last season...) which has only been effective on a few very notable occasions. *cough* Chip over Valdes in the Camp Nou. *cough* And lastly, Oscar, the £25m youngster who is yet to cement a stronghold within the starting line-up, and that's without considering the fact that he's more effective further up the pitch. It's not as if there's a Claude Makélélé within the Chelsea ranks anymore, or even more recently, a Michael Essien. There's a lot of competition for the midfield spots, yes, but we're yet to witness someone make that position their own. (Now's your time, Oriol!) That being said, I don't think letting Meireles go is as severe as many are making it out to be, but I do find the decision to let Meireles leave with no time to find a replacement rather baffling. I don't think we'll miss him per se, but I'll miss having the occasional chuckle at his haircuts - if you can call them that - and I'm grateful for his work ethic and his efforts during his time at Stamford Bridge. Don't forget he played a big part in the side that brought home the Champions League... and they will never be forgotten. Thank you and good luck, Raul. If you click here you can see Greg's own blog; Swing It In, Son! for more articles! Click here to view the article

You'd like to see that exact line-up, with them exact substitutions, at them exact times? How can you want to see certain substitutions at certain times without seeing any of the game? Substitutions are used to freshen things up - either bring on more attacking players when we're looking for a goal or wanting to put the game to bed, or bring on more defensive-minded players when we're aiming to hold on to a lead and close the game out. The fact that you've stated what subs you'd like to see in the game is preposterous. I agree that Sturridge should be given more of a chance playing as the predominant striker. However, I don't think he should usurp Torres, not in the slightest. We should be bringing Danny on with 20-30 minutes remaining if we're needing a goal, either to play alongside Fernando or to replace him. Torres has shown that, given confidence, he will score goals and be a massive threat to opposing defenders. He will need resting though, and Sturridge should be the man to replace him as and when the time is right. I don't think Sturridge needs to be brought in to the starting eleven just yet, though, but he should definitely be featuring heavily in most games as an impact sub. Totally disagree with Bertrand being in the starting line-up ahead of Mr. Consistent at left-back as well. Ashley's been solid for us for quite some time now. Although he didn't have the best of games by his standards against Atlético, he wasn't poor and he shouldn't be dropped because of such a performance. I like Bertrand and do fully believe he's the man to replace A. Cole in the long-term. For now, however, Ashley should remain ahead of him in the pecking order. Luiz and Ivanovic, while both being quality players in their own rights, should both be put on the bench for this fixture. Not just because they had a poor game last time out, but also it will show that Di Matteo isn't a pushover and that there are adequate replacements waiting patiently on the sidelines if you're not up to scratch. I've got a feeling they will both play though, even though I don't think the necessarily should do.

As Term has said already, aesthetically, it's not the best forum out there by any stretch of the imagination. However, it does offer a friendly community with a lot of knowledgeable members. If you haven't checked it out already, I suggest you do so, it's worth it. I'm over there too but barely have time to frequent TalkChelsea at the minute, never mind OTC. Apologies for my absence, Shogun - I'm sure it's being sorely missed!

Didn't get there in time but my vote would have gone to CHOULO too; a worthy winner. Congratulations.

Put your money where your mouth is then... If he scores 15 or more goals, you donate £10 to TalkChelsea. If he fails to do so, I'll donate £10 to the cause.